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Frank Ball writing in his study

The quote library

Frankisms

Short truths, collected over a lifetime of writing and teaching. Read a few, or lose an afternoon.

Collected
224
  • ““I am a writer.” Over time, the image in your mind and the reality will become one, if you continue to practice. — Natalie Goldberg”

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  • “A discovery is said to be an accident meeting a prepared mind. — Albert Szent-Gyorgyi”

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  • “A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God’s truth is attacked and yet would remain silent — John Calvin”

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  • “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. — Lao-tzu (604-531 BC), The Way of Lao-Tzu, 64”

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  • “A man of courage is also full of faith. — Cicero”

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  • “A pat on the back, though only a few vertebrae removed from a kick in the pants, is miles ahead in results. — Bennett Cerf”

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  • “A ship in harbor is safe—but that is not what ships are for. — John A. Shedd”

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  • “A survey taken of 600 university students in psychology asked, “What is your most difficult personal problem?” Seventy-five percent said, “Lack of confidence.” — Ray Considine”

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  • “A woman is like a teabag; you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water. — Nancy Reagan”

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  • “After years of repetitive work, you will often need to dig hard to find your passions, redefine your dreams, and revive hobbies that you let atrophy to near extinction. — Timothy Ferriss”

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  • “All things are difficult before they are easy. — Thomas Fuller”

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  • “Always do well, never do poorly. … In this mode, you can do only what you are already good at doing. — Robert Fritz”

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  • “And many strokes, though with a little axe, hew down and fell the hardest-timbered oak. — Shakespeare”

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  • “And what is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not been discovered. — Ralph Waldo Emerson”

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  • “Anyone honest will tell you that possibility is far more frightening than impossibility. — Julia Cameron”

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  • “As long as a man imagines that he cannot do a certain thing, it is impossible for him to do it. — Benedict Spinoza”

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  • “Be quick to take advantage of an advantage. — H. Jackson Brown Jr”

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  • “Before you even break ground, decide what you want to harvest. — Esther M. Friesner”

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  • “Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent. — Marilyn vos Savant”

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  • “Check for toilet paper before sitting down. — H. Jackson Brown Jr”

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  • “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. — Confucius”

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  • “Comparison—regardless of the result—can be deadly. You can’t win. You either become smug and complacent, or you go the other way and feel depressed and despairing. — Cecil Murphey”

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  • “Confidence relates to a sense that your skills are suited to the task. — Susan K. Perry”

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  • “Constantly, we need encouragement and reassurance. We yearn for some small demonstration that it’s worth our while to go on fighting. — Dwight V. Swain”

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  • “Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved. — William Jennings Bryan”

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  • “Diligence is the mother of good luck. — Benjamin Franklin”

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  • “Discover what you do well and do more of it. — Cecil Murphey”

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  • “Do a good job because you want to, not because you have to. This puts you in charge instead of your boss. — H. Jackson Brown Jr”

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  • “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. — Ralph Waldo Emerson”

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  • “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. — John Wooden”

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  • “Do not suppose opportunity will knock twice at your door. — Sebastien Chamfort”

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  • “Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb. That’s where the fruit is. — Arthur F. Lenehan”

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  • “Don’t expect to find you’re doing everything right — the truth often hurts. The goal is to find your inefficiencies in order to eliminate them and to find your strengths so you can multiply them. — Timothy Ferriss”

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  • “Don’t only evaluate the potential downside of action. It is equally important to measure the atrocious cost of inaction. — Timothy Ferriss”

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  • “Enthusiasm is the greatest asset in the world. It beats money and power and influence. — Henry Chester”

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  • “Every choice to do one thing means a choice to not do something else. But it also costs you the anxiety of waiting, freeing you from the trap of decision paralysis. Committing to a cause sets you free. — Jeff Goins”

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  • “Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits. — Thomas Alva Edison”

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  • “Excitement is the more practical synonym for happiness, and it is precisely what you should strive to chase. — Timothy Ferriss”

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  • “Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor. — Truman Capote”

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  • “Fear itself is quite fear-inducing. Most intelligent people in the world dress it up as something else: optimistic denial. — Timothy Ferriss”

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