The final aim of life is placed beyond life.

"In ages of faith, the final aim of life is placed beyond life. The men of such ages are therefore used naturally and, as it were, involuntarily, to fix their gaze for many years on a static object toward which their progress is ever directed, and they learn by imperceptible degrees to repress a thousand small passing desires so as to satisfy more effectively this one great permanent longing which torments them. When these same men wish to concentrate upon worldly affairs, these habits come into their own. They readily settle upon one general and sure goal as an object for their actions here below and direct all their efforts toward it. You do not see them indulging in new projects every day but they do have definite plans which they never tire of pursuing.

This explains why religious nations have often achieved such lasting results. They discovered the secret of success in this world by concentrating upon the next." --  Alexis de Tocqueville

Excellence

 "We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit."  -- Aristotle

Excellent Sheep

"The ability to engage in introspection, I suggested, is the essential precondition for living the life of the mind, and the essential precondition for introspection is solitude.  My students took this in for a second -- introspection, solitude, the life of the mind, things they probably had not been asked to think about before -- then one of them said, with a dawning sense of self-awareness, 'So are you saying that we're all just, like, really excellent sheep?''  -- From Excellent Sheep by William Deresiewicz

Education for All Ages

"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.  Anyone who keeps learning stays young.  The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young." - Henry Ford

Seek And Find All The Barriers Within

"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have build against it." -Sufi Poet Rumi

Leader versus a Boss

"A boss created fear; a leader confidence.  A boss fixes blame; a leader corrects mistakes.  A boss knows all; a leader asks questions.  A boss makes work drudgery; a leader makes it interesting.  A boss is interested in himself; a leader is interested in the group".  -- Russell H. Ewing

Golden Age of Worldwide Expansion

"A Golden Age of worldwide expansion is possible.  Making it happen will require thinking big, deciding wisely and acting boldly." -- Carlota Perez