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A Collection of Wise Sayings

"We shall not cease from exploration


And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time." -- T.S. Eliot

"Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well but
the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it
turns out." -- Vaclav Havel

"If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for
myself, what am I? And if not now -- when?" -- Hillel

"Come my friends, 'tis not too late to seek a newer world." --


Tennyson

"If you understand, things are just as they are; if you do not
understand, things are just as they are." -- Zen proverb

"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, 'thank you,'
that would suffice." -- Meister Eckhart

"There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a
miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." -- Albert
Einstein

"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who
walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last
piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer
sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one
thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in
any given set of circumstances." -- Victor Frankl

"Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the
lesson afterwards." -- Unknown

"The shell must break before the bird can fly." -- Tennyson

"Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your
own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes."
-- Carl Jung

"The years teach much that the days never know." -- Emerson

"If you bring forth what is within you, it will heal you. And if you
do not bring forth what is within you, it will destroy you." (from
the Gospel of St. Thomas)

"Go to your bosom: Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth
know." -- William Shakespeare

"The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes


a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the
solution comes to you and you don't know how or why." -- Albert
Einstein

"The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who
will have sought and found how to serve." -- Albert Schweitzer

"The difference between a smart person and a wise person is that a


smart person knows what to say and a wise person knows whether
or not to say it." -- Quote found on the wall of a recreation center
office in Berkeley, California.

"Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you


get." -- Dave Gardner

"We do not see things as they are; we see things as we are." --


Talmud

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do


the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is
no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a
daring adventure or nothing. " -- Helen Keller

"This is the true joy in life: the being used for a purpose
recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature
instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances
complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you
happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole
community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it
whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the
harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life
is no 'brief candle' to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have
got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly
as possible before handing it on to future generations." -- George
Bernard Shaw

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw


back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and
creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills
countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely
commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things
occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A
whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's
favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material
assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come
his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets:

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.


Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. "

-- W.H. Murray, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition

On Being in Touch with Our Inner Child


"There is an innocence within me that already knows how to trust my Higher Power, to
cherish life while holding it lightly, to live fully and simply in the present moment. I will
allow that part of myself to come forward and nourish me as I continue on this journey."
(from Courage to Change: One Day at a Time in Al-Anon II, page 82). Reprinted with
permission of Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc., Virginia Beach, VA

On Being in Touch with Our Higher Power


"There is guidance for each of us, and by lowly listening, we shall hear the right word.
Certainly there is a right for you that needs no choice on your part. Place yourself in the
middle of the stream of power and wisdom which flows into your life. Then, without
effort, you are impelled to truth and to perfect contentment."
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

On Contentment
"Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much
you already have."
(Author Unknown)

Content: A Poem
I should be content
to look at a mountain
for what it is
and not as a comment
on my life
(David Ignatow)

On Worry
A thousand reasons for worry,
A thousand reasons for anxiety
Oppress day after day
the fool,
But not the wise man.
(Hitopadesa of Narayana)

"Do your best. Then, don't worry, be happy."


(Meher Baba)

Our Deepest Fear


"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful
beyond measure. It is our light that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be
brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?” Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child
of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about
shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine
as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not
just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously
give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our
presence automatically liberates others."

Marianne Williamson
This quote is often erroneously attributed to Nelson Mandela. Please see click here for
more details.

On Patience
"I remembered one morning when I discovered a cocoon in a bark of a tree, just as a
butterfly was making a hole in its case and preparing to come out. I waited awhile, but it
was too long appearing and I was impatient. I bent over it and breathed on it to warm it. I
warmed it as quickly as I could and the miracle began to happen before my eyes, faster
than life.

The case opened, the butterfly started slowly crawling out and I shall never forget my
horror when I saw how its wings were folded back and crumpled; the wretched butterfly
tried with its whole trembling body to unfold them. Bending over it I tried to help it with
my breath. In vain.

It needed to be hatched out patiently and the unfolding of its wings should be a gradual
process in the sun. Now it was too late. My breath had forced the butterfly to appear, all
crumpled, before its time. It struggled desperately and, a few seconds later, died in the
palm of my hand.

The little body is, I do believe, the greatest weight I have on my conscience, for I realize
today that it is a mortal sin to violate the great laws of nature. We should not hurry, we
should not be impatient, but we should confidently obey the eternal rhythm."
(from Zorba the Greek, by Nikos Kazantzakis)

"Improving our own attitudes and our own state of mind takes time. Haste and impatience
can only defeat our purposes."
(from This is Al-Anon, quoted in Courage to Change, page 93). Reprinted with
permission of Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc., Virginia Beach, VA

On Commitment
"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always
ineffectivness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary
truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment
one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves, too. All sorts of things occur to
help one that would never otherwise have occurred. The whole stream of events issues
from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings
and material his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets:
'Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic
in it.'"

(from W.H. Murray, "The Scottish Himalayan Expedition")

On Being Responsible
"I came to Al-Anon confused about what was and was not my responsibility. Today, after
lots of Step work, I believe I am responsible for the following:

• to be loyal to my values
• to please myself first
• to rid myself of anger and resentment
• to express my ideas and feelings instead of stuffing them
• to attend Al-Anon meetings and keep in touch with friends in the fellowship
• to be realistic in my expectations
• to make healthy choices
• to be grateful for my blessings

I also have certain responsibilities to others:

• to extend a welcome to newcomers


• to be of service
• to recognize that others have a right to live their own lives
• to listen, not just with my ears, but also with my heart
• to share my joy as well as my sorrow"
(from Courage to Change, One Day at a Time in Al-Anon II, page 85). Reprinted
with permission of Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc., Virginia Beach,
VA

"I have a primary responsibility to myself: to make myself into the best person I can
possibly be. Then, and only then, will I have something worthwhile to share."
(from Living with Sobriety)

On Learning to Do Better
I walk down the street.
There is a hole.
I don't see it.
I fall in.
It isn't my fault.
It takes a very long time to get out.

I walk down the same street.


There is still a deep hole.
I pretend not to see it.
I fall in.
I pretend it's still not my fault.
It takes a long time to get out.

I walk down the same street.


There is still the same deep hole.
I see it.
I fall in anyway.
It's a habit.
I get out quicker this time.
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole.
I see it.
I walk around it.
I don't fall in.

I walk down a different street.

Portia Nelson

On Right Action
"Codes of ethics are most often associated with prohibitions: Don't do this, don't do that.
All the spiritual traditions I know have more or less the same lists of don'ts. This makes
sense, since all the don'ts elaborate on the awareness that if we are not alert, our naturally
arising impulses of greed and anger might lead us to do something exploitive or abusive.
The fundamental rule is, 'Don't cause pain.'

Traditional Buddhist texts, when they talk about Right Action, use the terms hiri and
ottappa, usually translated as 'moral shame' and 'moral dread.' Shame and dread have
ominous overtones in English, but I rather like these terms. I appreciate the sense of
awesome responsibility they are meant to convey. Collectively, what they mean is that
every single act we do has the potential of causing pain, and every single thing we do has
consequences that echo way beyond what we can imagine. It doesn't mean we shouldn't
act. It means we should act carefully. Everything matters."

(from It's Easier Than You Think: The Buddhist Way to Happiness, by Sylvia Boorstein,
page 41. Published by Harper San Francisco)

On Pain
"They say that pain is inevitable but suffering is optional. If I learn to accept that pain is
part of life, I will be better able to endure the difficult times and then move on, leaving
the pain behind me.
(from Courage to Change: One Day At A Time in Al-Anon II, page 83). Reprinted with
permission of Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc., Virginia Beach, VA

"...When we long for life without...difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in
contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure." -- Peter Marshall

On Living With A Full Heart


When one is too hurt one cannot see others' pain, is too blind with one's own.
When one has many weights to lift, one cannot enjoy life.
When one has many expectations, one cannot be patient with others.
When one has fear, one cannot enjoy life.
When one does not give, one is making the heart lonely.
When one does not take, one is making the heart feel inferior
When one does not hope, one is shutting oneself into a tight closet.
But when one does not love, one is killing one's self.

(written by 12-year old Olivia, Berkeley, California, 2/12/02)

No Problem Lasts Forever


No problem lasts forever. No matter how permanently fixed in the center of our lives it
may seem, whatever we experience in this ever-changing life is sure to pass. Even pain.

Difficult situations often bring out qualities in us that otherwise might not have risen to
the surface, such as courage, faith, and our need for one another. All of our experiences
can help us to grow.

But we may need patience. Some wounds cannot be healed quickly. They must be given
time. In the meantime, we can appreciate the new capabilities we are developing, such as
the capacity to mourn and the willingness to accept. Let us share our losses and triumphs
with each other, for that is how we gather courage.
(From Courage to Change: One Day at A Time in Al-Anon II, page 77). Reprinted with
permission of Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc., Virginia Beach, VA

On Fear
"We have two kinds of fears. One is a fear that whatever is going on is going to go on
forever. It’s just not true -- nothing goes on forever. The other is the fear that, even if it
doesn’t go on forever, the pain of whatever is happening will be so terrible we won’t be
able to stand it. There is a gut level of truth about this fear. It would be ridiculous to
pretend that in our lives, in these physical bodies, which can hurt very much, and in
relationships that can hurt very much, there aren’t some very, very painful times. Even
so, I think we underestimate ourselves. Terrible as times may be, I believe we can stand
them.

"Because we become frightened as soon as a difficult mind state blows into the mind, we
start to fight with it. We try to change it, or we try to get rid of it. The frenzy of the
struggle makes the mind state even more unpleasant.
"The familiar image is a children’s cartoon character, like Daffy Duck, walking along
freely and suddenly stepping into taffy. In a hasty, awkward attempt to extricate himself,
he might fall forward and backward and eventually be totally stuck in the taffy. Even
children see a better solution.

"The best solution would be the nonalarmed recognition, ‘This is taffy. I didn’t see it as I
stepped into it, but I felt it after I got stuck. It’s just taffy. The whole world is not made
out of taffy. What would be a wise thing for me to do now?'"
(from It's Easier Than You Think: The Buddhist Way to Happiness, by Sylvia Boorstein,
page 71. Published by Harper San Francisco)

God's Jobs
An eight year old wrote this for his third-grade Sunday school teacher, who asked her
students to explain God:

One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes these to put in the place of the ones
who die so there will be enough people to take care of things here on earth. He doesn't
make grownups, he just makes babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to
make. That way he doesn't have to take up his valuable time teaching them to walk and
talk. He can just leave that up to the mothers and fathers. I think it works out pretty good.

God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on,
'cause some people, like preachers and things, pray other times besides bedtimes, and
Grandpa and Grandma pray every time they eat, except for snacks. God doesn't have time
to listen to the radio and watch TV on account of this. 'Cause God hears everything, there
must be a terrible lot of noise in his ears unless he has thought of a way to turn it down.

God sees and hears everything and is everywhere, which keeps him pretty busy. So you
shouldn't go wasting his time asking for things that aren't important, or go over parents'
heads and ask for something they said you couldn't have. It doesn't work anyway.

(From A Third Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul, by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor
Hansen. Published by Health Communications, Deerfield Beach, Florida. To order, call
1-800-441-5569)

The Secrets of Heaven and Hell


The old monk sat by the side of the road. With his eyes closed, his legs crossed and his
hands folded in his lap, he sat. In deep meditation he sat.

Suddenly his zazen was interrupted by the harsh and demanding voice of a samurai
warrior. "Old man! Teach me about heaven and hell!"
At first, as though he had not heard, there was no perceptible response from the monk.
But gradually he began to open his eyes, the faintest hint of a smile playing around the
corners of his mouth as the samurai stood there, waiting impatiently, growing more and
more agitated with each passing second.

"You wish to know the secrets of heaven and hell?" replied the monk at last. "You who
are so unkempt. You whose hands and feet are covered with dirt. You whose hair is
uncombed, whose breath is foul, whose sword is all rusty and neglected. You who are
ugly and whose mother dresses you funny. You would ask me of heaven and hell?"

The samurai uttered a vile curse. He drew his sword and raised it high over his head. His
face turned to crimson, and the veins of his neck stood out in bold relief as he prepared to
sever the monk's head from its shoulders.

"That is hell," said the old monk gently, just as the sword began its descent.

In that fraction of a second, the samurai was overcome with amazement, awe,
compassion and love for this gentle being who had dared to risk his very life to give him
such a teaching. He stopped his sword in mid-flight and his eyes filled with grateful tears.

"And that," said the monk, "is heaven."

(From A Third Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul, by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor
Hansen. Published by Health Communications, Deerfield Beach, Florida. To order, call
1-800-441-5569)

Symptoms of Inner Peace


Be on the lookout for symptoms of inner peace. The hearts of a great many have already
been exposed to inner peace and it is possible that people everywhere could come down
with it in epidemic proportions. This could pose a serious threat to what has, up to now,
been a fairly stable condition of conflict in the world.

Some signs and symptoms of inner peace:

• A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on past
experiences.
• An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.
• A loss of interest in judging other people.
• A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.
• A loss of interest in conflict.
• A loss of the ability to worry. (This is a very serious symptom).
• Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
• Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.
• Frequent attacks of smiling.
• An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.
• An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as the
uncontrollable urge to extend it.

The Rules for Being Human


1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the
entire period this time around.
2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a fulltime informal school called life.
Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may
like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.
3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial and error,
experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the
experiment that ultimately "works."
4. A lesson is repeated until learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various
forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the
next lesson.
5. Learning lessons does not end. There is no part of life that does not contain its
lessons. If you are alive there are lessons to be learned.
6. "There" is no better than "here." When your "there" has become a "here" you will
simply obtain another "there" that will again look better than "here."
7. Others are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about
another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.
8. What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you
need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.
9. Your answers lie inside you. The answer to life's questions lie inside you. All you
need to do is look, listen, and trust.
10. This will often be forgotten, only to be remembered again.

(Cherie Carter-Scott)

The Illusion of Perfect Parents


"It is a universal part of the human condition that we must heal wounds from our past.
The illusion of perfect parents must eventually give way to the realities of who our
parents are as concrete individuals. Their limitations invariably become our own, in one
way or another, and their struggles with identity and self-esteem become the stumbling
blocks that we find in our own lives. This is the human condition.

"Children of alcoholics teach us about the very nature of being human. Their experience
reminds us that self-esteem is not innate but rather comes from being valued by people
who value themselves."
(Timmen Cermak, M.D., quoted in New Realities magazine, November/December 1988,
page 46).

What is Maturity?
(from Courage to Change: One Day At a Time in Al-Anon, page 63.
Reprinted with permission of Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters,
Inc., Virginia Beach, VA)

• Knowing myself.
• Asking for help when I need it and acting on my own when I don't.
• Admitting when I'm wrong and making amends.
• Accepting love from others, even if I'm having a tough time loving myself.
• Recognizing that I always have choices, and taking responsibility for the ones I
make.
• Seeing that life is a blessing.
• Having an opinion without insisting that others share it.
• Forgiving myself and others.
• Recognizing my shortcomings and my strengths.
• Having the courage to live one day at a time.
• Acknowledging that my needs are my responsibility.
• Caring for people without having to take care of them.
• Accepting that I'll never be finished -- I'll always be a work-in-progress.

Comes the Dawn


After awhile you learn the subtle difference
Between holding a hand and chaining a soul.
And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning
And company doesn't mean security.
And you begin to understand that kisses aren't contracts
And presents aren't promises,
And you begin to accept your defeats
With your head held high and your eyes wide open.
With the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child.
You learn to build your roads
On today because tomorrow's ground
Is too uncertain for plans, and futures have
A way of falling down in midflight.
After awhile you learn that even sunshine
Burns if you get too much.
So you plant your own garden and decorate
Your own soul, instead of waiting
For someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure,
That you really are strong.
And you really do have worth.
And you learn and learn...and you learn
With every goodbye you learn.

Veronica A. Shoffstall

Pearls of Wisdom from Helen Keller


"Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may
be in, therein to be content." -- Helen Keller

"Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring
adventure or nothing."

Some Native American Wisdom


A Native American elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner:

"Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is
good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time."

When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, "The one I feed the
most."

How A Child Learns


If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility, she learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy.
If a child lives with shame, she learns to feel guilty.
If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement, she learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness, she learns justice.
If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval, she learns to like herself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to find love in the world.
(Dorothy Law Nolte)
Insights and Wisdom from Dick Olney
Who was Dick Olney? Dick was both a master psychotherapist and, for many, a profound
spiritual teacher. He called his work Self-Acceptance Training and he trained therapists
and others from coast to coast for more than two decades. Dick said the truth can never
be spoken. Even so, his words point the way. Here are some samples of what Dick has
said (excerpted from Walking in Beauty: A Collection of the Psychological Insights and
Spiritual Wisdom of Dick Olney, edited by Roslyn Moore. To order, contact DO
Publishing, P.O. Box 103, Mendocino, California 95460):
"There is only one wound of the mental body, and that is the wound of self-criticism or
self-judgment"

"Self-criticism or self-judgment is self-hatred. It will always hurt you. There is no


exception to that."

"One definition of insanity is to do something for twenty years that has not worked, and
then do it again as if it will work."

"To see what you are not is most important. Then what you are will naturally emerge."

"The goal of a good therapist is to help someone wake up from the bad dream that they
are their self-image."

"Your thoughts come automatically. It is to the extent you identify with them that they
make you their slave. You become the mistress of your thoughts, not when you can
control the machine, but when you do not identify with it."

"Emotion will not drive you crazy. What will drive you crazy is the fear of emotion."

Living According to False Beliefs

We all live according to false beliefs. Bringing such beliefs to light is an important step in
our deconditioning process. A few random false beliefs:
"Because my father abandoned me when I was a child, I must go through life abandoning
the people close to me."

"If I make a mistake, I will die."

"I don't have time to feel what I am feeling, because I have to figure it all out."

"I have to get where I go by suffering."

"When I start to feel good, I must remember to feel bad, because I didn't feel good
before."
"Because my mother withheld intimacy from me when I was small, I cannot offer
intimacy for the rest of my life."

"If I leave him, I'll die."

"I can't be happy, because if I allow myself to be happy, I might be humiliated."

"I must earn and deserve every good thing I get."

Other People's Expectations


"The only man who behaved sensibly was my tailor; he took my measurement anew
every time he saw me, while all the rest went on with their old measurements and
expected them to fit me."
(George Bernard Shaw)

Turning It Over to Higher Power


"God loves you and He knows all the secrets of your heart...you've allowed the past to
come between you and God. Turn the past over to God. He's strong enough to take it.
And give Him your future, too....He'll make you strong enough to live it."

The angel Claire, speaking to Jake, a jaded Vietnam vet, in the TV show Touched By An
Angel.

On Being Happy and Serving Others


"Happiness is not an individual matter. When you are able to bring relief, or bring back
the smile to one person, not only that person profits, but you also profit. The deepest
happiness you can have comes from that capacity to help relieve the suffering of others.
So if we have the habit of being peace, then there is a natural tendency for us to go in the
direction of service. Nothing compels us, except the joy of sharing peace, the joy of
sharing freedom from afflictions, freedom from worries, freedom from craving, which are
the true foundations for happiness.

"And once we have the condition of peace and joy in us, we can afford to be in any
situation. Even in the situation of hell, we will be able to contribute our peace and
serenity. The most important thing is for each of us to have some freedom in our heart,
some stability in our heart, some peace in our heart. Only then will we be able to relieve
the suffering around us."
(Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Buddhist teacher, interviewed by Ram Dass, as quoted in
Inquiring Mind Magazine, Spring 1996 issue)

Today, like every other day,


we wake up empty and scared.
Don't open the door to the study
and begin reading.
Take down the dulcimer.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways
to kneel
and kiss the ground.
(Rumi, Sufi mystic)

The Essence of All Being


Meher Baba, offers a comprehensive spiritual sweep to life:

"From the spiritual point of view, the only important thing is to realize Divine Life and to
help others realize it by manifesting it in everyday happenings. To penetrate into the
essence of all being and significance and to release the fragrance of that inner attainment
for the guidance and benefit of others -- by expressing, in the world of forms, truth, love,
purity, and beauty -- this is the sole game that has intrinsic and absolute worth. All other
happenings, incidents, and attainments in themselves can have no lasting importance."
Meher Baba, Discourses, page 200.

A Prayer for Peace, Growth, and Recovery


Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred...let me sow love.
Where there is injury...pardon.
Where there is doubt...faith.
Where there is despair...hope.
Where there is darkness...light
Where there is sadness...joy.
Oh Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled...as to console.
To be understood...as to understand.
To be loved...as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.
It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

(by St. Francis of Assissi)


000 Ignorance is Bliss,but Knowledge is Power.
001 Darkness is more productive of sublime ideas than light.
002 When the going gets tough,the tough get going.
003 Coward dies many times a day,but valient tastes of death but once.
004 Nothing lasts forever, not even your troubles.
005 If you risk nothing, you'll risk everything.
006 Accomplishment is the full blown rose of effort.
007 Only your real friends will tell you when your face is dirty.
008 If you don't set foot on the rope, you'll never cross the chasm.
009 To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as being right in doing it.
010 Information is nothing, unless mixed with experience.

011 If your spirits are low do something.If you have been doing something do something else.

012 To have more, desire less.

013 Nothing is permanent except change.

014 There is no greater burden than great potential.

015 True power is knowing that you can,but you don't.


016 Never fear shadows. They only mean that there is a light shining somewhere nearby.

017 For sleep,riches and health to be truly enjoyed,they must be interrupted

018 The rate at which a person can mature is directly proportional to the embarrassment he can toler

019 Never miss a chance to keep your mouth shut.


030 The closest to perfection a person ever comes is when he fills out a job application.

031 Give the world the best you have.The best will come back to you.

032 Anyone with money to burn will find himself surrounded by people with matches.
033 Everybody needs his memories. They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door.

034 Beyond talent lie all the usual words:discipline,love,luck-most of all endurance.

035 The life you have led doesn't need to be the only life you have.

036 Truth is eternal.Knowledge is changeable.It is disastrous to confuse them.

037 A father is a man who expects his children to be as good as he meant to be.

038 No day in which you learn something is a complete waste.

039 Life is trial and error unless you are an incompetent crook,in which case it is error and trial.
040 Vagueness and procrstination are ever a comfort to the frail in spirit.
041 If you are too careful,you are so occupied in being careful that you are sure to stumble over somet

042 One of the greatest victories you can win over someone is to beat him at politeness.

043 If you are treading water, you are losing ground

044 If you can't be kind , at least be vague.

Nothin gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool an unruffled un
045
all circumstances.

046 Get your facts first.Then you can distort them as much as you please.
-Mark Twain

047 Never be afraid to sit a while and think.


048 If you can't convince them, confuse them
-Harry S. Truman

049 The way to get things done is not to mind who gets the credit for them.
050 A sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use.

051 Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point.

052 Everything becomes a little different as soon as it is spoken out loud.

053 To achieve the the marvellous it is precisely the unthinkable that must be thought.

054 Don't throw away the old bucket until you know whether the new one holds water.

055 There are two kinds of men.The ones who make it and the ones who endure it.
056 Zeal without knowledge is a runaway horse.

057 Everyday should be lived as if it were the last.

058 It costs more to revenge injuries than to bear them.

059 Justifying a fault doubles it.


060 Great victories of life are often won in a quiet way.

061 To apologise is to lay the foundation for future offense.

The pessimist sees the difficulty in every oppurtunity.The optimist sees the oppurtunity in every
062
difficulty.

063 Patience is a necessary ingredient of genius.


064 Tomorrow is the day on which lazy people have the most to do.

065 If one takes care of the means,the ends take care of themselves.

066 Every man has his own destiny.

067 Revenge is a dish that tastes best when cold.

068 The only limits to our realisation of tomorrow are our doubts of today.

069 Unless one is a genius it is best to aim at being intelligible.


090 A common enemy doesn't a true friend make.
091 Justice is like a train that is nearly always late.

In an AUTOCRACY one person has his way.In an ARISTOCRACY some people have their way.
092
DEMOCRACY nobody has his way.

093 Life on earth is marked by a steady and continuous rate of extinction.

094 The only man who never makes a mistake is one who never does anything.
Theodore Roosevelt.

095 Experience isn't interesting until it begins to repeat itself-in fact till it does it hardly is experience.

096 Honour isn't about making the right choices.It's about dealing with the consequences.

097 Absence of proof is not proof of absence.


098 Extinction is simply proof of failure to adapt.

099 Sequelae are inherently unpredictable.


100 In a complex system behviour arises from spontaneous interaction of components.

101 What really interests to me is whether God really had any choice in the creation of world.
-Albert Einstein.

102 Complex systems flourish only at the edge of chaos.

Deep in the chaotic system,slight changes almost always cause vast changes in behaviour.Complex
103
controllable behavior seems precluded.
-Stuart Kauffman.

In the conservative region far from the chaotic edge,individual elements coalesce slowly,showing n
104
pattern.

105 Self-organisation elaboraes in complexity as the system advances toward the chaotic edge.
In the intermediate phase,swiftly developing complexity within the system hides the risk of immin
106
chaos.But the risk is there.

107 Approaching the chaotic edge elements show internal conflict.An unstable and potentially lethal r

108 At the edge of chaos,unexpected outcomes occur.The risk to survival is severe.

109 Order collapses in simultaneous regions.Survival is now unlikely for individuals and groups.
112 Winning is not everything.It is the only thing.
-Vince Lombardi
Incompetents invariably make trouble for people other than
themselves.
Larry McMurtry (1936 - ), 'Lonesome Dove'

Our lives improve only when we take chances - and the first and
most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves.
Walter Anderson

Courage is saying, "Maybe what I'm doing isn't working; maybe I


should try something else."
Anna Lappe, O Magazine, June 2003

When you are kind to someone in trouble, you hope they'll


remember and be kind to someone else. And it'll become like a
wildfire.
Whoopi Goldberg
Eccentricity is not, as dull people would have us believe, a
form of madness. It is often a kind of innocent pride, and the
man of genius and the aristocrat are frequently regarded as
eccentrics because genius and aristocrat are entirely unafraid
of and uninfluenced by the opinions and vagaries of the
crowd.
Edith Sitwell (1887 - 1964), Taken Care Of ,1965

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will
annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
Herm Albright (1876 - 1944)

I happen to feel that the degree of a person's intelligence is directly


reflected by the number of conflicting attitudes she can bring to bear
on the same topic.
Lisa Alther, Kinflicks, 1975

Complaining is good for you as long as you're not complaining to


the person you're complaining about.
Lynn Johnston (1947 - ), For Better or For Worse, 11-06-03

I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation


I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater
part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and
not upon our circumstances.
Martha Washington (1732 - 1802)

A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder
drug.
Patricia Neal

Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the
outer aspects of their lives.
William James (1842 - 1910)

The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter


his life by altering his attitudes of mind.
William James (1842 - 1910)
Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to
be.
Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)

The secret of happiness is to make others believe they are the cause
of it.
Al Batt, in National Enquirer

Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory.


Albert Schweitzer (1875 - 1965)

The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence
but in the mastery of his passions.
Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809 - 1892)

A person is never happy except at the price of some ignorance.


Anatole France (1844 - 1924)

Happiness arises in a state of peace, not of tumult.


Ann Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho, 1764

The discovery of a new dish does more for human happiness than the discovery
of a new star.
Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755 - 1826), Physiologie du Gout, 1825

Happiness depends upon ourselves.


Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)

Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of


one's values.
Ayn Rand (1905 - 1982)

Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand.


Baruch Spinoza (1632 - 1677)

Content makes poor men rich; discontentment makes rich men poor.
Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790)

If there were in the world today any large number of people who desired
their own happiness more than they desired the unhappiness of others, we
could have paradise in a few years. Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970)
All I can say about life is, Oh God, enjoy it!
Bob Newhart (1929 - )

The pursuit of happiness is a most ridiculous phrase; if you pursue


happiness you'll never find it.
C. P. Snow (1905 - 1980)

Cherish all your happy moments: they make a fine cushion for old age.
Christopher Morley (1890 - 1957)

This is the best kind of voyeurism, hearing joy from your neighbors.
Chuck Sigars, The World According to Chuck weblog, October 14, 2003
Sometimes it's hard to avoid the happiness of others. David Assael,
Northern Exposure, Our Tribe, 1992

All sanity depends on this: that it should be a delight to feel heat strike the
skin, a delight to stand upright, knowing the bones are moving easily
under the flesh.Doris Lessing
Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too
fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.Eddie
Cantor (1892 - 1964)

A lifetime of happiness! No man alive could bear it: it would be hell on


earth. George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950), "Man and Superman" (1903), act I
Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another
city. George Burns (1896 - 1996)
To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for
happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost.
Gustave Flaubert (1821 - 1880)

Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is


not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy
purpose.
Helen Keller (1880 - 1968)

Man is the artificer of his own happiness.


Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862), Journal, January 21, 1838
If we cannot live so as to be happy, let us least live so as to deserve it.
Immanuel Hermann Fichte

I am a kind of paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make


me happy.
J. D. Salinger (1919 - ) The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the
wise grows it under his feet.
James Oppenheim

At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new


possibilities.
Jean Houston

Happiness: a good bank account, a good cook and a good digestion.


Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712 - 1778)

The bird of paradise alights only upon the hand that does not grasp.
John Berry, Flight of White Crows

There are people who, instead of listening to what is being


said to them, are already listening to what they are going to
say themselves.

Albert Guinon (1863 - 1923)

No man ever listened himself out of a job.

Calvin Coolidge (1872 - 1933)

Make sure you have finished speaking before your audience has
finished listening.

Dorothy Sarnoff

When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.

Ernest Hemingway (1899 - 1961)


To listen closely and reply well is the highest perfection we are able
to attain in the art of conversation.

Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613 - 1680)

Be a good listener. Your ears will never get you in trouble.

Frank Tyger

Listen. Do not have an opinion while you listen because frankly, your
opinion doesn't hold much water outside of Your Universe. Just listen.
Listen until their brain has been twisted like a dripping towel and what
they have to say is all over the floor.

Hugh Elliott, Standing Room Only weblog, 02-14-2003

A good listener is a good talker with a sore throat.

Katharine Whitehorn

A good listener is usually thinking about something else.

Kin Hubbard (1868 - 1930)

Maybe I wanted to hear it so badly that my ears betrayed my mind in


order to secure my heart.

Margaret Cho, weblog, 03-03-04

No one really listens to anyone else, and if you try it for a while you'll see
why.

Mignon McLaughlin
Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your
mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can
only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake,
which, at least, others can learn from.

Al Franken, "Oh, the Things I Know", 2002

Wise men profit more from fools than fools from wise men; for the
wise men shun the mistakes of fools, but fools do not imitate the
successes of the wise.

Cato the Elder (234 BC - 149 BC), from Plutarch, Lives

We must not say every mistake is a foolish one.

Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)

Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes.

Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC)

Laughing at our mistakes can lengthen our own life. Laughing at someone
else's can shorten it.

Cullen Hightower

We're all capable of mistakes, but I do not care to enlighten you on the
mistakes we may or may not have made.

Dan Quayle (1947 - )

No one who cannot rejoice in the discovery of his own mistakes deserves
to be called a scholar.

Donald Foster
Assert your right to make a few mistakes. If people can't accept your
imperfections, that's their fault.

Dr. David M. Burns

The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you
will make one.

Elbert Hubbard (1856 - 1915)

Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake


when you make it again.

Franklin P. Jones

It's always helpful to learn from your mistakes because then your mistakes
seem worthwhile.

Garry Marshall, 'Wake Me When It's Funny'

A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful
than a life spent doing nothing.

George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, the other is busy
making mistakes and becoming superior.

Henry C. Link

She had an unequalled gift... of squeezing big mistakes into small


opportunities.

Henry James (1843 - 1916)


When you make a mistake, don't look back at it long. Take the reason of
the thing into your mind and then look forward. Mistakes are lessons of
wisdom. The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power.

Hugh White (1773 - 1840)

I have learned throughout my life as a composer chiefly through my


mistakes and pursuits of false assumptions, not by my exposure to founts
of wisdom and knowledge.

Igor Stravinsky (1882 - 1971)

Experience teaches slowly and at the cost of mistakes.

James A. Froude (1818 - 1894)

Mistakes are the portals of discovery.

James Joyce (1882 - 1941)

Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make
mistakes.

Mahatma Gandhi (1869 - 1948)

If you have made mistakes, even serious ones, there is always another
chance for you. What we call failure is not the falling down but the
staying down.

Mary Pickford (1893 - 1979)

If I had my life to live over... I'd dare to make more mistakes next time.

Nadine Stair

Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.


Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821)

An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a
very narrow field.

Niels Bohr (1885 - 1962)

Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.

Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), Lady Windermere's Fan, 1892, Act III

Nowadays most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and


discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one's
mistakes.

Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891

Every great mistake has a halfway moment, a split second when it can be
recalled and perhaps remedied.

Pearl Buck (1892 - 1973)

Mistakes, obviously, show us what needs improving. Without mistakes,


how would we know what we had to work on?

Peter McWilliams, Life 101

To avoid situations in which you might make mistakes may be the biggest
mistake of all.

Peter McWilliams, Life 101

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which


ones to keep.
Scott Adams (1957 - ), 'The Dilbert Principle'

Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life.

Sophia Loren (1934 - )

Everybody lies, but it doesn't matter because nobody listens.

Nick Diamos

It is the province of knowledge to speak and it is the privilege of wisdom


to listen.

Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809 - 1894)

Know how to listen, and you will profit even from those who talk badly.

Plutarch (46 AD - 120 AD)

As I get older, I've learned to listen to people rather than accuse them of
things.

Po Bronson, quoted in Publishers Weekly

A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he gets
to know something.

Wilson Mizner (1876 - 1933)

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