“You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have really lived, are the moments when you have done things in a spirit of love.”

“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!”

“When you make a commitment, you create hope. When you keep a commitment, you create trust.”

“The happiest people are those who have invested their time in others. The unhappiest people are those who wonder how the world is going to make them happy.”

“Efficiency is the foundation for survival. Effectiveness is the foundation of success.”

“If you want to be the best leader you can possibly be, no matter how much or how little natural leadership talent you possess, you need to become a serving leader.”

“Of all the things a leader should fear, complacency should head the list. —John C. Maxwell”

“Adapt to them—don’t expect them to adapt to you.”

“•Find someone to mentor. Once you reach a certain level in your leadership, the most valuable thing you have to give is yourself. Find someone to pour your life into. Then give him time and resources to become a better leader.”

“In the end, people are persuaded not by what we say, but by what they understand.” 

“people who are busy rowing seldom have time to rock the boat.”

“A person who knows how may always have a job, but the person who knows why will always be his boss.”

“Anytime you are in front of other people to communicate— whether it’s on a stage, in a boardroom, on a ball field, or across a coffee table—the visual impression you make will either help or hinder you.”

“Decide whether or not the goal is worth the risks involved. If it is, stop worrying.”

“People change when they ... Hurt enough that they have to, Learn enough that they want to, and Receive enough that they are able to.”