A father noticed that his son was spending way too much time playing computer games. In an effort to motivate the boy into focusing more attention on his schoolwork, the father said to his son, "When Abe Lincoln was your age, he was studying books by the light of the fireplace." The son replied, "Well, when Lincoln was your age, he was The President of The United States."

A man died and went to heaven. When he met St. Peter at the pearly gates, he had a question. "Pete, I've been a student of military history my entire life, and one question has vexed me. Who was the greatest general of all? Was it Alexander the Great, Napolean, or some other?" Without pausing, Peter said, "That's easy--it was that man right there." And he pointed. The dead guy was stunned, "But Peter, I knew that man on earth. He wasn't a general--he was a janitor!" "Yes, but he would have been the greatest general who ever lived, if he had only been a general." How often we fail to live up to our potential.

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."

My success so far has only been won by absolute indifference to my future career.

There is no magic in small plans. When I consider my ministry, I think of the world. Anything less than that would not be worthy of Christ nor His will for my life.

Waste no more time talking about great souls and how they should be. Become one yourself!

Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to bet better than yourself. --

God uses lust to impel man to marriage, ambition to office, avarice to earning, and fear to faith. -- Martin Luther

Great men are but life-sized. Most of them, indeed, are rather short. – Sir Max Beerbohm, 1920.

High aims form high characters, and great objectives bring out great minds. -- Tryon Edwards

Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to construct a vast and lofty fabric? Think first about the foundations of humility. The higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be its foundations. -- Augustine

The meek will inherit the earth - but not the mineral rights. - J. Paul Getty

If your ship doesn't come in, swim out to it! -- Jonathan Winters

When I was a kid I was told that anybody could become President. I’m beginning to believe it! -- Unknown

The descent into hell is easy, and those who begin by worshiping power soon worship evil. By: C.S. Lewis Source: The Allegory of Love, pg 188

The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.

Piqued and curious, Alexander eventually went out to the suburb where Diogenes lived, in his large clay tub, and approached him personally. He found the philosopher sunning himself, naked except for a loincloth. Diogenes, his meditations disturbed by the noise and laughter of the numerous courtiers who came flocking at the captain-general's heels, looked up at Alexander with a direct, uncomfortable gaze, but said nothing. For once in his life, Alexander was somewhat embarrassed. He greeted Diogenes with elaborate formality and waited. Diogenes remained silent. At last, in desperation, Alexander asked if there was anything t philosopher wanted, anything he, Alexander, could do for him? "Yes," came the famous answer, "stand aside; you're keeping the sun off me." That was the end of the interview.... Alexander's followers tried to turn the episode into a joke, jeering at Diogenes and belittling his pretensions. But the captain-general silenced them with one enigmatic remark. "If I were not Alexander," he said, "I would be Diogenes." [Cantor adds, "Diogenes wanted nothing to do with the world; Alexander wanted to conquer it. The two men died on the same day: Alexander at thirty-three, Diogenes at ninety."]

There are two different types of achievements. Regaining muscle strength after recuperation from a broken leg and making the last payment on a thirty-year mortgage are victories with fixed features that allow pride when attained. But the desire to be rich or to have higher status lacks this quality, for there are always others with more wealth or higher status. Hence, many who seek these goals are never satisfied and experience chronic uncertainty instead of pride.