touchstone quotations

Betty White on Perspective

2011-12-19T22:16:00.000-05:00

It isn't anything I accomplished; it just happened.

Betty White
In response to audience applause for turning 90 in January, 2012 on The Daily Show

Movie Wisdom

2011-12-19T22:12:00.001-05:00

Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen): You're not the man I knew ten years ago.
Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford): It's not the age, it's the mileage.

Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1981
Written by Lawrence Kasdan, George Lucas, and Philip Kaufman
Paramount Pictures

Bob Schieffer on Listening

2011-12-19T21:36:00.000-05:00

All the stories I missed was when I was talking instead of listening.

Bob Schieffer
attributed by Tom Friedman

Stephen Colbert on Technology

2011-12-19T21:26:00.000-05:00

No computer tells me what to do. When my Garmin GPS tells me to turn right I turn left - I haven't been home in five years.

On the new voice-command computer Monopoly game.

Stephen Colbert
The Colbert Report
Comedy Central

Goethe on Progress

2011-12-17T22:32:00.000-05:00

The day is committed to error and floundering; success and achievement are matters of long range.

Goethe

Source: thinkexist.com

Etta James on American Music

2011-12-17T22:06:00.001-05:00

I wanna show that gospel, country, blues, rhythm and blues, jazz, rock 'n' roll are all just really one thing. Those are the American music and that is the American culture.

Etta James

Source: quotesandpoem.com

Movie Wisdom

2011-11-24T13:17:00.000-05:00

Captain Renault: I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!
A croupier hands Renault a pile of money.
Croupier: Your winnings, sir.
Captain Renault: [sotto voce] Oh, thank you very much.
[aloud]
Captain Renault: Everybody out at once!

Captain Renault (Claude Rains) closes Rick's Cafe Americain.

Casablanca, 1942
Written by Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch, Murray Burnett, and Joan Alison
Warner Bros. Pictures

Source: imdb.com

Stephen Colbert on Traditions

2011-11-24T13:00:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving is a magical time of year when families across the country join together to raise America's obesity statistics. Personally, I love Thanksgiving traditions: watching football, making pumpkin pie, and saying the magic phrase that sends your aunt storming out of the dining room to sit in her car.

Stephen Colbert
The Colbert Report

Source: huffingtonpost.com

Wilbur Nesbit on Connection

2011-11-24T12:55:00.000-05:00

Forever on Thanksgiving Day, The heart will find the pathway home.

Wilbur D. Nesbit

Source: quotegarden.com

Cicero on Gratitude

2011-11-24T12:48:00.000-05:00

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

Cicero

Source: bellaonline.com

Steve Jobs on Perspective

2011-10-05T23:17:00.000-04:00

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. ... Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

Steve Jobs
Stanford University commencement address, June 2005

Source: huffingtonpost.com

Steve Jobs on Simplicity

2011-10-05T23:04:00.000-04:00

That's been one of my mantras -- focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.

Steve Jobs
BusinessWeek interview, May 1998

Source: huffingtonpost.com

Thank you, Steve Jobs, and farewell.

Barack Obama on Equilibrium

2011-09-19T20:41:00.000-04:00

This is not class warfare. It's math.

Barack Obama
Monday, September 19, 2011
at a White House Rose Garden presentation of his deficit reduction plan that includes, the Buffet Rule, a minimum tax for Americans earning $1 million or more in income.

Source: huffingtonpost.com

Joyce Grenfell on Farewells

2011-09-11T11:10:00.000-04:00

By Herself and Her Friends

If I should go before the rest of you
Break not a flower nor inscribe a stone,
Nor when I'm gone speak in a Sunday voice
But be the usual selves that I have known.
Weep if you must, Parting is hell,
But Life goes on, So sing as well.

Joyce Grenfell

Source: muchloved.com

Mary Lee Hall on Remembrance

2011-09-11T10:55:00.001-04:00

Turn Again To Life

If I should die and leave you here a while,
be not like others sore undone,
who keep long vigil by the silent dust.
For my sake turn again to life and smile,
nerving thy heart and trembling hand
to do something to comfort other hearts than thine.
Complete these dear unfinished tasks of mine
and I perchance may therein comfort you.

Mary Lee Hall

Source: muchloved.com

Franklin Delano Roosevelt on Freedom

2011-09-11T10:41:00.001-04:00

In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.

The first is freedom of speech and expression -- everywhere in the world.

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way -- everywhere in the world.

The third is freedom from want, which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants -- everywhere in the world.

The fourth is freedom from fear, which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor -- anywhere in the world.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt
The Four Freedoms
January 6, 1941

Source: americanrhetoric.com

Henri Frederic Amiel on Reslience

2011-09-11T08:02:00.000-04:00

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

Henri Frederic Amiel

Source: wisdomcommons.org

Barack Obama on America

2011-09-11T06:57:00.000-04:00

We are Americans, and we are stronger and safer when we stay true to the values, freedoms and diversity that make us unique among nations.

Barack Obama
Weekly Address: Remembering September 11th
September 10, 2011

Source: whitehouse.gov

Bertrand Russell on Outcomes

2011-09-11T06:38:00.001-04:00

War does not determine who is right - only who is left.

Bertrand Russell

Source: quotegarden.com

Bill Clinton on Progress

2011-09-11T06:30:00.000-04:00

The real differences around the world today are not between Jews and Arabs; Protestants and Catholics; Muslims, Croats, and Serbs. The real differences are between those who embrace peace and those who would destroy it; between those who look to the future and those who cling to the past; between those who open their arms and those who are determined to clench their fists.

William Jefferson Clinton, 1997

Source: quotegarden.com

Darren Hardy on Influence

2011-07-05T21:40:00.001-04:00

Influence is powerful, and the same qualities and charisma that can influence people toward human enlightenment can also be used to influence people to destruction and great inhumanity.

Darren Hardy
Success Magazine Blog
You ARE Influential
July 5, 2011

Paula Poundstone on Free Speech

2011-07-05T21:37:00.000-04:00

It's funny that we think of libraries as quiet demure places where we are shushed by dusty, bun-balancing, bespectacled women. The truth is libraries are raucous clubhouses for free speech, controversy and community. Librarians have stood up to the Patriot Act, sat down with noisy toddlers and reached out to illiterate adults. Libraries can never be shushed.

Paula Poundstone
National spokesperson for Friends of Libraries U.S.A.

Source: statelibraryofiowa.org

William J. Clinton on America

2011-07-04T10:26:00.002-04:00

I am pleased to join my fellow Americans across the nation and around the world in celebrating Independence Day.

On this day each year, we gather with family and friends to commemorate the anniversary of the signing of our Declaration of Independence. With vision and courage, our Founders stated unequivocally to the world: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." These were literally revolutionary concepts, and they fundamentally changed the course of human history.

Today we are living through another period of profound and historic change: change in the way we work, the way we live, the way we relate to one another and to the rest of the world. But the truths set down in our Declaration of Independence are immutable, and they continue to light our path into the challenges and possibilities of the future. Equality, individual rights, life, freedom, opportunity: we still cherish these values, and we must continue to reaffirm them daily.

America is a work in progress, and we have strived through decades of challenge and change to become what our Founders envisioned on our first Independence Day. As we continue that endeavor, let us work together to create an America that remains the world's strongest force for peace, justice, and freedom. Let us work for an America that is not driven apart by differences but instead is united around share values and respect for our diversity. Let us work for an America in which every one of us, without regard to race or religious belief or gender or station in life, can achieve our dreams. In this way we will best pay tribute to those who, 220 years ago, pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to guarantee our freedom.

Best wishes for a memorable Fourth of July.

William J. Clinton
Presidential Proclamation
July 4, 1996

Source: american.edu

Thomas Paine on Commitment

2011-07-04T10:04:00.000-04:00

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it.

Thomas Paine
The American Crisis, No. 4, September 11, 1777

Source: revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com

Harry S. Truman on America

2011-07-04T09:46:00.000-04:00

America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.

Harry S. Truman

Source: scrapbook.com

Reality TV Wisdom

2011-07-03T23:29:00.000-04:00

Zookeeper Suzi Rapp took a cute...yet potentially vicious freakin' SNOW LEOPARD out of its cage at LAX! Guess TSA is now cool with wild cats of prey... but a tube o' toothpaste will get ya frisked.

Regarding Columbus Zoo and Aquarium Promotions Director Suzi Rapp, getting a snow leopard cub out of its crate for a supervised stretch at Los Angeles County Airport.

TMZ.com
June 30, 2011
Click here to view.

Abigail Turin on Embracing Change

2011-06-23T10:26:00.000-04:00

I've got two resolutions for my house in 2004:

1) To put it on a diet - no excess furniture, no excess anything!

2) To get it drunk more often: more parties, more dancing. It's been taking itself a little too seriously lately.

Abigail Turin
Designer, San Francisco
From Metrolpolitan Home magazine, January/February 2004, Volume 36, No. 1, p. 62, Leaping Forward.

Bruce Springsteen on Ultimate Cool

2011-06-21T00:12:00.000-04:00

You wish you could be like him, but you can't.

Bruce Springsteen introducing Clarence Clemons
Concert Footage via The Daily Show, Moment of Zen
June 20, 2011
Comedy Central

Clarence Clemons on Living Large

2011-06-18T23:33:00.000-04:00

My mom used to say to me that the older you get, the more friends you lose. That’s the way life is. You keep doing it until your time comes. I’m trying to enjoy my life, and keep doing what I love to do until my time comes. Hopefully I will inspire somebody along the way to keep it going.

Clarence Clemons
To Ken Shane for The Popdose Interview
October 26, 2009

Source: popdose.com

Thank you, Big Man. Farewell.

Anna Quindlen on Critical Thought

2011-06-18T11:34:00.001-04:00

But it’s not simply the obligation to live an examined life, to embrace each moment as though it might be last. It’s also to live each moment as though it might be the first. To throw your arms wide to the new, the unexplored, even to that of which you may be afraid. Don’t cave to the status quo. Don’t trade happiness for deferred gratification. Don’t give up adventure for safety and security. The safe is the enemy of the satisfying. Deferred gratification has a way of being deferred forever. And the status quo, “business-as-usual,” “the-way-things-have-always-been-done” has completely failed us. The last few years have made that eminently clear. How will your audacious and authentic new world work?

Anna Quindlen
Commencement Address, Grinnell College
May 23, 2011

Good advice: Got 5 minutes? Read this address!

Source: grinnell.edu

Conan O'Brien on Resilience

2011-06-18T09:23:00.000-04:00

No specific job or career goal defines me and it should not define you. In 2000, I told graduates to not be afraid to fail, and I still believe that. But today I tell you that whether you fear it or not, disappointment will come. The beauty is that through disappointment you can gain clarity, and with clarity comes conviction and true originality.

Conan O'Brien
Commencement Speech, Dartmouth College
June 12, 2011

Source: teamcoco.com

Conan O'Brien on Redefinition

2011-06-18T09:16:00.001-04:00

Way back in the 1940’s there was a very funny man named Jack Benny. He was a giant star and easily one of the greatest comedians of his generation. And a much younger man named Johnny Carson wanted very much to be Jack Benny. In some ways he was, but in many ways he wasn’t. He emulated Jack Benny, but his own quirks and mannerisms, along with a changing medium, pulled him in a different direction. And yet his failure to completely become his hero made him the funniest person of his generation. David Letterman wanted to be Johnny Carson, and was not, and as a result my generation of comedians wanted to be David Letterman. And none of us are --- my peers and I have all missed that mark in a thousand different ways. But the point is this: It is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique. It’s not easy, but if you accept your misfortune and handle it right, your perceived failure can be a catalyst for profound re-invention.

Conan O'Brien
Commencement Address, Dartmouth College
June 12, 2011

Source: teamcoco.com

Conan O'Brien on Embracing Life

2011-06-18T09:08:00.000-04:00

Your path at 22 will not necessarily be your path at 32 or 42. One’s dream is constantly evolving, rising and falling, changing course.

Conan O'Brien
Commencement Address, Dartmouth College
June 12, 2011

Source: teamcoco.com

Conan O'Brien on Facing Fear

2011-06-18T09:02:00.002-04:00

It’s simple: there are few things more liberating in this life than having your worst fear realized.

Conan O'Brien
Commencement Address to Dartmouth College
June 12, 2011

Source: teamcoco.com

Conan O'Brien on Disclosure

2011-06-13T17:02:00.001-04:00

Nietzsche famously said “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” But what he failed to stress is that IT ALMOST KILLS YOU. Disappointment stings and, for driven, successful people like yourselves it is disorienting. What Nietzsche should have said is “Whatever doesn’t kill you, makes you watch a lot of Cartoon Network and drink mid-price Chardonnay at 11 in the morning.“

Conan O'Brien
Commencement Address to Dartmouth College
June 12, 2011

Source: teamcoco.com

Rabbi Sherwin Wine on Patriotism

2011-05-28T06:56:00.002-04:00

There are two visions of America. One precedes our founding fathers and finds its roots in the harshness of our puritan past. It is very suspicious of freedom, uncomfortable with diversity, hostile to science, unfriendly to reason, contemptuous of personal autonomy. It sees America as a religious nation. It views patriotism as allegiance to God. It secretly adores coercion and conformity. Despite our constitution, despite the legacy of the Enlightenment, it appeals to millions of Americans and threatens our freedom.

The other vision finds its roots in the spirit of our founding revolution and in the leaders of this nation who embraced the age of reason. It loves freedom, encourages diversity, embraces science and affirms the dignity and rights of every individual. It sees America as a moral nation, neither completely religious nor completely secular. It defines patriotism as love of country and of the people who make it strong. It defends all citizens against unjust coercion and irrational conformity.

This second vision is our vision. It is the vision of a free society. We must be bold enough to proclaim it and strong enough to defend it against all its enemies.

Rabbi Sherwin Wine

Source: wisdomquotes.com

Mohandas K. Gandhi on Mindfulness

2011-05-28T06:32:00.000-04:00

The Roots of Violence:
Wealth without work,
Pleasure without conscience,
Knowledge without character,
Commerce without morality,
Science without humanity,
Worship without sacrifice,
Politics without principles.

Mohandas K. Gandhi

Source: wisdomquotes.com

Howard Zinn on Perspective

2011-05-28T06:25:00.000-04:00

To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.

What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places -- and there are so many -- where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.

And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.

Howard Zinn

Source: wisdomquotes.com

Kahil Gibran on Grief

2011-05-28T06:14:00.001-04:00

When you are sorrowful
look into your heart
and you shall see that
you are weeping
for that which has been
your delight

Kahlil Gibran

Source: memories-are-forever.org

Marketing Profs on Facing Fears

2011-05-28T06:04:00.000-04:00

The only way out is through.

Marketing Profs
Get to the Po!nt,
Vol. 4, No. 21, May 27, 2011

Source: marketingprofs.com

Will Rogers on Modern Times

2011-05-22T08:11:00.000-04:00

Everything is changing. People are taking the comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke

Will Rogers
1879 - 1935

Source: wisdomquotes.com

Will Rogers on Honesty

2011-05-22T08:03:00.001-04:00

I have always noticed that people will never laugh at anything that is not based on truth.

Will Rogers

Source: wisdomquotes.com

Ethel Barrymore on Perspective

2011-05-22T07:56:00.000-04:00

You grow up the day you have your first real laugh at yourself.

Ethel Barrymore

Source: wisdomquotes.com

e.e. cummings on gratitude

2011-05-22T07:31:00.003-04:00

I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.

e.e. cummings

Source: quotegarden.com

Fred Alan Wolf on Faith

2011-05-21T19:53:00.001-04:00

The quantum leap... is to be taken both literally and figuratively. In its literal sense, the quantum leap is the tiny but explosive jump that a particle of matter undergoes in moving from one plane to another. The new physics - quantum physics - indicates that all particles composing the physical universe must move in that fashion or cease to exist. Since you and I are composed of atomic annd subatomic matter, we, too, must "take the quantum leap."

In the figurative sense, taking the quantum leap means taking a risk, going off into an uncharted territory with no guide to follow. Such a venture is an uncertain affair at best. It also means risking something that no one else would are risk.

Fred Alan Wolf
Taking the Quantum Leap
©1981

Joseph Campbell on Rapture

2011-05-20T00:45:00.000-04:00

Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life. It is a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer.

Joseph Campbell

Leonardo da Vinci on Cats

2011-05-20T00:36:00.001-04:00

The smallest feline is a masterpiece.

Leonardo da Vinci

Source: wisdomquotes.com

Linda Foor on Acceptance

2011-05-20T00:22:00.001-04:00

Cats become a part of every meditation.

Linda Foor

Helen Keller on True Love

2011-05-20T00:16:00.000-04:00

All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.

Helen Keller

James Taylor on Letting Go

2011-05-20T00:09:00.002-04:00

You Can Close Your Eyes

Well, the sun is surely sinking down
But the moon is slowly rising
So this old world must still be spinning 'round
And I still love you

So close your eyes
You can close your eyes
It's alright
I don't know no love songs
And I can't sing the blues anymore
But I can sing this song
And you can sing this song
When I'm gone

It won't be long before another day
We're gonna have a good time
And no one's going to take that time away
You can stay as long as you like

So close your eyes
You can close your eyes
It's alright
I don't know no love songs
And I can't sing the blues anymore
But I can sing this song
And you can sing this song
When I'm gone

James Taylor
Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon, 1971

For Sam, thank you and farewell

Source: jamestaylor.com

Edward R. Murrow on Critical Thought

2011-05-19T23:54:00.000-04:00

A great many people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging their prejudices.

Edward R. Murrow

Source: goodreads.com

Gordon Ramsey on Business

2011-04-05T13:24:00.000-04:00

If you don't know your market, you're never going to get bums on seats.

Chef Gordon Ramsey

Source: BBC Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares

Mary Kay Ash on Conviction

2011-04-05T13:06:00.001-04:00

Many people have gone a lot farther than they thought they could because someone else thought they could.

Mary Kay Ash

Source: ziglar.com

Dog Wisdom

2011-02-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

Bark as if no one can hear you.
Catch the ball on the fly.
Lick like there's no end to kissing.
Sleep on a sofa nearby.
Jump like the sky is the limit.
Sit by the fire with friends.
Stay with the ones who love you.
Run like the road never ends.

Dog Philosophy
Author Unknown

Source: signals.com

Fortune Cookie Wisdom

2011-02-12T16:01:00.001-05:00

If you want to succeed in business, avoid "business as usual."

Fortune Cookie from Q2 Bistro, Westerville Ohio

Howard Zinn on Courage

2011-02-12T13:51:00.000-05:00

Edward R.Murrow on Stewardship

2011-02-12T13:34:00.001-05:00

We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.

Edward R. Murrow

Source: quotegarden.com

Incubus on Self-Determination

2011-01-29T16:08:00.003-05:00

Drive

Sometimes, I feel the fear of uncertainty stinging clear
And I can't help but ask myself how much I'll let the fear
Take the wheel and steer

It's driven me before and seems to have a vague
Haunting mass appeal
But lately I'm beginning to find that I
Should be the one behind the wheel

Whatever tomorrow brings
I'll be there with open arms and open eyes yea
Whatever tomorrow brings
I'll be there I'll be there

So, if I decide to waiver my chance
To be one of the hive
Will I choose water over wine
And hold my own and drive?

It's driven me before and it seems to be the way
That everyone else gets around
But lately I'm beginning to find that when
I drive myself my light is found

Whatever tomorrow brings
I'll be there with open arms and open eyes yea
Whatever tomorrow brings
I'll be there I'll be there

Would you choose water over wine?
Hold the wheel and drive

Whatever tomorrow brings
I'll be there with open arms and open eyes yea
Whatever tomorrow brings
I'll be there I'll be there

Incubus: Brandon Charles Boyd, Michael Aaron Einziger, Alex Katunich, Christopher Kilmore, Jose Athony Pasillas II
Make Yourself, 1999

Copyright: © EMI APRIL MUSIC INC. © HUNGLIKEYORA MUSIC

Source: enjoyincubus.com

Law and Order Wisdom

2011-01-29T14:26:00.003-05:00

Mike Logan: Oh, the Patriot Act, yeah, well, I read that in its original title: 1984.

Detective Mike Logan (Chris Noth) to Detectives Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Eames (Kathryn Erbe) regarding access to information and the post 9.11.01 reactive "Patriot" Act.

Charlie Rubin, Writer
Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Stress Position
Season 4, Episode 13, February 13, 2005
Wolf Films, NBC Universal Television

To read or revisit (check your library):
1984 written by George Orwell, copyright 1949
Animal Farm written by George Orwell, copyright 1946

Source: tv.com

Joseph Campbell on Transcendence

2011-01-23T21:58:00.000-05:00

We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.

Joseph Campbell

Martin Luther King, Jr. on Aspiration

2011-01-17T14:26:00.000-05:00

Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Source: goodreads.com

Franklin Delano Roosevelt on America

2011-01-13T21:04:00.000-05:00

Remember, remember always that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Source: thinkexist.com

Bruce Lee on Fortitude

2011-01-13T20:50:00.000-05:00

I am learning to understand rather than immediately judge or to be judged. I cannot blindly follow the crowd and accept their approach. I will not allow myself to indulge in the usual manipulating game of role creation. Fortunately for me, my self-knowledge has transcended that and I have come to understand that life is best to be lived and not to be conceptualized. I am happy because I am growing daily and I am honestly not knowing where the limit lies. To be certain, every day there can be a revelation or a new discovery. I treasure the memory of the past misfortunes. It has added more to my bank of fortitude.

Bruce Lee

Source: thinkexist.com

Robert Frost on Reflection

2011-01-12T17:53:00.002-05:00

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Robert Frost

Source: poetryfoundation.org Robert Frost, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” from The Poetry of Robert Frost, edited by Edward Connery Lathem. Copyright 1923, © 1969 by Henry Holt and Company, Inc., renewed 1951, by Robert Frost. Reprinted with the permission of Henry
Holt and Company, LLC. Source: The Random House Book of Poetry for Children (1983)

Wendy Feiereisen on Grief

2011-01-12T08:19:00.001-05:00

Grief
You don't get over it
You just get through it
You don't get by it
Because you can't get around it
It doesn't just "get better"
It just gets different
Every day...
Grief puts on a new face.

Wendy Feiereisen
Grief ©2005®

Source: care2.com
from the book I Wasn't Ready To Say Goodbye, by Brook Noel & Pamela D. Blair, PH.D.

Leo Buscaglia on Grief

2011-01-12T07:25:00.002-05:00

I know for certain that we never lose the people we love, even to death. They continue to participate in every act, thought and decision we make. Their love leaves an indelible imprint in our memories. We find comfort in knowing that our lives have been enriched by having shared their love.

Leo Buscaglia

Source: journey-through-grief.com

John F.Kennedy on Discourse

2011-01-11T17:40:00.000-05:00

We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.

John F. Kennedy

Source: quotegarden.com

John F.Kennedy on Civility

2011-01-11T13:14:00.004-05:00

So let us begin anew - remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate. Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.

John F. Kennedy
Inaugural address, January 20, 1961
Read the Speech.

For our Congress - be Americans first. - LJF.

Source: ourdocuments.gov

Jon Stewart on Rhetoric

2011-01-11T10:33:00.002-05:00

I do think it's important to watch our rhetoric. I think it's a worthwhile goal not to conflate our political opponents with enemies if for no other reason than to draw a better distinction between the manifestos of paranoid madmen and what passes for acceptable political and pundit speak. It would be really nice if the ramblings of crazy people didn't in any way resemble how we actually talk to each other on TV. Let's, at least, make troubled individuals easier to spot.

Reflecting on the shooting of Congressional Representative Gabrielle Giffords, where 13 other people were wounded and 6 killed at a grocery store in Tuscon, Arizona on Saturday, January 8, 2011. The act of one individual American.

Jon Stewart
The Daily Show
January 10, 2011
Comedy Central

Source: thedailyshow.com

Mark Twain on Human Nature

2011-01-01T16:52:00.001-05:00

New Year's Day: Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.

Mark Twain

Source: quotegarden.com

Hal Borland on Perspective

2011-01-01T16:44:00.000-05:00

Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.

Hal Borland

Source: quotegarden.com

H. Jackson Brown, Jr. on Perspective

2010-12-26T13:30:00.001-05:00

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

2010-12-26T12:58:00.000-05:00

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

2010-12-26T12:53:00.001-05:00

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

2010-12-26T12:49:00.000-05:00

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

2010-12-26T12:43:00.000-05:00

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

2010-12-26T12:08:00.002-05:00

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

Andy Rooney on Gratitude

2010-12-25T16:17:00.001-05:00

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

2010-12-25T16:05:00.006-05:00

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

Movie Wisdom

2010-12-24T14:10:00.002-05:00

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

John Lennon on Reflection

2010-12-09T10:22:00.001-05:00

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

2010-12-09T07:25:00.001-05:00

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

2010-12-09T07:16:00.000-05:00

A life fully-lived is bittersweet.

Linda Foor

George Eliot on Feeling Safe

2010-12-05T14:45:00.000-05:00

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

Albert Schweitzer on Friends

2010-11-29T09:01:00.000-05:00

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.

Albert Schweitzer

Source: quotegarden.com

Leslie Nielsen on Comedy

2010-11-29T08:47:00.000-05:00

The important thing is in zany comedies if you can deal with the insanity it will work and be funny. But if the audience has a feeling that you are yourself aware that you are being funny, if that happens, then the chances are you won’t get any laughs.

Leslie Nielsen

Source: hecklerspray.com

Leslie Nielsen on Crisis Management

2010-11-29T07:53:00.004-05:00

Rumack: I won't deceive you, Mr. Striker. We're running out of time.
Ted Striker: Surely there must be something you can do.
Rumack: I'm doing everything I can... and stop calling me Shirley!

Dr. Rumak (Leslie Nielsen) to Striker (Robert Hays) in Airplane!

Airplane! (1980)
Written by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker

To the seriously funny Leslie Nielsen (1926 - 2010), thank you and farewell.

Source: imdb.com

Cartoon Wisdom

2010-11-29T07:22:00.002-05:00

Questions are a danger to you and a burden to others.

Mr. Krabs to Spongebob Squarepants when he questioned the health concerns of serving extra grease on food at the Krusty Krab.

Spongebob Squarepants
Greasy Buffoons
Nickelodeon Network
November 2009

Rev. James Martin on Gratitude

2010-11-25T12:21:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving Day is the perfect time to recall our blessings, not simply to add them to a list of things that we've seen or done; but to savor them as if they were a wonderful meal. We pause to enjoy what has happened. We stop to enjoy what we have.

Rev. James Martin
from Thanksgiving Day: Savoring Life as an Act of Gratitude To God

Source: huffingtonpost.com

Mike Greenberg on Discerning Tastes

2010-11-25T12:16:00.001-05:00

If there's a tomato even in the vicinity of something you won't eat it.

Mike Greenberg
to Mike Golic on Mike and Mike In the Morning
ESPN, November 24, 2010

Mo'Nique on Self-Determination

2010-11-17T10:01:00.002-05:00

You don't have to tell nobody, "I'm sorry for trying to be better."

Mo'Nique

Source: The Mo'Nique Show, BET Network

Aesop on Kindess

2010-11-07T18:47:00.000-05:00

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

Aesop
(lived 620 BC to 560 BC)

Source: quotearts.com

Anne Grant on Transition

2010-11-05T20:36:00.001-04:00

Grief is perhaps an unknown territory for you. You might feel both helpless and hopeless without a sense of a "map" for the journey. Confusion is the hallmark of a transition. To rebuild both your inner and outer world is a major project.

Anne Grant
Lived 1755 - 1838

Source: brainyquote.com

Sparky Anderson on Perspective

2010-11-05T19:58:00.002-04:00

I’ve got my faults, but living in the past is not one of them. There’s no future in it.

George "Sparky" Anderson
1934 - 2010

Source: cincinnati.com

Thank you, Sparky. Farewell.

Mark Scharenbroich on Choice

2010-11-03T09:33:00.000-04:00

Stop counting crayons, just draw pictures.

Mark Scharenbroich

Source: wildthymecreative.com

Betsy Cañas Garmon on Choice

2010-11-03T09:30:00.001-04:00

To decide is to walk facing forward with nary a crick in your neck from looking back at the crossroads.

Betsy Cañas Garmon, artist

Source: quotegarden.com

Anthony Robbins on Choice

2010-11-03T09:21:00.000-04:00

Using the power of decision gives you the capacity to get past any excuse to change any and every part of your life in an instant.

Anthony Robbins

Source: quotegarden.com

Sitcom Wisdom

2010-11-03T09:14:00.001-04:00

Roz: How could you have done that?

Frasier: Well, it was just an offhand remark, how did I know how she'd react?

Roz: She's Bebe! If you had said you liked my eyes, they would have been on your desk tomorrow in a Tiffany box!

Roz Doyle (Peri Gilpin) to Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) about wackadoo agent, BeBe Glazer (Harriet Sansom Harris) torpedoing a job opportunity for Roz because Frasier mentioned to BeBe he would miss Roz if she got the job.

Frasier
Roz's Turn, April 15, 1997
Written by Joe Keenan
Grub Street Productions

Source: imdb.com

David Russell on Choice

2010-11-03T08:57:00.001-04:00

The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn.

David Russell, writer

Source: quotegarden.com

James Freeman Clarke on Leadership

2010-10-30T06:34:00.001-04:00

A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman, of the next generation.

James Freeman Clarke

Source: wisdomquotes.com