Benjamin Zander quotes:

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.

The practice of giving an A transports your relationships from the world of measurement into the universe of possibility... This A is not an expectation to live up to, but a possibility to live into.

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.

I have a definition of success..

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.

He had realized that the labels he had been taking so seriously are human inventions--it's all a game. The Number 68 is invented and the A is invented, so we might as well choose to invent something that brightens our life and the lives of the people around us.

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."

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

I settled on a game called I am a contribution. Unlike success and failure, contribution has no other side. It is not arrived at by comparison.

...the player who looks least engaged may be the most committed member of the group. A cynic, after all, is a passionate person who does not want to be disappointed again.

how absurd human beings are and how magnificent.

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

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.

Look at their eyes. If their eyes are shining, you know youre doing it.

My job is to awaken possibility in other people.

Live the rest of your life in possibility

Mistakes can be like ice. If we resist them, we may keep on slipping into a posture of defeat. If we include mistakes in our definition of performance, we are likely to glide through them and appreciate the beauty of the longer run.

The conductor of an orchestra doesnâ??t make a sound. He depends, for his power, on his ability to make other people powerful.

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?"

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

It is the tuning of the universe... It's as if at the beginning of the symphony God turns up the volume just a tiny bit.

If you make a mistake, celebrate.

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