Blast of Trumpets: Quotes for a Lifetime

By Don Levin

"Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet." Ralph Waldo Emerson

In this anthology of quotes, author Don Levin has shared the words and sentences that have been like blasts of trumpets in his own life. Collected over the span of fifty

• Language: English
• Publisher: Don Levin
• Release date: Nov 15, 2018
• ISBN: 9780578404134

Don Levin

Don Levin is the President & CEO of USA-LTC, a national insurance brokerage, and has been in the long term care insurance industry since 1999. Don is also a former practicing Attorney-at-Law, court-appointed Arbitrator, as well as a retired U.S. Army officer with 23 years of service. Don earned his Juris Doctor from The John Marshall Law School, his MPA, from the University of Oklahoma, and his BA from the University of Illinois-Chicago. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Army Command & General Staff College and the Defense Strategy Course, U.S. Army War College. In his spare time, Don has published thirteen other books in a wide range of genre, as well as countless articles on leadership, long term care insurance, and personal development. Don is very active with his church and within the community, and remains focused on his wife Susie, their five children, nineteen grandchildren, one great-grandchild, and two dogs aptly named Barnes & Noble. A native of Chicago, Don and the majority of the clan now resides in the Boise, Idaho and Northern Utah area. Don may be reached at [e-mail].

Book preview

BLAST OF

TRUMPETS

Quotes for a Lifetime

Don Levin

Author of The Advocate

Copyright © 2018. Don Levin.

All Rights Reserved

ISBN:

9780578404127

9780578404134 (e-book)

Other titles by Don Levin you may enjoy

The Code

Knight’s Code

Broken Code

The Gazebo

The Life Story of Alexander Lebenstein

Eight Points of the Compass

Don’t Feed the Bears

Another Last Day

The Advocate

sequel to Another Last Day

Also

Wisdom of the Diamond

(with Tom Bartosic)

The Leader Coach

(with Terry Edwards)

The Right Combination

(with Todd Bothwell)

Visit our website at donlevin.com

Words are the most powerful drug used by mankind.

Rudyard Kipling

If you would not be forgotten, As soon as you are dead and rotten, Either write things worth reading, Or do things worth the writing.

Benjamin Franklin

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

The Pillars: Top Personal Life Defining Quotes

Ability

Abundance

Accomplishment

Adversity

Ambition

Attitude

Books

Change

Character

Charity

Commitment

Compassion

Confidence

Courage

Creativity

Curiosity

Discipline

Discovery

Dreams

Duty

Effort

Enthusiasm

Ethics

Example

Excellence

Failure

Faith

Family

Fatherhood

Fear

Friendship

Goals

Gratitude

Habits

Happiness

Heroes

Honor

Hope

Humility

Imagination

Integrity

Kindness

Knowledge

Leadership

Learning

Love

Miracles

Obedience

Obstacles

Opportunity

Optimism

Patience

Perfection

Persistence

Prayer

Preparation

Pride

Progress

Purpose

Relationships

Resilience

Self-Reliance

Service

Success

Teamwork

Truth

Value

Vision

Winning

Wisdom

Work

Worth

Work

About the Author

pref·ace

an introduction to a book, typically stating its subject, scope, or aims.

Preface

The origins of this book can be traced back to June of 1994 when all five children were still a part of our nuclear family. The dinner table was the cornerstone of our family, as we often waited to have dinner later in the evening if that was what allowed all of us to gather around it. The years have passed, and it is now just the two of us, along with four legged friends Barnes and Noble. Eighteen grandchildren come and go, gracing the confines of Grandma and Grandpa’s house with their presence, now in the dubious position of having a lot of this same wisdom being shared with them.

Over the years I have been a somewhat prolific writer both in the Army and at work as white papers, position papers, decision papers, magazine articles, newsletters, leadership notes, conference addresses, workshops, seminars, and webinars flowed from my pen and printer. It was early in this time that I completed my first novel, and the writing bug clearly infected me. I had found my creative outlet. To date, there are eleven books that bear my name on the shelf, and several more in different stages of completion. While I always appreciate the complimentary phone calls, voice mails, e-mails, texts, and even Facebook or Good Book posts, I must confess that I really do write for my own enjoyment. The fact that what I put to paper pleases other people is just icing on the cake!

A common theme to all of these books is the format in which each chapter has had a quote or thought that ideally sets the tone for the upcoming chapter. As you can well imagine, this has led to quite a collection of quotes being assembled especially when added to all of the inspirational quotes that have adorned the aforementioned professional writings, promotional posters and flyers, as well as handwritten notes that I have shared over the intervening years.

These words have served to inspire me, comfort me, and motivate me. Some of these quotes are from ordinary people, others world renowned in their fame or fortune. In any event, they were all visionaries, dreamers, and purveyors of hope. Leaders, teachers, mentors, coaches, and faithful disciples from all walks of life. Some were literary giants who have been read for hundreds of years, others merely people who have crossed my path and said something that resonated. In any event, I have felt uplifted and directed by these words often spoken under the direst of circumstances as evidenced by the strength of their convictions, demonstrated character, and always with vision and passion as companions.

No doubt about it, this book is a self-indulgence, but hopefully one that family and friends will want to turn to when they too have a speaking assignment at church, a writing to be completed for work or school, or simply because they may hear something that resonates with them. Perhaps they will hear something that forces a memory to percolate itself to the surface of their subconscious and a vague recollection of childhood or our friendship will burst into the air around them like a sky rocket on the Fourth of July as they associate some of these words with something they heard uttered by me.

Many of these words have been in my life since I was a young boy and a voracious reader; some of them had a very profound impact on me, and truly colored the lens of the camera thru which I thereafter viewed life. Now I am approaching another one of those pesky milestone birthdays that are supposed to make us pause and strike a retrospective pose. As I engage in this activity, it occurs to me just how important these words remain to me and how much I hope they will resonate with all those who read them as part of this collection.

I am also hopeful that as I enter another act in the play of my own life, that those who read them will know that these very words define who I am and all that I have strived to be in all facets of my own mortal journey.

We formatted this book so as to make it easy to read but also for you to write in and hopefully add your own favorite quotes under each section’s heading. If you have one to share with me, don’t hesitate – I would love to hear from you.

DJL

The Pillars:

Top Life Defining Quotes

Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

THE MAN IN THE ARENA

Excerpt from the speech Citizenship in a Republic delivered at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France on 23 April, 1910

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the