ROTI Institute
Life Lessons, Quips & One Liners

Compiled by:
Carlo Monticelli, RI Director 98/00 and
Douglas W Vincent, Chairman, the ROTI Institute

Quips & One Liners

"Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another" -- John Dewey

"I am a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work the more I have of it" -- Stephen Leacock

"Happy are those who dream dreams and are willing to pay the price to see them come true."

"Life is like riding a bicycle, you don't fall off unless you stop pedaling" -- Claude Pepper

"Team spirit is what gives so many companies an edge over their competitors" -- George L Clements

"Aim high, work hard and do not give up."

"No pain, no gain."

"Patience + Persistence = Progress."

"Price, Quality and Service -- You can pick any two out of three."

"First we will be the best -- then we will be the first."

"When you do something you don't have to, it means you want to, and when you want to, it means that you're good at it."

"Good supervision is the art of getting average people to do superior work."

"We have to adapt to changing times but we also have to keep to unchanging principles."

"Occasional failure is the price of improvement."

"Recognition is the best means of motivating us to achieve more than we have thought possible."

"The future is ours because of the beauty of our dreams."

"The future is chosen, not predicted."

"It would be a better world if we could always lead by recognizing and praising the contributions of others."

"Nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent."

"Words in ink, make the people think."

"Keep your face to the sunshine -- and you'll never see the shadow."

"A dream is always a bargain -- no matter what you pay for it."

"Of all the things you wear your expression is the most important."

"You only get one chance to make a good first impression, and yours may be in the hands of your receptionist."

"A true leader has to "sell" the future."

"The art of diplomacy is getting people to see things your way."

"Nothing is interesting if you are not interested."

"Be as nice as you can and only as un-nice as you have to be."

"You cannot buy enthusiasm, loyalty, devotion of hearts, minds, or souls -- You must earn these."

"You can give without loving -- but you can't love without giving."

"Friendship is like a bank account -- You can't continue to draw on it without making deposits."

"Kindness is the most pleasant form of egoism" -- Ludovic O'Followell

"When friends are in trouble, don't bother them by asking if there is anything you can do -- Think of something appropriate and just do it."

"A verbal contract isn't worth -- the paper it's written on."

"Anybody who goes to a psychiatrist -- ought to have his head examined"

"The world is full of willing people; some willing to work, the rest to let them" -- Robert Frost

"The only place where success comes before work is a dictionary" -- Vidal Sassoon

"Everything is changing -- People are taking the comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke" -- Will Rogers

"A person all wrapped up in himself generally makes a pretty small package" -- E Joseph Cossman

"Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm" -- Publilius Syrus

"The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones" -- Chinese Proverb

"We all admire the wisdom of people who come to us for advice" -- Jack Herbert

"Looks are so deceptive that people should be done up like food packages with the ingredients clearly labeled" -- Helen Hudson

"Any child can tell you that the sole purpose of a middle name is so he can tell when he's really in trouble."

"The right angle to approach a difficult problem is the "TRY-angle" -- Gio McKay

"The poor man is not he who is without a cent, but he who is without a dream" -- Harry Kemp

"Creativity is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom while discouragement often nips it at the bud" -- Alex Osborn

"The man who has no inner life is a slave to his surroundings" -- Henri-Frederic Amiel

"People only see what they are prepared to see" -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The voyage to discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes" -- Marcel Proust

"Keep your words soft and sweet 'cause you never know when you'll have to eat 'em."

"Life is like a shower -- one wrong move and you're in hot water."

"There's nothing wrong with having nothing to say -- unless you insist on saying it."

"Character is made by what you stand for; reputation, by what you fall for -- Robert Quillen

"Opportunities are never lost -- the other fellow always takes those you miss."

"The man who needs no "pull" -- is the man with a lot of "push."

"There's nothing either good or bad -- thinking makes it so" -- W Shakespeare

"Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are and doing things as they ought to be done" CE Stowe

"It takes wisdom to know one's faults, -- but it takes greatness to admit them."

"If you would create something, -- you must be something" -- JW Van Goethe

"There are two ways of meeting difficulties -- you alter the difficulties, or you alter yourself to meet them" -- Phyllis Bottome

"Instruction ends in the schoolroom, but education ends only with life" -- FW Robertson

"All progress stems from change, but all change is not necessarily progress" -- Bruce Barton

"A goal, a love and a dream gives you total control over your body & your life" -- John Schlatter

"True eloquence consists in saying all that should be said, and that only" -- La Rochefoucauld

"Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart."

"Anger is only one letter short of danger."

"If someone betrays you once, it's his fault; -- if he betrays you twice, it's your fault."

"God gives every bird it's food -- but he does not throw it into the nest."

"Learn from the mistakes of others -- You can't live long enough to make them all yourself."

"The tongue weighs practically nothing, -- but so few people can hold it."

"Rotary takes ordinary people and gives them extraordinary opportunities to do more with their lives than they ever dreamed possible" -- Clem Renouf, RI President 1978-79

"The world is moved not only by the mighty shoves of the heroes but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker" Helen Keller

"No man or woman of the humblest sort can really be strong, gentle and good, without the world being better for it, without somebody being helped and comforted by the very existence of that goodness" -- Phillips Brooks

To me, a successful life is to be able to say to oneself, "I have done everything to the best of my ability" -- George (Mingo) K M Chin

"The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green" -- Thomas Carlyle

"The shortest and surest way to live with honor in the world is to be in reality what we would appear to be" -- Socrates

"When a work lifts your spirits and inspires bold and noble thoughts in you, do not look for any other standard to judge by: -- the work is good, the product of a master craftsman" -- La Bruyere

The sages do not consider that making no mistakes is a blessing -- They believe, rather, that the great virtue of man lies in his ability to correct his mistakes and continually make a new man of himself -- Wang Yang-Ming

"Friendship is a living thing that lasts only as long as it is nourished with kindness, sympathy and understanding -- Friendship that is bought will not stay bought; sooner or later there will be a higher bidder" -- Shehzad Ahmed

"There was no such thing as half-trying. Whether it was running a race or catching a football, competing in school - we were to try -- And we were to try harder than anyone else -- We might not be the best, and none of us were, but we were to make the effort to be the best" -- Robert F Kennedy

"People of widely divergent views in our country live in peace together because they share certain common aspirations which are more important than their differences. The common responsibility of all Americans is to become effective, helpful participants in a way of life that blends and harmonizes the fiercely competitive demands of the individual and society." -- Dwight D Eisenhower

"I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving. To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it -- but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

"You can have anything you want - if you want it badly enough -- You can be anything you want to be, do anything you set out to accomplish if you hold to that desire with singleness of purpose" -- Abraham Lincoln

"Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul; the blue prints of your ultimate accomplishments" -- Napoleon Hill

Honesty: -- No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true -- Nathaniel Hawthorne

A Baby: -- A baby is a small member of the family that makes love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, the bankroll smaller, the home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living

Trust: -- Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Time: -- Lost, yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes -- No reward is offered, for they are gone forever -- Horace Mann

Remember the three R's: Respect for yourself; Respect for others; Responsibility for all your actions

The greatest pain in life is not to die, but to be ignored

To lose the person you love so much to another who doesn't care at all

To have someone you care about throw a party and not tell you about it

When your favorite person on earth neglects to invite you to their graduation

To have people think that you don't care

The greatest pain in life, is not to die, but to be forgotten

To be left in the dust after another's great achievement

To never get a call from a friend, just saying "hi."

When you show someone your innermost thoughts and they laugh in your face

For friends to always be too busy to console you when you need someone to lift your spirits

When it seems like the only person who cares about you, is you

Life is full of pain, but does it ever get better?

Will people ever care about each other, and make time for those who are in need?

Each of us has a part to play in this great show we call life

Each of us has a duty to mankind to tell our friends we LOVE them

If you do not care about your friends you will not be punished

You will simply be ignored, forgotten, as you have done to others

Author -- Unknown

I Gave

Three thousand for my brand new car,

Five thousand for a piece of sod,

Ten thousand I paid to begin a house -

A dollar I gave to God

A tidy sum to entertain

My friends in pointless chatter,

And when the world goes crazy mad

I ask, "Lord, what's the matter"?

Yet there is one big question

For the answer I still search

"With things so bad in this old world,

What's holding back my church?."

There are little eyes upon you

and they're watching night and day

There are little ears that quickly

take in every word you say

There are little hands all eager

to do anything you do;

and a little boy who's dreaming

of the day he'll be like you

You're the little fellow's idol,

you're the wisest of the wise

In his little mind about you

no suspicions ever rise

He believes in you devoutly,

and holds all you say and do;

He will react, in your way,

when he's grown up like you

There's a wide eyed little fellow

who believes you're always right;

And his eyes are always opened,

as he watches day and night

You are setting an example,

every day in all you do,

For the little boy who's waiting

to grow up and be like you

Around the corner I have a friend,

In this great city that has no end,

Yet the days go by and weeks rush on,

And before I know it,

A year is gone

And I never see my old friends face,

For life is a swift and terrible race,

He knows I like him just as well,

As in the days when I rang his bell

And he rang mine if, we were younger then,

And now we are busy, tired men

Tired of playing a foolish game,

Tired of trying to make a name

Tomorrow" I say "I will call on Jim."

Just to show that I'm thinking of him."

But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,

And the distance between us grows and grows

Around the corner!-yet miles away,

Here's a telegram sir, Jim died today."

And that's what we get and deserve in the end

Around the corner, a vanished friend

Remember to always say what you mean

If you love someone, tell them

Don't be afraid to express yourself

Reach out and tell someone what they mean to you

Because when you decide that it is the right time,

it might be too late

Seize the day

Never have regrets

And most importantly, stay close to your

friends and family, for they have helped make you

the person that you are today

Pass this along to your friends

It could make a difference

The difference between doing all that you can or

having regrets which may stay with you forever

It's nice to be important, but it's more important "to be nice."

Of all things you wear, your smile is most important."

I dreamt death came the other night

And heaven's gate swung wide;

With kindly grace an angel came

To usher me inside

Yet there to my astonishment

Stood folks I'd known on earth,

Some I had judged as quite unfit

Or of but little worth

Indignant words rose to my lips

But never were set free;

For every face showed stunned surprise -

No one expected me!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

From: Philip Merritt

I've Learned

I've learned - That you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved -- The rest is up to them

I've learned - That no matter how much I care, some people just don't care back.

I've learned - That it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.

I've learned - That it's not what you have in your life but who you have in your life that counts.

I've learned - That you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes -- After that, you'd better know something.

I've learned - That you shouldn't compare yourself to the best others can do but to the best you can do.

I've learned - That it's not what happens to people that's important It's what they do about it.

I've learned - That you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I've learned - That no matter how thin you slice it, there are always two sides.

I've learned - That it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I've learned - That it's a lot easier to react than it is to think.

I've learned - That you should always leave loved ones with loving words -- It may be the last time you see them.

I've learned - That you can keep going long after you think you can't.

I've learned - That we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I've learned - That either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I've learned - That regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.

I've learned - That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I've learned - That learning to forgive takes practice.

I've learned - That there are people who love you dearly, but just don't know how to show it.

I've learned - That money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I've learned - That my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.

I've learned - That sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down will be the ones to help you get back up.

I've learned - That sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

I've learned - That true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance Same goes for true love.

I've learned - That just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have.

I've learned - That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

I've learned - That you should never tell a child their dreams are unlikely or outlandish Few things are more humiliating, and what a tragedy it would be if they believed it.

I've learned - That your family won't always be there for you It may seem funny, but people you aren't related to can take care of you and love you and teach you to trust people again -- Families aren't just biological, but of the soul.

I've learned - That no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I've learned - That it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others -- Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I've learned - That no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I've learned - That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I've learned - That sometimes when my friends fight, I'm forced to choose sides even when I don't want to.

I've learned - That just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other -- And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.

I've learned - That sometimes you have to put the individual ahead of their actions.

I've learned - That we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I've learned - That you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret -- It could change your life forever.

I've learned - That two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I've learned - That no matter how you try to protect your children, they will eventually get hurt and you will hurt in the process.

I've learned - That there are many ways of falling and staying in love .

I've learned - That no matter the consequences, those who are honest with themselves get farther in life.

I've learned - That no matter how many friends you have, if you are their pillar you will feel lonely and lost at the times you need them most.

I've learned - That your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.

I've learned - That even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the -- strength to help.

I've learned - That writing, as well as talking, can ease emotional pains.

I've learned - That the paradigm we live in is not all that is offered to us.

I've learned - That credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I've learned - That the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon.

I've learned - That although the word "love" can have many different meanings; it loses value when over used.

I've learned - That it's hard to determine where to draw the line between being nice and not hurting people's feelings and standing up for what you believe.

1 - YOU WILL RECEIVE A BODY

You may like it or hate it but it will be yours for the entire period this time around..

2 - YOU WILL LEARN LESSONS

You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant or stupid.

3 - THERE ARE NO MISTAKES, ONLY LESSONS

Growth is a process of trial and error: experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately "works."

4 - A LESSON IS REPEATED UNTIL LEARNED

A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can then go to the next lesson.

5 - LEARNING LESSONS DOES NOT END

There is no part of life that does not contain its lesson If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.

6 - "THERE" IS NO BETTER THAN "HERE."

When your "there" has become a "here" you will simply obtain another "there" that will, again, look better than "here."

7 - OTHERS ARE MERELY MIRRORS OF YOU

You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate in yourself.

8 - WHAT YOU MAKE OF YOUR LIFE IS UP TO YOU

You have all the tools and resources you need, what you do with them is up to you . The choice is yours.

9 - YOUR ANSWERS LIE INSIDE YOU

The answers to life's questions lie inside you All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.

"Man who run in front of car, get tired."

"Man who run behind car, get exhausted."

"War doesn't determine who's right -- War determines who's left."

"Man who drive like hell, bound to get there!."

"Man who sit on tack get point."

"Man who lives in glass house should change in basement."

"He who loses money, loses much;

He who loses a friend, loses more;

He who loses faith, loses all."

"To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity" -- Donald A Adams

"Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently" -- Henry Ford