Archive for June 24th, 2009

How My Mom’s Quote-Collecting Led to a Day with Muhammad Ali

I owe a special thanks to my mom for inspiring me to create my first book, Quotations for Successful Living (QFSL), even though she did not think it was a good idea at that time. Two years later, after QFSL was in its second edition, mom and dad saw a first edition copy on a professor’s desk at the C.W. Post campus of Long Island University. With dog-eared pages and special quotes highlighted in yellow, mom was impressed. That night she called me to say the book was great. Thanks mom.

Sometimes your biggest supporter can also be your biggest doubter. This reminds of a quote from Muhammad Ali, “I sought advice and cooperation from all those around me – but not permission.” When I was introduced to Mr. Ali, he said, “Please call me, Muhammad,” and signed my personal hard back copy of my book by his quote. I had a huge smile the whole night.