Sunday, December 26, 2010

H. Jackson Brown, Jr. on Perspective

Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresea, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.

from Life's Little Instruction Book
compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Source: quotegarden.com

Reality TV Wisdom: Top Chef

Townhouse is like food with jazz hands.

Chef Dale Levitski
regarding the menu at Townhouse, a restaurant in Manhattan
Top Chef All-Stars, 2010, Bravo Network

Marianne Williamson on Transformation

Personal transformation can and does have global effects. As we go, so goes the world, for the world is us. The revolution that will save the world is ultimately a personal one.

Marianne Williamson

Source: philosophy-cafe.com

Maxwell Maltz on Transformation

One of the reasons it has seemed so difficult for a person to change his habits, his personality, or his way of life, has been that heretofore nearly all efforts at change have been directed to the circumference of the self, so to speak, rather than to the center.

Maxwell Maltz

Source: philosophy-cafe.com

Jim Rohn on Transformation

You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of.

Jim Rohn

Source: cafe-philosophy.com

Fareed Zakaria on Resilience

The term American Dream was coined during the Great Depression. The historian James Truslow Adams published The Epic of America in 1931, in an atmosphere of even greater despair than today's. He wanted to call his book The American Dream, but his publishers objected. No one will pay $3.50 for a book about a "dream," they said. Still, Adams used the phrase so often that it entered the lexicon. The American Dream, he said, was of "a better, richer and happier life for all our citizens of every rank, which is the greatest contribution we have made to the thought and welfare of the world. That dream or hope has been present from the start. Ever since we became an independent nation, each generation has seen an uprising of ordinary Americans to save the American Dream from the forces which appear to be overwhelming it."

Today, those forces really do look overwhelming. But challenges like them have been beaten back before — and can be again.

Fareed Zakaria
How to Restore the American Dream
Time Magazine, October 21, 2010

Source: time.com

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Andy Rooney on Gratitude

One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don't clean it up too quickly.

Andy Rooney

Source: quotegarden.com

Kid Rock on Compassion

Care

Day by day my life gets colder
My ice grows thin, as I get older
Peace in pieces, bloody and bruised
I feel so helpless and confused

Cuz I hear screamin’ on the left, yellin’ on the right
I’m sittin’ in the middle, tryin’ to live my life

Cuz I can’t stop the war
Shelter homeless, feed the poor
Can’t walk on water
I can’t save your sons and daughters
I can’t change the world and make things fair
The least that I can do, the least that I can do, the least that I can do is care

I pray and pray for life’s salvation
Faith is tried and true in tribulation
Love is lost and lonely, check the news
And with these open arms I’ll wait for you

Cuz I hear screamin' on the left, yellin’ on the right
I’m sittin’ in the middle tryin’ to live my life

Cuz I can’t stop the war
Shelter homeless, feed the poor
I can’t walk on water
I can’t save your sons and daughters
I can’t change the world and make things fair
The least that I can do, the least that I can do, the least that I can do is care

For the life of me, I can’t see how the devil keeps enticing me
All you see is a felon, I know God can see what’s right in me
How I can be labeled as a villain in the first place
When the worst case scenerio is my birth place
I’m just tryin’ to keep from fallin’ victim to the murder rate
Take my life lesson convincing the adolescents
There’s a God up in heaven, sendin’ down blessins and your future ain’t brighter than your present
Quit stressin’

They’re screamin’ on the left, yellin’ on the right
While I’m sittin’ in the middle, tryin’ to live my life

Cuz I can't stop the war
Shelter homeless, feed the poor
Can’t walk on water
I can’t save your sons and daughters
I can’t change the world and make things fair
The least that I can do, the least that I can do, the least that I can do is care

Kid Rock
featuring Martina McBride and T.I.
From the album, Born Free, 2010


Source: kidrock.com

Friday, December 24, 2010

Movie Wisdom: It Happened on Fifth Avenue

Mike O'Connor: Are you accusing me of infidelity?

Mary O'Connor: You left me and married your money.

Still in love, but divorced, Mike (Charles Ruggles), the second richest man in the world, and Mary (Ann Harding) begin to argue as soon as they see each other.

It Happened on 5th Avenue
1947, Allied Artists
Written by Herbert Clyde Lewis, Frederick Stephan, Everett Freeman, and Vick Knight

A very nicely done holiday movie! - LJF

Source: imdb.com

Thursday, December 9, 2010

John Lennon on Reflection

The hardest thing is facing yourself.  It's easier to shout 'Revolution!' and 'Power to the People!' than it is to look at yourself and try and find what's real inside you and what isn't; when you pull the wool over your own eyes and your own hypocrisy - that's the hardest thing.

John Lennon
Rolling Stone Magazine interview, 1980

Source: rollingstone.com

Elizabeth Edwards on Hope and Resilience

You all know that I have been sustained throughout my life by three saving graces -- my family, my friends, and a faith in the power of resilience and hope. These graces have carried me through difficult times and they have brought more joy to the good times than I ever could have imagined. The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered. We know that. And yes, there are certainly times when we aren't able to muster as much strength and patience as we would like. It's called being human. But I have found that in the simple act of living with hope, and in the daily effort to have a positive impact in the world, the days I do have are made all the more meaningful and precious. And for that I am grateful. It isn't possible to put into words the love and gratitude I feel towards everyone who has and continues to support and inspire me every day. To you I simply say: you know.

Elizabeth Edwards
1949 - 2010
on facebook, December 7, 2010

Farewell and thank you.


Source: huffingtonpost.com

Linda Foor on Embracing Life

A life fully-lived is bittersweet.

Linda Foor

Sunday, December 5, 2010

George Eliot on Feeling Safe

Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away.

George Eliot (born Mary Anne Evans), writer

Source: thinkexist.com