Within any Toastmasters meeting are a number of service and leadership opportunities. One of these is sharing an inspirational quote and with that assignment is tallying the votes for ribbons to be given out for the best speech, best table topic, and best evaluator. Here is a running list of those quotes I have shared in meetings:
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt
“When God closes one door, He opens another, but it’s hell in the hallway.”
Rev. Susan Gayle
“Effective communication is 20% what you know and 80% how you feel about what you know.”
Jim Rohn
“The way we communicate with others and with ourselves ultimately determines the quality of our lives.”
Tony Robbins