Michael Josephson Quotes

Success comes in cans. Failures comes in can'ts.

I think Samuel Johnson had it right when he observed that hope is itself a species of happiness. So if we want to be happy it only makes sense to discipline ourselves to choose our attitudes, to think positively and to be hopeful.

We judge our own character by our best intentions and most noble acts, but we will be judged by our last worst act.

Leadership is not a matter of authority, it is a matter of influence. A true leader teaches others to understand more, motivates them to be more and inspires them to become more.

A person is said to have good character when their habits, dispositions and conduct reflect a deep commitment to ethical virtues and moral principles.

A caring heart that listens is often more valued than an intelligent mind that talks.

The way we treat people we think can't help or hurt us - like housekeepers, waiters, and secretaries - tells more about our character than how we treat people we think are important. How we behave when we think no one is looking or when we don't think we will get caught more accurately portrays our character than what we say or do in service of our reputations.

Ethics is not about the way things are, it is about the way things ought to be.

People who don't believe in you are right only if you believe they are.

Character is made up of core moral principles called the Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, caring, fairness and citizenship. Each of these virtues are independently important but together they provide the foundation for a worthy life.

There's no such thing as business ethics; there's just ethics. And ethics makes no concessions for the real or imagined necessities of making a profit.

It is much more difficult to know what is fair than what is unfair

What will matter is not your success but your significance ...

Christmas has a certain universal appeal that gives it meaning well beyond a day to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but Christians have a special duty to experience its sacred and profound spiritual significance and non-Christians have a duty to treat the day with special respect.

People of character do the right thing, not because they think it will change the world but because they refuse to be changed by the world.

To the barefoot man, happiness is a pair of shoes. To the man with old shoes, it's a pair of new shoes. To the man with new shoes, it's stylish shoes. And of course, the fellow with no feet would be happy to be barefoot. Measure your life by what you have not by what you don't.

Some jobs require a more consistent challenge to moral courage than others. Politics is one. In such a setting terrifically good men and women will still be found wanting occasionally. No one does the right thing all the time. It would be more generous and fair to consider their batting average than to judge them only by their last worst act.

Good character is the single most important attribute of a successful and worthy life.

It is not enough that we express our gratitude, we must experience it. We truly honor the must think about our blessings, separately and cumulatively It is not enough to count our blessings and express our gratitude if we don't truly feel grateful.

The kind of courage that is strengthened or created by concern about what others will think is really a form of fear. Fear of disapproval or dishonor becoming stronger than fear of injury or even death.

Gratefulness is a payment everyone can afford.

Integrity, respect, compassion, and fairness become obstacles to people who think winning is everything

Lincoln described character is a tree and reputation as its shadow. The tree will always be what it is but the shadow we see depends on where we stand and the angle of the light.

Yes and no are very powerful words. Mean them when you say them. Respect them when you hear them.

Our obligation to others and a gift to ourselves is to acknowledge and authentically express genuine appreciation for courtesies, caring and concern others have given us.

An ounce of action is worth a ton of good intentions.

If one insists on calling all unsuccessful efforts failures the meaning of failure is really quite benign. When trying anything new or taking on any challenge, unsuccessful efforts are an essential aspect of skill building.

One key to success is demanding more than adequacy, never settling for good enough and always doing a little bit more.

Character is both formed and revealed by how one deals with everyday situations as well as extraordinary pressures and temptations. Like a well-made tower, character is built stone by stone, decision by decision.

You only tasted the water. I tasted the gift. The water was simply the container for an act of loving-kindness and nothing could be sweeter.

Character is doing the right thing even when it costs more than you want to pay. When it comes to character, you dont have to be sick to get better. Its easier for a good person to get better than for a bad person to get good.

Pretty isn't beauty. Pretty is how you look; Beauty is who you are. Pretty is in the face and body; Beauty is in the heart, mind and soul. Pretty fades; Beauty grows.

Neither the intensity of your feelings nor the certainty of your convictions is any assurance that you are right.

Using the phrase business ethics might imply that the ethical rules and expectations are somehow different in business than in other contexts. There really is no such thing as business ethics. There is just ethics and the challenge for people in business and every other walk in life to acknowledge and live up to basic moral principles like honesty, respect, responsibility, fairness and caring.

Never do anything for another with the expectation of gratitude. The expectation itself turns the gift into an exchange and suggests a debt is owed you.

If you are the boss it's wise to remember that there are lots of things you don't know and lots of people who hope you won't find out.

Success in anything important rarely comes without the Five Horsemen of Success: planning, effort, positivity, perseverance and resilience.

Someone who lies for you will also lie to you. The occasional benefit your business may gain from a successful deception or concealment is always outweighed by the encouragement it provides to those willing to risk trust for success.

On a practical level, there are two vital steps to ethical behavior:
knowing what is right and doing it.

There's a hole in the moral ozone and it's getting bigger.

There's some wisdom and no moral deficiency to one who holds courage in reserve and uses it as a last resort. Before we take the kind of risks that require courage, we ought to exhaust other less risky alternatives.

Gratitude is a feeling not statement. It is so easy to say we are grateful that I often don't stop to really, really take the time to experience gratitude. Saying the words doesn't mean a thing without the feeling and it takes a moment of genuine reflection to summon that feeling. This Thanksgiving don't shortchange yourself with hollow words.

There is within you, waiting to be called, a great source of power called courage. Call its name and it will give you the strength to confront challenges despite fear and to continue and the heart to continue with bold confidence despite the pain of caused by tragedy.

Sometimes the dues we pay to maintain integrity are pretty high, but the ultimate cost of moral compromise is so much higher.

Neither heredity nor environment determine character. But whether we give in to or overcome the negative messages we are exposed to as we wend our way through life is often determined by whether our parents, teachers, mentors and friends exposed us to good examples and morally inspiring ideas.

Don't ask whether it's going to be easy. Ask whether it's going to be worth it.

Many things in life are not fair but all things should be.

The only force that can sustain true and consistent courage is some form of spiritual belief that values like honor, duty, loyalty and integrity above the status, power, money and even security.

Whether we want them or not, the New Year will bring new challenges; whether we seize them or not, the New year will bring new opportunities.

Happiness is the peace of mind that comes from feeling that I am living a worthy life in the company of people I love and in the service of something bigger than myself.

Don't sacrifice a good life for a good time.

Gratitude is not a payment for a kindness but another form of gift.

To separate the purpose of a business from the purpose of people who are in the business is, I think, not a good thing.

The difference between stepping stones and stumbling blocks is not in the event itself but how you think about it and what you do after it. Every failure and setback can become part of your success or an excuse for quitting or failing. People who develop the discipline of positivity are both happier and more successful. www.whatwillmatter.com

What a person says and does in ordinary moments when when no one is looking reveals more about true character than grand actions taken while in the spotlight. Our true character is revealed by normal, consistent, everyday attitudes and behavior, not by self-conscious words or deeds or rare acts of moral courage.

If we keep treating our most important values as meaningless relics, that's exactly what they'll become.

Whatever you do, make a difference. Earn the right to look back at something and say, 'I did that.'

The surest way to escape anxiety and defeat despair is action. Do, don't dwell.

Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the many things we have to be thankful for, not so we feel guilty about what we have that others don't, but to be genuinely grateful for our blessings.

Successful or not, acts of physical courage always bring honor. It is the smaller forms of valor - standing up for principle at the risk of social disapproval, economic loss or injury to career - that require the greatest moral will power. Since there is usually little upside to winning and a significant and often lasting downside to losing, moral courage often requires as much character as physical bravery.

One of the greatest things about daughters is how they adored you when they were little; how they rushed into your arms with electric delight and demanded that you watch everything they do and listen to everything they say. Those memories will help you through less joyous times when their adoration is replaced by embarrassment or annoyance and they don't want you to see what they are doing or hear what they are saying. And yet, you will adore your daughter every day of her life, hoping to be valued again, but realizing how fortunate you were even if you only get what you already got.

Not everything that is good for you is fun and not everything that is fun is good for you.

Expressed gratitude encourages further giving; ingratitude drains vitality out of the spirit of generosity.

There are two sure ways to fail: never get started and quit before you succeed. Many companies promote the language of risk-taking and innovation but are so concerned with short term profit goals that their culture discourages innovation (trying new things) and abandons promising projects too soon. It shouldn't require exceptional moral courage to try new things and stick with them.

It can be frustrating and even frightening to observe the success which sometimes comes to outlaws and rogues who seem to refute notions of universal justice. Every time we see a villain enjoying the fruits of dishonorable acts we find ourselves doubting the value of character and the validity of the virtues we have been taught. Thus, it takes character to believe in character, but that belief is always rewarded, often by material success, but always by the esteem it earns from those who matter.

The key to a better life: Complain less, appreciate more. Whine less, laugh more. Talk less, listen more. Want less, give more. Hate less, love more. Scold less, praise more. Fear less, hope more.

Surround our children with a message of honor

When was the last time you wrote a thank you note? When was the last time you went beyond a mechanical "thank you" to express authentic gratitude? We can enrich the lives of others and ourselves by making it a habit to express genuine appreciation for what others have done for us.

What will matter is not your competence, but your character. What will matter is not how many people you knew but how many will feel a lasting loss when you are gone. What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by who and for what?

It's actually easier to truly become a person of good character than to persuade others we are what we are not.

Don't ask whether it is going to be easy. Ask whether it is worth it.

America is a song that sounds the best when we all sing together - at least for a while.

Discipline yourself to start each day identifying something to be grateful about. The world opens to those who approach it with a grateful heart.

Physical courage to a person of honour is easier and less risky than acts that could subject him to embarrassment or humiliation or a diminished career or reputation. These things he must live with. To die for honor is an easier thought to bear.

For many of us gratitude to others comes with a sense of debt that can never be fully paid and therefore the things we are thankful for are never really ours.

If we don't invest now in building character into children we will surely invest more tomorrow in trying to repair adults.

You are the captain of your own ship; don't let anyone else take the wheel.

Necessity is not merely the father of invention; it is the father of courage.

The key to success is effort. The bigger the goal, the greater the effort.

You don't have to be sick to get better.

Gratitude is most treasured when it is unexpected. When we expect, even demand gratitude, we treat it simply as payment due for some service we rendered and we squeeze any good feeling out of it.

Our expectation of the gratitude of others for what we've done for them is sometimes exaggerated because of our deep desire for appreciation and approval. When our good work or good deeds go unrewarded by hoped for praise, we feel like failures so we treat those who denied us our due as betrayers.

No one is born with good character; it's not a hereditary trait. And it isn't determined by a single noble act. Character is established by conscientious adherence to moral values, not by lofty rhetoric or good intentions.

A person of character seeks true happiness in living a life of purpose and meaning, placing a higher value on significance than success.

How many times do you get to lie before you are a liar?

One problem with gratitude is that it competes with the sense of pride, self-reliance and accomplishment we have. We want to think what we have is the result of our efforts rather than the gifts, good turns and opportunities provided us by others.

We all have three characters: the one we really have, the one we try to convince the world we have, and the one we think we have.

What you allow, you encourage.

Character - We describe the character of a person in reference to moral judgments about the worthiness of a person. Thus, to have a strong, great or honorable character is to be a person of merit, worthy of admiration and honor.

No word makes me happier than the word "daddy" when it's directed to me.

It's easier to make a good person better than to make a bad person good.

If you want to be happy, learn to be alone without being lonely. Learn that being alone does not mean being unhappy. The world is full of plenty of interesting and enjoyable things to do and people who can enrich your life.

Good intentions are simply not enough. Our character is defined and our lives are determined not by what we want, say or think, but by what we do.

Nothing about character is hereditary. Everyone, regardless of social background, financial status, race, or sex, enters the world with an equal opportunity to become a person of great or petty character.

I am grateful for all those people who said no. It is because of them that I did it myself. Practice an attitude of gratitude. You can either be miserable dwelling on the troubles you have or grateful for the ones you don't have. Your troubles don't care but it makes a huge difference in your life.

Go out there and do your part to change the world. You may not change all you had hoped but the world will be better for the caring demonstrated by your effort.

Live to give and you will live larger and better than you ever have before. Michael Josephson www.whatwillmatter.com

It isn't the absence of conscience or values that prevents us from being all we should be, it is simply the lack of moral courage.

At home, be grateful. At work, be appreciative. Gratitude is a gift we give ourselves. Appreciation is a gift we give to others.

Hire for character, train for skills.