Benjamin Zander Quotes

• The conductor of an orchestra doesn’t make a sound. He depends, for his power, on his ability to make other people powerful.

  Benjamin Zander

  Inspirational, Music, Motivation

  144 Copy quote

• My job [is] to awaken possibility in other people. If their eyes are shining, you know you're doing it. If they're not shining you get to ask this question: "Who am I being that my children's eyes are not shining?"

  Benjamin Zander

  Jobs, Children, Eye

  95 Copy quote

• I have a definition of success. For me it's very simple. It's not about wealth and fame and power. It's about how many shining eyes I have around me.

  Benjamin Zander

  Eye, Simple, Shining

  88 Copy quote

• In the measurement world, we set a goal and strive to achieve it. In the universe of possibility, we set the context and let life unfold.

  Benjamin Zander

  Goal, World, Measurement

  64 Copy quote

• When you make a mistake, throw your hands in the air and say "How fascinating!"

  Benjamin Zander

  Mistake, Air, Hands

  71 Copy quote

• This is the moment — this is the most important moment right now. Which is: We are about contribution. That’s what our job is. It’s not about impressing people. It’s not about getting the next job. It’s about contributing something.

  Benjamin Zander

  Jobs, People, Important

  70 Copy quote

• It’s one of the characteristics of a leader that he not doubt for one moment the capacity of the people he’s leading to realize whatever he’s dreaming. Imagine if Martin Luther King had said, ‘I have a dream. Of course, I’m not sure they’ll be up to it.

  Benjamin Zander

  Dream, Kings, People

  72 Copy quote

• Throw yourself into life as someone who makes a difference, accepting that you may not understand how or why.

  Benjamin Zander

  Differences, Making A Difference, May

  Rosamund Stone Zander, Benjamin Zander (2002). “The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life”, p.54, Penguin

  79 Copy quote

• The job of the leader is to speak to the possibility.

  Benjamin Zander

  Leadership, Jobs, Vision

  47 Copy quote

• The major difference between the 'best' and the 'average' is that the 'best' get as much pleasure from practice as performance.

  Benjamin Zander

  Teaching, Learning, Practice

  47 Copy quote

• Everybody loves classical music they just don't know about it yet.

  Benjamin Zander

  Classical Music, Knows

  43 Copy quote

• My job is to awaken possibility in other people.

  Benjamin Zander

  Jobs, People, Possibility

  43 Copy quote

• Look at their eyes. If their eyes are shining, you know you're doing it.

  Benjamin Zander

  Eye, Shining, Looks

  "The transformative power of classical music". TED Talk, www.ted.com. February 2008.

  44 Copy quote

• As leaders, we're giving out grades in every encounter we have with people. We can choose to give out grades as an expectation to live up to, and then we can reassess them according to performance. Or we can offer grades as a possibility to live into. The second approach is much more powerful.

  Benjamin Zander

  Powerful, People, Giving

  52 Copy quote

• I'm so sorry for you; your lives have been so easy. You can't play great music unless your heart's been broken.

  Benjamin Zander

  Sorry, Heart, Play

  Rosamund Stone Zander, Benjamin Zander (2002). “The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life”, p.33, Penguin

  52 Copy quote

• It's not a question of how much power you can hoard for yourself, but how much you can give away.

  Benjamin Zander

  Giving

  47 Copy quote

• How often do we stand convinced of the truth of our early memories, forgetting that they are assessments made by a child? We can replace the narratives that hold us back by inventing wiser stories, free from childish fears, and, in doing so, disperse long-held psychological stumbling blocks.

  Benjamin Zander

  Children, Memories, Block

  Rosamund Stone Zander, Benjamin Zander (2002). “The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life”, p.45, Penguin

  44 Copy quote

• South Africa is a country built on possibility. Possibility lies in making a difference and creating value from a situation - without denying that certain issues exist.

  Benjamin Zander

  Country, Lying, Creating Value

  43 Copy quote

• I make myself a relentless architect of the possibilities of human beings.

  Benjamin Zander

  Architect, Possibility, Relentless

  25 Copy quote

• Live the rest of your life in possibility

  Benjamin Zander

  Rest Of Your Life, Possibility

  18 Copy quote

• Life is revealed as a place to contribute and we as contributors. Not because we have done a measurable amount of good, but because that is the story we tell.

  Benjamin Zander

  Stories, Done, Life Is

  Rosamund Stone Zander, Benjamin Zander (2002). “The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life”, p.51, Penguin

  22 Copy quote

• If you make a mistake, celebrate.

  Benjamin Zander

  Mistake, Celebrate, Ifs

  8 Copy quote

• Who am I being that my players' eyes are not shining?

  Benjamin Zander

  Eye, Player, Shining

  "The transformative power of classical music". TED conference, www.ted.com. February 2008.

  28 Copy quote

• I have a definition of success.

  Benjamin Zander

  Definitions, Definition Of Success

  24 Copy quote

• Imagine Martin Luther King saying, 'I have a dream ... But I don't know if the others will buy it.'

  Benjamin Zander

  Dream, Kings, Imagine

  10 Copy quote

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