Damn The Odds - Stories about the improbable journey » Monday’s quote http://damntheodds.com Stories about the improbable journey Mon, 08 Apr 2013 19:07:20 +0000 en hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.35 Monday’s quote http://damntheodds.com/2012/09/mondays-quote-13/ http://damntheodds.com/2012/09/mondays-quote-13/#comments Mon, 03 Sep 2012 03:48:47 +0000 http://damntheodds.com/?p=782 Yesterday, I wrote about inspiration. I love this Henry Miller quote — it speaks to the point of that post. Enjoy!

Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music – the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself.

]]> http://damntheodds.com/2012/09/mondays-quote-13/feed/ 0 Monday’s quote http://damntheodds.com/2012/01/mondays-quote-12/ http://damntheodds.com/2012/01/mondays-quote-12/#comments Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:20:36 +0000 http://damntheodds.com/?p=698 “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.  And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.  If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking, and don’t settle.  As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”

-Steve Jobs

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                                                                                                                      ~B. Quilliam

]]> http://damntheodds.com/2012/01/mondays-quote-11/feed/ 0 Monday’s quote http://damntheodds.com/2011/12/mondays-quote-10/ http://damntheodds.com/2011/12/mondays-quote-10/#comments Tue, 13 Dec 2011 03:04:26 +0000 http://damntheodds.com/?p=601 This quote came from my boyfriend, Michael.   I’m not sure the origin of this quote but it spoke to me.   I held onto a couple things from my past too long.  I’m happy to report this is no longer the case.  I’m a better and stronger person from these experiences.

 

                                                                “We must let go to live on!”

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“10% how you make it and 90% how you take it.*  It’s not a recommendation that you don’t have to put in effort to make your life better. It’s an acknowledgement that whatever the outcomes in your life you can choose to be happy or choose to be miserable.”

* The original quote is by American Composer Irving Berlin.

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“Man needs, for his happiness, not only the enjoyment of this or that, but hope and enterprise and change.”
   — Bertrand Russell

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Dreams

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

 

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“To be nobody but yourself in a world that’s doing its best to make you somebody else, is to fight the hardest battle you are ever going to fight.  Never stop trying.”

E. E. Cummings

]]> http://damntheodds.com/2011/10/mondays-quote-6/feed/ 4 The Impossible Dream http://damntheodds.com/2011/10/the-impossible-dream/ http://damntheodds.com/2011/10/the-impossible-dream/#comments Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:50:01 +0000 http://damntheodds.com/?p=441 I know all of you are waiting with bated breath for Monday’s quote…BUT instead today’s post spotlights a song from Tony Award-winning musical Man of La Mancha — The Impossible Dream.

It’s impacted me greatly during this journey so I want to share it with you.   As you may know, I have been battling some inner resistance. Like many artists, fear was holding me back.  Still not quite sure of what I was afraid of…fear of bankruptcy, fear of being selfish by leaving a loved one behind, fear of failure, fear of throwing away what I worked so hard to achieve.  Or, was it fear of success and what that means to my strong desire to have a family one day? Who knows, who cares!

One of my acting coaches recited the lyrics to this song after I had a small breakdown in class.  I read this when I feel down and recently had a breakthrough. I hope the song inspires and helps people like it did for me.

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go 

To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far

To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march into Hell
For a heavenly cause

And I know if I’ll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I’m laid to my rest

And the world will be better for this
That one man, scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star

 

There are countless stories online about how this song has moved people to do great things.  One I just read is associated with Robert Kennedy’s long-shot Presidency campaign.

In 1968, George McGovern quoted The Impossible Dream while introducing Kennedy at an event.  Kennedy then asked McGovern if he thought it was impossible.  McGovern’s response…”No I don’t think it’s impossible.  I wanted the audience to understand it’s worth making the effort – whether you win or lose.”

Yes, love it!  This is the message I hope Damn the Odds conveys.

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    “Feel the fear, and do it anyway.”

 – Susan Jeffers

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