The Official Quotations Thread

post your favorite quotes here:

“we shall not cease from exploration;
and the end of all our exploring
will be to arrive where we started;
and know the place for the first time”
T.S. Eliot

All of my favorite quotes are thought provoking rather than motivational. Here’s one that I like, I use it sometimes when talking about Libertarianism.

“None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free.”

- Goethe

Also, from one of my favorite spoken word poets, Buddy Wakefield, in his poem “A Waste”:

“Do you have any idea how gross it feels to have to hide inside the piles of lies it takes to make you, Sweet Angel, Comfortable?”

Sends shivers down my spine. An incredibly powerful poem (and poet!)

GREAT idea for a thread.

I’m a minimalist and I’ve got my designer hat on at the moment. This is my design mantra so it’s the first thing that came to my head:

“It doesn’t matter how good an interface is, it would be be better if there was less of it.” – Alan Cooper

It doesn’t have to be taken literally (although aesthetically less is more!) but basically the best designs are those you don’t notice, because they don’t get in your way.

Just came across this quote again, and it reminded me of how much I love it:

“We are what we repeatedly do.” – Aristotle

here are two more inspiring quotes!

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not, nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not, unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not, the world is fill of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”
~ Calvin Coolidge

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

Lee – My design related one is:

“Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”

I also like this one:

“The pendulum must swing both ways before it is bought to rest in the middle” – Single Gun Theory.

I use this one on my son, when I’m homeschooling:

“A little bit each day”

In response to freygan’s post:
Love the design quote and totally agree with it.

Reminds me of this quote, which is 100% true, although I’m not sure where it comes from:

“the man who chases two rabbits, catches none.”

Came across this one this morning again;

“Only when we cease to be afraid do we begin to live”

Which reminded me of;

“There’s nothing to fear but fear itself”

I think we can all relate to this in at least some areas of our lives. The fear of what “might happen” all to often prevents us from finding the joy in what “actually happens”.

“Whatever we think about and thank about we bring about.”
... John Demartini

I found this site because I’m trying to think about and bring about positives. My life shows I’ve been thinking about the negatives waaaay too much.

~ and ~

“No kindness, however small, is ever wasted.”
... Aesop

This is an all-time favorite. It reminds me that even tiny kindnesses we show to others (friends, family, co-workers, strangers) can really brighten a day without our ever knowing it. I know I’ve been on the receiving end of small kindnesses that really turned a dark day into more bearable. The giver will never know what a difference they made to me, either. :-)

I try to practice small acts of kindness every time I do errands or leave the house. That may be a bit of happy chit-chat with a stranger in a store, a drop-off of a bag of nutritious goodies at the local foodbank, or a “thank you for your service” to a military member or Veteran in line in front/back of me at the grocery. Sounds cheesy, but it’s really uplifting for me and hopefully it brightens someone else’s day, too.

This is one of my favourite you must of seen it Freygan. Very wise and at times we feel we are feeding both.

The Two Wolves

A Cherokee elder was teaching his grandchildren about life.

He said to them, “A fight is going on inside me… it is a terrible fight between two wolves.

One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, hatefulness, and lies.

The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, humbleness, kindness, friendship, generosity, faith, and truth.

This same fight is going on inside of you, and inside every other person, too.”

The children thought about it for a minute. Then one child asked his grandfather,

“Which wolf will win?”

The Cherokee elder replied…

“The one you feed.”

Great Thread!

A few of my favorites are:

“Its none of my business what other’s think of me; What is my business, is what I think of MYSELF!” – unknown to me

“People don’t fail because they aim high and miss; the fail because they aim low and hit.” – Les Brown

“ I don’t know the key to success, but I do know that the key to failure is to try to please everyone.” – Bill Cosby

Heres another story I’d been told from a mentor of mine.

Two monks are walking through a beautiful forest when they come across a gorgeous young woman sitting down and crying next to a stream. One monk ask her, “What is wrong?”

“I must get to the other side, but I cannot swim and it is too deep for me to walk across”, She answers in tears.

The same monk says,” I’ll carry you across”, and he picks her up and all 3 cross the stream and he puts her down. She thanks him and merrily goes on her way.

The 2 monks continue their stroll along some extremely picturesque and breathtaking countryside.

Finally, after hours of walking, the other monk says to his friend, “ I can’t keep quiet anymore! I don’t believe it! You know we’re not supposed to talk to anyone! Especially beautiful women!”

“Ah, the other monk says, “I put her down hours ago… and you’re still carrying her.”

GOOD MORNING ALL!
HERE IS SOMETHING I FOUND IN MY MAIL, THE OTHER DAY, THAT I’D LIKE TO SHARE. IT’S WRITTEN BY REX BARKER, FOUNDER OF JOKE- OF- THE- DAY DOT COM
THERE IS ALWAYS AN INSPIRATIONAL MSG. ATTACHED IN HIS JOKES EMAILS.

DOUBT VS. FAITH:
Most people have doubts in life. It is to be human to challenge things and doubt. But above doubt there is faith in the Divine and that there is an ultimate reason you are here. As you read the Save One Person section below, understand that all of our cases of the week are people who have been put in exceptionally challenging and often desperate situations. Yet, regardless of background, ethnicity, religion or nationality, the one unique piece of all of these dear people is that they have faith, sometimes pronounced, sometimes hidden, and other times hidden even to themselves. But faith they have that they are being watched over from above.

Doubt sees the obstacles.

Faith sees the way.

Doubt sees the darkest night.

Faith sees the day.

Doubt dreads to take a step.

Faith soars on high.

Doubt questions “Who believes”?

Faith answers “I”.

This is Rex Barker, reminding all of us that have any doubts. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

“Well behaved women rarely make history.” —Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

This reminds me each day to stand up for what I believe in and to not stay inside the mold that other people believe I fit into. Go me!!

“If you have to smell it twice, it’s not clean”

Mel talking about a shirt I wanted to wear. It makes me literally laugh out loud every time I do it hahahaha.

I saw this one today….

“I would rather be ashes than dust. I would rather that my spark would burn out in a brilliant blaze than be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.” – Jack London

My favorite is:
“What is laid down, ordered, factual is never enough to embrace the whole truth: life always spills over the rim of every cup.“– Boris Pasternak

————————————————————————————————————
“Let us train our minds to desire what the situation demands” Seneca
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“Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly” St. Francis De sales
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There are two ways of spreading light:to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.Edith Wharton
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“You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and the best you have to give”
Eleanor Roosevelt
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I believe anyone can conquer fear by doing the things he fears to do, provided he keeps doing them until he gets a record of successful experiences behind him. Eleanor Roosevelt
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Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing. — Abraham Lincoln
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“Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.“– George Bernard Shaw
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“The capacity for hope is the most significant fact of life. It provides human beings with a sense of destination and the energy to get started.”
– Norman Cousins—————————————————————————————-
If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes.by Andrew Carnegie
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“Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein
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Adventure isn’t hanging on a rope off the side of a mountain.
Adventure is an attitude that we must apply to the day-to-day obstacles of life-facing new challenges,seizing new opportunities, testing our resources against the unknown and in the process, discovering our own unique potential.by John Amatt
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The first rule of focus is this: “Wherever you are, be there.” Unknown Author
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Most people have no idea of the giant capacity we can immediately command when we focus all of our resources on mastering a single area of our lives.
Anthony Robbins
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“Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Choose your words, for they become actions. Understand your actions, for they become habits. Study your habits, for they will become your character. Develop your character, for it becomes your destiny.” – Anonymous
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“There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.” Denis Waitley quote
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“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.” Denis Waitley quote ————————————————————————————————————
The great challenge of adulthood is holding on to your idealism after you lose your innocence.“– Bruce Springsteen ————————————————————————————————————
Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live. ~Jim Rohn ————————————————————————————————————
Your Body Is A Temple, But Only If You Treat It As One. Astrid Alauda ————————————————————————————————————
We are shaped and fashioned by what we love. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ————————————————————————————————————
“When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this — you haven’t.”
– Thomas A. Edison
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We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing. – George Bernard Shaw
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“Character isn’t something you were born with and can’t change,
like your fingerprints. It’s something you weren’t born with
and must take responsibility for forming.“— Jim Rohn
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“Either you run the day or the day runs you.“— Jim Rohn

“None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

“We taste and feel and see the truth. We do not reason ourselves into it.”
– William Butler Yeats

... I will love the sun for it warms my bones; yet I will love the rain for it cleanses the spirit. I will love the light for it shows me the way; yet I will love the darkness for it shows me the stars.

~ Og Mandino

“It has been my philosophy of life that difficulties vanish when faced boldly.”
– Isaac Asimov

To accomplish great things,
we must not only act, but also dream
Not only plan, but also believe
(Anatole France)

What you think, you become.
(Mahatma Gandhi)

The thing you set your mind on
is the thing you ultimately become
(Nathaniel Hawthorne)

Whatever is going on in your mind
is what you are attracting
(The Secret)

Just because you didn’t have a great start doesn’t mean you can’t have a good finish.

Joyce Meyer

Came across this one today:

“Men stumble over pebbles, never over mountains” – Emilie Cady

How true!!

“The world breaks us all but some of us are stronger in the broken places” – Ernest Hemmingway

Another one
“I discovered I always have choices and sometimes it’s only a choice of attitude.”
Judith M. Knowlton

Love the Monk Story J

SMILE for YOUR WEEK:
An Optimistic Thinking Style
By Author Unknown
There is a story of identical twins. One was a hope-filled optimist. “Everything is coming up roses!” The other was a sad and hopeless pessimist. He thought that Murphy, as in Murphy’s Law, was an optimist. The worried parents of the boys brought them to the local psychologist.
He suggested to the parents a plan to balance the twins’ personalities. “On their next birthday, put them in separate rooms to open their gifts. Give the pessimist the best toys you can afford, and give the optimist a box of manure”. The parents followed these instructions and carefully observed the results.
When they peeked in on the pessimist, they heard him complaining,
“I don’t like the color of this computer, I bet this calculator will probably break, I don’t like this game, I know someone who’s got a bigger toy car than this.”
Tiptoeing across the corridor, the parents peeked in and saw their little optimist gleefully throwing the manure up in the air. He was giggling.
“You can’t fool me! Where there’s this much manure, there’s gotta be a pony!”

LOL I love that “twins” story, Sue! I’ve read it before, and smile every time!

This one is my email sig right now.:

“All things are connected like the blood that unites us. We did not weave the web of life, we are merely a strand in it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.”

Chief Seattle

In response to American Lady Bug’s post:
I’ve always adored this quote… thanks for making me smile by sharing it here!

On a sort of related note…

My circle sister, Lee, has a fabulous acronym for bitch… “babe in total control of herself.” That always makes me smile.

Kim

I love a good quote! Thank you all for so many wonderful ones! Here are a few of my ‘keepers’

“But pain… seems to me an insufficient reason not to embrace life.
Being dead is quite painless. Pain, like time, is going to come on regardless. Question is, what glorious moments can you win from life in addition to the pain?” — Lois McMaster Bujold, “Barrayar”, 1991

“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered.” — G. K. Chesterton

“A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.” — Herm Albright

And my very favorite of all time:

“Tho’ much is taken, much abides;
and tho’We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are,—
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”

—Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Ulysses

I like this thread.
Here is one of the all time best!

To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent
people and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation
of honest critics and endure the
betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty;
to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch or a
redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has
breathed easier
because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

Emerson

I don’t know who wrote this but “if you want something you’ve never had before, you’ve got to do something you’ve never done before”.

And to quote Oscar Wilde “I can resist anything but temptation”

I just saw this and it made me laugh:

Age is not important,
unless you’re a cheese

“There is no WAY to peace. Peace IS the way.” – Mahatma Gandhi

“It’s the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance. It is the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance. It is the one who won’t be taken who cannot seem to give. And the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live.”

In response to se da luz’s post:
Who wrote the above quote? I love it!

You desire to know the art of living, my friend? It is contained in one phrase: make use of suffering.
– From Henri Frederic Amiel

When I first saw this quote, I felt drawn to it, though thought -Oh no, not a suffering quote. Whether sufferring is self imposed or brought on by something external or a combo, making use of conflict sounds like the art of creating promise in life.

laurie, I’m not sure of the context of that quote so it’s hard to say, but on it’s own, my interpretation is that he is either saying find joy in your suffering OR without suffering there is no joy.

Or, he could be coming from the Buddhist point of view, whereby there is suffering, there is a cause of suffering, the cessation of suffering and a path to the cessation of suffering. Therefor making use of suffering is could be using it as a catalyst to find the path to the cessation of suffering?

Who know :)

I was curious about the quote se da luz posted too, so I went looking. I was surprised to find that it’s a Bette Midler quote!

Joy is the Trophy – Abraham-Hicks.
Follow Your Bliss- Joseph Campbell.

These the quotes I live by.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR6okRuOLc8
From the quote above

wow just read all the quotes, great stuff, love them. laurie – in answer to your question about se da luz’s post, I think it’s from Bette Midler’s song The Ros, but don’t quote me on that.
Some of my favourite quotes are: 1) You can’t solve a problem with the same mind that created it. 2) Treat yourself as if you are already the person you would like to be. 3) Have a mind that is open to everything and attached to nothing. 4) No one can make you feel inferior without your consent, last one attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt. Other three not sure about.

If you do a good job for others, you heal yourself at the same time, because a dose of joy is a spiritual cure. It transcends all barriers.

+++++Ed Sullivan

Live your life from your heart. Share from your heart. And your story will touch and heal people’s souls.

+++++Melody Beattie

I have been on a news fast for quite some time, but today decided to pick up a newspaper and go to the Business Section. My eyes fell directly onto a quote that you wouldn’t normally think to see in that part of the paper. However, it was EXACTLY what I needed to read today. I thought I would share it.

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of a prison for us restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”

-Albert Einstein

I saw this on twitter this morning and thought I’d pass it along…

“The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.”~a.glasgow

One of my most favorite quotes is from American writer John Burroughs.

“What is mine shall know my face.”

In response to laurie’s post:
i have no idea, i just stumbled upon it in someones signature on another forum :/

In response to se da luz’s post:

Thanks Se Da Luz for getting back to me on that.

I stumbled on a good quote this eve contributed by Sue on this site, another thread. It’s by Og Mandino from hos book, “The Greatest Salesman in the World”.

How do I change?
If I feel depressed I will sing.
If I feel sad I will laugh.
If I feel ill I will double my labour.
If I feel fear I will plunge ahead.
If I feel inferior I will wear new garments.
If I feel uncertain I will raise my voice.
If I feel poverty I will think of wealth to come.
If I feel incompetent I will think of past success.
If I feel insignificant I will remember my goals.
Today I will be the master of my emotions.

Here are a couple of quotes I saw recently, which I though I would share. The first one would actually make a good affirmation!!

“Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t.” — Jerry Rice, Football Player

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now.” — Chinese Proverb

In response to Lee Nutter’s post:
Thanks Lee, for finding the author of the quote Se Da Luz contributed
(:

I’m gonna post a few new (old) quotes.

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ““Let me take the speck out of your eye,”“ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:3-5

“More than any time in history mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness, the other to total extinction. Let us pray that we have the wisdom to choose correctly.” Woody Allen

“Since finding out what something is is largely a matter of discovering what it is like, the most impressive contribution to the growth of intelligibility has been made by the application of suggestive metaphors.” Jonathan Miller

Yours trulEy,
The Mad Cookieman,
Alias: Henry Hugh Arthur Fitzroy Sommerset III

HAPPINESS is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in HARMONY. – Mohandas Ghandi

In the CONCERT of nature it is hard to keep in TUNE with oneself if one is out of tune with everything else. – George Santayana

I go to nature to be SOOTHED and healed, and to have my senses put in tune once more. – John Burroughs

Life just is. You have to FLOW with it. Give yourself to the moment. Let it happen. – Jerry Brown

The secret of CONTENTMENT is knowing how to enjoy what you have, and to be able to lose all desire for things beyond your reach. – Lin Yutang

It is only with the HEART that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

This was the simple happiness of complete harmony with her surroundings, the HAPPINESS that asks for nothing, that just accepts, just breathes, just is. – Elixabeth von Arnim

As I’m patiently waiting for my husband to return from his trip, I saw this quote today and thought I’d share it… It made me miss my hubby very, VERY much!!

“The space between your fingers was created so someone could fill it.” (author unknown)

I’m working on my vision board and here is one I’m going to put one it. Just thought I’d share it.

Until one is committed,
there is hesitancy,
the chance to draw back,
always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation)
there is one elementary truth,
the ignorance of which kills
countless ideas and splendid plans:
that the moment
one definitely commits oneself,
then Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur
to help one that would never
otherwise have occurred.
A whole stream of events
issues from the decision,
raising in one’s favor all manner
of unforseen incidents and meetings
and material assistance,
which no man could have dreamed
would have come his way.
I have learned a deep respect
for one of Goethe’s couplets:

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

W.H. Murray
The Scottish Himalayan Expedition

I like a little humor hope all of you will like these phrases.

About looking at other women:
It doesn’t matter where you get your appetite, it’s where you eat your dinner!!!

Andre Gide
One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.

Joe Girard
“The elevator to success is out of order. You will have to use the stairs one step at a time.”

Paul Goodman
“Just the other day I listened to a young fellow sing a very passionate song about how technology is killing us. But before he started, he bent down and plugged in his electric guitar into the wall socket.”

Helen Hays
“Age is not important unless you’re a cheese.”

Renee Descartes ‘I think therefore I am’

“I think I think, therefore I am, I think”.
Jeff Dumas

‘stressed’ spelled backwards is ‘desserts’

I love the Chinese proverb by Confuscius.

when I was a teenager my friends father use to tell us wise proverbs and sayings. Since we were kind of sassy he told us this proverb.

“It’s better to be thought of as being stupid then to open your mouth and remove all doubt.”

This is my favorite and have tried to live by it.

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

Stephen Grellet

I love the Chinese proverbs too – does anyone have a link to more.
If me and my close friends find ourselves gossiping we say “Dwelling upon your brothers faults only adds to your own”. (We learned that from popular 80’s show Monkey Magic)

Here’s one I spotted today…
“My idea is that there is music in the air, music all around us; the world is full of it, and you simply take as much as you require” Edward Elgar

ACCEPTANCE

John Roger – “When you are in a state of nonacceptance, it’s difficult to learn. A clenched fist cannot receive a gift, and a clenched psyche grasped tightly against the reality of what must not be accepted cannot easily receive a lesson.”

William M. Peck – “The acceptance of the truth that joy and sorrow, laughter and tears are not confined to any particular time, place or people, but are universally distributed, should make us more tolerant of and more interested in the lives of others.”

The athiest falters when the Grim Reaper knocks.
Jeff Dumas

We are wide-eyed in contemplating the possibility that life may exist elsewhere in the universe, but we wear blinders when contemplating the possibilities of life on earth. Norman Cousins

When a man blames others for his failures,it’s a good idea to credit others with his successes.
Howard W.Newton

The price of greatness is responsibility.
Pindar 522-433 BC

Don’t know who said these…

• Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.

• True religion is the life we lead, not the creed we profess.

A sign at my chiropractors “My back goes out more than I do”

“I would rather die on my feet then to continue living on my knees.”

Emiliano Zapata

“Among individuals as among nations, the respect to other people’s rights is peace”

Benito Juarez

After all is said and done, more is said than done.
Aesop

Outside show is a poor substitute for inner worth.
Aesop

The level of our success is limited only by our imagination and no act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.
Aesop

The little reed, bending to the force of the wind, soon stood upright again when the storm had passed over.
Aesop

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.
Aesop

What is now proved was once only imagined – William Blake

Never frown, even when you are sad, because you never know who is falling in love with your smile.

You can’t soar like an eagle if you’re running around with pigeons.

I do not know if this “quote” fits this thread, but this has a lot of meaning to me. This lady was asked to write her life story on one page…

Autobiography in Five Chapters
By Portia Nelson

Chapter I

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost… I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter II

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I’m in the same place, but it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter III

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in…it’s a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

Chapter IV

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

Chapter V

I walk down another street.

Thanks Anne. I love the simplicity in this powerful lesson. Jan

well-known words written by an unknown Confederate soldier:

I asked for strength, that I might achieve,
I was made weak, that I might learn humility.

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

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

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

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

I got nothing that I had hoped for –
but everything I had hoped for.

Almost, despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am… most richly blessed.

I’ve just removed this from my signature, so I’ll put it here to remind me of it.

“I beg you to regard as empty all that is existent and to beware of taking as real all that is nonexistent. All is like shadows and echoes.” — Layman P’ang

“There is nothing more marvelous than doing something you love
to do and getting paid for it. It ceases to become work, money,
and effort; and it becomes fun, your expression of the joy of life.”
— Stuart Wilde

Which sounds like more fun: Being showered with miracles just because I love you, or being showered with miracles because you dared, stretched, went out on a limb, raised the bar, threw down the gauntlet, faced your fears, and grew into more than you ever knew you could be?

Dare ya, The Universe

In response to themadcookieman’s post:
That was wonderful! Was that something you made up? Either way, really great!

Alas, no my dear Laurie. I got that in an e-mail and I liked it; thought I would share with my wonderful, enlightened friends here on bmindful.

“Renunciation is not getting rid of the things of this world, but accepting that they pass away” — Robert Aitken

“I was educated once, and it took me years to get over it.” by: Ashleigh Brilliant (Ashley Brilliant)

“Even a meaningless life may contain many good breakfasts.” by: Ashleigh Brilliant (Ashley Brilliant)

Life is good!

I use not only all the brains I have but all that I can borrow. ~ Woodrow Wilson

Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects. ~ Woodrow Wilson

I was gratified to be able to answer promptly. I said, I don’t know. ~ Mark Twain

Don’t agonize. It slows you down. ~ “Non-perfectionist” Isaac Asimov

My old signature:

“Just show up for what you signed up for and give it a chance.” — Zenshin Greg Fain

Some Dogen Zenji Quotes:

“Do not arouse disdainful mind when you prepare a broth of wild grasses; do not arouse joyful mind when you prepare a fine cream soup.”

“If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?”

“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor.” Henry David Thoreau

In response to Lee Nutter’s post:
Lee, I love the quotes you’ve posted. Please tell me a bit about where and who they came from. Thanks(:

“You are the way you are because that’s the way you want to be. If you really wanted to be any different, you would be in the process of changing right now.”
— Fred Smith

In my youth, science was more important to me than either man or God. I worshipped science. Its advance had surpassed man’s wildest dreams. It took many years for me to discover that science, with all its brilliance, lights only a middle chapter of Creation.

I saw the aircraft I love destroying the civilization I expected it to save. Now I understand that spiritual truth is more essential to a nation than the mortar in its cities’ walls. For when the actions of a people are undergirded by spiritual truths, there is safety. When spiritual truths are rejected, it is only a matter of time before civilization will collapse.

We must understand spiritual truths & apply them to our modern life. We must draw strength from the almost forgotten virtues of simplicity, humility, contemplation & prayer. It requires a dedication beyond science, beyond self, but the rewards are great & it is our only hope.
—Charles Lindbergh

I did a quick little search on the internet for a quote by Thoreau and I found this page that had a lot of quotes by famous people so I thought I’d share the link. If you know of some more links to good quotation sites please post them.
The Quotations Page

“Stress is just energy that hasn’t been used in a productive way. The big mistake that people make is that they try to ‘manage’ stress by avoiding or escaping it.”

Michael Licenblat

Another new signature, here’s the quote from my old one:

“A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love it.” — Dogen Zenji

I just recieved a wonderful happiness message with lots of great quotes and this one cought my eyes:

“Happiness is a way of travel, not a destination’ – Roy Goodman

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

Age and Time

We are always the same age inside. ~Gertrude Stein

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
~C.S. Lewis

The best things in life come in threes, like friends, dreams, and memories. author unknown

We all have our time machines. Some take us back, they’re called memories. Some take us forward, they’re called dreams. Tacey Jeremy Irons

It is a mistake to regard age as a downhill grade toward dissolution. The reverse is true. As one grows older, one climbs with surprising strides.
George Sand (1804 – 1876)

The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes.
~Frank Lloyd Wright

Aging is not ‘lost youth’ but a new stage of opportunity and strength.
Betty Friedan (1921 – 2006)

None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.

~Henry David Thoreau

We turn not older with years, but newer every day.

Emily Dickinson

First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination.

Napoleon Hill

Accidental Note posted this on a thread:

When you come FROM ‘happiness’, you do certain things because you ARE happy — as opposed to the old paradigm in which you did things that you hoped would MAKE you happy. When you come FROM ‘wisdom’, you do certain things because you ARE wise, not because you are trying to get to wisdom. When you come FROM ‘love’, you do certain things because you ARE love, not because you want to have love. Everything changes; everything turns around, when you come FROM ‘being’, rather that seeking to ‘be’... Here is the divine dichotomy. The way to get there’ is to ‘be there’. Just BE where you choose to GET! There’s nothing you have to do. You want to be happy? Be happy. You want to be wise? Be wise. You want to be love? Be love.

~ Neale Donald Walsch

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat. “I don’t much care where-” said Alice. “Then it doesn’t matter which wa you go,” said the Cat.

-Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART:
Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius.

Midlife is the old age of youth and the youth of old age. Proverb

“Everyone and everything around you is your teacher.” from Handbook to Higher Consciousness by Ken Keys, Jr. & Penny Keyes

“Vitality shows not only in the ability to persist, but in the ability to start over.”
– F. Scott Fitzgerald

... I will love the sun for it warms my bones; yet I will love the rain for it cleanses the spirit. I will love the light for it shows me the way; yet I will love the darkness for it shows me the stars.

~ Og Mandino

“If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you
would never think a negative thought.”
— Peace Pilgrim: Born Mildred Norman, was a peace activist and spiritual leader

“The difference between try and triumph is a little umph.”
— Unknown Author

In the absence of gratitude, is only sadness
-author unknown

In response to jfowler’s post:
This is sooooo true. Thanks for sharing this one. Just what I needed to hear!

Some people will never learn anything…because they understand everything too soon.—Alexander Pope

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.—Pablo Picasso

The universe will reward you for taking risks on its behalf.—Shakti Gawain

“To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.”
– Bertrand Russell

“The way we communicate with others and with ourselves
ultimately determines the quality of our lives.”
— Anthony Robbins

just a few by Wayne Dyer

Create an inner harmony where your loving soul guides your physical .
behaviour,rather than have your soul always come in second place

If you’re a person who lives one way ,but says you’re going to live another way in the future,those proclamations are empty .Ouch !

Within you is the kingdom of serenity that can create all of the prosperity that you could ever want .

Abundance is about looking at life and knowing that we have everything we need for complete happiness,and then being able to celebrate each and every moment of life

I read this one somewhere:
There is plenty of time to be unhappy, why not postpone it till tomorrow.

by Ralph Marston entitled:It’s Your Life

There’s no sense in fighting over the scraps that others might or might not throw under the table. Instead, get busy and create your own magnificent feast.

Stop going from door to door begging for someone else to solve all your problems for you.

Instead pick a formidable challenge, work your way through it, and you’ll build plenty of strength and experience to handle whatever situations come your way.

What possible use is there in developing elaborate arguments that place the blame for your difficulties on someone else? Put your energy into creating a brilliant future, not into fighting over what has already been left behind.

This is your life. The only person who can successfully live it is you.

Do you really think you can ever find fulfillment by signing over your control and responsibility to someone else? You’re here to live and to do, not to merely observe and complain.

Nothing that could ever be done for you or handed to you can come close to the experience of making a positive difference in your own unique way. This is your life, so jump right in and live the exquisite richness as you make your own way through.

If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.

Persistence only takes you so far. Then you need to try a different approach.

- Anthony Robbins

I was listening to a program playing in the distance – and I heard this – as a joke… but if you think about it, it is soooo true.

Life is like photography, use the negative to develop.

I loved it!!

“Life is denied by lack of attention, whether it be to cleaning windows or trying to write a masterpiece.”

-Nadia Boulanger

“When it comes to eating right and exercising, there is no
‘I’ll start tomorrow.’ Tomorrow is disease.”
— V.L. Allineare

“Your imagination is your preview
of life’s coming attractions.”
— Albert Einstein

“The… patient should be made to understand that he or she
must take charge of his own life. Don’t take your body to
the doctor as if he were a repair shop.”
— Quentin Regestein

“Those who speak most of illness have illness; those who
speak most of prosperity have it, etc.”
— From the movie The Secret

“The best six doctors anywhere,
And no one can deny it,
Are sunshine, water, rest, and air,
Exercise and diet.
These six will gladly you attend,
If only you are willing.
Your mind they’ll ease.
Your will they’ll mend.
And charge you not a shilling.”
— Nursery rhyme quoted by Wayne Fields,
What the River Knows, 1990

“The most important things are the hardest to say,
because words diminish them.”
— Stephen King

“The way we communicate with others and with ourselves
ultimately determines the quality of our lives.”
— Anthony Robbins

“The problem with communication is the
illusion that is has occurred.”
— George Bernard Shaw

“One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes. In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.”

– Eleanor Roosevelt, first lady

“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 thing must be attained.”
– Marie Curie

“Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity.”
– Gilda Radner

“When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”
– Audre Lord

“Everything begins with an idea.”
— Earl Nightingale

“The biggest mistake that you can make is to believe that you are
working for somebody else. Job security is gone. The driving
force of a career must come from the individual. Remember:
Jobs are owned by the company; you own your career!”
— Earl Nightingale

statement by Cheshire Cat in Lewis Caroll’s
‘Alice in Wonderland’:

“If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you
there.”

“A life lived with integrity — even if it lacks the trappings of
fame and fortune — is a shining star in whose light
others may follow in the years to come.”
— Denis Waitley

“Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.”

-Goethe

“We will receive not what we idly wish for but what we justly earn. Our rewards will always be in exact proportion to our service.” — Earl Nightingale

Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.” – John Homer Miller

The Greatest Accomplishment of All

The only truly worthwhile “accomplishment” — the one action that stands the test of passing time — is the interior work we do that allows God to accomplish His task in our soul.

Guy Finley

“Only by contending with challenges that seem to be
beyond your strength to handle at the moment you
can grow more surely toward the stars.”
— Brian Tracy

“A person who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
– Albert Einstein

“Time is limited, so I better wake up every morning fresh
and know that I have just one chance to live this particular
day right, and to string my days together into
a life of action, and purpose.”
— Lance Armstrong

As you diminish contrast, you diminish your ability to decide, and as you diminish your ability to decide, you diminish your ability to focus, and as you diminish your ability to focus, you do away with your reason for existing.

jerry and esther hicks

It’s not your work to make anything happen. It’s your work to dream it and let it happen. Law of Attraction will make it happen. In your joy, you create something, and then you maintain your vibrational harmony with it, and the Universe must find a way to bring it about. That’s the promise of Law of Attraction.

jerry and esther hicks

You’re picky about the car you drive. You’re picky about what you wear. You’re picky about what you put in your mouth. We want you to be pickier about what you think.

jerry and esther hicks

I AM on purpose with the passion in my heart
I see clearly that I AM perfect expression of absolute possibility
I know that every experience is an opportunity for my growth and transformation
Life calls out to me beautifully
Love is my language of choice
Ideas of creativity innovate my journey
I AM Ready to have it ALL

Paul Hoffman

I AM ready to step into my dream
I know that within me I have all I need to spread my genius
In every way today I will say yes to my calling
I create my day the way I say
I am grateful for divine guidance
I am willing to learn and grow
I know I can have it all.

Paul Hoffman

I AM in perfect harmony with the wisdom of my soul
I listen to the infinite essence of divine intelligence with an open heart
I know that the perfect yes that guides my vision will always serve my highest good
In times of challenge I AM open to the opportunities presented
I see clearly because I have certainty of mind
I AM a perfect expression of absolute perfection

Paul Hoffman

I AM a perfect expression of magnificent love
I AM a perfect expression of magnificent joy
I AM a perfect expression of magnificent harmony
I Am awakened to the heart space of pure potential
Deep inside of me
I know my purpose is a gift to the planet
I open my soul to receive all the light
That guides my way this magnificent day.

Paul Hoffman

I AM in a perfect state of mind so I can receive ALL the wisdom I need
The calling of my heart is loud and clear
I know that what I need to hear is always available
Every step of my journey is guided by an infinite intelligence
that supports me
The beauty of my vision radiates in my mind
I see life in dreams of color
I AM a dynamic and awesome expression of pure potential

Paul Hoffman

That’s beautiful buttercak. Bake me a cake as fast as you can? ;)

I will try and do that bbirshbug lol

A man who lives in the past doesn’t live at all

Quote made by O’neil who is a contestant on season 9 of The Biggest Loser USA 2010

Uncertainty
“ There are some things that you know to be true, and others that you know to be false; yet, despite this extensive knowledge that you have, there remain many things whose truth or falsity is not known to you. We say that you are uncertain about them. You are uncertain, to varying degrees, about everything in the future; much of the past is hidden from you; and there is a lot of the present about which you do not have full information. Uncertainty is everywhere and you cannot escape from it. ” – Dennis Lindley, Understanding Uncertainty (2006)

In response to bbirishbug’s post:

Sounds like my recent thread about uncertainty. Is that a book Understanding Uncertainty ? Feels like I would enjoy it if it is. Have heard of some titles of books like it..

Escape the Unseen Captivity of Negative Conclusions

Coming to any negative conclusion is like getting caught in a sudden rainstorm… and then jumping into a river to keep your shoes from getting wet. Guy Finley

Running from yourself is the fastest way to go nowhere!
Guy Finley

‘ It is much easier to ride a horse in the direction it’s going.’ – Abraham Lincoln

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

I read this quote today and it really resonated with me tremendously, so I thought I would share it with you all. Big Hugs, Love, Laughter, & Light

Our thoughts, our words, and deeds are the threads of the net which we throw around ourselves. – Swami Vivekananda

“Reality is only a Rorschach ink-blot, you know.” – Alan Watts

“The great thing in the world is not so much where we
stand, as in what direction we are moving.”
— Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr

In response to cleric’s post:
That’s a great one!

‘‘Character may be manifested in the great
moments, but it is made in the small ones.’’
—WINSTON CHURCHILL

“The world is wide, and I will not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum.” ~Frances E. Willard

Hi! :: Passion is the secret to motivation:: • Earl Nightingale• :: The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God see’s me:: •Meister Eckhart• :: The soul attracts that which it secrelty harbors;that which it loves,and also that which it fear:: •James Allan (Writer &Poet)• :: A calm heart is a free heart- a thousand paths to tranquility:: • unknown • :: If we all did things we were capable of doing we would literally astond ourselves:: • Thomas Edison•:: Only the heart knows how to find what is precious:: • Fyodor Dostoyevsky• :: If you haven’t any charity in your heart,you have the worest kind of heart trouble:: • Bob Hope • :: I do need to break free of old and useless habits and form strong new ones:: • Dedmond • :: Reach high,for stars lie hidden in your soul.Dream deep,for every dream precedes the goal:: • Pamela Vault Starr •:: Strength without wisdom is a fist without a sword:: • unknown• :: If you want to walk on water you have to get out of the boat:: • Unknown • :: A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do:: • unknown • :: Later I will post some more. :: I leave you all with this. ~ Author unknown ~ “Be brave at heart. Take that chance it’s been there all the time.” God bless!

“Talk does not cook rice.”

-Chinese Proverb

Awaken the Power to Walk Through Walls

Wise persistence always pays the one who serves it at least once, but usually twice. The first payoff — and the most valuable — is the realization that “walls” are immaterial apart from the resistance that lends them their temporary substance. The second payment comes on the other side of the “wall”... where achievement proves the value of sustained effort.

Guy Finley

“I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be honorable, to be compassionate. It is, after all, to matter: to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all.”
– Leo Rosten

“You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.”
– Mahatma Gandhi

“When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure.”
– Peter Marshall

“Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.”
– William James

“Character is simply habit long enough continued.”
– Plutarch

All of Romans 12!
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+12&version=KJV

Laurie! I love all of your quotes, I couldn’t post all of the ones I like, it would be to long lol!

Here’s a quote I like…

there are two things in life we need to learn
which bridges to cross and which bridges to burn

I am lovong all these great quotes… thanks everyone…

“Priorities lead to prosperity.”
— Michelle Singletary
“When you realize that prosperity is your divine
heritage, you should persist in claiming it.”
— Catherine Ponder
“Listen to your life. All moments are key moments.”
— Frederick Buechner
“Your whole idea about yourself is borrowed — borrowed from
those who have no idea of who they are themselves.”
— Osho: Was an Indian mystic, guru, and philosopher

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.
Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”
— Albert Einstein

“When people talk, listen completely.
Most people never listen.”
— Ernest Hemingway

This is the true joy in life – that being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. That being a force of nature, instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die. For the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for it’s own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It’s a sort of splendid torch which I’ve got to hold up for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.
George Bernard Shaw

It’s ironic that I’m posting a quote from Shaw. I believe he was a socialist. Still, this statement contains some truth.

“As for worrying about what other people might think – forget it. They aren’t concerned about you. They’re too busy worrying about what you and other people think of them.”
— Michael le Boeuf

The Universe does not know whether the vibration that you’re offering is because of something you’re observing or something you’re remembering or something that you are imagining. It just receives the vibration and answers it with things that match it.

—- Abraham

I Am fully awake to the perfect expression of who I AM
My heart is open and ready to give and give and give

I know that I will receive all I need when I release any thought of lack and limitation

The path I am on is blessed with infinite wisdom and intelligence
The conversation I hear is a dialogue of ONENESS

Love is the language of my heart

Gratitude is the food of my soul
Paul Hoffman

“If you believe you can, you probably can. If you believe you won’t, you most assuredly won’t. Belief is the ignition switch that gets you off the launching pad.”
— Denis Waitley

EVERY THOUGHT YOU RELEASE BECOMES A PERMANENT PART OF YOUR CHARACTER.
Thoughts are things. Every thought you release-good or bad-is a form of energy that can affect those who receive it, for better or worse. More important, your thoughts affect you. You become what you think about most. If you think about success, you condition your mind to seek success, and you attract large portions of it. Conversely, if you think about failure and despair, you will become miserable and desperate. To keep your mind on a positive track, the moment you begin to experience creeping negativism, make a conscious decision to eliminate negative thoughts and replace them with their positive counterparts.
Napoleon Hill

Expectation indicates the juncture between where you are and where you want to be. Where you want to be, is your desire, and where you are, is your Set-point or habit of thought. And somewhere, in there, is what we would call expectation. Expectation, whether it is wanted or unwanted, is a powerful point of attraction. Your expectation is always what you believe. But the word expectation does imply more what you are wanting than what you are not wanting. It is a more positive word than it is a negative word, but of course, you could expect negatively – and whatever you expect, you will get!

—- Abraham

Faith is like electricity. You can’t see it, but you can see the light. – Gregory Dickow

“There is one thing that 99 percent of ‘failures’ and ‘successful’ folks have in common — they all hate doing the same things. The difference is that successful people do them anyway.”
-Darren Hardy

“When I hear somebody sigh, ‘Life is hard,’ I am
always tempted to ask, ‘Compared to what?’”
— Sydney J. Harris

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude
from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help
the man with the wrong mental attitude.”
— Thomas Jefferson: Third U.S. president

As soon as A observes something which seems to him to be wrong, from which X is suffering, A talks it over with B, and A and B then propose to get a law passed to remedy the evil and help X. Their law always proposes to determine what C shall do for X, or in the better case, what A, B, and C shall do for X…. What I want to do is to look up C. I want to show you what manner of man he is. I call him the Forgotten Man. Perhaps the appellation is not strictly correct. He is the man who never is thought of…. He works, he votes, generally he prays-but he always pays….

‘Winners never quit and quiters never win’
not sure where it’s from but I like it!

The difference between death and taxes is that death doesn’t get worse every time Congress meets” – Will Rogers.

“Everything you see happening is the
consequence of that which you are.”
— Dr. David Hawkins: Psychiatrist, physician, spiritual teacher, and lecturer

“Possession of material riches, without inner peace,
is like dying of thirst while bathing in a lake.”
— Paramahansa Yogananda: Was an Indian yogi and guru

“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.” -The ancient sage Patanjali

A Creed to Live By

Author Unknown

Don’t undermine your worth by comparing
yourself with others.

It is because we are different that each
of us is special.

Don’t set your goals by what other people
deem important.

Only you know what is best for you.

Don’t take for granted the things closest
to your heart.

Cling to that as you would your life, for without
them life is meaningless.

Don’t let your life slip through your fingers by living
in the past or the future.

By living your life one day at a time, you live all the
days of your life.

Don’t give up when you still have something to give.

Nothing is really over … until the moment
you stop trying.

Don’t be afraid to admit that you are less
than perfect.

It is the fragile thread that binds us to each other.

Don’t be afraid to encounter risks,
It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.

Don’t shut love out of your life by saying it’s
impossible to find.

The quickest way to receive love is to give love.

The fastest way to lose love is to hold on too tightly,
And the best way to keep love is to give it wings.

Don’t dismiss your dreams.

To be without dreams is to be without hope.

To be without hope is to be without purpose.

Don’t run through life so fast that you forget
where you’ve been.

But also know where you’re going.

Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored
every step of the way.

So clear and so true! Good one Buttercake! Jan

In response to buttercake’s post:
What a wonderful collection!

To Laurie glad you like my collection and to Jancydat its my pleasure, glad you also liked the last quote I posted

Adventure is a state of mind – and spirit. It comes with faith, for with complete faith, there is no fear of what faces you in life or death.
— Jacqueline Cochran, aviator

You cannot receive vibrationally something that you are not a vibrational match to. And so, bless those who are finding abundance. And in your blessing of them and their abundance, you will become abundant, too. But in your cursing of their abundance, you hold yourself apart from it. It is a law – it is a powerful law.

—- Abraham

Death stands at your elbow.

People underestimate their capacity for change. There is never a right time to do a difficult thing. A leader’s job is to help people have vision of their potential.
-John Porter

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive., and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
-Howard Thurman

You are the embodiment of the information you choose to accept and act upon. To change your circumstances you need to change your thinking and subsequent actions.
-Adlin Sinclair

It is not only what we do,but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.
-Molie’re

“And the trouble is,
if you don’t risk anything,
you risk even more.”
Erica Jong
Author and Poet

“As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a
single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a
deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep
mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we
wish to dominate our lives.”

It’s the little things you do that
make the big things happen.

-Mike Dooley

“Things don’t go wrong and break your heart so you can become bitter and give up. They happen to break you down and build you up so you can be all that you were intended to be.” – Charlie “Tremendous” Jones

You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success.
But it isn’t at all.

You can be discouraged by failure
or you can learn from it, So go ahead and
make mistakes. Make all you can.

Because remember that’s where you
will find success.”

- Thomas J. Watson

Winners take imperfect
action while losers are
still perfecting the plan.

-Kevin Nations
I try to do the right things at the right time.
They may just be little things but usually
they make the difference between
winning and losing.

-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
If you have something to do that is worthwhile
doing, don’t talk about it, but do it. After you have
done it, your friends and enemies will talk about it.

-George W. Blount

The only way to get positive feelings
about yourself is to take positive
actions. Man does not live as
he thinks, he thinks as he lives.

-Vaughan Quinn

When it comes to breaking old bad habits and
starting new ones, remember to be patient with
yourself.

If you’ve spent 20, 30 or 40 years or
more repeating the behaviors you’re now trying
to change, you’ve got to expect it’s going to take
time and effort before you see lasting results.

-Darren Hardy
Winning the race is all about the pace.

Be the tortoise.

The person who, given enough time, will beat virtually
anybody in any competition as a result of positive
habits and behaviors applied consistently.

That’ll put the mojo in your momentum.

And keep it there!

-Darren Hardy

People will try to rain on your parade
because they have no parade of
their own.

- Jeffrey Gitomer

Your future can be either an extension of your
past or a new future that you create – we don’t
know what to do with something new because
we don’t have a frame of reference for it.

But if you change your paradigm and choose
to live a future that you create – this instantly
changes your life.

Tomorrow can be how it was
yesterday or today can be the last day this
happens – many people like to hold on to all
their stuff (story, excuses – e.g. oh I cant do
this because I have a bad past etc) instead
of becoming the best you.

In order to do this you’ve got to let go of your
past. Focus on what you want to create not
on what you want to avoid – what you focus
on you’ll be more likely to create it.

~Alex Mandossian

Society doesn’t reward defeat, and you won’t
find many failures documented in history books.

The exceptions are those failures that become
steppingstones to later success. Such is the
case with Thomas Edison, whose most
memorable invention was the lightbulb, which
purportedly took him 1000 tries before he
developed a successful prototype.

“How did it feel to fail 1000 times?” a reporter asked.

“I didn’t fail 1000 times”, Edison responded.

“The light bulb was an invention with 1000 steps.”

- Success Magazine
October 2010

“Nothing happens unless first, a dream.”

A daily routine built on good habits and disciplines
separates the most successful among us from everyone else.

The routine is exceptionally powerful.

Darren Hardy – The Compound Effect

“You will never change your life until you change
something you do daily. The secret of your
success is found in your daily routine.”

-John C. Maxwell

Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.

~Winston Churchill

The World of Inspiration

Locate quotations by category

“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 thing must be attained.”

~ Marie Curie

“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love & affection.”

Buddha

“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”

Albert Einstein

“Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.”

Louisa May Alcott

“If I am not for myself, who will be?”

Pirke Avoth

“The tragedy is that so many people look for self-confidence and self-respect everywhere except within themselves, and so they fail in their search.”

Dr Nathaniel Branden

“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

“Other people’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality.”

Les Brown

“It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else’s eyes.”

Sally Field

“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself.”

Harvey Fienstein

“The way you treat yourself sets the standard for others.”

Dr Sonya Friedman

“In my day, we didn’t have self-esteem, we had self-respect, and no more of it than we had earned.”

Jane Haddam

“It’s surprising how many persons go through life without ever recognizing that their feelings toward other people are largely determined by their feelings toward themselves, and if you’re not comfortable within yourself, you can’t be comfortable with others.”

Sidney J. Harris

“Every individual has a place to fill in the world, and is important, in some respect, whether he chooses to be so or not.”

Nathaniel Hawthorne

quotationstv.com

“I will strain my potential until it cries for mercy.”
— Og Mandino: Self-help specialist, author, and speaker

“The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make
ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy.
The amount of work is the same.”
— Carlos Castaneda: Was an anthropologist and author

“Most people diffuse their psychic energy (attention) in
hundreds of random ways. Those who flow focus their psychic energy intentionally upon the task at hand. It really boils down to knowing your goal, concentrating upon it, remaining determined, and having the self-discipline to complete what you are doing.”
— Dick Sutphen:

Remember the mind grows strong through use. Struggle makes power.

Napoleon Hill liked to tell a story about his grandfather, a wagon builder in North Carolina. When the old man cleared the land for cultivation, he always left a few oak trees in the middle of the field at the mercy of the elements, unsheltered by other trees in the forest. It was from those trees that his grandfather made the wagons’ wheels. Because they were forced to struggle against the fury of nature, they grew strong enough to bear the heaviest load. Welcome difficult challenges, for the greatest opportunities will come from challenges that force you to expand your mind as you search for creative solutions. During life’s bleakest hours, take solace in the face that you are strengthening yourself through struggle so that in the future you will be prepared to take on even greater challenges. Like the old oak tree, you grow strong only when you are forced to struggle.

Napoleon Hill

The imagination is the workshop of the soul, where are shaped all the plans for individual achievement.

Before you can build anything worthwhile, you must first create it in your mind. Your mind is not constrained by physical limitations or boundaries. In the workshop of your mind, you can visualize things that have never been. It is said that Albert Einstein visualized how the universe might look if he were riding astride a beam of light through infinity. Then he worked out the mathematics to support his theory of relativity. You can use the power of your imagination to visualize solutions to difficult problems, to develop new ideas, and to see yourself achieving the goals you have set for yourself.

Napoleon Hill

Worrying is using your imagination to create something you don’t want.

—- Abraham

If you will let your dominant intention be to revise and improve the content of the story you tell every day of your life, it is our absolute promise to you that your life will become that ever-improving story. For by the powerful Law of Attraction—the essence of that which is like unto itself is drawn—it must be!

—- Abraham

“One man has enthusiasm for 30 minutes, another for 30 days, but it is the man who has it for 30 years who makes a success of his life.”
— Edward Butler, Discount-Store Entrepreneur

Beware of him who tries to poison your mind against another under the pretense of helping you. The chances are a thousand to one he is trying to help himself.

Napoleon Hill

The First Step to Putting Out the Flames of Anger

There is only one reason why any human being ever dances in the fire of any kind of anger: he has yet to discover the parts of himself that love flames.

Guy Finley

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear — not absence of fear.”
– Mark Twain

“Placing the blame or judgment on someone else
leaves you powerless to change your experience.
Taking responsibility for your beliefs and judgments
gives you the power to change them.”

~ Byron Katie ~

The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem, it is generally employed only by small children and large nations.

David Friedman

I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, “Mom, what was war?”

Eve Merriam

Prayer, Meditation and Other Footwork Quotations
Meditation
Meditation is from moment to moment. The eyes see, the ears hear.
The organs function. There is no interiorisation, no concentration,
no introversion, no withdrawing of the sense. Don’t go into the old
habits of withdrawal. Go in the directionless expansion, the
spaceless space.
~Jean Klein
Prayer, Meditation and Other Footwork Quotations
Prayer
Call on God, but row away from the rocks. ~Indian Proverb

Practical prayer is harder on the soles of your shoes than on the knees of your trousers. ~Austin O’Malley

Prayer draws us near to our own souls. ~Herman Melville, Mardi and A Voyage Thither, 1849

Prayer is when you talk to God; meditation is when you listen to God. ~Author Unknown

God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer. ~Mother Teresa

I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs. ~Frederick Douglass, escaped slave

To give thanks in solitude is enough. Thanksgiving has wings and goes where it must go. Your prayer knows much more about it than you do. ~Victor Hugo

Prayer is exhaling the spirit of man and inhaling the spirit of God. ~Edwin Keith

Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden. ~Corrie ten Boom

Most people do not pray; they only beg. ~George Bernard Shaw

When you pray, rather let your heart be without words than your words without heart. ~John Bunyan

We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties. ~Oswald Chambers
Certain thoughts are prayers. There are moments when, whatever be the attitude of the body, the soul is on its knees. ~Victor Hugo, Les Misérables, 1862

There come times when I have nothing more to tell God. If I were to continue to pray in words, I would have to repeat what I have already said. At such times it is wonderful to say to God, “May I be in Thy presence, Lord? I have nothing more to say to Thee, but I do love to be in Thy presence.” ~O. Hallesby

Prayer requires more of the heart than of the tongue. ~Adam Clarke

I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. ~Abraham Lincoln

God can pick sense out of a confused prayer. ~Richard Sibbes

It is good for us to keep some account of our prayers, that we may not unsay them in our practice. ~Matthew Henry

Prayer may not change things for you, but it for sure changes you for things. ~Samuel M. Shoemaker

Don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines. ~Satchel Paige, 1974

The trouble with our praying is, we just do it as a means of last resort. ~Will Rogers

When a man is at his wits’ end it is not a cowardly thing to pray, it is the only way he can get in touch with Reality. ~Oswald Chambers

I pray on the principle that wine knocks the cork out of a bottle. There is an inward fermentation, and there must be a vent. ~Henry Ward Beecher

Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays. ~Søren Kierkegaard

Trouble and perplexity drive me to prayer and prayer drives away perplexity and trouble. ~Philip Melanchthen

The value of consistent prayer is not that He will hear us, but that we will hear Him. ~William McGill

JIMI HENDRIX

“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”
Jimi Hendrix

“Who are you to judge the life i live
i know i’m not perfect and i don’t live to be.
but before you start pointing fingers
make sure your hands are clean.”
Jimi Hendrix

Guy Finley Quotes found on Beliefnet.com:

• Good Things Come from Goodness “All things good come to those for whom the Good is all things.”
• Everything in Life is a Gift “To know that every moment — regardless of how it comes wrapped — is a gift greater than you can give yourself, is to be well on your way to a life without fear.”
• Be Fully Present In Your Life “Being fully present is the best guarantee for a bright future.”
• There Are No Limits “The limit of your present understanding is not the limit of your possibilities.”
• Don’t Hold off Making Real Change – “No one rises above who he or she has been without first having fallen down. The best time — in fact, the only time — to make a real change in your life is in the moment of seeing the need for it. He who hesitates always gets lost in the hundred reasons why tomorrow is a better day to get started!”
• Fear Feeds Weakness – “The strength of any weakness within us is the degree to which it is feared.”
• Criticizing Others Is a Downfall – “The more time we spend considering the shortcomings of others, the smaller a person we become.”
• Make Friends with Your Mind “An unattended mind is the breeding ground of self-defeat.”
• Peace Wants to Find You, Too “The Peace you long for also longs for you.”
• Learn the Secret of Self “There is nothing as certain as silence, stillness, and solitude to introduce you to the secrets of yourself.”
• Drop What is Dragging You Down “Do the moment-to-moment work of dropping anything that wants to drag you down, and Reality itself will see to it that you rise.”
• Discovery is the Key to Quality* “The real quality of our life is not determined by what we have won from it, but by what we have discovered within it.”
• Choose in Favor of Yourself “Once you know what it means to choose in favor of yourself, there is no power in the universe that can make you choose against yourself.”

• The Past Cannot Darken the Present “Never speak out of anger, Never act out of fear, Never choose from impatience, But wait . . . and peace will appear. The past is as powerless to darken the present moment as is a shadow to reach up and drag down the form that casts it”

How many languages are there in the world? How about 5 billion! Each of us talks, listens, and thinks in his/her own special language that has been shaped by our culture, experiences, profession, personality, mores and attitudes. The chances of us meeting someone else who talks the exact same language is pretty remote.
Anonymous

“Ours is the age of substitutes: Instead of language we have jargon; instead of principles, slogans; and instead of genuine ideas, bright suggestions”
Eric Bentley

The kindest word in all the world is the unkind word, unsaid.
Anonymous

The words you choose to say something are just as important as the decision to speak.
Anonymous

“For me, words are a form of action, capable of influencing change”
Ingrid Bengis

We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them.
Abigail Adams

Grasp the subject, the words will follow.
Cato the Elder

There are two ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. ~Edith Wharton
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One man practicing good sportsmanship is far better than 50 others preaching it. – Knute Rockne, football coach
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“Do not doubt yourself, for where doubt resides, confidence cannot. Do not neglect yourself, for with neglect comes loss. Do not imagine yourself to be less than you are, not more than you are, but seek always to become all of which you are capable. Do not allow yourself to become arrogant or discourteous, for both are characteristics adopted by those who seek to cover their weaknesses. Do not spend time regretting the past, but invest that time wisely by preparing a better future. You are a fertile seed of the Creator of all things, destined not to lie dormant, but to spring forth from the soil called life, and grow upward toward the unlimited horizons – overcoming all obstacles in the process. It is your destiny to tap your talents and to achieve all that of which you believe yourself to be worthy…to love more, anticipate more, overcome more, plan more, attract more, and to enjoy more than you ever dreamed possible. Such is the standard of life awaiting your mental decision and outstretched hand. You are deserving – you are becoming – and you shall succeed.” by Jim Rohn
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“Your past experience Your time has not been wasted and your efforts have not been in vain. Everything has brought you to where you are now, and this is a very good place to be. From here, you can move forward in whatever direction you choose. Now, you can put your wisdom, your experience and even your regrets to positive, purposeful use. The portion of your life over which you have full control begins right now. No matter where you’ve come from, now is your opportunity to choose precisely where you wish to go. It’s easy to get caught up in thoughts of what could have been, or to fall into discouragement about what didn’t work out. Your best option, though, is to focus on the best of what can be and on enthusiastically stepping forward to make it happen. You are surrounded by a universe that’s filled with great possibilities. Take all of your past experience and put it to work in creating a future of excellence and fulfillment. Whatever the past has been, it has also been very good to you, because it has delivered you here. Now, take that good fortune and put it to good use. — Ralph Marston
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All change, even very large and powerful change, begins when a few people start talking with one another about something they care about. – Margaret J. Wheatley

“Just as the tumultuous chaos of a thunderstorm brings a nurturing rain that allows life to flourish, so too in human affairs times of advancement are preceded by times of disorder. Success comes to those who can weather the storm.”

Many people, especially ignorant people, want to punish you for speaking the truth, for being correct, for being you. Never apologize for being correct, or for being years ahead of your time. If you’re right and you know it, speak your mind. Speak your mind. Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is still the truth.

Mohandas Ghandi