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“…therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man”
I remember the first time someone quoted George Bernard Shaw to me. I was in a Toastmaster meeting, and I had introduced a table topic idea that likely most members (some having been a member for many decades) had never seen before. It was fun. It was challenging. It was risky. But it worked out and became one of mine (and many members) favorite table topic.
After delivering one of my favorite table topics, my evaluator stood up and repeated the following quote:
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. — George Bernard Shaw
His point? That sometimes, you have to be unreasonable to make progress. And not unreasonable to be unreasonable, unreasonable because you do not like what is considered ‘normal’. You are not interested in conforming to norms or going with the ‘status quo’.
And so over the years, I have read and collected a number of quotes that help me make progress. Every so often, when I’m feeling down or blocked, I take a look through the quotes to help inspire me to be bold and take action. Here are six more from my personal collection:
