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Change Quotes

On Juneteenth, Opal Lee, and Breathing Oxygen Into A Movement For Change

    “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.”

    General Orders, Number 3; Headquarters District of Texas, Galveston, June 19, 1865

    Beyond the Quote (169/365)

    When Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger issued the above order, he had no idea that, in establishing the Union Army’s authority over the people of Texas, he was also establishing the basis for a holiday, “Juneteenth” (“June” plus “nineteenth”), today the most popular annual celebration of emancipation from slavery in the United States. 

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    Audre Lorde Quote On Fighting, Surviving, and Teaching In Order To Win Battles In Life

      “I have found that battling despair does not mean closing my eyes to the enormity of the tasks of effecting change, nor ignoring the strength and the barbarity of the forces aligned against us. It means teaching, surviving and fighting with the most important resource I have, myself, and taking joy in that battle. It means, for me, recognizing the enemy outside and the enemy within, and knowing that my work is part of our power, and knowing that this work did not begin with my birth nor will it end with my death. And it means knowing that within this continuum, my life and my love and my work has particular power and meaning relative to others.”

      Audre Lorde, The Cancer Journals

      Beyond the Quote (153/365)

      Even when the tasks set in front of us for affecting change are massive—we mustn’t waver. We mustn’t close our eyes. We mustn’t let the size of the task stop us from taking every possible step we can to keep moving forward as individuals and as a society. For, any big change can only ever happen effectively as a result of a collective series of small efforts. These small efforts collect one by one from each individual person and person by person as a collective group. There is no one person who is “big” enough to handle this task on their own and there is no one person who is “small” enough to contribute to the collective effort that unites us as a whole.

      Read More »Audre Lorde Quote On Fighting, Surviving, and Teaching In Order To Win Battles In Life

        “Before we can make deep changes in our lives, we have to look into our diet, our way of consuming.  We have to live in such a way that we stop consuming the things that poison us and intoxicate us.  Then we will have the strength to allow the best in us to arise, and we will no longer be victims of anger, of frustration.”  ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, via Stillness is the Key (Page 34)

        James Allen Quote on Strengthening the Mind

          “As the physically weak man can make himself strong by careful and patient training, so the man of weak thoughts can make them strong by exercising himself in right thinking.”

          James Allen, As a Man Thinketh

          Beyond the Quote (98/365)

          The connection between careful and patient training and physical improvements is, in my estimation, much more firm than the connection with training and mental or emotional improvements. One of the main reasons for this might be that physical improvements are tangible—we can see the them, feel them, and are constantly being reminded of them.  Every time we look in a mirror or take a selfie on our phone or see pictures that were posted—we are reminded. 

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          The Minimalists’ Quote on Changing The People Around You

            “You can’t change the people around you, but you can change the people around you.”

            The Minimalists, Everything That Remains

            Beyond the Quote (34/365)

            Sure we might influence or inspire the people around us to change, but we certainly can’t force them to change.  Change is an inside-out job.  It’s something that a person has to want themselves and something they have to manifest from within.  The outside-in approach simply doesn’t work.  You can yell and scream and shout and argue with a person until the veins in your neck pop out—a person won’t change until they decide they’re ready, willing, and capable of change.

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              “Understanding the meaning of impermanence makes us less desperate people.  It gives us dignity.  We no longer grasp at pleasure, trying to squeeze out every last drop.  We no longer consider pain something we should fear, deny, and avoid.  We know that it will change.” ~ Sakyong Mipham, Turning the Mind Into An Ally (Page 150)

                “Things fall apart.  What worked yesterday will not necessarily work today.  We have inherited the great machinery of state and culture from our forefathers, but they are dead, and cannot deal with the changes of the day.  The living can.  We can open our eyes and modify what we have where necessary and keep the machinery running smoothly.  Or we can pretend that everything is alright, fail to make the necessary repairs, and then curse fate when nothing goes our way.” ~ Jordan Peterson, via 12 Rules for Life (Page 228)

                  “One of my mottos these days is peaceful but never satisfied.  It was one thing to enjoy the peace of self-acceptance, and my acceptance of the f*cked-up world as it is, but that didn’t mean I was going to lie down and wait to die without at least trying to save myself.  It didn’t mean then, and it doesn’t mean now, that I will accept the imperfect or just plain wrong without fighting to change things for the better.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

                    “Human beings change through study, habit, and stories.  Through my story you will learn what the body and mind are capable of when they’re driven to maximum capacity, and how to get there.  Because when you’re driven, whatever is in front of you, whether it’s racism, sexism, injuries, divorce, depression, obesity, tragedy, or poverty, becomes fuel for your metamorphosis.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

                      “Can one tiny change transform your life?  It’s unlikely you would say so.  But what if you made another?  And another?  And another?  At some point, you will have to admit that your life was transformed by one small change.  The holy grail of habit change is not a single 1 percent improvement, but a thousand of them.” ~ James Clear, Atomic Habits

                        “It is easy to get bogged down trying to find the optimal plan for change: the fastest way to lose weight, the best program to build muscle, the perfect idea for a side hustle.  We are so focused on figuring out the best approach that we never get around to taking action.” ~ James Clear, Atomic Habits

                          “We change bit by bit, day by day, habit by habit.  We are continually undergoing microevolutions of the self.  Each habit is like a suggestion: ‘Hey, maybe this is who I am.’  If you finish a book, then perhaps you are the type of person who likes reading.  If you go to the gym, then perhaps you are the type of person who likes to exercise.  If you practice playing the guitar, perhaps you are the type of person who likes music.  Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.  No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity.” ~ James Clear, Atomic Habits