Eleanor Roosevelt

"Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art."

— Eleanor Roosevelt

American Speaker, Author, Political Activist

1884 - 1962

In one sense, we all are artists.  We create the lives we lead.  While we may not have any control over what happens to us, we do have control how we respond to what happens to us.  And how we respond creates the person we become.  When you reach the end of the road one day and you look back at your life, what is the legacy you have left behind.  What kind of person have you become?  Will you be a grouchy, grumpy old drunk or a kind, caring matriarch?  Will you dance with laughter or worry and fret over the fact that your husband never puts down the toilet seat?  We all make choices in life and those choices create the lives we lead.  

Our lives are a work of art.  What color are your memories?  How many wrinkles line your dreams?  Do your hopes have arthritis?  What are you doing today that will create your legacy tomorrow?  What decisions are you making today that will form the core of your character tomorrow?  Life is about growth and change.  What lessons are you learning that will change your life?  Your life is a canvas.  Pick up your paint brush and start painting.  Live the life today that you will be proud of when you are 103.

William Makepeace Thackeray

"The world is a looking glass and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face."

— William Makepeace Thackeray

English Novelist

1811 - 1863

This is a very profound statement.  The world that we see is a reflection of ourselves.  I tell a story in my seminars about a little girl who lives in the mountains with her parents.  One day the little girl has a fight with her mother and she runs out of the house.  When she reaches the edge of the cliff, she stops and yells at the top of her voice: "I hate you.  I hate you."  To her surprise she hears a voice shouting back at her:  "I hate you.  I hate you."  This frightens the little girl and she runs back into the house and tells her mother that someone out there hates her.  Her mother realizing what happened tells her young daughter to go back outside and shout, "I love you."  The little girl tiptoes back outside and nervously tiptoes to the edge of the cliff.  She calls out: "I love you.  I love you."  Echoing back out of the valley, she hears the words, "I love you.  I love you."  The message is quite clear:  what we send out is what we get back.

What we expect to find in the world is what we find.  If we think the world is a negative hostile place where our competition is seeking to destroy us, we will find examples to prove our world view.  If we think the world is helpful and supportive, we will find examples to prove our vision of the world.  The world we see is a reflection of the person we are.  Have you looked in the mirror lately?  What kind of person do you see?

Louise Nevelson

"Another thing about creation is that every day it is like it gave birth, and it's always kind of innocent and refreshing.  So it's always virginal to me, and it's always a surprise."

— Louise Nevelson

American Artist

1899 - 1988



Sky Cathedral

(1958)



Does your creative work surprise you?  Do you find yourself full of joy when you are working?  Are you excited about the possible outcome?  Creative work should be fun and bring us moments of happiness.  If it is a struggle for you to create, then you need to work on freeing the creative juices.  These days I can sit down at my desk and write without hesitation.  I just start writing and don't worry about the outcome.  And most times I have no idea where the story will go or what the characters will say.  The same with art.  I pick up the pen and start drawing.  I have muzzled that voice inside that always wants to criticize and tell me how terrible I am.  I don't give him a chance to scream at me.  I am learning to enjoy the moment.



Robert May

"Everything connected with Rudolph has a touch of miracle about it, a kindly star."

— Robert May

American Writer

1905 - 1976

Fame and fortune are strange bedfellows.  Most artists and writers desire to make a living from their creative output.  Few do.  Robert May created the character of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer as part of a promotional story he wrote as a copywriter for Montgomery Ward in 1939.  Montgomery Ward distributed 2.4 million copies that year.  Since May worked for Montgomery Ward, the company owned the copyright and May received no royalties.  He persuaded  the president of Montgomery Ward to give him the copyright in 1947 and this one creation gave him fame and fortune.

As writers and artists, we never know which story or painting is going to be remembered throughout history.  Many writers produced hundreds of poems or stories, but only are remembered for one or two.  Many painters spend a lifetime painting, but only a few of their works are well known to the general public.  We have no way of knowing which work of art is going to catch the imagination of the general public.  Think of the Charles Dickens story of The Christmas Carol, one of the most retold stories of our time.  

Enjoy your celebration of the holidays and I hope that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer paid you a visit.

Theodore H. White

"To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can have."

— Theodore H. White

American Journalist/Writer

1915 - 1986

As artists and creative leaders, we often have to stand alone against the thinking of family and friends.  This is very difficult to do and often we will be criticized for what we think and the way we behave.  This happened to me early in my life.  I grew up in the Mennonite church in central Illinois.  When I was a sophomore in high school, I committed myself to being a minister.  By the time I was a senior, I was no longer a believer in the faith of my forefathers.  This admission was very difficult for both my mother and father to hear.  

Do you stand up for what you believe even though the people around you disagree with you?  Did you become an artist despite the wishes of your parents?  Many parents prefer their children become doctors and lawyers.  It takes a strong-willed individual to become a writer or a painter in the face of parental opposition.  As Theodore White says, each of you are heroes.  Celebrate and appreciate your strength and individuality.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

"It is not the brains that matter most, but that which guides them: character, the heart, generous qualities, progressive ideas."

— Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Russian Novelist

1821 - 1881

Think of the stories you have heard of intelligent, educated people who have done evil things.  Intelligence and even education do not make us good people.  It is what is in the heart that matters most.  Are you caring, compassionate and generous?  Your character and nature will show through.  That which lives in your heart will be visible in your art.  

Albert Camus

"In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer."

— Albert Camus

French Algerian Novelist

1913 - 1960

Inside each of us is more strength than we realize.  We are stronger than we think and often it isn't until the winter of our lives that we realize how strong and capable we were.  You can do more than you think you can.  You can achieve more — paint more, write more and dance more.  And you can bear more pain and suffering than you think you can.  Don't forget to call on this strength when you need it.

Bernard Malamud

"Without heroes, we are all plain people and don't know how far we can go."

— Bernard Malamud

American novelist

1914 - 1986

Who are your heroes?  Who are the people who inspire you?  We all need heroes.  Growing up my heroes were baseball players like Bob Gibson and Stan Musial.  In college my political heroes were Eugene McCarthy, Senator, and Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights leader.  The poets who were my heroes in those college years were T. S. Elliot, Arthur Rimbaud and Theodore Roethke.  When I got into business, my hero was Tom Peters.  I modeled my speaking style after his.  Harry S. Truman, 33rd President, is another of my heroes.  Who are your heroes?  Who has inspired you?  Heroes are important because they role-model what we want to be.  They push us to go farther than we think possible.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." 

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

American Poet

1803 -1882

Helen Keller

"Your success and happiness lie in you.  Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invisible host against difficulties."

— Helen Keller

1880 - 1968

We are responsible for our own happiness and success.  Others are not responsible to make us happy.  Not our spouses.  Not our children.  Not our parents.  Life is full of challenges and difficulties.  Nothing is perfect.  If we blame others, we will never be happy.  We must learn to forgive and move on.  We must take charge of our inner world and resolve to be satisfied and happy.

Edith Wharton

"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it."

— Edith Wharton

1862 -1937

Zig Ziglar

"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals."

— Zig Ziglar

1926 -