Past Zing! Inspirational Quotes
(updated at whatever random time
we feel the need for fresh inspiration)

(Shanno, 4/4/2000, 9:35)
"Find a purpose in life so big it will challenge every capacity to be at your best."--David O. McKay

(Shanno, 3/9/2000, 15:44)
"The vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal that you enthrone in your heart - this you will build your life by, and this you will become."--James Lane Allen

(Shanno, 2/29/2000, 9:27)
"Each of us is great insofar as we perceive and act on the infinite possibilities which lie undiscovered and unrecognized about us."--James Harvey Robinson

(Shanno, 2/18/2000, 10:58)
The Best Things In Life
- Falling in love.
- Laughing so hard your face hurts.
- A hot shower.
- No lines at the Super Wal-Mart.
- A special glance.
- Getting mail.
- Taking a drive on a pretty road.
- Hearing your favorite song on the radio.
- Lying in bed listening to the rain outside.
- Hot towels out of the dryer.
- Finding the sweater you want is on sale for half price.
- Chocolate milkshake.
- A long distance phone call.
- A bubble bath.
- Giggling.
- A good conversation.
- The beach.
- Finding a $20 bill in your coat from last winter.
- Laughing at yourself.
- Midnight phone calls that last for hours.
- Running through sprinklers.
- Laughing for absolutely no reason at all.
- Having someone tell you that you're beautiful.
- Laughing at an inside joke.
- Friends.
- Falling in love for the first time.
- Accidentally overhearing someone say something nice about you.
- Waking up and realizing you still have a few hours left to sleep.
- Your first kiss.
- Making new friends or spending time with old ones.
- Playing with a new puppy.
- Late night talks with your roommate that keep you from sleeping.
- Having someone play with your hair.
- Sweet dreams.
- Hot chocolate.
- Road trips with friends.
- Swinging on swings.
- Watching a good movie cuddled up on a couch with someone you love.
- Wrapping presents under the Christmas tree while eating cookies and drinking eggnog.
- Song lyrics printed inside your new CD so you can sing along without feeling stupid.
- Going to a really good concert.
- Getting butterflies in your stomach every time you see that one person.
- Making eye contact with a cute stranger.
- Winning a really competitive game.
- Making chocolate chip cookies!
- Having your friends send you homemade cookies!
- Spending time with close friends!
- Seeing smiles and hearing laughter from your friends...
- Holding hands with someone you care about.
- Running into an old friend and realizing that some things (good or bad) never change.
- Discovering that love is unconditional and stronger than time.
- Riding the best roller coasters over and over.
- Hugging the person you love.
- Watching the expression someone's face as they open a much-desired present from you.
- Watching the sunrise.
- Getting out of bed every morning and thanking God for another beautiful day.

(Shanno, 2/18/2000, 10:55)
"Fear not for the future, weep not for the past."--Percy Bysshe Shelley

(Shanno, 1/28/2000, 9:14)
"Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right."--Henry Ford

(Shanno, 1/18/2000, 9:21)
"Man is so made that whenever anything fires his soul, impossibilities vanish."--Jean de la Fontaine

(Tracy, 1/17/2000, 10:02)
"You can have anything you want if you will give up the belief that you can't have it."--Robert Anthony

(Shanno 1/5/2000, 14:03)
"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."--Mark Twain

(Shanno 1/4/2000, 9:25)
"It is good to dream, but it is better to dream and work. Faith is mighty, but action with faith is mightier."--Thomas Robert Gaines

(Shanno 12/3/99, 12:17)
"Self-pity gets you nowhere. One must have the adventurous daring to accept oneself as a bundle of possibilities and undertake the most interesting game in the world -- making the most of one's best."--Harry Emerson Fosdick

(Shanno 11/16/99, 10:30)
"I want to remind you that success in life is based on hard slogging. There will be periods when discouragement is great and upsetting, and the antidote for this is calmness and fortitude and a modest yet firm belief in your competence. Be sure that your priorities are in order so that you can proceed in a logical manner and be ever mindful that nothing will take the place of persistence."--Publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg in a letter to his son

(Shanno 11/16/99, 10:24--from PositiveSaying: Monday, November 15, 1999)
"When enthusiasm is inspired by reason, controlled by caution, sound in theory, practical in application, reflects confidence, spreads good cheer, raises morale, inspires associates, arouses loyalty, and laughs at adversity, it is beyond price."--Coleman Cox

(From Dr. Greg Lyne's class at Harmony, Inc.'s International Convention, Springfield, MA, November 11, 1999)
Ten Expectations of a Championship Chorus
1. Singer's Posture
2. Active Face
3. Vowels That Look Right
4. In-Line Singing
5. Focused Singing
6. Personality of Your Part
7. Bring the Whole Singer (Self) to the Party
8. Expect to Grow!
9. "I'm Talking to You!"
10. Look, Act, Be Successful!

(Shanno 11/8/99, 8:59--from PositiveNews: Sunday, November 7, 1999)
"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak;
Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen."--Winston Churchill

(Shanno 11/3/99, 9:13)
"Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you will help them become what they are capable of becoming."--Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

(Shanno 10/21/99, 16:09)
"You must do the thing you think you cannot do."--Eleanor Roosevelt

(Shanno 10/20/99, 10:59)
"Each of us, if we would grow, must be committed to excellence. The championships, the money, the color; all of these things linger only in the memory. It is the spirit, the will to excel, the will to win; these are the things that endure."--Vince Lombardi

(Shanno 10/15/99, 9:20)
"The one resolution, which was in my mind long before it took the form of a resolution, is the key-note of my life. It is this, always to regard as mere impertinences of fate the handicaps which were placed upon my life almost at the beginning. I resolved that they should not crush or dwarf my soul, but rather be made to blossom, like Aaron's rod, with flowers."--Helen Keller

(Shanno 10/14/99, 9:14)
"There is nothing noble in being superior to some other man. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self."--Hindu proverb

(Shanno 10/13/99 9:10)
"First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do."--Epictetus

(Shanno 9/30/99 16:38)
"All big things in this world are done by people who are naive and have an idea that is obviously impossible."--Dr. Frank Richards

(Shanno 7/13/99, 11:28)
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at best, knows the triumph of high achievement, and at the worst, at least fails while daring greatly."--Theodore Roosevelt

(Shanno 6/28/99, 9:05)
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is therefore not an act, but a habit."--Aristotle

(Shanno 6/11/99, 11:38)
"PURPOSE
Your profession is not what brings home your paycheck.
Your profession is what you were put on earth to do."--Vincent Van Gogh

(Linda 6/12/98, 13:29--from a posting by Tina Gunther to the Harmonet)
"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and sings it back to you when you have forgotten how it goes."

(Linda 6/11/98, 10:53)
"Life isn't a matter of milestones, but of moments."--Rose Kennedy

(Tracy 5/22/98, 10:05--from a greeting card)
"To be truly happy, one needs sunshine, freedom, and a little flower."

(Linda 5/22/98, 10:01)
"To truly live I need to let the spirit within me be free and rejoice in its uniqueness."--Laurie Waldron

(Shanno 2/25/98, 8:27)
"BELIEF
The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen."--Frank Lloyd Wright

(Shanno 2/10/98, 7:45)
"INSPIRATION
Motivation is an external, temporary high that PUSHES you forward. Inspiration is a sustainable internal glow which PULLS you forward."--Thomas Leonard

(12/31/97, 18:24--from a posting by Jeremy Reynolds to the Harmonet)
"
Until one's committed
there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back,
always ineffectiveness.

Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation)
there is one elementary truth
the ignorance of which kills countless ideas
and splended plans:

That the moment one definitely commits oneself
then Providence moves too.

All sorts of things occur to help one
that would never otherwise have occurred.

A whole stream of events issues from the decision
rasing in one's favour all manner
of unforeseen incidents and meetings
and material assistance
which no man could have dreamt
would have come his way.

Whatever you can do or dream, you can begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

Begin it now"--Goethe

(From a posting by Sam Wallace to the Harmonet)
"He who sings frightens away his ills."--Cervantes

(Debbie 4/30/97, 14:58--from a Celestial Seasonings Sleepy Time tea package)
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."--Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Shanno 4/11/97, 7:58--from the Harmonet)
"You Become What You Think About Most!!"--Earl Nightingale

(Linda 3/12/97, 15:25)
"LIVES. Get one."--Mary Engelbreit's 1997 Desk Diary, 3/10 - 3/16.

(Shanno 3/11/97, 15:51)
"Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow." Ronald E. Osborn

(Linda 12/6/96, 10:25)
"Almost all of the world-class athletes and other peak performers are visualizers. They see it; they feel it; they exerience it before they actually do it. The[y] Begin with the End in Mind. You can do it in every area of your life. Before a performance, a sales presentation, a difficult confrontation, or the daily callenge of meeting a goal--see it clearly, vividly, relentlessly, over and over again. Create an internal 'comfort zone.' Then, when you get into the situation, it isn't foreign. It doesn't scare you."--The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People, 12/6/96

(Linda 11/15/96, 18:28)
"Character and skill development is a process of ongoing improvement or progression--a constant upward spiral. The personal side of Total Quality means total integrity around your value system, and part of that value system means you are always getting better, personally and professionally."--The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People

(Linda 11/11/96, 15:01) (Quote for 11/8/86--the day of Zing!'s first International Quartette Contest, where we placed 5th.)
"Principles apply at all times in all places. They surface in the form of values, ideas, norms, and teachings that uplift, ennoble, fulfill, empower, and inspire people. The lesson of history is: to the degree people and civilizations have operated in harmony with correct principles, they have prospered." -- The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People

(Shanno 10/24/96, 13:22)
"Happiness is the exercise of vital powers, along lines of excellence, in a life affording them scope."

(Tracy 10/24/96, 12:11)
"Workaholics are lonely people. Busyness keeps away others and keeps us away from others. We don't want to be interrupted because the work has to be done. But does that make it the right choice?"

(Linda 10/24/96, 11:38)
"Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender; it's holy ground. There's no greater investment." --The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

(Linda 9/10/96, 9:13)
"By working on knowledge, skill, and desire, we can break through to new levels of personal and interpersonal effectiveness as we break with old paradigms that may have been a course of pseudo-security for years."-- The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People daily calendar

(Linda 3/27/96, 11:56)
"You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage--pleasantly, smilingly, non-apologetically--to say 'no' to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger 'yes' burning inside. The enemy of the best is often the good."--The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People

| Zing! Homepage | History & bios | Contest diaries |
| Photos | Scores | Contact info |