Zig Ziglar | Motivational speaker, 86

If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time. Attitude, not aptitude, determines altitude. Among the things you can give and still keep are your word, a smile, and a grateful heart. There are no traffic jams on the extra mile. Be grateful. Believe. Try.

Zig Ziglar said so, over and over and over, and he made a fine living doing it. For more than 40 years he traveled the nation and the world as a motivational speaker, stirring corporate groups with his distinctive blend of sound-bite optimism, country wit, Christian faith, and good-natured nudging for people to see the bright side of life.

"When I leave," Mr. Ziglar said in an interview late in his life, "we want to be sure to leave all of the messages that we can."

Mr. Ziglar, 86, who died Wednesday in Plano, Texas, left many messages. He reached people through more than two dozen books with total sales well into the millions; through his children, who have helped run his company; through cassette tapes and later podcasts; and through his personal presentations. At his busiest, he said, he spoke 150 times a year.

Survivors include his wife of 66 years, Jean; children Julie Norman, Cindy Oates, and Tom; 7 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; and a great-great-grandson. - N.Y. Times News Service