MGuhlin.net

Favorite Quotations

The following represent quotations I've collected over the years. It is not an exhaustive collection, yet, but I hope to eventually add quotes from over the years. They are old friends, these quotes, and represent a part of my growth. I hope you enjoy this eclectic collection.

Last updated: Saturday, May 6, 2006 

Deep Change Quotes by Robert Quinn:

All organizations are based on systems of external and internal expectations...over time, the organization loses internal and external alignment.

We need to alter our fundamental assumptions, rules, or paradigms and develop new theories about ourselves and our surrounding environment.

Reinvent yourself to achieve deep change.

On our journey, naked into the land of uncertainty...know how to get lost with confidence.

Realigning ourselves to the environment requires that we exercise the discipline to make an unusual perspective. A point of view that unifies the flow of experience into a coherent narrative striving to connect with other narratives and become richer.

New paradigms are created by engaging a new action path, one in which we must separate from the status quo and courageously face and tackle uncertainty.

Old maps drive us into a state of great pain and frustration.

Most forms of professional knowledge result in conditional confidence--confidence that you will act well, so long as the situation does not violate your assumptions about it. Unconditional confidence--confidence that you can dump inaccurate assumptions and ineffective strategies in the midst of ongoing action.

Initiating deep change, we become aligned and revitalized because we are committed to the truth.

When one discovers what is right and begins to pursue it, the necessary people and resources turn up.

The dominant coalition in an organization is seldom interested in making deep change.

Culture change starts with personal change. We become agents by first altering our own maps. The process returns us to the power of one and the requirement of aligning and empowering oneself before successfully changing the organization.

People must empower themselves.

Dick Westley:

Truth has a strange way of continually reasserting itself until it is given its proper due.

While it is senseless to reinvent the wheel, to read the scientific treatises from past centuries for more than historical interest, the writings from the past that address the mystery of life's meaning continue to have value for us.

Whenever Christ calls us, his call leads us to death.

--Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Cost of Discipleship

What is the will of God? Forever re-examine what the will of God is. Ethics is ground in the will of God, not a set of pre-determined principles.
--Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Ethics

"He who believes does not flee," Isaiah

...leadership is listening, knowing, and understanding what needs to get done and then unleashing the power within every facet of an organization to make that happen.

--Jan Van Dam, quoted in an ISTE Interview (09/2004).

Equal Temper

Come, my friends, 'tis not too late to seek a newer world...
It may be that gulfs will wash us down
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew
Tho' much is taken, much abides and tho'
We are not now that strength in which old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are
One equal temper of heroic hearts
Made weak by time and fate but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield.

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy...The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves, too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events raising in one's favor...unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.

--W.H. Murray, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition.

Stories take us to other worlds. They transport us to the world of spirit.

Find the real world, give it endlessly away. Live at the empty heart of paradox. I'll dance there with you, cheek to cheek.

Tragedy enters every life. Spirit springs from what you make of it.Tragedy is the author of hope. Crisis brings us face to face with our soul.

Courage is the ability to go on anyway despite being afraid. When you don't know what you believe in, you don't know who you are.

Leadership is a gift of oneself.

Your quest as a leader is a "journey to find the treasure of your true self and then [to return] home and give your gift to help transform the kingdom--and in the process your own life. The quest itself, is replete with dangers and pitfalls, but if offers great rewards: the capacity to be successful in the world, knowledge of the mysteries of the human soul, the opportunity to find your unique gifts in the world, and to live in loving community with other people.

Leader's responsibility is to create conditions that promote authorship.

Hoarding power produces a powerless organization.

Effective leadership gives power without undermining the system's integrity.

Successful leaders embody their group's most precious values and beliefs. Their ability to lead emerges from the strength and sustenance of those around them.

Leaders with soul bring spirit to organizations. Leaders of spirit find their soul's treasure store and offer its gifts to others.

Excerpts from Bolman and Deal's Leading with Soul (1995); Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Keep Your Fork
--------------
There was a woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. So as she was getting her things "in order," she contacted her pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in.
The woman also requested to be buried with her favorite Bible. Everything was in order and the pastor was preparing to leave when the woman suddenly remembered something very important to her.
"There's one more thing," she said excitedly.
"What's that?" came the pastor's reply. "This is very important," the woman continued. "I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand."
The pastor stood looking at the woman, not knowing quite what to say.
"That surprises you, doesn't it?" the woman asked.
"Well, to be honest, I'm puzzled by the request," said the pastor.
The woman explained. "In all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, “Keep your fork.” It was my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming...like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful, and with substance! So, I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder, "What's with the fork?" Then I want you to tell them: "Keep your fork....the best is yet to come".

The pastor's eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the woman good-bye. He knew this would be one of the last times he would see her before her death. But he also knew that the woman had a better grasp of heaven than he did. She KNEW that something better was coming.
At the funeral people were walking by the woman's casket and they saw the pretty dress she was wearing another favorite Bible and the fork placed in her right hand. Over and over, the pastor heard the question, "What's with the fork?" And over and over he smiled. During his message, the pastor told the people of the conversation he had with the woman shortly before she died. He also told them about the fork and about what it symbolized to her.

The pastor told the people how he could not stop thinking about the fork and told them that they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either. He was right. So the next time you reach down for your fork, let it remind you oh so gently, that the best is yet to come.

Tale of a Tired Teacher

There's an old proverb: " You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." But around this ranch, I keep getting told it's my fault when the horse won't drink. "Make the water bluer," someone says, "Make it colder. Try adding sugar to sweeten it a bit. Make it shallower; maybe the horse is afraid of deep water. Put the water in a smaller container so the horse isn't overwhelmed by so much water."

I get told maybe I should consider the poor horse's background. Maybe it wasn't taught to drink properly--it needs a course in remedial drinking. Some idiot says I don't recognize a horse when I see one...Says I really have a camel and shouldn't expect it to drink like the other horses.
The boss says I'm not providing enough motivation to make the horse drink. He says I should give the horse an enthusiastic pat and keep telling it what a great horse it is. I should reward it with sugar when it drinks. Or build a waterfall and decorate it with rocks so it looks like a fun place to drink at this spot. When all fails, I should hold the horse's head under the water until it is forced to swallow some.

And I faithfully try all these ideas. And the horse still won't drink. So I have another solution. I think it's time to give water only to the horses that want to drink. Any horse that doesn't want to drink water should be worked harder. Make it work up a sweat so it gets thirsty. Make it haul a load or run faster until it appreciated a drink of water. Put the pressure back on the horse instead of
me...because I'm getting mighty tired of trying to drown horses.

Truth in Gay Clothes

It happened once that Truth walked about the streets as naked as his mother bore him. Naturally, people were scandalized and wouldn't let him into their houses. Whoever saw him got frightened and ran away. And so as Truth wandered through the streets brooding over his troubles, he met Parable.
Parable was gaily decked out in fine clothes and was a sight to see. He asked, "Tell me, what is the meaning of all this? Why do you walk about naked and looking so woebegone?"

Truth shook his head sadly and replied, "Everything is going downhill with me, brother. I've gotten so old and decrepit that everybody avoids me."
"What you're saying makes no sense," said Parable.
"People are not giving you a wide berth because you are old. Take me, for instance, I am no younger than you. Nonetheless, the older I get the more attractice people find me. Just let me confide a secret to you about people. They don't like things plain and bare but dressed up prettily and a little artificial. I'll tell you what. I wil lend you some fine clothes like mine and you'll soon see how people take to you."
Truth followed his advice and decked himself out in Parable's gay clothes. And lo and behold! People no longer shunned him but welcome him heartily. Since that time, Truth and Parable are to be seen as inseparable companions, esteemed and loved by all.

--Taken from "A Treasury of Jewish Folklore," edited by Nathan Ausubel; Copyright 1948, by Crown Publishers, P.13

A good window does not call attention to itself. It merely lets in the light. A good speakers is like that. he is so disarmingly natural that his listeners never notice his manner of speaking. They are conscious only of his matter.

Nothing happens unless first--a dream!
--Carl Sandberg

You often say, "I would give, but only to the deserving." The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture. They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish...And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream.

--Kahlil Gibran

The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and lovingness. If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.

--Kahlil Gibran

With me, teaching is more than an art or occupation. It is a passion. I love to teach as a painter loves to paint, as a singer loves to sing, as a poet loves to write. Before I get out of bed in the morning, I think with ardent delight of my first group of students.

--William Lyon Phillips

...isn't it the most loving thing to do to relieve your neighbor of her suffering or help him see the light? Actually, however, these attempts...are not only naive and ineffective but quite self-centered and self-serving. It hurts me when my friend is in pain. if I can do something to get rid of this pain, I will feel better.

The fact of the matter is that often the most loving thing we can do when a friend is in pain is to share that pain--to be there even when we have nothing to offer except our presence and even being there is painful to ourselves.

--M. Scott Peck, "The Different Drum"

The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of opinion is that it is robbing the human race...if the opinion is in the right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth; if wrong, they lose what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth produced by its collision with error.

--John Stuart Mills, "Essay on Liberty" (1859)

If you want to achieve excellence, you can get there today...as of this second, quit doing less than excellent work.

--Thomas Watson

Experience shows that organizations have the most difficulty at learning when the problems are difficult and embarrassing or threatening precisely when they need learning most.

An organizational defense is a policy, practice, or action that prevents the participants (at any level of the organization) from experiencing embarrassment, or threat, and, at the same time prevents them from discovering the causes of the embarrassment or threat.

Teachers invent intellectually engaging work for students and then lead them to do it. The business of schools is to design, create, and invent high quality, intellectually demanding work for students: schoolwork that calls on students to think, reason, and to use their minds well and that calls on them to engage ideas, facts, and understandings whose perpetuation is essential to the survival of the common culture.

--Phillip Schlechty

Si fallas, tienes siempre una segunda oportunidad de empezar de nuevo. Lo que llamamos fracaso no esta en la caida, sino en la levantada.
--Mary Pickford

Poem We shared at our Marriage and I find true every day:

God hath not promised skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through.
God hath not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.

But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the laborer, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.

Do not confine your children to your own learning...for they were born in another time. --Hebrew Proverb

Ask not what computers can do with students, but rather, what students can do with computers.

Hardware without software is junk, but software without teaching is just noise.

As educators, we ought to embrace online learning and develop a new literacy. We should insist that professional development is both professional and developmental. And we should be careful to use online learning to enhance face to face learning--and not to accept glib sales pitches about a virtual learning miracle that will mysteriously eliminate people. VIrtual education is a misnomer--one cannot become a mind within the world without the help of real people, real struggle, and real discovery. Source: The online professional seminar: E-learning may aid professional development, but there's no virtual miracle in sight," by Peter W. Cookson, Jr., Education Week, Sept.19,2001.

The human voice is the bearer of the human spirit. To still it would be, in effect, to still humanity...it is through language that the individual creates and knows his reality, and it is the human voice that projects that reality into the void.

The culture of stories has been the womb...our move into the world, the cutting of the umbilical cord to the stories that nourish us...is this a valid move from the womb? What is adulthood without stories?

To be a storyteller...whether the story gets the facts right is not all that important...much more interestested in the "truth" contained in the story. And the great storyteller makes that truth in the story fit the needs of the moment.

Successful leaders embody their group's most precious values and beliefs. Their ability to lead emerges from the strength and sustenance of those around them. [so, what are your group's most precious values and beliefs?]

Jerome Bruner:

Selfhood derives from the sense that one can initiate and carry out activities on one's own. Even the simplest narratives are built around an agent-self as a protagonist.

Any system of education or theory of pedagogy that diminishes the school's role in nurturing its pupils' self-esteem fails at one of its primary functions.

Personhood implicates narrative.

The Bridge Builder

by Will Allen Dromgoole �

An old man, going a lone highway,
Came, at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast, and deep, and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.

The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
The sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned, when safe on the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide .

"Old man," said a fellow pilgrim, near ,
"You are wasting strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again must pass this way;
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide-- Why build you the bridge at the eventide?

The builder lifted his old gray head:
"Good friend, in the path I have come," he said, "There followeth after me today
A youth, whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm, that has been naught to me,
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;

Good friend, I am building the bridge for him."

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