When you get what you want in your struggle for self
And the world makes you king for a day,
Just go to a mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that man has to say.
For it isn't your father or mother or wife,
Who judgment upon you must pass;
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass.
He's the fellow to please, never mind all the rest.
For he's with you clear up to the end,
And you've passed the most dangerous, difficult test
If the man in the glass is your friend.
You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years.
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you've cheated the man in the glass.
Dale Wimbrow 1895-1954
Do not accept what you hear by report,
do not accept tradition,
do not accept a statement because it is found in your books,
nor because it is in accord with your belief,
nor because it is the saying of your teacher.
Be lamps unto yourselves.
Those who, either now or after I am dead,
shall rely upon themselves only
and not look for assistance to anyone besides themselves,
it is they who shall reach the topmost height.
The Buddha
Desiderada
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant;
They too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
It is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
Many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the council of the years,
Gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a healthy discipline,
Be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here,
and whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore, be at peace with God,
Whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.
Max Erhmann, 1927
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly;
what is essential is invisible to the eye.
from The Little Prince
by Antoine de Saint - Exupery
"I want to know God's thoughts, the rest are details." Einstein
"The ox is slow, but the earth is patient."
From the movie "High Road to China"
but more likely predated by Confucius
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.
Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has Genius, Power and Magic in it.
Begin it now!
IF
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting;
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating;
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings- nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
Rudyard Kipling
Ralph Waldo Emerson
If I have seen further
it is by standing upon the shoulders of Giants.
Isaac Newton
Work like you don't need the money
Dance like nobody's watching
Sing like nobody's listening
Love like you'll never get hurt
Live like it's heaven on earth
"Nothing more than nothing," was the answer.
"In that case, I must tell you a marvelous story," the sparrow said.
"I sat on a branch on a fir, close to its trunk, when it began to snow -
not heavily, not a raging blizzard - no, just like a dream, without any
wind and without any violence. I counted the snowflakes settling on
the twigs and needles of my branch. Their number was exactly 3,741,123.
When the very next snowflake dropped on the branch - nothing
more than nothing, as you say - the branch broke off."
Having said that, the sparrow flew away.
The dove thought
about the story for awhile and finally said to himself,
"Perhaps there
is only one person's voice lacking for peace to come to the world."
To talk health, happiness and prosperity
to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel
that there is something in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything
and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best,
to work only for the best,
and expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others
as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past
and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times
and give every living creature you meet a smile.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself
that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry,
too noble for anger,
too strong for fear,
and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
Be... Do... Have.
I am Nature's greatest miracle.
Today I begin a new life.
I will greet this day with love in my heart.
I will laugh at the world.
I will be master of my emotions.
I will live this day as if it is my last.
I will multiply my value a hundred fold.
I will persist until I succeed.
I will act now.
I will pray for guidance.
from
"The Greatest Salesman in the World"
by
Og Mandino
A man is rich in proportion to the number of things
which he can afford to let alone.
Thoreau
There is more to life than increasing its speed.
Gandhi