Inspirational Quotes

I like inspirational quotes. Why? I suppose because they usually encapsulate very profound messages in concise statements. But if a quote is to be truly inspirational, then it should inspire, stimulate, motivate and encourage. How often do inspirational quotes have lasting inspirational effects? Not very often I would suggest. Well, within this post I have included three quotes, which in my view are truly inspirational. I will demonstrate how they are connected and for me at least, how they have had a lasting motivational effect.

The first quote is by Gandhi:

"There's enough for everyone's need in the world but not enough for everyone's greed."

This quote so often comes to mind, particularly in the light of current world issues, such as the on-going financial crisis, climate change and global inequalities. It seems to me that we are all greedy and selfish, to varying degrees, and when individual desires are mixed together on a global scale it creates a system with an emergent property of inequality. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. That is not what any individual would necessarily want to be a system attribute but it just happens. Indeed, the phenomenon of a very small percentage of the world's population owning a very large percentage of the global wealth, can be demonstrated by computer simulations of the world's economy. Gandhi's quote is profound because if you total-up the world's wealth and divide it by the population, there is enough for every individual to live comfortably although not surprisingly most of the developed world would have to take a cut in living standards. Don't you believe me? Well let's look at Gross Domestic Product (GDP) using 2012 figures. In that year, the world GDP was around $60 trillion and the population was almost 7 billion. This equates to a share of $8,600 GDP for each man, woman and child on the planet. But consider the current inequalities. Luxembourg has the highest GDP per head at over $105,000 and Cambodia has the lowest at $720. Those are average figures so in both of those countries there will be inequalities and I suggest, the inequalities are created by individual selfishness and greed.

My second quote, originator unknown, is:

"If you wish to change the world start with yourself."

The inequalities that I have just highlighted, will not change overnight, nor is there any person or indeed any organisation that has the ability to make the changes. Individuals have to change their behaviours in order for societies to change. After all, societies are collections of individuals. This post is too short for me to list all the things I believe individuals should or shouldn't do, but in general we should all 'practice what we preach'. For example, don't be critical of debt-ridden societies but at the same time rack up personal debts. Don't be critical of law breakers whilst seeing no harm in breaking speed limits. Don't say something has to be done about climate change without first cutting down on your own carbon emissions (travel, heating, lighting, etc). Do you get the idea?!

My final quote is from Buckminster Fuller:

"You never change the existing reality by fighting it. Instead, create a new model that makes the old one obsolete."

Now I believe this one really is profound. A system, which is anything with interactions, i.e. most things, is rarely designed. It is created by constant evolution and often becomes too complex to be understood. I'll give a couple of examples. Firstly a business organisation. I have many years experience working in different organisations at all levels of seniority, including running the show. I know from painful experience that trying to 'transform' organisations is nigh on impossible. At best you can merely nudge them in slightly different directions. My other example is marriage. Now there's a complex system if ever there was one! I don't know the exact statistics but I believe that although divorce rates on first-time marriages are quite high (particularly in Europe and the US), 'second time around' success rates are generally higher. So as much as a couple might persevere to save a failing marriage, often the solution is for them to go their separate ways and start again.

So there we have it, three quotes with different messages but a connecting 'thread' that I believe starts to address our global challenges. Inequalities need to be addressed by individuals changing their attitudes and becoming more altruistic in their behaviours, casting away the old mindsets and embracing change for the greater good. Amen!