About Change

The following quotes are excerpted from Bridges W. (1993). Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change. I liked the wisdom they share and hope u can glean from it.

He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils. (P.ix, quote from Francis Bacon, English philosopher)

Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everybody gets busy on the proof. (P. ix, quote from John Kenneth Galbraith, American economist)

The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names. (P. 3, quote from Chinese proverb.)

We think in generalities, but we live in details. (Alfred North Whitehead, American philosopher, P. 7)

As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “What you are speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you say.” (P. 14)

Every beginning is a consequence. Every beginning ends something. (Paul Valery, French poet. P. 19)

Almost everything is easier to get into than out of. (Agnes Allen, American epigrammatist. P. 19)

All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind is part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter into another. (Anatole France, French Writer, P. 20)

He that lacks time to mourn, lacks time to mend. (William Shakespeare, English dramatist, P. 25)

“Unless the reformer can invent something which substitutes attractive virtues for attractive vices, he will fail.” Walter Lippmann, a journalist (P. 27)

Historic continuity with the past is not a duty, it is only a necessity. Oliver Wendell Holmes, American physician, P. 30

When people start talking about ‘the good old days’, it’s easy to imagine that they are describing a peaceful time of stability. But that is selective memory. (p. 31, 32)

One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time. André Gide, French novelist. P. 34

Illness strikes men when they are exposed to change. Herodotus, Greek historian. P. 35

There is no squabbling so violent as that between people who accepted an idea yesterday and those who will accept the same idea tomorrow. Christopher Morley, American writer, P. 36

Chaos often breeds life, while order breeds habit. Henry Adams, American historian. P. 37

Confusion is a word we have invented for an order which is not yet understood. Henry Miller, American, novelist. P. 37

It takes nine months to have a baby, no matter how many people you put on the job. P. 37

Moses made the ending when he led his people out of Egypt, but it was the 40 years in the neutral zone wilderness that got Egypt out of his people. W. Bridges, P. 37

An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly understood. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly understood. C.K. Cheserton, British writer. P. 38

To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly. Henri Bergson, French philosopher, P. 44

Where all think alike, no one thinks very much. Walter Lipmann, American journalist, P. 45

It is easier to get forgiveness than it is to secure permission. Jesuit saying, P. 47

Beginnings are always messy. John Galsworthy, English novelist. P. 50

One of the greatest pains to human nature is the pain of new idea. Walter Bagehot, Enligh political scientist. P. 51

There go my people. I must find out where they are going so that I can lead them. Alexandre Ledru-Rollin, French politician. P. 52

Do unto others as they would be done unto. The Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Great minds have purposes, others have wishes. Washington Irving, American essayist, P. 53

Just because everything is different doesn’t mean that anything has changed. Irene Peter, American epigrammatist. P. 55

The picture in people’s heads is the reality they live in. P. 55

Hope is generally a wrong guide, though it is very good company by the way. Charles Montagu, Earl of Halifax, British statesman. P. 57

Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it’s the only thing. Albert Schweitzer, French philosopher

It must be admitted that there is a degree of instability which is inconsistent with civilization. But on the whole the great ages have been unstable ages. Alfred North Whitehead, P. 69

Ironically one of the reasons we’ve paid so little attention to transition is that we’re overwhelmed with it. P. 70

Even if change ceased today, people would have difficulty because the lack of change would itself be a change. P. 72

He who sleeps in continual noise is wakened by silence. W. D. Howells, American writer. P. 73

Shallow men speak of the past; wise men of the present; and fools of the future. Marquise du Deffand, French epigrammatist. P. 73

I have seen the future, and it’s a lot like the present, but much longer. Dan Quisenberry, professional baseball player. P. 73

Stability itself is nothing than a more sluggish motion. Michel de Montaigne, French philosopher. P. 75

When experience is not retained… infancy is perpetual. George Santayana, American philosopher, P. 76

Stability through change demands clarity about what you are trying to do. There is no reason to make an adjustment unless there is something to adjust. P. 76

Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen, few in pursuit of the goal. Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher, P. 77

If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything. Mark Twain, American writer. P. 78

Great is the art of beginning, but greater the art of ending. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet. P. 90

I respect faith, but doubt is what gets you an education. Wilson Mizner, American humorist. P. 92

I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody. Bill Cosby, American comedian. P. 93

Adversity reveals genius, prosperity conceals it. Horace, Roman poet. P. 93

Creativeness often consists of merely turning up what is already there. Did you know that right and left shoes were thought up only a little more than a century ago (~1890) Bernice Fitz-Gibbon, American writer. P. 96

In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities; in the expert’s mind there are few. Shunryu Suzuki, Zen philosopher. P. 96

Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind. Seneca the Younger, Roman statesman. P. 98

A great war leaves a country with three armies: an army of cripples, an army of mourners, and an army with thieves. German proverb. P. 121

How poor are they who have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees? William Shakespeare. P. 124

In the begining there was the Word (Verb) (Gospel of St John, 1:1)