Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming:
"Wow... What A Ride!!!"

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. -Eleanor Roosevelt

"Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right!" -Henry Ford

The universe is made up of stories, not of atoms. - Muirel Rukeyser

What changes when a woman becomes an athlete. Everything. - Mariah Burton Nelson

We play because we love the game, we love each other and we love to win. - Mia Hamm

If you are looking only to win you've lost the entire reason for sport. - Claire Carver-Dais

The only person who can stop you from reaching your goals is you. - Jackie Joyner-Kersee

A winner's strongest muscle is her heart. - Cassie Campbell

“What drives me most is the passion I have for the sport. That’s why I do it.” - Myriam Bédard

"I started golfing when women were supposed to know more about a cook stove than a niblick." - Ada Mackenzie

“It means using your unique abilities in a set of circumstances that you do not choose. In life, as in sports, we seldom get to choose our own circumstances.” - Silken Laumann

'You have to have a real love of your sport to carry you through all the bad times…you must have a commitment to work hard and to never give up.” - Nancy Greene

“I wasn’t sure I could make it, but I wasn’t so sure Florence Chadwick could make it either. " - Marilyn Bell on swimming Lake Ontario

"Never give up and continue to challenge yourself, expand your horizons and try new things." -Charmaine Crooks (advice to young women)

“It’s a huge reason we don’t have enough kids playing sports, because they get too competitive too soon. At this age, everyone should get to play...The only way you learn the skills and get better… is to play.” - Penny Werthner

"If you can react the same way to winning and losing, that's a big accomplishment..." - Chris Evert Lloyd

ADVOCACY

Never doubt that a group of thoughtful commited citizens can change the World. It is the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead

"We can never be silent in the face of injustice. Silence means acceptance. We must act to prevent injustice." - Billie Jean King, 2002 World Women and Sport Conference -

Social change is slow; it requires persistence over time, one person, one action at a time. We are still working to realize the promise of Title IX. - Donna A. Lopiano, Executive Director Women’s Sports Foundation 2002 -

Activism does not mean anger. Anger makes people defensive and resolute in their unwillingness to change. Activism proceeds best when it is persistent, positive, respectful; filled with facts and hope; strong, true and accurate statements without resorting to irrational threats. - Billie Jean King, World Conference 2002 -

LEADERSHIP/ACHIEVEMENTS

Organize is what you do before you start something so that when you start it, it doesn’t get all mixed up. - Christopher Robin

If a male member of Parliament says anything foolish it is forgotten the next day, but if a woman does it, it is repeated endlessly, right across the country." - Ellen Fairclough, First Canadian woman cabinet minister 1957 (CTV news report, Nov 14, 2004)

Never retreat, never explain, never apologize. - Deborah Grey, first Reform Party MP –

"Success in life is often nothing more than going from one failure to the next with undiminished enthusiasm." -Winston Churchill

"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts." - John Wooden

In life you learn the lesson then you take the exam; in coaching you take the exam and then you learn the lesson. - Bev Smith, Canadian 2000 Olympic Basketball Coach -

Whatever women must do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult. - Charlotte Whitton

In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man- if you want anything done, ask a woman. - Margaret Thatcher

I have yet to hear a man ask for advice on how to combine marriage and a career. - Gloria Steinem

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE – Advice from 10 Women in Power
(courtesy of The Globe and Mail)

‘Embrace opportunity. You need to be brave. You need to take risks. You have to find confidence. And if you don’t feel it, you need to fake it.’ - Sheelagh Whittaker – Directors at Imperial Oil and Standard Life

‘A lot of women stay put. I’ve left jobs and I’ve said, ‘You know this is not doing anything for me. I’m not learning enough! I’m not making enough! I’m not staying here!’ - Moya Greene – CEO Britain’s Royal Mail

‘It is awfully important that women take risks…You have to be on the radar screen to gain the visibility that is required. Get into the riskier positions that give you more visibility.’ - Anne Mulcahy – Former CEO of Xerox Corp.

‘Two things I always say: hard work, and be yourself. You can’t compromise on either one of those things. And I know “be yourself” sounds like a really soft thing. But it is not. You can tell a fake from a mile away. There’s something about authenticity. Don’t change yourself to suit other people. It’s your personality, it’s your values. You have to be true to them.’ - Laura Formusa – CEO of Hydro One Inc.

‘Ask for the hard file. The hard file is the visible file – it’s the one that everybody’s watching. And when you get the hard file, work your ass off. And once you’ve achieved, the rest will just build.’ - Jane Peverett – Director at CIBC and Encana Corp.

‘The advice to me [was] ‘become a star.’ I think what was meant was ‘build a profile,’ which I did through being involved in local government. I became known in my community so that I was the kind of person that political parties approached to run, as opposed to having to go and knock on the door myself.’ - Kim Campbell – Former Prime Minister of Canada

‘I hear lots of women say, “I’d never expose myself to that. I wouldn’t want to go into the bear pit of politics.” I always remind them that we’re not going to change that bear pit of politics until we get a better balance on the legislature and in the parliaments of Canada.’ - Carole James – Leader of the New Democratic Party of British Columbia

‘I think you have to make sure that you’re in an organization that you feel has a culture that recognizes your contribution. That’s first and foremost. And if you don’t, then you perhaps should look at an organization where that is the case. If you are in an organization that does that, then there’s no mystery to the rest of it. And that’s commitment, passion, hard work. And if you do that, your talent will be recognized.’ - Karen Kinsely – CEO of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

‘Be visible when you have opportunities to be out there at the boardroom table or in a meeting setting. I’m not sure it’s just women – a lot of people just sit back and allow others to speak up. I did that as well. But when you really sit back and look at everyone around the table, you’ve got as much to contribute as anyone else around the table. And it’s those who contribute who do get noticed, and being noticed is part of the opportunity of moving up.’ - Rosemarie Leclair – CEO of Hydro Ottawa

‘Don’t worry about the fact that you’re a woman. Use that to your advantage and understand what you as a woman bring to the table – that is a different perspective, and that it can be valued if it’s positioned properly. And find a mentor. If you know what direction you want to go in, or even if you’re trying to figure that out, women will help you. Women want to help. We love to do that, we love to nurture.’ - Michelle Carinci – CEO Atlantic Lottery Corp.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

"Don't worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition." - Abraham Lincoln

SELF ESTEEM
Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission. - Eleanor Roosevelt

"Self-esteem isn’t everything; it’s just there’s nothing without it." - Gloria Steinem