Every conference you attend, no matter the subject, is filled with the presenter’s best stuff and much of it is ‘one-liners.’ When you read books for study, it is the good stuff you underline, the one-liners.
However the one-liners are only that unless they are backed up with wisdom or carried out with conviction. When I underline something in a book, it is so I can go back to it quickly or as has been the case lately; go back through the book and write down notes later.
Here are some things I have recently underlined:
From Chasing Francis, by Ian Morgan Cron
‘(people in Medival times) built huge, ornate churches so that people walking into them would feel like they had left one world and entered another reality, the Kingdom of God.’
‘Simple elegance of Francis’s strategy of ministry – simply read the gospel text and live the life you find on its pages.’
“It’s no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching’
From The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make, by Hans Finzel
‘There is nothing in my organization that anyone does that I should not be willing to do myself if it promotes the good of us all.’
‘Work can be enjoyable and workers can do their best when trusted to motivate themselves in their work.’
‘The privilege of leadership is a high calling and adventure.’
‘The greatest ideas bubble up from the workers.’
‘The older an organization, the less room for the truly creative.’
‘Don’t allow your policies and procedures to stifle your brightest stars.’
In a recent blog post Tony Morgan dedicated the entire post to recording ‘one-liners’ of Andy Stanley as he presented at a conference. It is an interesting post, you ought to take a look.
There is no way to build an agenda for a meeting, plan for the future or motivate your team with just the quotes. It takes an understanding of the philosophy behind the quotes. Really it takes a lot of hard work and the desire to continue on a journey of study to be the best you can be. It takes weeding out the superficial from the substantial. For me it also takes a reliance on the Holy Spirit to guide my next step.
I will keep reading and underling things to quote. However, quotes are just the icing on the cake and you know man cannot live on icing alone.