At Epic, where I work, quotes can be found all around. Our internal website Guru, which incidentally is managed by my friend Alex Meyer, features a different quote each morning (I’ve added many since I started). The quote is notable because it is the first thing one sees, at the very top of the page. Our back-end system which is used by customer analysts as well as Epic’s support staff, also features famous quotes. The quotes in Chronicles, our database system which Judy the company’s CEO created in 1979 shows a different quote each time a user accesses a different database.
The quotes in Chronicles are particularly noteworthy due to the sparsity of the system. In 1979, there was no dazzling space animations as the user logs in to the system. In 1979, there was significantly less focus on user interface, especially considering this database management system was essentially a command line interface. And yet nonetheless, Judy found it important enough to set aside time to build this quotes list and feature it upon accessing any database.
It’s so important in fact, each of our ~300 customers must talk to Judy if they want to turn off the quotes in Chronicles. Judy feels the quotes add culture, and so do I.
As such, I simply want to provide a list of quotes I’ve found intriguing and valuable. I’ll add to these as life goes on and I hope that you can find value and appreciate some of the messages they deliver. If you have any quotes you’d like to add please leave them in the comments!
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Abraham Lincoln
- In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years.
Albert Einstein
- Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.
- The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.
- Not everything that can be counted counts and not everything that counts can be counted.
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Benjamin Franklin
- Energy and persistence conquer all things.
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Carl Sagan
- Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be found.
Chinese Proverb
- Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
- A journey of one thousand miles begins with a single step. (Laozi)
Christopher Columbus
- You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.
Conan O’Brien
- Work hard and be kind, and amazing things will happen.
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Douglas Bader
- Rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men.
Dr. Seuss
- You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.
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Eleanor Roosevelt
- No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
English Proverb
- A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor
- Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Ernest Hemingway
- For Sale-Baby shoes, never worn.
- We burn the fat off our souls.
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Henry Ford
- Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.
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Japanese Proverb
- Fall down seven times and stand up eight.
John F. Kennedy
- Man is still the most extraordinary computer of all.
- Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.
John Quincy Adams
- If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, or do more, you are a leader.
John Lennon
- Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.
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Mark Twain
- I have never let schooling interfere with my education.
- If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.
- Buy land-they’re not making it anymore.
- The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.
- The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.
Martha Stewart
- I find that when you have a real interest in life, and a curious life, that sleep is not the most important thing.
Maya Angelou
- I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
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Napoleon Hill
- Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.
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Oscar Wilde
- Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.
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Ralph Waldo Emerson
- The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.
Richard Branson
- If people aren’t calling you crazy, you aren’t thinking big enough.
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Sara Bareilles
- Don’t ask me how to get started, it’s all uncharted.
Steve Jobs
- The only way to do great work is to love what you do.
- The best things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.
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Thomas Edison
- I have not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.
- Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.
- Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
Thomas Henry
- Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.
Torquato Tosso
- Any time not spent on love is wasted.
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Wayne Gretzky
- You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
Will Rogers
- Be thankful we’re not getting all the government we’re paying for.
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by Taylor