Just to be clear and give credit where due, none of these are original to me. These have been collected over the years from readings, conversations, speakers, presentations, mentors, billboards, fortune cookies, friends, relatives, clients, employees, and co-workers. I have tried to give credit where I could and if I offend, remember it was your free will that chose to read this. Enjoy!

“In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made many people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.” -Douglas Adams and The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy #42

“To help you, I have to hurt you!” – Grace Rathmann

“It’s nice to be important but it’s important to be nice” – Brendan McCarthy’s Dad.

“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything” – Mark Twain

If it doesn’t fit, force it – Eleanor Roosevelt as well as “if it breaks, it needed replacing anyway,”

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Abraham Lincoln

“Liberty does not exist where rights are on one side and power on the other. To be liberty, rights must be armed with vital powers. A people cannot be free who do not participate in the control of the government which operates upon them.” – Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus

“If everything seems under control, you are just not going fast enough” – Mario Andretti

“No, not the green one!” – Tyler Durden

“First, being trained to a highly proficient level does not guarantee that the individual will perform well under force pressure. Second, the lack of training does not guarantee that the individual will not perform well under force pressure.” ― Varg Freeborn, Beyond OODA: Developing the Orientation for Deception, Conflict and Violence

“Don’t get old” – Erna Clara Rathmann (my Grandma) when asked what advice she could offer at her 100th birthday party in 2013 while sipping a margarita.

“Strategies begin with a verb” – Ivan Rosenberg

“Great results can be achieved with small forces” -Sun Tzu

“We cannot spend the day in explanation” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“A Tree Never Hits An Automobile Except In Self Defense.” – Woody Allen

“Today I will do what others won’t so tomorrow I can do what others can’t.”— Jerry Rice

“The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.”— Walter Bagehot

“If you don’t make the time to work on creating the life you want, you’re eventually going to be forced to spend a lot of time dealing with a life you don’t want.”— Kevin Ngo

“If you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do something you have never done.”-Thomas Jefferson

“Bad attitude is the only real disability” – Scott Hamilton

“Two things I hate, losing and catching cancer” – Kenny Powers

“To heal you I have to hurt you”- Grace (my nursing student daughter) after her shift today

“Sometimes the only cure is death” – Grace as well

“Science progresses one death at a time” Joe Rogan guest talking about new theories being accepted only after the academic that fights against it dies.

“There is no lifeguard for the gene pool.”-Steven Wright

“Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something” – Plato

“The poison was never forced — it was offered gently, until you forgot it was poison at all.” – Mark Twain

“I hear mama sounds the same on any tongue “ and “I hear sorrow tastes the same on every tongue “ – David Gilmour song

“Stretch or starve” – Fergus at the B & B in Blarney while talking about growing up with 11 siblings when the food was placed on the dinner table.

“Give them bread and circuses” Referring to keeping people distracted from what is actually going on-is attributed to Juvenal, a Roman poet

“Without courage, truth is an orphan” -is attributed to the South Korean author and activist Kim Dae-jung.

“Eliminate non-urgent and unimportant things. Delegate or automate urgent but unimportant. Urgent and important stuff now has time for completion but do them un-distracted and efficiently.”-Eisenhower

“You don’t have to have an opinion about that. I think about that all the time—I don’t have to have an opinion about this, I can just let it be, I can ignore it, I can realize it doesn’t pertain to me, or I can just see it as it is. I don’t need to say that it’s good or bad, fair or unfair—it just is. I’m going to look at it as an objective piece of information. It doesn’t need me projecting my thoughts or beliefs or perceptions on it. You don’t have to have an opinion about this.” – Marcus Aurelius

“If you want a golden rule that will fit everybody, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” — William Morris (I had to wiki him when I read this quote)

“Even a dead cat bounces once” – Economist Brian Beaulieu in reference to the Brandon stock market rebounds.

“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist” -Keyser Soze

“Don’t miss the elephant while trying to stomp the ants” – Can’t remember

“Leadership consists of nothing but taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong and giving your subordinates credit for everything that goes well” – Eisenhower

“Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant.” – The Discourses, CXLV

“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”-E.B. White

“A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week” — George Patton

“Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right thing.” – Team of Teams

“If you have to pick a side, you’ve already lost.’ -Rick Desens. 

“One fifth of the people are against everything all the time” – Robert Kennedy

“Learn to say “no” because every time you say yes to something you don’t really want to do, you are saying no to the things you are doing or want to do” – Tom Hanks

“9 women can’t give you a baby in one month.” – Ed Holmann

“Knocking up 9 women won’t give you a baby in one month” – Warren Buffet

“No risk it, no biscuit.” – Bruce Ariens

“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.” – Marcus Aurelius

“Nothing travels faster than the speed of light with the possible exception of bad news, which obeys its own special laws.” – Douglas Adams

“Don’t Panic”-Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy

“Before all else, be armed.”-Niccolo Machiavelli

“Confidence is going after Moby Dick in a row boat and packing the tartar sauce.” – Zig Ziglar

“Our grass isn’t right for everyone”.-Ted Rolfs

“Take the time to do it right because we don’t have time to do it again.” – Carl Rathmann

“I would rather deal with harsh reality than living in false hope.”-Dr. Clarkson on Downton Abbey

“Never put yourself in a position where you are afraid of the truth”-Winston Churchill through Bob

“We’re paid to be productive, not busy.”

“There is no shortage of great ideas, but rather a shortage of initiative to use them”

“Good fences make good neighbors.” – A contract law attorney

“Stereotypes make things so much easier”-Unnamed mentor

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” -Churchill 

“If you see something wrong, you can either do something or nothing. Nothing’s already been tried.” – Wonder Woman

“Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered” – Jim Graff

“When starting at the bottom, be willing to learn from those at the top.”

“Never let a good crisis go to waste.”-Some dipshit in politics 

“The tail is only there to support the teeth.”-Rumsfeld’s Rules

“If you want traction, you first need friction.”

“F-E-A-R has two meanings: ‘Forget Everything And Run’ or ‘Face Everything And Rise.’ The choice is yours.” – Zig Ziglar

“Government does two things well, nothing and overreact.” -Rumsfeld’s Rules

“Trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.”

“What you see is what you get. What you don’t see gets you.”

“You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might wish to have.”

“Three kinds of people. Those that make things happen, those that watch things happen, and those that wonder what happened.”

“Leadership is by consent, not command. Leaders must persuade.”

“Don’t let the urgent crowd out the important.”

“Disagreement is not disloyalty.”

“The world is run by those who show up.”

“If you expect people to be in on the landing, include them in the takeoff.”

“Prune businesses, products, activities, and people annually.” 

“Anyone has the ability to review something and make it better, few are able to identify what is missing.”

“Talent hits a target no one else can hit, genius hits a target no one else can see.”

“Never hire anyone you can’t fire.”

“If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much.” – Rumsfeld

“If you are coasting, you’re going downhill.” 

“Working from your inbox is working on other people’s priorities.” 

“If you can’t list your top 3 priorities, you don’t have any.”

“No plan survives first contact with the enemy.” 

“Those who know don’t talk. Those who talk don’t know.” 

“Warning time not used is wasted time. It’s like a runway behind the pilot.”

“Never assume the other guy will never do something you would never do.”

“Sometimes winners are the ones willing to do what others wouldn’t.” 

“First reports are often wrong.”

“Proper preparation prevents poor performance.”

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

“Speed kills (wins). It creates opportunity, denies options, and hastens the enemy’s collapse.” Gen. Norman Schwartzkopf

“Trust leaves on horseback but returns on foot.” 

“If it doesn’t go easy, force it.”

“Keep one in the clip.” – John Schira 

“You always have two choices: your commitment versus your fear.”

“If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.”

“There are losers, users, and fusers.  How are you making the pie bigger for everyone to share.”

“God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason.”

“Don’t confuse the success of the channel or activity with the contribution to the business.” – @Robert_Rose @BMA_Milwaukee

8 Things to Build a Business -Howard Trudell, CEO 1871

1. Tell a simple story
2. Keep raising the bar
3. Get started! The screenplay is never the movie that is made but you need to start somewhere
4. Make cheap mistakes
5. Make room for people
6. Can’t add value without values
7. Run like the wind and don’t look back
8. Don’t think for a minute that you’re doing it for someone else.

“Only winners decide what war crimes are.”

“Nail it then scale it.”

“Have in-game amnesia (short term memory or be a gold fish for you Ted Lasso fans) and focus forward and do what is right today.”

“If you are in a hole, stop digging!”

“You can put more steak sauce on your hot dog but it is still a wiener.”

“It’s a business not a romance.”

“Sometimes the baby actually is ugly (tell people when they have a bad idea)”

“Hope” is not strategic!

“You get what you work for, not what you wish for.”

“Values change based on life stage and business stage so be careful not to serve too many masters.”

“Have a goal….If you do not know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

“You don’t build a lighthouse to go find ships.” – Heather Mangold

“2 different kinds of people…..Those that allow circumstances to change them and those that go change the circumstances.”

“If you have a 6 month sales cycle, then doing nothing today guarantees you will have nothing 6 months from now.”

“Mentoring can be two-way.”

“Don’t let the limitations of others define you.”

“I don’t know” used to mean you were dumb or ignorant, now it just means you are lazy…..Google it!

“The first thing you should do before starting a business is to go out and talk to 100 prospective customers.”

“Never teach a pig to sing…..It wastes your time and annoys the pig.”-From the office wall of Carl Rathmann.

“Never wrestle with a pig because you just get muddy and the pig actually enjoys it” – Someone else.

“If you want clear water, go to the head of the stream.”-Walter Goggins character in Justified

“If all you have is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail.”

“Do it or not. There is no try.” – Yoda, Jedi Master.

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” – Chinese proverb.

“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” Henry Ford

“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover.” Mark Twain

“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” – Albert Einstein

“I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.” – Steve Jobs

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” – Walt Disney

“You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” Wayne Gretzky

“There are no traffic jams on the extra mile.” – Zig Ziglar

“Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.” – Richard Branson

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius.

“It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” – Babe Ruth

“For all of the most important things, the timing always sucks. Waiting for a good time to quit your job? The stars will never align and the traffic lights of life will never all be green at the same time. The universe doesn’t conspire against you, but it doesn’t go out of its way to line up the pins either. Conditions are never perfect. “Someday” is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you. Pro and con lists are just as bad. If it’s important to you and you want to do it “eventually,” just do it and correct course along the way.”- Timothy Ferriss

“The media wants overnight successes (so they have someone to tear down). Ignore them. Ignore the early adopter critics that never have enough to play with. Ignore your investors that want proven tactics and predictable instant results. Listen instead to your real customers, to your vision and make something for the long haul. Because that’s how long it’s going to take, guys. – Seth Godin

“Don’t worry about funding if you don’t need it. Today it’s cheaper to start a business than ever.”- Noah Everett

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas Edison, inventor.

“Entrepreneurship is neither a science nor an art. It is a practice.” – Peter Drucker, management consultant, educator, and author.

“In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you create.” – David Ogilvy

“It doesn’t matter how many times you fail. It doesn’t matter how many times you almost get it right. No one is going to know or care about your failures, and neither should you. All you have to do is learn from them and those around you because all that matters in business is that you get it right once. Then everyone can tell you how lucky you are.” – Mark Cuban

“Success is how high you bounce after you hit bottom.” – General George Patton.

“Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.” – Zig Ziglar, author, salesman, and motivational speaker.

From Mark Rodgers – The Persuasion Equation: 5 Characteristics of Persuasion (Scale of 1 to 10, you should be a …..)

1. Assertiveness (7)
2. Empathetic (8)
3. Communication (10)
4. Tenacious (5)
5. Resilient (5)

80% of people are idealists, 20% are pragmatists……Guess what Peter is?

Users of persuasion: Mindless, Machiavellian, Savvy

“You need to have congruence in selling….can’t sell it if you don’t believe in it…….Shouldn’t sell motorcycles if you think they are dangerous and overpriced.”

“Where a person stands depends on where they sit.”

When talking to a new person, use the (FORM) framework to structure the conversation (F) Family (O) Occupation (R) Recreation (M) Motivation

ART: Acknowledge, Respond, Transition – OVERCOMING OBJECTIONS

Use the “Triad” to prove your point….Rule of 3’s.  3 examples of things…NOT 4.  3 is the charm, 4 is the harm.

“Can you show them what the price of doing nothing is?”

“Progress…..not perfection”

“When you pray for rain, you are going to have to deal with the mud too.”

“Every assassin needs a bullet maker.”-Bill King

“Anyone can lead in peacetime…..Real leadership comes through hard decisions in the battle.”

“You’re not superior, you’re not inferior, you’re just you.” – Psycho Cybernetics 

“Time is your biggest enemy.”

“Attunement, Buoyancy, Clarity” (New ABC’s of selling)

“40% of your time is already selling” (24 minutes of every hour)

“Givers get. Takers kiss up and kick down” – From the book

“Don’t confuse the success of the activity with the contribution to the business.” – Dude at a conference I attended.

“Sell low and close high” – Jerry Lynn

“A hammer doesn’t swing itself” – Brad Van Damm

“The things that can be counted may not be worth counting.”

“Nobody knows until you expose” Jerry Lynn ( I ended up firing this guy!!!)

“Autopsies shouldn’t be conducted by the murder” – Ann Coulter after the RNC was investigating why they could not get anyone other than Trump on their ticket.

‘You don’t know your limits until you exceed them” – Rob Bob

“Profit is an attitude.” – Ted Rolfs

“There is no more exhilarating of a feeling than being shot at and missed”- Maddog Mattis

”When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty.”-Thomas Jefferson

“What we do in life echoes in eternity.”-Maximus

“Destiny may ride with us today, but there is no reason for it to interfere with lunch”-Peter the Great (not me)

“The world suffers a lot. Not because of the violence of the bad people, but rather the silence of the good people.”-Napoleon

“Superficial goals lead to superficial results.” – Attila the Hun

“Without knowledge, skill cannot be focused. Without skill, strength cannot be brought to bear and without strength, knowledge may not be applied.” – Alexander the Great

“Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that is counted counts.”- Einstein

‘Iron Maiden has our field and that’s what we plow. We can only plow one field at a time; we don’t care what anyone else is doing with their field.’-Bruce Dickinson

“Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough” – Mark Twain

“The poison was never forced — it was offered gently, until you forgot it was poison at all.” – also Mark Twain

“I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’ anymore and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary. It’ll happen to you!” – Grandpa Simpson

Peter 3:16 – I actually flipped John 3:16 being the contrarian I am and made a play on Austin 3:16. I get that God so loved the world that he have his only son and that Steve Austin said “I just whipped your ass!” but Peter 3:16 states “I so love my son (and daughters) that I am trying to give him the world and all those who support him shall be given gratitude.”