______________________________________________

The lazy man's paradox
Lazy man would rather sit and bitch and get angry and the weight of frustration becomes many fold on top of him till he is overwhelmed and paralyzed, when he could have fixed the thing by now, but he is an angerholic.
. The active man of peace and reason does something about each thing that bothers him as it comes and his load is light and work much sweeter than the bitter fellow. Get up! Nothing is free, but some things cost more than others. Doing is easier and more joyful than not. -NN

"The supreme happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved
-- loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves."
-Victor Hugo    

Want to see a person change? Only one thing changes a person for the better. - NN

“In matters of style swim with the current; in matters of principle stand like a rock. (Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826 3rd, President)

"People do not quit playing because they grow old, they grow old because they quit playing!" (Oliver Wendell Holmes)

“History is written by the winners”(Alex Haley)

____________________________________________________________________________

Latent in every man is a venom of amazing bitterness, a black resentment; something that curses and loathes life, a feeling of being trapped, of having trusted and been fooled, of being the helpless prey of impotent rage, blind surrender, the victim of a savage, ruthless power that gives and takes away, enlists a man, and crowning injury inflicts upon him the humiliation of feeling sorry for himself

- Paul Veléry

The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys

I would vote for this guy.
How can we nominate him? Would he run? Write me, I'll sign a petition or whatever.

______________________________________________

The lazy man's paradox
Lazy man would rather sit and bitch and get angry and the weight of frustration becomes many fold on top of him till he is overwhelmed and paralyzed, when he could have fixed the thing by now, but he is an angerholic.
. The active man of peace and reason does something about each thing that bothers him as it comes and his load is light and work much sweeter than the bitter fellow. Get up! Nothing is free, but some things cost more than others. Doing is easier and more joyful than not. -NN

"The supreme happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved
-- loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves."
-Victor Hugo    

Want to see a person change? Only one thing changes a person for the better. - NN

“In matters of style swim with the current; in matters of principle stand like a rock. (Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826 3rd, President)

"People do not quit playing because they grow old, they grow old because they quit playing!" (Oliver Wendell Holmes)

“History is written by the winners”(Alex Haley)

____________________________________________________________________________

Latent in every man is a venom of amazing bitterness, a black resentment; something that curses and loathes life, a feeling of being trapped, of having trusted and been fooled, of being the helpless prey of impotent rage, blind surrender, the victim of a savage, ruthless power that gives and takes away, enlists a man, and crowning injury inflicts upon him the humiliation of feeling sorry for himself

- Paul Veléry

The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys

"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and consciencious stupidity."
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

"TO BE A CHAMP YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE IN YOURSELF WHEN NOBODY ELSE WILL."
-SUGAR RAY ROBINSON

"I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better."
-G. C. Lichtenberg

"Forget regret, or life is yours to miss."
-Jonathan Larson

"A loyal friend laughs at your jokes when they're not so good, and sympathizes with your problems when they're not so bad."
-ARNOLD H. GLASOW

"The fragrance always stays in the hand that gives the rose."
-HADA BEJAR

"I have no mercy or compassion for a society that crushes people,
and then penalizes them for not been able to stand up under the weight".

Malcom X

"IT IS THE CHARACTER OF VERY FEW MEN TO HONOR WITHOUT ENVY A FRIEND WHO HAS PROSPERED. " -Aeschylus (c. - 456 BCE)

"Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened."

"DON'T WALK BEHIND ME; I MAY NOT LEAD. DON'T WALK IN FRONT OF ME; I MAY NOT FOLLOW. JUST WALK BESIDE ME AND BE MY FRIEND." -Albert Camus

" I've never met a person, I dont care what his condition, in whom I could not see possibilities. I don't care how much a man may consider himself a failure, I beleive in him, for he can change the thing that is wrong in his life any time that he is ready and prepared to do it. Whenever he developes the desire, he can take away from his life the thing thta is defeating it. The capacity for reformation and change lies within."
PRESTON BRADLEY

I am not afraid to face tomorrow because I have seen yesterday and I love today.

Cedric James

In life, there are many promotions in spiritual growth, but
there is no graduation. Prayer begins where human capacity ends.
The poorest way to face life is to face it with a sneer.
John Huss..

Do your best every day, and your life will gradually expand into satisfying fullness.
Horatio W. Dresser

 

Many of the more technically cool links I post are sent to me by my friend Del.
Here are 2 of the latest. They go together. They are Adobe's new ebook reader and a couple free books to get us started (The Pusher man)
:

http://www.adobe.com/products/ebookreader/
http://bookstore.glassbook.com/store/default.asp

This next one explains why I don't like mail forwarded to me, especially if it has HTML. It's one way you get on junk email lists:

Friends Don't E-Mail Friends HTML By Julia Scheeres, courtesy Wired magazine

Assume No Animal Products Are Safe
RealPlayer Spyware problem At-Home Cappuccino  


" Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it."
~ Buddha ~


" It is not length of life, but depth of life."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~


" What most people need to learn in life is how to love people and use things instead of using people and loving things."
~ Unknown ~


" Do what you can with what you've got wherever you are."
~ Theodore Roosevelt ~


" To be sensitive is to feel the thoughts and hearts of others as only you would want yours felt."
~ Author Unknown ~
quote submitted by Vicky.


" For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin.....
But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid.Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life."
~ Alfred Souza ~


" The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit"
~ Nelson Henderson ~1860


" You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try."
~ Beverly Sills ~


" The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest."
~ Thomas Moore ~


" The hardest thing in life, is letting go of what you thought was real."
~ Author Unknown ~
quote submitted by Anne.


" Time is the coin of your life.
It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you."
~ Carl Sandburg ~


" Life is what happens, while you are busy making plans."
~ John Lennon ~
quote submitted by Tracy.


" Life is the art of drawing without an eraser."
~ Unknown ~


" We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures."
~ Thornton Wilder ~


" Within your heart, keep one still, secret spot where dreams may go."
~ Louise Driscoll ~


" Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best."
~ Henry Van Dyke ~


" Integrity simply means a willingness not to violate one's identity."
~ Eric Fromm ~


" If you will it, it is no dream."
~ Theodore Herzl ~


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


" There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."
~ Albert Einstein ~


" The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one."
~ Elbert Hubbard ~

"Thank God--every morning when you get up--that you have something to do which must be done, whether you like it or not. Being forced to work, and forced to do your best, will breed in you a hundred virtues which the idle never know."
~ Charles Kingsley ~


" No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks."
~ Unknown ~


" Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."
~ Marcel Proust ~


" What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity.
These are but trifles, to be sure; but, scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable."
~ Joseph Addison ~


" Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."
~ Melody Beattie ~


" Blessed are those that can give without remembering and receive without forgetting."
~ Author Unknown ~


" If you concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul."
~ Rabbi Harold Kushner ~


" He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has."
~ Epictetus ~


" The sun was shining in my eyes, and I could barely see
To do the necessary task that was allotted me.
Resentment of the vivid glow, I started to complain--
When all at once upon the air I heard the blindman's cane."
~ Earl Musselman ~


" There is a calmness to a life lived in Gratitude, a quiet joy."
~ Ralph H. Blum ~ ( American Author )


" You simply will not be the same person two months from now after consciously giving thanks each day for the abundance that exists in your life. And you will have set in motion an ancient spiritual law: the more you have and are grateful for, the more will be given you."
~ Sarah Ban Breathnach ~
Simple Abundance


" As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."
~ John Fitzgerald Kennedy ~


" A contented mind is the greatest blessing a man can enjoy in this world."
~ Joseph Addison ~


" To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven."
~ Johannes A. Gaertner ~


" To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the kind that will stand behind the action. Nothing that is done for you is a matter of course. Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed at you. Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude."
~ Albert Schweitzer ~


" Most of us, swimming against the tides of trouble the world knows nothing about, need only a bit of praise or encouragement - and we will make the goal."
~ Jerome P. Fleishman ~


" Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others."
~ Cicero ~


" Every time we remember to say "thank you", we experience nothing less than heaven on earth."
~ Sarah Ban Breathnach ~


" Gratitude is something of which none of us can give too much. For on the smiles, the thanks we give, our little gestures of appreciation, our neighbors build their philosophy of life."
~ A. J. Cronin ~


" Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart."
~ Seneca ~


" True thanksgiving means that we need to thank God for what He has done for us, and not to tell Him what we have done for Him."
~ George R. Hendrick ~


" Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul."
~ Henry Ward Beecher ~


" Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude.
Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness.
Thankfulness may consist merely of words.
Gratitude is shown in acts."
~ David O. McKay ~


" If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough."
~ Meister Eckhardt ~


Be Thankful

Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire,
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don't know something
For it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations
Because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge
Because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes
They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you're tired and weary
Because it means you've made a difference.

It is easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are
also thankful for the setbacks.

GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles
and they can become your blessings.
~ Author Unknown ~

"Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused."


" Life is unsure, always eat your dessert first."


" After all is said and done, usually more is said."


" Seen it all, done it all, can't remember most of it."


" Duct tape is like the Force. It has a dark side, it has a light side, and it holds the Universe together."
~ Carl Zwanig ~


" Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine."


" Sometimes I wake up grumpy; Other times I let her sleep"


" If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you."


" Fish and visitors smell in three days."
~ Benjamin Franklin, 1736 ~


" The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was."


" The less people know about how sausages and laws are made, the better they'll sleep at night."
~ Otto von Bismarck ~


" If you can smile when things go wrong then you have someone in mind to blame."


" Down with gravity!"


" If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what the heck does a humanitarian eat!?"


" There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."
~ Benjamin Disraeli ~


" The brain is a wonderful organ; it starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get to work."


" A bargain is something you cannot use at a price you cannot resist."


" It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."
~ Mark Twain (1835-1910) ~


" Some day my ship will come in, but with my luck, I'll be at the airport."


" A kid's idea of a balanced diet is a hamburger in each hand."


" If a man says something, but there's no woman around to hear him, is he still wrong?"


" You have to stay in shape. My grandmother, she started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She's 97 today and we don't know where the hell she is."
~ Ellen DeGeners ~


" Have you ever noticed? Anybody going slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac."
~ George Carlin ~


" Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
~ Groucho Marx ~


" I'm not into working out. My philosophy: No pain, no pain."
~ Carol Leifer ~

"Look deep, deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better."
~ Albert Einstein ~


" I've always regarded nature as the clothing of God."
~ Alan Havhamess ~


" Weed -- a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~


" What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone, men would die from loneliness of spirit.
For whatever happens to the beasts happens to man.
All things are connected..."
~ Chief Seattle ~


" Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished."
~ Lao Tzu ~


" To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug."
~ Helen Keller ~


" If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant.
If we did not sometimes taste adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."
~ Anne Bradstreet ~


" Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn."
~ John Muir ~


" Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts."
~ Rachel Carson ~


" How cunningly nature hides every wrinkle of her inconceivable antiquity under roses and violets and morning dew!"
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~


" Nature is trying very hard to make us succeed, but nature does not depend on us. We are not the only experiment."
~ R. Buckminister Fuller ~


" Nature is man's teacher. She unfolds her treasures to his search, unseals his eye, illumes his mind, and purifies his heart; an influence breathes from all the sights and sounds of her existence."
~ Alfred Billings Street ~


" Nature has been for me, for as long as I remember, a source of solace, inspiration, adventure, and delight; a home, a teacher, a companion."
~ Lorraine Anderson ~


" Take care of the earth and she will take care of you"
~ Author Unknown ~
quote submitted by Elaine.


" Love is a canvas furnished by Nature and embroidered by imagination."
~ Voltaire ~


" The secret powers of nature are generally undiscovered unsolicited."
~ Hans Christian Anderson ~


" Nature never did betray the heart that loved her."
~ Wordsworth ~


" Spring being a tough act to follow, God created June."
~ Al Bernstein ~


" If only society and environment could work together - we would have a masterpiece."
~ Author Unknown ~


" Nature never deceives us: it is always we who deceive ourselves."
~ Roosseau ~


" We do not inherit the land, we borrow it from our children."
~ Native American saying ~


" Nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own;
and from morning to night, as from the cradle to the grave, it is but a succession of changes so gentle and easy that we can scarcely mark their progress."
~ Charles Dickens (1812-1870) ~


" Let us remember, as we chase our dreams into the stars, that our first responsibility is to our earth, to our children, to ourselves."
~ Bush ~


" Our environment is like a patchwork quilt. Each "patch" is dependent on those around it. If one part unravels, it affects the rest."
~ Hemeon ~

"To think is easy. To act is difficult. To act as one thinks is the most difficult."
~ Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe ~
(1749-1832, German Poet, Dramatist, Novelist)


" To the world you may be just somebody, but to somebody you may just be the world."
~ Author Unknown ~


" Every morning you are handed 24 golden hours. They are one of the few things in this world that you get free of charge. If you had all the money in the world, you couldn't buy an extra hour. What will you do with this priceless treasure? Remember, you must use it, as it is given only once. Once wasted you cannot get it back."
~ Author Unknown ~


" Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person."
~ Mother Teresa ~


" Be sure that it is not you that is mortal, but only your body. For that man whom your outward form reveals is not yourself; the spirit is the true self, not that physical figure which can be pointed out by your finger."
~ Cicero ~


" When anger rises, think of the consequences."
~ Confucius ~


" There is nothing harder than being given your chance."
~ Deborah Chiel ~


" Measure yourself by your best moments, not by your worst. We are too prone to judge ourselves by our moments of despondency and depression."
~ Robert Johnson ~


" A person who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."
~ Albert Einstein ~
(1879-1955, German-born American Physicist)


" Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless."
~ Mother Theresa ~


" Reflect upon your present blessings - of which every man has many - not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some."
~ Charles Dickens ~


Attitude

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

It is more important that the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill.

The remarkable thing is - we have a choice every day of our lives regarding the attitude we embrace for that day.

We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable.

The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.

I’m convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you.

We are in charge of our attitudes.
~ Charles Swindoll ~
(American Pastor, Author)


Success

"Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go."
~ William Feather ~


He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much; who has enjoyed the trust of pure women, the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who has never lacked appreciation of earth's beauty or failed to express it; who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had; whose life was an inspiration; whose memory is a benediction.
~ Bessie A. Stanley (b.1879) ~
in Notes and Queries July 1976

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that gives value to survival."
~ C.S. Lewis ~

" What is a friend? I will tell you. It is a person with whom you dare to be yourself. Your soul can be naked with him. He seems to ask of you to put on nothing, only to be what you are. He does not want you to be better or worse. When you are with him, you feel as a prisoner feels who has been declared innocent. You do not have to be on your guard. You can say what you think, so long as it is genuinely you. He understands those contradictions in your nature that lead others to misjudge you. With him you breathe freely. You can avow your little vanities and envies and hates and vicious sparks, your meannesses and absurdities and, in opening them up to him, they are lost, dissolved on the white ocean of his loyality. He understands. You do not have to be careful. You can abuse him, neglect him, tolerate him. Best of all, you can keep still with him. It makes no matter. He likes you. He is like fire that purges to the bone. He understands. You can weep with him, sin with him, laugh with him, pray with him. Through it all - and underneath - he sees, knows and loves you.
A friend? What is a friend?
Just one, I repeat, with whom you dare to be yourself."
~ C. Raymond Beran ~

Most people are other people.
Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.
Oscar Wilde

Life - The most fantastic combination of ecstacy and torture imaginable - Naboh

A prayer - God, don't let me let it be boring! - Naboh

A day without laughter is a day wasted.

- Charlie Chaplin

There is no 'path to peace'
peace is the path......

A day without laughter is a day without balance - Naboh.

NOW that's what I call one hell of a good satori
4Animals


" Character is the result of two things: mental attitude and the way we spend our time."
~ Elbert Hubbard ~


" Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~


" Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries."
~ James A. Michener ~


" The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy."
~ Martin Luther King, Jr. ~


" People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within."
~ Elizabeth Kubler-Ross ~

"Blessed is he who has learned to admire but not envy, to follow but not imitate, to praise but not flatter, and to lead but not manipulate."
~ William Arthur Ward ~

"Character is built out of circumstances. From exactly the same materials one man builds palaces, while another builds hovels."
~ G. H. Lewis ~

"Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant with the weak and the wrong. Sometime in your life you will have been all of these."
~ Bob Goddard ~

"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are."
~ John Wooden ~

"He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away."
~ Raymond Hull ~

"When we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves."
Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC)

"Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly."
~ St. Francis De Sales ~


" Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny."
~ Frank Outlaw ~


" A man can do only what a man can do. But if he does that each day he can sleep at night and do it again the next day."
~ Albert Schweitzer ~


" How a man plays the game shows something of his character, how he loses shows all of it."
~ Author Unknown ~


" Those who do not know how to weep with their whole heart don't know how to laugh either."
~ Golda Meir ~


" If wrinkles must be written upon our brow, let them not be written upon the heart; the spirit should not grow old."
~ James A. Garfield ~


" The great man is he that does not lose his child's heart."
~ Menicus ~


" Good character is more to be praised than outstanding talent. Most talents are, to some extent, a gift. Good character, by contrast, is not given to us. We have to build it piece by piece -- by thought, choice, courage and determination."
~ John Luther ~


Poem: "The Muse and I Are Alone," and "The Muse Lends a Hand," by Robert Long, from Blue (Canio's Editions).

The Muse and I Are Alone

On the usual corner, we're
Up and out earlier than usual.
No winos around: too cold. The Muse
Wears white pants and the usual heavy metal
Jacket. He's pouty, half-asleep,
Turns toward me, his back
To the screaming crosstown wind.
I'm leaning against a video store
Steel grate. Hollywood light bulbs
Race around the window perimeter.
If you looked from across the avenue
You"d see us: a guy with a briefcase
Full of paper and a kid
With a backpack stuffed with books,
Framed by blinking lights,
Like forgotten celebrities.


The Muse Lends a Hand

The wind picks up; my hat blows off my head.
I'm trying to light a cigarette.
The hat hits the Muse in the knees, drops
To the sidewalk. Facing me,
He wears a baseball cap backwards, and looks stern
This morning. He bends, picks up the hat,
Hands it to me. "Thank you," I say.
He says nothing but watches
As I replace the hat on my head.
He turns, searches the avenue for evidence
Of our bus. I feel undignified.
The Muse is always composed;
His role is to trigger creative impulses
In others. He adjusts his bookback,
Steps to the curb, stares
Into the relentless gray dream
Of 7:13 a.m. Philadelphia.
The Muse looks tired of living.
A woman in a dirty raincoat asks me
If the K bus has passed. "No," I say.


Atheist Quote of the Month

It's not as if people are shopping at the "world view" supermarket comparing labels. "Hmm... Voodoo certainly is romantic, but it says you need chicken blood, which might make me nauseous.... Oh, here's Christianity. That looks good, but what, no more fornicating? Dang... Hmm... Here's Atheism. Fornicating is good... Sundays free for football... Oh, crap. It says 'must take responsibility for own life'. Well that's a deal-breaker."
-- Andrew Gray

Deism is really nothing more than a mental teddy bear that some people use to stop asking questions at the beginning of the universe (assuming there was one).
-- Mike Ruskai

Theist Quote of the Month

God does exist, you are just to stubbornly and arrogantly rational to understand.
-- bluskie

God isn't hiding in any gaps. He's right out in plain sight where you can't see Him.
-- Dave Oldridge

well, what you wrote is wrong because i refuse to believe it.
-- double00

"It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations."
--Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
" Famous remarks are very seldom quoted correctly."
--Simeon Strunsky

"I hate quotations."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Imagination is the eye of the soul"
--Joubert

"Imagination is more important than knowledge"
--Albert Einstein

"Without repeating life in imagination,
you can never be fully alive."
--Karen Blixen, Letters From Africa 1914-1931

"You can't depend on your eyes,
when your imagination is out of focus"
--Mark Twain

"To accomplish great things,
we must not only act, but also dream;
not only plan, but also believe."
--Anatole France

"Have a goal.
A goal is just a dream with a deadline."
--Marjorie Blanchard

"A man's dreams
are an index of his greatness."
--Zadok Rabinowitz

"All men who have achieved great things
have been dreamers."
--Orison Swett Marden

"When you cease to dream,
you cease to live."
--Malcomb S. Forbes

"Where there is no vision,
the people perish"
--Jewish Proverb 29:18

"People with a vision THRIVE!"
--Dan Meyer

"The most pathetic person in the world
is someone who has sight but no vision."
--Helen Keller

"Cherish your visions and your dreams,
as they are the children of your soul,
the blueprints of your ultimate achievements."
--Napoleon Hill

* "If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams
and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined,
he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."
--Henry David Thoreau

"Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things
which escape those who dream only by night."
--Edgar Allan Poe

"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 their dream with open eyes,
to make it possible. "
--T. E. Lawrence

"In the long run,
we only hit what we aim at."
--Henry David Thoreau

"Shoot for the moon -
Even if you miss, you're among the stars."
--Sue Trythall

* "Reach for the stars -
You might not always get a star,
but at least you won't end up with a handful of dirt."
--Leo Burnette

"Reach high -
for stars lie hidden in your soul.
Dream deep -
for every dream precedes the goal."
--Ralph Vaull Starr

"The heavens are as deep
as our aspirations are high."
--Henry David Thoreau

"When it is dark enough,
you can see the stars."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Without darkness,
there are no dreams."
--Karla Kuban

"We all see the same sky,
but we don't all have the same horizons."
--Plaque in Pat Collins' office

"Ansiktet mot stjärnorna, fötterna på jorden."
("Face towards the stars, feet on the ground")
--Swedish saying

"The world stands out on either side
No wider than the heart is wide;
Above the world is stretched the sky -
No higher than the soul is high."
--Edna St. Vincent Millay

"He who would leap high
must take a long run."
--Danish Proverb


Travel, Journeys, Home, Roots

"Before he sets out, the traveler must possess
fixed interests and facilities to be served by travel."
--George Santayana

"The greater thing in this world is not so much where we stand,
as in what direction we are going."
--Oliver Wendell Holmes

"Even if you're on the right track,
you'll get run over if you just sit there"
--Will Rogers

"I have been a stranger in a strange land."
--Exodus 2:22

"When you travel,
remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable.
It is designed to make its own people comfortable."
--Clifton Fadiman

"He who would travel happily must travel light."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Own only what you can carry with you;
know language, know countries, know people.
Let your memory be your travel bag."
--Alexander Solzhenitsyn

"Travel is one way of lengthening life,
at least in appearance."
--Benjamin Franklin

* "I travel - not to go, but to travel..."
--Robert Louis Stevenson

"Life is a journey,
not a destination."
--Unknown

"It is good to have an end to journey toward,
but it is the journey that matters in the end."
--Ursula K. LeGuin

"To travel hopefully
is a better thing than to arrive."
--Robert Louis Stevenson

"Remember that happiness is a way of travel,
not a destination."
--Roy M. Goodman

"Happiness is not a state to arrive at,
but rather a manner of traveling."
--M.L. Runbeck

"A truly happy person
is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour."
--Unknown

"People travel to wonder at the height of mountains,
at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of rivers,
at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars;
and they pass by themselves without wondering."
--Saint Augustine (354-430)

"The best climber in the world
is the one who's having the most fun."
--Alex Lowe, professional mountaineer

"Life can only be understood backwards,
but it must be lived forwards."
--Soren Kierkegaard

"God sees all of time
as a person would see an entire train from an airplane overhead -
from engine to caboose."
--Bob George

"Don't run through life so fast
that you forget not only where you've been,
but also where you're going.
Life is not a race,
but a journey to be savored
each step of the way."
--Nancye Sims

"What lies behind us
and what lies before us
are small matters compared to
that which lies within us."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

"All seasons are beautiful
for him who carries happiness within."
--Horace Friess

"Happiness is as a butterfly,
which when pursued, is always beyond our grasp,
but which, if you will sit down quietly,
may alight upon you."
--Nathaniel Hawthorne

"Happiness is like a butterfly.
The more you chase it, the more it will elude you.
But if you turn your attention to other things,
it comes and softly sits on your shoulder."
--Richard Lessor

"Find those things in life that bring you happiness.
Never let them go.

Learn what it is that steals your joy.
Find a way to remove it from your life."
--Unknown

"Often people attempt to live their lives backwards:
They try to have more things, or more money,
in order to do more of what they want,
so they will be happier.
The way it actually works is the reverse:
You must first be who you really are,
then do what you need to do,
in order to have what you want."
--Margaret Young

"The future is not some place we are going,
but one we create.
The paths are not found, but made,
and the activity of making them
changes both the maker and the destination."
--John Schaar

"In all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He will direct your paths."
--Proverbs 3:6

"We are not yet what we shall be,
but we are growing towards it.
The process is not yet finished,
but it is going on.
This is not the end,
but it is the road."
--Martin Luther

"We are not living in a world where all roads are radii of a circle and where all,
if followed long enough, will therefore draw gradually nearer and finally meet at the centre;
Rather in a world where every road, after a few miles, forks into two,
and each of those into two again,
and at each fork you must make a decision.
I do not think that all who chose wrong roads perish;
but their rescue consists in being put back on the right road."
--C.S. Lewis

"People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness.
Just because they're not on your road doesn't mean they've gotten lost."
--H. Jackson Browne

"Not all who wander are lost."
--J.R.R. Tolkein

"Travel is more than the seeing of sights;
it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living."
--Miriam Beard

" Travel teaches toleration."
--Disraeli

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness....
Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things
cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."
--Mark Twain, "Innocents Abroad"

"And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile,
go with him two."
--Matthew 5:41

"Inch by inch, Life's a cinch,
Yard by yard, Life is hard"
--Jenny Mullen

"Ett steg i taket"
("One step at a time")
--Swedish saying

"A journey of a thousand miles
must begin with a single step."
--Chinese Proverb

"A journey of a thousand miles
begins with a cash advance."
--American Proverb

"A journey of a thousand miles
begins with a broken fan belt and a leaky tire."
--American Proverb

"Wie buiten is heeft al een flink deel van de reis achter hem."
" He who is outside the door already has a good part of his journey behind him."
--Dutch proverb

"Everywhere is walking distance
if you have the time."
--Steven Wright

"The feet go to that place that the heart goes."
--Afghan saying

* "Be flexible - Go with the flow..."
--Greg Ormson, Tamil Nadu, India, 1978

"You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you're going,
because you might not get there."
--Yogi Berra

"When you don't know where you're going,
every road will take you there."
--Yiddish Proverb

"The road to success
is dotted with many tempting parking spaces."
--Unknown

"We must walk toward goals
instead of running away from our problems."
--Mildred Norman, "Peace Pilgrim"

"The true traveler is he who goes on foot,
and even then, he sits down a lot of the time."
--Colette, Paris From My Window (1944)

"If you don't climb the mountain,
you can't see the view. "
--Unknown

"The best climber in the world
is the one who's having the most fun."
--Alex Lowe, professional mountaineer

"Half the fun is getting there..."
--Unknown

"It is a fine thing to be out on the hills alone.
A man can hardly be a beast or a fool alone
on a great mountain."
--Rev. Francis Kilvert

* "Long walk, part of gift..."
--African Proverb
" Sá einn veiter víða ratarog hefir fjöld um farið,Hverju geðistýrir gumna hversá er vitandi er vits" --Havamál "Den ensam vet,som vandrar vidaoch har farit flitigtVilken förmågasom följer den mansom vet att bruka sitt vett" --Visdomsord från Havamál "He is truly wisewho has traveled farand knows the ways of the world.He who has traveledcan tell what spiritgoverns the men he meets." --Old Viking Hávamál proverb

"Man må tude med de ulve man er iblandt."
" You must howl with the wolves you are with."
--Old Danish saying

* "When in Rome,
do as the Romans do."
--Unknown

"Someday we'll look back on this moment
and plow into a parked car."
--Evan Davis

"It's hard to make a comeback
when you haven't been anywhere."
--Written in the dust on the back of a bus in Wickenburg, AZ

"Without music,
life is a journey through a desert."
--Pat Conroy

"We are all travellers in the wilderness of this world,
and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend."
--Robert Louis Stevenson

"One should keep old roads and old friends"
--Dutch saying

"Good company in a journey
makes the way to seem the shorter."
--Izaak Walton

"Goed gezelschap, korte afstanden."
" Good company makes short miles."
--Dutch proverb

* "Like cold water to a weary soul,
so is good news from a distant land"
--Jewish Proverb 25:25

"Borta bra, men hemma bäst."
" Away is good, but home is best."
--Swedish saying --Carl Jonas Love Almqvist

"Hospitality is making your guests feel at home,
even if you wish they were."
--Unknown

"There's no place like http://www.home.com"

"[ALT]+[HOME] is where the heart is"

"Strong legs are needed to carry good days."
--Icelandic saying

"Det gamle stend på sterke røter."
" That which is old stands on strong roots."
--Old Norwegain proverb

"Prosperity will have its season
Even when it's here, it's going by
And when it's gone we pretend we know the reason
And all the roots grow deeper when it's dry..."
--David Wilcox - "Big Horizon" (1993)

"I may not have gone where I intended to go,
but I think I have ended up where I intended to be."
--Douglas Adams

"It's nice to be here in Iowa."
--Gerald Ford while campaigning for president in 1976 -- in Ohio

Communication, Speech, Language

"Language, as well as the faculty of speech,
was the immediate gift of God."
--Noah Webster

"Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain."
--Lily Tomlin

"The limits of my language are the limits of my mind.
All I know is what I have words for."
--Ludwig Wittgenstein

"Never use a big word
where a diminutive one will suffice."
--Unknown

"Natives who beat drums to drive off evil spirits
are objects of scorn to smart Americans
who blow horns to break up traffic jams."
--Mary Ellen Kelly


Character

"Appreciation is a wonderful thing:
It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well."
--Unknown

"The cleaning of rooms has a great deal to do
with forming one's character."
--Booker T. Washington

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet.
Only through experience of trial and suffering can
the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and
success achieved."
--Helen Keller

"What doesn't kill ya, will make you stronger."
--Gina Drummonds

"If life is a grind, use it to sharpen your character."
--Unknown

"Nearly all men can stand adversity,
but if you want to test a man's character,
give him power."
--Abraham Lincoln

"I have always thought the actions of men
the best interpreters of their thoughts."
--John Locke

"A fool thinks
he's full of wisdom
when he's safe and sound.
When alone
he is at a loss
for courage and cunning."
--Old Viking Hávamál Proverb

"One man with courage
makes a majority."
--Thomas Jefferson

"Being cool is a coverup for cowards,
Building character calls for courage."
--Rewording of a thought by Stephen Mansfield

"People grow through experience
if they meet life honestly and courageously.
This is how character is built."
--Eleanor Roosevelt

"Character is like a fence -
It cannot be strengthened by whitewash."
--Unknown

* "Character is produced in solitude;
personality in the stream of life."
--From a poster I grew up looking at daily

"Quiet water splits a stone."
--Bengali saying

"Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted.
Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world."
-- Hans Margolius

"Following the path of least resistance
is what makes rivers and men crooked."
--Unknown

"Efficiency is intelligent laziness."
--David Dunham

"A man without ambition is dead.
A man with ambition but no love is dead.
A man with ambition and love for his blessings here on earth
is ever so alive."
--Pearl Bailey, American singer and actress

"The men who succeed are the efficient few.
They are the few who have the ambition and will power to develop themselves."
--Herbert N. Casson, English poet

"Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings."
--C. Archie Danielson, Spanish painter and printmaker

" Without ambition one starts nothing.
Without work one finishes nothing.
The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.
The man who knows how will always have a job.
The man who also knows why will always be his boss."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson


Education, Teaching, Learning, Books, Knowledge, Experience

"All generalizations are dangerous,
even this one."
--Alexandre Dumas

"Intuition is the uncanny sixth sense
which tells people that they are right,
whether they are or not."
--Georges Lessard

"I do not feel obliged to believe that
the same God who has endowed us
with sense, reason, and intellect
has intended us to forgo their use."
--Galileo Galilei

"I am always ready to learn,
although I do not always like being taught."
--Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"Leermeesters sterven, maar boeken blijven leven."
" Teachers die, but books live on."
--Dutch proverb

"The man who does not read good books
has no advantage over the man who can't read them."
--Mark Twain

"Een kamer met boeken is redelijk gezelschap."
" A room full of books makes good company."
--Dutch proverb

"We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards
could produce the Complete Works of Shakespeare;
Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true."
--Robert Wilensky, University of California

"Learning is acquired by reading books;
but the much more necessary learning,
the knowledge of the world,
is only to be acquired by reading man,
and studying all the various editions of them."
--Lord Chesterfield

"Read much,
but not too many books."
--Benjamin Franklin

"I have learned silence from the talkative,
tolerance from the intolerant,
and kindness from the unkind;
yet strangely, I am ungrateful to these teachers."
--Khalil Gilbran

"Education makes a people easy to lead, but difficult to drive;
easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
--Baron Henry Peter Brougham

"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything
without losing your temper."
--Robert Frost

"A man of knowledge uses words with restraint,
and a man of understanding is even-tempered."
--Proverbs 17:27

"Do not always jump to offer advice,
when often just lending an ear will more than suffice."
--Matt Thompson

"Everyone hears what you say.
Friends listen to what you say.
Best friends listen to what you don't say."
--Unknown

"You can't learn anything
with your mouth open."
--Earl Nightingale

"Seek first to understand,
then to be understood."
--Unknown

"The cautious guest
who comes to the table
speaks sparingly;
Listens with ears,
learns with eyes.
Such is the seeker or knowledge."
--Ancient Viking Hávamál proverb

"Insight demands opening up your senses,
talking less and listening more.
I believe you can learn almost everything you need to know
- and more than other people would like you to know -
simply by watching, listening, and keeping your eyes peeled,
your ears open, and your mouth closed."
--McCormack "What They Don't Teach You At Harvard Business School" (1984)

"God gave us two ears
but only one mouth."
--Unknown

"We must train ourselves
not to see the world only through our own eyes."
--Michael Levine

"A log's flame
leaps to another
Fire kindles fire.
A man listens
thus he learns
The shy stays shallow."
--Old Viking Hávamál Proverb

"Let us sit bent,
but talk straight."
--Turkish saying

"What I am about to say
represents one four-billionth of the world's opinion."
--Jack Williams in Phoenix Gazette

"Most of us would rather be ruined by praise
than saved by criticism."
--Norman Vincent Peale

"If we only spoke the truth based on cold hard fact
instead of assumptions, suspicion, opinion, or envy,
we would speak a lot less."
--Unknown

"If you're going to let words come into play,
Say what you mean, and mean what you say."
--John Mallon, Llama trainer

"The mediocre teacher tells.
The good teacher explains.
The superior teacher demonstrates.
The great teacher inspires."
--William A. Ward

"Tell me, and I may forget...
Show me, and I might remember...
Involve me, and I will understand..."
--Unknown

"The whole art of teaching is
only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds
for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards."
--Anatole France

"If you can't explain it simply,
you don't understand it well enough."
--Albert Einstein

"You do not really understand something
unless you can explain it to your grandmother."
--Unknown

"Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand,
but the passages that bother me are those I do understand."
--Mark Twain

"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old;
seek what they sought."
--Basho

"For I do not seek to understand so that I may believe;
but I believe so that I may understand."
--St. Anselm (1033-1109)

"If you understand what you're doing,
you're not learning anything."
--Abraham Lincoln

"Den som inte förstår allvar,
han förstår inte svenska."
--Gustaf af Geijerstam vid en föreläsning i Köpenhamn 1906

"Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day;
Teach a man to fish, and he'll eat for a lifetime."
--Native American saying

"Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day;
Teach a man to fish, and he'll be in a boat drinking all day..."
--Tennessee saying

"Never trouble the water
you intend to fish."
--Unknown

"It's not a fish until it's on the bank."
--Irish saying

"He who teaches his son to swim at the top of a waterfall
will not long be a father."
--Rowan Atkinson

"Good judgement comes from experience.
Experience comes from bad judgement."
--Jim Horning

"Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you
to recognize a mistake when you make it again."
--F. P. Jones

"The first time's the worst time"
--John Mallon, Llama trainer

"Experience keeps a dear school,
but fools will learn in no other."
--Benjamin Franklin

"Ervaring is de beste leermeester."
" Experience is the best teacher."
--Dutch proverb

"Experience is one thing you can't get for nothing."
--Oscar Wilde

"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable,
but more useful than a life spent doing nothing."
--George Bernard Shaw

"Mistakes are the price we pay for a full life."
--Sophia Loren

"Practice doesn't make perfect, nor is it supposed to.
Practice is about increasing your repertoire of ways to recover from your mistakes."
--John Gutin

"Anyone can make mistakes.
Fool insist on repeating them."
--Robertine Maynard

"Learn from the mistakes of others.
You can't live long enough to make them all yourself."
--Martin Vanbee

"Nunca es tarde para aprender"
" Det är aldrig för sent att lära sig"
" Es ist niemal zu Spät zu lehrnen"
" It is never too late to learn"
--Unknown

"Education is what survives
when what has been learned has been forgotten"
- B.F. Skinner

"Hvad du i barndommen nemmer,
du sent i alderdommen glemmer."
" (What you in childhood learn well,
you in adulthood remember well.)"
--Old Danish saying

"Seen it all, done it all,
can't remember most of it."
--Unknown


Striving, Achieving, Attaining - Good, Better, Best

"Always do right.
This will gratify some people and astonish the rest."
--Mark Twain

"...und tue, was du schuldig bist zu tun in deinen Berufe."
--Martin Luther

"Whatever you are,
be a good one."
--Abraham Lincoln

"What you seem to be,
be really."
--Benjamin Franklin

"Esse quam videri"
" To be, rather than to appear."

"Be all that you can be..."
--U.S. Army

"Always do your best;
What you plant now,
you will harvest later"
--Og Mandino

"I want to be the best me possible"
--Celine Dion

"Freedom to be your best means nothing
unless you're willing to do your best."
--Colin Powell

"We should know our weaknesses as well as out strengths
if we would attain to be the best in our civilization."
--Booker T. Washington

"If you can't be a good example,
then you'll just have to be a horrible warning."
--Catherine Aird

"Doe je best, God doet de rest."
" Do your best, God does the rest."
--Dutch proverb

Grandma's advice:
" Do your best, and leave the rest."
--Unknown

"I do the very best I know how -
the very best I can;
And I mean to keep on doing it until the end."
--Abraham Lincoln

"There is always a best way of doing everything,
even if it be to boil an egg."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

"I can find a new way to do it better!"
--little Danny Meyer in childhood

"Good, better, best
Never let it rest
Get your good better
and your better best."
--George Burns


Success, Preparation, Planning, Opportunities, Adversity, Obstacles

Education's secret to business:
" Find a need, and serve it"
--ISU/Belmont University Business classes

Thomas Edison's secret to success:
" The secret to success is focus of purpose."
--Thomas Edison

Mark Twain's secret to success:
" Find out where the people are going and get there first."
--Mark Twain

Politicians' secret to success:
" There are two rules for ultimate success in life:
1). Never divulge everything you know..."


Millionaires' secret to success:
" Take opportunity when it knocks."
--Millionaires I interviewed in Bahamas

My secret to success:
" Look at every obstacle as an opportunity -
Make opportunities; Knock!"
--Dan Meyer

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity;
An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
--Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare;
It is because we do not dare that they are difficult."
--Seneca Proverb

"Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life,
as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed."
--Booker T. Washington

"Success comes in cans;
Failure comes in can'ts."
--Unknown

"Success is a journey,
not a destination."
--Ben Sweetland

"Humility comes from understanding that
the obstacles in front of you are not going to go away."
--Sarah Ferguson

"Great heights are only reached
by overcoming great obstacles."
--Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are.
I don't believe in circumstances.
The people who get on in this world are the people
who get up and look for the circumstances they want,
and, if they can't find them, make them."
--George Bernard Shaw

"The only people who achieve much
are those who want knowledge so badly
that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable.
Favorable conditions never come."
--C.S. Lewis

"There is no security on this earth,
only opportunity."
--Douglas MacArthur

"Be wise in the way you act toward others;
make the most of every opportunity."
--Colossians 4:5

"Learn to listen carefully;
Opportunity often knocks softly."
--Unknown

"Opportunity is missed by most people
because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."
--Thomas Edison

"Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities;
Seize common occasions and make them great!"
--Orison Swett Marden

"A window of opportunity will not open itself."
--Michael Crichton

"Opportunities multiply as they are seized."
--Sun Tzu

"Success is simply a matter of luck:
Ask any failure."
--Earl Wilson

"I find that the harder I work,
the more luck I seem to have."
--Thomas Jefferson

"Some people dream of success,
while others wake up and work hard at it..."
--Unknown

"The golden opportunity you are seeking is in yourself.
It is not in your environment;
It is not in luck or chance, or the help of others;
It is in yourself alone."
--Orison Swett Marden

"Four things come not back:
the spoken word,
the spent arrow,
the past life,
and the neglected opportunity."
--Arabian saying

"Opportunities always look bigger
going than coming."
--Unknown

"The difference between a successful person and others
is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge,
but rather a lack of will."
--Vince Lombardi

"Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time;
It is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable."
--Sydney Harris

"Don't fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things.
The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions:
could have, might have, and should have."
--Louis E. Boone

"For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
the saddest are these, 'It might have been!' "
--John Greenleaf Whittier

"Nothing ventured,
Nothing gained."
--William Shakespeare

"There will come a time when you believe everything is finished.
That will be the beginning."
--Louis L'Amour

* "Lord, Grant that I may always desire
more than I can accomplish."
--Michelangelo

"When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this -
you haven't."
--Thomas Edison

"Start by doing what's necessary, then what's possible,
and suddenly you are doing the impossible."
--St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226)

"Things are only impossible until they're not."
--Jean-Luc Picard

"Jesus said,
'What is impossible with men is possible with God.' "
--Luke 18:27

"My job is to take care of the possible
and trust God with the impossible."
--Unknown

"Accomplishing the impossible means only that
the boss will add it to your regular duties."
--Unknown

"Success always occurs in private
and failure in full public view."
--Unknown

"All sunshine all the time
sometimes results in a desert."
--Unknown

"Every cloud has its silver lining,
but lightning kills hundreds of people each year
who are trying to find it!"
--Unknown

* "Success is failure turned inside out
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit,
It's when things seem worst, that you mustn't quit."
--Uncle Luther (quoting Piggott)

* "A winner never quits,
and a quitter never wins."
--My Dad

"You haven't truly lost until you quit trying."
--Bill Stevens

"Triumph is directly proportional
to the amount of "umph"
that goes behind the "try".
--Rewording of a thought by Penny Pennington

"If at first you don't succeed,
try, try again..."
--My Dad

"If at first you don't succeed,
don't take up skydiving."
--Jerry Seinfeld(?)

"If at first you don't succeed,
see if the loser gets anything."
--Unknown

"When your dreams turn to dust,
it's time to vacuum."
--Unknown

"People stumble,
not on mountains,
but on small stones."
--Unknown

"Failure is not when you fall down;
It's when you don't get up."
--Unknown

"Success consists of getting up
just one more time than you've fallen down."
--Unknown

"Success is how high you bounce
when you hit bottom."
--General George Patton

"A wise man can see more from the bottom of a well
than a fool can from a mountain top."
--Unknown

"When you find yourself in a hole,
The first thing to do is stop digging!"
--John Mallon, Llama trainer

"If life deals you lemons, make lemonade;
If it deals you tomatoes, make Bloody Marys."
--Unknown

"If you're going through hell,
keep going."
--Rob Estes

"The best way out of difficulty is through it..."
--Unknown

"If you have tried to do something and failed,
you are vastly better off than
if you had tried to do nothing and succeeded."
--Unknown

"A person can make many mistakes,
but he isn't a failure until he starts blaming someone else."
--Unknown

"If you really aspire to do something,
you will find a way to make it so.
If you don't, you will find an excuse."
--Amy Wirdzek

"He who is good at making excuses
is seldom good for anything else."
--Unknown

"The will to succeed is important,
but the will to prepare is even more important."
--Bobby Knight

* "Be prepared -
Always keep a dime in your shoe for emergencies."
--My Scoutmaster Lloyd Miller

"A problem defined is half solved"
--Written on a whiteboard at work
" (...unless the definition is wrong!)"
--scrawled beneath it

"Well begun
is half done."
--Aristotle

"Goed begonnen, half gewonnen."
" Well begun is half won."
--Dutch proverb

"Well done
is better than
well said."
--Benjamin Franklin

"Wat mut, dat mut."
" What must be done, must be done."
--Norbert Bialek, Köln, Germany

"Measure twice, cut once"
--My Dad

"People don't plan to fail;
They just fail to plan..."
--Zig Zigler

"An ounce of prevention
is worth a pound of cure."
--Benjamin Franklin

"It is better to sleep on things beforehand,
than lie awake about them afterward."
--Baltasar Gracian

"I have always gone on the plan of finding the right of a thing to be done,
then working in that direction until I have accomplished it."
--Booker T. Washington

"Plan your work,
Then work your plan."
--Zig Zigler

"Commit your works to the Lord,
and your plans WILL succeed."
--Jewish Proverbs 16:3

"The working out of all things has been assigned to each person by our Lord,
but it all happens according to His sovereign will, even though He gives advice.
He lacks nothing that is in the power of men to give Him.
Oh, what a gracious Lord, who desires that people should perform for Him
those things for which He holds Himself responsible
day and night, moment by moment,
everyone should express their most devoted gratitude to Him."
--Christopher Columbus

"If we don't succeed,
we run the risk of failure." (Duh!)
--Vice President Al Gore

"I don't know the key to success,
but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."
--Bill Cosby

"If you can't win,
make the one ahead of you break the record."
--Jan McKeithen

"The more I help others to succeed,
the more I succeed."
--Ray Kroc, McDonalds

"The fastest way to succeed is to look as
if you're playing by somebody else's rules,
while quietly playing by your own."
--Michael Konda

"Success is to get what you want;
Happiness is to want what you get..."
--Unknown

"Success is not the key to happiness;
Happiness is the key to success.
If you love what you are doing, you will be successful."
--Albert Schweitzer

"Happiness is not having what you want,
but wanting what you have."
--Hyman Schachtel

"Money can't bring you happiness,
but it enables you to look for it in more places."
--Unknown

"Money doesn't always bring happiness;
People with ten million dollars are
no happier than those with nine million."
--Unknown

"No one can possibly achieve any real and lasting success
or 'get rich' in business by being a conformist."
--J. Paul Getty

"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

"Life is 10% of what happens to you,
and 90% of how you respond to it."
--Chuck Swindoll

"It's not the load that breaks you down;
It's the way you carry it."
--Lena Horne

* My two rules for a happy life:
1). Don't sweat the small stuff
2). Everything is small stuff!
--Dan Meyer

"Don't sweat the petty things,
and don't pet the sweaty things."
--George Carlin

"Life is too important to take too seriously."
--Corky Siegel

* "Don't cry over spilled milk."
" Gråt inte över spilld mjölk."
--My Mom

"Cast all your cares on Him
for He cares for you."
--I Peter 5:7

"I know God won't give me more than I can handle.
I just wish He didn't trust me so much."
--Unknown

"Let go,
and let God..."
--Unknown

"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"
--Matthew 6:27

"The unwise man
is awake all night
worries over and again.
When morning rises
he is restless still,
his burden as before."
--Old Viking Hávamál Proverb

"Worry doesn't improve the future;
It only ruins the present."
--Unknown

"...So what big-time crisis
were you worried about this time last year?"
--Sign on a church bulletin board

"Worry is the darkroom in which 'negatives' are developed."
--Unknown

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will worry about itself."
--Matthew 6:34

"Wir werden das Kind schon schaukeln..."
" Det ordnar sig alltid..."
" Everything will work itself out..."
--Unknown

"Be anxious for nothing,
but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving,
let your requests be known to God."
--Philippians 4:6

"Delight yourself in the Lord,
and He will give you the desires of your heart."
--Jewish Proverbs 37:4

"Sök och du skall finna."

"Ask, and it will be given to you;
Seek, and you will find;
Knock, and the door will be opened for you.
For everyone who asks receives;
He who seeks finds;
and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."
--Jesus Christ, Matthew 7:7-8

"Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint."
--Isaiah 40:31

"If you're not living on the edge,
you're taking up too much space."
--Lou Whitaker

"If you're living on the edge,
make sure you're wearing your seat belt."
--Unknown

"Snooze, ya lose..."
--Issac Air Freight

"Nunc aut nunquam"
" Now or never"
--Phineas T. Barnum

"This chance may never come again..."

* "Seize the moment"

"Carpe diem; Quam minimum credula postero"
" Seize the day; Trust as little as possible in tomorrow"
--Q. Horatius Flaccus

"Carpe diem, seize the day
Seize the moment, make a way
Take the chance while you may
Carpe diem, seize the day"
--Dan Meyer

"When the pain of staying the same
is greater than the pain of change,
then we change."
--Unknown

"There is great audacity in the willingness to change,
and more than a little optimism."
--Robert Crais

"If you don't like something, change it.
If you can't change it, change your attitude,
and don't complain."
--Maya Angelou

"Let us become the change we seek in the world."
--Mahatma Gandhi

"Be the change that makes the difference
That makes us realize we're all the same
Be the one that sees no color
That only paints the world in shades of gray"
--Margaret Harris/Renee Martin (1999)

"Change your thoughts
and you change your world."
--Norman Vincent Peale

"To improve is to change;
To be perfect is to change often."
--Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"The only things that remains the same in this world
is change."
--Unknown

"Change is inevitable,
except from a vending machine."
--Unknown

"A cow never stays milked."
--Glendon Johnson

"The only one who likes change
is a wet baby."
--Yiddish proverb

"Mere change is not growth;
Growth is the synthesis of change and continuity,
and where there is no continuity there is no growth."
--C. S. Lewis

"The greatest pleasure in life
is doing what people say you cannot do..."
--Walter Bagehot

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

"The best way to predict the future
is to create it."
--Alan Kay

"If you don't like the news,
go out and make some."
--Unknown

"If you don't like something, change it.
If you can't change it, change your attitude,
and don't complain."
--Maya Angelou

"As a man thinks in his heart,
so he is..."
--Jewish Proverbs 23:7

"Follow your heart,
and listen when it speaks to you."
--Susanna Tamaro "Follow Your Heart"

* "Where there's a will,
there's a way."
--My Dad

"When the going gets tough,
the tough get going."
--My Dad to me during High School swim team

"You don't have to be great to get started,
but you have to get started to become great."
--Les Brown


Courage, Adventure, Exploration, Discovery, Ships, Sailing

"De eerste in de boot mag de riemen kiezen."
" The first in the boat has the choice of oars."
--Dutch proverb

"Beter het anker verliezen dan het hele schip."
" Better to lose the anchor than the whole ship."
--Dutch proverb

"Don't wait for your ship to come in;
swim out to it."
--Unknown

"We cannot change the direction of the wind...
but we can adjust our sails."
--Unknown

"Raise your sail one foot
and you get ten feet of wind."
--Chinese proverb

* "Passion is the wind that moves your sails;
Reason is the rudder that guides your course."
--Arthur Doak/Dan Meyer

"No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars,
or sailed to an uncharted land,
or opened a new heaven to the human spirit."
--Helen Keller

"One doesn't discover new lands
without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time."
--Andre Gilde

"As the island of our knowledge grows,
so does the shore of our ignorance."
--John Wheeler

"They are ill discoverers who think there is no land,
when they can see nothing but sea."
--Francis Bacon

"A sailor without a destination
cannot hope for a favorable wind."
--Leon Tec, M.D.

"The human heart is like a ship on a stormy sea
driven about by winds blowing from all four corners of heaven."
--Martin Luther

"We set the sail;
God makes the wind."
--Unknown

"God promises a safe landing,
not a calm passage."
--Unknown

"A ship in the harbor is safe,
but that's not what ships were made for."
--Unknown

"It takes more than sailing on calm waters
to make one a good sailor."
--Dan Meyer

Ships sail east and ships sail west
While the self same breezes blow:
It's the set of the sails and not the gales
That determines the way they go.

Like the winds of the sea is the way of fate
As we journey along through life.
It's the set of the soul that determines the goal
And not the calm or the strife.
--Unknown

"Sometimes the Lord calms the storm;
Sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms His child..."
--Unknown

"A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor"
--Unknown

"I am not afraid of storms,
for I am learning to sail my ship."
--Louisa May Alcott

"Et er et skib at styre,
et andet et søkort at forstå"
" It is one thing to steer a ship,
another to understand a map"
--Old Danish saying

"The sea is dangerous and its storms terrible,
but these obstacles have never been sufficient reason to remain ashore...
Unlike the mediocre, intrepid spirits seek victory over those things that seem impossible...
It is with an iron will that they embark on the most daring of all endeavors...
to meet the shadowy figure without fear and conquer the unknown."
--Ferdinand Magellan, Explorer (1520)

"Adventure: The land between entertainment and panic."
--Unknown

"A life without adventure
is likely to be unsatisfying..."
--Bertrand Russel, Social Cohesion and Human Nature, Authority and the Individual, 1949

* "A man proves his valour
by doing what he likes."
--Sir Richard Francis Burton

"He begins to die
that quits his desires."
--George Herbert

"Your dreams can be realities.
They are the stuff that leads us through life toward great happiness."
--Deborah Norville

"Define your dreams,
then pursue them passionately;
Always evaluate your circumstances -
Be flexible enough to redefine your goals,
yet strong enough to keep sight of your true vision and hold fast to it;
Be true to yourself,
Live up to your highest standards,
Live life boldly and passionately,
and you will succeed in fulfilling your dreams."
--Dan Meyer

"Passion without purity is wildness
Purity without passion is prudishness."
--Unknown

"Significant Success automatically happens
when your Passion also becomes your Profession."
--Dr. Dan Cheatham

"Whatever you are by nature, keep to it;
Never desert your line of talent.
Be what nature intended you for and you will succeed."
--Sydney Smith

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams;
Live the life you have imagined."
--Henry David Thoreau

"Success is not the key to happiness;
Happiness is the key to success.
If you love what you are doing,
you will be successful."
--Albert Schweitzer

"Pleasure in the job
puts perfection in the work."
--Aristotle

"Let God make your Calling your Career."
--Dr. Dan Cheatham

"The place where God calls you
is the place where your deep gladness
and the world's deep hunger meet."
--Frederick Buechner

"Remember that you are needed.
There is at least one important work to be done
that will not be done unless you do it."
--Charles Allen

"Wisdom is knowing what to do next;
Virtue is doing it."
--David Starr Jordan, American Naturalist

"I hate to see things done by halves.
If it be right, do it boldly;
If it be wrong, leave it undone."
--Gilpin

"Do or do not;
There is no try."
--Yoda

"Just DO it!"
--Nike

"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment."
--Jim Rohn

"He who is not courageous enough to take risks
will accomplish nothing in life."
--Muhammad Ali

"The tragedy of life
is what dies inside a man while he lives."
--Albert Schweitzer

"You are not stuck where you are
unless you decide to be..."
--Unknown

"Life is too short for traffic."
--Dan Bellack

"Est unusquisque faber ipsae suae fortunae"
" Cada quien es el arquitecto de su propio destino"
" Every man is the architect of his own fortune/destiny"
--Appius Claudius Caecus

"A Christian cannot help being free,
because in the pursuit and attainment of his object,
no one can either hinder or retard him."
--Leo Tolstoy

"Donde una puerta se cierra, otra se abre"
" När en dörr stängs öppnas en annan"
" When one door shuts, another one opens"
--Unknown

"When one door closes, another door opens;
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door,
that we do not see the ones that are open for us."
--Alexander Graham Bell

"There is always one unexpected little moment in life
when a door opens to let the future in."
--Graham Greene

" Happiness comes through doors
you didn't even know you left open."
--Unknown

* "...Don't go back through that door - you've already been there and done that;
Find a new door and go through it - create new windows of opportunity"
--Bob Shultz, Blakes, Michigan City, IN, 1978

"A window of opportunity will not open itself."
--Michael Crichton

"Sometimes the roof must fall
for us to see the sky again."
--Unknown

"Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered,
you will never grow."
--Unknown

"If you settle for what you've got,
you deserve what you get."
--Kathy Lee Gifford

If you always live
Like you've always lived,
If you always think
Like you've always thought,
If you always do
What you've always done,
You will always get
What you always got!
--Dan Meyer

"God's call to me, His child, is not to safeness,
but always to something more -
always upward, higher, further along.
To bypass the call is to settle for mediocrity, complacency and dormancy.
And should I choose not to risk,
I will more than likely wake up some morning with the haunting question on my mind,
'Could God have had something more for me, if only I had dared to trust?' "
--Ruth Senter, "Beyond Safe Places"

"When you come to the end of all the light you know,
and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown,
faith is knowing that two things shall happen:
Either you will be given something solid to stand on,
or you will be taught to fly."
--Edward Teller

"I believe in Christ like I believe in the sun,
not just because I see it,
but because by it I can see everything else."
--C.S. Lewis

"Faith is daring the soul
to go beyond what the eyes can see."
--Unknown

"Faith is not belief without proof,
but trust without reservation."
--Unknown

"Faith is the refusal to panic."
--Unknown

"Faith is not believing that God can
It's knowing He will."
--Unknown

"No one can arrive from being talented alone.
God gives talent;
Work transforms talent into genius."
--Anna Pavlova, Russian Ballerina

"Boldness has genius in it;
If you can dream it, do it."
--Goethe

"Genius is one percent inspiration,
and ninety-nine percent perspiration."
--Thomas Edison

"The difference between genius and stupidity
is that genius has its limits."
--Unknown

"There's a fine line between a genius and an idiot:
An idiot has wild ideas;
A genius does something with them."
--Randall Owen

"People with small minds talk about people.
People with average minds talk about events.
People with great minds talk about ideas."
--Eleanor Roosevelt

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition
from mediocre minds."
--Albert Einstein

"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

"The next best thing to being wise oneself
is to live in a circle of those who are."
--C.S. Lewis

"He who walks with wise men will be wise."
--Proverbs 13:20

"When you are among the swans,
you become a swan."
--Siamese saying

"He who kneels before God
can stand before anyone!"
-Unknown

"Hier stehe ich. Ich kann nicht anders. Gott hilf mir."
("Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me.")
-Martin Luther (1521)

"Courage is clearly a readiness to risk self-humiliation."
--Nigel Dennis

"Being cool is a coverup for cowardice;
Building character calls for courage."
--Rewording of a thought by Stephen Mansfield

"Life shrinks or expands
in proportion to one's courage."
--Anaïs Nin

"Be brave -
Even if you are not, pretend to be;
No one can tell the difference."
--Unknown

"Great ability develops and reveals itself increasingly
with every new assignment."
--Baltasar Gracian

"Engång skall du vara en av dem som levat för längesen."
("Some day you shall be among those who lived long ago.")
--Pär Lagerkvist, Aftonland

"You never know when you're making a memory."
--Rickie Lee Jones

"To dream of the person you would like to be
is a waste of the person that you are..."
--Unknown

"Your destiny is fulfilled
as you invest in the destinies of others."
--Stephen Mansfield

"Scouting rounds a guy out"
--Boy Scouts of America

* "Don't just live the length of your life;
Live the width of it as well."
--Diane Ackerman

"I come that you might have life,
and have it more ABUNDANTLY."
--Jesus Christ, John 10:10

"You can do anything you set your mind to,
as long as it is in God's will."
--Dan Meyer

"Greater is he who is in you
than he who is in the world."
--I John 4:4

* "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me..."
--Philippians 4:13

"Todo lo puedo en Cristo que me fortalece..."
--Filipenses 4:13

"Allt förmår jag i honom som giver mig kraft..."
" Jag kan göra allt som Gud ber mig om, tack vare Kristus,
som ger mig styrka och kraft..."
--Filipperbrevet 4:13

"No problem, man"
--Local natives in India and the Bahamas

"Oú sont les neiges d'autant?"
--Unknown


History

"A people without a heritage
are easily persuaded."
--Karl Marx

"The greatest advances in human civilization
have come when we recovered what we had lost:
when we learned the lessons of history."
--Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"The only thing new in the world
is the history you don't know."
--Harry Truman

"A nation which does not remember what it was yesterday
does not know what it is today nor what it is trying to do.
We are trying to do a futile thing
if we do not know where we came from or what we have been about.
Ours is a rich legacy. Rich but lost."
--Woodrow Wilson

"To comprehend the history of a thing
is to unlock the mysteries of its present,
and more, to disclose the profundities of its future."
--Hilaire Belloc

"I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say: "My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please."
--Isaiah 46:10

"Some people live in the present,
oblivious of the past and blind to the future.
Some dwell in the past.
A very few have the knack of applying the past
to the present in ways that show them the future.
Great leaders have this knack."
--Richard M. Nixon

"The future is always built out of the materials of the past."
--Booker T. Washington

"Great leaders apply the past to the present
so as to shape the future."
--Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"History is philosophy learned from examples."
--Thucydides

"Those who cannot remember the past
are condemned to repeat it."
--George Santayana

"We cannot say the past is past
without surrendering the future."
--Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)


Time, Aging, Life, Death

"There is an appointed time for everything.
And there is a time for every event under heaven -

A time to give birth, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to uproot what is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to tear down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to throw stones, and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace, and a time to shun embracing;
A time to search, and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep, and a time to give away;
A time to tear apart, and a time to sew together;
A time to be silent, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time for war, and a time for peace."
--Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

"There will come a time when you believe everything is finished.
That will be the beginning."
--Louis L'Amour

"One will never find time
unless he makes it."
--Unknown

"Tempus fugit."
" Time flies."
--Unknown

"Time flies
when you're having fun."
--Unknown

"Time flies
when you're having lunch."
--Dan Meyer

"Time flies
whether you're having fun or not!"
--Bill Stevens

"Time flies like an arrow,
but fruit flies like bananas."
--Perry Brown

"Time's fun
when you're having flies."
--Kermit T. Frog

"It is better to add life to your years,
than to add years to your life."
--Unknown

"Counting time is not as important
as making time count."
--Chinese Fortune Cookie

"Does thou love life?
Then do not squander time;
for that's the stuff life is made of."
--Benjamin Franklin

"Time is too slow for those who wait;
too swift for those who fear;
too long for those who grieve;
too short for those who rejoice.
But for those who love, time is eternity."
--Lady Jane Fellowes

"Everywhere is walking distance
if you have the time."
--Steven Wright

"God sees all of time
as a person would see an entire train from an airplane overhead -
from engine to caboose."
--Bob George

"Time is that quality of nature which keeps events from happening all at once.
Lately it doesn't seem to be working."
--Unknown

"The day after tomorrow
is the third day of the rest of your life."
--George Carlin

"Time may be a great healer,
but it's also a lousy beautician."
--Unknown

"Time is the best teacher;
Unfortunately it kills all its students."
--Unknown

"Time is a circus,
always packing up and moving away."
--Ben Hecht

"The early bird gets the worm,
but the second mouse gets the cheese."
--Unknown

"You may delay,
but time will not."
--Benjamin Franklin

"Never put off until tomorrow
what you can avoid altogether."
--Unknown

"Nice guys finish last,
but we get to sleep in."
--Evan Davis

"I have noticed that the people who are late
are often so much jollier than the people who have to wait for them."
--E.V. Lucas

"To many a place
I made my way late,
and far too soon to some.
The ale was drunk
or yet unserved
the unwelcome guest is untimely."
--Old Viking Hávamál Proverb

"I always wanted to be a procrastinator,
but never got around to it."
--Unknown

"Procrastination means you know what you need to do and you don't do it.
If you don't know what to do, you aren't procrastinating.
You are thinking."
--Lynn Lively

"If it weren't for the last minute,
nothing would get done."
--Unknown

* "Whatever thou doest,
do quickly..."
--My Dad

"Whatever you want to do, do it now.
There are only so many tomorrows."
--Michael Landon

"Festina lente..."
" Make haste slowly..."
--Imperator C. Iulius Caesar Octavianus Augustus

"Forever doesn't happen in a moment."
--Dan Meyer

"The future is much like the present,
only longer."
--Don Quisenberry

"Youth is a gift of nature;
Age is a work of art."
--Unknown

"Age doesn't always bring wisdom;
Sometimes age comes alone."
--Unknown

"(Old) age is always fifteen years older than I am."
--Bernard Baruch

"Age is a very high price to pay for maturity."
--Unknown

"The first sign of maturity is the discovery
that the volume knob also turns to the left."
--Unknown

"There's no point in being grown up
if you can't be childish sometimes."
--Dr. Who

"No ray of sunshine is ever lost,
but the green which it awakens into existence needs time to sprout,
and it is not always granted for the sower to see the harvest.
All work that is worth anything is done in faith."
--Albert Schweitzer

"Más vale tarde que nunca..."
" Bättre sent än aldrig..."
" Betra seint en aldrei..."
" Besser Spät als niemal..."
" Better late than never..."
--Unknown

"Ein god dag kjem aldri for seint"
" En bra dag kommer aldrig för sent"
" A good day never comes too late"
--Old Norwegian proverb

"When it comes time to die,
make sure all you gotta do is die."
--Unknown

* "Today is a good day to die"
--Lakota Sioux saying

It's a good day to die if you know where you're going
It's a good day to die every day of your life
It's a good day to die if your living is showing
that you know that today is a good day to die.
--Dan Meyer

"Porque para mí el vivir es Cristo,
y el morir es ganancia."
--Filipenses 1:21

"For me to live is Christ;
to die is to gain."
--Philippians 1:21

"Sapos mi stap laip, no sapos mi dai,
Orait mi stap wantaim Kraist.
Na sapos mi dai,
bai mi kisim gutpela samting moa."
--Filipai 1:21 Tok Pisin Nupela Testamen Bilong Bikpela Jisas Kraist

"Cowards may die many times before their deaths,
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I have yet heard,
It seems most strange that humans fear,
Seeing death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come"
--Julius Caesar

"Fear not death;
for the sooner we die,
the longer shall we be immortal."
--Benjamin Franklin

"Men who believe in eternal life
seldom fear death in this life."
--Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"Work as if you were to live a hundred years,
Pray as if you were to die tomorrow."
--Benjamin Franklin

"Live in such a way
that you would not be ashamed
to sell your parrot to the town gossip."
--Will Rogers

"Live your life in the manner
that you would like your kids to live theirs."
--Michael Levine

"Live innocently;
God is watching."
--Unknown

"Live each day
as if it were the last day of your life,
because so far, it is."
--Unknown

"Live each day
as if it were the last day of your life;
One day, it will be."
--Unknown

"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today.
It's already tomorrow in Australia."
--Charles Schulz

"Everyday I beat my own previous record
for number of consecutive days I've stayed alive."
--Unknown

"I am ready to meet my maker.
Whether or not my maker is prepared for the
great ordeal of meeting me is another matter."
--Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of
God's grace.
And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace."
--Jerry Bridges

"When you were born, you were crying
and everyone around you was smiling.
Live your life so that when you die,
you're smiling and everyone around you is crying."
--Old Indian saying

"He who dies with the most toys
is nonetheless dead"
--Unknown


Arts - Laughter, Fools, Clowns, Circus, Comedy, Music, Art

"You don't stop laughing because you grow old;
You grow old because you stop laughing."
--Unknown

"A joyful heart is good medicine."
--Jewish Proverbs 17:22

"You cannot deal with the most serious things in the world
unless you also understand the most amusing."
--Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"Personer som saknar humor
förstår sällan allvar."
--Carl Zetterström

"Some people think it's difficult to be a Christian and to laugh,
but I think it's the other way around.
God writes a lot of comedy;
It's just that He has so many bad actors."
--Garrison Keillor

"Life is a free circus;
All you have to do is pay attention"
--Unknown

"Time is a circus,
always packing up and moving away."
--Ben Hecht

"Life is like a double-edged sword; It can be hard to swallow,
but you just have to stick with it, push past the bumps,
and try not to gag along the way!"
--Sword Swallower's saying

"Don't run with swords in your mouth!"
--My mom

"Mroowk maw, mngo hangmphf!"
--Me while swallowing a sword for my mom

"If at first you don't succeed,
Don't take up sword swallowing!"
--Belteshazzar the Sword Swallower

"It's not the Sais that count..."
--Sword Swallower's saying

"One must not hiccup while sword-swallowing"
--Richard Cohen, By The Sword, The History of Fencing

"Cold steel was not meant to be an after-dinner dessert!"
--Sword Swallower's saying

"If the sword fits,
swallow it!"
--Belteshazzar the Sword Swallower

"Don't you go swallow no rusty swords!"
--Southern Sword Swallower's saying

"Sword Swallowers do it to the Hilt!"
--Sword Swallower's saying Sword Swallowers Assoc Int'l

"I am a clown for Christ
in the circus of life."
--Charis T. Clown

"We are fools for Christ's sake."
--Apostle Paul, I Corinthians 4:10

"To the fool, the world is not quite right
To the world, the fool's no better sight.
So a fool I be, and a fool I stay,
Til the world amends its foolish way!"
--Medieval Jester's Poem

"Fools rush in where fools have been before."
--Unknown

"Happy is he who can laugh at himself,
for he will never run short of entertainment."
--Unknown

"Light travels faster than sound;
That is why some people appear bright
until you hear them speak."
--Unknown

"A closed mouth gathers no feet."
--Unknown

"Silence is not only golden;
it is seldom misquoted."
--Bob Monkhouse

"Talk low, talk slow, and don't say too much."
--John Wayne

"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool,
than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt."
--Mark Twain

"Silence is not always a Sign of Wisdom,
but Babbling is ever a folly."
--Benjamin Franklin

Wisdom has two parts:
1). Having a lot to say
2). Not saying it
--Unknown

"He who asks is a fool for five minutes,
but he who does not ask remains a fool forever."
--Chinese proverb

"Real friends are those who,
when you feel you've made a fool of yourself,
don't feel you've done a permanent job."
--Unknown

"Sometimes the majority only means
that all the fools are on the same side."
--Michael W. Smith

"The only normal people
are the ones you don't know very well."
--Joe Ancis

"Those who hear not the music,
think the dancers mad."
--Unknown

"If you have to face the music,
pick a good dance partner."
--Rebecca West

"Without music,
life is a journey through a desert."
--Pat Conroy

"Most of us go to our graves
with our music still inside of us."
--Unknown

"When words fail,
I let the music speak."
--Amanda Wong

"I care not who writes a nation's laws,
but let me write her songs,
and she will be turned back to God."
--Martin Luther

"You can not have harmony
without noise."
--Albanian saying

"You don't get harmony
when everyone sings the same note."
--Doug Floyd

"A jazz musician is a juggler
who uses harmonies instead of oranges."
--Benny Green

"I have learned throughout my life as a composer chiefly
through my mistakes and pursuits of false assumptions,
not by my exposure to founts of wisdom and knowledge."
--Igor Stravinsky

"Three men there are of some regard:
a king, a harper, and a bard."
--Welsh triad

"A person who is always up in the air and harping on something
is not necessarily an angel."
--Unknown

"Every action of our lives
touches on some chord that will vibrate in eternity."
--Edwin Hubble Chapin

"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience;
We are spiritual beings having a human experience."
--Unknown

"Life beats down and crushes the soul;
Art reminds you that you have one"
--Stella Adler

"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination.
Imagination is more important than knowledge.
Knowledge is limited.
Imagination encircles the world."
--Albert Einstein

"Les femmes vraiment belles sont faites
pour les amants qui manquent d'imagination."
--Unknown

"Poetry is the revelation of a feeling that
the poet believes to be interior and personal
but which the reader recognizes as his own."
--Salvatore Quasimodo

"An intellectual snob is someone who can listen to the William Tell Overture
and not think of 'The Lone Ranger'."
--Dan Rather

"Abstract art is a product of the untalented,
sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered."
--Al Capp

"Art is making something out of nothing
and selling it."
--Frank Zappa

"A picture may be worth a thousand words,
but it uses up a thousand times more memory."
--Unknown

"There's no business like show business,
but there are several businesses like accounting"
--David Letterman

"Critics, what good are they?
They can't make music by rubbing their hind legs together.
They're very noisy at night.
You can't sleep because of them."
--Mel Brooks

"Amateurs built the ark;
Professionals built the Titanic."
--Unknown


Tongue Twisters and Funny Nonsense

"Rubber baby buggy bumpers"
--English Tongue-Twister

"Tres triste tigres
comen trigo en un trigal."
--Spanish Tongue-Twister

"How much wood could a woodchuck chuck,
if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"
--English Tongue-Twister

"Fischers Fritz fischt frische Fische;
Frische Fische fischt Fischers Fritz."
--German Tongue-Twister

"Blaukraut bleibt Blaukraut
und Brautkleid bleibt Brautkleid."
--German Tongue-Twister

"Zwischen zwei Zwetschgenzweigen
sitzen zwei zwitschernde Schwalben."
--German Tongue-Twister

"Im dichten Fichtendichicht
richen diche Fichten füchtig."
--German Tongue-Twister

"Leentje leerde Lotje lopen
langs de lange Lindenlaan."
--Dutch Tongue-Twister

"De kat krabt de krullen van de trap."
--Dutch Tongue-Twister

"Achtentachtig allemachtig prachtige grachten
geschilderd door van Gogh."
--Dutch Tongue-Twister

"Sex laxar i en laxask."
--Swedish Tongue-Twister

"Sju sjösjuka sjömän
sköttes av sjuttiosju sköna sjuksköterskor
på det sjunkade skeppet Shanghai."
--Swedish Tongue-Twister

"Knut satt vid en knut och knöt en knut.
När Knut knutit knuten var knuten knuten."
--Swedish Tongue-Twister

"Här är där där man är;
Där är där man inte är."
--Swedish saying

"Alltid stavas alltid med två "l"
Aldrig stavas aldrig med två "l"
--Swedish saying


Toasts

"Here's to yesterday -
We call it history;
Here's to tomorrow -
We call it mystery;
Here's to today -
It's a gift, that's why we call it the present."
--Unknown

"Megi skegg óvina vaxa ínnávið..."
" Må alla ovänners skägg växar inåt..."
" May all your enemies' beards grow inwards..."
--Old Viking toast


Advice

"Advice is like snow -
the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon,
and the deeper it sinks into the mind."
--Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"Don't accept any wooden nickels!"
--John Mullen, Jenny's Dad

"Un lugar para cada cosa, y cada cosa en su lugar"
" Alles heeft een doel"
" Det finns en plats för allting och allting har sin plats"
" A place for everything, and everything in its place"
--My Dad

* "If you get it out, put it away;
If you turn it on, turn it off;
If you break it, fix it!"
--My Dad

"Don't run with scissors"
--My Mom

"Many hands make light the work"
--Jenny's Mom, Joy Mullen

"Sooner or later,
we all quote our mothers."
--Bern Williams

"If it ain't broke,
don't fix it!"
--Tennessee saying

"Never judge a book by its movie."
--J. W. Eagan

"Morgunstund gefur gull i mund."
" Morgonstund gjör guld i mund."
" Morningtime makes gold in the hand."
(Meaning: 'The early bird catches the worm')
--Old Viking saying

"Megi skegg óvina vaxa ínnávið..."
" Må alla ovänners skägg växar inåt..."
" May all your enemies' beards grow inwards..."
--Old Viking toast

"Always remember to pillage
BEFORE you burn."
--Old Viking saying

"It takes a Viking to raze a village"
--New Viking saying

"As you journey through life,
take a minute every now and then to give a thought for the other fellow.
He could be plotting something."
--Hagar the Horrible

Today's subliminal thought:
Smile! You Found It! Have a Nice Day! :)

"There are three kinds of people:
Those who can count and those who can't."
--Unknown

"Five out of four people
have trouble with fractions."
--Unknown

"If Bill Gates had a dime for every time Windows crashed...
Oh, wait, He DOES!!"
--Unknown

"If the shoe fits,
get another one just like it."
--Unknown

"If the shoe fits,
buy it in every color."
--Unknown

"I wear the pants in this family;
My wife just tells me which ones to put on."
--Sgt. Kevin Hickle

"The grass is always greener on the other side,
but you still have to mow it."
--Dr. James Dobson

"Snowmen fall from Heaven unassembled."
--Unknown


Animals, Pets

"The affections of a good animal
is the highest honor bestowed upon human kind."
--J. Siek

"Money might buy you a fine dog,
but only love will make its tail wag."
--Unknown

"You remain responsible forever,
for what you have tamed."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Buy one dog, get one flea..."
--Sign in Chinese Pet Store

"Eyes to the side, they hide;
Eyes to the front, they hunt."
--John Mallon, Llama trainer

"Two's company,
Three's a pack."
--Dr. Keith Frickey, DVM

"If you're going to let words come into play,
Say what you mean, and mean what you say."
--John Mallon, Llama trainer

"Curiosity killed the cat,
but for a while, I was a suspect."
--Steven Wright

"Did you ever walk in a room and forget why you walked in?
I think that's how dogs spend their lives."
--Sue Murphy

"You can say any foolish thing to a dog,
and the dog will give you a look that says,
'My God, you're right! I never would have thought of that!'"
--Sean Connery

"I had a linguistics professor who said that it's man's ability to use language
that makes him the dominant species on the planet. That may be.
But I think there's one other thing that separates us from animals:
We aren't afraid of vacuum cleaners."
--Jeff Stilson

"Dogs have owners.
Cats have staff."
--Unknown

"Outside of a dog a book is man's best friend;
Inside of a dog its too dark to read."
--Unknown

"There is something about the outside of a horse
that is good for the inside of a man."
--Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"Live in such a way
that you would not be ashamed
to sell your parrot to the town gossip."
--Will Rogers

"She was not quite what you would call refined.
She was not quite what you would call unrefined.
She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot."
--Mark Twain

"When the eagles are silent,
the parrots begin to jabber."
--Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"Birds of a feather
flock together."
--Unknown

"Eagles fly alone."
--English saying

"Morgunstund gefur gull i mund."
" Morgonstund gjör guld i mund."
" Morningtime makes gold in the hand."
(Meaning: 'The early bird catches the worm')
--Old Viking saying

"The early bird gets the worm,
but the second mouse gets the cheese."
--Unknown

"The bird leaves no trace of its flight."
--Thai saying

"God spijst de vogels, maar ze moeten erom vliegen."
" God gives birds their food, but they must fly for it."
--Dutch proverb

"God gives every bird it's food,
but He does not throw it into it's nest."
--Unknown

"Hold on to your dreams, for if dreams die,
life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly."
--Langston Hughes

"A bird in the hand
is better than two in the bush."
--Old Falconer's saying

"Falconry is not a hobby or an amusement, it is a rage.
You eat it, drink it, sleep it, and think it, even in recollection."
--T. H. White, British Author

"If you chase two rabbits,
both will escape."
--Native American Indian saying

"Wie twee hazen tegelijk achtervolgt, vangt er niet een."
" He who hunts two hares at once, catches neither."
--Dutch proverb

"If you think you are too small to make a difference,
try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito...."
--African Proverb


A Prayer for Animals

"Hear our humble prayer, O God,
for our friends the animals,
especially for animals who are suffering;
for any that are hunted or lost
or deserted or frightened or hungry;
for all that must be put to sleep.
We entreat for them all Thy mercy and pity,
and for those who deal with them
we ask a heart of compassion
and gentle hands and kindly words.
Make us be true friends to animals
and so to share the blessings of the merciful."
--Albert Schweitzer


Food, Cooking


" When compelled to cook,
I produce a meal that would make a swordswallower gag."
--Russell Baker

" I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food."
--Unknown

"Food should be cooked with lots of love
and lots of butter."
--Plaque in my Mom's kitchen

"Warm kitchen, warm friends."
--Czech saying

"Als het buikje vol is, is het hart blij."
" When the stomach is full, the heart is glad."
--Dutch proverb

"Always rise
to an early meal,
but eat your fill before a feast.
If you're hungry
you have no time
to talk at the table."
--Old Viking Hávamál Proverb

"Better a dry crust with peace and quiet,
than a house full of feasting with strife."
--Proverbs 17:1

"No sólo de pan vive el hombre..."
" Der Mensch nicht lebe vom Brodt allein..."
" Mennesket skal ikke leve af Brød alene..."
" D'er torv til meir enn berre maten..."
" Man lever inte med bara bröd..."
" Man shall not live by bread alone..."
--Deuteronomy 8:3, Matthew 4:4

"Y entonces tambien la vida
tendrá forma de pan,
será simple y profunda
innumerable y pura."
--Pablo Neruda

"A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough."
--Apostle Paul - Galatians 5:9, I Corinthians 5:6

* "Don't cry over spilled milk."
" Gråt inte över spilld mjölk."
--My Mom

"Life is like pizza;
Even when it's bad, it's good."
--Paula Devicq

"Never eat more than you can lift."
--Miss Piggy

"Eat to live,
and not live to eat."
--Benjamin Franklin

* "Take all you please,
but please eat all you take."
--My favorite sign at a Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet

"For your convenience, we recommend courteous, efficient self-service."
--Sign at an all-you-can-eat buffet

"Mange kokke fordærver maden."
" Too many cooks spoil the food."
--Old Danish saying

"Forbidden fruits make terrible jams."
--Unknown

"Patience is bitter but its fruit is sweet."
--Unknown

"Every cook makes his own sauce."
--French saying

"Sage advice improves with thyme"
--Patric Lundberg

"The sweetest grapes hang the highest."
--German saying

"I didn't fight my way to the top of the food chain
to be a vegetarian."
--Jerry Seinfeld?

"I was a vegetarian
until I started leaning toward the sunlight."
--Rita Rudner

"Red meat is not bad for you.
Now blue-green meat, THAT'S bad for you!"
--Tommy Smothers

"Was ist los?
Alles was nicht angebunden ist!"
--Onkel Luther Meyer

"Duct tape is like the force;
It has a light side, a dark side,
and it holds the universe together...."
--Carl Zwanzig

"I've told you a million times
not to exaggerate."
--Dan Meyer

"I tried to contain myself,
but I'd always escape."
--Unknown

"Denial doesn't exist."
--Sandra Koski

"I don't question YOUR existence."
--God

"Nostalgia just isn't what it used to be."
--Unknown

"Give me ambiguity
or give me something else."
--Anonymous

"A coincidence is when God performs a miracle,
and decides to remain anonymous."
--Unknown


Leadership

"It is amazing what you can accomplish
if you do not care who gets the credit."
--Harry S. Truman

"A modest man is usually admired
...if people ever hear of him."
--Unknown

"The best executive is the one who has enough sense
to pick good people to do what he wants done,
and self restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it."
--Theodore Roosevelt

"That government governs best
which governs least."
--Thomas Jefferson

* "The best leader is a good follower."
--Boy Scout Leadership training seminar

"Goede leiders maken goede volgelingen."
" Good leading makes good following."
--Dutch proverb

"Real leaders are ordinary people
with extraordinary determination."
--Unknown

"Nearly all men can stand adversity,
but if you want to test a man's character,
give him power."
--Abraham Lincoln

"I have always thought the actions of men
the best interpreters of their thoughts."
--John Locke

"Great leaders apply the past to the present
so as to shape the future."
--Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"Some people live in the present,
oblivious of the past and blind to the future.
Some dwell in the past.
A very few have the knack of applying the past
to the present in ways that show them the future.
Great leaders have this knack."
--Richard M. Nixon

"Don't tell people how to do things.
Tell them what to do, and let them surprise you with their results."
--George Patton

"When it is not necessary to make a decision,
it is necessary not to make a decision."
--Lord Falkland (1610-1643)

"Leadership is not a popularity contest;
Criticism is part of the job."
--Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"Don't confuse being 'soft'
with seeing the other guy's point of view."
--George Bush

"A true leader has the confidence to stand alone,
the courage to make tough decisions,
and the compassion to listen to the needs of others.
He does not set out to be a leader,
but becomes one by the quality of his actions
and the integrity of his intent.
In the end, leaders are much like eagles...
They don't flock -
You find them one at a time."
--Unknown

"Eagles fly alone."
--English saying

"If you think you are too small to make a difference,
try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito...."
--African Proverb

"Small things done consistently, though undramatic,
yield more than the large and sporadic."
--Stephen Mansfield

"Whatever you do will be insignificant,
but it is very important that you do it."
--Mahatma Gandhi

"Nomquam Pendite Divendium"
("Never Pay Retail")
--Dave Ramsey, Financial Peace University


Emotions, Feelings, Love, Friendship, Virtues

"Amor vincit omnia"
" Love conquers all"

" Omnia vincit amor, et nos cedamus amori"
" Love conquers all, and let us yield to it"
--P. Vergilius Maro (Eclogues, X.69)

"They would say," he answered,
" that you do not fail in obedience through lack of love...
but you have lost love because you never attempted obedience."
--C.S. Lewis (Space Trilogy)

"To love at all is to be vulnerable.
Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken.
If you want to make sure of keeping it intact,
you must give it to no one, not even an animal.
The only place outside heaven where you can be safe from the dangers of love
is Hell."
--C.S. Lewis

"When two people achieve lasting happiness, this is not solely because they are great lovers
but because they are also--I must put it crudely--good people;
controlled, loyal, fairminded, mutually adaptable people."
--C.S. Lewis

"Without the solitude of heart, the intimacy of friendship, marriage and community life cannot be creative.
Without the solitude of heart, our relationships with others easily become needy and greedy, sticky and clinging, dependent and sentimental, exploitative and parasitic;
because without the solitude of heart we cannot experience others as different from ourselves but only as people who can be used for the fulfillment of our own, often hidden, needs."
--Henri J.M. Nouwen, "Reaching Out"

"Kindness in words creates confidence.
Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.
Kindness in giving creates love."
--Lao-Tzu

"You can give without loving,
but you cannot love without giving."
--Unknown

"L'amour vient de l'aveuglement;
L'amitie de la connaissance."
" Love comes from blindness;
Friendship from knowledge."
--Comte de Bussy-Rabutin

"To fall in love is easy, even to remain is not difficult;
our human loneliness is cause enough.
But it is a hard quest worth making
to find a comrade through whose steady presence
one becomes steadily the person one desires to be."
--Anna Louise Strong

"To love for the sake of being loved is human,
But to love for the sake of loving is divine."
--Alphonse De Lamartine

"The ultimate lesson all of us have to learn is unconditional love,
which includes not only others, but ourselves as well."
--Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

"Love your neighbor
as yourself."
--Jesus Christ

"Happiest are those
who bring happiness to others."
--Unknown

"The heart is happiest when it beats for others."
--Unknown

"To handle yourself, use your head.
To handle others, use your heart."
--Unknown

"Keep good intentions from dying
by executing them."
--Unknown

"Goodness is the only investment
that cannot fail."
--Unknown

"El amor nunca deja de ser."
" Love NEVER fails."
--I Corinthians 13:8

"Looking back, I have this to regret,
that too often when I loved,
I did not say so."
--David Grayson

"Friends are God's way of taking care of us."
--Unknown

"Friends are like aspirin;
No one knows exactly how they make a sick person feel better,
but they do."
-- Letty Cottin

"Two are better than one
because they have a good return for their labor.
If either of them falls,
the one will lift up his companion.

And if one can overpower him who is alone,
two can resist him.
A cord of three strands in not quickly broken."
--Ecclesiastes 4:9- 10, 12

"When I was young
and walked alone,
alone I lost my way.
I felt rich
when I found company.
One delights in another."
--Old Viking Hávamál Proverb

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another,
'What! You too? I thought I was the only one!'"
--C.S. Lewis

"Friends…
They are kind to each other’s hopes;
They cherish each other’s dreams."
--Henry David Thoreau

"Make new friends;
cherish the old."
--Unknown

"A true friend
whom you trust well
and wish for his good will:
Go to him often
exchange gifts
and keep him company."
--Old Viking Hávamál Proverb

"A man who has friends
must himself be a friend."
--Proverbs 18:24

"Much of the vitality in a friendship lies in the honoring of differences,
not simply in the enjoyment of similarities."
--James Fredericks

"A real friend is one who walks in
when the rest of the world walks out."
--Unknown

"In prosperity our friends know us;
In adversity we know our friends."
--John Churton Collins

"A friend is one who sees through you
and still enjoys the view."
--Wilma Askinas

"A friend may well be reckoned
the masterpiece of nature."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

"A bad friend
is far away
though his cottage is close.
To a true friend
lies a trodden road
though his farm lies far away."
--Old Viking Hávamál Proverb

"A friend is the first person to come in
when the last person walks out."
--Henry Durbanville

"Only your real friends tell you
when your face is dirty."
--Sicilian Proverb

"A friend loves at all times."
--Proverbs 17:17

"Friends are seldom found;
They are made."
--Wentworth

"I went outside to find a friend,
But could not find one there.
I went outside to BE a friend,
And friends were everywhere."
--Unknown

"The only way you can truly control how you're seen
is by being honest all the time."
--Tom Hanks

"Live innocently;
God is watching."
--Unknown

"If you tell the truth,
you do not have to remember anything."
--Mark Twain

"If the truth sets you free,
then it is error that binds you."
--Bob George

"The Ten Commandments aren't prefaced with
'If you're in the mood...' "
--Dr. Laura Schlessinger

"It has been my experience that folks who have no vices
have very few virtues."
--Abraham Lincoln

"The middle of sIn is a big I!"
--Unknown

"Sin is an increasing desire
for a decreasing satisfaction."
--C.S. Lewis

"For every thousand people hacking at the leaves of evil,
there is one hacking at the root."
--Henry David Thoreau

"Look not for the beauty or fairness of skin
Look for the heart that is loyal within,
For beauty may die and skin may grow old;
but the heart that is loyal will never grow old."
--Unknown

"The more important things are those which are hidden;
The least important are those which can be seen."
--Booker T. Washington

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful,
we must carry it with us or we find it not."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow;
Don't walk behind me, I may not lead;
Walk beside me, and just be my friend."
--Albert Camus


Pride, Anger, Hate, Criticism, Maturity, Forgiveness

"Great Spirit -
Grant that I may not criticize my neighbor
until I have walked a mile in his moccasins."
--Lakota Sioux Prayer

"Until you walk a mile in another man's moccasins,
you can't imagine the smell."
--Robert Byrne

"Do not condemn the judgement of another
because it differs from your own -
You may both be wrong."
--Dandemis

"Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain -
and most fools do."
--Dale Carnegie

"When an organism begins to become self-centered,
taking only in regard to its own needs and ignoring those of its neighbor,
we call it cancer."
--Ra Bonawitz

"Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live,
it is asking others to live as one wishes to live."
--Oscar Wilde

"Nothing is more obnoxious in us who claim to follow Jesus Christ than arrogance,
and nothing is more appropriate or attractive than humility."
-- John Stott, from "The Contemporary Christian"

"Pride means that our interests get served first,
That our desires are more important than the desires of others,
That our opinions and point of view count more than those of others,
That what happens to us is more important than what happens to others,
That somehow we are better or more deserving than others."

"Pride separates us from each other,
Pride says that you cannot say that you have been wrong,
That you cannot say that you are sorry
Pride keeps you from repentance and confession,
Pride keeps you from asking for forgiveness,
Pride means that you must always win the argument,
- that you must always prove your point
- that you always have to be right
- that it always has to be done your way
- that you always have to be in charge and in control."

"Pride means that you can never make a mistake,
Pride means avoiding embarrassment and vulnerability at all costs,
Pride easily takes offense... even if none was intended.
And pride usually doesn't worry about giving offense to others
Pride seems to be the affliction common to us all."
--Mick Antanaitis, "Clothed With Humility"

"Through presumption comes nothing but strife;
Pride only breeds quarrels;
Wisdom is found in those who take advice."
--Proverbs 13:10

"Before his downfall a man's heart is proud,
but humility comes before honor."
--Proverbs 18:12

"A man's pride will bring him low,
But a humble spirit will obtain honor."
--Proverbs 29:23

"A modest man is usually admired
...if people ever hear of him."
--Unknown

"To be proud of virtue
is to poison yourself with the antidote."
--Benjamin Franklin

"God doesn't want someone whose act is together;
He wants someone whose act is over!"
--Unknown

"At the feast of ego,
everyone leaves hungry."
---Bentley's House of Coffee and Tea, Tucson, Arizona

"One nice thing about egotists:
They don't talk about other people."
--Unknown

"The person who knows everthing
has a lot to learn."
--Unknown

"When a man is wrapped up in himself,
he makes a pretty small package."
--John Ruskin

"People who are wrapped up in themselves
make small packages."
--Benjamin Franklin

"The middle of sIn is a big I!"
--Unknown

"It's hard to follow God closely
when your eyes are focused on everyone else around you."
--Unknown

"Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,
and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
--Jesus Christ (Luke 14:11, Luke 18:14)

"It is at the bottom of life we must begin,
and not at the top."
--Booker T. Washington

"I know of your capacity to do great things,
but I have yet to discover your capacity to do little things."
--Mahatma Gandhi

"The expert at anything was once a beginner."
--Hayes

"You can tell how big a person is
by what it takes to discourage him."
--Unknown

"It takes a strong person
to give in."
--Lois Lewis

"You can tell a person's level of maturity
by the way they handle criticism and reproof."
--Chuck Swindoll

"The fool tries to run away from his problems
by blaming his failures on others around him.
The wise man heeds criticism, accepts his shortcomings,
takes responsibility for his actions, and seeks to improve himself."
--Jeremiah D. Wildhart

"We must walk toward goals
instead of running away from our problems."
--Mildred Norman, "Peace Pilgrim"

"A person can make many mistakes,
but he isn't a failure until he starts blaming someone else."
--Unknown

"Anger is often merely evidence
of insecurity in life."
--Chip Ingram

"He is unhappy
and ill-tempered
who meets all with mockery.
What he doesn't know,
but needs to
are his own familiar faults."
--Old Viking Hávamál Proverb

"Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge;
but he who hates reproof is brutish."
--Proverbs 12:1

"He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame,
but whoever heeds correction is honored."
--Proverbs 13:18

"A fool despises his father's instruction;
but he who regards correction and reproof is prudent."
--Proverbs 15:5

" He who refuses instruction despises his own soul;
But he who hears correction and reproof gets understanding."
--Proverbs 15:32

"Most of us would rather be ruined by praise
than saved by criticism."
--Norman Vincent Peale

"I listen to critics because often
they're a good source of information
for what you have to do differently."
--John Chambers, President of Cisco Systems

" As I get older, I've learned to listen to people
rather than accuse them of things."
--Po Bronson

"A child becomes an adult when he realizes that he has a right
not only to be right, but also to be wrong."
--Thomas Szasz

"Relationships can take years to build,
yet only moments to destroy."
--Charles Cantrell

"Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship."
--Dalai Lama

"Blessings crown the head of the righteous,
but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked."
--Proverbs 10:6

"A fool's lips bring him strife,
and his mouth invites a beating."
--Proverbs 18:6-7

"He who guards his lips guards his life,
But the one who speaks rashly will come to ruin."
--Proverbs 13:3

"If you don't bridle your tongue,
your mouth can run loose and trample those in its path."
--Unknown

"A wise man learns when to bridle his tongue;
A fool lets his run loose to trample others."
--Chinese proverb

"A loose tongue often gets its owner in a tight place."
--Unknown

"A sharp tongue sometimes cuts its own throat."
--Jim Scancarelli

"Reckless words pierce like a sword,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing."
--Proverbs 12:18

"No grass grows on the battlefield."
--Polish saying

"People, like pins,
are useless when they lose their head."
--Unknown

"It takes years to build up trust,
yet it only takes suspicion, not proof, to destroy it."
--Unknown

"When you turn green with envy,
you are ripe for trouble."
--Unknown

"Never take action
when you are angry."
--Unknown

"Don't let the sun go down on your anger."
--Ephesians 4:26

"Do not be eager in your heart to be angry,
For anger resides in the bosom of fools."
--Ecclesiastes 7:9

"Anger is the wind that blows out the lamp of mind."
--Unknown

"Anger is only one letter short of danger."
--Unknown

"An angry man stirs up strife,
and a hot-tempered man commits many sins."
--Proverbs 29:22

"The churning of milk produces butter,
and pressing the nose brings forth blood,
so the churning of anger produces strife."
--Proverbs 30:33

"It is a waste of energy to be angry with a man who behaves badly,
just as it is to be angry with a car that won't go."
--Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

"If you harbor bitterness,
happiness will find somewhere else to dock."
--Unknown

"I can be bitter, Or I can be better.
The choice is mine,
It's one little letter.
I, I make the choice..."
--Unknown

"Flexible people don't get bent out of shape."
--Unknown

"Hating people is like burning down your own house
to get rid of a rat."
--Harry Emerson Fosdick

"The reason that people cling to their hate so stubbornly
is because they are afraid that if they let go of the hate,
they will have to deal with pain."
--James Baldwin

"Revenge has no more quenching effect on emotions
than salt water has on thirst."
--Walter Weckler

"Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm."
--Unknown

"Depression is frozen anger."
--David Seamand

"Hatred stirs up strife,
but love covers all transgressions."
--Proverbs 10:12

"Anger makes you smaller,
while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you were"
--Cherie Carter-Scott

"To err is human;
To forgive, divine."
--Unknown

"To err is human;
To forgive, divine;
To persist, devilish."
--Benjamin Franklin

"A man's discretion makes him slow to anger,
and it is his glory to overlook a transgression."
--Proverbs 19:11

"When we forgive, we free ourselves from the bitter ties
that bind us to the one who hurt us."
--Claire Frazier-Yzaguirre

"Man gets and forgets;
God gives and forgives."
--On a church bulletin board

"Have a heart that never hardens,
a temper that never tires,
and a touch that never hurts."
--Charles Dickens

"You can't shake hands with a clenched fist."
-- Indira Gandhi

* "When you point a finger of blame at someone else,
look at how many fingers are pointing back at you."
--St. Paul Lutheran Church bulletin board, Michigan City, IN (1970)

"Rare is the person who can weigh the faults of
others without putting his thumb on the scales."
--Byron J. Langenfeld

"Deal with the faults of others
as gently as your own."
--Chinese proverb

"Some people try to find fault
like there is a reward for finding it."
--Unknown

"Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam
so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out."
--Proverbs 17:14

"Quarrels would not last long
if the fault were only on one side."
--Francois de La Rochefoucauld

"He who loves a quarrel loves sin."
--Proverbs 17:19

"Those who in quarrels interpose,
must often wipe a bloody nose."
--Benjamin Franklin

"It is to a man's honor to avoid strife,
but every fool is quick to quarrel."
--Proverbs 20:3

"Without wood, a fire goes out;
Without gossip, a quarrel dies down."
--Proverbs 26:20

"In disagreements with loved ones,
deal only with the current situation.
Don't bring up the past."
--Dalai Lama

"The more arguments you win,
the fewer friends you have."
--Unknown

"If you don't like being lonely,
try not being right all the time."
--Unknown

"Being kind is more important
than being right."
--Unknown

"I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to."
--Unknown

"I argue very well. Ask any of my remaining friends.
I can win an argument on any topic, against any opponent.
People know this, and steer clear of me at parties.
Often, as a sign of their great respect, they don't even invite me."
--Dave Barry

"Anger is often merely evidence
of insecurity in life."
--Chip Ingram

"The worst-tempered people I've ever met
were the people who knew they were wrong."
--Wilson Mizner

"Hurt people hurt people."
--Rev. Frazier

"Hot tempers cool relationships."
--Unknown

"Friends lose respect for
fools who lost their tempers."
--Unknown

"A fool always loses his temper,
but a wise man holds it back."
--Proverbs 29:11

"A temper displayed in public is indecent exposure."
--Sign on a church bulletin board

"He who angers you,
controls you!"
--Unknown

"If you don't control your mind,
someone else will."
--John Allston

"A man of knowledge uses words with restraint,
and a man of understanding is even-tempered."
--Proverbs 17:27

"The fool who lacks judgement derides his neighbor,
but a man of understanding holds his tongue."
--Proverbs 11:12

"A wise man learns when to bridle his tongue;
A fool lets his run loose to trample others."
--Chinese proverb

"Patience is bitter but its fruit is sweet."
--Unknown

"Better a patient man than a warrior,
a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city."
--Proverbs 16:32

"A mind troubled by doubt
cannot focus on the course to victory."
--Arthur Golden

"Worry is the darkroom
in which 'negatives' are developed."
--Unknown

"Worry is interest paid on trouble
before it comes due."
--Unknown

"The brave and generous
have the best lives.
They are seldom sorry.
The unwise man
is always worried,
fears favours to repay."
--Old Viking Hávamál Proverb

"He who fears he will suffer,
already suffers because of fear."
--Michel De Montaigne

"Fear is False Evidence Appearing Real."
--Don Schuller

"Self-centeredness is at the root of all fear."
--Don Schuller

"Fear expects the worst in a situation;
Faith expects the best."
--Unknown

"There is no fear in love.
Perfect love drives out all fear,
because fear has to do with punishment.
The one who fears is not made perfect in love."
--1 John 4:18

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

"Pain is inevitable;
misery, a choice."
--Unknown

"Nobody really cares if you're miserable,
so you might as well be happy."
--Cynthia Nelms

"Sticks and stones
may break my bones,
but words will never hurt me."
--Childhood saying

"Do not take seriously all words which are spoken,
lest you hear your servant cursing you.
For your heart knows also
that you have likewise many times cursed others."
--Ecclesiastes 7:21-22

"Refuse foolish and ignorant speculations,
knowing that they produce quarrels.
For the Lord's bond servant must not be quarrelsome,
but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged,
with gentlesness correcting those who are in opposition."
--2 Timothy 2:23-25

"Do not associate with a man given to anger
or go with a hot-tempered man,
lest you learn his ways
and find a snare for yourself."
--Proverbs 22:24-25

"To keep your marriage brimming
With love in the marriage cup,
Whenever you're wrong, admit it;
Whenever you're right, shut up."
--Ogden Nash

"Let the wife make the husband glad to come home
and sorry to leave."
--Martin Luther

"If anyone considers himself religious
and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue,
he deceives himself and his religion is worthless."
--James 1:26

"Een weinig gal maakt veel honing bitter."
" A little bitterness can taint a lot of honey."
--Dutch proverb

"Pleasant words are a honeycomb,
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones."
--Proverbs 16:24

"One kind word can warm three winter months."
--Japanese proverb

"A gift in secret subdues anger."
--Proverbs 21:14

"Vriendelijke antwoorden verdrijven de gramschap."
" A soft answer turns away wrath."
--Dutch proverb

"A gentle answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger."
--Proverbs 15:1

"If you like peace,
don't contradict anyone."
--Hungarian saying

"A fool always loses his temper,
but a wise man holds it back."
--Proverbs 29:11

"If you can't say anything nice,
don't say anything at all."
--My Dad, and Thumper from Bambi

"The real art of conversation
is not only to say the right thing at the right time,
but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment."
--Unknown

"Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer."
--Dalai Lama

"The words of the wise heard in quietness
are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools."
--Ecclesiastes 9:17

"Quiet water splits a stone."
--Bengali saying

"Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted.
Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world."
-- Hans Margolius

"It is a strong man
who can afford to be gentle..."
--Unknown

"A truly great person is the one
who gives you a chance."
--Paul Duffy

"The really great man is the man
who makes every man feel great..."
--Unknown

* "I have become all things to all men..."
--Apostle Paul

"Kindness in words creates confidence.
Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.
Kindness in giving creates love."
--Lao-Tzu

If a child lives with criticism,
he learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility,
he learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule,
he learns to be shy.
If a child lives with shame,
he learns to feel guilty.
If a child lives with tolerance,
he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement,
he learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise,
he learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness,
he learns justice.
If a child lives with security,
he learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval,
he learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship,
he learns to find love in the world.
--Dorothy Law Nolte

"Al César lo que es del César, y a Dios lo que es de Dios" --Mateo 22:21
" Gebet dem Kaiser, was des Kaisers ist, und Gotte, was Gottes ist" --Matthäi 22:21
" Giver Kejseren, hvad Kejserens er, og Gud, hvad Guds er" --Mattæos 22:21
" Ge det till kejsaren vad är kejsarens, och till Gud allt som är Guds" --Matteus 22:21
" Render unto Ceasar what is Ceasar's, and unto God what is God's" --Matthew 22:21
" Render unto SESAC what is SESAC's, and unto God what is God's" --Dan Meyer

"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living.
The world owes you nothing. It was here first."
--Mark Twain

"Don't measure yourself by what you have already accomplished in life,
but rather by what you are able to accomplish in the future,
then go out and do it."
--Jeremiah D. Wildhart

"For if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing,
he deceiveth himself.
But let every man prove his own work,
and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another."
--Galatians 6:3-4

"Soli Deo Gloria"
--Johann Sebastian Bach

"If you would not be forgotten
As soon as you are dead and rotten,
Either write things worthy reading,
Or do things worth the writing."
--Benjamin Franklin

"That proves you are unusual," returned the Scarecrow;
" and I am convinced the only people worthy of consideration
in this world are the unusual ones.
For the common folks are like the leaves of a tree,
and live and die unnoticed."
--L. Frank Baum, "The Land of Oz"

"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work,
driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for,
in order to get to a job that you need
so you can pay for the clothes, car and the house
that you leave empty all day in order to afford to live in it."
--Ellen Goodman

"I've had a fascinating life.
I don't think I'm peculiar,
but people tell me I am."
--Katharine Hepburn

"Strange as it may seem,
my life is based on a true story."
--Ashleigh Brilliant

"A hundred years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was,
the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove...
But the world may be different because
I took the time to be important to someone..."
--Forest Witcraft

"A life isn't significant except for its impact on other lives."
--Jackie Robinson

"It's easy to make a buck.
It's a lot tougher to make a difference."
--Tom Brokaw

"To the world you might be just one person,
but to one person you might just be the world."
--Unknown

"Always do right.
This will gratify some people and astonish the rest."
--Mark Twain

"I have always gone on the plan of finding the right of a thing to be done,
then working in that direction until I have accomplished it."
--Booker T. Washington

"All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare."
--Unknown

* "Whatever is pure, right, lovely, honorable,
of good repute, excellent and worthy of praise -
think on THESE things."
--Philippians 4:8

"Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny."
--Unknown

"We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."
--Aristotle

"Be careful what rut you choose;
You may be in it the rest of your life."
--Unknown

"Preach the Gospel at all times.
If necessary, use words."
--St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226)

Live right
Be positive
Think smart
Be strong
Eat healthy
Live clean
Work hard
Play hard
Spend wisely
Live humbly
Stand tall
Walk proudly
Dress appropriately
Speak articulately
Listen intently
Laugh easily
Love gently
Pray constantly
Brush regularly
Floss daily
Plan ahead
Drive safely
Arrive early
Build relationships
Give unconditionally
Forgive completely
Be flexible and go with the flow,
But stand your ground when you are right.
Stop to smell the roses
Breathe deeply
Take opportunity when it comes
Seize the moment
Don't let it pass you by
Always push forward
Don't be afraid to go on
Never give up
Never look back
Except to see how far you've come
Always do the right thing
Be the BEST that you can be!
Whatever you do, do it PASSIONATELY,
Do it NOW!
GO FOR IT!
--Dan Meyer

"Det är dyrt att leva, men i priset ingår en resa runt solen varje år"
" Det er dyrt at leve, men i prisen er også inkluderet en årlig tur rundt om solen."
" Det er dyrt å leve, men i prisen inngår en reise rundt solen hvert år"
"Þ að er dýrt að lifa, en í verðinu er árleg ferð umhverfis sólina"
" Es ist teuer zu leben, aber der Preis enthält eine Reise um die Sonne jedes Jahr"
" Leve-omkostningerne er høje, men så få man også en tur rundt om solen hver år"
" El costo de la vida es alto, pero el precio incluye un viaje alrededor del sol cada año"
" La vie côute chère, mais le prix compris d'un voyage autour du soleil une fois par année"
" The cost of living is high, but the price includes a trip around the sun every year"

"Despite the high cost of living,
have you noticed how it remains so popular?"
--Unknown

"The most precious thing we have is life.
Yet it has absolutely no trade-in value."
--Unknown

"When I hear somebody sigh 'Life is hard',
I am always tempted to ask, 'Compared to what?' "
--Sydney Harris

"In wildness is the preservation of the world."
--Henry David Thoreau


 

 

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Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.

Will Rogers

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I Think the one lesson I have learned is that there is no substitute for paying attention.

Diane Sawyer

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The hardest struggle of all is to be something different from what the average person is.

Charles M. Schwab

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To create one's own world takes courage.

Georgia O'Keeffe

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I can give you a six word formula for success: Think things through-Then follow through.

Eddie Rickenbacker

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To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you're not, pretend you are.

Muhammad Ali

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A problem is a chance for you to do your best.

Duke Ellington

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Before you build a better mouse trap, it helps to know if there are any mice out there.

Yogi Berra

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Nothing in life just happens. You have to have the stamina to meet the obstacles and overcome them.

Golda Meir

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Success is a state of mind. If you want success, start thinking of yourself as a success.

Anonymous

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The greatest test of courage on the earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.

R.G. Ingersoll

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The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.

Dolly Parton

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Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.

Tom Landry

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You have to have a dream so you can get up in the morning.

Billy Wilder

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Better to remain silent and thought to be a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

Mark Twain

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A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

Sir Winston Churchill

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Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.

Gandhi

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To have more, you must first become more.

Jim Rohn

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" The Opportunity of a lifetime must be seized in the lifetime of the opportunity"

Anonymous

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" You are not here merely to make a living. You are here to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, and with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world. You impoverish yourself if you forget this errand."

Woodrow Wilson

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" The book you don't read won't help."

Jim Rohn

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" Everyone is ignorant, only on different subjects."

Will Rogers

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" Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do."

Johann von Goethe

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" Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this something, at whatever cost, must be attained."

Marie Curie

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" We see things not as they are, but as we are."

H.M. Tomlinson

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" Our chief want in life is somebody who will make us do what we can."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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" Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense."

Winston Churchill

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" The first great gift we can bestow on others is a good example."

Thomas Morell

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" Difficulty is the excuse history never accepts."

Edward R. Murrow

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" America is unique because it offers you an economic ladder to climb. And here's what's exciting: It is the bottom of the ladder that is crowded, not the top."

Jim Rohn

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" Every liability is just an asset in hiding."

Mark Victor Hansen

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Other people see things and say, ‘WHY?’ But I dream things that never were—and I say, ‘WHY NOT?’

George Bernard Shaw

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" Ignorance is not bliss, it is oblivion."

Philip Wylie

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" This will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave."

Elmer Davis

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" What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness himself."

Abraham Maslow

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Life is like a dogsled team. If you ain't the lead dog the scenery never changes.

Lewis Grizzard

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Water gives life and takes life. Decide to be a giver and not a taker.

Karen Snelson

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A smooth sea never made a skilled mariner.

English Proverb

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

Aristotle

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" You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face."

Eleanor Roosevelt

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" The most important thing to do is set goals. Training is a waste of time if you don't have goals."

Samantha Riley

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" A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills and uses these skills to accomplish his goals."

Larry Bird

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" The state of your life is nothing more than a reflection of your state of mind."

Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

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" Pursue one great decisive aim with force and determination."

Karl von Clausewitz

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" For every difficulty that supposedly stops a person from succeeding there are thousands who have had it a lot worse and have succeeded anyway. So can you."

Brian Tracy

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" The only real limitation on your abilities is the level of your desires. If you want it badly enough, there are no limits on what you can achieve."

Brian Tracy

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" None of us can be free of conflict and woe. Even the greatest men have had to accept disappointments as their daily bread...The art of living lies less in eliminating our troubles than in growing with them."

Bernard Baruch

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" Most successful men have not achieved distinction by having some new talent or opportunity presented to them. They have developed the opportunity that was at hand."

Bruce Barton

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Do what you love, love what you do, and deliver more than you promise."

Harvey Mackay

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"Enjoy yourself. These are the good old days you're going to miss in the years ahead." --Unknown

"Do not let loyalty and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart." --Proverbs 3: 3

Some friends come and go like a season. Others are arranged in our lives for good reason."
--Sharita Gadison

"The friendship isn't worth the tears unless the friend is." --Kellina Filbin

"True friendship is based on trust, honesty and sincere generosity of our hearts." --Song Park

"Memories last forever, never do they die. Friends stay together, never say goodbye." --Melina Campos

"When it hurts to look back, and you're scared to look ahead, you can look beside you, and your best friend will be there." --Unknown

"Material things can't make the soul whole. Only the love, trust, and loyalty of friends can do that."

"Winter, spring, summer, or fall, all you gotta do is call, and I'll be there,
'cause you've got a friend." -- Carole King

"One of the greatest things about being a teenager is the sharing, the closeness and the great times you have with your friends." --Unknown

Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you
did it or not." --Oprah Winfrey

Everyone's a star and deserves the right to twinkle." --Marilyn Monroe

I'm not beautiful like you. I'm beautiful like me." --Joy Drop, "Beautiful

Dreams come a size too big so that we can grow into them." --Josie Bisset

All kids need is a little help, a little hope and somebody who believes in them." --Earvin "Magic" Johnson

" Too busy to be sad... Too positive to be doubtful...
And too determined to be defeated."

"In life you are given two ends, one to think with the other to sit on. You success in life depends on which end you use the most. Head you win, tails you lose." - Conrad Burns

"Discipline builds winners, Winners stay disciplined!" - - Ed McAllister

A strong positive attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug. --Patricia Neal, Actress
Every good thought you think is contributing its share to the ultimate result of
your life. -- Grenville Kleiser (1868-1953), Writer
The grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love,
and something to hope for. -- Allan K. Chalmers, Writer
The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved
by criticism. -- Normal Vincent Peale (1983-1993) Minister & Motivator
In my next life I would like to be a pessimist. And then other people could spend all their
time cheering me up. -- Katharine Whitehorn, Writer
When you are making a success of something, it's not work. It's a way of life.
You enjoy yourself because you are making your contributions to the world. --
Andy Granatelli, Professional racecar driver
Success never rests. On your worst days, be good. And on your best days, be
great. And on every other day, get better. -- Carmen Mariano, Educator & Writer
Alter your attitude and you can alter your life.
Win as if you were used to it, lose as if you enjoyed it for a change. – Eric Golnik

It's how you deal with failure that determines how you achieve success. - David Feherty
A positive attitude can really make dreams come true -- it did for me. - Zina Garrison
Nothing in life is so hard that you can't make it easier by the way you take it. - Ellen Glasgow
What happens is not as important as how you react to what happens. - Thaddeus Golas
It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it. - Lena Horne
The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their
attitudes of mind. - William James
The Green Bay Packers never lost a football game. They just ran out of time. - Vince Lombardi
Attitudes are more important than facts. - Karl A. Menninger
If you will call your troubles experiences, and remember that every experience develops some latent
force within you, you will grow vigorous and happy, however adverse your circumstances may
seem to be. - John R. Miller
Our attitude toward life determines life's attitude towards us. - Earl Nightingale
Always keep that happy attitude. Pretend that you are holding a beautiful fragrant bouquet. - Candice M. Pope
Attitude is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances,
than what people do or say. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. - Charles Swindoll
I've always believed that you can think positive just as well as you can think negative. - Sugar Ray Robinson
An optimist may see a light where there is none, but why must the pessimist always run to
blow it out? - Michel De Saint-Pierre
There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference.
That little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative. - W. Clement Stone
Great things are done by people who think great thoughts and then go out into the world to make
their dreams come true.
Author Unknown
Individuals play the game, but teams win championships.
" When a team of dedicated individuals makes a commitment to act as one...the sky's the limit."
"Our unity and resolve are our greatest strengths. Divided, we are halfway to defeat. United, halfway to victory."
Individuals play the game, but teams win championships. -- Anon
If a team is to reach its potential, each player must be willing to subordinate his personal goals to the good of the team. - Bud Wilkinson
The nice thing about teamwork is that you always have others on your side.
- Margaret Carty
You don't get the breaks unless you play with the team instead of against it."
-- Lou Gehrig (1903-1941) Baseball player
There can only be one state of mind as you approach any profound test; total concentration, a spirit of togetherness, and strength.
- Pat Riley
The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime. - Babe Ruth
When your team is winning, be ready to be tough, because winning can make you soft. On the other hand, when your team is losing, stick by them; keep believing.
- Bo Schembechler
There is a big difference between hard work and teamwork.
- Jim Lundy
Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress,
and working together is success. - Henry Ford
" Snowflakes are one of nature's most fragile things,
but just look at what they can do when they stick together."
" Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowflake." -Marie Beyon Ray
" The challenge for every team is to build a feeling of oneness,
of dependence on one another . . .
Because the question is usually not how well each person works,
but how well they work together."
" The more honor and respect among the players, the greater the team."
On Pulling Together:

Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world.
For, indeed, that's all who ever have.
-- Margaret Mead (1901-1978), Anthropologist
You can buy someone’s time, you can buy someone’s physical presence at a given place; you can even buy a measured number of skilled muscular motions per hour or day. But you cannot buy enthusiasm; you cannot buy initiative, you cannot buy loyalty; you cannot buy devotion of hearts, minds, and souls. You have to earn these things. -Clarence Francis
I don’t believe in just ordering people to do things. You have to sort of grab an oar and row with them. -Harold Geneen
Few burdens are heavy when everyone lifts. -Anonymous
People never improve unless they look to some standard or example
higher and better than themselves.
Tryon Edwards (1809-1894), Editor and theologian
" The temptation when the path to success gets too bumpy is to leap back into the comfort
zone. Don't. Keep pushing forward, always forward. The comfort zone is the land of dreams
and wishes. Success is the land of results, where all those dreams come true."
-- Mark Burnett, Founder of the Eco-Challenge
On Love & Friendship

Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly. --Anonymous
Most people never have the opportunity to see an angel, or simply do not look well enough to see them walking among us. this, however does not mean they don't exist. Me, I'm one of the lucky few, not only have I seen an angel, I call her my best friend.
--Lori Corkum

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love I gain nothing Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, 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 perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away...And now these things remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. --1 Corinthians 13:1-8, 13
We do not remember days, we remember moments. -- Cesare Pavese
I don't want to run around with new people. I feel safer with my friends. ~ Adam Sandler
My father always used to say that when you die, if you've got five real friends, then you've had a great life. ~ Lee Iacocca
Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything. ~ Muhammad Ali
Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born. ~ Anais Nin
If you want to win friends, make it a point to remember them. If you remember my name, you pay me a subtle compliment; you indicate that I have made an impression on you. Remember my name and you add to my feeling of importance. ~ Dale Carnegie
Good friends are the sisters and brothers you found outside your family.
Do not protect yourself by a fence, but rather by your friends.
-- Czech proverb
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love."
-Henry Drummond
" Looking back, I have this to regret, that too often when I loved, I did not say so."
-David Grayson
A best friend is like a four leaf clover hard to find and lucky to have.
Unknown
We need old friends to help us grow and new friends to keep us young.
Letty C. Rayhobis
It's not where you go or what you do, it's who you take along with you.
Unknown
He who walks in when others walk out is a true friend.
Unknown
A friend is a person who knows all about you and still loves you just the same.
Unknown
On Overcoming Obstacles

You have powers you never dreamed of. You can do things you never thought you could do. there are no limitations in what you can do except the limitations of your own mind. -- Darwin P. Kingsley ~

How far is far, how high is high? We'll never know until we try.
-- Song From The California Special Olympics ~

If you only look at what is, you might never attain what could be. -- Unknown ~

No matter how good you get, there's always something further out there.
-- Bill Walton ~

I worked very hard. I felt I could play the game. The only thing that could stop me was myself. -- Jim Abbott ~

You have to be able to center yourself, to let all of your emotions go... Don't ever forget that you play with your soul as well as your body. -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ~

"Champions never complain, they are too busy getting better." - unknown

"An opportunity is never lost. It's just found by someone else."
Excellence is the result of... Caring more than others think is wise,
Dreaming more than others think is practical,
And expecting more than others think is possible."
" What the mind can conceive and believe... it can achieve."
" Go over, go under, go around, or go through. But never give up."

"You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles
you had to overcome to reach your goals." -- Booker T. Washington

Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your
better is best." - Tim Duncan

"The difference between an extraordinary player and an ordinary player is that little extra." - Michael Burks

You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you. ~ Walt Disney

Most people give up just when they're about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game, one foot from a winning touchdown. ~ H. Ross Perot

The thrill isn't in the winning, it's in the doing. ~ Chuck Noll

Strength does not come from winning. You struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength. ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger

As in nature, as in art, so in grace; it is rough treatment that gives souls,
as well as stones, their luster. The more the diamond is cut the brighter
it sparkles; and in what seems hard dealing, there God has no end in view
but to perfect His people. - Thomas Guthrie

You play the hand you're dealt. I think the game's worthwhile.
- Christopher Reeve
The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it.
- Chinese Proverb

"It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because
we do not dare that they are difficult."
- Seneca

"Pray not for lighter burdens but for stronger backs."
--Theodore Roosevelt

An optimist is one who makes the best of it when he gets the worst of it."
--Laurence Peter

"Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure."
-George E. Woodberry

"Use what talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best."
-Henry Van Dyke
" Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right."
-Henry Ford
" Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined."
-Henry David Thoreau
" A person who aims at nothing is sure to hit it."
-Anon.
" No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit."
-Helen Keller
" A will finds a way."
-Orison Swett Marden
" When I hear somebody sigh, 'Life is hard,' I am always tempted to ask,
'Compared to what?'"
-Sydney Harris
" In this age, which believes that there is a short cut to everything, the greatest lesson to be learned is that the most difficult way is, in the long run, the easiest."
-Henry Miller
" When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."
Helen Keller
I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it. -- Pablo Picasso
If you find a path with no obstacles it is probably a path that doesn't lead anywhere.
Those who are willing to face the music may someday lead the band.
It is better to light a candle than to complain about the darkness.
R. Herzog
The impossible is often the untried.
Jim Goodwin
People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light within.
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
Obstacles are what we see when we take our eyes off of the goal.
Crossman
One who makes no mistakes never makes anything.
Unknown
The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.
-Norman Vincent Peale
I've read that I flew up the hills and mountains of France. But you don't fly up a hill.
You struggle slowly and painfully up a hill, and maybe, if you work very hard,
you get to the top ahead of everybody else.
Lance Armstrong, Cyclist and cancer survivor

On Leadership

Leadership is a matter of having people look at you and gain confidence, seeing how you react. If you're in control, they're in control.
--Tom Landry

A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better. --Jim Rohn

The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction to carry on. --Walter Lippmann
Leadership is doing what is right when no one is watching. --George Van Valkenburg
Leadership is not so much about technique and methods as it is about opening the heart. Leadership is about inspiration -- of oneself and of others. Great leadership is about human experiences, not processes. Leadership is not a formula or a program, it is a human activity that comes from the heart and considers the hearts of others. It is an attitude, not a routine. --Lance Secretan
Outstanding leaders go out of the way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they can accomplish. --Sam Walton
Leadership has a harder job to do than just choose sides. It must bring sides together.
--Jesse Jackson
Life's Mirror- There are little eyes upon you that watch everything you say and do. When you doubt the power of your position, just remember that 10 or 20 years earlier that little boy or girls was you!" - - unknown
Knowing what you stand for... Limits what you fall for."

"A leader is one who knows the way... Goes the way... And shows the way."
" Be more concerned with your character rather than your reputation...
Your character is who you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are."
Integrity is not a 90 percent thing, not a 95 percent thing; either you have it or you don't. ~ Peter Scotese
I care not what others think of what I do, but I care very much about what I think of what I do. That is character! ~ Theodore Roosevelt
Good leaders don't create followers - they create more leaders.
I asked "Why doesn’t somebody do something?" Then I realized, I was somebody. -Unknown
Come to the edge
We can't, we are afraid
Come to the edge
We can't, we will fall
And they came to the edge
And he pushed them
And they flew.
--Appolinaire
Kindness is not a weakness.
Leaders inspire others to motivate themselves.
Leaders are there when needed, not only when it is convenient for them.
A good leader aspires to be a role model rather than a hero.
On Helping Others

You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who can do
nothing for them or to them. -- Malcolm S. Forbes (1919-1990), Publisher

Whether or not we realize it, each of us has within us the ability to set some kind
of example for people. Knowing this, would you rather be the one known for being
the one who encouraged others, or the one who inadvertently discouraged those
around you? -- John Hinds, Writer
" Help others get ahead. You will always stand taller with someone else on your shoulders."
-- Bob Moawad, Business leader
If you help others, you will be helped. Perhaps tomorrow, perhaps in a hundred years, but you will be helped. Nature must pay off the debt. It is a mathematical law and all life is mathematics.
-- George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff (1873-1949) Philosopher
It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference.
Tom Brokaw
I expect to pass through the world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to my fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.
Stephen Grellet
On Self Confidence

You gain strength, experience and confidence by every experience where you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you cannot do.
--Eleanor Roosevelt

Confidence is a habit that can be developed by acting as if you already had the confidence you desire to have.
--Brian Tracy
If you're waiting for someone to believe in you, you'll be waiting forever. You must believe in yourself.
--Cher, Singer and actress
Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be, because sooner or later, if you are posing, you will forget the pose, and then where are you?
-- Fanny Brice (1891-1951), Comedian
While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, the other is busy making mistakes and becoming superior. -- Henry C. Link, Writer
" If you think you can, you can. And if you think you can't,
you're right."
--Mary Kay Ash
Confidence, like art, never comes from having all the answers; it comes from being open to all the questions
--Earl Gray Stevens
God's road signs
New billboards are getting attention in Arizona. Some reported seeing one
or two messages, but the newspaper listed all of them. Here's a list of all
variations of the "God Speaks" billboards. The billboards are a simple
black background with white text. No fine print or sponsoring organization
is included. These are awesome... enjoy.

Tell the kids I love them. -- God
Let's meet at my house Sunday before the game. -- God
C'mon over and bring the kids. -- God
What part of "Thou Shalt Not..." didn't you understand? -- God
We need to talk. -- God
Keep using my name in vain, I'll make rush hour longer. -- God
Loved the wedding, invite me to the marriage. -- God
That "Love Thy Neighbor" thing ... I meant it. -- God
I love you and you and you and you and... -- God
Will the road you're on get you to my place? -- God
Follow me. -- God
Big bang theory, you've got to be kidding. -- God
My way is the highway. -- God
Need directions? -- God
You think it's hot here? -- God
Have you read my #1 best seller? There will be a test. -- God
Do you have any idea where you're going? -- God
Don't make me come down there. -- God


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Fun Cheerleading Stuff

You know you're a cheerleader when...

You realize most pyramids aren't built in Egypt

You know buckets, candlesticks, and blades are not made from metal

You think liberty has nothing to do with freedom

All your friends are at dinner while you are at practice

Your skirt is shorter than your t-shirt

You can build without a hammer and nails

Your parents consider buying stock in sponge rollers

"Practice makes Perfect" isn't just a saying, its a way of life!


Golden Rules of Cheerleading
Rule #1: Cheer every game as though it was your last!
Rule #2: Sportsmanship starts and ends with the cheerleader!
Rule #3: It takes years to build your character, but mere seconds to destroy it!
Rule #4: Somewhere in the stands is a little girl who wants to be just like you, don't let her down!
Rule #5: The difference between good and great is a little bit of practice!
Rule #6: Mom doesn't know where your uniform is because she didn't wear it last!
Rule #7: Keep the leader in cheerleader!
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Now I lay me down to rest
I've tried my hardest and done my best
to tumble, jump, dance & cheer,
with the sharpest of motions and no trace of fear.
I know in the morning my body will ache
but, for what I love it's a price I gladly pay.
Thank you God for making me strong
with determination & commitment when practices are long.
And Lord if I shall die before I wake,
I'll know I've shown the world,
cheerleaders are born, not made!!


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For Cheering Coaches everywhere!!

Coach
I finally learned what life is all about.
The secret of success comes hard no doubt.
I trained, I sweated, I ached, I cried.
And found out I got better, each time I tried.
I was pushed, yelled at, and preached at too!
But the more that this happened, the more I grew
" You can be anything you want to be!"
This voice kept shouting out to me.
Yet, who can I blame for such a daring approach?
THAT GENERAL, THAT COUNSELOR, THAT FRIEND I CALL MY COACH!!


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Thank God for competition. When our competitors upset our plans or outdo our designs, they open infinite possibilities of our own work to us.
-- Gil Atkinson ~

I love the winning, I can take the losing, but most of all I Love to play.
-- Boris Becker ~

It's amazing how much of this is mental. Everybody's in good shape. Everybody knows how to ski. Everybody has good equipment. When it really boils down to it, it's who wants it the most, and who's the most confident on his skis.
-- Reggie Crist ~

Every time you go out on the ice, there are slight flaws. You can always think of something you should have done better. These are the things you must work on.
-- Dorothy Hamill ~

Men often compete with one another until the day they die; comradeship consists of rubbing shoulders jocularly with a competitor.
-- Edward Hoagland ~

I play [golf] with friends sometimes, but there are never friendly games.
-- Ben Hogan ~

How you respond to the challenge in the second half will determine what you become after the game, whether you are a winner or a loser.
-- Lou Holtz ~

I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career.
I've lost almost 300 games
Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed.
I've failed over and over again in my life.
And that is why I succeed.
Michael Jordan.
" The five S's of sports training are: stamina, speed, strength, skill, and spirit;
but the greatest of these is spirit."
Ken Doherty
" What fun is it? Why all that hard, exhausting work? Where does it get you? Where's the good of it? It is one of the strange ironies of this strange life that those who work the hardest, who subject themselves to the strictest discipline, who give up certain pleasurable things in order to achieve a goal, are the happiest..."
Brutus Hamilton, Coach of Olympic Track Team, 1952 Helsinki Olympics
" The more I talk to athletes, the more convinced I become that the method of training is relatively unimportant. There are many ways to the top, and the training method you choose is just the one that suits you best. No, the important thing is the attitude of the athlete, the desire to get to the top."
Herb Elliott
" Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Fear less, hope more;
Whine less, breathe more;
Talk less, say more;
Hate less, love more;
And all good things are yours."
Swedish Proverb
A ship is safe in the harbor, but that's not what ships were made for.

A man may make many mistakes, but he is not a failure until he starts blaming someone else for them.

Do not lower your standards to accommodate others.

Avoid the temptation to blame outside circumstances for your problems.

Winners are willing to accept the risk others are not.

Goals are dreams with deadlines.

Any man can hold a girl's hand, but only the elite can hold her feet!

What really matters is what you do with what you have.

It is not enough to be good when you have the ability to be better.
It is not enough to be very good when you have the ability to be great.

In other sports, if you miss the catch, all you lose is the ball.

Pain is temporary, pride is forever...Cheer Hard!

...the secret of having it all, is loving it all

Too many people let others stand in their way and don't go back for one more try.

One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.

Wimps lift weights, cheerleaders lift people.

Success is a journey, not a destination.

The only place you find success before work is in the dictionary

If you want a place in the sun, you have to put up with a few blisters.

Teamwork is the fuel that allows common people to obtain uncommon results.

The Greater the Obstacle, the More Glory in Overcoming It.

Cheer Attitude- You mess with me, you mess with the whole squad.

Cheerleaders are simply a jump above the rest.

Some Rules for Living
Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.
When you say, "I love you," mean it.
When you say, "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.
Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
Believe in love at first sight.
Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.
Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.
In disagreements, fight fairly. Please - No name-calling.
Don't judge people by their relatives.
Talk slowly, but think quickly.
When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"
Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
Say "God bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.
When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; Responsibility for all your actions.
Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
Spend some time alone.
The following isn't really a quote, nor does it have anything at all to do with cheerleading, but I found it and loved it and wanted to share it simply because it's so sweet, so human and so true.
25 Things You'll Need To Know After High School
by Emery Styron

Don't sweat the small stuff, and remember, most stuff is small.
The most boring word in any language is "I."
Nobody is indispensable, especially you.
Life is full of surprises. Just say "never" and you'll see.
People are more important than things.
Persistence will get you almost anything eventually.
Nobody can make you happy. Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
There's so much bad in the best of us and so much good in the worst of us that it doesn't behoove any of us to talk about the rest of us.
Live by what you trust, not by what you fear.
Character counts. Family matters.
Eating out with small children isn't worth it, even if someone else is buying.
If you wait to have kids until you can afford them, you probably never will.
Baby kittens don't begin to open their eyes for six weeks after birth.
Men generally take about 26 years.
The world would run a lot smoother if more men knew how to dance.
Television ruins more minds than drugs.
Sometimes there is more to gain in being wrong than right.
Life is so much simpler when you tell the truth.
People who do the world's real work don't usually wear neckties.
A good joke beats a pill for a lot of ailments.
There are no substitutes for fresh air, sunshine and exercise.
A smile is the cheapest way to improve your looks, even if your teeth are crooked.
May you live life so there is standing room only at your funeral.
Mothers always know best, but sometimes fathers know, too.
Forgive yourself, your friends and your enemies. You're all only human.
If you don't do anything else in life, love someone and let someone love you.

It's not the will to win that matters--everyone has that. It's the will to prepare to win that matters.
- Paul "Bear" Bryant

If you set a goal for yourself and are able to achieve it, you have won your race. Your goal can be to come in first, to improve your performance, or just finish the race--it's up to you.
- Dave Scott

A true champion is someone who wants to make a difference, who never gives up, and who gives everything she has no matter what the circumstances are. A true champion works hard and never loses sight of her dreams.
- Dr. Dot Richardson

In the end, it's extra effort that separates a winner from second place. But winning takes a lot more than that, too. It starts with complete command of the fundamentals. Then it takes desire, determination, discipline and self- sacrifice. And finally, it takes a great deal of love, fairness and respect for your fellow man. Put all these together, and even if you don't win, how can you lose?
- Jesse Owens

Sports do not build character. They reveal it.
- John Wooden

We all like to win, but enjoy the moments along the way, no matter the outcome. Just put your heart and soul into it, and give 110%. If you do this, you will always be a winner to the person who counts most...you!
- Marlene Blaszczyk

I've worked too hard and too long to let anything stand in the way of my goals. I will not let my teammates down and I will not let myself down.
- Mia Hamm

I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying. - Michael Jordan

A group becomes a team when each member is sure enough of himself and his contributions to praise the skills of the others.
- Norman Shidle

A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no
one could find fault."
--Cardinal Newman

As long as you're going to think anyway--think BIG!
-- Donald Trump


The more you sweat in practice, the less you bleed in battle.
- Unknown

There is no glory in practice, but without practice there is no glory.
- Unknown

A coach is someone who always makes you do what you don't want to do, so you can be who you've always wanted to be.
- Unknown

You must sacrifice, train, do everything possible to put yourself in a position to win. But if you consider second or third a failure, I feel sorry for you.
- Unknown

You'll never leave where you are until you decide where you'd rather be.

If football is so exciting,
why does it take cheerleaders to excite the crowd?

"Real athletes cheer, the rest are just playing games."

I'm STRONG:
I don't lift weights,
I lift people!!

Believe it to Achieve it!

Don't Let the Skirt Fool You,
Cheerleaders are a Powerful Force

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

If it wasn't for bases,
how could you fly?

Shoot for the moon
and if you fall,
you will land
among the stars.

Before you say you can't,
give it a try.

A little progress every day
adds up to big progress.

Train with intensity and
perform with confidence.

Doing little things well
is a step towards doing
bigger things better!

"If its in your heart,
it shows in your spirit!"

If you want to compete - practice;
If you want to win -
practice harder!

Cheerleading . . .
Cheerleading is a way of life, shared by a chosen few,
It is working as a unit in everything you do.
Cheerleading is rivalry, the competition makes you strong,
It is sharing secrets and tears, learning to get along.
Cheerleading is that ongoing drive to be the very best,
It is patience, perseverance, and very little rest.
Cheerleading is having poise and charm with every word you say,
It is total dedication twenty-four hours a day.
It is always being ready with encouragement or a smile,
Cheerleading is your chance to express your individual style.
Cheerleading is reaching out to comfort a sister who is sad,
It is defending each other in the good times and the bad.
Cheerleaders are always there whenever someone asks,
They treasure the present moment and let go of the past.
Cheerleading is a talent to be able to shine on cue,
It is hiding the pain and anguish that if only people knew.
Cheerleaders after all, are real people that sometimes get down,
but when they're in the spotlight, they must never put on a frown.
Cheerleaders are actresses, always ready to go,
That is why it is important for all the world to know.
Not every girl can be a cheerleader, it takes a special kind,
Cheerleaders are full of life and a little bit out of their mind.

Here's an oldie, but goodie!
There are little eyes upon you and they're watching night and day.
There are little ears that quickly take in every word you say.
There are little hands all eager to do anything you do,
and a little girl who's dreaming of the day she'll be just like you.

You're the little girl's idol.
You're the wisest of the wise.
In her little mind about you no suspicions ever rise.
She believes in you devoutly.
Holds that all you say and do,
she will say and do in your way
when she's a grown-up like you.
There's a wide-eyed little girl who believes you're always right.
And her ears are always open, and she watches day and night!

You are setting an example everyday in all you do,
For the little girl who's waiting to grow up to be just like you.
-Author Unknown


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following are answers from children when asked "What is love?" Very sweet.

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." - Rebecca - age 8
"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth." - Billy - age 4
" Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other." - Karl - age 5
" Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs." - Chrissy - age 6
" Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." - Terri - age 4
" Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK." - Danny - age 7
" Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen," - Bobby - age 5
" If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend whom you hate." - Nikka - age 6
" There are two kinds of love. Our love. God's love. But God makes both kinds of them." - Jenny - age 4
" Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday." - Noelle - age 7
" Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well." - Tommy - age 6
" My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night." - Clare - Age 5
" Love is when mommy gives daddy the best piece of chicken." - Elaine - age 5
" Love is when mommy sees daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford." - Chris - age 8
" Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day." - - Mary Ann - age 4
" I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones." - Lauren - age 4
" I let my big sister pick on me because my Mom says she only picks on me because she loves me. So I pick on my baby sister because I love her." - Bethany - age 4
" When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." - Karen - age 7
" Love is when mommy sees daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross." - Mark - age 6
" You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget." - Jessica - age 8

A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

Proverbs 11:25/NIV
Verseoftheday.com
NIV

 

Axiom: Accepted principle, self-evident truth Axiom synonyms: adage, precept, principle, truism

What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity.
They are but trifles, to be sure, but, scattered along life's pathway,
The good they do is inconceivable. - Joseph Addison (1672-1719)

You are only sure of today; do not let yourself be cheated of it.
Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1878)

There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will. - Epictetus (55-135)

We ought to be more concerned about removing wrong thoughts from the mind than about removing tumors and abscesses from the body. - Epictetus. (50-138)

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly. Buddha (BC)

He who seeks revenge should remember to dig two graves. -
Chinese proverb

A quiet mind cureth all. - Robert Burns (1759-1796)

When you are good to others, you are best to yourself. -
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

Your own mind is a sacred enclosure into which nothing harmful can enter except by your permission. - Arnold Bennett (1867-1932)

A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety. - Aesop (BC)

A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is by saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday. - Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

The finest lives, in my opinion, are those who rank in the common model, and with the human race, but without miracle, without extravagance. - Michel de Montaigne (1553-1592)

One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: that word is love. - Sophocles (BC)

He will succeed if he remains firm in principle and goes beyond selfish considerations to mingle freely with those who do not share his feelings, as well as those who do. - I Ching

To be wronged or robbed is nothing unless you continue to remember it. - Confucius (BC)

The cost of a thing is the amount of what I call life, which is required to be exchanged for it immediately or in the long run. - Henry Thoreau (1817-1862)

Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body. -
Lucius Seneca (3-65)

We seldom think of what we have, but always of what we lack. - Arthur Schopenauer (1788-1860)

Happiness consists more in small conveniences of pleasures that occur every day, than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom to a man in the course of his life. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Friendship improves happiness and abates misery by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief. - Marcus Cicero (BC)

The past cannot be changed, the future is still in your power. -
Hugh White (1773-1840)

They can because they think they can. - Vergil (BC)

We are what we think. - Buddha (BC)

A person is not hurt so much by what happens, as by his opinion of what happens. - Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592)

All truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, till they take root in our personal experience. - Johann von Goethe (1749-1832)

Have faith, hope, and charity. That's the way to live successfully. - Early 50's song

To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing. -
Elbert Hubbard (1859-1915)

The person without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder. -
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)

If anger is not restrained it is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it. - Seneca (03-65)

When all else is lost the future still remains. -
Christian Bovee (1820-1904)

Be happy while you're living, for you're a long time dead. -
Scottish Proverb