“When I want to really get to know someone, I ask three questions. People’s answers to these give me great insight into someone’s heart. The questions are: What do you dream about? What do you sing about? What do you cry about?”
―
John C. Maxwell
“Hold fast to dreams for when dreams go, Life is a barren field frozen with snow.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“A realist believes that what is done or left undone in the short run determines the long run.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“Humility means two things. One, a capacity for self-criticism. . . . The second feature is allowing others to shine, affirming others, empowering and enabling others.” —CORNEL WEST”
―
John C. Maxwell
“We can change our whole life and the attitude of people around us simply by changing ourselves. —RUDOLF DREIKURS”
―
John C. Maxwell
“When it comes to the thing you love to do, the thing you were made to do, aim high. The odds matter little. Whether you fall down along the way matters little.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“Several years ago Dr. Maxwell Maltz’s book, Psycho-Cybernetics, was one of the most popular books on the market. Dr. Maltz was a plastic surgeon who often took disfigured faces and made them more attractive. He observed that in every case, the patient’s self-image rose with his and her physical improvement. In addition to being a successful surgeon, Dr. Maltz was a great psychologist who understood human nature. A wealthy woman was greatly concerned about her son, and she came to Dr. Maltz for advice. She had hoped that the son would assume the family business following her husband’s death, but when the son came of age, he refused to assume that responsibility and chose to enter an entirely different field. She thought Dr. Maltz could help convince the boy that he was making a grave error. The doctor agreed to see him, and he probed into the reasons for the young man’s decision. The son explained, “I would have loved to take over the family business, but you don’t understand the relationship I had with my father. He was a driven man who came up the hard way. His objective was to teach me self-reliance, but he made a drastic mistake. He tried to teach me that principle in a negative way. He thought the best way to teach me self-reliance was to never encourage or praise me. He wanted me to be tough and independent. Every day we played catch in the yard. The object was for me to catch the ball ten straight times. I would catch that ball eight or nine times, but always on that tenth throw he would do everything possible to make me miss it. He would throw it on the ground or over my head but always so I had no chance of catching it.” The young man paused for a moment and then said, “He never let me catch the tenth ball—never! And I guess that’s why I have to get away from his business; I want to catch that tenth ball!”
―
John C. Maxwell
“The actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“To reach your potential you must grow. And to grow, you must be highly intentional about it.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“The problem with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“In 1997,I wrote a book called The Success Journey. It offers an overview on what it means to be successful. In it I define success in these terms: Knowing your purpose in life Growing to reach your potential Sowing seeds that benefit others”
―
John C. Maxwell
“Charismatic people not only want to win, they want others to win too. That creates productivity.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“There is no use whatever trying to help people who do not help themselves. You cannot push anyone up a ladder unless he is willing to climb himself.” —Andrew Carnegie”
―
John C. Maxwell
“analogy: It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
―
John C. Maxwell