Best Quotes from The Art Of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander with Page Numbers

"It’s all invented anyway, so we might as well invent a story or a framework of meaning that enhances our quality of life and the life of those around us."

"The senses do not give us a picture of the world directly; rather they provide evidence for the checking of hypotheses about what lies before us."

"In reality the very opposite happens. It is theory which decides what we can observe."

"The meanings our minds construct may be widely shared and sustaining for us, but they may have little to do with the world itself."

"Every problem, every dilemma, every dead end we find ourselves facing in life, only appears unsolvable inside a particular frame or point of view."

"If you learn to notice and distinguish these stories, you will be able to break through the barriers of any 'box' that contains unwanted conditions."

"Let your thoughts and actions spring from the new framework and see what happens."

"What assumption am I making, That I’m not aware I’m making, That gives me what I see?"

"What might I now invent, That I haven’t yet invented, That would give me other choices?"

"The world appears to us sorted and packaged in this way, substantially enriched by the categories of culture we live in, by learning, and by the meanings we form out of the unique journey each of us travels."

Once you have begun to distinguish that it’s all invented, you can create a place to dwell where new inventions are the order of the day.

Such a place we call 'the universe of possibility,' and stepping into it is our second practice.

In this world of measurement, each of us strives for success, hoping to arrive at a better place than where we are.

Even when life is at its best in the measurement world, this assumption is the backdrop for the play.

Life appears as variety, pattern, and shimmering movement, inviting us in every moment to engage.

The pie is enormous, and if you take a slice, the pie is whole again.

You are more likely to extend your business and have a fulfilled life if you have the attitude that there are always new customers out there waiting to be enrolled.

On the whole, resources are likely to come to you in greater abundance when you are generous and inclusive and engage people in your passion for life.

When you set the context and let life unfold, you may give away short-term profits in pursuit of a bigger dream.

How are my thoughts and actions, in this moment, reflections of the measurement world?

Giving an A elevates our relationships from the world of measurement into the universe of possibility.

An A can be given to anyone in any walk of life, finding room to realize themselves.

This A is not an expectation to live up to, but a possibility to live into.

The underlying spirit of giving an A brings people together under a common purpose.

As soon as you have the grace to give people A’s, all sorts of things are revealed that were as though hidden behind a veil.

The practice of giving the A allows the teacher to line up with her students in their efforts for extraordinary outcomes.

In the context of possibility, you certainly can change people. They change as you speak.

Our job is to remove the extraneous debris that stands between us and our expression in the world.

You can treat mistakes as fascinating opportunities for growth rather than failures.

The only grace you can have is the grace you can imagine.

"It certainly makes a difference to this one."

"Life is revealed as a place to contribute and we as contributors."

"I realized I could invent another game."

"In the game of contribution you wake up each day and bask in the notion that you are a gift to others."

"Imagine that everything you do sends ripples out beyond the horizon."

"Transformation overrides the divisions of identity and possession that are the architecture of the measurement model."

"Naming oneself and others as a contribution produces a shift away from self-concern and engages us in a relationship with others that is an arena for making a difference."

"The rewards in the contribution game are of a deep and enduring kind, though less predictable than the trio of money, fame, and power that accrue to the winner in the success game."

"When I walked in here, Sarah was in the fifth row, and now she is in the fourth!"

"We were clapping for the joy of being alive."

The conductor of an orchestra does not make a sound. His true power derives from his ability to make other people powerful.

How much greatness are we willing to grant people? Because it makes all the difference at every level who it is we decide we are leading.

Every musician has a voice, and it is the conductor’s job to give them the power to express it.

Listening for passion and commitment is the practice of the silent conductor.

Things change when you care enough to grab whatever you love, and give it everything.

A leader does not need a podium; she can be sitting quietly on the edge of any chair, listening passionately and with commitment.

You will get the support you need.

In order to realize my interpretation of the work in question, it seemed all I had to do was to gain sway over the players, teach them my interpretation, and make them fulfill my musical will.

You did my crescendo!

From this day I will be leading every section in which I sit—whichever seat.

"Rule Number 6 is ‘Don’t take yourself so g—damn seriously.’"

"The practice of this chapter is to lighten up, which may well light up those around you."

"Humor can bring us together around our inescapable foibles, confusions, and miscommunications."

"Whenever somebody gives up their pride to reveal a truth to others, we find it incredibly moving."

"When we follow Rule Number 6 and lighten up over our childish demands and entitlements, we are instantly transported into a remarkable universe."

"The central self knows that 'not belonging' and 'being insufficient' are thoughts both as native to us and as illusory as Santa Claus."

"Transformation, for our central selves, is a description of the mode through which we move through life."

"What freedom! Unencumbered by the obstacles that the calculating self tackles daily, the central self can listen in innocence for who we are."

"With the help of a single rule, so can we."

"A child comes to think of himself as the personality he gets recognition for or, in other words, as the set of patterns of action and habits of thought that get him out of childhood in one piece."

The only way to find happiness is to accept that the way things are is the way things are.

Being present to the way things are is not the same as accepting things as they are in the resigned way of the cow.

It simply means, being present without resistance: being present to what is happening and present to your reactions, no matter how intense.

If you cannot, you might spend entire days bracing against the truth, complaining how unfair it is...You would be stuck—and unable to go on from there.

The capacity to be present to everything that is happening, without resistance, creates possibility.

If we include mistakes in our definition of performance, we are likely to glide through them and appreciate the beauty of the longer run.

The risk the music invites us to take becomes a joyous adventure only when we stretch beyond our known capacities, while gladly affirming that we may fail.

Abstractions that we unwittingly treat as physical reality tend to block us from seeing the way things are, and therefore reduce our power to accomplish what we say we want.

The practice of being with the way things are calls upon us to distinguish between our assumptions, our feelings, and the facts.

Being with the way things are allows us to alight in a place of openness, where 'the truth' readies us for the next step, and the sky opens up.

If I were to wish for anything I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of what can be, for the eye, which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible.

Pleasure disappoints, possibility never.

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action.

If you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost.

It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.

Life flows when we put our attention on the larger patterns of which we are a part.

When one rises above a work to see the long line, the overarching structure, one can see and hear a new meaning.

The access to passion gives momentum to efforts to build a business plan.

Performance is not about getting your act together, but about opening up to the energy of the audience and of the music.

We can join it by finding the tempo and lean our bodies to the music; dare to let go of the edges of ourselves.

"Certain things in life are better done in person."

"The practice of enrollment is about giving yourself as a possibility to others and being ready, in turn, to catch their spark."

"Passion, rather than fear, is the igniting force. Abundance, rather than scarcity, is the context."

"Imagine that people are an invitation for enrollment."

"A 'no' can seem like a door slamming instead of merely an instance of the way things are."

"Possibility has its own music, its own gestures, its own kind of radiance, and the attendant caught the spark."

"The sudden realization that we were all trapped in a box of scarcity... enabled me to step into a universe of possibility."

"Enrollment is that life force at work, lighting sparks from person to person, scattering light in all directions."

"He made me realize that education was so important to everyone, not just the intelligent, it’s as simple as that!"

"Sometimes the sparks ignite a blaze; sometimes they pass quietly, magically, almost imperceptibly, from one to another to another."

"I am the framework for everything that happens in my life."

"Grace comes from owning the risks we take in a world by and large immune to our control."

"When you declare yourself an unwilling victim of a known risk, you have postured yourself as a poor loser in a game you chose to play."

"The purpose of naming yourself as the board, or as the context in which life occurs to you, is to give yourself the power to transform your experience of any unwanted condition into one with which you care to live."

"You can always grace yourself with responsibility for anything that happens in your life."

"Your attention turns to repairing a breakdown in relationship when you name yourself as the board."

"Relationships with my colleagues, players, students, and friends are always more important than the project in which we are engaged."

"Once you embark on the practice, you may find yourself relinquishing your claim for 'fairness' or 'justice' in favor of the riches that an intimate relationship can offer."

"When you are being the board, you present no obstacles to others."

"This practice launches you on a soaring journey of transformation and development with others."

We are simply seeking to bring into full realization the American dream—a dream yet unfulfilled.

It is to have the courage and persistence to distinguish the downward spiral from the radiant realm of possibility in the face of any challenge.

We can open a window on a world where all is sound, our creative powers are formidable, and unseen threads connect us all.

Any one of us can exercise this kind of leadership, whether we stand in the position of CEO or employee, citizen or elected official, teacher or student, friend or lover.

It is the framework of fear and scarcity, not scarcity itself, that promotes divisions between people.

We are living in the land of our dreams.

A vision is a powerful framework to take the operations of an organization of any size from the downward spiral into the arena of possibility.

A vision articulates a possibility.

Vision becomes a framework for possibility when it meets certain criteria that distinguish it from the objectives of the downward spiral.

You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.

"Imagine if this sentiment had been the one to guide Arab and Jewish relations in the Middle East since 1947."

"What framework will transform us AND those whose claims on resources, territory, and the 'truth' are irreconcilable with ours?"

"The WE story defines a human being in a specific way: It says we are our central selves seeking to contribute, naturally engaged, forever in a dance with each other."

"By telling the WE story, an individual becomes a conduit for this new inclusive entity, wearing its eyes and ears, feeling its heart, thinking its thoughts, inquiring into what is best for US."

"The practice of the WE gives us a method for reclaiming 'The Other' as one of us."

"Did we resolve the issues? Obviously not, but the issues themselves are rarely what they seem, no matter what pains are taken to verify the scoreboard."

"If we describe revenge, greed, pride, fear, and self-righteousness as the villains—and people as the hope—we will come together to create possibility."

"The all of all of us. Designed to put the impulse for revenge at one remove and to bring forward the enemy as a human being, part of US, it was a framework for the possibility of social transformation."

"Transformation from the 'I' to the WE is the last practice and the long line of this book: the intentional, ongoing dissolution of the barriers that divide us."

"You can turn your attention away from the onslaught of circumstances and listen for the music of your being; then launch yourself as a long line into the world."