My Year with Eleanor

e. I tried to remember what Eleanor said: “A mature person is one . . . who is able to be objective even when deeply stirred emotionally.”

Nothing alive can stand still, it goes forward or back. Life is interesting only as long as it is a process of growth; or, to put it another way, we can only grow as long as we are interested

events; small minds discuss people

Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events

You need to avoid avoiding

Do one thing every day that scares you

When we’re afraid of fear, we avoid situations that trigger it.”

Your body can’t tell the difference between fear and excitement. It reacts the same way to both—racing heartbeat, butterflies, perspiration. It’s your mind that decides whether the situation is something to be nervous or excited about. What you need to do is turn fear into excitement.”

You make decisions with imperfect information and achieve imperfect results. The alternative is to never make a decision and never achieve results.

the things that interest you and do them with all your heart. Don’t be concerned about whether people are watching you or criticizing you. The chances are that they aren’t paying any attention to you.