The quote that I use in that little quote-box on my Facebook page is probably my favourite:
“Dreams are the touchstone of our character”
This reminds me that my goals and ambitions are a reflection of who I am – my core beliefs and values – and these things need to be aligned.
It’s by Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), an American essayist and philosopher, and a very influential man. According to Wikipedia, he influenced the thinking of people like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, and a laundry list of other philosophers, political thinkers and authors. But it’s his simple thoughts on life that resonate with me the most.
He also said:
“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.”
I love this idea, it’s a motto to live by. It’s important to acknowledge the past and how it got me to here, to think about the future because it’s where I’m going next, but try to spend most of my time being in the present – really seeing and experiencing what is happening in the moment.
The Secret Life of Bebe 
I have the following quote on my FB profile:
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” -Albert Einstein
I think I originally read this in a Calvin & Hobbes strip and loved it ever since 🙂
Totally agree. If you don’t live and enjoy each moment you have now, you actually miss the pleasure of living each day and savouring its goodness. I have learned this over the years not to get so tied up with business and work that you neglect that essential presence with your family. You can never regain that lost time.
“Your mum!”