What Entertainers Can Tell Us about Personal Strength - 13 Quotes

I've been collecting quotes about personal strength since 1972. One thing I've learned is this: wisdom comes from everywhere! No one group of people - philosophers, for example - have a lock on wisdom. 

In the past, I've posted some of my favorite quotes from athletes, scientists, novelists, and proverbs. Today, I turn to entertainers. An unlikely group to focus on for wisdom? Not so fast. Being a world-class entertainer is a grueling business, involving types of adversity that we have difficulty imagining. And I've discovered that entertainers, looking back on their experience, have plenty to say. And we would benefit from listening.

An initial scan of my database uncovered these quotes from 13 entertainers on 13 different topics. And I didn't even get past the Ds...

On FAIRNESS - “Here’s my golden rule for a tarnished age: Be fair with others, but then keep after them until they’re fair with you.” - Alan Alda

On OPTIMISM - “It is clear the future holds opportunities—it also holds pitfalls. The trick will be to seize the opportunities, avoid the pitfalls, and get back home by 6:00.” - Woody Allen
 
On CREATIVITY - “Imagination is the highest kite one can fly.” - Lauren Bacall

On SELF-ESTEEM - "Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world." - Lucille Ball

On GRATITUDE - “Do not worry about whether or not the sun will rise. Be prepared to enjoy it.” - Pearl Bailey

On INITIATIVE - "Action is the antidote to despair." - Joan Baez

On SELF-DEVELOPMENT - "I have always grown from my problems and challenges, from the things that don’t work out. That’s when I’ve really learned." - Carol Burnett

On EFFORT - "My success just evolved from working hard at the business at hand each day." - Johnny Carson

On PERSEVERANCE - "I'd like people to know that you can recover from life adversity. You don't have to give up because you've been down a lot of times." - Ray Charles

On LOYALTY - “It’s easy to be loyal when you’re on top of the wave and things are going very well. The test is when they’re not.” - George Clooney

On SELF-DISCIPLINE - "Historically, those people that did not discipline themselves had discipline thrust upon them from the outside."- Alistair Cooke

On SELF-CONFIDENCE - “I was thought to be ‘stuck up.’ I wasn’t. I was just sure of myself.” - Bette Davis

On AWARENESS - "If you want to keep your memories, you first have to live them."- Bob Dylan
 
Leave a comment if you enjoyed these! I have plenty more quotes from entertainers...

Post by Dennis E. Coates, Ph.D., Copyright 2010. Building Personal Strength . (1990 photo of Ray Charles by Alan Light, used with permission under terms of Creative Commons Attribution 2.0, Wikimedia Commons)