Best Entrepreneurship Quotes, Week 32

"Some people regard discipline as a chore. For me, it is a kind of order that sets me free to fly."

Julie Andrews, British born actress-singer, born Oct. 1, 1935

Dame Julie Andrews is 75 years old today (Oct. 1). As the legendary Guenevere in Camelot, Eliza Doolittle, Mary Poppins and Maria von Trapp, she became one of the best-known stars of the 1960s and 70s, and still shines today, despite the tragic loss of her singing voice due to a bungled surgery. I see great similarities between the lives of artists and performers and entrepreneurs, so I felt pleased to find this quote that reminds us all that creativity doesn't have to mean disorganization - and that efficiency actually creates an empowering form of freedom.

A few more nuggets of business wisdom from the woman who won an Academy Award for portraying a character "practically perfect in every way":

"Sometimes opportunities float right past your nose. Work hard, apply yourself, and be ready. When an opportunity comes you can grab it.”

"Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th."

"I would be a fool to deny my own abilities."

"I've learned things about myself through singing. I used to have a certain dislike of the audience, not as individual people, but as a giant body who was judging me. Of course, it wasn't really them judging me. It was me judging me. Once I got past that fear, it freed me up, not just when I was performing but in other parts of my life."

and finally (even if she didn't write this one herself:)

"In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun and... SNAP! The job's a game!”