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Volume 24, # 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . April 2009 |
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Plant these "seeds" well and water often. Enjoy!
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Only Hope to Live . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blaise Pascal
"Let any man examine his thoughts, and he will find them ever occupied with the past or the future. We scarcely think at all of the present; or if we do, it is only to borrow the light which it gives for regulating the future. The present is never our object; the past and the present we use as means; the future only is our end. Thus, we never live, we only hope to live."
On Quotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert Burns,
PositiveQuotes"I pick my favorite quotations and store them in my mind as ready armor, offensive or defensive, amid the struggle of this turbulent existence."
Sense of Humor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rev. Billy Graham
"A keen sense of humor helps us to overlook the unbecoming, understand the unconventional, tolerate the unpleasant, overcome the unexpected, and outlast the unbearable."
Stunned by Grace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Max Lucado
"I’ve never been surprised by God’s judgment, but I’m still stunned by His grace."
You are Your Own Greatest Asset . . . . . . . . . . . .Terry Everton, Blue Mountain Arts, 1989
"You are your own greatest asset—there is nothing you cannot do.
No one can keep you from dreaming your dreams,
and only you can prevent them from coming true.
Your achievements are not determined by your ability alone,
but by the desire you possess to reach them.
There are no worlds outside of those you create for yourself,
and the only boundaries are those
you establish and choose to live within.
Never be afraid to defend your decisions, regardless.
No one can possibly know what is best for you other than yourself."
Tomorrow’s Goal . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. Maxwell Maltz, SOUNDINGS, Feb. 1990, p.2
"There comes a time when you get to bed and hit the pillow. You are alone with your thoughts and you take inventory of yourself, your assets and your liabilities. Then you should ask yourself what you forgot to do during the day.
…What did you forget today? Think of one thing you don’t want to forget tomorrow. It will make you relax. Take stock of yourself. It will improve your self-image and give you peace of mind for tomorrow’s goal."
Wisdom Seeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Arthur Ward
"Friends always answer when you call, reach out and help you when you fall;
they strengthen you in times of stress and add much to your happiness."
Seedling of Fear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Napoleon Hill, Think & Grow Rich, p. 256
"Indecision is the seedling of fear!…Indecision crystallizes into doubt, the two blend and become fear! The blending process often is slow. This is one reason why these three enemies are so dangerous. They germinate and grow without their presence being observed."
On Virtue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bits & Pieces, April 1979
"Wisdom is knowing what to do next.
Skill is knowing how to do it.
Virtue is doing it."
Spirituality of Acceptance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ernest Kurtz, The Spirituality of Imperfection, p. 61
"All spirituality—but especially a spirituality of imperfection—involves the perceiving, embracing, and living out of paradox. A ‘paradox’ is an apparent contradiction: Two things seem to exclude each other, but in truth need not do so.…Openness to paradox allows both the understanding and acceptance of our human condition as ‘both/and’ (both a saint and a sinner) rather than ‘either/or’ (either a saint and a sinner)."
Prayers for Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter Pauper Press, 1962
"O God of peace, we turn aside from an unquiet world, seeking rest for our spirits, and light for our thoughts. We bring our work to be sanctified, our wounds to be healed, our sins to be forgiven, our hopes to be renewed, our better selves to be quickened. O You, in whom there is harmony, draw us to yourself, and silence the discords of our wasteful lives. You in whom all are one , take us out of the loneliness of self, and fill us with the fullness of Your truth and love. You whose greatness is beyond our highest praise, lift us above our common littleness and our daily imperfections; send us visions of the love that is in You and of the good that may be in us."
Get Involved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jim Collins,
Good to Great, P. 209"Get involved in something that you care so much about that you want to make it the greatest it can possibly be, not because of what you will get, but just because it can be done."
Life is a Grindstone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jacob M. Braude
"Life is a grindstone; whether it grinds you down or polishes you up depends on what you’re made of."
Tragedy of Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Norman Cousins
"The tragedy of life is in what dies inside a man while he lives—the death of genuine feeling, the death of inspired response, the awareness that makes it possible to feel the pain or the glory of other men in yourself."
Life Worth Living . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Richard H. Feeley
"No one ever finds life worth living.
One always has to make it worth living."
Character—You Create . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jim Rohn
"Character is a quality that embodies many important traits, such as integrity, courage, perseverance, confidence and wisdom. Unlike your fingerprints that you are born with and cannot change, character is something that you create within yourself and must take responsibility for changing."
Great Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anatole France,
Top Achievement"To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe."
Stages of Commitment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fr. Mark Link, S.J.
A television talk-show host once said that commitment is made up of three stages. First, there’s the fun stage. That’s when we go out and say, "I love doing this. Why didn’t I get involved sooner?
Second, there’s the intolerant stage. That’s when we go out and say, "Anyone who doesn’t get involved isn’t really a true believer."
Finally, there’s the reality stage. That’s when we suddenly realize that our involvement is going to make only a microscopic dent in the problems of the world. And that’s the stage at which saints are made.
There are people in this world, some you might even know, who realize that they are going to make only a microscopic dent in the problems of the world. But they also realize that the worse evil is to do nothing because they can do only a little.…Their commitments make us ask ourselves, "What have I done in the past to get involved? What am I doing in the present to make a difference? What ought I do in the future even if it makes only a microscopic dent in the problems of the world?"
What is the stage of your faith commitment—fun stage, intolerant stage, or reality stage?
Creative Thinking . . . . . . . . . . . . Charles Swindoll,
The Quest for Character, p. 199Johann Gutenberg is a superb example of creative thinking. What did he do? He simply combined two previously unconnected ideas to create an innovation. He refused to limit his thinking to the singular purpose of the wine press or the solitary use of the coin punch. One day Gutenberg entertained an idea no one else had ever thought of: "What if I took a bunch of coin punches and put them under the force of the wine press so that they left their images on paper instead of metal?" From that creative idea the printing press was born.
Model of the Gutenberg Press
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