Nana Awere Damoah

“It is more blessed to give than to receive”, the Bible advocates. When it comes to advice, I humbly submit that it is more blessed to avail yourself of it, utilise it, apply it yourself, before you give it. Put it to use first before suggesting it to someone else.”

“Many of us are reactive, not proactive. We react. We hit back. We are ‘an eye for an eye’ practitioners. We attack when we are attacked, with good measure. Our barometer reads from the environment and makes us act accordingly. We are mirrors who reflect the anger in others, the bad attitude in the other person, the negative comments of others. Let me show you a higher level of living.”

“Loss taught me about the frailty and transient nature of man. It taught me humility. It taught me about the urgency of service, of touching lives, of mentoring, of legacy. Of making hay while there is still sunshine and life.”

“Loss taught me. It taught me that I won’t have people around me forever. The good I need to do to someone today, I may not have the opportunity to do tomorrow.”

“Don’t under-rate the scope of your influence in your youth. Don’t think you have all the time to make a difference in this world. Recognize that both brown and green leaves fall to the ground.”

“Words are cheap but they gain greater worth when they first minister to the speaker of the same.”

“When the future you see is worse than the present, one begins to worry. And, oh, I speak of Ghanaian politicians. The tadpoles are out-jumping the toads.”

“Don’t cause wealth loss to your generation! Life is too short to be little. You have an impact to make on your generation and the time to start was yesterday.”

“The youth. The youth of Africa. The youth of this world. Are we harnessing the potential of the youth enough? Are the young ones… giving off their best to the continent, the nation, the universe that is giving us so much? Why do we think we can only contribute something after age forty? Are we not causing wealth loss to our generation?”

“People will doubt you, but do you doubt your own self? People will insult your integrity, but do you trust yourself? If you are at peace with yourself and with God, you can be at peace with the world.”

“I grew up in an environment where the onus of raising a child was not on the parents alone but of the entire community. The logic is in that a child who becomes a burden or an armed robber becomes a threat not only to the parents but to a whole society!”

“Loss taught me the strength of faith. Faith in a God who understands. Faith in a Saviour who gave His all. Faith in a Comforter who walked by my side.”

“Be less generous with your advice: live it instead. It is a bad situation when someone with a coughing fit attempts to sell a cough mixture. After all, action speaks far louder than words; living the example is the best advice you can ever give. Only examples have children.”

“Don’t wait till you have grey hair before you believe people will take you seriously because scientifically, grey hair is a sign of old age and not necessarily of wisdom.”

“Loss taught me the priceless value of friends. I would have lost it but for my friends.”

“Loss taught me the value of tears. Just as the rains come down to wash away debris and dust, tears unleashed can bring relief.”

“Our mental blocks are more formidable than the physical ones. Bob Marley said it when he asked us to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery. You first think what you become. The physical starts from the mental and the spiritual.”

“Young men and women are causing wealth loss to their generation because they are sitting on inert ideas, bottled-up potential energy and scratching the ground when they should be gliding the skies and perambulating with the stars. These people are so disillusioned they live life without any urgency.”

“Looking around today, I see a lot of young people who act as if they have all the time in the world, and older persons who think this attitude is alright. It is unfortunate that there are young citizens who still believe life begins at forty and that life before forty is non-scoring, and older citizens who still insist that unless you are old, you have nothing to offer, equating age with wisdom.”

“Loss taught me. Loss taught me that death comes to both the old and the young.”