Quotes from John C. Maxwell

If you could kick the person responsible for most of your troubles, you wouldn't be able to sit down for weeks.

No one can understand that mysterious thing we call influence . . . yet . . . everyone of us continually exerts influence, either to heal, to bless, to leave marks of beauty; or to wound, to hurt, to poison, to stain other lives.

If you want your life to be a magnificent story, then realize that you are its author. Every day you have the chance to write a new page in that story. I want to encourage you to fill those pages with responsibility to others and yourself. If you do, in the end you will not be disappointed.

True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed, or assigned. It comes only from influence, and that cannot be mandated. It must be earned. The only thing a title can buy is a little time—either to increase your level of influence with others or to undermine it.

When I want to really get to know someone, I ask three questions. People's answers to these give me great insight into someone's heart. The questions are: What do you dream about? What do you sing about? What do you cry about?

Those things that hurt, instruct." —Benjamin Franklin

If you know who you are, make the changes you must in order to learn and grow, and then give everything you've got to your dreams, you can achieve anything your heart desires.

People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.

5. Each person's leadership is best exercised in his or her area of giftedness (v. 31). When we discover our gifts, we will naturally lead in those areas where we are most productive, intuitive, comfortable, influential, and satisfied.

People who wait for the one great opportunity often keep waiting.

Past hurts can make you bitter or better—the choice is yours.

we often place too much emphasis on making decisions and too little on managing the decisions we've already made.

Any married man should forget his mistakes—there's no use in two people remembering the same thing.

Don't worry about making friends; don't worry about making enemies. Worry about winning, because if you win, your enemies can't hurt you, and if you lose, your friends can't stand you.

Every successful person is someone who failed, yet never regarded himself as a failure.

experience alone does not add value to a life. It's not necessarily experience that is valuable; it's the insight people gain because of their experience. Reflective

Connectors create an experience everyone enjoys.

INTEGRITY—Did I do my best? EXPECTATION—Did I please my sponsor? RELEVANCE—Did I understand and relate to the audience? VALUE—Did I add value to the people? APPLICATION—Did I give people a game plan? CHANGE—Did I make a difference?

You are today where your thoughts have brought you. You will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you." –JAMES ALLEN

What's the key to relating to others? It's putting yourself in someone else's place instead of putting them in their place.

Your mind will give back to you exactly what you put into it.

communication comes from the Latin word communis, meaning "common.

when you find yourself, you find your audience.

Thinking divorced from actions cannot be productive.