If you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another. You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving. Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more. Some people give time, some money, some their skills and connections, some literally give their life's blood. But everyone has something to give. Giving is most blessed and most acceptable when the donor remains completely anonymous.
I never approve, or disapprove, of anything now. It is an absurd attitude to take towards life. We are not sent into the world to air our moral prejudices. The depth and strength of a human character are defined by its moral reserves. People reveal themselves completely only when they are thrown out of the customary conditions of their life, for only then do they have to fall back on their reserves. Be what you would seem to be - or, if you'd like it put more simply - never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise( think about it). The three hardest tasks in the world are neither physical feats nor intellectual achievements, but moral acts: to return love for hate, to include the excluded, and to say, "I was wrong".
For everything there is a season,
And a time for every matter under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to seek, and a time to lose;
A time to keep, and a time to throw away;
A time to tear, and a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate,
A time for war, and a time for peace.
You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life. When you have once seen the glow of happiness on the face of a beloved person, you know that a man can have no vocation but to awaken that light on the faces surrounding him; and you are torn by the thought of the unhappiness and night you cast, by the mere fact of living, in the hearts you encounter. Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. Why not let people differ about their answers to the great mysteries of the Universe? Let each seek one's own way to the highest, to one's own sense of supreme loyalty in life, one's ideal of life. Let each philosophy, each world-view bring forth its truth and beauty to a larger perspective, that people may grow in vision, stature and dedication. The happiness that is genuinely satisfying is accompanied by the fullest exercise of our faculties and the fullest realization of the world in which we live. There are as many nights as days, and the one is just as long as the other in the year's course. Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word 'happy' would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.
Peace has to be created, in order to be maintained. It is the product of Faith, Strength, Energy, Will, Sympathy, Justice, Imagination, and the triumph of principle. It will never be achieved by passivity and quietism. Peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of creative alternatives for responding to conflict -- alternatives to passive or aggressive responses, alternatives to violence. Peace, in the sense of the absence of war, is of little value to someone who is dying of hunger or cold. It will not remove the pain of torture inflicted on a prisoner of conscience. It does not comfort those who have lost their loved ones in floods caused by senseless deforestation in a neighboring country. Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where the people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free. Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each of us individually. Peace, for example, starts within each one of us. When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace. When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us. Peace is not achieved by controlling nations, but mastering our thoughts. There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be no community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, and ultimately no life, without community.
If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one. If you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another. You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. If you have much, give of your wealth; If you have little, give of your heart. The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving. Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more. It's important to give it all you have while you have the chance. You get the best out of others when you give the best of yourself. Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present. The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another's, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises.
Your world is a living expression of how you are using and have used your mind. It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge. Kindness is more than deeds. It is an attitude, an expression, a look, a touch. It is anything that lifts another person. What is passion? It is surely the becoming of a person. Are we not, for most of our lives, marking time? Most of our being is at rest, unlived. In passion, the body and the spirit seek expression outside of self. Passion is all that is other from self. Sex is only interesting when it releases passion. The more extreme and the more expressed that passion is, the more unbearable does life seem without it. It reminds us that if passion dies or is denied, we are partly dead and that soon, come what may, we will be wholly so.Dancing is the vertical expression of a horizontal desire legalized by music. The truest expression of a people is in its dances and its music. Bodies never lie.
Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless. You see things; and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, 'Why not?' Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions. Sometimes questions are more important than answers. Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand. I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge - myth is more potent than history - dreams are more powerful than facts - hope always triumphs over experience - laughter is the cure for grief - love is stronger than death. Every human has four endowments- self awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom... The power to choose, to respond, to change.
If I could dream at night
and if those dreams came true
i would force myself to sleep at night
so i could dream of you
If wishes were given to lonely guys,
and if i were given just two
i would wish that you would always love me
the other i would give to you
if my tears could write love songs
Before my tears were through
you would know just how i feel
and how much i love you
But dreams are for dreamers
and wishes seldom come true
my tears do not write love songs
but when they fall....they fall for you.
Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime, and falling in at night. I miss you like hell. Sometimes I wish I were a little kid again, skinned knees are easier to fix than broken hearts. Count the garden by the flowers, never by the leaves that fall. I suppose Giving up doesn't always mean you are weak; sometimes it means that you are strong enough to let go. Relationships are like glass. Sometimes it's better to leave them broken than try to hurt yourself putting it back together. Count the garden by the flowers, never by the leaves that fall. Count your life with smiles and not the tears that roll. The heart is the only broken instrument that works.
If any individual is compassionate and altruistic, wherever that person moves, he or she will immediately make friends. And when that person faces tragedy, there will be plenty of people who will come to help.
Once you try to control or discipline your anger, then eventually even big events will not cause anger.
If somebody steps on your shoes and ruins them, don't freak out.. get a new pair of shoes. If you miss something, don't freak out.. there's nothing you can do to change it.. just move on.
There's one sure way a quitter can succeed in life: If the quitter finally quits quitting And starts doing what it takes to win! It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice. If you look at what you have in life, You'll always have more. If you look at what you don't have in life, You'll never have enough. Preparation is not the enemy of success, but a dear friend. Be good to yourself and the favor will return. All truly wise thoughts have been thought thousands of times; But to make them truly ours we must think them over again honestly, Until they take root in our personal experience. I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge That myth is more potent than history That dreams are more powerful than facts That hope always triumphs over experience That laughter is the only cure for grief And I believe that love is stronger than death.
The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much of what is not shared between them, and lessens the threat of their difference. When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares. The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention…. A loving silence often has far more power to heal and to connect than the most well-intentioned words. When a friend is in trouble, don't annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do. Think up something appropriate and do it.
If individuality has no play, society does not advance; if individuality breaks out of all bounds, society perishes. The four cornerstones of character on which the structure of this nation was built are: Initiative, Imagination, Individuality and Independence. Individuality is founded in feeling; and the recesses of feeling, the darker, blinder strata of character, are the only places in the world in which we catch real fact in the making. Individuality is the aim of political liberty. By leaving to the citizen as much freedom of action and of being, as comports with order and the rights of others, the institutions render him truly a freeman. He is left to pursue his means of happiness in his own manner.
The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning. What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal. Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. Everyone must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness. Really big people are, above everything else, courteous, considerate and generous - not just to some people in some circumstances - but to everyone all the time. To be rich in admiration and free from envy, to rejoice greatly in the good of others, to love with such generosity of heart that your love is still a dear possession in absence or unkindness - these are the gifts which money cannot buy. The wise man does not lay up his own treasures. The more he gives to others, the more he has for his own. You are forgiven for your happiness and your successes only if you generously consent to share them. Generosity is not giving me that which I need more than you do, but it is giving me that which you need more than I do. To be able to practice five things everywhere under heaven constitutes perfect virtue. They are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness and kindness.
Todays Words -
Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you'll reach out and take it. Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too. Learn to limit yourself; to content yourself with some definite work; dare to be what you are and learn to resign with a good grace all that you are not; and to believe in your own individuality. Gracefulness has been defined to be the outward expression of the inward harmony of the soul. Gracefulness is to the body what understanding is to the mind. Grace is available for each of us every day - our spiritual daily bread - but we've got to remember to ask for it with a grateful heart and not worry about whether there will be enough for tomorrow. I do not at all understand the mystery of grace - only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us. I know nothing, except what everyone knows – if there when Graces dances, I should dance.
It seems to be the fate of man to seek all his consolations in futurity. Hope is itself a species of happiness, and, perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords. Hope is necessary in every condition. The miseries of poverty, sickness and captivity would, without this comfort, be insupportable. The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. Within each of us is a hidden store of energy. Energy we can release to compete in the marathon of life. Within each of us is a hidden store of courage. Courage to give us the strength to face any challenge. Within each of us is a hidden store of determination. Determination to keep us in the race when all seems lost. I believe the root of all happiness on this earth to lie in the realization of a spiritual life with a consciousness of something wider than materialism; in the capacity to live in a world that makes you unselfish because you are not overanxious about your personal place; that makes you tolerant because you realize your own comic fallibilities; that gives you tranquility without complacency because you believe in something so much larger than yourself.
Never talk defeat. Use words like hope, belief, faith, victory. Practice hope. As hopefulness becomes a habit, you can achieve a permanently happy spirit. Sometimes we feel so worn down by our spirit-breaking, daily grind (or a serious loss, like being fired) that we lack the energy and hope needed to reach our goals. The creative process makes demands on us. In and of itself, it can trigger anxiety, conflict, chronic fatigue, and even intense resistance (what I've called the Big R)--the recoil, or withdrawal of energy from obligations. When apathy or restlessness undercut our plans, the Big R is usually lurking close by. True hope dwells on the possible, even when life seems to be a plot written by someone who wants to see how much adversity we can overcome. It is amazing that our souls--our eternal essences, with all their hopes and dreams and visions of an eternal world--are contained within these temporal bodies. No wonder suffering is part of the human condition. Life affords no higher pleasure than that of surmounting difficulties, passing from one step of success to another, forming new wishes, and seeing them gratified. He that labors in any great or laudable undertaking has his fatigues first supported by hope, and afterwards rewarded by joy...To strive with difficulties, and to conquer them, is the highest human felicity
There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief...and unspeakable love. The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. Among men and women, those in love do not always announce themselves with declarations and vows. But they are the ones who weep when you're gone. Who miss you every single night, especially when the sky is so deep and beautiful, and the ground so very cold. To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others. The way we communicate with others and with ourselves ultimately determines the quality of our lives. All noise is waste. So cultivate quietness in your speech, in your thoughts, in your emotions. Speak habitually low. Wait for attention and then you low words will be charged with dynamite. If we are strong, our strength will speak for itself. If we are weak, words will be of no help.
Music . . . can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable.
Cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, filling it with a steady and perpetual serenity. Gardening is about enjoying the smell of things growing in the soil, getting dirty without feeling guilty, and generally taking the time to soak up a little peace and serenity. The serenity of mind, gentleness, silence, self-restraint, and the purity of mind are called the austerity of thought. I had found a kind of serenity, a new maturity... I didn't feel better or stronger than anyone else but it seemed no longer important whether everyone loved me or not--more important now was for me to love them. Feeling that way turns your whole life around; living becomes the act of giving.
Many of us crucify ourselves between two thieves - regret for the past and fear of the future. I think that everything happens to you for a reason, the hard times that you go through build character, making you into a much stronger person. I would much rather have regrets about not doing what people said, than regretting not doing what my heart led me to and wondering what life had been like if I'd just been myself. Regret is an odd emotion because it comes only upon reflection. Regret lacks immediacy, and so its power seldom influences events when it could do some good. Procrastination usually results in sorrowful regret. Today's duties put off until tomorrow give us a double burden to bear; the best way is to do them in their proper time. Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness.
The most essential factor in self growth and fufillment is persistence - the determination never to allow your energy or enthusiasm to be dampened by the discouragement that must inevitably come. Persistance with patience and prayer pays with profits, prosperity and peace of mind. One of the most difficult things everyone has to learn is that for your entire life you must keep fighting and adjusting if you hope to survive. No matter who you are or what your position is you must keep fighting for whatever it is you desire to achieve. What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step. Step by step the ladder is ascended. Defeat may test you; it need not stop you. If at first you don't succeed, try another way. For every obstacle there is a solution. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. The greatest mistake is giving up. Keep on going, and the chances are that you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I never heard of anyone ever stumbling on something sitting down.
Every betrayal contains a perfect moment, a coin stamped heads or tails with salvation on the other side. It would take too long to explain the intimate alliance of contradictions in human nature which makes love itself wear at times the desperate shape of betrayal. And perhaps there is no possible explanation. To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the approbation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty; To find the best in others; To give of one's self; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived - This is to have succeeded.
Some people think it's holding on that makes one strong- sometimes it's letting go. The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire; the size of your dream; and how you handle disappointment along the way. Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength. Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich. Success is achieved by developing our strengths, not by eliminating our weaknesses. There are two ways of exerting one's strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up. Strength is Happiness. Strength is itself victory. In weakness and cowardice there is no happiness. When you wage a struggle, you might win or you might lose. But regardless of the short-term outcome, the very fact of your continuing to struggle is proof of your victory as a human being.
I know I hurt you and I feel so bad,
For saying things and making you sad..
It's just that my love for you is so great,
I want to be with you, I just can't wait..
You are so special, one of a kind,
I could look forever and never find,
Anyone else as wonderful as you,
With such a pretty smile and eyes so blue..
Please forgive me for things I said,
I love you so much, It just messed my head..
You are my life. My very breathe,
I promise to love you, even after death..
So if you can forgive this broken hearted friend,
You'll never see that part of me again..
I'll love you and take care of you for infinity,
We'll make it, together, just you and me
From the moment I knew you
I knew my love for you was true
All those times I was feeling down
And had the sadness in my eyes
You came and made me smile
I know I've made mistakes
But I know my love is for sure
Just when my dream is about to come true
I had to go and make you sad and blue
Now my only chance with you has vanished
My heart is so full of sadness
I acted so stupid and caused this fight
Now I'll never get the chance to make it right.
I know you are so hurt my sweetheart
I can't change anything from afar
I don't know what to do anymore
I've never felt this way before
My soul is feeling my cry
Babe, my heart deserves another try
Most people have a harder time letting themselves love than finding someone to love them. True love doesn't have a happy ending, because true love never ends. Letting go is one way of saying I love you. Letting go doesn't mean giving up, but rather accepting that there are things that cannot be. There are things that we never want to let go of, people we never want to leave behind. But keep in mind that letting go isn't the end of the world, it's the beginning of a new life.
People are afraid of themselves, of their own reality; their feelings most of all. People talk about how great love is, but that's bullshit. Love hurts. Feelings are disturbing. People are taught that pain is evil and dangerous. How can they deal with love if they're afraid to feel? Pain is meant to wake us up. People try to hide their pain. But they're wrong. Pain is something to carry, like a radio. You feel your strength in the experience of pain. It's all in how you carry it. That's what matters. Pain is a feeling. Your feelings are a part of you. Your own reality. If you feel ashamed of them, and hide them, you're letting society destroy your reality. You should stand up for your right to feel your pain. Inner peace can be reached only when we practice forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past, and is therefore the means for correcting our misperceptions. The secret of love is seeking variety in your life together, and never letting routine chords dull the melody of your romance.
This life is yours. Take the power to choose what you want to do and do it well. Take the power to love what you want in life and love it honestly. Take the power to walk in the forest and be a part of nature. Take the power to control your own life. No one else can do it for you. Take the power to make your life happy. You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you. The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, your lover, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny. The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you're in control of your life. If you don't, life controls you. In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.
You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. When you need something most, when you need something so bad, give it away, and bigger and better things shall come your way. The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another's, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises. Yesterday is but today's memory, tomorrow is today's dream.
A rose without thorns is like love without heartbreak; it doesn't make sense.
Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life. By three methods we may learn wisdom: first, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third, by experience, which is the most bitter. In a disordered mind, as in a disordered body, soundness of health is impossible. The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination. A fool may be known by six things: anger, without cause; speech, without profit; change, without progress; inquiry, without object; putting trust in a stranger, and mistaking foes for friends. Achievement of your happiness is the only moral purpose of your life, and that happiness, not pain or mindless self-indulgence, is the proof of your moral integrity, since it is the proof and the result of your loyalty to the achievement of your values.
Just cause you got the monkey off your back doesn't mean the circus has left town. Why is it drug addicts and computer aficionados are both called users? After all, what is reading but a vice, like drink or venery or any other form of excessive self-indulgence? One reads to tickle and amuse one's mind; one reads, above all, to prevent oneself thinking. In this country, don't forget, a habit is no damn private hell. There's no solitary confinement outside of jail. A habit is hell for those you love. And in this country it's the worst kind of hell for those who love you. Little minds mistake little objects for great ones, and lavish away upon the former that time and attention which only the latter deserve. To such mistakes we owe the numerous and frivolous tribe of insect-mongers, shell-mongers, and pursuers and driers of butterflies, etc. The strong mind distinguishes, not only between the useful and the useless, but likewise between the useful and the curious.
Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile. Like stones, words are laborious and unforgiving, and the fitting of them together, like the fitting of stones, demands great patience and strength of purpose and particular skill. Is always darkest just before the Dawn, But Dawn never fails to arrive
If death were given a voice, that voice would scream through the sky 'Live while you may for I am coming.' So hand me the whine and the dice. I want my carnival now while I have thirst and lust for living. So gather all you can reap before you're under the plough. The hand of death is unforgiving.
A person is not given integrity. It results from the relentless pursuit of honesty at all times. To take a photograph is to participate in another person's mortality, vulnerability, mutability. Precisely by slicing out this moment and freezing it, all photographs testify to time's relentless melt. If the mind is to emerge unscathed from this relentless struggle with the unforeseen, two qualities are indispensable: first, an intellect that, even in the darkest hour, retains some glimmerings of the inner light which leads to the truth; and second, the courage to follow this light wherever it may lead.
Humility is like underwear, essential, but indecent if it shows:
Greatness is not found in possessions, power, position, or prestige. It is discovered in goodness, humility, service, and character. To bear defeat with dignity, to accept criticism with poise, to receive honors with humility -- these are marks of maturity and graciousness. Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance. True humility is intelligent self respect which keeps us from thinking too highly or too meanly of ourselves. It makes us modest by reminding us how far we have come short of what we can be. We should, all of us, be filled with gratitude and humility for our present progress and prosperity. We should be filled with awe and joy at what lies over the horizon. And we should be filled with absolute determination to make the most of it.
Common looking people are the best in the world: that is the reason there are so many of them. With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity. It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err. Fullness of knowledge always and necessarily means some understanding of the depths of our ignorance, and that is always conducive to both humility and reverence. Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right. It is said that it is far more difficult to hold and maintain leadership (liberty) that it is to attain it. Success is a ruthless competitor for it flatters and nourishes our weaknesses and lulls us into complacency. We bask in the sunshine of accomplishment and lose the spirit of humility which helps us visualize all the factors which have contributed to our success. We are apt to forget that we are only one of a team, that in unity there is strength and that we are strong only as long as each unit in our organization functions with precision.
You will look back on the times you laughed and you will cry. You will look back on the times you cried, and you will laugh. You will always remember close friends, and you will always keep memories of them in your heart. Tough times are there so you can have a good time later on-- and really appreciate it! For a tree to become tall it must grow tough roots among the rocks. There's definitely a dangerous feeling when you're in love--it's giving your heart to someone else and knowing that they have control over your feelings. I know for me, who always tries to be so tough, that's the dangerous thing. The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A Death! What's that, a bonus? I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you live in an old age home. You get kicked out when you're too young, you get a gold watch, you go to work. You work forty years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You do drugs, alcohol, you party, you get ready for high school. You go to grade school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities, you become a little baby, you go back into the womb, you spend your last nine months floating...
Be not afraid of life. Believe that life IS worth living and your belief will help create the fact. What looks like a loss may be the very event which is subsequently responsible for helping to produce the major achievement of your life. Use power to help people. For we are given power not to advance our own purposes nor to make a great show in the world, nor a name. There is but one just use of power and it is to serve people. Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life. Courageous risks are life-giving, they help you grow, make you brave, and better than you think you are. In helping others, we shall help ourselves, for whatever good we give out completes the circle and comes back to us. Two things a man should never be angry at: what he can help, and what he cannot help. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm. . . . As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands. One for helping yourself, the other for helping others. Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day.
You are precisely as big as what you love and precisely as small as what you allow to annoy you.
Love, like a river, will cut a new path whenever it meets an obstacle. You know you are in love when you see the world in their eyes, and their eyes everywhere in the world. Love is strong yet delicate. It can be broken. To truly love is to understand this. To be in love is to respect this. Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of trouble, attempts what is above its strength, pleads no excuse of impossibility... It is therefore able to undertake all things, and it completes many things, and warrants them to take effect, where he who does not love would faint and lie down. Love is watchful and sleeping, slumbereth not. Though weary, it is not tired; though pressed, it is not straitened; though alarmed, it is not confounded...all we need is love.
Human potential is the same for all. Your feeling, "I am of no value", is wrong. Absolutely wrong. You are deceiving yourself. We all have the power of thought - so what are you lacking? If you have willpower, then you can change anything. It is usually said that you are your own master. We may think there is willpower involved, but more likely… change is due to want power. Wanting the new addiction more than the old one. Wanting the new me in preference to the person I am now. It's not that some people have willpower and some don't. It's that some people are ready to change and others are not. Willingness is essential in any initiation or in making an dream come true. I can't often means I won't. You can change I won't to I will with will power. Nothing can withstand the power of the human will if it is willing to stake its very existence to the extent of its purpose.
For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else. Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending. The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live. Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change your life forever. Life can either be accepted or changed. If it is not accepted, it must be changed. If it cannot be changed, then it must be accepted. Change is the essence of life.Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become. Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts. We cannot change our past. We can not change the fact that people act in a certain way. We can not change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. Everything in life is connected somehow. You may have to dig deep to find it but its there. Everything is the same even though its different. Somehow everything connects back with your life. The faces in certain places may be different, but the situation is the same. Irony is a hidden factor that creeps around us in life, letting its presence felt only after it has left. Picture back to a year ago and the situation you were in. Look at how things are different yet somehow everything it still in someway cognate. Everything connects together to form the balance of life, to maintain structure. Change is and always will be inevitable, but everything is relative, and all the moments and times in your life will come back around again, you just might find yourself on the other side of the coin. Things are always changing, as fast as everything stays the same. Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine!
Living with integrity means: Not settling for less than what you know you deserve in your relationships. Asking for what you want and need from others. Speaking your truth, even though it might create conflict or tension. Behaving in ways that are in harmony with your personal values. Making choices based on what you believe, and not what others believe. In the name of the best within you, do not sacrifice this world to those who are its worst. In the name of the values that keep you alive, do not let your vision of man be distorted by the ugly, the cowardly, the mindless in those who have never achieved his title. Do not lose your knowledge that man's proper estate is an upright posture, an intransigent mind and a step that travels unlimited roads. Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it's yours.
We live in an age when unnecessary things are our only necessities. Unnecessary possessions are unnecessary burdens. If you have them, you have to take care of them! There is great freedom in simplicity of living. It is those who have enough but not too much who are the happiest. Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself. It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival. Dealing with complexity is an inefficient and unnecessary waste of time, attention and mental energy. There is never any justification for things being complex when they could be simple. Clutter is the disease of American writing. We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills and meaningless jargon. A wise man will make haste to forgive, because he knows the true value of time, and will not suffer it to pass away in unnecessary pain. Changes are not predictable; but to deny them is to be an accomplice to one's own unnecessary vegetation.
A person is not given integrity. It results from the relentless pursuit of honesty at all times. Whatever games are played with us, we must play no games with ourselves, but deal in our privacy with the last honesty and truth. The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love and loyalty. The fastest way to lose what we call our good character is to lose our honesty. Your conscience is the measure of the honesty of your selfishness. Listen to it carefully. Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people. Confidence... thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection and on unselfish performance. Without them it cannot live. If you truly want honesty, don't ask questions you don't really want the answer to
It doesn't matter which side of the fence you get off on sometimes. What matters most is getting off. You cannot make progress without making decisions. It's not what's happening to you now or what has happened in your past that determines who you become. Rather, it's your decisions about what to focus on, what things mean to you, and what you're going to do about them that will determine your ultimate destiny. Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come. Create a vision and never let the environment, other people's beliefs, or the limits of what has been done in the past shape your decisions. Ignore conventional wisdom. True character arises from a deeper well than religion. It is the internalization of moral principles of a society, augmented by those tenets personally chosen by the individual, strong enough to endure through trials of solitude and adversity. The principles are fitted together into what we call integrity, literally the integrated self, wherein personal decisions feel good and true. Character is in turn the enduring source of virtue. It stands by itself and excites admiration in others.
Failure is only postponed success as long as courage ''coaches'' ambition. The habit of persistence is the habit of victory. Defeat may test you; it need not stop you. If at first you don't succeed, try another way. For every obstacle there is a solution. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. The greatest mistake is giving up. Most true happiness comes from one's inner life, from the disposition of the mind and soul. Admittedly, a good inner life is difficult to achieve, especially in these trying times. It takes reflection and contemplation and self-discipline. The law of attraction attracts to you everything you need, according to the nature of your thought life. Your environment and financial condition are the perfect reflection of your habitual thinking. Thought rules the world.