The sense of possibility so necessary for success comes not just from inside us or from our parents. It comes from our time: from the particular opportunities that our particular place n history presents us with. For a young would-be lawyer, being born in the early 1930s was a magic time, just as being born in 1955 was for a software programmer, or being born in 1835 was for an enterpreneur. Malcolm Gladwell Outliers - The Story of Success , (p. 137), Little, Brown and Company, 2008

...it's basic human behavior for many, if not most, people to deny reality, and embrace unreality, when the reality is more than they can bear. Business is no exception, despite the tendency of businesspeople to consider themselves uncommonly realistic. People get in the habit of finding ways to confirm their own thinking, which in time create barriers to seeing the realities that differ from those they're comfortable with.Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan Confronting Reality - Doing What Matters to Get Things Right , (p. 232-233), Crown Business, 2004

Were Peter to tell us what it really felt like to be "Mr. President," he might say something like this: "Honestly? It's definitely a different ballgame! What game is it? Well, let's see. I guess you could say that before I was president, I was playing a game of catch. Anderson would throw things at me and I'd catch them. I'd throw things back at hiim and he'd catch them. A good long game of catch. And now? Now I'd say I'm a juggler. There's not one ball, there are five, and then there are ten, and then there are fifteen! People keep tossing more in to me to add to those I'm juggling. But I'm not throwing to anyone. I'm just throwing them into the air. As soon as I get them I just toss them back into the air. And my job as the juggler is to keep them all going up there, not let any of them drop to the ground."Robert Kegan In Over Our Heads - The Mental Demands of Modern Life , (p. 147), Harvard University Press, 1994

We must develop a compelling vision of later life, one that does not assume a trajectory of decline after fifty but recognizes this as a time of potential change, growth, and new learning, a time when our "courage gives us hope." Changes in life expectancy do not merely mean years added to the end, but an extension of the years of healthy and productive living.Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot The Third Chapter - Passion, Risk, and Adventure in the 25 Years After 50 , (p. 144), Sarah Crichton Books, 2009

Focus your client retention efforts on the long term. Base every decision on how it will affect the long-term relationship with your client. In the case of McKinsey, one of the most important elements of ensuring long-term successful relationships in the Firm's ability to generate lasting change. For some time, implementation was considered McKinsey's weak spot. As its clients became more sophisticated, the Firm realized that this couldn't last. They took steps to improve not just their ability to devise a course of change but to make change happen. Ethan M. Rasiel and Paul N. Friga The McKinsey Mind , (p. 169), McGraw-Hill, 2002

I want to share with you the best business tweet of all time: "What can I do for you?" You'll be amazed at the response you get. You're in business to serve your community. Don't ever forget it.Gary Vaynerchuk Crush It! - Now Is The Time to Cash in on Your Passion , (p. 72), HarperCollins, 2009