{"id":1693,"date":"2025-10-27T06:33:21","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T10:33:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cognitivewarriorproject.com\/?p=1693"},"modified":"2025-10-27T14:20:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T18:20:25","slug":"lunch-box-quotes-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cognitivewarriorproject.com\/?p=1693","title":{"rendered":"Lunch Box Quotes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A little over 20 years ago, I was running across the windswept desert to take a seat in a dusty helicopter for what would be the first leg in my journey home for the birth of Number 1. It seems like a lifetime ago, and in truth, in my world, it was actually four lifetimes ago.<\/p>\n

Number 2 played in his first college lacrosse showcase this weekend. He was invited by one of the six colleges that attended. I thought he played okay, but he thought he could have played a lot better. Does the fact that he hurt his wrist badly enough on Wednesday of last week to require an X-ray and eventual immobilization from a sprain until the day before give him an excuse for his performance? Maybe, but excuses don’t dull the sting of disappointment. It’s time to get to work.<\/p>\n

While I was at the showcase, Number 3<\/del> (Edit: Number 4) called me crying because she listened to and read the lyrics to one of my favorite songs, Dance in the Rain, by Charles Wesley Godwin. Preteen girls.<\/p>\n

After rereading this prior to posting, I think Number 3 needs a shout-out just for being awesomely consistent. Never too high, never too low, just steady in her excellence. (And I really struggled to find a good quote for her today. Guess I can’t win every day.)<\/p>\n

For you newbies, a couple of weeks ago, while sending 2 and 3 out the door, Number 2 asked why I haven\u2019t been writing notes to put in their lunches this year. Last year, on the days I\u2019m not traveling for work, I got up early, made the kids their lunches, and put a note in each one\u2019s lunch box. Their mom started it. She would write something sweet\u2026mom-type stuff. That is not really my thing, so I would look for cool quotes that seemed to fit the day or something they were going through. For 2, 3, and 4, it\u2019s a note on a napkin. For Number 1, it\u2019s a text.<\/p>\n

Quotes:<\/p>\n

1. “If you can keep your head when all about you   <\/em><\/div>\n
    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,…<\/em><\/div>\n
Yours is the Earth and everything that\u2019s in it, <\/em><\/div>\n
And\u2014which is more\u2014you\u2019ll be a Man, my son!”<\/em> – If by Rudyard Kipling<\/div>\n

2. “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”<\/em> – Samuel Beckett<\/p>\n

3. “There is some good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for.”<\/em> – J.R.R. Tolkien<\/p>\n

4. “Bend but do not break, don’t miss the habits that you shake. Dance in the rain.”<\/em> – Charles Wesley Godwin<\/p>\n

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  Sources:<\/div>\n
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If – Rudyard Kipling <\/a>(Probably my favorite poem)<\/p>\n

If you can keep your head when all about you   <\/div>\n
    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   <\/div>\n
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,<\/div>\n
    But make allowance for their doubting too;   <\/div>\n
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,<\/div>\n
    Or being lied about, don\u2019t deal in lies,<\/div>\n
Or being hated, don\u2019t give way to hating,<\/div>\n
    And yet don\u2019t look too good, nor talk too wise:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
If you can dream\u2014and not make dreams your master;   <\/div>\n
    If you can think\u2014and not make thoughts your aim;   <\/div>\n
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster<\/div>\n
    And treat those two impostors just the same;   <\/div>\n
If you can bear to hear the truth you\u2019ve spoken<\/div>\n
    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,<\/div>\n
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,<\/div>\n
    And stoop and build \u2019em up with worn-out tools:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
If you can make one heap of all your winnings<\/div>\n
    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,<\/div>\n
And lose, and start again at your beginnings<\/div>\n
    And never breathe a word about your loss;<\/div>\n
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew<\/div>\n
    To serve your turn long after they are gone,   <\/div>\n
And so hold on when there is nothing in you<\/div>\n
    Except the Will which says to them: \u2018Hold on!\u2019<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   <\/div>\n
    Or walk with Kings\u2014nor lose the common touch,<\/div>\n
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,<\/div>\n
    If all men count with you, but none too much;<\/div>\n
If you can fill the unforgiving minute<\/div>\n
    With sixty seconds\u2019 worth of distance run,   <\/div>\n
Yours is the Earth and everything that\u2019s in it,   <\/div>\n
    And\u2014which is more\u2014you\u2019ll be a Man, my son!<\/div>\n
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\u201cEver tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Samuel Beckett pic.twitter.com\/V4yeajlTBF<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Athenaeum Book Club (@athenaeumbc) October 26, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n