Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Why Being Wrong is So Right

Hi Quote Palettes fans. We will be including a FREE PRINT with every order from today until April 15, to celebrate the wonders of being wrong.  What is he talking about, you may be asking?  I recently read "Being Wrong - Adventures in the Margin of Error" by Katherine Schulz, and since then I've never been so gleefully unsure of myself.  Schulz takes you on a journey into the psychology of beliefs and miscues, how we become so convinced we are right, and more importantly, how we deal with information tending to prove otherwise. Not a "how to avoid being wrong" guide, the book is rather more about how our belief systems work and why we should forgive ourselves for mistakes, and indeed embrace the causes and effects of human error.  (Though Schulz is the first to differentiate a minor error of judgment in business that leads to an important lesson, vs. the kind of things we are witnessing today in Japan.)

Fact is, you can't live a full life without making a lot of mistakes.  Understanding how that happens and how to deal with it in a productive, and even lighthearted, way are important life lessons for ourselves as well as for our kids. I highly recommend the book and to help show why being wrong is so right, we'll be including with every order through April 15 one of the quotes listed below, for free.  Let us know which ones you like...........


"It infuriates me to be wrong when I know I'm right." - Molière

"I err, therefore I am." - St. Augustine

"The man who is incapable of making a mistake is incapable of anything." - Abraham Lincoln

"The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing that you will make one." - Elbert Hubbard

"Love isn't finding a perfect person. It's seeing an imperfect person perfectly." - Sam Keen


-Gary @ Quote Palettes

Monday, March 14, 2011

Dan Millman quotes now featured at QuotePalettes.com

A customer recently asked us to print a quote by Dan Millman, that goes, "Act happy, feel happy, be happy, without a reason in the world."  We soon discovered this quote was just the tip of the iceberg.  

Millman is a former world champion gymnast and renowned coach, professor and author of 14 books including Way of the Peaceful Warrior (adapted to film in 2006 - see Peaceful Warrior starring Nick Nolte).  His books are printed in 29 languages and have influenced millions, including leaders in the fields of health, psychology, education, business, politics, sports, entertainment and the arts.  So we were more than happy to make this quote available to the Dan Millman fan who requested it. 

We emailed Mr. Millman at his website,
www.peacefulwarrior.com, for consent to use his name with his quote. We were very gratified to receive Dan's approval to carry not only the one requested quote, but nine others of our choosing from his book, Wisdom of the Peaceful Warrior.  

We now proudly feature the 10 Dan Millman quotes listed below among our many selections at QuotePalettes.com.  (The images below show a sampling of our print background and frame choices. Actual print size is 15' x 7' in the frame.)

It's also worth noting that less than 24 hours after adding the "Act happy" quote to our library, the quote was picked out and cited as a favorite by a reader of Momma Told Me, a blog now running a Quote Palettes give-away contest through March 26. What good fortune that it was here for that reader to find, just in time!

We'd love to hear what you think of the quotes below - do you have a favorite?  No doubt there are many more Dan Millman quotes worthy of a place on your wall. Let us know which ones we should be adding over time.
 
And finally, many thanks to Dan Millman for his generous, personal contribution to QuotePalettes.com.
 
Gary @ Quote Palettes 
 
"Slipping backwards? You may be backing up to get a running start." - Dan Millman
"Every choice eventually leads to wisdom." - Dan Millman
"Aim not to win or succeed, but for excellence in the moment." - Dan Millman
"Practical wisdom for life: Here and now, breathe and relax." - Dan Millman
"No need to feel brave or confident; just behave that way." - Dan Millman
"Live with a peaceful heart; cultivate a warrior's spirit." - Dan Millman
"We discover our character through decisions under pressure." - Dan Millman
"We can't control the waves of life, but we can learn to surf." - Dan Millman
"Stress happens when the mind resists what is." - Dan Millman
"Act happy, feel happy, be happy, without a reason in the world." - Dan Millman

 


Dan Millman's book, Way of the Peaceful Warrior
Dan Millman - Way of the Peaceful Warrior
 


Friday, March 4, 2011

Wisdom Discovered in Lionel Richie's Search for the Past

One of the things I love about Quote Palettes is how we can add new quotes on the fly. Tonight I watched the NBC show, Who Do You Think You Are, about Lionel Richie's ancestors, and was struck by a writing from the late 19th century attributed to Richie's great grandfather, J.L. Brown.  The archive text read, "It is only by our good qualities rightly set forth that we are to succeed in the future."  I liked it as soon as I saw it, and it took about 4 minutes to make it available at QuotePalettes.com.  (You can find it by clicking here.)

The quote reminded me of Burke's famous words, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."  But there was something different about J.L. Brown's words, "It is only by our good qualities RIGHTLY SET FORTH that we are to succeed in the future..."  Whereas Burke warned against passivism, J.L. Brown was saying something more.  To J.L. Brown, the future of mankind would depend not only on our being courageous, imaginative, loyal and diligent (examples of some of our "good qualities"), but also on our ability to use those qualities wisely - in the interests of fairness, justice, charity. We've heard this concept discussed in the context of science and technology and global politics.  But none of the hundreds of quotes in our collection expressed this idea so eloquently.

And so, I am very pleased that one of the unintended consequences of Lionel Richie's research was the discovery of this quote, which we will proudly attribute to the singer's great grandfather and only hope he receives the credit for generations to come.

From the archives of Chattanooga, Tennessee

Gary @ Quote Palettes