Phrases and Thougths of the week
"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succed is always to try just one more time"
Thomas Edison
A man is measured by the enemies he makes.
THE CARPENTER
An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by.
The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career. When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter.
"This is your house," he said, "my gift to you."
What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.
So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built.
If we had realized that, we would have done it differently. Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely. It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity. The plaque on the wall says, "Life is a do-it-yourself project." Who could say it more clearly? Your life today is the result of your attitudes and choices in the past. Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today.
Pass this on to someone you like. I did.
Life is a song; sing it.
Life is a game; play it.
Life is a challenge; meet it.
Life is a dream; realize it.
Life is a sacrifice; offer it.
Life is love; enjoy it.
Sai BabaIF WE SHRANK THE EARTH'S POPULATION TO A VILLAGE OF 100 PEOPLE...
Preserving all existing human ratios, we'd have:
57 Asians,
21 Europeans,
14 from North and South America,
and 8 Africans.
52 would be female
48 would be male
70 would be nonwhite
30 would be white
70 would be non-Christian
30 would be Christian
89 would be heterosexual
11 would be homosexual
6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth and all 6 would be from the United States
80 would live in substandard housing
70 would be unable to read
50 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth
1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education
1 would own a computer
When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need for both acceptance, understanding and education becomes glaringly apparent.
Would you do the same?
As Gandhi stepped aboard a train one day, one of his shoes slipped off and landed on the tracks. He was unable to retrieve it as the train was moving. To the amazement of his companions, Gandhi calmly took off his other shoe and threw it back along the track to land close to the first. Asked by a fellow passanger why he did so, Gandhi smiled. "The poor man who finds the shoe lying on the track", he replied, "will now have a pair he can use".
Author unknown. First quoted in The Little, Brown Book of Anecdotes"Freedom" and "love" are simple words. They are not simple actions.
M. Scott Peck
The Different Drum
Simply seek happiness, and you are not likely to find it.
Seek to create and love without regard to your happiness,
and you will likely be happy much of the time.
M. Scott Peck
The Different Drum
"Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them."
Ralph W. Emerson
Talking about evolution: "It takes all the running you can do to stay in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that"
From Lewis Carrol's "Through the looking glass"
"Nobody will ever win the Battle of the Sexes. There's just too much fraternizing with the enemy."
Henry Kissinger
Good judgment comes from experience
and experience comes from bad judgment.
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; un-rewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
The slogan "Press on!" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
"Minds are like parachutes, they only work when they are open;
and for most of us, like parachutes, they spend most of the time closed"
"Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood"
Helen Keller
"Oh, the worst of all tragedies is not to die young, but to live until I am seventy-five and yet not ever truly to have lived."
Martin Luther King Jr.
"We are all pencils in the hands of God"
Mother Theresa
"Success in marriage does not come merely through finding the right mate, but through being the right mate"
Barnett Brickner
"To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe"
Marilyn Vos Savant
"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved."
Helen Keller
"It is easy to sit up and take notice. What is difficult is to get up and take action."
Al Batt
Love is the free exercise of choice. Two people love each other only when they are quite capable of living without each other but choose to live with each other.
M. Scott Peck
The Road Less Traveled
I am dubious as to how far we can move toward global community -which is the only way to achieve international peace- until we learn the basic principles of community in our own individual lifes and personal spheres of influence.
M. Scott Peck
The Different Drum
"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."
Ralph W. Emerson
