Quotes can move people to heroic efforts. They can empower them to achieve their dreams. They are loaded with golden words that can enlighten and inspire. One quote is world famous.
Minutes before the Battle of Trafalgar started, Nelson's famous signal "England Expects That Every Man Will Do His Duty" was made from the poop deck of H.M.S. Victory at about 11.15 a.m. on 21st October 1805.
The word 'expects' is very powerful. We tend to get what we expect. If we expect good results we will be motivated to move forward with enthusiasm. If others expect us to behave in a certain way, we will tend to fulfill their expectations.
It is reported that a great cheer went up as the flags of Nelson's signal were lifted high and repeated throughout all his ships. It certainly motivated the sailors of several nationalities who made up his fleet. The word 'England' could be used in those days to refer to the UK as a whole.
'Duty' is a word that sounds dull but millions have been empowered by it to do what they have to do. The Japanese, many years after Nelson, used a signal telling their sailors to do their 'utmost'.
Doing your 'utmost' or 'best' may be more motivating words to modern listeners than the word 'duty'.
Modern but more mundane versions of Nelson's signal might be:
"Great Britain expects you to give 110%" or
"Today, I will, at least, finish the first task on my to do list."
The message "Engage the enemy more closely" was Nelson's final signal to the fleet, sent at 12.15 p.m. before a single British gun had been fired at the enemy. Nelson ordered this signal to be hauled up and kept up. It remained aloft until shot away during the battle.
Such a signal would probably have been welcomed by the more determined and ferocious sailors in the fleet. Basically it meant "Get in there and destroy the enemy!"
One world champion heavy weight who loved to get in there and demolish his opponents was Jack Dempsey. He is credited with a great quote:
"A champion is someone who gets up when he can't."
In 1923 he had a mighty brawl with challenger, Luis Firpo, a 216-pounder from Argentina who was called "the Wild Bull of the Pampas."
Dempsey weighed only 187 pounds.
Firpo's first punch was a powerful right to the jaw that put the champ down. Dempsey jumped off the canvas before a count could be started and went on to knock Firpo down seven times.
Before the first round ended, an angry Firpo threw a right that sent Dempsey through the ropes and onto a sportswriter's typewriter.
The writer and another man helped the champ return to the ring before the count of 10.
I'm not sure what happened to the typewriter. This is the stuff that films like 'Rocky' are made of!
Perhaps Dempsey was thinking of this incident when he wrote:
"A champion is someone who gets up when he can't."
In Round 2, Dempsey scored two more knockdowns. The second knockdown ended the bout after 3 minutes and 57 seconds of non-stop action. No wonder his fights were popular!
Dempsey's quote: "A champion is someone who gets up when he can't" is well worth memorizing and repeating daily along with the other main quotes in this article.
This quote is just one variation of all those sayings which tell you that, if you try hard, you can do what you thought you couldn't. You may find yourself actually doing what appeared totally impossible to you.
Dempsey almost echoes the words of Jesus. Jesus told the paralyzed man:
"Take up your mat and walk!"
The man had not previously been able to get up or walk but he tried anyway and, to the astonishment of the crowd, got up off his mat and walked. A miracle had happened. The impossible had happened because the man believed enough to take Jesus at his word and try to walk.
Probably we can all do 'miracles' in the sense that we can all do what we thought we couldn't. We just need to believe enough to try hard.
Even if we don't believe and just try half-heartedly we can achieve surprising things.
A few years ago I did the fire walk at an Antony Robbins seminar at the Excel arena in London. I was not thinking about anything in particular and was surprised that I had no burns after the walk.
The walk was in fact much shorter than I had expected and that might explain the absence of injuries. However, the coals were glowing with heat.
I also tried the arrow in the throat break at another seminar and was again surprised at how easy it was to break an arrow whose point was sticking in my throat.
I questioned whether the arrow was a genuine one and was told indignantly that it was the standard arrow used by archers!
However, I don't recommend doing the arrow break. It could go wrong with disastrous results.
'Miracles' then can happen even when you lack belief and do not put in much effort. If you do believe and work hard, they may well take place more often.
'Miraculous' upsets happen again and again in sport when a team that is not rated starts believing, works very hard and takes on one of the top rated teams.
Early in 2007, Ireland, a cricketing minnow, put Pakistan out of the world one day cricket cup. Pakistan is one of the top cricketing nations.
The next time you think something is impossible, give it a try and see what happens. Even if you are half-hearted to begin with, a few signs of success may inspire greater and greater efforts.
Another quote inspired and motivated me recently. It was from Kurt Vonnegut who died in April 2007. I was impressed with his welcome to new born babies which goes roughly:
"Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you've got about a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies -- you've got to be kind.'"
Kurt did not reach a hundred as he died at 84 but he left behind a great legacy with that one rule.
Kindness was the main theme of one of Josh Hinds' Friday stories. He described how a baseball coach berated a young lad who had made a mistake which allowed the other team to win.
The coach obviously believed and lived by the quote:
"Winning is not the only thing, it's everything."
In fact, winning is not more important than the feelings of the young boy who had made a mistake. It is not more important than playing without cheating. It is not more important than kindness.
Josh ended his story with a quote from Rob Gilbert which says much the same as Kurt Vonnegut.
"Winning is not the only thing, but kindness is everything."
Not all quotes are equal. They all need questioning and discarding if they are like the one that states that winning is everything. It isn't!
So then, like Nelson, we need to expect that we will do our best at all times. If we are knocked down, we need to get up even if we think we can't. Champions do not stay down.
If we are paralyzed by fear or doubt we need to get off our beds or couches and start to take steps towards our goals and dreams even if they are tiny steps. Above all, we need to be kind whenever we have the chance.
I'll finish with a great quote from Ettiene De Grellet which makes the point about kindness in memorable words:
"I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again."
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