Relevance Quotes

The issues Miss Quested had raised were so much more important than she was herself that people inevitably forgot her.

~ E.m. Forster

The problem then with Jesus is that he cannot be removed from his time and transplanted into our own without simply creating him anew

~ Bart D. Ehrman

The master demon Screwtape identifies elitist humanity's tendency toward an ingrained habit of belittling anything that concerns the great mass of their fellow men.

~ C.s. Lewis

I think myself so terribly ‘clever’ that the need for God is blatantly irrelevant. And all the while, in the rapidly growing mess that I’m ‘cleverly’ creating, I rather quickly begin to realize that the only thing that is relevant is His relevance.

~ Craig D. Lounsbrough

The glory of victory softens our view of past frailties.

~ Marian Deegan

We don't experience our professional and personal lives as separate worlds, they are intertwined and holistic.

~ Tom Hayes

Unless individuals have the power to defy commoditization and define their own lives, their potential is vulnerable to the crushing forces of objectification.

~ Tom Hayes

Acting on our interests refines our understanding of what we are good at and what we value. The experiences we have along the way sometimes introduce us to new values that enhance and enlarge our vision. The lessons we learn through habits of action test our understanding and teach us to identify what matters in our life.

~ Marian Deegan

When we make a habit of acting on the interests arising out of our authentic passions, our enthusiasm can open doors before we even realize the potential that lies beyond them.

~ Marian Deegan

Habits of action cultivated early in life lay the foundation for unique skill sets able to carve a path beyond the mundane and into the relevant.

~ Marian Deegan

We can't act until we know who we are and what we believe.

~ Marian Deegan

Authenticity is a continual process of building self-awareness, a journey through which we acknowledge both our strengths and our limitations, and come to identify a noble purpose.

~ Tom Hayes

Although Martin Luther's theological message was couched as an exhortation to all Christian people, his frame of reference, the human experiences on which he drew and his emotional sympathies, or almost entirely German.

~ Andrew Pettegree

Don't you sense the enormity of your mistake – you invade a country without understanding its music. – Norman Mailer

~ Mark Kurlansky

What God says to His Church at any given period depends altogether upon her moral and spiritual condition and upon the spiritual need of the hour.

~ A.w. Tozer

In each generation, there is this certain wisdom of the ages that gets reburied in the fleeting drivels of modernity; then, like a diamond in the rough, it is yet again unearthed by a very small minority who not only restores it, but also polishes it and presents it as something new, something highly valuable and refreshing as understood by the current.

~ Criss Jami

With honesty and a little digging, we have the opportunity to identify our gifts and harness them in the service of our best self—our own unique noble purpose.

~ Tom Hayes

Beneath all the rhetoric about relevance lies a profoundly disturbing possibility - that people may base their lives upon an illusion, upon a blatant lie. The attractiveness of a belief is all too often inversely proportional to its truth... To allow relevance to be given greater weight than truth is a mark of intellectual shallowness and moral irresponsibility.

~ Alister E. Mcgrath

Throughout history, there have been people who mattered more. Some of them, like Ulysses S. Grant and Winston Churchill and Jonas Salk, changed the course of history in grand strokes. Others, like Reuben Styrlund and Dora Salk, made a meaningful difference on a smaller stage...Remembered or not lived out in a small town or on the world's stage, the journey of relevance matters.

~ Marian Deegan

A writer's age at the time of a work's composition is never irrelevant.

~ Margaret Atwood

When you develop your gift, you will be well known

~ Sunday Adelaja

Only by digging deep down to the core of our true self can we come to a place of inner certainty. Our underlying values and priorities are our personal navigational stars on life's journey—essential tools to chart a life course that embraces what matters most to us.

~ Marian Deegan

We have a fundamental imperative in our lives to matter to others, to serve others, and to support each other in mattering more.

~ Tom Hayes

Too many companies— and individuals— are befuddled by delusion when it comes to identifying their authentic strengths and projecting those strengths through their brand. It’s as if they live in Opposite Land. If their service is wretched, they tell people that they are great at service. If they are selling a mediocre car, they expound on its hip sportiness. Claiming that you are what you are not will obscure the strengths you do have while destroying your credibility. It’s a lose-lose proposition. In order to hunt down and accurately tag authenticity, we must first pop the balloon of self-delusion.

~ Tom Hayes

Distraction leaches the authenticity out of our communications. When we are not emotionally present, we are gliding over the surface of our interactions and we never tangle in the depths where the nuances of our skills are tested and refined. A medical professor describes the easy familiarity with which her digital-native resident students master medical electronic records—but is troubled by the fact that they enter data with their eyes focused on their digital devices, not on the patient in the room with them. Preoccupation with technology acts as a screen between the student and the patient’s real emotion, real fear, and real concern. It may also prevent these residents from noticing physical symptoms that the patient fails to mention. The easy busyness of medical record entry is a way to sidestep the more challenging dynamics of human connection. But experienced physicians know that interpersonal skills are essential to mastering the art and science of medical diagnosis.

~ Marian Deegan

Our lives are marked by the people who choose to matter more: the teacher who encouraged our curiosity, the neighbor who lent a helping hand in time of need, the great leaders and perceptive thinkers whose vision and innovation improve the quality of our lives. And that's what it means to matter more. It's not about pursuit of riches or fame. It's about making a difference in people's lives. Remembered or not, lived out in a small town or on the world stage, the journey of relevance matters.

~ Marian Deegan

Any master skill in practice is about comprehending myriad elements and fitting them together in inspired ways that satisfy the objective.

~ Marian Deegan

Commoditization is the enemy of meaning. In ages dominated by the forces of commoditization, individuals pay the price with devalued lives. by contrast, unique skills requiring mastery and expertise, like the skills of a brain surgeon, are safe from the threat of commoditization.

~ Tom Hayes

Churches are no more relevant because they haven’t balanced there teachings.

~ Sunday Adelaja

Claiming that you are what you are not will obscure the strengths you do have while destroying your credibility.

~ Tom Hayes

How we present ourselves at any given time is dependent on the situation. We constantly balance the tension of high aspirations with the pragmatism of realistic expectations. The key is to represent ourselves in such a way that we can fulfill the expectations we create.

~ Marian Deegan

Distraction leaches the authenticity out of our communications. When we are not emotionally present, we are gliding over the surface of our interactions and we never tangle in the depths where the nuances of our skills are tested and refined.

~ Marian Deegan

Nothing limits you like not knowing your limitations.

~ Tom Hayes

Nothing has been as instructive in exploring the notion of authenticity as relearning the work of the great philosophers Aristotle and Plato. We are struck by their applicability to our work as we help companies and people develop their brands. Why do these early philosophers have so much to say that is helpful to modern marketers? We believe it is because they were focused on the fundamental issues of authenticity that we all face: Who are we? Why are we? How should we behave? Asking these questions encourages us to deepen our self-awareness. In particular, this issue of “who are we?” is critical. Knowing who we are is the key to elevating our capacities and performance.

~ Tom Hayes

Without authenticity, we are only a poor imitation of someone else.

~ Tom Hayes