Quotes About Engagement

After a while, he and others tried a different approach, where they were out in the open and had more casual exchanges and there were fewer barriers. Tim emphasized that his job was "to get to know the people and how they work" and, he said, "I can't learn much sitting in a private office.

The owner I was searching for was the guy who would come to the phone and give at least some indication that he might be interested in selling his property. I say indication, because an owner will rarely come right out and admit that he's interested in selling his property.

Elijah's example reminds us that God has left us on earth to influence the world, not to isolate ourselves from it.

Now you can do as I do, stand outside and criticize, bring pressure if you can, write and argue about it. All of this may do some good. But nothing of substance will happen unless there are people inside these institutions who are able to (and want to) lead them into better performance for the public good. Some of you ought to make careers inside these big institutions and become a force for good—from the inside.

How much of the total educational effort is devoted to teaching people who do not have a motivation, other than responding to compulsion, to learn what we are trying to teach them? Is there any way out of this dilemma (if you concede that it is a dilemma) other than Ivan Illich's revolutionary approach?

It is not enough to understand, or to see clearly. The future will be shaped in the arena of human activity, by those willing to commit their minds and their bodies to the task.

A poem is an empty house. [Stranger, you must enter, then knock.]

Our experience with the consulting firm made it clear that energy is closely tied to how ideas get put into action.

When you interact with this person, how does it typically affect your energy level?

Having an epiphany is no big deal unless you can motivate others to believe in it and act on it. Energizers are better at getting others to act on their ideas within organizations, such as garnering support for initiatives

Our interviews also suggest that energizers get more from those around them.

In other words, energizers raise the overall level of performance around them.

energy is not entirely a product of a set of behaviors in a given interaction but is also affected by people's day-to-day actions.

In short, energy lives in a sweet spot in five dimensions of conversations or group problem-solving sessions: a compelling goal, the possibility of contributing, a strong sense of engagement, the perception of progress, and the belief that the idea can succeed.

I want students to engage the way a clutch on a car gets engaged: an engine can be running, making appropriate noises, burning fuel and creating exhaust fumes, but unless the clutch is engaged, nothing moves. It's all sound and smoke, and nobody gets anywhere.

You cannot get them to talk of politics so long as they are well employed

The apostolic model of exposition of, reflection upon, and deduction from Scripture supports our engagement in the theological enterprise. If we are to help our generation understand the Scriptures, we too must deduce and arrange conclusions from what we have gained from our exegetical labors in Scripture and be ready to "dialogue" with men. Engagement in and the result of this task is theology.

All speech, written or spoken, is a dead language, until it finds a willing and prepared hearer.

No doubt there are other important things in life besides conflict, but there are not many other things so inevitably interesting. The very saints interest us most when we think of them as enganged in a conflict with the Devil.

There is no international problem that can be addressed or solved without the engagement and leadership of the United States and everybody in the world knows that, its just fact of life. So sometimes I think we could conduct ourselves with a little more humility.

In a car you're always in a compartment, and because you're used to it you don't realize that through that car window everything you see is just more TV. You're a passive observer and it is all moving by you boringly in a frame. On a cycle the frame is gone. You're completely in contact with it all. You're in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming.

Only boring people get bored. Life may be tedius, but not if you brought a book.

Only boring people get bored. Life may be tedious, but not if you brought a book.

This whole idea—rules of war—was absurd, she thought. Men went about killing each other in the most ingenious ways they could imagine, and on a scale never before seen, but at the same time, they insisted on making up rules of engagement to preserve a facade of civilization and morality. They were like children playing a game, but one with horrendous consequences.