• Columnists

David Bruce Smith, author and publisher

COLUMN = HISTORY

“Author and publisher David Bruce Smith* has a bachelor’s degree in American Literature from George Washington University, and a master’s in journalism from New York University. During the past twenty years he has been a real estate executive and the Editor-in-Chief/ Publisher of Crystal City Magazine.

Smith has written 11 books: “In Many Arenas,” • “13 Young Men, Tennessee,” • “Three Miles From Providence,” • “Conversations with Papa Charlie,” • “Afternoon Tea with Mom,” • “Letters to My Children,” • “Building the Community,” • “Continuum,” • “Building My Life,” • and his most recent, “American Hero: John Marshall, Chief Justice of the United States.

His company David Bruce Smith Publications, specializes in creating, designing, and composing limited-edition books on a variety of subjects: authors, historic figures, artists, and leaders. Several are about the amazing life-story of real estate developer and philanthropist Charles E. Smith. David Bruce Smith Publications is committed to educating young children through books, literature and historic sites.

In January 2014 he launched the The Grateful American™ Series — an interactive, multi-media program designed to restore enthusiasm in American history for children.

For more information, visit davidbrucesmith.com.

The only dream worth having is to live while you’re alive and die only when you’re dead.”

– Arundhati Roy

Entrepreneurs are willing to roll the dice with their money or reputation on the line in support of an idea or enterprise.”

– Victor Kiam

I was taught at a very young age that you can do whatever you want to, but you have to make it happen — not just talk about it.”

– Kathleen Jo Ryan

What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?”

– Magical

The world I believed in, back in my most innocent, uninformed, childish mind—is real.”

– Martha Beck

If you were independently wealthy and never had to work a day in your life, would you still choose to spend your time attempting to become a successful entrepreneur?”

– Steven Schussler

Do one thing every day that scares you.”

– Eleanor Roosevelt

If you do not tell the truth about yourself
, you cannot tell it about other people.”

– Virginia Woolf

Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, ‘Make Me Feel Important.’ Not only will you succeed in sales, you will succeed in life.”

– Mary Kay Ash

The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands, but in seeing with new eyes.”

– Marcel Proust

At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.”

– Lao Tzu

You must have chaos within you, to create a dancing star.”

– Frederic Nietzsche

If people like you they’ll listen to you; if they trust you, they’ll do business with you.”

– Zig Ziglar

To find what you seek in the road of life, leave no stone unturned.”

– Edward Bulwer Lytton

Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value.”

– Albert Einstein

That which grows fast withers as rapidly; that which grows slowly endures.”

– J.G. Holland, novelist

Entrepreneurs need to search purposefully for the sources of innovation that indicate opportunities for success.”

– Peter F. Drucker

A people who mean to be their Governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”

– James Madison

If you do work that you love, and the work fulfills you, the rest will come.”

– Oprah Winfrey

Your own words are the bricks and mortar
of the dreams you want to realize.
 The words you choose and their use establish the life you experience.”

– Sonia Croquette

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

– Leonardo da Vinci

Persist and persevere, and you will find most things that are attainable, possible.”

– Lord Chesterfield

The best reason to start an organization is to create a product or service to make the world a better place.”

– Guy Kawasaki

The person who makes a success of living is the one who see his goal steadily and aims for it unswervingly. That is dedication.”

– Cecil B. DeMille

We are perfectionists. We are hungry to work all the time. We are entertained by every aspect of business and we never want to stop working.”

– Suzy Welch

Don’t follow, lead. Don’t copy, create. Don’t start, finish. Don’t sit still, move. Don’t fit in, stand out. Don’t sit quietly, speak up. (Not all the time, sure, but more often.)”

– Seth Godin

If you want to be busy, keep trying to be perfect. If you want to be happy, focus on making a difference.”

– Lisa Earle McLeod

Treat the attainment of happiness in the same way an entrepreneur would approach building a business — with a vision, plan, goals, and a systematic approach.”

– Ted Leonsis

Look at everything as though you were
seeing it either for the first or last time.
Then your time on earth will be filled with glory.”

– Betty Smith

It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.”

– William Shakespeare

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.”

– Mark Twain

Challenge is a dragon with a gift in its mouth. Tame the dragon and the gift is yours.”

– Noela Evans

What is the point of having free will if one cannot occasionally spit in the eye of destiny?”

– Jim Butcher, White Night

We are not meant to resolve all contradictions, but to live with them and rise above them.”

– William Blake

When a dog runs at you, whistle for him.”

– Henry David Thoreau

Don’t wait for someone else to lead you to your right life; that privilege—and responsibility—is yours alone.”

– Martha Beck

I find out what the world needs, then I proceed to invent.”

– Thomas Edison

4oz tequila + 1oz TripleSec + 2oz lime juice + 1oz simple syrup (sugar=water), 1 cup crushed ice. Shake + dance around the kitchen.

– Avenida Margarita

Are you willing to help other people succeed even when it’s not a requirement of your job to be of assistance?”

– Steven Schussler

He who knows he has enough is rich.”

– Tao Te Ching

I always maintained that the greatest obstacle in life isn’t danger, it’s boredom. The battle against it is responsible for most of the events in the world — good or ill.”

– Dr. Evelyn Vogel, Dexter

Of course there is no formula for success except perhaps an unconditional acceptance of life and what it brings.”

– Arthur Rubinstein

This is the age when magical technologies make more and more radically fun ideas plausible, even easy. You’re only limited by your creativity.”

– Martha Beck

Many people prefer to play it safe when it comes to business matters. Are you willing to take risks in the pursuit of entrepreneurial success?”

– Steven Schussler

When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”

– Jimi Hendrix

You may ask me for anything you like except time.”

– Napoleon

Remember that it’s okay to ask for help when you’re stumped, because sometimes you really can’t be expected to handle everything alone.”

– Martha Beck

Tolerance and patience should not be read as signs of weakness. They are signs of strength.”

– The Dalai Lama

How do you stay resilient? It’s about momentum. Like riding a bicycle. If you stop you fall over. So I keep pedaling.”

– Diane Lane