I enjoy reading quotes. I am not sure why, but I suspect it’s the smile they bring to my face or the lesson they teach. I have an app on my phone that shows a new quote everyday as well as one on my startup page on my computer at my shop and I find myself looking at them first thing in the morning to see what has been said.
One I always remember I saw on a church reader board about 25 years ago. I was traveling most of the summer back and forth to a construction project that I was overseeing. The trip took me past the small church daily and once a week the reader board would have a new quote on it. They were all very clever, but one in particular has stayed with me because it reminds me of the way my dad felt about certain situations. He was a big believer in helping people, but didn’t have much good to say about folks who really didn’t help themselves, but only seemed to take the easy way out. The quote was “He who asks by the yard, but gives by the inch should be kicked by the foot.”
That was my dad through and through. Another good one I read a number of years ago taught the lesson that “If you really want to do something, you will find a way. If you don’t, you will find an excuse.” I remind myself of that one every so often. There is a lot of truth to it.
I enjoy reading the tag lines that many folks have at the end of their email. I feel good about the folks who have something like “It’s not about the breaths you take, but the experiences that take your breath away” but feel a little uncomfortable with those that say “Kill them all and let God sort them out.” Ouch! I try to keep my distance from those folks.
One of my new favorites is one I read the other day. It is really fitting in a number of situations. I like it because I feel this way when I finish a wood project for someone, especially a project that has a special use such as a keepsake box or carved picture frame.
The quote said, “The goal isn’t to live forever; the goal is to create something that will.” That one really can make you think as you go on with your life. Speaking of that, I need to get going as I am working on a design for a small trinket box for a young man’s first communion next month. I hope it is something that lives on way beyond my time here.
And that’s the situation as I survey it …
After a 35-year career downstate amongst da trolls, during which he built a successful engineering and surveying business, John Matonich is back home in da U.P. His column will appear here occasionally, don’tcha know. His book “Surveyin’ Da Situation” is available on Amazon.com.
The whole concept of doing anything that will make an impact “forever” is folly. Make a difference today. That is a realistic and noble goal. Practice this daily and you have a great life model.
LPC???
Making a difference today is indeed a noble goal, and there are many opportunities to do so.
Making or doing something that will have an impact forever is definitely not folly.
The many things I can share had a “forever impact” on me. I have given beautiful items handed down from grandmothers and aunts to the next generation; their smiles and thanks are worth everything to me. The same goes for tools, and works of art: including carvings and sculpture. Words of wisdom tops the list. They make a difference today because they have the impact of being a “forever” thing.
I enjoy reading quotes as well, especially those that really make you think!
Love reading your articles! And I bought your book, but haven’t had a chance to read it yet. I’m sure it will be great!
I am glad you enjoy quotes as well, Tina and thank you for getting my book. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it….
A quote by my dad, about my brother: “He who marries for money earns it.”
Good one!!
A while ago, while preparing some of my work for a presentation, I grabbed a pencil and let it tell me what to scribble about what we do. This is what dribbled out of it.
No matter how hard we try–nothing we do is forever. We can make it of the finest material available to us. We can send it off into the vastness of space hoping it will outlive the planet. But nothing–not even the universe –is permanent. No matter what we make or build–no matter how much of our soul we instill in it–sometime later it will cease to exist in the way we made or experienced it.
Still, we can take comfort that never again will an exact copy of who we were, or what we have done, will ever exist. There will never be another organism that has our exact catalog of thoughts, experiences, and emotions. The passage of time alone keeps that from ever happening.
I am the only me that will ever exist.
You are the only you that will ever be.
Well said….