Inspiration can come in many forms.  Success stories of people building up empires from nothing inspire me.  People who fight through illness and hardships inspire me.  Often, those stories are draining, and require a bit of a recharge before one can proceed.  A simple way to gain inspiration comes in the form of quotes.  For quite some time now, I have kept a Word document on my computer with a list of these quotes for easy access.  I thought I would share them with you here.  They aren't categorized in any way, so while there may be no rhyme or reason to how they are cobbled together, just remember that each one might be of help to you at different times.  Enjoy!

."The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new."  - Socrates

"Rowing harder doesn't help if the boat is headed in the wrong direction." - Kenichi Ohmae

"There are far, far better things ahead than anything we leave behind." - C.S. Lewis

"We learn so much by learning what's wrong with what we're doing.  Don't concentrate on correcting!   I let lots of things go by if I hear something that could grow." - John Swallow, former trombonist of the Chicago Symphony, New York City Opera and New York Brass Quintet

"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday."  John Wayne

"In my opinion, the trombone is the true head of the family of wind instruments, which I have named the 'epic' one. It possesses nobility and grandeur to the highest degree; it has all the serious and powerful tones of sublime musical poetry, from religious, calm and imposing accents to savage, orgiastic outburst. Directed by the will of the master, the trombones can chant like a choir of priests, threaten, utter gloomy sighs, a mournful lament, or a bright hymn of glory; they can break forth into awe-inspiring cries and awaken the dead or doom the living with their fearful voices." - Hector Berlioz

"A professional is an amateur who didn't quit." - Richard Bach

"If your ride through life is not as smooth as you would like it to be, blaming the road may not be the answer." - Zig Ziglar

"When you play the horn, play it like it's the only thing that matters.   When you put the horn away for other things, live like it doesn't matter at all." - Unknown

“Orchestras want Sears, not Gucci.” - Peter Norton, bass trombonist of the Cincinnati Symphony, in regards to orchestral auditions

"Success is waking up in the morning, whoever you are, wherever you are, however old or young, and bounding out of bed because there's something out there that you love to do, that you believe in, that you're good at; something that's bigger than you are, and you can hardly wait to get at it again today."  - Whit Hobbs

"All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no's become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly.  AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES."

"The mind once enlightened cannot again become dark." - Thomas Paine

“World class players do not just happen….their talents are forged in the dual furnaces of determination and diligence." -Edward Kleinhammer-Chicago Symphony bass trombonist 1940-1985

"Music is one of the ultimate representations of the human spirit. It offers us the great privilege of life-long spirituality and requires of us life-long commitment and responsibility. Few callings offer equal rewards, none offer greater. Music requires our skill, intuition, instinct, knowledge, humanity, awareness, openness, sensitivity, and honesty. It demands the investment of our time, labor, discipline, devotion, patience, skill, and tenacity. The cultivation of musical expression should be your goal. It does not matter to which particular pursuit you aspire. It matters MOST that you achieve a musical language and spirit. That musical spirit can then be passed on to others through performance, teaching, and composition."

"Every step of the teaching and learning process must be of the same quality as the desired result." -Joe Dixon

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." - Eleanor Roosevelt

"Talent alone won’t make you a success.  Neither will being in the right place at the right time, unless you are ready.  The most important question is always: "Are you ready?" - Johnny Carson

"The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul." - Johann Sebastian Bach

"Democracy does not guarantee equality of conditions - it only guarantees equality of opportunity." - Irving Kristol

In reference to playing an instrument: "A short pencil is better than a long memory." - Harvey Phillips

"There's the high register, the low register, and the cash register." - Harvey Phillips

"Possibly the greatest waste in life is the gap between what you are and what you could become." - Zig Ziglar

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." - Pablo Picasso

"Tradition is the handing-on of Fire, and not the worship of Ashes." - Gustav Mahler

"We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit."  - E.E. Cummings

"Make sure your worst enemy doesn't live between your own two ears." - Laird Hamilton

"Train like you're in last, play like you're in first." - J.J. Watt

"Your work defines the value for the degree you are earning/have earned." - Brett Richardson

"The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what you want most for what you want now."- Zig Ziglar

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