A Few Words of Inspiration

Since I started coaching basketball five years ago, I have been collecting inspirational quotes to share with my players to keep them motivated or give them something to think about when it came to sport, school or life. My collection has reached a rather large number by this point, one that isn't feasible to be shared in its entirety in this venue. However, I've included a small sample below of the quotations I have collected over the years, paying particular attention, in this case, to some that I look to for inspiration when it comes to creativity and teaching:

Without inspiration the best powers of the mind remain dormant. There is a fuel in us which needs to be ignited with sparks.

-Johann Gottfried Von Herder-

Enthusiasm is the mother of effort, and without it nothing great was ever achieved.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson-

Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement.

-W. Clement Stone-

Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.

-Jamie Paolinetti-

Have the nerve to go into unexplored territory. Be brave enough to live life creatively.

-Alan Alda-

All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work.

-Calvin Coolidge-

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.

-Albert Einstein-

What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.

-Jane Goodall-

Not only can you not plan the impact you're going to have, you often won't recognize it when you're having it.

-Dick Costolo-

What we first find impossible, we later deem unlikely, and eventually accept as inevitable.

-Bill Bennett-

From what we get, we can make a living. What we give, however, makes a life.

-Arthur Ashe-

Lack of direction, not like of time, is the problem. We all have 24 hours.

-Zig Ziglar-

The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones.

-Ella Jane Fitzgerald-

Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.

-Margaret Mead-

The mediocre teacher tells.

The good teacher explains.

The superior teacher demonstrates.

The great teacher inspires.

-William A. Ward-

You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes,

You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.

-Dr. Seuss-

Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open.

-Unknown-

Each day when I awake I know I have one more day to make a difference in someone's life.

-James Mann-

High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation.

-Jack Kinder-

The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said.

-Peter F. Drucker-

6+3=9, but so does 5+4. The way you do things is not always the only way to do them. Respect other people's way of thinking.

-Unknown-