Random quotes

I either read or heard these quotes lately and I wanted to write them down here so I could share. They mean something to me for many different reasons:
"The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser - in case you thought optimism was dead.”
“God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.”
 "I have my reality and she has hers and I find mine a lot more appealing, safe and happy."
 "The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers."-M. Scott Peck 
"If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome." –Michael Jordan
"A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials." - Chinese Proverb
"A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd."
"A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral." - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
"Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out. "- James B. Conant
 "Do not wait; the time will never be "just right". Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along. "- Napoleon Hill
"Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms. To choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances." - Viktor Frankl
 "I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying." - Michael Jordan
"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." - Bill Cosby
 "Interestingly, koi, when put in a fish bowl, will only grow up to three inches. When this same fish is placed in a large tank, it will grow to about nine inches long. In a pond koi can reach lengths of eighteen inches. Amazingly, when placed in a lake, koi can grow to three feet long. The metaphor is obvious. You are limited by how you see the world. "- Vince Poscente
 "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye." - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry