Start Living The Dream

Illumination From Our Feet

Illumination from Our Feet

 

Arranging our shoes neatly, we bring harmony to our minds,

When our minds are harmonious, we arrange shoes neatly.

If we arrange shoes neatly when we take them off,

Our minds won’t be disturbed when we put them on.

If someone leaves shoes in disarray,

Let us silently set them to order.

Such an act surely will bring harmony

To the minds of people around the world.

 

--Message from Dogen Zenji

More Quotes

People don't care how much you know about them once they realize how much you care about them.

 

It's not the people you fire that make your life miserable...it's the people you DON'T fire that make your life miserable.

 

Knowledge does not become power until it is used. Ideas without action are useless.

 

Believe in yourself even when no one else does.

 

When a person with money meets a person with experience here's what happens: the person with experience winds up with the money and the person with the money ends up with experience.

 

The single most powerful tool in any negotiation is the ability to get up and walk away from the table without a deal.

Autistic Student's Graduation Speech

 

"World" by Five For Fighting

 

What kind of world do YOU want?

Click below to listen 

02 World

"World"

Got a package full of Wishes
A Time machine, a Magic Wand
A Globe made out of Gold

No Instructions or Commandments
Laws of Gravity or
Indecisions to uphold

Printed on the box I see
A.C.M.E.'s Build-a-World-to-be
Take a chance - Grab a piece
Help me to believe it

What kind of world do you want?
Think Anything
Let's start at the start
Build a masterpiece
Be careful what you wish for
History starts now...

Should there be people or peoples
Money, Funny pedestals for Fools who never pay
Raise your Army - Choose your Steeple
Don't be shy, the satellites can look the other way

Lose the Earthquakes - Keep the Faults
Fill the oceans without the salt
Let every Man own his own Hand

What kind of world do you want
Think Anything
Let's start at the start
Build a masterpiece
Be careful what you wish for
History starts now...

Sunlight's on the Bridge
Sunlight's on the Way
Tomorrow's Calling

There's more to this than Love

What Kind of world do you want
What Kind of world do you want

What Kind of world do you want
Think Anything
Let's start at the start
Build a masterpiece

History Starts Now

Be careful what you wish for
Start Now

Failure: The Secret To Success

Lessons on persistance from the Honda Motor Company

Never Give Up

Okay...this one's just for fun.

When you see a man at the top of a mountain, you know he didn't fall there..."

Coleman Orr

Dare to be Powerful

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure...

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

Darnell Self

Wear Sunscreen

Wonderful words of wisdom by Baz Luhrmann

"Where The Hell Is Matt?"

This has got to make you smile at least a little bit...

Do yo' THANG Matt!

The Pale Blue Dot

Carl Sagan was was an American astronomer, astrochemist, author, and highly successful popularizer of astronomy. It's his voice (and thoughts) you can hear on this video. Carl lets us look at the world, as a pale blue dot, via his involvement with the Voyager space mission.

Everything that happens here on earth really, really is insignificant

Phillips Commercial. "Light Changes Everything"

Monks - Philips from Rogerio Velloso on Vimeo.

“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)

I Am Extraordinary

More manifestations from the creators of "The Secret"

Manifesting Money

From the creators of "The Secret', here is a video to help manifest all the abundance you wish.

Only as high as I reach can I grow.

Only as far as I seek can I go.

Only as deep as I look can I see.

Only as much as I dream can I be.

Karen Ravn

Al Pacino in Any Given Sunday

Al Pacino relays this motivational speech to his football team. It’s an excerpt from the movie “Any Given Sunday”. What he said isn’t just applicable to football or any team sports. It’s also very true in real life. Ask yourself. Are you closing up the inches?

On Happiness

I have learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances. --Martha Washington

The Power Of Encouragement

Remember J-Mac? Look at the magic some enthusiasm and encouragement can create...

My Vision Statement

 

Awakening To The Limitations Of Thought

Awakening to The Limitations of Thought

Awakening is a shift in consciousness in which thinking and awareness separate.  For most people it is not an event but a process they undergo...Thinking then ceases to be self-serving autonomous activity that takes possession of you and runs your life.  Awareness takes over from thinking.  Instead of being in charge of your life, thinking then becomes the servant of awareness.  Awareness is conscious connection with universal intelligence. 

Another word for it is Presence: consciousness without thought.

            From the book, A New Earth – Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose

            by Eckhart Tolle

When we make the mistake of separating our own part and especially our reaction from the problems we are trying to solve, problem solving often functions as a way of maintaining the status quo rather than enabling fundamental change.  The problem-solving mindset can be adequate for technical problems.  But it can be woefully inadequate for complex human systems, where problems often arise from unquestioned assumptions and deeply held ways of acting.  Until people start to see their own handprint on such problems, fundamental change rarely occurs.

From the book,  Presence – Human Purpose and the Field of the Future.

By Peter Senge, C. Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski, and Betty Sue Flowers

...we are personally responsible for most of the major events in our lives and for all our responses to these events.  Recognition of this fact opens up a vision of human reality that is at once vivid and durable.  In addition, it relieves us of the strain occasioned by the excess baggage of self-excusing fictions. ... we might say that the creative process, which is full of pain, constitutes a kind of return to nature, a re-engagement with the conflict and challenge typical of primitive human experience.  We close our minds to many difficulties because of the painful labor involved in confronting them.

From the book,  The Grace of Great Things

by Robert Grudin

Perhaps the greatest freedom I can have is in discovering that the

voice in my head is not who I am nor the entire truth about anything.

2005 Konstanturos & Associates  LLC

858.481.9043

The Rules

The Rules

One of the things I love about music theory
is that there are set rules.
The rules are mathematical, and the rules are natural
based on sine waves, vibrations, and the overtone system (which is mathematical, once again).

My first theory and composition class in college
consisted of a year of theory and composition techniques.
We learned the fundamentals
We learned to write in basic forms and styles
and we learned Species Counterpoint,
the strict music system used by Palestrina, Bach, and many composers in the late 1600s - 1700s.
Species Counterpoint has numerous specific rules that tell a composer where each note should - must! - go next, depending upon other notes and their relationship to each other.
And some things are NOT ALLOWED: like parallel octaves or fifths.
Of course, today in music, half of what we listen to consists of parallel octaves and fifths.

So what is the point of learning the rules?

We learn the rules
so we know how to beak them properly

 

-George Khan

There Is No Speed Limit

 

There Is No Speed Limit

Life moves at the speed of thought
But many of us work from limiting beliefs:
You go to school for 12 years
You go to college for 4 or 6 more years
or maybe you join the Army for 2-4 years of training
You get a job
You work towards retirement...

But think on this:
Bill Gates started playing with computers in 1968 at the age of 13. He dropped out of Harvard after 2 years and started Microsoft with some friends in New Mexico. You know what happened next...

Sergey Brin moved from Russia to the US with his family when he was 6. He blew through his undergraduate college education in 3 years, and then when he started graduate school at Stanford he and Larry Page, a classmate, created Google in a garage in Menlo Park, CA. Now at the ripe old age of 37 he is the 24th richest person in the world...

Derek Sivers found a tutor in Boston, and got through 4 years of the Berkeley School of Music in 2 years. He went on to create CD Baby as a favor to a few musician friends who wanted to sell their CDs on the internet. 10 years later when he sold the company for $22 million, it was the largest seller of independent music on the web, with over 150,000 musician clients and over $100 million in sales...

There is no speed limit on the Road of Life.

 

 

Quotations

 “Have you ever noticed how easy it is to look back on events that happened a year or more in the past and see the perfection in them? For most of us this is true even for situations which seemed tragic, horrible or even devastating at the time. Now, if it is possible to see the perfection in those things a year later, doesn’t it make sense that the perfection must be there in the moment it happens, too?”--Kurt Wright, Breaking All The Rules

1.I think I'd like to be remembered as someone who beat the odds through just plain determination. ... that I persevered. Because I think that being somewhat of a pest to life, constantly plaguing and pursuing, will bring results. -- Sylvester Stallone (1946-) American Actor

 

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

3.Mama exhorted her children at every opportunity to "jump at the Sun." We might not land on the sun, but at least we would get off the ground. -- Zora Neale Hurston (1903-1960) American Writer

4.Let no man turn aside, ever so slightly, from the broad path of honour, on the plausible pretence that he is justified by the goodness of his end. All good ends can be worked out by good means. -- Charles Dickens (1812-1870) English Novelist

5.Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see the beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they lead. -- Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) American Writer

 

6.What can be added to the happiness of a man who is in health, out of debt, and has a clear conscience? -- Adam Smith (1723-1790)

7.A hero is a man who does what he can. -- Roman Rollard

8.I find that it is not the circumstances in which we are placed, but the spirit in which we face them, that constitutes our comfort. -- Elizabeth T. King

9.Faith is that the thing can be done is essential to any great achievement. -- Thomas N. Carruther

10.The world is moved not only by the mighty shoves of the heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker. -- Helen Keller (1880-1968) American Writer

11.I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing. -- Agatha Christie

12.Every man stamps his value on himself... man is made great or small by his own will. -- J.C.F. von Schiller

13.Live your life each day as you would climb a mountain. An occasional glance towards the summit keeps the goal in mind, but many beautiful scenes are to be observed from each new vantage point. -- Harold B. Melchart

14.The beauty of the soul shines out when a man bears with composure one heavy mischance after another, not because he does not feel them, but because he is a man of high and heroic temper. -- Aristotle

15.We cheerfully assume that in some mystic way love conquers all, that good outweighs evil in the just balances of the universe and that at the eleventh hour something gloriously triumphant will prevent the worst before it happens. -- Brooks Atkinson

16.The world of achievement has always belonged to the optimist. -- J. Harold Wilkins

17.Enthusiasm is the best protection in any situation. Wholeheartedness is contagious. Give yourself, if you wish to get others. -- David Seabury

18.Nothing will ever be attempted, if all possible objections must first be overcome. -- Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English Author

19.Our real duty is always found running in the direction of our worthiest desires. -- Randolph S. Bourne (1886-1918) American Writer

20.If you have not often felt the joy of doing a kind act, you have neglected much, and most of all yourself. -- A. Neilen

21.To live in the presence of great truths and eternal laws, to be led by permanent ideals - that is what keeps a man patient when the world ignores him, and calm and unspoiled when the world praises him. -- Honore De Balzac (1799-1850) French Novelist

22.He who reigns within himself and rules his passions, desires, and fears is more than a king. -- John Milton (1608-1674) English Poet

23.Most of us miss out on life's big prizes. The Pulitzer. The Nobel. Oscars. Tonys. Emmys. But we're all eligible for life's small pleasures. A pat on the back. A kiss behind the ear. A four-pound bass. A full moon. An empty parking space. A crackling fire. A great meal. A glorious sunset. Hot soup. Cold beer. -- Anonymous

 

24.“Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that has.” -- Margaret Mead

25.“ Far better is it 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 a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt

 

26.Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many--not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. -- Charles Dickens (1812-1870) English Novelist

27.Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody. -- Longfellow

28.The greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising up every time we fall. -- Confucius (551-479 BC) Chinese Philosopher

29.All high achievers plan their work and work their plan, for they are keenly aware that "luck" is most often being prepared to take advantage of a situation.

30.Life leaps like a geyser for those willing to drill through the rock of inertia. -- Alexis Carrel

31.The three great essentials to achieving anything worthwhile are; first, hard work, second, stick-to-it-iveness, and third, common sense. -- Thomas A. Edison (1847-1931) American Inventor

32.The hero is the one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by. The saint is the man who walks through the dark paths of the world, himself a light. -- Felix Adler

33.Great is the road I climb, but the garland offered by an easier effort is not worth the gathering. -- Sextus Propertius (50BC-16AD) Roman Poet

34.It is better by noble boldness to run the risk of being subject to half the evils we anticipate than to remain in cowardly listlessness for fear of what might happen. -- Herodotus (485 - 425BC) Greek Historian

35.I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning. -- J.B. Priestly (1894-1984) English Author

36.Let us move on, and step out boldly, though it be into the night, and we can scarcely see the way. -- Charles B. Newcomb

37.Rely on the ordinary virtues that intelligent, balanced human beings have relied on for centuries: common sense, thrift, realistic expectations, patience, and perseverance. -- John C. Bogle (1929-) American Investor

38.The self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates. -- Thomas Szasz (1920-) American Psychiatrist

39.Man has never made any material as resilient as the human spirit. -- Bernard Williams (1929-) English Philosopher

40.You see things; and you say, "Why?" But I dream things that never were; and I say "Why not?" -- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish Playwright

41.There are many ways to measure success; not the least of which is the way your child describes you when talking to a friend. -- Unknown

42.Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles. -- Helen Keller (1880-1968) American Writer

43.Pain nourishes courage. You can't be brave if you've only had wonderful things happen to you. -- Mary Tyler Moore (1937-) American Actress

44.Anyone can sympathize with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathize with a friend's success. -- Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish Dramatist and Poet

45.The real measure of your wealth is how much you'd be worth if you lost all your money. -- Bernard Meltzer (1914-) American Law Professor

46.I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do the something I can do. -- Helen Keller (1880-1968) American Writer

47.People call me an optimist, but I'm really an appreciator....When I was six years old and had scarlet fever, the first of the miracle drugs, sulfanilamide, saved my life. I'm grateful for computers and photocopiers...I appreciate where we've come from. -- Julian Simon (1933-1998) American Academic

48.The height of your accomplishments will equal the depth of your convictions. -- William F. Scolavino

 

49.Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. -- Helen Keller (1880-1968) American Writer

50.Laughter is the language of the Gods. -- Buddhist saying

51.You can stand tall without standing on someone. You can be a victor without having victims. -- Harriet Woods (1927-) American Politician

52.No matter who says what, you should accept it with a smile and do your own work. -- Mother Teresa (1910-1997) Albanian Missionary

53.Don't wait for your "ship to come in" and feel angry and cheated when it doesn't. Get going with something small. -- Irene Kassorla

54.When someone does something good, applaud! You will make two people happy. -- Samuel Goldwyn

55.Great hopes make great men. -- Thomas Fuller (1608-1661) English Historian

56.The only service a friend can really render is to keep up your courage by holding up to you a mirror in which you can see a noble image of yourself. -- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish Playwright

57.There are no shortcuts to any place worth going. -- Beverly Sills (1929-) American Opera Singer

58.The most important thing I have learned over the years is the difference between taking one's work seriously and taking one's self seriously. The first is imperative, and the second disastrous. -- Margaret Fontey

59.Time and money spent in helping men do more for themselves is far better than mere giving. -- Henry Ford (1863-1947) American Industrialist

60.One day in retrospect the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful. -- Sigmund Freud

 

61.To be capable of steady friendship or lasting love, are the two greatest proofs, not only of goodness of heart, but of strength of mind. -- William Hazlitt (1778-1830) English Essayist

62. Class is an aura of confidence that is being sure without being cocky. Class has nothing to do with money. Class never runs scared. It is self-discipline and self-knowledge. It's the sure footedness that comes with having proved you can meet life. -- Ann Landers, born 1918

63. Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame. -- Alexander Pope (1688-1744) English Poet

64. To aim at the best and to remain essentially ourselves is one and the same thing. -- Janet Erskine Stuart

65. Courage does not always roar. Sometimes, it is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow". -- Anonymous

66. The great end of art is to strike the imagination with the power of a soul that refuses to admit defeat even in the midst of a collapsing world. -- Friedrich Nietzsche

67. Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns. I am thankful that thorns have roses. -- Allophones Karr

68. When you take a risk and step out of the norm, you run the risk and sometimes you fail. But you only fail if you give up. -- J Peterman

69. You cannot add to the peace and good will of the world if you fail to create an atmosphere of harmony and love right where you live and work. -- Thomas Dreier

70. It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expected of him. -- John Steinbeck (1902-1968) American Novelist

71. Life is not holding a good hand; Life is playing a poor hand well. -- Danish proverb

72. So, then, to every man his chance -- to every man, regardless of his birth, his shining golden opportunity -- to every man his right to live, to work, to be himself, to become whatever his manhood and his vision can combine to make him -- this, seeker, is the promise of America. -- Thomas Wolfe

73. Enjoyment is not a goal, it is a feeling that accompanies important ongoing activity. -- Paul Goodman

74. Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently. -- Henry Ford (1863-1947) American Industrialist

75. The best portion of a good man's life is the little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love. -- William Wordsworth (1770-1850) English poet

76. Not the owner of many possessions will you be right to call happy: he more rightly deserves the name of happy who knows how to use the Gods' gifts wisely and to put up with rough poverty, and who fears dishonor more than death. -- Horace (65-8 BC) Roman Poet

77. The abundant life does not come to those who have had a lot of obstacles removed from their path by others. It develops from within and is rooted in strong mental and moral fiber. -- William Mather Lewis

78. In life, there appear to be those who do not know, and who do not know that they do not know. They are as children. Nurture them. Then there appears to be those who do not know, and who know that they do not know. They are willing. Teach them. Then there appears to be those who do not know, but who think that they know. They are dangerous. Avoid them. Then there appear to be those who know, but who do not know that they know. They are asleep, Wake them. Then there appear to be those who know, but who pretend that they do not know. They are actors. Enjoy them. Then there appear to be those who know, and who know that they know. Do not follow them, For if they know that they know, they would not have you follow them. Yet listen very carefully to what they have to say, for they will remind you of what you know. Indeed, that is why they have been sent to you. That is why you have called them to you. From Friendship with God, p. 289 by Neale Donald Walsch.

79. Our capacity to draw happiness from aesthetic objects or material goods in fact seems critically dependent on our first satisfying a more important range of emotional or psychological needs, among them the need for understanding, for love, expression and respect. -- Alain De Botton

 

80. I believe with all my heart that civilization has produced nothing finer than a man or woman who thinks and practices true tolerance. -- Frank Knox

81. None will improve your lot If you yourself do not. -- Bertolt Brecht, 1933

82. In every person who comes near you look for what is good and strong; honor that; try to imitate it, and your faults will drop off like dead leaves when their time comes. -- John Ruskin (1819-1900) English Art Critic

83. The virtues which keep this world sweet and the faithfulness which keeps it steadfast are chiefly those of the average man. -- W. Russell Bowie

84. Justice is a certain rectitude of mind whereby a man does what he ought to do in circumstances confronting him. -- St. Thomas Aquinas

85. The important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part. The essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well. -- Baron de Coubertin, The Olympic Creed

86. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time. -- Jack London

87. The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials. -- Chinese proverb 

88. The sages do not consider that making no mistakes is a blessing. They believe, rather, that the great virtue of man lies in his ability to correct his mistakes and continually make a new man of himself. -- Wang Yang-Ming (1472-1529) Chinese Philosopher 

89. A life without purpose is a languid, drifting thing; Every day we ought to review our purpose, saying to ourselves: This day let me make a sound beginning, for what we have hitherto done is naught! -- Thomas A. Kempis

90. I don't like work... but I like what is in work -- the chance to find yourself. Your own reality -- for yourself, not for others -- which no other man can ever know. -- Joseph Conrad

91. The first virtue of all really great men is that they are sincere. They eradicate hypocrisy from their hearts. -- Anotole France 

92. What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

93. If a man be gracious to strangers, it shows that he is a citizen of the world, and his heart is no island, cut off from other islands, but a continent that joins them. -- Francis Bacon

94. Nothing will sustain you more potently than the power to recognize in your humdrum routine, as perhaps it may be thought, the true poetry of life. -- Sir William Osler (1849-1919) Canadian Physician 

95. It is better to say, "This one thing I do" than to say, "These forty things I dabble in." -- Washington Gladden

96. Optimism is essential to achievement and it is also the foundation of courage and true progress. -- Nicholas Murray Butler

97. If there is one thing upon this earth that mankind love and admire better than another, it is a brave man, -- it is the man who dares to look the devil in the face and tell him he is a devil. -- James A. Garfield

98. What do you first do when you learn to swim? You make mistakes, do you not? And what happens? You make other mistakes, and when you have made all the mistakes you possibly can without drowning - and some of them many times over - what do you find? That you can swim? Well - life is just the same as learning to swim! Do not be afraid of making mistakes, for there is no other way of learning how to live! AUTHOR: Alfred Adler

99. "The most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently" - Pema Chodron

100. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. -- Robert Frost (1875-1963) American Poet 

 

101. Trials, temptations, disappointments -- all these are helps instead of hindrances, if one uses them rightly. They not only test the fibre of a character, but strengthen it. Every conquered temptation represents a new fund of moral energy. Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before. -- James Buckham

 

102. Some day, in years to come, you will be wrestling with the great temptation, or trembling under the great sorrow of your life. But the real struggle is here, now, in these quiet weeks. Now it is being decided whether, in the day of your supreme sorrow or temptation, you shall miserably fail or gloriously conquer. Character cannot be made except by a steady, long continued process. -- Phillips Brooks (1835-1893) American Bishop

 

103. Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for? -- Robert Browning

 

104. Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure that there is one less scoundrel in the world. -- Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish Writer

 

105. Are there not... Two points in the adventure of the diver: One -- when a beggar, he prepares to plunge? Two -- when a prince, he rises with his pearl? I plunge! -- Robert Browning

 

106. Face your deficiencies and acknowledge them; but do not let them master you. Let them teach you patience, sweetness, insight. -- Helen Keller (1880-1968) American Writer

 

107. Every man's work, whether it be literature or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of himself. -- Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English Writer

 

108. "I can't do it" never yet accomplished anything: "I will try" has accomplished wonders. -- George P. Burnham

 

109. Hard things are put in our way, not to stop us, but to call out our courage and strength. -- Anonymous

 

110. There is in every true woman's heart a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity; but which kindles up, and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity. -- Washington Irving (1783-1859) American Writer

 

111. Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. -- Aristotle 

 

112. ... A human activity having for its purpose the transmission of the highest and best feelings to which men have risen. (on the purpose of art). -- Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) Russian Novelist 

 

113. Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. -- Samuel Ullman 

 

114. You are not happy because you are well. You are well because you are happy. You are not depressed because trouble has come to you, but trouble has come to you because you are depressed. You can change your thoughts and feelings, and then the outer things will come to correspond, and indeed there is no other way of working. -- Emmet Fox

 

115. Waste your money and you're only out of money, but waste your time and you've lost part of your life. -- Michael Leboeuf

 

116. There are two ways of exerting one's strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up. -- Booker T. Washington

 

117. We all get report cards in many different ways, but the real excitement of what you're doing is in the doing of it. It's not what you're gonna get in the end - it's not the final curtain - it's really in the doing it, and loving what I'm doing. -- Designer Ralph Lauren

 

118. To think bad thoughts is really the easiest thing in the world. If you leave your mind to itself it will spiral down into ever increasing unhappiness. To think good thoughts, however, requires effort. This is one of the things that discipline - training - is about. -- James Clavell, in his novel "Shogun"

 

119. In work, the greatest satisfaction lies - the satisfaction of stretching yourself, using your abilities and making them expand, and knowing that you have accomplished something that could have been done only by your unique apparatus. This is really the center of life, and those who never orient themselves in this direction are missing more than they ever know. -- Kenneth Alsop (1920-1973)

 

120. For me it is sufficient to have a corner by my hearth, a book and a friend, and a nap undisturbed by creditors or grief. -- Fernandez de Andrada

 

121. There is work that is work and there is play that is play; there is play that is work and work that is play. And in only one of these lie happiness. -- Gelett Burgess

 

122. Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things. -- Robert Brault

 

123. Happiness is often the result of being too busy to be miserable.

 

124. Here is Edward Bear coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump on the back of his head behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming down stairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it." -A.A Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh.

 

125. Happiness is essentially a state of going somewhere, wholeheartedly, one-directionally, without regret or reservation. -- William H. Sheldon

 

126. I believe the recipe for happiness to be just enough money to pay the monthly bills you acquire, a little surplus to give you confidence, a little too much work each day, enthusiasm for your work, a substantial share of good health, a couple of real friends and a wife and children to share life's beauty with you. -- J. Kenfield Morley

 

127. Those who turn good (organizations) into great (organizations) are motivated by a deep creative urge and an inner compulsion for sheer unadulterated excellence for its own sake. -- Jim Collins, author of Good To Great

 

128. Unswerving loyalty to duty, constant devotion to truth, and a clear conscience will overcome every discouragement and surely lead the way to usefulness and high achievement. -- Grover Cleveland

 

129. There is a sense of exhilaration that comes from facing head-on the hard truths and saying, "We will never give up. We will never capitulate. It might take a long time, but we will find a way to prevail." -- Jim Collins, from his book, Good to Great

 

130. The manner in which it is given is worth more than the gift. -- Pierre Corneille (1606-1684) French Playwright

 

131. Genuine security arises from actual, first-hand knowledge that one is both capable and worthy of achieving happiness (through conscious, responsible action) and, once having attained it, that he deserves it. -- Michael J. Hurd () American Motivational Speaker

 

132. From long familiarity, we know what honor is. It is what enables the individual to do right in the face of complacency and cowardice. It is what enables the soldier to die alone, the political prisoner to resist, the singer to sing her song, hardly appreciated, on a side street. -- Mark Helprin () American Novelist and Writer

 

133. Virtue means doing the right thing, in relation to the right person, at the right time, to the right extent, in the right manner, and for the right purpose. Thus, to give money away is quite a simple task, but for the act to be virtuous, the donor must give to the right person, for the right purpose, in the right amount, in the right manner, and at the right time. -- Aristotle

 

134. Any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him. -- Epictetus (55-135 AD) Greek Philosopher

 

135. An army of sheep led by a lion would defeat an army of lions led by a sheep. -- Arab proverb

 

136. Being defeated is often only a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent. -- Marilyn vos Savant 1946-NA

 

137. Nothing lowers the level of conversation more than raising the voice. -- Stanley Horowitz

 

138. Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant. -- Horace (65-8 BC) Roman Poet

 

139. If your ship doesn't come in, swim out to it! -- Jonathan Winters

 

140. If you're never scared or embarrassed or hurt, it means you never take any chances. -- Julia Sorel 1926-

 

141. It is better to wear out one's shoes than one's sheets. -- Genoese Proverb

142. If you want to know what a man is really like, take notice how he acts when he loses money. -- New England Proverb

 

143. Self-respect is the root of discipline: The sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself. -- Abraham Joshua Heschel 1907-1972

 

144. I think of life itself now as a wonderful play that I've written for myself... and so my purpose is to have the utmost fun playing my part. -- Shirley MacLaine

 

145. Confidence on the outside begins by living with integrity on the inside. -- Brian Tracy

 

146. We need a renaissance of wonder. We need to renew, in our hearts and in our souls, the deathless dream, the eternal poetry, the perennial sense that life is miracle and magic. -- E. Merrill Root (1895-1973) American Writer

 

147. The potential of the average person is like a huge ocean unsailed, a new continent unexplored, a world of possibilites waiting to be released and channeled toward some great good. -- Brian Tracy

 

148. At first dreams seem impossible, then improbable, then inevitable. -- Christopher Reeve (1952-2004) American Actor

 

149. Accept no one's definition of your life, but define yourself. -- Harvey Fierstein 

 

150. When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. -- Lao Tzu

 

151. The higher type of man clings to virtue, the lower type of man clings to material comfort. The higher type of man cherishes justice, the lower type of man cherishes the hope of favors to be received. -- Confucius (551-479 BC) Chinese Philosopher

 

152. In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. -- Albert Camus (1913-1960) French Writer

 

153. If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.--Thomas Edison

 

154. If you have the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed. -- David Viscott

 

155. The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining. -- John F. Kennedy

 

156. Everyone who has ever taken a shower has had an idea. It's the person who gets out of the shower, dries off, and does something about it that makes a difference. -- Nolan Bushnell

 

157. The ability to concentrate and to use time well is everything. -- Lee Iococca

 

158. I will make love my greatest weapon and none on who I call can defend against its force....My love will melt all hearts liken to the sun whose rays soften the coldest day. -- Og Mandino

 

159. It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. -- Chinese proverb

 

160. It is not the mountain we must conquer, but ourselves.--Sir Edmund Hillary

 

161. The nobler sort of man emphasizes the good qualities in others, and does not accentuate the bad. The inferior does the reverse. -- Confucius (551-479 BC) Chinese Philosopher

 

162. Progress is man's ability to complicate simplicity. - Thor-Heyerdahl. Norwegian ethnologist, 1914-2002

 

163. What is now proved was once only imagined. -- William Blake (1757-1827) English Poet

 

164. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. Bertrand Russell English logician and philosopher 1872-1970

 

165. Little progress can be made by merely attempting to repress what is evil; our great hope lies in developing what is good. -- Calvin Coolidge

 

166. The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure. Sven Goran Eriksson

 

167. A friend is one who sees through you and still enjoys the view. -- Wilma Askinas (1926- ) American Author

 

168. The love that lasts the longest is the love that is never returned. William Somerset Maugham English short-story writer, novelist and playwright, 1874-1965

 

169. If you don't make mistakes, you aren't really trying Coleman Hawkins (musician) American jazz musician and composer. 1904-1969

 

170. You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who can do nothing for them or to them. -- Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990) American Publisher

 

171. It is good to dream, but it is better to dream and work. Faith is mighty, but action with faith is mightier. -- Thomas Robert Gaines 

 

172. When you cannot make up your mind which of two evenly balanced courses of action you should take - choose the bolder. -- W.J. Slim

 

 

174. Power is the ability to do good things for others. -- Brooke Astor

 

175. Maturity is achieved when a person postpones immediate pleasures for long-term values. -- Joshua L. Liebman

 

176. Confidence is contagious; so is lack of confidence Vince Lombardi American Football coach, national symbol of single-minded determination to win.1913-1970

 

177. No obstacles fell in his way that seemed to him insurmountable. He might be defeated, as he sometimes was, but he shrank from no hardship through impatience, he fled from no danger through cowardice. -- J. P. Morgan writing about Napoleon Bonaparte

 

178. You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend. Paul Sweeney 

 

179. Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You. Dr. Seuss American writer and cartoonist best known for his collection of children's books. 1904-1991

 

180. I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back. Maya Angelou American poet, b.1928

 

181. It is a fine thing to have ability, but the ability to discover ability in others is the true test. -- Elbert Hubbard

 

182. Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you will help them become what they are capable of becoming. -- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

 

183. There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up. -- John Andrew Holmes

 

184. Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending. Maria Robinson

 

185. Virtue is not left to stand alone. He who practices it will have neighbors. Confucius China's most famous teacher, philosopher, and political theorist, 551-479 BC

 

186. Enthusiasm is excitement with inspiration, motivation, and a pinch of creativity. Bo Bennett

 

187. An archaeologist is the best husband a woman can have. The older she gets the more interested he is in her. Agatha Christie English detective, novelist and playwright, 1890-1976

 

188. Goodness is a special kind of truth and beauty. It is truth and beauty in human behavior. -- H. A. Overstreet

 

189. 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. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross Swiss-American psychiatrist and author

 

190. A great leader's courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position. John Maxwell American author and motivational speaker

 

191. There is nothing noble in being superior to some other man. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self. -- Hindu proverb

 

192. The smallest good deed is better than the grandest good intention. -- Duguet

 

193. Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be. Shel Silverstein American poet, cartoonist and composer best known in children's literature for his poetry, 1930-1999

 

194. Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca Roman philosopher, mid-1st century AD

 

195. If we're growing, we're always going to be out of our comfort zone. John Maxwell American author and motivational speaker

 

196. A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow. - General George S. Patton

 

197. Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life. Sandra Carey

 

198. "I have brought myself by long meditation to the conviction that a human being with a settled purpose must accomplish it, and that nothing can resist a will which will stake even existence upon its fulfillment." -Benjamin Disraeli

 

199. "You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget that errand." - Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States

 

200. "The mind is like the stomach. It is not how much you put into it that counts, but how much it digests." --A.J. Nock

 

201. "Praise is well, compliment is well, but affection-that is the last and most precious reward that any man can win, whether by character or achievement." --Mark Twain

 

202. The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. George Bernard Shaw Irish literary critic, playwright and essayist. 1925 Nobel Prize for Literature, 1856-1950

 

203. It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere. Agnes Repplier American essayist and writer, She is known for her collections of scholarly essays in Compromises (1904). 1858-1950

 

204. Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age, but they die young. -- A.W. Pinero 

 

205. Right actions for the future are the best apologies for wrong ones in the past. -- Tyron Edwards

 

206. If I had to live my life again, I'd make the same mistakes, only sooner. Tallulah Bankhead American actress, 1903-1968

 

207. If you've heard this story before, don't stop me, because I'd like to hear it again. Groucho Marx American comedian, actor and singer, 1890-1977

 

208. Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear Mark Twain American humorist, writer and lecturer. 1835-1910

 

209. Men can be stimulated to show off their good qualities to the leader who seems to think they have good qualities. -- John Richelsen

 

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

 

211. We come into this world crying while all around us are smiling. May we so live that we go out of this world smiling while everybody around us is weeping. -- Persian proverb

 

212. Nobody holds a good opinion of a man who holds a low opinion of himself Anthony Trollope

 

213. New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common. John Locke English philosopher who made great contributions in studies of politics, government and psychology. 1632-1704

 

214. Everything is the product of one universal creative effort. There is nothing dead in Nature. Seneca Roman philosopher, mid-1st century AD

 

215. By nature we have no defect that could not become a strength, no strength that could not become a defect Johann Wolfgang von Goethe German playwright, poet, novelist and dramatist. 1749-1832

 

216. Magnetism is one of the Six Fundamental Forces of the Universe, with the other five being Gravity, Duct Tape, Whining, Remote Control, and The Force That Pulls Dogs Toward The Groins Of Strangers. Dave Barry American writer and humorist best known for his weekly newspaper column. b.1947 British actor, b.1948

 

217. It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. Confucius China's most famous teacher, philosopher, and political theorist, 551-479 BC

 

218. For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone. Audrey Hepburn Belgian born British actress and humanitarian. 1929-1993

 

219. Victory is sweetest when you've known defeat. -- Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990) American Publisher

 

220. Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life. -- Sophia Loren (1934- ) Italian Actress

 

221. You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips. -- Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774) Irish Writer

 

222 .Seek respect mainly from thyself, for it comes first from within. -- Steven H. Coogler

 

223. So great has been the endurance, so incredible the achievement, that, as long as the sun keeps a set course in heaven, it would be foolish to despair of the human race. -- Ernest L. Woodward

 

224. If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears. -- Glenn Clark

 

225. Most of us are just about as happy as we make up our minds to be. William Adams (explorer) English merchant, adventurer and explorer, the first Englishman to visit Japan, 1564-1620

 

226. Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world. -- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish Playwright

 

227. Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy. -- Howard W. Newton

 

228. What ought one to say then as each hardship comes? I was practicing for this, I was training for this. -- Epictetus (55-135 AD) Greek Philosopher

 

229. There is nothing so comfortable as money, - but nothing so defiling if it be come by unworthily; nothing so comfortable, but nothing so noxious if the mind be allowed to dwell upon it constantly. If a man have enough, let him spend it freely. If he wants it,let him earn it honestly. -- Anonymous

 

230. Man is happy only as he finds work worth doing -- and does it well. -- E. Merrill Root (1895-1973) American Writer

 

231. To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man's life. -- T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American Poet

 

232. The sign of intelligent people is their ability to control emotions by the application of reason. -- Marya Mannes (1904-1990) American Journalist

 

233. It is never too late to be what you might have been. -- George Eliot (1819-1880) English Novelist

 

234. The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and richness to life that nothing else can bring. -- Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish Dramatist and Poet

 

235. Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine. -- Lord Byron (1788-1824) English Poet

 

236. I would rather regret the things that I have done than the things that I have not Lucille Ball American radio and motion-picture actress and comedy star, 1911-1989

 

237. All big things in this world are done by people who are naive and have an idea that is obviously impossible. -- Dr. Frank Richards (1875-1961) English Writer

 

238. When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago Friedrich Nietzsche German classical scholar, philosopher and critic of culture, 1844-1900.

 

239. Don't bother about genius. Don't worry about being clever. Trust to hard work, perseverance and determination. -- Sir Frederick Treves (1853-1923) English Surgeon

 

240. Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.--Sir Winston Churchill

 

241. I had rather do and not promise than promise and not do. -- Arthur Warwick

 

242. Whether you be man or woman you will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor. -- James Lane Allen (1849-1925) American Author

 

243. Let no man turn aside, ever so slightly, from the broad path of honour, on the plausible pretence that he is justified by the goodness of his end. All good ends can be worked out by good means. -- Charles Dickens (1812-1870) English Novelist

 

244. All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become. Buddha Hindu Prince Gautama Siddhartha, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.

 

245. To be able to practice five things everywhere under heaven constitutes perfect virtue... gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness. -- Confucius (551-479 BC) Chinese Philosopher

 

246. There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self. -- Aldous Huxley (1864-1963) English Novelist

 

247. Who is too old to learn is too old to teach Proverb

 

248. The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. -- William Arthur Ward

 

249. There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophy. Friedrich Nietzsche German classical scholar, philosopher and critic of culture, 1844-1900.

 

250. 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 and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. --Michael Jordan

 

251. True happiness is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose. -- Helen Keller (1880-1968) American Writer

 

252. Leadership is a privilege to better the lives of others. It is not an opportunity to satisfy personal greed. Mwai Kibaki 

 

253. Just remember - when you think all is lost, the future remains Dr. Robert H. Goddard American rocket engineer 1882-1945

 

254. When nothing is sure, everything is possible. -- Margaret Drabble (1939-) English Novelist

 

255. If you could get up the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed. David Viscott

 

256. Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person. -- Mother Teresa (1910-1997) Albanian Missionary

 

257. Perhaps love is the process of my leading you gently back to yourself Antoine de Saint-Exupery French pilot, writer and author of 'The Little Prince', 1900-1944

 

258. I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble. -- Helen Keller (1880-1968) American Writer

 

259. I can live for two months on a good compliment. Mark Twain American humorist, writer and lecturer. 1835-1910

 

260. He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words. Elbert Hubbard American editor, publisher and writer, 1856-1915 

 

261. When we accept tough jobs as a challenge to our ability and wade into them with joy and enthusiasm, miracles can happen. -- Arland Gilbert

262. You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger. Buddha Hindu Prince Gautama Siddartha, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.

 

263. Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are... Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in my pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return. -- Mary Jean Iron

 

264. If you have made mistakes...there is always another chance for you...you may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call "failure" is not the falling down, but the staying down. -- Mary Pickford (1893-1979) Canadian Actress

 

265. Is there anything better than to be longing for something, when you know it is within reach? Greta Garbo Swedish actress and Hollywood star, 1905-1990

 

266. The person who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones. -- Chinese proverb

 

267. It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge. Albert Einstein German born American physicist who developed the special and general theories of relativity. Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. 1879-1955 

 

268. Men succeed when they realize that their failures are the preparation for their victories.--Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

269. Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is sign on as its accomplice. Tom Watson American golfer. b.1949

 

270. I wept because I had no shoes, until I saw a man who had no feet. -- Persian saying, Ancient

 

271. Nothing external to you has any power over you. Ralph Waldo Emerson American poet, lecturer and essayist, 1803-1882

 

272. All mortals tend to turn into the things they are pretending to be. C.S. Lewis British scholar and novelist. 1898-1963

 

273. Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are. -- Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990) American Publisher 

 

274. You are a little soul carrying around a corpse. Epictetus Greek philosopher associated with the Stoics, AD 55-c.135 

 

275. Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world. Harriet Tubman American escaped slave, Civil War soldier and abolitionist, 1820-1913

 

276. In order to discover new lands, one must be willing to lose sight of the shore for a very long time. -- Andre Gide (1869–1951) French Writer

 

277. You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. Mike Murdock

 

278. I run great risk of failing. It may be that I shall encounter ruin where I look for reputation and a career of honor. The chances are perhaps more in favour of ruin than of success. But, whatever may be the chances, I shall go on as long as any means of carrying on the fight are at my disposal. -- Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) English Novelist

 

279. If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals. Joanne Kathleen Rowling English writer, author of Harry Potter, b. b.1965

 

280. Nature does not bestow virtue; to be good is an art. -- Seneca 

 

281. The one thing that matters is the effort. Antoine de Saint-Exupery French pilot, writer and author of 'The Little Prince', 1900-1944

 

282. The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green. -- Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish Writer 

 

283. The shortest and surest way to live with honor in the world is to be in reality what we would appear to be. -- Socrates (469-399 BC) Greek Philosopher

 

284. Some people make things happen, some watch things happen, while others wonder what has happened Proverb

 

285. God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless. Chester W. Nimitz

 

286. Inventing is a combination of brains and materials. The more brains you use, the less material you need. Charles F. Kettering American engineer, inventor of the electric starter, 1876-1958

 

287. It matters not what a person is born, but who they choose to be. Joanne Kathleen Rowling English writer, author of Harry Potter, b. b.1965

 

288. A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be.  -- Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) American Psychologist

 

289. The nearest way to glory -- a shortcut, as it were -- is to strive to be what you wish to be thought to be - quoted in Cicero, 44 BC. -- Socrates (469-399 BC) Greek Philosopher

 

290. Those who do not read are no better off than those who cannot. Proverb

 

291. The most absurd and reckless aspirations have sometimes led to extraordinary success. -- Vauvenargues

 

292. If you cannot find peace within yourself, you will never find it anywhere else Marvin Gaye American soul singer, songwriter and producer, 1939-1984

 

293. There is only one success - to be able to spend your life in your own way. -- Christopher Darlington Morley (1890-1957)

 

294. Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success Napoleon Hill American author, 1883-1970

 

295. A mother should give her children a superabundance of enthusiasm, that after they have lost all they are sure to lose in mixing with the world, enough may still remain to prompt and support them through great actions. -- Julius C. Hare (1795-1855) English Cleric

 

296. Before you can score you must first have a goal. Proverb

 

297. Babe Ruth hit more home runs than anyone; he also struck out more often than anyone. -- Anonymous

 

298. He who finds diamonds must grapple in mud and mire because diamonds are not found in polished stones. They are made. -- Henry B. Wilson

 

299. It is not length of life, but depth of life. Ralph Waldo Emerson American poet, lecturer and essayist, 1803-1882

 

300. Expect the best. Prepare for the worst. Capitalize on what comes. Zig Ziglar American motivational speaker and author.

 

301. The world is good-natured to people who are good natured. -- William Makepeace Thackeray

 

302. People only see what they are prepared to see. Ralph Waldo Emerson American poet, lecturer and essayist, 1803-1882

 

303. First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. -- Epictetus (55-135 AD) Greek Philosopher

 

304. It is no use saying, 'We are doing our best.' You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary. Winston Churchill British orator, author and prime minister during World War II. 1874-1965

 

305. Great is the road I climb, but the garland offered by an easier effort is not worth the gathering. -- Sextus Propertius (50BC-16AD) Roman Poet

 

306. Courage is the greatest of all the virtues. Because if you haven't courage, you may not have an opportunity to use any of the others. -- Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English Author

 

307. You can't think about things you want to change. Just be yourself. Ethan Embry

 

308. The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.--Amelia Earhart

 

309. People say they love truth, but in reality they want to believe that which they love is true. Robert J. Ringer

 

310. We have worked at full speed since May. And that is I'm persuaded the root and source and origin of all health and happiness, provided of course that one rides work as a man rides a great horse, in a spirited and independent way; not a drudge, but a man with spurs to his heels. (Writing in her journal about her life as a publisher and writer.) -- Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) English Writer

 

311. The more anger towards the past you carry in your heart, the less capable you are of loving in the present. Barbara De Angelis American researcher on relationships and personal growth

 

312. Decide on what you think is right, and stick to it. -- George Eliot (1819-1880) English Novelist

 

313. Desire is the key to motivation, but it's the determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal-a commitment to excellence-that will enable you to attain the success you seek.--Mario Andretti

 

313. What can be added to the happiness of a man who is in health, out of debt, and has a clear conscience? -- Adam Smith (1723-1790)

 

314. Remember that if the opportunities for great deeds should never come, the opportunities for good deeds are renewed day by day. The thing for us to long for is the goodness, not the glory. -- F.W. Faber

 

315. Courtesy is simply doing unto others what you would like them to do unto you. -- Anonymous 

 

316. If you press me to say why I loved him, I can say no more than because he was he, and I was I. -- Michel de Montaigne

 

317. Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment. Own it.--Oprah Winfrey

 

318.  Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.--Benjamin Franklin

 

319.  A great attitude does much more than turn on the lights in our worlds; it seems to magically connect us to all sorts of serendipitous opportunities that were somehow absent before we changed.--Earl Nightingale

 

320. Every form of life seems to strive to its maximum except human beings. How tall will a tree grow? As tall as it possibly can. Human beings, on the other hand, have been given the dignity of choice. You can choose to be all or you can choose to be less. Why not stretch up to the full measure of the challenge and see what all you can do?--Jim Rohn

 

321. Commitment is that turning point in your life when you seize the moment and convert it into an opportunity to alter your destiny.--Denis Waitley

 

322. Sometimes getting on the path to success and staying on it requires faith in the process-especially at the start. That makes you a pioneer. Pioneers don't know what's out there, but out there they go anyway. That's why being a pioneer takes such courage. Courage means to have a purpose and to have heart.-- Jeff Olson, Author of The Slight Edge

 

323. He who has health has hope; and he who has hope, has everything. -- Arabian Proverb 

 

324. Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most often makes for success.--Dale Carnegie

 

325. The more you recognize and express gratitude for the things you have, the more things you will have to express gratitude for.--Zig Ziglar

 

326. Whatever your present situation, I can assure you that you are not your habits. You can replace old patterns of self-defeating behaviour with new patterns, new habits of effectiveness, happiness, and trust-based relationships.--Stephen Covey

 

327.  Knowledge is the raw material of production and value in this age. It used to be that the main difference between people in our society was between those who have more and those who have less. Today, however, the difference is between those who know more and those who know less.-- Brian Tracy

 

328. Maya Angelou said this: "I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights." "I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life. "I've learned that making a "living" is not the same thing as "making a life." "I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. "I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back." "I've learned that when ever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision." "I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one." "I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back." "I've learned that I still have a lot to learn." "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel 

 

329. Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson 

 

330. Apathy can be overcome by enthusiasm, and enthusiasm can be aroused by two things: first, an idea which takes the imagination by storm; and second, a definite, intelligible plan for carrying that idea into action. -- Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975)

 

331. A childlike man is not a man whose development has been arrested; on the contrary, he is a man who has given himself a chance of continuing to develop long after most adults have muffled themselves in the cocoon of middle aged habit and convention. -- Aldous Huxley 

 

332. Nothing is more endangered in the modern world than the powerful combination of hard work toward meaningful goals joined with an exuberant embrace of the present moment. -- Tom Morris 

 

333.When we are mindful of every nuance of our natural world, we finally get the picture: that we are only given one dazzling moment of life here on Earth, and we must stand before that reality both humbled and elevated, subject to every law of our universe and grateful for our brief but intrinsic participation with it. (From her biography of naturalist Eustace Conway.) -- Elizabeth Gilbert 

 

334. A burning desire is the greates motivator of every human action. The desire for success implants 'success consciousness' which, in turn, creates a vigorous and ever-increasing 'habit of success'.--Paul J Meyer

 

335. The great end of art is to strike the imagination with the power of a soul that refuses to admit defeat even in the midst of a collapsing world. -- Friedrich Nietzsche 

 

336. You were made for success-created for a unique and magnificent destiny! Dream the extraordinary! Pursue your passion with faith and tenacity and you will bring that destiny into reality.--Chris Widener

 

337. Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can acheive.--Napolean Hill

 

338.Deep within man dwell those slumbering powers; powers that would astonish him, that he never dreamed of possessing; forces that would revolutionize his life if aroused and put into action.--Orison Swett Marden

 

339.. I'm not happy, I'm cheerful. There's a difference. A happy woman has no cares at all. A cheerful woman has cares but has learned how to deal with them. -- Beverly Sills (1929-) American Opera Singer

 

340. The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater his success, his influence, and his power for good. He is like a shade-giving tree in a thirsty land, or a sheltering rock in a storm.--James Allen

 

341. Whenever a negative thought concerning your personal power comes to mind, deliberately voice a positive thought to cancel it out.-Norman Vincent Peale

 

342. "If you want to know your past - look into your present conditions. If you want to know your future - look into your present actions." Chinese Proverb 

 

343. Happiness is good health and a bad memory. -- Ingrid Bergman 

 

344. "As long as you don't forgive, who and whatever it is will occupy rent-free space in your mind." Isabelle Holland Author

 

345. The strongest oak of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It's the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for existence against the winds and rains and the scorching sun.--Napolean Hill

 

346. "I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacations with better care than they plan their lives. Perhaps that is because escape is easier than change." Jim Rohn Author and Speaker 

 

347. Unswerving loyalty to duty, constant devotion to truth, and a clear conscience will overcome every discouragement and surely lead the way to usefulness and high achievement. -- Grover Cleveland 

 

348. "The victory of success is half won when one gains the habit of setting goals and achieving them. Even the most tedious chore will become endurable as you parade through each day convinced that every task, no matter how menial or boring, brings you closer to achieving your dreams." Og Mandino 1923-1996, Author 

 

349. "Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them, we should make up our minds to walk boldly through them." Orison Swett Marden 1850-1924, Founder of Success Magazine

 

350. Why should I? When somebody insulted Caruso, did he sing an aria for them? - Explaining why he did not hit a motorist after the latter abused him following an accident. -- Joe Louis (1914-1981) American Heavyweight Boxer

 

351. Any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him. -- Epictetus (55-135 AD) Greek Philosopher

 

352.

Here is an anonymous reflection on poem #64 from the Tao Te Ching by Lao-Tzu:

Pay attention to what is in order to prevent what is not

 A cut needs cleaning

 A hurt needs caring

A relationship needs tending

 Pay attention to what is in order to grow what is not

A joy needs sharing

An idea needs nurturing

Creativity needs expressing

The greatest of pine trees is deeply rooted yet easily grows from the tiniest of seeds.

352. The important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part.  The essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well. -- Baron de Coubertin, The Olympic Creed

 

353. Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half sorrow. -- Swedish proverb

"Masters Of The Secret" audio recording

Download audio.mp3

The Invitation

The Invitation

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain! I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

by
Oriah Mountain Dreamer, Indian Elder

I Think We Should All Do This

One day I had a date for lunch with friends. Mae, a little old "blue haired" lady about 80 years old, came along with them. All in all, a pleasant bunch.

When the menus were presented, we ordered salads, sandwiches, and soups, except for Mae who said, "Ice Cream, please. Two scoops, chocolate." I wasn't sure my ears heard right, and the others were aghast. "Along with heated apple pie," Mae added, completely unabashed.

We tried to act quite nonchalant, as if people did this all the time. But when our orders were brought out, I didn't enjoy mine. I couldn't take my eyes off Mae as her pie a-la-mode went down. The other ladies showed dismay. They ate their lunches silently and frowned.

The next time I went out to eat, I called and invited Mae. I lunched on white meat tuna. She ordered a parfait! I smiled. She asked if she amused me. I answered, "Yes, you do, but also you confuse me. How come you order rich desserts, while I feel I must be sensible?

 She laughed and said, with wanton mirth, "I'm tasting all that's possible. I try to eat the food I need, and do the things I should.

But life's so short, my friend, I hate missing out on something good. This year I realized how old I was. She grinned, I haven't been this old before.

So, before I die, I've got to try those things that for years I had ignored.

I haven't smelled all the flowers yet. There are too many books I haven't read. There's more fudge sundaes to wolf down and kites to be flown overhead. There are many malls I haven't shopped. I've not l aughed at all the jokes.

 I've missed a lot of Broadway hits and potato chips and jokes. I want to wade again in water and feel ocean spray on my face. I want to sit in a country church once more and thank God for His grace. I want peanut butter every day, spread on my morning toast. I want UN-timed long distance calls to the folks I love the most. I haven't cried at all the movies yet, or walked in the morning rain. I need to feel wind in my hair. I want to fall in love again.

So, if I choose to have dessert, instead of having dinner, then should I die before nightfall, I'd say I died a winner, because I missed out on nothing. I filled my heart's desire. I had that final chocolate mousse, before my life expired."

With that, I called the waitress over. "I've changed my mind," I said. "I want what she is having, only add some more whipped cream!"

Don't Quit

(Anonymous)

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low, and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit --
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow --
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup;
And he learned too late when the night slipped down
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out --
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you are hardest hit --
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.

Desiderata

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly, and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

 

Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

 

Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

 

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.

 

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

 

You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

 

Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

 

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

by Max Ehrmann

Serenity Chapter from the book "As A Man Thinketh"

Serenity

Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. It is the result of long and patient effort in self-control. Its presence is an indication of ripened experience, and of a more than ordinary knowledge of the laws and operations of thought.

A man becomes calm in the meaure that he understands himself as a thought-evolved being, for such knowledge necessitates the understanding of others as the result of thought, and as he develops a right understanding, and sees more clearly the internal relations of things by the action of cause and effect, he ceases to fuss and fume and worry and grieve, and remains poised, steadfast, serene.

The calm man, having learned how to govern himself, knows how to adapt himself to others; and they, in turn, reverence his spiritual strength, and feel that they can learn of him and rely upon him. The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Even the ordinary trader will find his business prosperity increase as he develops greater equanimity, for people will always prefer to deal with a man whose demeanor is strongly equable.

The strong, calm man is always loved and revered. He is like a shade-giving tree in a thirsty land, or a sheltering rock in a storm. "Who does not love a tranquil heart, a sweet-tempered,  balanced life? It does not matter whether it rains or shines, or what changes come to those possessing these blessings, for they are always sweet, serene, and calm. That exquisite poise of character which we call serenity is the last lesson of culture; it is the flowering of life, the fruitage of the soul. It is precious as wisdom, more to be desired than gold-yea, than even fine gold. How insignificant mere money-seeking looks in comparison with a serene life-a life that dwells in the ocean of Truth, beneath the waves, beyond the reach of tempests, in the Eternal Calm!

"How many people we know who sour their lives, who ruin all that is sweet and beautiful by explosive tempers, who destroy their poise of character, and make bad blood! It is a question whether the great majority of people do not ruin their lives and mar their happiness by lack of self-control. How few people we meet in life who are well-balanced, who have that exquisite poise which is characteristic of the finished character!"

Yes, humanity surges with uncontrolled passion, is tumultuous with ungoverned grief, is blown about by anxiety and doubt. Only the wise man, only he whose thoughts are controlled and purified, makes the winds and the storms of the soul obey him.

Tempest-tossed souls, wherever ye may be, under whatsoever conditions ye may live, know this- in the ocean of life the isles of Blessedness are smiling, and the sunny shore of your ideal awaits your coming. Keep your hand firmly upon the helm of thought. In the barque of your soul reclines the commanding Master; He does but sleep; wake Him. Self-control is strength; Right Thought is mastery; Calmess is power. Say unto your heart, 'Peace be still!'

James Allen 'As A Man Thinketh'

Text Of Stephen Jobs Stanford Address

'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

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

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

I Am Not Grateful

I am not grateful for the brevity of life;
for this slice will be gone over,  done for
and before you know it
only a memory.

However, a memory is better than nothing (and even better if you are a good memory).

So grateful I am for the days I have left, however many they number.

I can breathe deep, kiss my grandson’s cheek,
observe my son’s smile and secretly triumph
in my daughter’s excellent choices.

I can walk, eat, drink and look at another sunseth
while the blue wind cools my plum lips,
promising hot coffee to wake me for another day

I am not grateful that it will all end

My sister and brothers will no longer call,
my friends will frown

and my computer will lay still next to my soft t empty bed

I will not know chocolate cake with hidden chips, turkey with dressing
or potatoes with brown gravy.

In the grave gratitude will elude me and forget me
at the happy holiday feasts stuffed with beating hearts, sweet laughter,and luscious living eyeballs.

I am not grateful for life’s brevity
only thankful for now
and my numbered days
to grow,  dance, sprout flowers
and sing above the rich, warm ground of today.


Connie Marconi
Joe Stumpf

 

Delbert McClinton -Sending Me Angels

Reflecting back on life, through all it's trials, tribulations, obstacles and victories, it has always amazed me that there has always been a person who showed up at exactly the right time, with exactly what I needed. They've been bosses, clients, romantic interests, friends and sometimes just positive influences that passed through my life almost without stopping long enough for me to say "thank you". Usually you don't even realize the impact they had until years later. I think this song perfectly summarizes my feelings about these people, wherever they are now. Every time I hear it I feel gratitude for all the angels in my life.

04 Sending Me Angels

Standing on the bank of a river
By the shore
Seems like the devil's always tryin'
To get in my door
Just when I thought I
Couldn't take it anymore
Here he came again
My friend

He keeps sending me angels,
From up on high
He keeps sending me angels,
To teach me to fly
He keeps sending me angels,
Sweet and true
He keeps sending me angels,
Just... like... you...

As I stand on this mountain
Face to the wind,
Amazed by the number of times I have sinned,
And the countless number of enemies
That should have been friends
Here he comes again,
My friend

He keeps sending me angels,
Here they come a-flyin'
He keeps sending me angels,
To keep me from cryin'
He keeps sending me angels,
Sweet and true
He keeps sending me angels,
Just... like... you...

Some say that it's comin'
I say that it's already here
The love that's among us through
The joy and the fear
When I look into your eyes
Everything is so clear
My friend, oh here he comes again

He keeps sending me angels,
From up on high
He keeps sending me angels,
To teach me to fly
He keeps sending me angels,
Sweet and true
He keeps sending me angels,
Just... like... you...

Respect Yourself

"Respect yourself, respect yourself
If you don't respect yourself
Ain't nobody gonna give a good cahoot, na na na na
Respect yourself, respect yourself..." - Luther Ingram

Alfred Griswold obtained his B.A. from Yale University in 1929, just in time for the stock market crash. After kicking around Wall Street for a little while he became a teacher at Yale in 1933, and spent the next 18 years as a teacher and professor, before becoming President of the University from 1959 - 1963.

Griswold wrote extensively on the concept of education, and a liberal arts education in particular. He said this about self-respect:
"Self-respect cannot be hunted. It cannot be purchased. It is never for sale. It cannot be fabricated out of public relations. It comes to us when we are alone, in quiet moments, in quiet places, when we suddenly realize that, knowing the good, we have done it; knowing the beautiful, we have served it; knowing the truth we have spoken it."

---

Canine Hero

Check out this amazing video of a hero dog

Native Spirit Message

Native Message

Famous Failures

If you've never failed, you've never lived... a few of the world's most famous 'failures'

Be The Change (2)

Be The Change That You Want To See

Inpromptu Dancing

This is fantastic. Imagine if this happened while you were waiting for a train

Hugs, Hugs & More Hugs

If you just can't get enough hugs, this is for you...

Will Smith on "Running & Reading"

Will Smith on 'Running and Reading'

Stairway To Heaven

Rodrigo y Gabriela- Stairway To Heaven

Randy Pausch "The Last Lecture"

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture at Carnegie Mellon

Michael Jordan on Failure

Michael Jordan Failure Commercial

Tony Robbins on Change

Benjamin Zander

Benjamin Zander on shining eyes and one-butted playing

I Have A Dream

Martin Luther King...I have a dream

Stand By Me

Stand By Me ...sung around the world

Surprise!

Dad surprises son after returning from Iraq