Quotes about Influence

You don't have to be a "person of influence" to be influential. In fact, the most influential people in my life are probably not even aware of the things they've taught me.

Setting the emotional tone of an interaction is, in a sense, a sign of dominance at a deep and intimate level:  it means driving the emotional state of the other person.  This power to determine emotion is akin to what is called in biology a zeitgeher (literally, “time grabber”), process (such as the day-night cycle of the monthly phases of the moon) that entrains biological rhythms.  For a couple dancing, the music is a bodily zeitgeber.  When it comes to personal encounters, the person who has the more forceful expressivity – or the most power – is typically the one whose emotions entrain the other.   Dominant partners talk more, while the subordinate partner watches the others face more – a setup for the transmissions effect.  By the same token, the forcefulness of a good speaker – a politician or an evangelist, say – works to entrain the emotions of the audience.  That is what we mean by, “He had them in the palm of his hand.”  Emotional entrainment is the heart of influence.

Welcome to the herd. You are now following the lead bull.

The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom.

True leaders walk in obedience and fulfill the work of the Father to reach the world.

I learned from the shadow of a tree, that to and fro did sway against a wall:  our shadow-selves, our influence, may fall where we ourselves can never be.

Anna E. Hamilton

Attempt to perceive the power of influence ,  the small and subtle may have on the great, directly or indirectly in turning disadvantage into an advantage .

"The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen."  - Frank Lloyd Wright

Setting an example is not the main means of influencing another, it is the only means.

Once you've found your own voice, the choice to expand your influence, to increase your contribution, is the choice to inspire others to find their voice. Inspire (from the Latin inspirare) means to breathe life into another. As we recognize, respect and create ways for others to give voice to all four parts of their nature--physically, mentally, emotionally/socially, spiritually--latent human genius, creativity, passion, talent and motivation are unleashed. It will be those organizations that reach a critical mass of people and teams expressing their full voice that will achieve next-level breakthrough in productivity, innovation and leadership in the market place and society.

  ... [He] is not famous. It may be that he never will be. It may be that when his life at last comes to an end he will leave no more trace of his sojourn on earth than a stone thrown into a river leaves on the surface of the water. But it may be that the way of life that he has chosen for himself and the peculiar strength and sweetness of his character may have an ever-growing influence over his fellow men so that, long after his death perhaps, it may be realized that there lived in this age a very remarkable creature.

“The ballot is stronger than the bullet.”

The influence of each human being on others in this life is a kind of immortality.

For whatever reason, God has blessed me with the ability, put me in a position to make these leaps and bounds. I'm fulfilling my part of the bargain, which is to give back and be a positive influence on others.

Are you a SNIOP? Someone who is Sensitive to the Negative Influence Of Others?

The way you think, the way you behave, the way you eat, can influence your life by 30 to 50 years.

Controls them and subdues, transmutes, bereaves Of their bad influence, and their good receives.

The proper time to influence the character of a child is about a hundred years before he is born.

Ideas are the mightiest influence on earth. One great thought breathed into a man may regenerate him.

I pray that we will treat each and every one of our Heavenly Father's children lovingly, tenderly, and individually, as He would have us treat them. I also pray that we will always be mindful of the power each one of us has to make a difference and to influence the world in which we live.

No one can change another person's beliefs. But you can be accepting of his beliefs and then slowly build an influence for the other person to change himself.

One great source of failure is found in a lack of concentration of purpose. There will be adverse winds in every voyage, but the able seaman firmly resists their influence, while he takes advantage of every favorable breeze to speed him on his course. So in our aims and pursuits we shall find much to counteract them, much to draw our attention from them, and, unless we are armed with a steadfast purpose, that can subordinate the lesser to the greater, that can repel hindrances, resist attractions, and bend circumstances to our will, our efforts will not be crowned with success.

Who can measure the influence of simple, sacred words of testimony?

Gardeners celebrate the influence of time. If we have had a late cold spring followed by a desiccating drought, autumn may be the most soft and golden for years; one poor season will sooner or later be compensated for by another.

When desire, having rejected reason and overpowered judgment which leads to right, is set in the direction of the pleasure which beauty can inspire, and when again under the influence of its kindred desires it is moved with violent motion towards the beauty of corporeal forms, it acquires a surname from this very violent motion, and is called love.

A bestial and violent man will go so far as to kill because he is under the influence of drink, exasperated, or driven by rage and alcohol. He is paltry. He does not know the pleasure of killing, the charity of bestowing death like a caress, of linking it with the play of the noble wild beasts: every cat, every tiger, embraces its prey and licks it even while it destroys it.

Interview, 26-June-2000, with Daniel Jaffé . . . a writer and Reviews Editor for Classic CD, the British classical music magazine. . . . what is remarkable, though, is that he not only suggested that jazz was a worthwhile form of music to study, but he also praised authentic American jazz . . . . . . the implications of Prokofiev's enthusiasm for jazz . . . The strange colours of the so-called 'American' Overture, for instance, with its honky-tonk piano sound and predominant brass and woodwind colours sounds to me like a "take" on the sound of a jazz combo, though not using its rhythmic style. Jazzy harmonies unmistakably appear in Romeo and Juliet and in his so-called "War" sonatas. Basically it's a . . . subtle and subliminal influence. . Prokofiev took opportunities to hear jazz during his many tours through the States - certainly he brought plenty of jazz records back to Russia.

To be of no church is dangerous. Religion, of which the rewards are distant, and which is animated only by faith and hope, will glide by degrees out of the mind unless it be invigorated and reimpressed by external ordinances, by stated calls to worship, and the salutary influence of example.

The wish to spread those opinions that we hold conducive to our own welfare is so deeply rooted in the English character that few of us can escape its influence.

You young men need to know that you can hardly achieve your highest potential without the influence of a good women, particularly you mother, and in a few years, a good wife.