Barack Obama on Change

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

Barack Obama

Source: brainyquote.com

Billy Blanks on Real Strength

No matter how you feel, no matter what you know, in the end, it's your will that determines how you put your feelings and that knowledge into action. It's your will that makes it possible for you to put your faith into action, to make what you believe in happen for you. Knowledge is power.

Billy Blanks
The Tae Bo Way
©2000, Random House

Abraham Lincoln on Resolution

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.

Abraham Lincoln

Source: thinkexist.com

Ogden Nash on Awareness

Every new year is the direct descendant, isn't it, of a long line of proven criminals?

Ogden Nash

Source: nonstopenglish.com

Billy Blanks on Success

Don't set yourself up to fail. Before you make your first move, change your thinking. Set yourself up to conquer - your body, your thoughts, your will.

Billy Blanks
The Tae Bo Way
©2000, Random House

Irish Toast Wisdom

In the New Year, may your right hand always be stretched out in friendship, but never in want.

Irish Toast

Source: nonstopenglish.com

Billy Blanks on Motivation

Listen to the Angel

On one shoulder, a devil shouts in your ear, telling you how bad you feel, how tired you are, and trying to convince you to just give up and walk off. That's your body.

On the other shoulder, an angel encourages you, reminding you how much better you're going to feel if you just get through the next few reps. That's your spirit.

Your mind is somewhere in the middle, sitting on the fence, listening to both sides of the story, trying to decide which way to go. Now your mind can take either side, depending on what kind of information it has.

You're going to take some action.

Will it be positive or negative? Will you keep going or will you quit?

Billy Blanks
The Tae Bo Way
©2000, Random House

Sydney Smith on Resolution

Resolve to make at least one person happy every day, and then in ten years you may have made three thousand, six hundred and fifty persons happy, or brightened a small town by your contribution to the fund of general enjoyment.

Sydney Smith, writer, lived in the 18th and 19th centuries

Source: bellaonline.com

William Ellery Channing on Resolution

I will seek elegance rather than luxury, refinement rather than fashion. I will seek to be worthy more than respectable, wealthy and not rich. I will study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly. I will listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with an open heart. I will bear all things cheerfully, do all things bravely await occasions and hurry never. In a word I will let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common.

William Ellery Channing, lived in the 19th century

Source: bellaonline.com

Observational Wisdom

People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas.

Author Unknown


Source: bellaonline.com

James Agate on Resolution

New Year's Resolution: To tolerate fools more gladly, provided this does not encourage them to take up more of my time.

James Agate

Source: bellaonline.com

Observational Wisdom

A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.

Author Unknown


Source: quotegarden.com

Laura Ingalls Wilder on the Spirit of Christmas

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Source: quotegarden.com

George Seaton on the Spirit of Christmas

Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn): Oh, Christmas isn't just a day, it's a frame of mind...

Kris Kringle to the skeptical Doris Walker in Miracle on 34th Street.

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Screenplay by George Seaton
Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Source: imdb.com

George Seaton on the Spirit of Christmas

Fred Gailey (John Payne): You don't have any faith in me, do you? It's not about faith. It's just common sense. Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to. It's not just Kris that's on trial. It's everything he stands for. It's kindness, joy, love, and all other intangibles.

Doris Walker (Maureen O'Hara): Fred, you're talking like a child. You're living in a realistic world! Those lovely intangibles aren't worth much. You don't get ahead that way.

Fred Gailey: ...Yes, I guess I expected too much. Someday, you're going to find out...that your way of facing this realistic world just doesn't work. And when you do, don't overlook those lovely intangibles. You'll discover they're the only things that are worthwhile.

Fred Gailey, Kris Kringle's attorney, to the cynical Doris Walker, Macy's Special Events Director, about the existence of Santa Claus in the touching Miracle on 34th Street.

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Screenplay by George Seaton

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Sources: imdb.com and script-o-rama.com

Francis Pharcellus Church on the Spirit of Christmas

DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.' Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?
VIRGINIA O'HANLON. 115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET.

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Francis Pharcellus Church
The New York Sun
September 21, 1897

Source: newseum.com

Greg Lake on the Spirit of Christmas

I wish you a hopeful Christmas
I wish you a brave New Year
All anguish pain and sadness
Leave your heart and let your road be clear
They said there’d be snow at Christmas
They said there’d be peace on Earth
Hallelujah Noel be it Heaven or Hell
The Christmas we get we deserve

Greg Lake

I Believe in Father Christmas (1977)
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer
Works Volume 2

Source: greglake.com

Movie Wisdom from The Bishop's Wife

Bishop Henry Brougham (David Niven): Let us ask ourselves what He would wish for most. And then, let each put in his share, loving kindness, warm hearts, and a stretched out hand of tolerance. All the shinning gifts that make peace on earth.

The end of the Bishop Henry Brougham's angel-written sermon in The Bishop's Wife. A quiet, exquisite fable in an understated, touching film.

The Bishop's Wife (1948)
Written by Robert Nathan, Leonard Bercovici, Charles Bracket, Robert E. Sherwood, Billy Wilder
The Samuel Goldwyn Company

Source: imdb.com

Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra, and Philip Van Doren Stern on Good Starts

Mary Bailey (Donna Reed): Bread... that this house may never know hunger. Salt... that life may always have flavor.
George Bailey ( Jimmy Stewart): And wine... that joy and prosperity may reign forever.

George and Mary Bailey help the Martini family christen their first home in It's A Wonderful Life... one of the best films ever!

It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
Screenplay by Philip Van Doren Stern, Frances Goodrich, Albert Hacket, and Frank Capra
Liberty Films

Source: imdb.com

Laurence Boldt on Resourcefulness

If the universe is truly for us, there is something for us in the bitter as well as the sweet of life.

Laurence G. Boldt

Source: The Tao of Abundance
by Laurence G. Boldt
©1999 Laurence G. Boldt, p. 101
Penguin Compass

Alfred Austin on Gardening

The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just on the body, but the soul.

Alfred Austin, poet

For photographer Gary Gardiner of Westerville Life and the vendors of the Uptown Westerville Farmers' Market

Order the Westerville Farmers' Market Hand Calendar for 2009

Source: brainyquote.com

Barack Obama on the American Dream

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

President-elect Barack Obama
November 4, 2008

To read Obama's historic and eloquent speech, click here.

Despair, Inc. on Vision

Vision: How can the future be so hard to predict, when all my worst fears are coming true?

Despair, Inc.

Source: despair.com
See image by clicking here.

Keith Olbermann on Introspection

If there is nothing to see in your soul, there is no need to look.

Keith Olbermann

Regarding George W. Bush's comments about his presidency in his interview with Charlie Gibson

Thomas Jefferson on Conflict Resolution

When angry count to ten before you speak. If very angry, count to one hundred.

Thomas Jefferson


Source: brainyquote.com

Joseph Addison on Disappointment

Our real blessings often appear to us in the shape of pains, losses and disappointments; but let us have patience and we soon shall see them in their proper figures.

Joseph Addison

Poet and essayist lived in the late 1600's/early 1700s


Source: nonstopenglish.com

Chuck Hagel on Double Negatives in America

There is always going to be a certain no-nothing element to democracy. That is their choice.

Sen. Chuck Hagel, Nebraska
On closed-minded political attitudes


Source: The Huffington Post
Hagel Unrestrained... by Sam Stein

David Plouff on Hope

Our campaign was the art of the possibility.

David Plouff
Campaign Manager
Obama for President

Source: 60 Minutes, CBS News

Jon Bon Jovi on the Journey

Remember, not all who wander are lost.

Jon Bon Jovi
Monmouth College commencement speech, May 2001

Good speech, click here to read it all.

Source: bonarticles.net

Marcus Aurelius on Courage

The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are.

Marcus Aurelius


Source: The Tao of Abundance
by Laurence G. Boldt
©1999 Laurence G. Boldt
Penguin Compass

Tina Fey on Free Association

She got lost in a corn maze.

About Sarah Palin speaking with Katie Couric

Tina Fey
on Late Show with David Letterman, October 17, 2008
Worldwide Pants

Click to watch.

Ed Cunningham on Life

Life is an open book test.

Ed Cunningham
ABC Sports
During the Purdue at Ohio State game
October 11, 2008

Lao Tzu on Achievement

Achieve success, but without vanity.
Achieve success, but without aggression.
Achieve success, but without arrogance.
Achieve success, but without gain.
Achieve success, but without force.

Lao Tzu


Source: The Tao of Abundance
by Laurence G. Boldt
©1999 Laurence G. Boldt
Penguin Compass

Fareed Zakaria on Perspective

Reorganization is not a sign of failure, but an acknowledgment that creative destruction is an essential part of capitalism.

Fareed Zakaria



Source: Fareed Zakaria GPS
CNN

Proverb Wisdom

When the student is ready the teacher shall appear.

Chinese Proverb


Source: The Five Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me About Life and Wealth
by Richard Paul Evans
Simon and Schuster, January 2006

Sharon Anthony Bower on Human Relations

The basic difference between being assertive and being aggressive is how our words and behavior affect the rights and well being of others.

Sharon Anthony Bower

Source: thinkexist.com

Linda Foor on Success

Keep in mind: Failure is a comfort zone.

Linda Foor

Winston Churchill on Human Relations

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.

Winston Churchill


Source: wisdomquotes.com

Linda Foor on Rules for Modern Travel

If there is no place to plug in a hair dryer, there is no need for me to be there.

Linda Foor

Jim Tressel on Faith

Faith is the bedrock of a winner. Belief is the outward expression of an inner faith.

Jim Tressel

Go Bucks!

Source: The Winners Manual
by Jim Tressel with Chris Fabry
(c) 2008 Tyndale House Publishers, p. 114

Troy Smith on Pressure

Pressure busts pipes -- but it can also make a diamond. I am a diamond.

Troy Smith

Go Bucks!

Source: troysmithonline.com

Archie Griffin on Resilience

The more I heard that I couldn't make it, the more I was determined to do it. I never liked being told that I'm not good enough to do this or that.

Archie Griffin

Go Bucks!

Source: quoteland.com

Bill Willis on Progress

I'm proud of the role I played, but it was a very small part. I'm appreciative of the people who permitted me to play that role. I still get nice, thoughtful letters, saying that I had a part in how the entire fabric of professional football - management, players, everything - has moved ahead.

Bill Willis
Retired Ohio State Buckeye No. 99
The first African-American to play football at The Ohio State University

You should know about this man.

Go Bucks!

Bill Willis was the first African-American full-time starter in pro-football's modern era. He was the NFL's first middle linebacker. Willis, Marion Motley, Kenny Washington, and Woody Strode were the first African-American starters in modern pro-football in 1946.

Source: bigten.cstv.com

Jim Tressel on Genuine Love

They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Jim Tressel

Go Bucks!

Source: Source: The Winners Manual
by Jim Tressel with Chris Fabry
(c) 2008 Tyndale House Publishers, p. 180

Jesse Owens on Believing

Find the good. It's all around you. Find it, showcase it and you'll start believing it.

Jesse Owens

Go Bucks!

Source: jesseowens.com

Woody Hayes on Gratitude

You can never pay back. So you should always try to pay forward.

Woody Hayes

Go Bucks!

Source: coachtressel.com

Jesse Owens on Achieving

We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.

Jesse Owens

Go Bucks!

Source: brainyquote.com

Woody Hayes on Paying Forward

Wars always bring bigger problems then they settle. We can't have that. It's up to us to have such a good democracy that other people want it too. That's a job that will be in your future. Hard work, tough decisions, teamwork, family values, and paying ahead will help to change this world and make it a better place, And I have no idea but that you have the attitude and the capacity and the ability here to go on and help make this a greater world.

Woody Hayes
1986 Commencement Speech
The Ohio State University

Go Bucks!

Source: gosu02

Jim Tressel Speak

As far as Worthington goes, Doug will be suited up and ready to go. Exactly when he’ll get his car keys back in the course of a game, I don’t know that answer at this moment, but it won’t be at the beginning.

Ohio State Buckeye Coach Jim Tressel
August 26, 2008 Press Conference
Referring to when player Doug Worthington will be playing in August 30th's game.

Go Bucks!


Source: bucknuts.com

Stella Reid on Responding

Thanks for the honesty, but I don't like the answer.

Responding to a father's list of reasons for why he won't change his behavior and work less and spend more time with his family.

Nanny Stella Reid
Nanny 911, Season 3, Episode 29 (2007)
Granada Entertainment

Source: imdb.com and wikipedia.com

Mark Victor Hansen on the Journey

Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.

Mark Victor Hansen

Source: thinkexist.com

Maxwell Maltz on Self-Determination

Realizing that our actions, feelings and behaviour are the result of our own images and beliefs gives us the level that psychology has always needed for changing personality.

Maxwell Maltz

Soure: brainyquote.com

Bill Gates on Learning

Success is a lousy teacher. It makes smart people think they can't lose.

Bill Gates


Source:
The Winners Manual
by Jim Tressel with Chris Fabry
(c) 2008 Tyndale House Publishers, p. 171

Albert Einstein on Perspective

Concern for man and his fate must form the chief interest of all technical endeavors.... Never forget that in the midst of your diagrams and equations.

Albert Einstein

Source: The Winners Manual
by Jim Tressel with Chris Fabry
© 2008 Tyndale House Publishers, p. 172

Rosalynn Carter on Resilience

You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through.

Rosalynn Carter


Source: The Winners Manual
by Jim Tressel with Chris Fabry
(c) 2008 Tyndale House Publishers, p. 70

Sam Grawe on The Pebble in a Pond

While our problems are indeed macro, by making incremental changes, perhaps you or I can effect change.

On the relationship between sustainability and design.

Sam Grawe, Editor-in-Chief, Dwell Magazine, July/August 2008

Michelangelo on the Journey

Ancora imparto.

Michelangelo

Latin. Translation: I am still learning.

Philip Dunne on the Journey

Pope Julius II: When will you make an end?
Michelangelo: When I am finished!

The repeated exchange between Pope Julius II (Rex Harrison) and Michelangelo (Charlton Heston) while he painted the Sistene Chapel.

The Agony and The Ecstasy (1965)
Screenplay by Philip Dunne
International Classics/Twentieth Century Fox

Source: imdb.com

Voltaire on Blessings

Common sense is not so common.

Voltaire


Source: workinghumor.com

Anne Morrow Lindbergh on Resilience

I do not believe that sheer suffering teaches. If suffering alone taught, all the world would be wise, since everyone suffers. To suffering must be added mourning, understanding, patience, love, openness and the willingness to remain vulnerable.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Source: brainyquote.com

Mary Pickford on Resilience

You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call failure is not the falling down, but the staying down.

Mary Pickford


Source: worldofquotes.com

Roy Rogers on Citizenship

1. Be neat and clean.
2. Be courteous and polite.
3. Always obey your parents.
4. Protect the weak and help them.
5. Be brave but never take chances.
6. Study hard and learn all you can.
7. Be kind to animals and take care of them.
8. Eat all your food and never waste any.
9. Love God and go to Sunday school regularly.
10. Always respect our flag and our country.

Roy Rogers Riders Club Rules
The club is still active, the rules originated in the 1940's.

Source: royrogers.com

Michael Phelps on Possiblilities

I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and you put the work and time into it. I think your mind really controls everything.

Michael Phelps

Source: brainyquote.com

Despair, Inc. on Tradition

Tradition: Just because you've always done it that way doesn't mean it's not incredibly stupid.

Despair, Inc.


Source: despair.com

Click here to view image.

Jim Tressel on Purpose

Before I can do, I must be.

Jim Tressel


Source: The Winners Manual
by Jim Tressel with Chris Fabry
(c) 2008 Tyndale House Publishers, p. 25

Go Bucks!

John Wooden on Success

Success is peace of mind, which is the direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.

John Wooden


Source: The Winners Manual
by Jim Tressel with Chris Fabry
(c) 2008 Tyndale House Publishers, p. 4

Mary Chapin Carpenter on Self-Determinaton

We've got two lives, one we're given and the other one we make.

Mary Chapin Carpenter
The Hard Way
Come On, Come On
(c) 1992, Legacy Recording


Source: cmt.com

Athur Ashe on Decisions

A wise person decides slowly but abides by these decisions.

Arthur Ashe


Source: brainyquote.com

Bessie Stanley on Success

He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much; who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who has never lacked appreciation of earth’s beauty or failed to express it; who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had; whose life was an inspiration; whose memory a benediction.

Bessie Stanley
Lincoln Republican, December 21, 1905

This quote is often attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson. Kansas native Bessie Stanley entered a contest in 1905 to answer the question: "What Constitutes Success?" in 100 words or less. Bessie Stanley won $250 for her eloquent response.

Source: State Library of Kansas

For Mary Lib

Wesley Bates on Presence

There's no need for a piece of sculpture in a home that has a cat.

Wesley Bates, writer


Source: The Artistic Cat
(c) 1991, Running Press

Langston Hughes on Dreams

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

Langston Hughes


Source: poemhunter.com

Ralph Waldo Emerson on Appreciation

Every man I meet is my superior in some way. In that, I learn from him.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Source: How to Win Friends and Influence People
by Dale Carnegie
(c) 1936, 1964, 1981, Pocket Books, p. 31

Helen Keller on Lessons

Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.

Helen Keller


Source: If Life is a Game, These are the Rules
by Cherie Carter-Scott
(c) 1998, Broadway Books, p. 5

James Downey on Careful Analysis

Strategery.

Candidate George W. Bush (Will Ferrell) summing up his performance in a 2000 debate in one word.

Saturday Night Live
Written by James Downey
Season 26, Episode 1, October 7, 2000
NBC Studios

Sources: wikipedia.com and imdb.com

This is not a real word... but it should be!

Sloan Wilson on Parenting

The hardest part of raising a child is teaching them to ride bicycles. A shaky child on a bicycle for the first time needs both support and freedom. The realization that this is what the child will always need can hit hard.

Sloan Wilson, novelist


Source: quotegarden.com

Eleanor Roosevelt on Facing Fear

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face... The danger lies in refusing to face the fear, in not daring to come to grips with it... You must make yourself succeed every time. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.

Eleanor Roosevelt


Source: gaia.com

Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel on Unwritten Rules

Are you crying? Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There's no crying! THERE'S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL!

Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks) to Evelyn Gardner (Bitty Schram)

A League of Their Own
Screenplay by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel
1992, Columbia Pictures Corporation



Source: imdb.com

Jeff Lewis on Careful Analysis

It's not even passive-aggressive; it's aggressive-aggressive.

Jeff Lewis
Flipping Out, 2008
Bravo TV/Authentic Entertainment

Robert Benchley on Discretion

Drawing on my fine command of the language, I said nothing.

Robert Benchley Columnist for The New Yorker


Source: famous-quotes-and-quotations.com

Tony Robbins on Self-Determination

In every man and woman's life there comes a time of ultimate challenge -- a time when every resource we have is tested. A time when life seems unfair. A time when our faith, our values, our patience, our compassion, our ability to persist, are all pushed to our limits and beyond. Some people use such tests as an opportunity to become better people -- others allow these experiences to destroy them.

Tony Robbins
Unlimited Power
(c) 1997, Simon and Schuster, p. 23

Mariah Carey on Focus

Never, never listen to anybody that tries to discourage you.

Mariah Carey


Source: thinkexist.com

Despair.com on Challenges

Challenges: I expected times like this - but I never thought they'd be so bad, so long, and so frequent.

Despair.com
(c) Ashleigh Brilliant

Edward Allen Bernero and John Wells on Simplicity

Officer Sullivan: I'm going to tell you this story one time. And, I'm going to tell you the 'See Spot Run.' version.

Third Watch, Leap of Faith, Season 6, Episode 7, 2004
Written by Edward Allen Bernero and John Wells
John Wells Productions

Source: imdb.com

Osmo Wiio on Human Relations

▪ If communication can fail, it will.
▪ If a message can be understood in different ways, it will be understood in just that way which does the most harm.
▪ There is always somebody who knows better than you what you meant by your message.
▪ The more communication there is, the more difficult it is for communication to succeed.

Osmo Wiio

Source: complexitystudies.org

Robert McCloskey on Communication

I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.

Robert McCloskey, writer and illustrator of Make Way For Ducklings


Source: thinkexist.com

Leo Buscaglia on Human Relations

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

Leo Buscaglia

Source: brainyquote.com

Shel Silverstein on Possibilities

Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.

Shel Silverstein

Source: thinkexist.com

Epictetus on Appraisal

It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.

Epictetus


Source: brainyquote.com

Renee Stewart on Living

Accept differences. Be kind. Count your blessings. Dream. Express thanks. Forgive. Give freely. Harm no one. Imagine more. Jettison anger. Keep confidences. Love truly. Master something. Nurture hope. Open your mind. Pack lightly. Quell rumors. Reciprocate. Seek wisdom. Touch hearts. Understand. Value truth. Win graciously. Xeriscape. Yearn for Peace. Zealously support a worthy cause.

Renee Stewart, Alphabet for Life

Source: signals.com

Leo Buscaglia on Expectations

Never idealize others. They will never live up to your expectations. Don't over-analyze your relationships. Stop playing games. A growing relationship can only be nurtured by genuineness.

Leo Buscaglia

Source: thinkexist.com

Epictetus on Human Relations

We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.

Epictetus, Greek philosopher, lived about 1900 years ago

Source: thinkexist.com

Saint Thomas Aquinas on Faith

To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.

Saint Thomas Aquinas

Source: brainyquote.com

Auguste Rodin on Patience

Patience is also a form of action.

Auguste Rodin

Source: quotegarden.com

Ralph Waldo Emerson on Patience

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Source: quotegarden.com

Rose Macaulay on Housework

At worst, a house unkept cannot be so distressing as a life unlived.

Rose Macaulay, writer, lived in the late 19th into the mid-20th centuries


Source: worldofquotes.com

T-Shirt Wisdom

My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.

T-shirt wisdom


Source: quotegarden.com

A.A. Milne on True Friendship

If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together... there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. but the most important thing is, even if we're apart... I'll always be with you.

A.A.Milne
from Winnie the Pooh

Source: thinkexist.com

Antoine de Saint-Exupery on Respect

I have no right to say or do anything that diminishes a man in his own eyes. What matters is not what I think of him, but what he thinks of himself. Hurting a man, in his dignity, is a crime.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery, writer

Source: How to Win Friends & Influence People
by Dale Carnegie
(c) 1936, 1964, 1981
Pocket Books/Simon & Schuster, p.226

Norman Cousins on Impressions

If something comes to life in others because of you, then you have made an approach to immortality.

Norman Cousins


Source: brainyquote.com


In honor of Mary Lib

Kenji Miyazawa on Grief

We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.

Kenji Miyazawa, writer


Source: quotegarden.com

Satchel Page on Wisdom

If a man can beat you, walk him.

Satchel Page

Source: baseball-almanac.com

Apply as needed.

Lou Brock on Self-Awareness

Show me a guy who's afraid to look bad, and I'll show you a guy you can beat every time.

Lou Brock

Source: 10ktruth.com

Oscar Hammerstein on Peace

Peace is a never-ending process, the work of many decisions.

Oscar Hammerstein II

Source: thinkexist.com

Louise Hay on Perspective

When there's a problem - and we all have problems, not all of us can deal with the world and war, but we can deal with our own problems - when a problem comes up, one of the best things to say is: All is well, everything is working out for my highest good, and out of this situation, this so-called problem, only good will come, and I am safe.

Louise Hay


Source: Tavis Smiley, PBS, March 25, 2008

Louise Hay on Forgiveness

We all have people we need to forgive, and that doesn't mean to condone poor behavior, but it's to release us from the bondage from what somebody has done to us.

Louise Hay

Source: Tavis Smiley, PBS, March 25, 2008

Fortune Cookie Wisdom

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Fortune Cookie

From New China Express in Westerville

Eric Hoffer on Etiquette

Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength.

Eric Hoffer, writer

Source: quotegarden.com

Emily Post on Etiquette

Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter which fork you use.

Emily Post


Source: quotegarden.com

Woody Hayes on Human Relations

You win with people.

Woody Hayes
Football Coach
The Ohio State University

Go Bucks!

Barry Sanders on Self-Respect

Maybe a good rule in life is never become too important to do your own laundry.

Barry Sanders, running back Detroit Lions


Source: 10ktruth.com

Roger Caras on Dogs

For me a house or an apartment becomes a home when you add one set of four legs, a happy tail, and that indescribable measure of love that we call a dog.

Roger Caras

Source: dogquotations.com

J. R. Ackerley on Dogs

Dogs love company. They place it first in their short list of needs.

J.R. Ackerley, writer


Source: dogquotations.com

Good Advice

Friendship is delicate as a glass, once broken it can be fixed but there will always be cracks.

Author Unknown


Source: friendship.com.au

Michael Straczynski on Perspective

Janine Melnitz: Men -- can't live with 'em; can't sell 'em for parts.


The Real Ghostbusters
"Janine, You've Changed"
Season 6, Episode 1
Written by Michael Straczynski
Animation, 1990
Columbia Pictures Television

Source: imdb.com

Clare Booth Luce on Family

Women know what men have long forgotten. The ultimate economic and spiritual unit of any civilization is still the family.

Clare Boothe Luce


Source: brainyquote.com

Edmund Burke on Critical Thinking

But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint.

Edmund Burke


Source: brainyquote.com

Voltaire on Critical Thinking

Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices.

Voltaire


Source: brainyquote.com

Joe Silberman and Jack Slovinsky on Dream Analysis

Will Truman: A sex dream about Ang Lee? What was that like?

Grace Adler: A little slow-paced, but visually stunning.

Will and Grace
Season 6, Episode 21, 2006, "Partners 'n' Crime"
Written by Joe Silberman and Jack Slovinsky
KoMut Entertainment


Source: imdb.com

Jimmy Dean on Destinations

I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.

Jimmy Dean


Source: brainyquote.com

Douglas Adams on Deadlines

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.

Douglas Adams
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy


Source: brainyquote.com

Friedrich Nietzsche on Trust

I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you.

Friedrich Nietzsche


Source: thinkexist.com

Goethe on Goals

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

Goethe



Source: spirithill

Anthony Zuiker and Ann Donahue on Self-Determination

Horatio Caine: You can watch over people, but you can't make choices for them.

CSI: Miami: Money for Nothing, 2004
Season 2, Show 17
Written by Anthony Zuiker and Ann Donahue
CBS Productions


Source: imdb.com

Anthony Bourdain on Human Relations

Food brings all people to the table, both literally and figuratively.

Anthony Bourdain, chef and author



Source: No Reservations: China/The Travel Channel

M. Scott Peck on Self-Worth

Until you value yourself, you won't value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.

M. Scott Peck


Source: brainyquote.com

Napoleon Hill on The Right Moment

Do not wait; the time will never be 'just right.' Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.

Napoleon Hill


Source: bellaonline.com

Rita Rudner on Cooking

Men like to barbecue. Men will cook if danger is involved.

Rita Rudner

Source: Go Girl! Greeting Cards

Thais Hancock on Wisdom

Age doesn’t always bring wisdom. Sometimes age comes alone.

Thais Hancock


Source: Go Girl! Greeting Cards

Richard Feynman on Usefulness

We are at the very beginning of time for the human race. It is not unreasonable that we grapple with problems. But there are tens of thousands of years in the future. Our responsibility is to do what we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions, and pass them on.

Richard P. Feynman, physicist


Source: brainyquote.com

Gandhi on Usefulness

Consciously or unconsciously, every one of us does render some service or other. If we cultivate the habit of doing this service deliberately, our desire for service will steadily grow stronger, and will make, not only for our own happiness, but that of the world at large.

Gandhi

Source: Zen and the Art of Making a Living
by Laurence G. Boldt
(c) 1991, 1992, 1993 Laurence G. Boldt, Arkana, p. 23

Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson on Careful Analysis

What we've got here. . . is failure to communicate.

Captain, Road Crew 36 played by Strother Martin
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Screenplay by Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson
Distributed by Jalem Productions, Warner Brothers Pictures

Source: imdb.com

Free Advice

It's nice to be important, but it's important to be nice.

Free advice from an unknown source


This was a sign that used to hang at the juice bar at an old downtown Columbus, Ohio health food store called Spring Wheat, located a half-block from the Ohio statehouse.

Arthur Ashe on True Life

From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.

Arthur Ashe


Source: brainyquote.com

Proverb Wisdom

Don't buy the house, buy the neighborhood.

Russian Proverb


Source: thinkexist.com

Molly Ivins on Endurance

Any nation that can survive what we have lately in the way of government, is on the high road to permanent glory.

Molly Ivins


Source: thinkexist.com

Albert Schweitzer on Real Neighbors

Today... we know that all living beings who strive to maintain life and who long to be spared pain -- all living beings on earth are our neighbors.

Albert Schweitzer


Source: Zen and the Art of Making a Living
by Laurence Boldt
(c) 1991, 1992, 1993, Arkana, p. 81

Despair, Inc. on Individuality

Individuality: Always remember that you are unique, just like everybody else.

Despair, Inc.

Source: despair.com
See image by clicking here.

Marcel Proust on Living

We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.

Marcel Proust

Source: If Life is a Game, These are the Rules
by Cherie Carter-Scott
(c) 1998 Cherie Carter-Scott
Broadway Books, p. 128

John Denver on Soaring

The Eagle and The Hawk

I am the eagle, I live in high country
In rocky cathedrals that reach to the sky
I am the hawk and there's blood on my feathers
But time is still turning, they soon will be dry

And all those who see me, all who believe in me
Share in the freedom I feel when I fly

Come dance with the west wind and touch on the mountain tops
Sail over the canyons and up to the stars
And reach for the heavens and hope for the future
And all that we can be not what we are

John Denver
Aerie
(c)1972 Cherry Lane Music Publishing

Sources: cmt.com & johndenver.com

For Scout & Orville and Boomer, Justice, Mistic, and Columbus -- Downtown Columbus, Ohio's peregrine falcon parents and there first babies now fledged and flying.

Lyn Yutang on Coming Home

No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.

Lyn Yutang, writer and philosopher, lived mostly during the 20th century


Source: thinkexist.com

Erma Bombeck on The Family Dynamic

The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together.

Erma Bombeck

Source: quotegarden.com

F. Scott Fitzgerald on The Family Dynamic

Family quarrels are bitter things. They don't go by any rules. They're not like aches or wounds; they're more like splits in the skin that won't heal because there's not enough material.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Source: quotegarden.com

Goethe on Home

He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home.

Goethe


Source: brainyquote.com


Note: It can be confusing, so, Goethe is pronounced "guhr-tuh" (hard 'g' and go lite on the 'r')
Source: merriam-webster.com

Confucius on Home

The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home.


Confucius



Source: dailycelebrations.com

John Swartzwelder on Homonyms

Cursive writing does not mean what I think it does.

Bart Simpson's blackboard punishment
The Simpsons, Bart's Comet
Episode 2F11, 1995
By John Swartzwelder
Created by Matt Groening
Distributed by 20th Century Fox Television

Sources: snpp.com & imdb.com

Gracie Allen on Government

This used to be a government of checks and balances. Now it's all checks and no balances.

Gracie Allen... in 1940


Source: workinghumor.com

Sam Snead on Perishable Skills

Practice puts brains in your muscles.

Sam Snead


Source: 10ktruth.com

Muhammad Ali on Self-Determination

I am America. I am the part you won't recognize, but get used to me. Black, confident, cocky -- my name, not yours. My religion, not yours. My goals, my own. Get used to me.

Muhammad Ali


Source: 10ktruth.com

Suzy Prudden on Self-Respect

Your body is your vehicle for life. As long as you are here, live in it. Love, know, respect, and cherish it, treat it well, and it will serve you in kind.

Suzy Prudden, author

Source: If Life is a Game, These are the Rules
by Cherie Carter-Scott
(c) 1998 Cherie Carter-Scott, p. 17
Broadway Books

Proverb Wisdom

I was sad because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.
Chinese Proverb

The New York Times on Coffee

Over second and third cups flow matters of high finance, high state, common gossip and low comedy. Coffee is a social binder, a warmer of tongues, a soberer of minds, a stimulant of wit, a foiler of sleep if you want it so. From roadside mugs to the classic demi-tasse, it is the perfect democrat.

Flight of the Coffee Bean
New York Times, Editorial, November 14, 1949

Sources: Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How it Transformed the World
by Mark Pendergrast (c) 1999 Basic Books, p. 235
Google Book Search

Robert Sutton on Mindfulness

Leonardo Da Vinci said, "It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end," which is sound social psychology. The more time and effort that people put into anything -- no matter how useless, dysfunctional, or downright stupid it might be -- the harder it is for them to walk away, be it a bad investment, a destructive relationship, an exploitive job, or a workplace filled with browbeaters, bullies, and bastards.

Robert I. Sutton, PhD.
from The No Asshole Rule/
Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't
(c)2007 Business Plus Hachete Book Group USA, p. 99

The Continental Congress on America

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.

The Declaration of Independence,
In Congress, July 4, 1776. The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America


Source: Library of Congress

Woodrow Wilson on America

The American Revolution was a beginning, not a consummation.

Woodrow Wilson



Source: quotegarden.com

Hubert Humphrey on Amercia

Fortunately, the time has long passed when people liked to regard the United States as some kind of melting pot, taking men and women from every part of the world and converting them into standardized, homogenized Americans. We are, I think, much more mature and wise today. Just as we welcome a world of diversity, so we glory in an America of diversity -- an America all the richer for the many different and distinctive strands of which it is woven.

Hubert Humphrey


Source: thinkexist.com

Margaret Mead on America

One characteristic of Americans is that they have no tolerance at all of anybody putting up with anything. We believe that whatever is going wrong ought to be fixed.

Margaret Mead


Source: quotegarden.com

Barbara Jordan on America

What the people want is very simple - they want an America as good as its promise.

Barbara Jordan


Source: brainyquote.com

Jimmy Carter on America

America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense human rights invented America.

Jimmy Carter

Source: brainyquote.com

John F. Kennedy on America

The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.

John F. Kennedy


Source: thinkexist.com

Dwight D. Eisenhower on America

Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels -- men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, may we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.

Dwight D. Eisenhower



Source: nonstopenglish.com

Erma Bombeck on America

You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.

Erma Bombeck

Source: quotegarden.com

Good Advice

Is it plugged in?
Is it turned on?
What changed?

The three standard first-response support questions. Apply as needed.

Source Unknown.

Carl Jung on Perspective

Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.

Carl Jung


Source: If Life is a Game, These are the Rules
by Cherie Carter-Scott
(c) 1998 Cherie Carter-Scott, p. 86
Broadway Books

Booker T. Washington on Human Relations

I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.

Booker T. Washington



Source: The Most Brilliant Thoughts of All Times (In Two Lines or Less)
Edited by John M. Shanahan
(c)1999 Harper Collins

Joseph Campbell on Coping Skills

Is the system going to flatten you out and deny you your humanity, or are you going to be able to make use of the system to the attainment of human purposes?

Joseph Campbell


Source: Zen and the Art of Making a Living
by Laurence G. Boldt,
(c) 1991, 1992, 1993, 1999 Arkana/Published by The Penguin Group, p. 213

Stephen Schwartz on Resiliency

I'm through accepting limits
'Cuz someone says they're so
Some things I cannot change
But 'till I try, I'll never know

Elphaba singing Defying Gravity

Defying GravityWicked
Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz


Source: musicalschwartz.com

Robert Louis Stevenson on Perspective

Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.

Robert Louis Stevenson



Source: forbes.com

Saturday Night Live Wisdom

I gotta have more cowbell, baby.

Christopher Walken as producer, The Bruce Dickinson, to the band, Blue Oyster Cult, while recording (Don't Fear) The Reaper.

The VH1 Behind the Music: Blue Oyster Cult sketch
Saturday Night Live
Season 25, Episode 16
(c) 2000, NBC Studios

Source: http://snltranscripts.jt.org/

Robert Eliot on Coping Skills

Rule Number 1 is, don't sweat the small stuff. Rule Number 2 is, it's all small stuff. And if you can't fight and you can't flee, flow.

Robert Eliot


Source: forbes.com

Jon Stewart on Mindfulness

I am getting awfully tired of people we need leaving us.

Jon Stewart

The Daily Show
Moment of Zen
June 23, 2008
in remembrance of George Carlin
(c)2008 Comedy Central

Amen.

Hanna Rion on Gardening

The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses.

Hanna Rion, writer


Source: quotegarden.com

Ben Wexler on Taking Advice

That's throwing stupid gas on crazy fire.

Judy Miller in response to her sister agreeing to take advice from her husband.

Ben Wexler, writer
Still Standing, Still Advising, 2004
CBS Productions


Source: imdb.com

Erica Jong on Courage

Everyone has a talent; what is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.

Erica Jong

Source: The Most Brilliant Thoughts of All Times (In Two Lines or Less)
Edited by John M. Shanahan
(c)1999 Harper Collins

George Carlin on Life

There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls.

George Carlin


Source: "Hamster-enabled" georgecarlin.com

Kathy Griffin on Etiquette

I was raised right. I talk about people behind their backs. It's called manners.

Kathy Griffin


Source: From My Life on the D-List, Bravo Network

Sophia Loren on Mothers

When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.

Sophia Loren

For my neighbor & friend, Sue, on her first day back in the office after the birth of her daughter


Source: happyworker.com