“The road to Someday leads to the town of Nowhere.”

--Tony Robbins--

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn, or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.”

--Denis Waitley--

“If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.”

--Jim Rohn--

"One day the people who didn't believe in you will tell everyone how they met you."

--Johnny Depp--

“Can’t couldn’t do it, and could did it all.”

--the Mom of Aaron Walker, veteran entrepreneur & founder of viewfromthetop.com--

“You can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.”

--Hollywood star Jim Carrey (advice from his dad, shared in his 2014 commencement address to graduates at Maharishi University)--

“You know what you are? You're an ass-half.  It takes 2 of you to make an asshole.” 

--Robin Williams, in the movie "Cadillac Man" (1990)--

"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first."

--Thomas Jefferson--

In each instance of trying, although you learned more about how to ride, that knowledge alone wasn’t enough. You knew a lot about how, but you couldn’t do it – yet. Knowing that information wasn’t enough. In fact, what you knew was actually of little use to you.

Looking back on it all, you might assume that what you thought you didn’t know was the secret. That once you got that knowledge, once you learned that one thing you knew that you didn’t know yet, then you could ride your bike.

But if you think back very carefully, you’ll discover that the secret to riding did not come from what you knew – and it did not come from what you thought you didn’t know either. That special secret lived somewhere in a vast expanse of unexplored knowledge – what I’ve learned to call what you don’t know that you don’t know.”

--Excerpt from "The Greatest Networker in the World" by John Milton Fogg--

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life."

--Steve Jobs--

"Persistence is a great substitute for talent."

--Steve Martin--

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

--Albert Einstein--

"The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he’s always doing both."

--James A. Michener--

"The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker."

--Helen Keller--

"The problem with doing nothing is you never know when you're done!"

--Groucho Marx--

"Monotony is the awful reward of the careful."

--Capt. Alfred G. Buckham (1879-1956), British daredevil aerial combat photographer with the Royal Naval Air Service during World War I--

"You make a living by what you earn; you make a life by what you give."

--Winston Churchill--

“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.”

--Mark Twain, American humorist, writer, and lecturer (1835-1910)--

“A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.”

--Proverbs 11:25--

“When you set a goal, a light comes on for your future.”

--Zig Ziglar--

“The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.”

--Henry Ford--

"I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide conditions in which they can learn."

--Albert Einstein--

“Preach the Gospel daily, and if necessary, use words.”

--Pres. George H.W. Bush, America’s 41st president, 1989-1993--

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass... It's about learning to dance in the rain..."

--Vivian Greene, Author, Artist, Speaker, Entrepreneur--

“Perfectionism is not as much the desire for excellence as it is the fear of failure couched in procrastination.”

--Dan Miller--

"Remember always and bear in mind
A faithful friend is hard to find.
And when you find one good and true
Trade not the old one for the new."

--My Mom, written in the back of my elementary school graduation signature book--

“I always was a rebel... but on the other hand, I wanted to be loved and accepted by all facets of society and not be this loud-mouthed lunatic, poet, musician. But I cannot be what I'm not.”

--John Lennon, speaking at the very beginning of the 1988 movie, “Imagine: John Lennon”--

“We are repeatedly what we do.”

--Aristotle--

"Every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around."

--Sofia, played by Penelope Cruz, in the movie "Vanilla Sky"--

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”

--Dr. Seuss--

“Self-discipline is the ability to make yourself do something you don't necessarily want to do, to get a result you would really like to have.”

--Andy Andrews, author of The Traveler's Gift: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success, a book I thoroughly enjoyed--

“Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

--1 John 4:4--

“You don't ever have to feel guilty about removing toxic people from your life. It doesn't matter whether someone is a relative, romantic interest, employer, childhood friend, or a new acquaintance. You don't have to make room for people who cause you pain or make you feel small. It's one thing if a person owns up to their behavior & makes an effort to change. But if a person disregards your feelings, ignores your boundaries, and "continues" to treat you in a harmful way, they need to go.”

--Danielle Koepke--

“Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb. You may never reach the summit; for that you will be forgiven. But if you don’t make at least one serious attempt to get above the snow-line, years later you will find yourself lying on your deathbed, and all you will feel is emptiness.”

--Hugh Macleod, cartoonist, bestselling author, professional blogger--

“Most people fail in life not because they aim too high and miss, but because they aim too low and hit.”

--Les Brown, author, motivational speaker, trainer--

"Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection."

--Mark Twain--

“Big doors swing on little hinges.”

--W. Clement Stone--

“All things being equal, people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like, and trust.”

--Bob Burg, author of the best seller “Endless Referrals”--

“Don't get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.”

--Dolly Parton--

"Children learn when we create a climate of possibility."

--Sir Ken Robinson--

“If you set your goals ridiculously high and it’s a failure, you will fail above everyone else’s success.”

--James Cameron, director of “The Terminator” and “Titanic”--

“Be so good they can't ignore you.”

--Steve Martin--

“I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

--Michael Jordan--

“Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It's quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn't at all. You can be discouraged by failure - or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because, remember, that's where you will find success.”

--Thomas J. Watson, former chairman and CEO of IBM--

“Don't ask God to make life easier, ask Him to make you stronger.”

“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he’s always doing both.”

--James A. Michener--

"A person with big dreams is more powerful than a person with all the facts."

--Dayle Maloney--

“Take care that old age does not wrinkle your spirit even more than your face.”

--Michel de Montaigne--

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

--Will Durant, author of The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest Philosophers-- (this quote is often incorrectly attributed to Aristotle)

“Success is never owned, it’s only rented; and whether you win or lose, the rent is still due every day. Success is not about a trophy, a title, or a finish line, it’s all about the climb.”

--Rory Vaden, author of Take the Stairs: 7 Steps to Achieving True Success--

The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, he said:

“Man.
Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money.
Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.
And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present;
the result being that he does not live in the present or the future;
he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

“With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone.”

--Oscar Wilde--

“It is paradoxical but nonetheless true that the nearer man comes to his goal to make his life easy and abundant, the more he undermines the foundations of a meaningful existence.”

--Franz Alexander--

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one."

--Mark Twain--

Wouldn't it be great to be gifted? In fact...
It turns out that choices lead to habits.
Habits become talents.
Talents are labeled gifts.
You're not born this way, you get this way.

--Seth Godin--

‎"Being miserable is a habit. Being happy is a habit. The choice is yours."

--Tom Hopkins--

“I know people who have a lot of money and they get testimonial dinners and hospital wings named after them. But the truth is that nobody in the world loves them. When you get to my age, you’ll measure your success in life by how many of the people you want to have love you, actually do love you. That’s the ultimate test of how you’ve lived your life.”

--Warren Buffet--

"We are all pencils in the hand of a writing God, who is sending love letters to the world."

--Mother Teresa--

ARE YOU SAILING TOO CLOSE TO SHORE?

"Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love."

--Sir Francis Drake, 16th century English sailor--

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...”

--Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!--

"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and sings it back to you when you have forgotten how it goes. Treat every person with kindness and respect, even those who are rude to you. Remember that you show compassion to others not because of who they are but because of who you are."

--Andrew T. Somers--

“Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.”

--Henry Ford--

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

--Thomas Edison--

"Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead-end street."

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened"!

--Dr. Seuss--

"God wants us to become obsessively preoccupied with each other's needs. There is only one way to obtain money in an honest and transparent environment, and that is to serve God's other children. We've got to absorb into our mindset that we don't chase the money, but we chase opportunities to serve other people. Chasing the money turns us into a venal person that radiates desperation from every pore, but being desirous of serving other people is all you have to do. Because if you serve enough people, you'll get more than enough money....the money will flow automatically.

Does God want us to be rich? I don't really know, because he hasn't confided in me to that extent. But I do know he wants us to be obsessively preoccupied with supplying the needs and wants and desires of his other children. I think money is holy….I really do, because it's proof that I have served in some way one of God's other children. That's how money got into my bank account or got into my hand or my pocket....ONLY because I pleased another human being. No other way."

--Rabbi Daniel Lapin,
EntreLeadership.com Dec. 31, 2012 free iTunes podcast--

“There is no more miserable human being than the one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision.”

--William James--

"Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul; the blueprints of your ultimate achievements."

--Napoleon Hill, motivational author--

"Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen."

--Ralph Waldo Emerson, U.S. philosopher, poet, & essayist--

"The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man's foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher."

--Thomas H. Huxley--

"They say when one door of happiness closes, another opens. But the problem is... we look so long at the closed door that we never notice the open one." "If in the last few years you haven't discarded a major opinion or acquired a new one, check your pulse, you may be dead."

--Frank Gelett Burgess, American writer & illustrator--

"May the wind always be at your back and the sun upon your face. And may the wings of destiny carry you aloft to dance with the stars."

--Irish blessing--

"Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it, you can never get it back."

--Harvey Mackay--

"When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends."

--Japanese proverb--

If you always live with those who are lame, you will yourself learn to limp.”

--Latin proverb--

"Don't complain. Eighty percent of the people you complain to don't care and the other 20 percent are glad you have problems."

--Legendary college football coach Lou Holtz--

"Embracing mystery and wonder in life does not mean living in an unrealistic fantasy world, waiting for fate or luck to determine your future. On the contrary, it means carefully planning to release your strongest gifts, your most unique talents, in ways that will bring hope and encouragement to the world in a manner only you can fulfill."

--from the latest book Wisdom Meets Passion by Dan Miller, author of 48 Days to the Work You Love and No More Dreaded Mondays--

“Seeking your vocation isn’t selfish. Robbing the world of what you could have done with your gifts and talents is.”

--"The Art of Manliness" blog--

“Those who will not take a chance seldom have one thrust upon them.”

--Napoleon Hill--

“Life is hard; it's harder if you're stupid.”

--John Wayne, American movie star icon (1907-1979)--

 “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.”

--John Dewey--

“If you can’t fly, then run; if you can’t run, then walk; if you can’t walk, then crawl; but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.”

--Martin Luther King, Jr.--

“I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.”

--Matt. 5:44-45, Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount--

“Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.”

--Jim Rohn--

“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”

--Mark Twain--

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”

--T.S. Eliot--

“I have always found it interesting that the most successful people, the truly top performers, are the ones willing to hire and pay for the best coaches and trainers there are. It pays to invest in your improved performance.”

--Darren Hardy, publisher of Success magazine--

The Victor
by: C. W. Longenecker

If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you like to win but think you can't,
It's almost a cinch you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you're lost.
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a fellow's will.
It's all in the state of mind.
If you think you are outclassed, you are.
You've got to think high to rise.
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win the prize.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man.
But sooner or later, the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.

“Fall seven times, get up eight (七転び八起き, nanakorobiyaoki).”

--Japanese proverb (諺, ことわざ, kotowaza)--

"Be helpful. Do it often. Be helpful to the people you want to serve and that'll change the universe."

--Chris Brogan, social media marketing expert and one of the most successful bloggers in the world, on his philosophy of building a valuable content platform--

“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”

--Henry Ford--

“Each person in our life is a projection of a part of our soul that needs to be healed or celebrated.”

--Coach Bobbi--

“Sanctioned incompetence demoralizes.”

--John Maxwell--

“Look for AND solutions rather than EITHER/OR.”

-- Stephen R. Covey, from his book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”--

"Say what you want and be who you are, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.”

-- Dr. Seuss--

“Network marketing is all about personal growth, because it is a shipping &
receiving business. It's relationshipping, friendshipping, partnershipping
and leadershipping, and when you do those well and rightly, you receive
(amongst many other things) a check. The better you are at all that
‘shipping,’ the more receiving you'll get to do and the bigger your check.”

--John Milton Fogg, author of “The Greatest Networker in the World”--

"There’s no rehab program for being addicted to freedom. Once you’ve seen what it’s like on the other side, good luck trying to follow someone else’s rules ever again.”

--Chris Guillebeau, author of "The $100 Startup" (100startup.com)--

"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible."

--T. E. Lawrence--

“Motivation is when your dreams put on work clothes.”

--Benjamin Franklin--

 "Shrinking government and cutting taxes promotes entrepreneurship and job growth."

--Hippie-turned-libertarian John Mackey, CEO and founder of Whole Foods Market, the 317-store, 67,000-employee natural-foods supermarket chain with a market value of $11.7 billion--

“I don't think winners beat the competition because they work harder. And it's not even clear that they win because they have more creativity. The secret is in understanding what matters, and ignoring the rest.”

--Seth Godin--

“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”

--Michelangelo (Italian sculptor, painter, architect, & poet, considered the creator of the Renaissance, 1475-1564)--

"As ye believe, so shall it be done unto you."

--Matthew 8:13--

“It’s true that when you do more than you’re paid to do, you’ll eventually be paid more for what you do.”

--Zig Ziglar--

“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.”

--Helen Keller--

“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he's always doing both.”

--James A. Michener, U.S. novelist and short-story writer, 1907-1997--

“Never rest on your achievement; always nurture your potential.”

--Denis Waitley--

“The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own.”

--Benjamin Disraeli quotes (British Prime Minister and Novelist, 1804-1881)--

"The real act of discovery is not in finding new lands, but in seeing with new eyes."

--Marcel Proust, French novelist, critic, and essayist--

 “Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers, but to be fearless in facing them. Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain, but for the heart to conquer it. Let me not look for allies in life's battlefield, but to my own strength. Let me not cave in.”

--Rabindranath Tagore, Indian-Bengal winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature--

"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."

--C.S. Lewis--

"Auto racing, bull fighting, and mountain climbing are the only real sports.....all others are games."

--Ernest Hemingway--

"There are two great days in our lives -- the day we are born and the day we discover why."

--John Maxwell--

"The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending; and to have the two as close together as possible."

--George Burns--

"Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions."

--Albert Einstein--

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

--1 Corinthians 13:4-7--

"When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."

--Billy Crystal, in the movie "When Harry Met Sally"--

"We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love."

--Dr. Seuss--

"When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: 'If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right.' It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been 'No' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."

--Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder & former CEO--

"We have always honored the high places because we sense them to be the homes of gods. In the mountains there is the promise of... something unexplainable. A higher place of awareness, a spirit that soars. So we climb... and in climbing there is more than a metaphor; there is a means of discovery."

--Rob Parker--

"Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others, cannot keep it from themselves."

"Look beyond the differences and find a way to walk the path together."

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."

--Pablo Picasso--

"People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing -- that's why we recommend it daily."

--Zig Ziglar--

"On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, "Is it safe?" Expediency asks the question, "Is it politic?" And Vanity comes along and asks the question, "Is it popular?" But Conscience asks the question "Is it right?" And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it
is right."

--Martin Luther King Jr.--

"It matters not Who you love, Where you love, Why you love, When you love, or How you love. It matters only that you love."

--John Lennon--

"Keep working on yourself; it's the greatest gift you can give to those you love."

"There's only one way to succeed at anything and that is to give everything."

--Vince Lombardi--

"Love is a choice you make from moment to moment."

--Barbara De Angelis--

"Your success will always be measured by the quality and quantity of service you render. Most people will tell you that they want to make money, without understanding this law. The only people who make money, work in a mint. The rest of us must earn money. This is what causes those who keep looking for something for nothing, or a free ride, to fail in life. Success is not the result of making money; earning money is the result of success -- and success is in direct proportion to our service. We've got to be of service first, before we can expect money. Don't concern yourself with the money. Be of service ... build ... work ... dream ... create! Do this and you'll find there is no limit to the prosperity and abundance that will come to you."

--Earl Nightingale (excerpt from "The Strangest Secret")--

"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."

--Thomas Jefferson--

"Wealth is 'worth it' only if it is earned honestly, spent wisely, saved responsibly, and given generously."

--90-year-old Truett Cathy, founder of the Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A restaurant chain (excerpt from his new book, "Wealth: Is It Worth It?")--

"Those convinced against their will are of the same opinion still."

--Dale Carnegie--

"If you don't have a vision for the future, then your future is threatened
to be a repeat of the past."

--A. R. Bernard--

"He who has learning without imagination has feet but no wings."

--Stanley Goldstein--

"Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do.
Attitude determines how well you do it."

--Lou Holtz--

"Tango is not like life, my dear. There are no mistakes in Tango --
if you get tangled up, you just Tango on."

--Al Pacino to Gabrielle Anwar in the '92 flick, "Scent of a Woman"--

"Some will, Some won't, So what. Next!!!

--(advice for salespeople in dealing with rejection)-- 

"You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to
win, and expect to win."

--Zig Ziglar--

"People who live within their means suffer from lack of imagination."

--Oscar Wilde--

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what
you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

--Kristi Kay Hoss Schiller--

"If there is hope in the future, there is power in the present."

--John Maxwell (American Author and motivational speaker)--

The Power of the Smile

How does one choose to be happy before anything happens to make one happy? There are many ways to do that. Here is a simple technique suggested by the famed Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh: "Smile five times a day for no good reason." Smiling actually produces a biological effect in your body. It sends chemicals racing around your body and actually lifts your spirits. Try this today. Then, every day this week, smile five times a day for no good reason. Do it sitting in traffic. Do it standing in the shower. Do it walking down the street, or working at your desk. For no good reason, just break into a smile. Watch your mood change, even though nothing in your exterior has shifted.

--Conversations with God News, April 7, 2006--

"If you send out love and it is not returned to you, it is not lost. If not
reciprocated, it will flow back to you and soften and purify the heart."

--William Jennings--

Two are better than one, because they
have a good return for their work: If one
falls down, his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls and has no
one to help him up.

--Ecclesiastes 4:9-10--

"If you take money from your pocket & invest it in your brain, your brain
will in turn earn you money to put back in your pocket."

"Don't walk behind me; I may not lead.
Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow.
Walk beside me that we may be as one."

--Native American Proverb--

"Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling snow
while it's still snowing."

--Phyllis Diller--

"Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not;
nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not;
unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full
of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the
human race."

--Calvin Coolidge, 30th president of US (1872-1933)--

"The Soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears."

--Native American Proverb--

"Live your second childhood today and mentally relive
the days when as a child you ran free, when there were
infinite possibilities of what you could feel, accomplish,
and see in the world. Allow for the energy of your remembered
freedom to thunder through you, and you will free yourself
from the false obstacles your adult life has put in your path.
Today is the day to play!"

--Michael Bernard Beckwith--

"I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his ways....
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself and then make that change"

"Most of us are poor listeners. Since our mind moves forward faster than the words
to which we are listening, we are frequently preparing something to say when we
should be listening. The world aches for good listeners. Many doctors report that
they daily see patients who have nothing physically wrong with them. They merely
need someone to listen to them."

--William E. Diehl--

"Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the
condition that you believe much more in His love than in your own weakness."

--Mother Teresa--

"Bite your tongue before your tongue bites others."

"There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life:  Music and cats" 

--Albert Schweitzer--

May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warmly on your face,
And the rains fall softly upon your fields...

And until we meet again,
May God hold you
in the palm of his hand.

"Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished
by being governed by those who are dumber." 

--Plato--

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

--Mahatma Gandhi, Indian political and spiritual leader (1869-1948)--

"When people show you who they are, believe them."

--Oprah--

"From the moment that you don't fear to share your heart, you are a free person. "

--Paulo Coelho--

 "If you really want something in this life, you have to work for it.
Now, quiet! They're about to announce the lottery numbers..."

--Homer Simpson--

"Exert your talents, and distinguish yourself, and don't think of retiring
from the world until the world will be sorry that you retire."

--Samuel Johnson--

"Our church shouldn't be like a museum, displaying perfect people,
but instead like a hospital, welcoming in the lonely and hurting."

--Pastor Joel Osteen, Lakewood Church, Houston, Texas--

"Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife."

--Proverbs 21:9--

"The real reason you're not making the kind of money you've
been promised is because every time you get led in the wrong
direction.....you end up losing another bit of hope,
energy, time, and money." 
(good quote for questionable time-wasting, money-losing MLM (multilevel marketing) schemes)

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain."

"Do you know why a car's WINDSHIELD is so large & the rear view mirror is so small?
Because our PAST is not as important as our FUTURE.  So, look ahead and move on."

"Friendship is like a BOOK. It takes few seconds to burn, but it takes years to write."

A blind person asked St. Anthony: "Can there be anything worse than losing your eyesight?"
He replied: "Yes, losing your vision."

"WORRYING does not take away tomorrow's TROUBLES; it takes away today's PEACE."

"We must go rejoice in the blessings of this world, chief of which is the mystery,
the magic, the majesty, and the miracle that is life."

--from the letter written to CNN's Anderson Cooper by his dad, just before he passed away--

"He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life."

--Ralph Waldo Emerson--

"Fatigue makes cowards of us all."

--Vince Lombardi, head coach and general manager of the Green Bay Packers
during the 1960’s & one of the greatest football coaches in history-- 

"You can have everything in life you want, if you will just
help enough other people get what they want."

--Zig Ziglar--

If God has singled you out to be a special object of His grace, you may expect Him to honor you with stricter discipline and greater suffering than less favored ones are called upon to endure.

If God sets out to make you an unusual Christian, He is not likely to be as gentle as He is usually pictured by the popular teachers. A sculptor does not use a manicure set to reduce the rude, unshapely marble to a thing of beauty. The saw, the hammer and the chisel are cruel tools, but without them the rough stone must remain forever formless and unbeautiful.

Right is right, even if everyone is against it; and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it.

--William Penn--

"Someday your life will pass before your eyes.  Make sure it's worth watching."

--Anonymous--

"Money is not the most important thing in the world, but it's still way ahead of whatever's in second place."

--an old wise saying--

“My mind will not dwell in the problems of the past—it will live in the solutions of the future.  My past can never be changed, but I can change the future by changing my actions today.”

--Andy Andrews, author of The Traveler's Gift: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success, a book I thoroughly enjoyed--

If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap.
If you want happiness for a day, go fishing.
If you want happiness for a month, get married.
If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune.
If you want happiness for a lifetime, help others.

--Chinese proverb--

"Exert your talents, and distinguish yourself, and don't think of retiring from the world until the world will be sorry that you retire."

--Samuel Johnson--

TEN ACTIONS YOU CAN DO TODAY TO START TAKING BACK YOUR LIFE

Action 1: Take a walk, notice something, and decide how you would describe it.
Time: 10+ minutes.
Expected Result: Calming, increase in energy

Action 2: Concentrate all your attention on a single object for a period of two minutes.
Time: 2+ minutes.
Expected Result: More focused, relaxed

Action 3: Choose an automatic gesture you make and repeat it deliberately until it comes off automatic.
Time: 5+ minutes.
Expected Result: Insight, self-control

Action 4: Pick a frequent worry and outline the sequence of thoughts that lead up to that worry. Deliberately think the thoughts in sequence until the worry fades.
Time: 5+ minutes.
Expected Result: Recovered Energy.

Action 5: Deliberately smile until you feel happy.
Time: 2+ minutes.
Expected Result: Sense of well being.

Action 6: Make a list of all the incomplete projects you have. Prioritize the list.
Time: 30+ minutes.
Expected Result: Recovery of attention.

Action 7: Take a walk and count forms until colors appear brighter.
Time: 30+ minutes.
Expected Result: Extroversion, sense of being alive.

Action 8: Climb one or more flights of stairs and before each step whisper something you are grateful for.
Time: 30+ minutes.
Expected Result: Sense of Grace.

Action 9: Deliberately do a good deed for someone without being found out.
Time: 30+ minutes.
Expected Result: Increased sense of self-respect.

Action 10: Breathing in, notice something far away. Breathing out, notice something close. Repeat at least ten times.
Time: 5+ minutes.
Expected Result: Recovery of perspective.

Source:  "The Avatar Journal," Star's Edge International, www.AvatarEPC.com

"Basically, they're children.  University is just high school with ash trays, for the most part."

--Jerry Carson (part of his excellent advice to me upon starting my collegiate teaching career)--

"If we don’t change our direction, we are likely to end up where we are headed."

--Chinese Proverb--

"A midlife crisis is when you’ve reached the top rung of your ladder only to realize that you’ve leaned it against the wrong wall."

--Unknown--

"It is what you choose NOT to see in your life that controls your life."

--Lynn Andrews--

"The truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear."

--H. Agar, "A Time for Greatness"--

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the conditions that surround him…the unreasonable man adapts surrounding conditions to himself...all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

--George Bernard Shaw--

"The most basic choice we have in life is whether to bring our creative and expressive energies out into the world in positive or negative ways. No matter what our circumstances, we have the power to choose our directions. In each of us are heroes, speak to them and they will come forth. We have to live and we have to die; the rest we make up."

--Unknown--

"The tragedy of life is not death, but what dies inside us while we live."

--Norman Cousins--

 "There are many who are living far below their possibilities because they are continually handing over their individualities to others. Do you want to be a power in the world? Then be yourself. Be true to the highest within your soul and then allow yourself to be governed by no customs or conventionalities or arbitrary man-made rules that are not founded on principle."

--Ralph Waldo Trine--

"The important thing is this: To be able to sacrifice what we are for what we could become."

--Charles Debois--

"Amidst the glut of insignificance that engulfs us all, the temptation is understandable to stop thinking. The trouble is that unthinking persons cannot choose but must let others choose for them. But to fail to make one’s own choices is to betray the freedom which is our society’s greatest gift to all of us."

 --Stephen Muller, President, John Hopkins University--

The small boy heard the mountain speak
There are secrets on my highest peak
But beware, my boy, the passing of time
Wait not too long to start the climb.

So quickly come and go the years
And young man stands below with fears
Come on, come on, the mountain cussed
Time presses on, oh climb you must.

Now he is busied in middle-age prime
And maybe tomorrow he’ll take the climb
Now is too soon, it’s raining today
Gone, all gone years are eaten away.

An old man looks up, still feeling the lure
Yet he’ll suffer the pain, not climb for the cure
The hair is white, the step is slow
And when it’s safer and warmer to stay here below.

So all to seen the secrets are buried
Along with him and regrets he carried
And it’s not for loss of secrets he’d cried
But rather because he’d never tried.

--Phyllis Trussler--

If I feel depressed, I will sing.
If I feel sad, I will laugh.
If I feel ill, I will double my labor.
If I feel fear, I plunge ahead.
If I feel poverty, I will think of wealth to come.
If I feel incompetent, I will remember past success.
If I feel insignificant, I will remember my goals.
Today I will be the master of my emotions.

--Og Mandino, "The Greatest Salesman in the World"--

You will receive a body: 
You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period this time around.

You will learn lessons: 
You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called Life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.

There are no mistakes, only lessons: 
Growth is a process of trial and error; experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately "works."

A lesson is repeated until learned: 
A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can then go on to the next lesson.

Learning lessons does not end: 
There is no part of life that does not contain its lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.

"There" is no better than "Here": 
When your "there" has become a "here," you will simply obtain another "there" that will again look better than "here."

Others are merely mirrors of you: 
You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself. What you make of your life is up to you: You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.

Your answers lie inside you: 
The answers to life’s questions lie inside you. All you need do is look, listen and trust.

You will forget all this.

You can remember it whenever you want.

--from "Mach II With Your Hair On Fire," by Richard Brooke--

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
 
--from A Return to Love, by Marianne Williamson--

--Master Yoda--

"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen."

  --Winston Churchill--

"The irony of commitment is that it's deeply liberating - in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life."

--Anne Morriss, Manager, OTF Group--

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

--Margaret Mead, US anthropologist (1901-1978)--

"Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone."

--Pablo Picasso--

"As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."

--Proverbs 23:7--

"Thoughts become things... choose the good ones!" 

--Mike Dooley, TUT's Adventurers Club--

"Give generously, for your gifts will return to you later."

Ecclesiastes 11:1

"Bigamy is having one wife too many. Monogamy is the same."

--Oscar Wilde--

Without action, everything is theory.

"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the 
whole staircase, just take the first step." 

--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Minister, Civil Rights Leader-- 

"Perception is a mirror, not a fact. And what I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward."

--Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882--

“The secret to success is not to

try to avoid, get rid of, or shrink

from your problems. The secret is to

grow yourself so that you're bigger

than any problem.” 

 

--T. Harv Eker --

---

"Failure is an event, never a person."

--William D. Brown--

---

 

"It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself....Serve and thou shall be served."      

 

--Ralph Waldo Emerson--

 

---

 

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."

--Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of US (1858-1919)--

Located inside Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, gracing the third pillar to the right, framed and bolted permanently in place, hangs a living testimony to the awesome power of personal development and, perhaps, one of the greatest stories ever told. This original letter with the word "Secret" printed top and bottom in red ink, is now displayed for all the world to see...

My Definite Chief Aim

I, Bruce lee, will be the first highest paid Oriental Super Star in the United States. In return I will give the most exciting performances and render the best of quality in the capacity of an actor. Starting in 1970 I will achieve world fame and from then onward till the end of 1980 I will have in my possession $10,000,000. I will live the way I please and achieve inner harmony and happiness. —Bruce Lee, January 1969

© 2003 by Michael S. Clouse. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.nexera.com

Energy from the human mind—your mind—can be converted into material substance with ease, if you unlock, understand, and use "The Greatest Secret."

Your mind has all the power in the world at its command to create in reality, whatever image it is given! Everything around us, every device invented began as a thought in the mind of someone. Consider just a few:

The Greatest Secret © 1990 by Michael S. Clouse, www.nexera.com

"You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who cannot pay you back."

--John Bunyan, author of "The Pilgrim's Progress"--

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand,  martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming  "WOO HOO, what a ride!"

"God does not die on the day we cease to believe in a personal deity, but we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder the source of which is beyond all reason."

 --Christopher Reeve--

"This is the great new problem of mankind. We have inherited a big house, a great "world house" in which we have to live together - black and white, Easterners and Westerners, Gentiles and Jews, Catholics and Protestants, Moslem and Hindu, a family unduly separated in ideas, culture, and interests who, because we can never again live without each other, must learn, somehow, in this one big world, to live with each other in peace."

--Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1964 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, in a lecture delivered Dec. 11, 1964 in the Auditorium at the University of Oslo--

"I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn't, than live my life as if there isn't and die to find out there is." 

--Albert Camus (French novelist, essayist and playwright, 1957 Nobel Prize for Literature, 1913-1960)--

YOUR FRIENDSHIP IS A GIFT

 Each of us has a hidden place
 Somewhere deep within ourselves,
 A place where we go to get away,
 To think things through,
 To be alone, to be ourselves.

 This unique place, where we confront our deepest feelings,
 Becomes a storehouse of all our hopes,
 All our needs, all our dreams,
 And even our unspoken fears.
 It encompasses the essence of who we are and what we want to be.

 But now and then, whether by chance or design,
 Someone discovers a way into that place we thought was ours alone.
 And we allow that person to see, to feel and to share
 All the reason, all the uncertainty
 And all the emotion we've stored up there.

 That person adds new perspective to our hidden realm,
 Then quietly settles down in his own corner of our special place,
 Where a bit of himself will stay forever.

 And we call that person a friend.

Brushing my teeth and rinsing my mouth,
I vow to speak purely and lovingly.
When my mouth is fragrant with right speech,
A flower blooms in the garden of my heart.

--Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhist monk, poet, peace activist, and author--

No one owes you anything. No one owes you moral conduct, respect, friendship, love, courtesy, or intelligence. You owe it to yourself to be the best person possible. Because if you are, others will want to be with you, and will want to provide you with the things you want in exchange for what you're giving to them.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, 
but by the moments that take our breath away . . .

"Children will not remember you for the material things you provided, but for the feeling that you cherished them."

--Richard L. Evans--

"Cancer is a funny illness that comes in all shapes and sizes, sometimes better or worse. Sometimes a short fight, sometimes a long fight. The key word is fight. I must encourage you to always keep the faith. The faith in your doctors, the faith in the medicine, the faith in your family, and most importantly the faith in yourself. This, my friend, is absolutely the best thing you can do for yourself. Your strength gives so many others hope and inspiration, including myself. I returned to professional cycling because of people like you, cancer patients who want to live forever and fight like crazy. Thank you and hang in there."

--Lance Armstrong--
(Record 6-time champion of the Tour de France cycling race, testicular cancer survivor, and founder of the Lance Armstrong Foundation in Austin, Texas)

DON'T QUIT

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." 

--Edmund Burke--

"Now that I showed you what I've been through,
Don't take nobody's word what you can do"

--John Lennon--
(lyrics to his song "I Found It")

DON'T WASTE TIME AND ENERGY WORRYING ABOUT NEEDLESS THINGS

because...

40% of them will never happen,

30% have already happened and can’t be changed,

12% are needless worries about our health,

10% are petty, miscellaneous worries,

and only 8% are genuine.

Try to separate the real from the unnecessary and solve those which are within your ability to solve.

--Earl Nightingale, “Lead the Field”--

"If you let the world cast you into a role, you never will go beyond that role.  Create your own definition of who you are and what you can accomplish." 

--Guy Kawasaki--

If you love something, set it free. If it comes back to you, it's yours. If it doesn't, it never was.

"25 years from now, you won't remember what you did;  you'll remember what you didn't do."

--Mark Twain--

"We shall never cease from striving, and the end of all of our striving will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time."

--T.S. Eliot--

 "If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost....that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them."

--Henry David Thoreau--

"Most of us are just about as happy as we make up our minds to be." 

–Abraham Lincoln--

"The first requisite of success is the ability to apply your physical and mental energies to one problem without growing weary."  

--Thomas Edison--

"If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal – not to people or things." 

–Albert Einstein--

"What you can do, or dream you can, begin it:
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."

--Goethe--

"Life is like a game of cards...God deals us each a hand at birth.  How we play the cards is up to us."  

--Jeff & Bil Keane (Family Circus cartoonists)--

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." 

--Muriel Strode--

“A goal is a planned conflict with the status quo.”

--Hyrum W. Smith--

"The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor." 

–Vince Lombardi--

"The secret to productive goal setting is in establishing clearly defined goals, writing them down and then focusing on them several times a day with words, pictures and emotions as if we've already achieved them."

--Denis Waitley--

"Sometimes you need to stay in touch, but be out of reach." 

--Jim Rohn--

"Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and integrity. And you're keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls-family, health, friends, integrity- are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered. And once you truly understand the lesson of the five balls, you will have the beginnings of balance in your life!"

--James Patterson's Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas--

"Be like a postage stamp – stick to one thing until you get there."

--Margaret Carty--

"Patience is the ability to let your light shine after your fuse has blown."

--Ben Holden--

"The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook."

--William James--

"Mama always said:  'Life is like a box of chocolates....you never know what you're gonna get.'"

--Forrest Gump--

"There's no such thing as a bad decision......just good decisions and better decisions. Hopefully you'll make a better one."

--Randy B. Machemehl, P.E., Ph.D.--
Civil Engineering Professor, University of Texas at Austin
(his advice to me on which job offer to accept upon graduation from college)

"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots....the other is wings."

--Hodding Carter--

“First, have a definite, clear practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends; wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end.”

–Aristotle--

"Eighty percent of success in life is just showing up."

--Woodie Allen--

"Resentment is letting someone you despise live rent-free in your head."

--Ann Landers--

"Life's a dance.  Put on your dancing shoes."

--Steve Winwood--

"It is never too late to be what you might have been."

--George Eliot--

"Time invested in improving ourselves cuts down on time wasted in disapproving of others."

--Anonymous--

"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."

--Martin Luther King, Jr.--

"Write the bad things that are done to you in sand, but carve the good things that happen to you on a piece of marble."

--Arabic Proverb--

".....From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."

--Luke 12:48--

"We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about."

--Charles Kingsley--

“You have it easily in your power to increase the sum total of this world’s happiness now. How? By giving a few words of sincere appreciation to someone who is lonely or discouraged. Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them over a lifetime.”

--Dale Carnegie--

“Finish each day and be done with it. . . You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it well and serenely.”

--Ralph Waldo Emerson--

Keep a clear eye toward life's end. Do not forget your purpose and destiny as God's creature. What you are in His sight is what you are and nothing more. Remember, that when you leave this earth, you can take nothing that you have received -- fading symbols of honor, trappings of power -- but only what you have given: a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage.

--St. Francis of Assisi--

When God made the oyster, he guaranteed his absolute economic and social security. He built the oyster a house, his shell, to shelter and protect him from his enemies......

But when God made the Eagle, he declared, "The blue sky is the limit -- build your own house!"......

The Eagle, not the oyster, is the emblem of America.

"For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, let a child run his fingers through it once a day."

--Audrey Hepburn, "Beauty Tips"--

"Enthusiasm is the greatest asset in the world. It beats money and power and influence."

--Henry Chester--

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

--Matthew 6:34--

"Hitch your wagon to a star."

--Ralph Waldo Emerson--

"No love, no friendship can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever."

--Francois Muriac--

"Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye."

--H. Jackson Brown, Jr.--

AN ANGEL TO WATCH OVER YOU

Some people
come into our lives
and quickly go...

Some people
become friends
and stay while...

leaving beautiful
footprints on our hearts...

and we are never quite the same
because we have made a good friend!!

Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow a mystery.
Today is a gift.
That's why it's called the present!

Live and savor every moment.....
this is not a dress rehearsal!

"We look forward to the time when the Power of Love will replace the Love of Power. Then our world will know the blessings of peace."

--William Gladstone--

"If you don't make mistakes, you're not working on hard enough problems. And that's a big mistake."

--F. Wilezek--

"You will succeed only if you know what you are doing is right and and you know how to bring out the best in people."

--Margaret Thatcher--

"Whether you think you can, or can't, you're right."

--Henry Ford--

"Each one of us here today will inevitably one time in our lives look upon a loved one who is in need and ask the same question, 'We are willing to help, Lord, but what if anything is needed?'  It is true we can seldom help those closest to us -- either we don't know what part of ourselves to give, or more often than not, the part we have to give is not wanted.  And so it is those we live with, and should know, who elude us, but we can still LOVE them.  We can LOVE them completely, without complete understanding."

--Rev. Maclean (played by Tom Skerritt) in his last sermon in the movie, "A River Runs Through It," in obvious reference to his son Paul (played by Brad Pitt)--

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

--Theodore Roosevelt--

"Kites fly highest against the wind."

--Winston Churchill--

"Distance does not matter.  Being close is an affair of the heart."

If I could work miracles,
I'd wash away all that troubles your heart.

I'd take away the fear, the pain, and hurt,
and replace them with happiness.

You are so special to me,
and it hurts me to see you going through these rough times.

So remember --
no matter how scared you may be,
you'll never be alone.

I'll always be here for you.

--Amy Evans--

"There is one great truth on this planet:  whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it's because that desire originated in the soul of the universe.  It's your mission on earth.  To realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation.  All things are one.  And when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."

--Melchizedek, King of Salem
(from the book, The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho)--

"When I was a Beatle, I thought we were the best frigging group in the goddamn world.  And believin' in that was what made us what we were.  And it was just a matter of time before everyone else caught on."

--John Lennon, in his reflection on the growing popularity of the Fab Four when they first started taking the world by storm-- 

If there is light in the soul,
there will be beauty in the person.
If there is beauty in the person,
there will be harmony in the house.
If there is harmony in the house,
there will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation,
there will be peace in the world.

--Chinese proverb--

"Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next-door neighbor....Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting. "

--Mother Teresa--

This life is yours
Take the power
to choose what you want to do
and do it well
Take the power
to love what you want in life
and love it honestly
Take the power
to walk in the forest
and be a part of nature
Take the power
to control your own life
No one else can do it for you
Nothing is too good for you
You deserve the best
Take the power
to make your life
healthy
exciting
worthwhile
and very happy
while you
reach for
your dreams

by Susan Polis Schutz

ABRAHAM LINCOLN DIDN'T QUIT

1816 His family was forced out of their home. He had to work to support them.
1818 His mother died.
1831 Failed in business.
1832 Ran for state legislature - lost.
1832 Also lost his job - wanted to go to law school, but couldn't get in.
1833 Borrowed some money from a friend to begin a business and by the end of the year he was bankrupt. He spent the next 17 years of his life paying off this debt.
1834 Ran for state legislature again - won.
1835 Was engaged to be married, sweetheart died, and his heart was broken.
1836 Had a total nervous breakdown and was in bed for 6 months.
1838 Sought to become speaker of the state legislature - defeated.
1840 Sought to become elector - defeated.
1843 Ran for Congress - lost.
1846 Ran for Congress again - this time he won - went to Washington and did a good job.
1848 Ran for re-election to Congress - lost.
1849 Sought the job of land officer in his home state - rejected.
1854 Ran for Senate of the United States - lost.
1856 Sought the Vice-Presidential nomination at his party's national convention - got less than 100 votes.
1858 Ran for the U.S. Senate again - again he lost.
1860 Elected President of the United States.

"The path was worn and slippery. My foot slipped from under me, knocking the other out of the way, but I recovered and said to myself, "It's a slip and not a fall."

--Abraham Lincoln, after losing a Senate race--

"The tragedy of life is what dies inside a person while he lives."

--Albert Schweitzer--

FOOTPRINTS

One night a young man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the LORD. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand; one belonging to him, and the other to the LORD.

When the last scenes of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very saddest times of his life.

This really bothered him and he questioned the LORD about it. "LORD, you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times of my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most, you would leave me."

The LORD replied, "My precious, precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

"Our true acquisitions lie only in our charities -- we get only as we give."

SLOW DANCE

Have you ever watched kids
on a merry-go-round
Or listened to the rain
slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last

Do you run through each day on the fly
When you ask "How are you?" do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores running through your head?

You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow
And in your haste,
not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
'Cause you never had time to call and say "Hi"?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift.... Thrown away...

Life is not a race. Do take it slower
Hear the music before the song is over.

--David L. Weatherford--

"Opportunity comes many times in every person's life, but is only recognizable to the person who prepares himself to accept them."

--Winston Churchill--

"Cowardice asks the question -- is it safe? Expediency asks the question -- is it politic? Vanity asks the question -- is it popular? But conscience asks the question -- is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it BECAUSE it is right."

--Dr. Martin Luther King--

"Ask, and it shall be given to you;  seek, and ye shall find;  knock, and the door shall be opened unto you.  For everyone who asks, receives;  he who seeks, finds;  and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

--Matthew 7:7-8--

JUST FOR TODAY

   Just for today.....
I will try to live through this day only, and not tackle my whole life's problems at once.
   Just for today.....
I will try to strengthen my mind. I will study. I will learn something useful. I will not be a mental loafer. I will reach something that requires effort, thought, and concentration.
   Just for today.....
I will exercise my soul in 3 ways: I will do something to help someone, and not get found out; if anybody knows of it, it will not count. I will do at least 2 things I don't want to do -- just for exercise. I will not show anyone that my feelings are hurt; they may be hurt, but today I will not show it.
   Just for today.....
I will be agreeable. I will look as well as I can, dress becomingly, talk low, act courteously, criticize not one bit, not find falut with anything, and not try to improve or regulate anybody but myself.
   Just for today.....
I will have a plan. I may not follow it exactly, but I will have it and it will save me from 2 pests: hurry and indecision.
   Just for today.....
I will have a quiet half-hour all by myself and relax. During this time, I will try to get a better prospective of my life.
   Just for today.....
I will compliment everyone I talk to, even if he or she is my enemy. I will whistle or hum a tune constantly and try to dispel talk of gloom wherever I may hear it.
   Just for today.....
I will be unafraid. Especially I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and to believe that as I give to the world, so the world will give to me.

"If you worry about the people that don't like you, just think of the millions of people that never heard of you."

--Willie Nelson--

"We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do."

--Mother Teresa--

"Be like a duck on water -- calm and unruffled on the surface, but paddling like Hell underneath."

Chandelier Tree   Courtesy:  http://www.ronsaari.com

Courtesy:  Flower Essence Society

Wawona Tree Courtesy:  http://www.image-archeology.com

Imagine for a moment the 3000-year-old, giant California redwood tree--over 25 stories high (250 ft=76.2 m)--taking 17 people hand-in-hand to reach around it. Enough lumber to build 40 five-room houses.  And then imagine that this all once came from a tiny seed, weighing only 1/16 thousandth of an ounce (0.0018 grams), and so small you could lose it in the palm of your hand.  Then ask yourself, "Would God have given more potential to a tree than he would to you and me?"

ANYWAY

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

Honest and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

The biggest people with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest people with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs, but follow only top dogs.
Fight for some underdogs anyway.

What you spent years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

--Reader's Digest, Dec. '82--

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about these things."

--Philippians 4:8--

"I shall pass through this world but once.  Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now.  Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again."

--Mahatma Gandhi--

"Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character.  But if you must be without one, be without strategy."

--General H. Norman Schwarzkopf--

"Luck is not chance, it's toil.  Fortune's expensive smile is earned."

--Emily Dickinson--

"If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun."

--Katherine Hepburn-- 

"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."

--Albert Einstein--

"Once we realize that imperfect understanding is the human condition, there is no shame in being wrong -- only in failing to correct our mistakes."

--George Soros--

"Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses."

--George Washington Carver--

"It's kind of fun to do the impossible."

--Walt Disney--

"Experience is a hard teacher. She gives the test first and the lesson afterwards."

A BAR OF IRON IS WORTH $5.00 !!

Robert Ripley, in his article, Believe it or Not, once said, "A plain bar of iron is worth $5. This same bar of iron when made into horseshoes, is worth $10.50. If made into needles, it is worth $355. If made into pen knife blades, it is worth $3285, and if turned into balance springs for watches, that identical bar becomes worth $250,000."

Without exerting much effort, each of us can obtain the value of the bar of iron. The potential is there in each human being, just as it is in the bar of iron, to become much more. We, too, can refine and develop our abilities and increase our worth as individuals.

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

--John Lennon
Lyrics to the song "Beautiful Boy"--

"Write it down -- a long pencil is better than a short memory."

"Work like you don't need the money.
  Love like you've never been hurt.
  And dance like nobody is watching."

--Karol Lee McLeod--

QUALITY

.....is like buying oats.
If you want nice, clean, fresh oats,
   you must pay a fair price;
However, if you can be satisfied with oats
   that have already been through the horse,
.....that comes a little cheaper.

"We cannot do great things on this earth.  We can only do small things with great love."

--Mother Teresa--

MIRACLE WITH MINUTES

Someone has said that the great dividing line between success and failure can be expressed in five words: I did not have the time. And yet time is the one thing we are never short-changed on. Our supply of time is exactly the same as that received by Edison, Ford, Burbank, Lincoln, and all the other people who have worked miracles with minutes. When we say we haven't got the time, what we really mean is that we haven't got the push, drive, ambition, and stick-to-it-tiveness to get things done. Time doesn't fail us -- it is we who fail time.

"There is very little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative."

--W. Clement Stone--

A lot of people are like wheelbarrows -- not good unless pushed.
Some are like canoes -- they need to be paddled.
Some are like kites -- if you don't keep a string on them, they fly away.
Some are like footballs -- you can't tell which way they will bounce next.
Some are like balloons -- full of wind and ready to blow up.
Some are like trailers -- they have to be pulled.
Some are like neon lights -- they keep going on and off.
Some are like a good watch -- open face, pure gold, quietly busy, and full of good works.

REALIZE

Lord, make me an
instrument of your peace!
Where there is hatred,
let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not
so much seek to be consoled
as to console;
to be understood
as to understand;
to be loved
as to love;
for it is in giving
that we receive;
it is in pardoning
that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying
that we are born to Eternal Life.

--Francis of Assisi--

"Everybody can be great.....because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."

--Martin Luther King, Jr.--

ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN

Most of what I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be, I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate mountain, but there in the sandbox at nursery school.

These are the things I learned: Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life. Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the plastic cup. The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the cup -- they all die. So do we.

And remember the book about Dick and Jane and the first word you learned, the biggest word of all: LOOK. Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and sane living.

Think of what a better world it would be if we all -- the whole world -- had cookies and milk about 3 o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or if we had a basic policy in our nations to always put things back where we found them and cleaned up our own messes. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, it is better to hold hands and stick together.

--Robert Fulghum--

"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal."

--Henry Ford--

When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older and wiser, I discovered the world would not change, so I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country.

But it, too, seemed immovable.

As I grew into my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt, I settled for changing only my family, those closest to me, but alas, they would have none of it.

And now, as I lie on my deathbed, I suddenly realize: If I had only changed myself first, then by example I would have changed my family.

From their inspiration and encouragement, I would then have been able to better my country and, who knows, I may have even changed the world.

--on the tomb of an Anglican Bishop in the Crypts of Westminster Abbey--

"Experience is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you."

--Aldous Huxley--

"Happiness is not a location;  it is a state of mind."

CHILDREN LEARN WHAT THEY LIVE

If children live with criticism,
     they learn to condemn.

If children live with hostility,
     they learn to fight.

If children live with fear,
     they learn to be apprehensive.

If children live with pity,
     they learn to feel sorry for themselves.

If children live with ridicule,
     they learn to be shy.

If children live with jealousy,
     they learn what envy is.

If children live with shame,
     they learn to feel guilty.

If children live with tolerance,
     they learn to be patient.

If children live with encouragement,
       they learn to be confident.

If children live with praise,
     they learn to appreciate.

If children live with approval,
       they learn to like themselves.

If children live with acceptance,
     they learn to find love in the world.

If children live with recognition,
     they learn to have a goal.

If children live with sharing,
     they learn to be generous.

If children live with honesty and fairness,
     they learn what truth and justice are.

If children live with security,
     they learn to have faith in themselves and those around them.

If children live with friendliness,
     they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

If children live with serenity,
    they learn to have peace of mind.

With what are your children living?

--Dorothy L. Nolte--

Learning is finding out
what you already know.

Doing is demonstrating
that you know it.

Teaching is reminding
others that they know it
just as well as others.

You are all learners,
doers, teachers.

--Richard Bach--

"It is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one, than to have an opportunity and not be prepared."

--Whitney Young, Jr.--

LOVE IS......

listening to each other with the heart,

hearing what is often unspoken.

Love is putting another's happiness and well-being ahead of our own,

and doing so cheerfully.

Love is giving your best to someone else.....

Love is a gift that never ends.

"We need 4 hugs a day for survival.
  We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance.
  We need 12 hugs a day for growth."

--Virginia Satir--

A CREED FOR THOSE WHO HAVE SUFFERED

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve.
I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.......

I asked for health, that I might do great things.
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.......

I asked for riches, that I might be happy.
I was given poverty, that I might be wise......

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men.
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God......

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life.
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things......

I got nothing I asked for -- but everything I had hoped for.

Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.

I am, among men, most richly blessed!

--Roy Campanella--

"Smile at each other, smile at your wife, smile at your husband, smile at your children, smile at each other -- it doesn't matter who it is -- and that will help you to grow up in greater love for each other."

--Mother Teresa--

"When you learn to let go of problems instead of resisting with all your might, your life will begin to flow.  Change the things that can be changed, accept those that cannot, and have the wisdom to know the difference."

--a tenet of Zen philosophy--

"Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe in, and enthusiastically act upon.....MUST.....inevitably come to pass."

--Paul J. Meyer--

"One of the great discoveries man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do. Most of the barriers we run up against are in ourselves -- we put them there and we can take them down."

--Henry Ford--

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

Youth is not a time of life -- it is a state of mind; it is a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over love of ease.

Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years; people grow old only by deserting their ideals. Years wrinkles the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear, and despair -- these are the long, long years that bow the head and turn the growing spirit back to dust.

Whether seventy or sixteen, there is in every being's heart the love of wonder, the sweet amazement at the stars and the starlike things and thoughts, the undaunted challenge of events, the unfailing childlike appetite for what next, and the joy and the game of life.

You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt, as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear, as young as your hope, as old as your despair.

So long as your heart receives messages of beauty, cheer, courage, grandeur and power from the earth, from man, and from the Infinite, so long as you are young.

When the wires are all down and all the central place of your heart is covered with the snows of pessimism and the ice of cynicism, then you are grown old indeed and may God have mercy on your soul.

--in a frame above Gen. Douglas MacArthur's desk--
(original poem by Samuel Ullman)

THINK POSITIVE

If you want to get somewhere, you have to know where you want to go
and how to get there,
Then never, never, never give up.

The secret of life isn't in what happens to you, but what you do with what happens to you.

Help other people to cope with their problems and your own will be easier to cope with.

Never use the word "impossible" seriously again,
Toss it into the verbal waste bucket.

Self-trust is the first secret of success.
So believe in and trust yourself.

Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them.
You will find that they haven't half the strength you think they have.

Joy increases as you give it, and diminishes as you try to keep it for yourself.
In giving it, you will accumulate a deposit of joy greater than you ever believed possible.

How you think about a problem is more important than the problem itself -
so always think positively.

Go at life with abandon; give it all you've got.
And life will give all it has to you.

--Norman Vincent Peale--

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing."

--Helen Keller--

"Everything in life is a question of how you look at it in your mind."

--Indira Gandhi--

"Yesterday's history, tomorrow's a mystery, live for today."

--Alcoholics Anonymous--

"If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got."

"No matter what you say or do to me, I'm still a worthwhile person."

"What other people think of me is NONE of my business."

"Follow your dreams, for they hold endless possibilities."

"Success is a journey, not a destination."

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

--Eleanor Roosevelt--

"Trust yourself.  You know more than you think you do."

--Dr. Benjamin Spock--

"What I am is good enough, if I would only be it openly."

--Dr. Carl Rogers--

"I believe in the sun even when it isn't shining
  I believe in love even when I am alone
  I believe in God even when he is silent."

"One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine who only have interest."

Please note:  This page is periodically updated. If you have any inspirational stories, poems, quotes, etc. you would care to contribute, please feel free to send them my way. You would not BELIEVE all the positive feedback I have received from people all over the world in depression or down on their luck who have stumbled across this page and felt uplifted. Thank you very much.......

Gary
Jan. 1, 2023