Being a leader is not about finding ways to get others to serve you, but knowing how to serve your followers.

— A.J. Darkholme

Being an authority on paper does not immediately grant you authority over a group until it is earned by you and given by them.

— A.J. Darkholme

Change isn't always comfortable, but it always teaches us something of utmost importance – usually about ourselves – and we become better people for it.

— A.J. Darkholme

Despite our human intelligence, we are very much like our friends in the wild; the world we live in is a survival of the fittest. But to this I say, let the fittest survive! Survival is overrated. We’re alive; we die. How long we survive for is of little significance. Our true significance lies not in the endless comparing of ourselves to one another, trying to see who is the fittest, using scales of evaluation and meaning that differ in the heart and mind of every individual; no - it lies in our deeds alone with the time we have.

— A.J. Darkholme

Don’t let realism keep you from doing what you feel you need to do, even if you think it’s hopeless.

— A.J. Darkholme

Don’t let the fact you haven’t done something before convince you that you can’t do it, or that it cannot be done perfectly the first time you try your hand at it.

— A.J. Darkholme

Emotional states change like the wind, and to indulge them only gives them more power over a person.

— A.J. Darkholme

Even the tallest trees always begin as a seed.

— A.J. Darkholme

Every choice in life sets us on a different path and carries its own set of “what ifs” and consequences that we could worry about, but what’s the use? Rather than plaguing our thoughts with the unknown, we should focus on and accept only what we do know – and all we know is the path we’re currently on.

— A.J. Darkholme

Every man walks his own path, and every path has its fair share of locked doors. You never know who holds the key to a door you’ll need to open one day, so you best treat people as if they are all keyholders.

— A.J. Darkholme