Wallowing in Regret

Make it a rule of life never to regret and never to look back. Regret is an appalling waste of energy; you can't build on it; it's only good for wallowing in. - Katherine Mansfield

You can learn from your mistakes. That knowledge is something you can build on.

Real Character

Industry, thrift and self-control are not sought because they create wealth, but because they create character. - Calvin Coolidge

And sometimes those which practice them are real characters!

Ugly Fashion

Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months. - Oscar Wilde

Is it ugly or do we just constantly seek something new? Or both? Fashionable clothes fall into the "what's new" category and often, sadly, buzzwords do to. However to those who believe words should mean something, buzzwords also fall into the ugly category.

Extraordinary People

One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man. - Elbert Hubbard

....or woman.

Gifts

Nights bring me hindsight, days bring me doing, tomorrows bring me wishes, yesterdays bring me wisdom, the moon vanity, the sky longing, the sun fear, and the earth? It waits for me. - Chief Dan George

Spoken like a true man of the universe.

The Status Quo Police

The status quo police aren't going to go away, and in fact, they are often a big help in that most of your competition is held at bay by them. – Seth Godin

People are going to tell you to do things as they have always been done. If everyone listened to them there would be no progress.

Meeting Halfway

The man who says he is willing to meet you halfway is usually a poor judge of distance. - Laurence J. Peter

I guess all you have to do is convince him you are not that far apart. Then halfway is closer to your side.

Strong Plough Hands

Wonders are many in the world, and the wonder of all is man.
With his bit in the teeth of the storm and his faith in a fragile prow,
Far he sails, where the waves leap white-fanged, wroth at his plan.
And he has his will of the earth by the strength of his hand on the plough. - Sophocles, Antigone

Keep your hand on the plough.

Logical and Musical

Remember this: one can be a strict logician or grammarian and at the same time full of imagination and music. - Herman Hesse, The Glass Bead Game

Beware of those who use one as an excuse to ignore the other.

Study History

I do not doubt that in the course of time this new science will be improved by further observations, and still more by true and conclusive proofs. But this need not diminish the glory of the first observer. My regard for the inventor of the harp is not made less by knowing that his instrument was very crudely constructed and still more crudely played. Rather, I admire him more than I do the hundreds of craftsmen who in ensuing centuries have brought this art to the highest perfection. To apply oneself to great inventions, starting from the smallest beginnings, is no task for ordinary minds; to divine that wonderful arts lie hid behind trivial and childish things is a conception for superhuman talents. - Galileo

If for no other reason than this; study history.