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Legacy Quotes

    “Instead of wasting even a second considering the opinions of future people—people who are not even born yet—focus every bit of yourself on being the best person you can be in the present moment. On doing the right thing, right now. The distant future is irrelevant. Be good and noble and impressive now—while it matters.”

    Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic (Page 314)

      “I never dreamed of being a Shakespeare or Goethe, and I never expected to hold the great mirror of truth up before the world; I dreamed only of being a little pocked mirror, the sort that a woman can carry in her purse; one that reflects small blemishes, and some great beauties, when held close enough to the heart.”

      Peter Altenberg, via Sunbeams (Page 126)

        “Happy is the person who can improve others, not only when present, but even when in their thoughts!”

        Seneca, Moral Letters, via The Daily Stoic (Page 79)

          “When I say live dangerously, I mean don’t live the life of ordinary respectability—that you are a mayor in a town, or a member of the corporation. This is not life. Or you are a minister, or you have a good profession and are earning well and money goes on accumulating in the bank and everything is going perfectly well. When everything is going perfectly well, simply see it—you are dying and nothing is happening. People may respect you, and when you die a great procession will follow you. Good, that’s all, and in the newspapers your pictures will be published and there will be editorials, and then people will forget about you. And you lived your whole life only for these things?”

          Osho, Courage (Page 121)

          Maya Angelou Quote on Legacy and What People Most Remember About You

            “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

            Maya Angelou

            Beyond the Quote (326/365)

            For as much as I work with quotes, you’d think I’d be better at remembering exactly what people said—I don’t. There are phrases, of course, that have stuck with me for one poignant or arbitrary reason or another, but I undoubtedly forget more than I remember. Heck, I can’t even quote myself for more than a few sentences! Think about the last time you tried to memorize a speech… how much of it could you memorize? Quoting is hard. People will (mostly) forget what you said.

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              “Gautama the Buddha is supposed to have lived 2,500 years ago, and Jesus is supposed to have lived 2,000 years ago, but as far as I am concerned, both are a living reality. Once you create a certain volume of work with your life energies, it is permanent for all practical purposes and time does not destroy it. If you work with the physical body of flesh and blood, it has a limited life span. If you use your mind, the life span of that work is much longer. But if you work with your fundamental life energies, then the result is timeless.”

              Sadhguru, Inner Engineering (Page 248)

                On how she would like to be remembered: “Someone who used whatever talent she had to do her work to the very best of her ability. And to help repair tears in her society, to make things a little better through the use of whatever ability she has. To do something, as my colleague David Souter would say, outside myself. ‘Cause I’ve gotten much more satisfaction for the things that I’ve done for which I was not paid.”

                Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Town & Country Magazine

                Chadwick Boseman Quote on Struggles and How they Shape You For Your Purpose

                  “The struggles along the way are only meant to shape you for your purpose.”

                  Chadwick Boseman

                  Beyond the Quote (239/365)

                  Chadwick Boseman, the iconic “Black Panther” star, has died at age 43 after a 4-year battle with colon cancer. He was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016, battled it until it progressed to stage IV, and up until it ended up taking his life here in 2020. And like so many others, I knew nothing about his cancer or that he was even sick at all.

                  Read More »Chadwick Boseman Quote on Struggles and How they Shape You For Your Purpose

                    “Kobe [Bryant] was a serial winner who could fire up his teammates and steel himself like a warrior monk. But few people have seen another side to Kobe: the man who performed Make-A-Wish requests after almost every home game—and many road games—throughout his career. I got to document a few of those nights when Kobe was there for kids and their families as a different kind of hero—one who understood the profound impact of basketball beyond simply winning and losing. Behind Kobe’s relentless determination was a gentle and sober compassion.”

                    Andrew Bernstein, via Mamba Mentality (Page 206)

                      “Without hoops, I would not understand how to create or write, I would not understand human nature, nor would I know how to lead. The game, in essence, taught me the art of storytelling. Without it, I would not have an Emmy, I would not have an Oscar, I would not have creative dreams and visions still to unfold. Yeah, basketball took me everywhere. Now, I’m taking the game everywhere.”

                      Kobe Bryant, Mamba Mentality (Page 201)

                      Kevin Kelly Quote on Death and How The Only Thing You Take With You Is Your Reputation

                        “When you die you take absolutely nothing with you except your reputation.”

                        Kevin Kelly, Blog

                        Beyond the Quote (209/365)

                        And what is your reputation made up of? The sum of all of the actions you took when you were alive. All of them. The actions you took when you were excited and joyful—and the actions you took when you were miserable and upset. It’s composed of the things you did for those who you admired, desired, and cared for—as well as the things you did for those who you pitied, hated, and didn’t pay any mind to. Your reputation is nothing more than the summary report of how well you followed the golden rule while you were alive.

                        Read More »Kevin Kelly Quote on Death and How The Only Thing You Take With You Is Your Reputation

                          “Before you are old, attend as many funerals as you can bear, and listen. Nobody talks about the departed’s achievements. The only thing people will remember is what kind of person you were while you were achieving.”

                          Kevin Kelly, Blog

                          Paul Hogan Poem on Capturing Moments (and Maybe When Not To)

                            “Camera loaded, the light

                            near sundown blushes

                            the grey, beat wood

                            of the boathouse, flashes

                            along arcs of the waves.

                            Don’t photograph this. Don’t render it

                            immutable now. Let it

                            distort, let it unravel,

                            reconstruct itself.

                            This image will retell

                            this here and now for years,

                            without conclusion —

                            It will never change,

                            it will always be different,

                            we will never agree. For now,

                            let the light slip down

                            around you. Don’t

                            remember this yet.”

                            Paul Hogan, Point of Departures (Page 37)

                            Beyond the Quote (167/365)

                            In a world where the camera on our phone takes better pictures than most DSLR cameras from just a few years ago, where 4K quality can be held in the palm of one hand and activated with the push of one thumb, where so much of what we see and hear in the world can be so vividly captured and contained within the confines of a memory chip that’s smaller than a penny and backed up by an imaginary cloud—the line between knowing when to be present in a moment and when to capture a moment can become incredibly blurred. Hell, if we wanted to, we could record every moment we ever wanted to and store it into a neat and tidy timeline of moments that could quite literally make up the story of our lives. Rather than our life “flashing before our eyes” at the end, we could playback our lives in a flash with just a few clicks on a computer screen.

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                            John C. Maxwell Quote on Leadership and How To Best Influence Other People

                              “Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less. How do you gain influence from people? You invest in them. How do you invest in them? It starts with giving them time.”

                              John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold

                              Beyond the Quote (162/365)

                              Investing time into another person is undoubtedly one of the most powerful ways to influence them. For, time is our most precious resource and when somebody shares their most precious resource with you, it is a clear showing that you are precious to them. If you had a very precious diamond, you wouldn’t just share that with anybody would you? You would only share that with someone precious—someone close.

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                              Dalai Lama Quote on Remembering A Person After They Pass

                                “The best way to keep a memory of a person [who has passed away], the best remembrance, is to see if you can carry on the wishes of that person.”

                                Dalai Lama, The Art of Happiness

                                Beyond the Quote (144/365)

                                I would go one step further and say that the best remembrance is, not just to carry on the wishes of the person who passed, but to embody the best of who that person was. Wishes come from a place of deep and personal desire—they are goals derived from a person’s unique characteristic makeup. Who a person is isn’t a reflection of these wishes—their thoughts—but rather is a reflection of the actions they took throughout their life. Wishes are inside a person’s mind, character is reflected in the actions of their body. We can only interpret and truthfully judge the latter.

                                Read More »Dalai Lama Quote on Remembering A Person After They Pass

                                  “Sometimes when things feel too heavy, I ask myself, ‘Will this matter in three hundred years?’ and I think about the fact that no one I know will be around then—none of their judgments, opinions, debts, or drudges—and that I should enjoy this journey while I’m still healthy enough to do so.  In three hundred years it won’t matter that I wasn’t invited to this or that event or included on this or that list or was able to connect with this or that person.  It won’t matter that I showed up wearing a mustard stain on my outfit or that I didn’t proofread my text message before I hit ‘send.’  Figuring out what will matter in three hundred years will result in a much shorter list—almost next to nothing.” ~ Humble the Poet, Things No One Else Can Teach Us (Page 37)