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Quotes about Priorities

    “The more you have and do, the harder maintaining fidelity to your purpose will be, but the more critically you will need to.  Everyone buys into the myth that if only they had that – usually what someone else has – they would be happy.  It may take getting burned a few times to realize the emptiness of this illusion.  We all occasionally find ourselves in the middle of some project or obligation and can’t understand why we’re there.  It will take courage and faith to stop yourself.” ~ Ryan Holiday, Ego is the Enemy

      “Appearances are deceiving.  Having authority is not the same as being an authority.  Having the right and being right are not the same either.  Being promoted doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doing good work and it doesn’t mean you are worthy of promotion (they call it failing upward in such bureaucracies).  Impressing people is utterly different from being truly impressive.” ~ Ryan Holiday, Ego is the Enemy

        “We have seriously confounded luxury with necessity in our culture, and can no longer differentiate between what we want in order to maintain a particular lifestyle (with its social relationships and sensual pleasures) and what we actually need for physical survival.  We have confounded social identity with biological and spiritual being to the point of believing we will die if we lose our social standing, which is often based on the material wealth we have accumulated.  This accelerating spiral of desires becoming necessities is driving our suicidal rush to destroy the Earth we depend on for our actual physical survival.” ~ Robert Kull, Solitude

          “You know, all that really matters is that the people you love are happy and healthy.  Everything else is just sprinkles on the sundae.” ~ Paul Walker

            “Would you rather die peacefully among friends at age 50, or painfully and alone at age 80?” ~ Gregory Stock, The Book of Questions

              “If you take care of the minutes, the years will take care of themselves.” ~ Tibet saying

                “If you knew you were destined never to achieve anything of real importance, how would it change your goals and attitudes?  What if you knew you were destined for great things but didn’t know what?  …What in your life do you think will seem most meaningful when you look back many years from now?  What do you think you’ll regret when you look back?”

                Gregory Stock, The Book of Questions

                  “If you had to either change professions or move to another part of the country, which would you prefer?  What new career or location first comes to mind?  …Is the idea of being forced into such a change appealing in any way?” ~ Gregory Stock, The Book of Questions

                    “Would you rather be very successful professionally with only a tolerable private life, or have a great private life but an uninspiring professional one?  …If you feel your private life is more important to you, do your priorities reflect this?  If not, why not?” ~ Gregory Stock, The Book of Questions

                      “Imagine there is a bank account that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to used during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course? Each of us has such a bank, its name is time. Every morning, it credits you 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off at a lost, whatever of this you failed to invest to a good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no over draft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours. There is no drawing against ‘tomorrow.’ You must live in the present on today’s deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success. The clock is running. Make the most of today.” ~ Marc Levy

                        “The man, the art, the work: it is all one.” ~ Eugen Herrigel