The collection / 25 fragments

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Passages, proverbs, and questions carried across the ages.

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01Undated

Start small.Start now.Start everything.And don’t bother to finish any of it.

Barbara Sher / quote

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02Undated

And be grateful that you’re a Scanner. Not everyone can have this much fun with nothing but what’s between her ears.

Barbara Sher / quote

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03Undated

Let’s end the notion that ideas have no value unless they turn into a business or have some other practical use. Save them all in a beautiful book like Leonardo did. You might want to give them away someday, perhaps to someone who needs an idea. Or your great-great-grandchildren might love knowing what a fascinating mind you had. Or your biographer might be very happy after you’re gone.

Barbara Sher / quote

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04Undated

Since then I’ve come to believe you don’t always have to use things you love, and it’s not always so practical to be so practical. Now that I’ve grown up, I realize that all that delicious dilettantism pays its way as much as any degree in medicine or engineering, by making me remember every day—whenever I pick up a book or watch the Science Channel or try to read a map of Asia for no particular reason—that life is amazing and there is no end to the wonder of it.

Barbara Sher / quote

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05Undated

How can families harm us when they love us? Very easily, unfortunately. Most of us overlook one important fact when we think love is enough: Love and respect aren't the same thing.Love is fusion. As a baby, you belong to your parents, you're extension of them. Respect is differentiation: you belong to yourself, and you're an extension of no one. Differentiation is essential for happiness of adults.

Barbara Sher / quote

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06Undated

You can waste a perfectly good life trying to meet the standards of someone who thinks you’re not good enough because they can’t understand who you are.

Barbara Sher / quote

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07Undated

You can learn new things at any time in your life if you're willing to be a beginner. If you actually learn to like being a beginner, the whole world opens up to you.

Barbara Sher / quote

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08Undated

What you're really supposed to be doing is whatever makes your heart sing.

Barbara Sher / quote

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09Undated

Every time you have to make a choice about anything, think "Does this go toward or away from what I want?" Always choose what goes toward what you want.

Barbara Sher / quote

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10Undated

Every time you worry that you could get trapped in some kind of work you don't care about, you're dealing with the problem of meaningfulness. I guarantee that in the back of your mind is the thought that somehow you have to make a contribution to something, be acknowledged, do something that matters--or you're just fooling around.

Barbara Sher / quote

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11Undated

Down deep we really know our worth but we don't have easy access to that knowledge. We need to hear praise coming from outside ourselves or we won't remember that we deserve it.

Barbara Sher / quote

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12Undated

Resentment is weak and lowers your self-esteem.

Barbara Sher / quote

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13Undated

Thinking about swimming isn't much like actually getting in the water. Actually getting in the water can take your breath away.

Barbara Sher / quote

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14Undated

Anything worth doing is worth doing too soon.

Barbara Sher / quote

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15Undated

"Now" is the operative word. Everything you put in your way is just a method of putting off the hour when you could actually be doing your dream.

Barbara Sher / quote

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16Undated

In the rush of daily living it's easy to forget all the remarkable people real or fictional who have been a part of your life. But if you just imagine they are near for a moment you will realize that anyone who ever touched your heart is always with you patiently waiting to emanate warmth and support whenever you remember to think of them.

Barbara Sher / quote

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17Undated

Every single one of us can do things that no one else can do can love things that no one else can love . . . We are like violins. We can be used for doorstops or we can make music.

Barbara Sher / quote

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18Undated

Doing is a quantum leap from imagining.

Barbara Sher / quote

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19Undated

The defense force inside of us wants us to be cautious to stay away from anything as intense as a new kind of action. Its job is to protect us and it categorically avoids anything resembling danger. But it's often wrong.

Barbara Sher / quote

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20Undated

You don't need endless time and perfect conditions. Do it now. Do it today. Do it for twenty minutes and watch your heart start beating.

Barbara Sher / quote

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21Undated

And our dreams are who we are.

Barbara Sher / quote

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22Undated

When you start using senses you've neglected, your reward is to see the world with completely fresh eyes.

Barbara Sher / quote

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23Undated

The amount of good luck coming your way depends on your willingness to act.

Barbara Sher / quote

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24Undated

The cure for sorrow is to learn something.

Barbara Sher / quote

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