David R. Ellis Quotes

I want to have a career that evolves as I go on.

I want my career to grow gradually. There's still so much for me to learn. I'm just trying to take these opportunities to get better at what I'm doing.

On a career level, I always advise people to look ahead and be open to changes in direction. That job that seems so good now can easily turn into a nightmare if you do not see the possible corners it can land you in.

I've never looked at my career as something that I was striving to get to one position or another. For me, it was one step at a time.

Careers, like rockets, don't always take off on time. The trick is to always keep the engine running.

I spent 26 years in the business without ever knowing what I was doing a month from now.

I think that if you keep your eyes and your ears open and you are receptive to learning, there are skills you can get from any job at all.

I just try to take the best opportunities that I can get.

If I had been at a University I don't think I would have been able to have the experience I had in my Smithsonian work. I don't think I have been as successful.

I'm still at the beginning of my career. It's all a little new, and I'm still learning as I go.

You're always learning on different avenues and this is an opportunity for me to start on a fresh plate and start learning some other things that can really help me, that I need, and I want, to progress forward.

My career keeps shifting; I keep doing the next thing and it keeps growing.

I always describe my career as something where nothing ever popped overnight.

If you are willing to be a lifelong learner, you can be a lifelong employee.

You don't have to force your career to happen all at once.

Some people can be choosy because they're ultratalented or lucky or whatever, but yeah, there are certain things that might not be the greatest thing on my resume. But I don't sit back and go, 'Gosh, I wish I didn't do that.' It's all part of the growth of a career, whether you're an entertainer or a librarian.

I'm interested in long careers where you take detours.

When you are young, you might be in the wrong position, but you know you are fast, and so you can compensate with your speed.

Do I think people who need a good opportunity become harder workers sometimes? Yes.

There's some days you start to think, 'When is my chance going to come?' As a professional, you always have that at the back of your mind.

I would encourage everyone in their first job not to ask themselves, 'Where do I want to be?' but 'What do I want to learn from this?' Use that opportunity to be a sponge.

I'm a big believer in growth. Life is not about achievement, it's about learning and growth, and developing qualities like compassion, patience, perseverance, love, and joy, and so forth. And so if that is the case, then I think our goals should include something which stretches us.

My career is one thing in my life that I don't plan.

I am just at that stage of wondering where I go from here. I came into this business almost by accident, but now it has become serious. What started as a bit of fun, something to do other than be a model, has taken on a different career curve. I have been forced to ask where that curve is going to end up.

I graduated college in 1992 and didn't reach a sizable audience with my column for nine solid years. If I had started ten years later, or ten years sooner, everything could have happened sooner, obviously. But if I had started fifteen years later? I don't know.