Sharpening the Saw
From Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:
Suppose you were to come upon someone in the woods working feverishly to saw down a tree.
“What are you doing?” you ask.
“Can’t you see?” comes the impatient reply. “I’m sawing down this tree.”
“You look exhausted!” you exclaim. “How long have you been at it?”
“Over five hours,” he returns, “and I’m beat! This is hard work.”
“Well, why don’t you take a break for a few minutes and sharpen that saw?” you inquire. “I’m sure it would go a lot faster.”
More Quotes on Liberty and America
“In a free government the demand for moral qualities should be made superior to that of talents.”
- Andrew Jackson
“Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.”
- Dwight Eisenhower
“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must undergo the fatigue of supporting it.”
- Thomas Paine
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”
- Ronald Reagan
Quotes on Liberty
“I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy.”
- John Adams
“We are not to expect to be translated from despotism to liberty in a feather bed.”
- Thomas Jefferson
“Every word decides a question between power and liberty.”
- James Madison (speaking about the Constitution)
Great Quote on Choosing Your Battles
“A more peaceful way to live is to decide consciously which battles are worth fighting and which are better left alone. . . . Is it really important . . . that you confront someone simply because . . . he or she has made a minor mistake? . . . Does a small scratch on your car really warrant a suit in small claims court? . . . These and thousands of other small things are what many people spend their lives fighting about. . . . If you don’t want to ’sweat the small stuff,’ it’s critical that you choose your battles wisely.”
- Richard Carlson
Thomas Paine on Government
“Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer.”
- Thomas Paine
Great Quote on Leadership
“Control is not leadership; management is not leadership; leadership is leadership is leadership. If you seek to lead, invest at least 50% of your time leading yourself—your own purpose, ethics, principles, motivation, conduct. Invest at least 20% leading those with authority over you and 15% leading your peers. If you don’t understand that you work for your mislabeled ’subordinates,’ then you know nothing of leadership. You know only tyranny.”- Dee Hock, Founder and CEO Emeritus
VISA International
Insightful Quote from John Adams
“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other.”
- John Adams
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