Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. --Dietrich Bonhoeffer [from Oscar Ragus]
***********************
Eckhart: knowing Him everywhere

A man may go into the field and say his prayer and be aware
of God, or he may be in Church and be aware of God; but if he
is more aware of Him because he is in a quiet place, that is
his own deficiency and not due to God, Who is alike present in
all things and places, and is willing to give Himself
everywhere so far as lies in Him... He knows God rightly who
knows Him everywhere.
... Meister Eckhart (1260?-1327?)

******************************
Obedience:
Whoever strives to withdraw from obedience, withdraws from
grace.
... Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)
*******************************

Practical Atheism:
It is not enough to hold that God did great things for our
fathers: not enough to pride ourselves on the inheritance of
victories of faith: not enough to build the sepulchres of those
who were martyred by men unwilling, in their day of trial as we
may be in our own, to hear new voices of a living God. Our
duty is to see whether God is with us; whether we expect great
things from Him; whether we do not practically place Him far
off, forgetting that, if He is, He is about us, speaking to us
words that have not been heard before, guiding us to paths on
which earlier generations have not been able to enter. There
is -- most terrible thought! -- a practical atheism, orthodox
in language, reverent in bearing, which can enter a Christian
church and charm the conscience to rest with shadowy
traditions; an atheism which grows incessantly within us if we
separate what cannot be separated with impunity, the secular
from the divine, the past and the future from the present,
earth from heaven, the things of Caesar from the things of God.
... Brooke Foss Westcott (1825-1901)


******************************

ends or means:

Doubt, rather than faith, is high among the causes of the
religious boom. And the church's response to this current
situation will reveal, better than anything else, our faith in
God -- or our faithlessness. If we churchmen interpret such
pervasive doubt as a threat, then we will do as the church has
done so often in the past: we will substitute the church for
God, and make our church-centered activities into an ersatz
kingdom of God. Our faithlessness will be evident in the easy
paraphrase of the hard truth of the gospel, and in the lapse
from the critical loyalty that God requires of us, into the
vague and corrupting sentimentalism that has so marred American
Protestantism. Or the church can interpret the present
religious situation as a promise, as God's recall of His people
to a new reformation. Our faithfulness to God-in-Christ will
be manifest in the willingness to be honest with ourselves and
with the gospel. Then we may view the church, not as an end in
itself, but as the point of departure into the world for which
the Son of God died. Which will it be?
... Carl R. Smith & Robert W. Lynn, "Experiment in Suburbia"

********************************

little things:
If you will study the history of Christ's ministry from
Baptism to Ascension, you will discover that it is mostly made
up of little words, little deeds, little prayers, little
sympathies, adding themselves together in unwearied succession.
The Gospel is full of divine attempts to help and heal, in the
body, mind and heart, individual men. The completed beauty of
Christ's life is only the added beauty of little inconspicuous
acts of beauty -- talking with the woman at the well; going far
up into the North country to talk with the Syrophenician woman;
showing the young ruler the stealthy ambition laid away in his
heart, that kept him out of the kingdom of Heaven; shedding a
tear at the grave of Lazarus; teaching a little knot of
followers how to pray; preaching the Gospel one Sunday
afternoon to two disciples going out to Emmaus; kindling a fire
and broiling fish, that His disciples might have a breakfast
waiting for them when they came ashore after a night of
fishing, cold, tired, discouraged. All of these things, you
see, let us in so easily into the real quality and tone of
God's interests, so specific, so narrowed down, so enlisted in
what is small, so engrossed in what is minute.
... Charles Henry Parkhurst (1842-1933)

*****************************

Love of the Lord:

The commandment of God is, that we love Our Lord in all our
heart, in all our soul, in all our thought. In all our heart;
that is, in all our understanding without erring. In all our
soul; that is, in all our will without gainsaying. In all our
thought; that is, that we think on Him without forgetting. In
this manner is very love and true, that is work of man's will.
For love is a willful stirring of our thoughts unto God, so
that it receive nothing that is against the love of Jesus
Christ, and therewith that it be lasting in sweetness of
devotion; and that is the perfection of this life.
... Richard Rolle (1290?-1349), The Commandments

**********************************

on sharing God's word:

The preacher and the writer may seem to have an... easy
task. At first sight, it may seem that they have only to
proclaim and declare; but in fact, if their words are to enter
men's hearts and bear fruit, they must be the right words,
shaped cunningly to pass men's defenses and explode silently
and effectually within their minds. This means, in practice,
turning a face of flint toward the easy cliche, the well-worn
religious cant and phraseology -- dear, no doubt, to the
faithful, but utterly meaningless to those outside the fold.
It means learning how people are thinking and how they are
feeling; it means learning with patience, imagination and
ingenuity the way to pierce apathy or blank lack of
understanding. I sometimes wonder what hours of prayer and
thought lie behind the apparently simple and spontaneous
parables of the Gospel.
... J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), Making Men Whole [1952]

***********************************

devotions:

Devotion signifies a life given, or devoted, to God. He
therefore is the devout man, who lives no longer to his own
will, or the way and spirit of the world, but to the sole will
of God, who considers God in everything, who serves God in
everything, who makes all the parts of his common life, parts
of piety, by doing everything in the name of God, and under
such rules as are conformable to His glory.
... William Law (1686-1761),
A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life [1728]

**********************************

on the Bible's authority:

Christ is the Master; the Scriptures are only the servant.
The true way to test all the Books is to see whether they work
the will of Christ or not. No Book which does not preach
Christ can be apostolic, though Peter or Paul were its author.
And no Book which does preach Christ can fail to be apostolic,
although Judas, Ananias, Pilate, or Herod were its author.
... Martin Luther (1483-1546),
Introduction to the New Testament

*****************************

Right spirit:

There is a great difference between a lofty spirit and a
right spirit. A lofty spirit excites admiration by its
profoundness; but only a right spirit achieves salvation and
happiness by its stability and integrity. Do not conform your
ideas to those of the world. Scorn the "intellectual" as much
as the world esteems it. What men consider intellectual is a
certain facility to produce brilliant thoughts. Nothing is
more vain. We make an idol of our intellect as a woman who
believes herself beautiful worships her face. We take pride in
our own thoughts. We must reject not only human cleverness,
but also human prudence, which seems so important and so
profitable. Then we may enter -- like little children, with
candor and innocence of worldly ways -- into the simplicity of
faith; and with humility and a horror of sin we may enter into
the holy passion of the cross.
... François Fénelon (1651-1715), Meditation
*************************************

worship:

To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of
God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the
heart to the love of God, and to devote the will to the purpose
of God.
... William Temple (1881-1944)

**************************************

prayers:

We sometimes fear to bring our troubles to God, because
they must seem small to Him who sitteth on the circle of the
earth. But if they are large enough to vex and endanger our
welfare, they are large enough to touch His heart of love. For
love does not measure by a merchant's scales, not with a
surveyor's chain. It hath a delicacy... unknown in any
handling of material substance.
... R. A. Torrey (1856-1928)

*************************************

trivial matters:

Our souls may lose their peace and even disturb other
people's, if we are always criticizing trivial actions -- which
often are not real defects at all, but we construe them wrongly
through our ignorance of their motives.
... St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

***********************************

ultimate disaster:

The only ultimate disaster that can befall us, I have come
to realize, is to feel ourselves at home here on earth.
... Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990
***********************************

simplicity:

The Lord called me by the way of simplicity and humility,
and this way He hath shown me in truth for me and those who
will believe and imitate me. And therefore I would that ye
name not to me any rule, neither of St. Augustine, nor St.
Benedict, nor of Bernard, nor any way or form of living, but
that which was mercifully shown and given me by the Lord.
... St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226),
The Mirror of Perfection [c. 1280]

************************************

love and nails:

Nails were not enough to hold God-and-man nailed and
fastened on the Cross, had not love held Him there.
... Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)

***************************************

belongingness:

In conversion you are not attached primarily to an order,
nor to an institution, nor a movement, nor a set of beliefs,
nor a code of action -- you are attached primarily to a Person,
and secondarily to these other things... You are not called to
get to heaven, to do good, or to be good -- you are called to
belong to Jesus Christ. The doing good, the being good, and
the getting to heaven, are the by-products of that belonging.
The center of conversion is the belonging of a person to a
Person.
... E. Stanley Jones (1884-1973), Conversion [1959]

******************************************

prayer:

Accustom yourself gradually to carry Prayer into all your
daily occupation -- speak, act, work in peace, as if you were
in prayer, as indeed you ought to be.
... François Fénelon (1651-1715)

*****************************************
love:

Immature love says: I love you because I need you. Mature love
says: I need you because I love you.

Erich Fromm
(1900-1980, American Psychologist)

***************************************

winning friend:
If you want to win a man to your cause, first convince him that
you are his sincere friend.

Abraham Lincoln
(1809-1865, Sixteenth President of the USA)

*****************************************

forgiviness:
If you want to see the brave, look at those who can forgive.

Bhagavad-Gita
(c. BC 400-, Sanskrit Poem Incorporated Into the Mahabharata)

*****************************************

finishing:

If you must begin then go all the way, because if you begin and
quit, the unfinished business you have left behind begins to haunt you
all the time.

Chogyam Trungpa

**************************************

patience:

If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will avoid one
hundred days of sorrow.

Chinese Proverb

*****************************************

If people can be educated to see the lowly side of their own
natures, it may be hoped that they will also learn to understand and to
love their fellow men better. A little less hypocrisy and a little more
tolerance towards oneself can only have good results in respect for our
neighbor; for we are all too prone to transfer to our fellows the
injustice and violence we inflict upon our own natures.

Carl Jung
(1875-1961, Swiss Psychiatrist)

-----------------------------
sticking to your guns!

I like a person who knows his own mind and sticks to it; who sees at
once what, in given circumstances, is to be done, and does it.

-- William Hazlitt (1778-1830) English Essayist

-----------------------------
maturity

The sign of intelligent people is their ability to control emotions
by the application of reason.

-- Marya Mannes (1904-1990) American Journalist

-----------------------------
Work

Man is happy only as he finds work worth doing -- and does it well.

-- E. Merrill Root (1895-1973) American Writer

-----------------------------

Money

There is nothing so comfortable as money, - but nothing so defiling
if it be come by unworthily; nothing so comfortable, but nothing so
noxious if the mind be allowed to dwell upon it constantly. If a man
have enough, let him spend it freely. If he wants it,let him earn it
honestly.

-- Anonymous

-----------------------------
Greatness

A person is only as big as the dream they dare to live.

-- Unknown

-----------------------------
trials

What ought one to say then as each hardship comes? I was practicing
for this, I was training for this.

-----------------------------
Tact

Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy.

-- Howard W. Newton

-----------------------------
get your ideas across

To get your ideas across use small words, big ideas, and short
sentences.

-- John Henry Patterson
-----------------------------
growth

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your
envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears.

-- Glenn Clark

-----------------------------

Victory is sweetest when you've known defeat.

-- Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990) American Publisher

-----------------------------

Patience is passion tamed.

-- Lyman Abbott

-----------------------------

The vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal that you enthrone
in your heart - this you will build your life by, and this you will
become.

-- James Lane Allen (1849-1925) American Author

-----------------------------

Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age, but
they die young.

-- A.W. Pinero
-----------------------------

Humor is an affirmation of dignity, a declaration of man's
superiority to all that befalls him.

-- Romain Gary (1914-1980) French Writer

-----------------------------

There is no sensual pleasure in the world comparable to the delight
and satisfaction that a good man takes in doing good.

-- Tillotson

-----------------------------

Men can be stimulated to show off their good qualities to the leader
who seems to think they have good qualities.

-- John Richelsen
-----------------------------

Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks,
breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.

-- Mary Lou Cook






-- Epictetus (55-135 AD) Roman Philosopher

selective belief
If you believe what you like in the gospel, and reject what
you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.
... St. Augustine (354-430)


nearness of God
The nearness of God may inspire awareness of his activity,
mystery and order in the most ordinary and "non-sacred" places.
Therefore, Christians working in any kind of college must pray
for and cultivate delicate sensitivity to God's unexpected
disclosures in the ordinary and even in the profane areas of
life. The temptation of those who exalt the unrestricted
activity of God in any and all places is that they may become
overly diffuse in their outlook, seeing him where he does not
deign to disclose himself or scorning the customary or
conventional places of public worship. These, strangely
enough, are the places where the very distance of God leads us.
(Continued tomorrow)
... Wallace Gray, "Philosophy and Worship"

ON WORSHIP

Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all
tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other?
They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but
to another standard to which each one must individually bow.
So one hundred worshippers meeting together, each one looking
away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they
could possibly be were they to become 'unity' conscious and
turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.
Social religion is perfected when private religion is purified.
The body becomes stronger as its members become healthier. The
whole church of God gains when the members that compose it
begin to seek a better and a higher life.
... A. W. Tozer (1895-1963

BROKEN HEART
By constantly meditating on the goodness of God and on our
great deliverance from that punishment which our sins have
deserved, we are brought to feel our vileness and utter
unworthiness; and while we continue in this spirit of
self-degradation, everything else will go on easily. We shall
find ourselves advancing in our course; we shall feel the
presence of God; we shall experience His love; we shall live in
the enjoyment of His favour and in the hope of His glory...
You often feel that your prayers scarcely reach the ceiling;
but, oh, get into this humble spirit by considering how good
the Lord is, and how evil you all are, and then prayer will
mount on wings of faith to heaven. The sigh, the groan of a
broken heart, will soon go through the ceiling up to heaven,
aye, into the very bosom of God.
... Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE
If all things are possible with God, then all things are
possible to him who believes in him.
... Corrie ten Boom (1892-1983)

WITH HONOR
I would prefer even to fail with honor than win by cheating.

Sophocles
(BC 495-406, Greek Tragic Poet)


KNOWLEDGE
If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away
from him, for an investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

Joseph E. O'Donnell

FEAR OF TIME

"Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something
stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might
just as well put that passing time to the best possible use."

-- Earl Nightingale

HAPPINESS
Happiness adds and multiplies, as we divide it with others.

A. Nielsen
(1897-1980, American Businessman, Market Researcher))

Happiness will never come to those who fail to appreciate what
they already have.

Source Unknown


If you want happiness for an hour -- take a nap. If you want
happiness for a day -- go fishing. If you want happiness for a month --
get married. If you want happiness for a year -- inherit a fortune. If
you want happiness for a lifetime -- help someone else.

Chinese Proverb



COURTESY
All doors open to courtesy.

Thomas Fuller
(1608-1661, British Clergyman, Author)

FEAR
There is no greater hell than to be a prisoner of fear.

Ben Johnson
(1600-?British Clergyman, Poet)


JUDGING
We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others
judge us by what we have already done.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
(1819-1892, American Poet)


PRAYING FOR LABORERS
It is true that [people] are praying for world-wide
revival. But it would be more timely, and more scriptural, for
prayer to be made to the Lord of the harvest, that He would
raise up and thrust forth laborers who would fearlessly and
faithfully preach those truths which are calculated to bring
about a revival.
... A. W. Pink (1886-1952)


PRAYER
We have taught our people to use prayer too much as a means
of comfort -- not in the original and heroic sense of
uplifting, inspiring, strengthening, but in the more modern and
baser sense of soothing sorrow, dulling pain, and drying tears
-- the comfort of the cushion, not the comfort of the Cross.
... G. A. Studdert Kennedy (1883-1929)

We can do nothing, we say sometimes, we can only pray.
That, we feel, is a terribly precarious second-best. So long
as we can fuss and work and rush about, so long as we can lend
a hand, we have some hope; but if we have to fall back upon God
-- ah, then things must be critical indeed!
... A. J. Gossip (1873-1954

Faith is to the soul what life is to the body. Prayer is
to faith what breath is to the body. How a person can live and
not breathe is past my comprehension, and how a person can
believe and not pray is past my comprehension too.
... J. C. Ryle, "A Call to Prayer"
[Thanks to Robert J. Douglas at RJDOUGLAS@stthomas.edu]


You don't always get what you ask for, but you never get what you
don't ask for... unless it's contagious!

Franklyn Broude

You create your opportunities by asking for them.

Patty Hansen
(American Author)






PRIDE
The trouble with self-made men is that they tend to worship their
creator.

Source Unknown


CHANGE
Just because everything's different doesn't mean anything's
changed.

Irene Porter


LIFE
Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived
forward.

Soren Kierkegaard
(1813-1855, Danish Philosopher, Writer)

There are only 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
(1879-1955, German-born American Physicist)

WORRY

Set aside half an hour every day to do all your worrying; then
take a nap during this period.

Source Unknown


REPENTANCE
It is better to run back than run the wrong way.

Proverb


ACHIEVEMENT
You don't have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things - to
compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to
reach challenging goals.

Sir Edmund Hillary
(1919-, New Zealand Mountaineer, Explorer)

There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than
the long range risks of comfortable inaction.

John F. Kennedy
(1917-1963, Thirty-fifth President of the USA)

Adversity cause some men to break; others to break records.

William A. Ward


You create your opportunities by asking for them.

Patty Hansen
(American Author)


We cannot become what we need to be, remaining what we are.

Max Depree
(1924-, American Furniture Manufacturing Company Executive)





INFLUENCE

"Read something positive every night and listen to something helpful
every morning."

-- Tom Hopkins


TEACHING

"To teach is to learn twice."

-- Joseph Joubert

GREATEST TRAP
Over the years, I have come to realize that the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection. Success, popularity, and power can indeed present a great temptation, but their seductive quality often comes from the way they are part of the much larger temptation to self-rejection. When we have come to believe in the voices that call us worthless and unloveable, then success, popularity, and power are easily perceived as attractive solutions. The real trap, however, is self-rejection. As soon as someone accuses me or criticizes me, as soon as I am rejected, left alone, or abandoned, I find myself thinking, "Well, that proves once again, that I am a nobody." ....[My dark side says,] "I am no good... I deserve to be pushed aside, forgotten, rejected and abandoned." Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the "Beloved." Being the Beloved constitutes the core truth of our existence.

Henri Nouwen (1932 - 1996) was a Jesuit priest and writer, born in the Netherlands.


LEGACY
The key to the fire within is our spiritual need to leave a legacy. It transforms other needs into capacities for contributions. Food, money, health, education, and love become resources to reach out and help fill the unmet needs of others.

Stephen R. Covey is chairman and founder of Covey Leadership Center, a worldwide, 700 member leadership development firm.


BEING QUIET
"Why are you all so quiet all the time?" I say, still
whispering at him in this hoarse voice.
"We are teachers and workers," he says, "not talkers."
"Workers, O.K.," I say, "but how can a teacher be quiet all
the time and teach anybody anything?"
"Christ was the best," he says, thinking of something. "He
lived thirty-three years. Thirty years he kept quiet; three
years he talked. Ten to one for keeping quiet."
... Franc Smith, Harry Vernon at Prep [1959]


CHRISTIANITY AND COMMUNITY
There are many things which a person can do alone, but
being a Christian is not one of them. As the Christian life
is, above all things, a state of union with Christ, and of
union of his followers with one another, love of the brethren
is inseparable from love of God. Resentment toward any human
being cannot exist in the same heart with love to God. The
personal relationship to Christ can only be realized when one
has "come to himself" as a member of His Body, the Christian
fellowship.
... William T. Ham

GOD TAKING CARE
Nobody seriously believes the universe was made by God
without being persuaded that He takes care of His works.
... John Calvin (1509-1564)










OBEDIENCE
Do not ask the Lord to guide your footsteps, If you are not
willing to move your feet.

Source Unknown



TRUST
After Calvary, God has the right to be trusted; to be
believed that He means what He says; and that His love is
dependable.
... A. J. Gossip, In the Secret Place of the Most High [1947]



ON TALKING
Say not always what you know, but always know what you say.

Claudius
(10 BC-AD 54, Roman Emperor)


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

Epictetus
(50-120, Stoic Philosopher)

"I can't do it" never yet accomplished anything: "I will try" has
accomplished wonders.

-- George P. Burnham

Face your deficiencies and acknowledge them; but do not let them
master you. Let them teach you patience, sweetness, insight.

-- Helen Keller

What you can do, or think you can, begin it.

-- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but
progress.

-- Joseph Joubert


Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act
rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have
those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.

-- Aristotle

We can often do more for other men by trying to correct our own
faults than by trying to correct theirs.

-- Francois Fenelon



"Faith is the conviction that God knows more than we do about
this life and He will get us through it." Max Lucado

"Goals determine what you are going to be."
-- Julius Erving


"Character is not one of the most important things in life...
it's the only thing." -- Unknown


"Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat."
-- F. Scott Fitzgerald

"Restlessness and discontent are the first necessities of
progress." -- Thomas A. Edison


"Your thoughts determine your actions. Your actions determine
your habits. Your habits determine your character. And your
character gives birth to your destiny." -- Unknown


"All great masters are chiefly distinguished by the power of
adding a second, a third, and perhaps a fourth step in a
continuous line. Many a man had taken the first step. With
every additional step you enhance immensely the value of
your first." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson


"Each failure is a stepping stone to Success, which in turn
will become a very long and lovely stone walkway into the
castle of your Dreams!" -- John DiLemme



"The Wisdom of Steven Wright"


Black holes are where God divided by zero.

All those who believe in psychokinesis raise my hand.

I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met.

OK, so what's the speed of dark?

How do you tell when you run out of invisible ink?

Support bacteria - they're the only culture some people have.

Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.

Everyone has a photographic memory. Some don't have film.

Shin: a device for finding furniture in the dark.

If I worked as much as others, I would do as little as they.

When I'm not in my right mind, my left mind gets pretty crowded.

Who is General Failure and why is he reading my hard disk?

What happens if you get scared half to death twice?

I used to have an open mind but my brains kept falling out.

If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't
for you.

Experience is something you don't get until just after you
need it.

No one is listening until you make a mistake.

Success always occurs in private, and failure in full view.

The hardness of the butter is proportional to the softness of
the bread.

The severity of the itch is proportional to the reach.

You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive.

The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard.

Monday is an awful way to spend 1/7 of your life.

The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up.

A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

A fool and his money are soon partying.

Plan to be spontaneous tomorrow.

I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of cheques

Borrow money from pessimists - they don't expect it back.

Half the people you know are below average.

99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.

42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.

-----------------------------

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.

-- Mark Twain 1835-1910

-----------------------------

Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which, in prosperous
circumstances, would have lain dormant.

-- Horace 65-8 B.C.
-----------------------------

An army of sheep led by a lion would defeat an army of lions led by a
sheep.

-- Arab proverb
-----------------------------

Wisdom comes alone through suffering.

-- Aeschylus 525-456 BC
-----------------------------

Being defeated is often only a temporary condition. Giving up is what
makes it permanent.

-- Marilyn vos Savant 1946-NA

-----------------------------

We tend to make courage too dramatic. Courage is often doing
something simple, unpleasant, or boring again and again until we get
it down pat. People who are physically challenged and who have the
determination to get around their handicaps are great examples
because their courage makes them test their limits every day.

-- Dave Thomas, founder of Wendys

-----------------------------

Virtue means doing the right thing, in relation to the right person,
at the right time, to the right extent, in the right manner, and for
the right purpose. Thus, to give money away is quite a simple task,
but for the act to be virtuous, the donor must give to the right
person, for the right purpose, in the right amount, in the right
manner, and at the right time.

-- Aristotle
-----------------------------

Any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can

anger
you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him.

-- Epictetus

-----------------------------

The life that conquers is the life that moves with a steady
resolution and persistence toward a predetermined goal. Those who
succeed are those who have thoroughly learned the immense

importance
of plan in life, and the tragic brevity of time.

-- W.J. Davison

-----------------------------

Aim at the sun and you may not reach it; but your arrow will fly far
higher than if you had aimed at an object on a level with yourself.

-- F. Hawes
-----------------------------

Trials, temptations, disappointments -- all these are helps instead
of hindrances, if one uses them rightly. They not only test the fibre
of a character, but strengthen it. Every conquered temptation
represents a new fund of moral energy. Every trial endured and
weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than
it was before.

-- James Buckham
-----------------------------

Some day, in years to come, you will be wrestling with the great
temptation, or trembling under the great sorrow of your life. But the
real struggle is here, now, in these quiet weeks. Now it is being
decided whether, in the day of your supreme sorrow or temptation, you
shall miserably fail or gloriously conquer. Character cannot be made
except by a steady, long continued process.

-- Phillips Brooks
-----------------------------

Children need models rather than critics.

-- Joseph Joubert
-----------------------------

Optimism is essential to achievement and it is also the foundation of
courage and true progress.

-- Nicholas Murray Butler
-----------------------------

People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I
don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world
are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want,
and, if they can't find them, make them.

-- George Bernard Shaw 1856-1950
-----------------------------

The first virtue of all really great men is that they are sincere.
They eradicate hypocrisy from their hearts.

-- Anotole France
-----------------------------

Every man is valued in this world as he shows by his conduct that he
wishes to be valued.

-- Jean De La Bruyere

-----------------------------

If there is one thing upon this earth that mankind love and admire
better than another, it is a brave man, -- it is the man who dares to
look the devil in the face and tell him he is a devil.

-- James A. Garfield
-----------------------------

The sages do not consider that making no mistakes is a blessing. They
believe, rather, that the great virtue of man lies in his ablility to
correct his mistakes and continually make a new man of himself.

-- Wang Yang-Ming
-----------------------------

The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected
without trials.

-- Chinese proverb

[11/1/2002 9:38:41 PM | Jonimae Capinig]
Hearts that are "fit to break" with love for the Godhead
are those who have been in the Presence and have looked with
opened eye upon the majesty of Deity. Men of the breaking
hearts had a quality about them not known to or understood by
common men. They habitually spoke with spiritual authority.
They had been in the Presence of God and they reported what
they saw there. They were prophets, not scribes: for the
scribe tells us what he has read, and the prophet tells us what
he has seen. The distinction is not an imaginary one. Between
the scribe who has read and the prophet who has seen, there is
a difference as wide as the sea. We are today overrun with
orthodox scribes; but the prophets, where are they? The hard
voice of the scribe sounds over evangelicalism, but the Church
waits for the tender voice of the saint who has penetrated the
veil and has gazed with inward eye upon the Wonder that is God.
... A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God [1948]


The deeper sorrow carves into your being, the more joy
you can absorb.
Jan Coleman

The more extensive a man's knowledge of what has
been done, the greater will be his power of
knowing what to do.
Benjamin Disraeli



When you judge another, you do not define them, you define
yourself.

Wayne Dyer
(1940-, American Psychotherapist, Author, Lecturer)

==================================

Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself.

James Allen



We Christians too often substitute prayer for playing the
game. Prayer is good; but when used as a substitute for
obedience, it is nothing but a blatant hypocrisy, a despicable
Pharisaism... To your knees, man! and to your Bible! Decide
at once! Don't hedge! Time flies! Cease your insults to God,
quit consulting flesh and blood. Stop your lame, lying, and
cowardly excuses. Enlist!
... C. T. Studd (1860-1931)




"You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have,
for instance."

-- Franklin P. Jones



We all sorely complain of the shortness of time, and yet have
much more than we know what to do with. Our lives are either spent in
doing nothing at all, or in doing nothing to the purpose, or in doing
nothing that we ought to do. We are always complaining that our days
are few, and acting as though there would be no end of them.

Seneca
(BC 3-65 AD, Roman Philosopher, Dramatist, Statesman)

There are no rules for friendship. It must be left to itself. We
cannot force it any more than love.

William Hazlitt

The superior man... does not set his mind either for or against
anything, he will pursue whatever is right. The superior man thinks of
virtue, the common man of comfort.

Confucius
(BC 551-479, Chinese Ethical Teacher, Philosopher)



In order for us to realize genuine happiness, we must be willing to court contentment every step of the way.

Sarah Ban Breathnach writes on simplicity and abundance.



"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."

-- Oscar Wilde



Right is right, even if everyone is against it; and wrong is
wrong, even if everyone is for it.

William Penn



People do not lack strength; they lack will.

Victor Hugo
(1802-1885, French Poet, Dramatist, Novelist)



Reading is good, hearing is good, conversation and
meditation are good; but then, they are only good at times and
occasions, in a certain degree, and must be used and governed
with such caution as we eat and drink and refresh ourselves, or
they will bring forth in us the fruits of intemperance. But
the spirit of prayer is for all times and occasions; it is a
lamp that is to be always burning, a light to be ever shining:
everything calls for it; everything is to be done in it and
governed by it, because it is and means and wills nothing else
but the totality of the soul -- not doing this or that, but
wholly... given up to God to be where and what and how He
pleases.
... William Law (1686-1761)



Nothing is small or great in God's sight; whatever He wills
becomes great to us, however trifling, and if once the voice of
conscience tells us that He requires anything of us, we have no
right to measure its importance.
... J. N. Grou (1731-1803)



Temptations discover what we are.

Thomas á Kempis



God wants us to know that when we have Him we have
everything.
... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)



If you don't like the way the world is, you change it. You have
an obligation to change it. You just do it one step at a time.

Marian Wright Edelman



Failure is not failure to meet your goal. Real failure is failure to reach as high as you possibly can. No man will ever truly know that he had succeeded until he experiences an apparent failure.

Robert Schuller



Act well at the moment, and you have performed a good action to all eternity.

Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741-1801) was a Swiss physiognomist, theologian, and poet.



[edit]
[10/25/2002 9:16:20 PM | Jonimae Capinig]
Goals give you more than a reason to get up in the morning;

they are an incentive to keep you going all day. Goals tend to

tap the deeper resources and draw the best out of life.

Harvey Mackay runs Mackay Envelopes, Inc., in Minneapolis,

but he is better known for his syndicated column. is the author

of the New York Times #1 bestsellers Swim With The Sharks

Without Being Eaten Alive and Beware the Naked Man Who

Offers You His Shirt.

Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision
just passes time. Vision with action can change the world. A

true
leader must first see an idea as opportunity, then choose to act

upon it.

Joel Barker
(American Businessman, Consultant, Author)


To solve big problems you have to be willing to do unpopular
things.

Lee Iacocca
(1924-, American Businessman, Former CEO of Chrysler)


The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of
getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks

into small
manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.

Mark Twain
(1835-1910, American Humorist, Writer)

The past is an illusion. You must learn to live in the present
and accept yourself for what you are now. What you lack in

flexibility
and agility you must make up with knowledge and constant

practice.

Bruce Lee
(1940-1973, Chinese-American Actor, Director, Author, Martial

Artist)

The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.

John Enoch Powell
(1912-, British Statesman


The more you know the less you need to say.

Jim Rohn
(American Businessman, Author, Speaker, Philosopher)

Tears shed for self are tears of weakness, but tears shed for
others are a sign of strength.

Billy Graham
(1918-, American Evangelist)


Success is 99 percent failure.

Soichiro Honda
(Japanese businessman, founder of Honda Motor Corp.)

Seek first to understand and then to be understood.

Stephen R. Covey
(American Speaker, Trainer, Author of "The 7 Habits of Highly

Effective
People")

Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every
day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day,

something no one
else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be

always
part
of unanimity.

Christopher Morley
(1890-1957, American Novelist, Journalist, Poet)

People are always blaming their circumstances for what they

are.
I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in the

world
are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they

want and if
they can't find them, make them.

George Bernard Shaw
(1856-1950, Irish-born British Dramatist)


Ordinary people believe only in the possible. Extraordinary
people visualize not what is possible or probable, but rather

what is
impossible. And by visualizing the impossible, they begin to see

it as
possible.

Cherie Carter-Scott
(American Author, Speaker, Trainer)

Often people attempt to live their lives backwards: they try to
have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what

they want
so they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse.

You
must first be who you really are, then, do what you need to do,

in order to
have what you want.

Margaret Young
(American Author)


My basic principle is that you don't make decisions because

they
are easy; you don't make them because they are cheap; you

don't make
them because they're popular; you make them because they're

right.

Theodore Hesburgh
(American Educator)



Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch
which I have got a 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
(1856-1950, Irish-born British Dramatist)

Keep on going and the chances are you will stumble on

something,
perhaps when you are least expecting it. I have never heard of

anyone
stumbling on something sitting down.

Charles F. Kettering
(1876-1958, American Engineer, )


We shall never learn to know ourselves except by
endeavoring to know God; for, beholding His greatness, we
realize our own littleness; His purity shows us our foulness;
and by meditating upon His humility we find how very far we are
from being humble.
... Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare
to win.

Bobby Knight

The most important thing you can do to achieve your goals is to
make sure that as soon as you set them, you immediately

begin to create
momentum. The most important rules that I ever adopted to help

me in
achieving my goals were those I learned from a very successful

man who
taught me to first write down the goal, and then to never leave

the
site of setting a goal without first taking some form of positive

action
toward
its attainment.

Anthony Robbins
(1960-, American Author, Speaker, Peak Performance Expert)

"Resolve to be a master of change rather than a victim of

change."

-- Brian Tracy

If you do not value yourself independently of your achievements,

you will not value your achievements.

Gillian Butler, PhD and Tony Hope, MD. Gillian Butler is a

clinical psychologist. Tony Hope is a psychiatrist


"One is successful just in the sincere attempt to become
successful."


"You cannot climb a mountain if you will not risk a fall."


"Fear is the cancer of the human spirit."


"The greatest heroic feats in history cannot hold a candle to
the courage it takes to raise a child."


"If I die tonight in my sleep:
let me have hugged and told my children that I love them,
let me have told my mother how much she is loved and

appreciated,
let me have helped a friend or better, a stranger,
let me have worked very hard these past hours in the name of

my
personal progress, and, let me have gone to sleep with the
knowledge that I did the very best I could do today."


"Give a shelterless man tools and he will build a home.
Inspire him, encourage him, give him vision, and he will build
an empire."


"Life is a Gift, not a Prize."


"There's no more nobler mission than positively impacting

people
in their lives."


"You'll never go wrong doing anything for the right reason."


"Loss creates a vacuum into which something greater always

flows."


"What you Think is what you Get."




[edit]

[9/23/2002 9:35:58 PM | Jonimae Capinig]
The deeper sorrow carves into your being, the more joy
you can absorb.
Jan Coleman
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I am one of those who believe that spiritual
progress is a rule of human life, but the approach
to perfection is slow and painful. If a woman
elevates herself in one respect and is retarded in
another, it is because the rough trail that leads
to the mountain peak is not free of ambushes of
thieves and lairs of wolves.
Kahlil Gibran
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I don't suffer from stress. I'm a carrier.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Believe that you are bigger than your difficulties,
for you are, indeed.
Norman Vincent Peale

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I don't have an attitude problem. You have a
perception problem.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The doctor and the pastor ask about your health,
but eternity makes you responsible for your
condition.
Soren Kierkegaard
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It is no use saying "we are doing our best." You
have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.
Winston Churchill
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
What is the use of living if it be not to strive for
noble causes and to make this muddled world a better
place for those who will live in it after we are gone.
Winston Churchill
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

One nice thing about egotists; they don't talk
about other people.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Diplomacy is the art of saying "good doggie" while
looking for a bigger stick.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves,
and sharpens our skills. Our antagonist is our
helper.
Edmund Burke
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply
to serve as a warning to others.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Don't be irreplaceable; if you can't be replaced,
you can't be promoted.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Learn from the mistakes of others, you can't live
long enough to make them all yourself.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different
from something that happens to you: You produce it.
You live it.
Bruce Mau

***********************************************
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small
people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you,
too, can become great.


Mark Twain
(1835-1910, American Humorist, Writer
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

In the long run, in spite of everything, I have been
very lucky. I asked for bread and was given a stone.
It turned out to be precious.
Quentin Crisp


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Quote: To have someone understand why we cry or laugh, why we feel downcast for no apparent reason, is to have a friend. A friend accepts our changes of mood without telling us to snap out of it. They know if we could so easily handle tears we would have done it already. All our loneliness and worry and fear seems to fade in the presence of a friend who never judges but stands alongside with loyalty... It gives us what we need to be a friend as well.

Joyce Sequichie Hifler
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

" People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when darkness sets in, their beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within." - Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

All our loneliness and worry and fear seems to fade in
the presence of a friend who never judges but stands
alongside with loyalty... It gives us what we need to
be a friend as well.
Joyce Sequichie Hifler

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


"Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances."
- Thomas Jefferson
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"The price of greatness is responsibility."
- Winston Churchill
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time."
- Abraham Lincoln

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

pain allows us 2 appreciate grace wid depth. hapiness allows us 2 learn how 2 celebrate n d gudnes of god. we nd both 2 nurture a faith not boneles but viagrous-david anota

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
debate where? maintain d tension bet sovereignty n human responsibility. dat s a mystery but affirm both bec both r true.-david anota

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Insanity is my only means of relaxation.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox:what is soft is strong.
Lao Tsu
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Like water which can clearly mirror the sky and
the trees only so long as its surface is
undisturbed, the mind can only reflect the true
image of the Self when it is tranquil and wholly
relaxed.
Indra Devi

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
If we could read the secret history of our enemies,
we should find in each man's life sorrow and
suffering enough to disarm any hostility.
H.W. Longfellow
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Resolve to find thyself; and to know that he who
finds himself, loses his misery.
Matthew Arnold

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Don't pray to escape trouble. Don't pray to be
comfortable in your emotions. Pray to do the will
of God in every situation. Nothing else is worth
praying for." - Samuel M. Shoemaker

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"I have found the greatest power in the world is
the power of prayer." - Cecil B. DeMille

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"The sun with all its planets moving around it, can ripen the
smallest bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else to do. Why
then should I doubt His power?" -- Galileo, Italian Astronomer

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Pray like it depends entirely upon God and work like it depends
entirely upon you." -- Unknown
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


"Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run
faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning
a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or
it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a lion
or a gazelle -- when the sun comes up, you had better be running.
-- Unknown

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened."
-- Unknown

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are
pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are
different colors... but, they all exist very nicely in the same
box." -- Unknown

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a
detour." -- Unknown

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine
upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his
countenance upon thee, and give thee peace." -- Numbers 6:24-26

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"And what, incidentally, do you think integrity is? The ability
not to pick a watch out of your neighbor's pocket? No, it's not
as easy as that. If that were all, I'd say that 95% of humanity
were honest, upright men. Only, as you can see, they aren't.
Integrity is the ability to stand by an idea."
-- Ayn Rand "The Fountainhead" (1943)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"It is more difficult to be an honorable man for a week than to
be a hero for fifteen minutes." -- Jules Renard

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"What is left when honor is lost?" -- Publilius Syrus

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge
without integrity is dangerous and dreadful." -- Samuel Johnson

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your
tears will prevent you from seeing the stars."
-- Rabindranath Tagore

[edit]

[9/23/2002 9:30:08 PM | Jonimae Capinig]
"If the Creator had a purpose in equipping us with a neck, He surely meant us to stick it out." -- be strong n take courage.do not fear nor b dismayd.
=================================

Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world.

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) was an Irish writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925.
===========================================


Quote: He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves, and sharpens our skills. Our antagonist is our helper.

Edmund Burke
===================================

Quote: To know and not do is not yet to know.

Zen saying.
=========================================

Quote: Live passionately. Appreciate what you have. Get off the beaten path. Don't smell just the roses, smell everything you can and leave your mark along the way. Slobber as you please. As Socrates' dog once said, the unexuberant life is not worth living.

Rocky, Stephen Wilson's dog. Steve Wilson was an editor / columnist for the Arizona Republic. Rocky is the golden retriever who shares the family home.
=========================================

Quote: A life directed chiefly toward the fulfillment of personal desires sooner or later always leads to bitter disappointment.

Albert Einstein
=========================================

Self-awareness--recognizing a feeling as it happens--is the keystone of emotional intelligence... the ability to monitor feelings from moment to moment is crucial to psychological insight and understanding... People with greater certainty about their feelings are better pilots of their lives, having a surer sense of how they really feel about personal decisions...

Daniel Goleman is a psychologist who consults internationally and lectures frequently to business audiences, professional groups and on college campuses. He reported on the brain and behavioral sciences for The New York Times and has served as a visiting faculty member at Harvard.

===========================================
Believe that you are bigger than your difficulties, for you are, indeed.

Norman Vincent Peale


[edit]

[8/12/2002 10:12:16 AM | Jonimae Capinig]

"For the man who uses well what he is given shall be given more,
and he shall have abundance." -- Matthew 25:29


"God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well."
-- Romans 12:6


"However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act upon them?"
-- The Dhammapada


"If you would learn the secret of right relations, look only for the divine in people and things, and leave all the rest to God."
-- J. Allen Boone (Kinship with all Life)


"Come to the edge, he said.
They said: We are afraid.
Come to the edge, he said.
They came.
He pushed them... and they flew." -- Guillaume Apollinaire


"Wherever life may take you, whatever goals you seek, remember that you're special and your talents are unique. Remember what is in your heart should always be your guide, and that each day you're thought about with much love and pride." -- Unknown


"He who is outside his door has the hardest part of his journey behind him." -- Dutch Proverb


"You are not called to be a canary in a cage. You are called to be an eagle, and to fly sun to sun, over continents."
-- Henry Ward Beecher


"Whoever you are, there is some younger person who thinks you are perfect. There is some work that will never be done if you don't do it. There is someone who would miss you if you were gone. There is a place that you alone can fill."
-- Jacob M. Braude


"It is more difficult to be an honorable man for a week than to be a hero for fifteen minutes." -- Jules Renard


"What is left when honor is lost?" -- Publilius Syrus


"Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful." -- Samuel Johnson


"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." -- Jim Elliot, Missionary killed by Auca Indians



You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you: You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites for growth are the openness to experience events and the willingness to be changed by them.

Bruce Mau


Our forgiving of others will not procure forgiveness for ourselves; but our not forgiving others proves that we
ourselves are not forgiven.
... John Owen (1616-1683)



Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better to take things as they come along with patience and equanimity. = Carl Jung (1875-1961, Swiss Psychiatrist)



Enthusiasm, like measles, mumps and the common cold, is highly contagious. = Emory Ward


Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit. = Napoleon Hill


Change yourself and your work will seem different.

Norman Vincent Peale



By forgetting the past and by throwing myself into other interests, I forget to worry.

Jack Dempsey


Better indeed is knowledge than mechanical practice. Better than knowledge is meditation. But better still is surrender of attachment to results, because there follows immediate peace.
Bhagavad Gita


Associate yourself with men of good quality, if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.

George Washington



Apply yourself. Get all the education you can, but then, by God, do something. Don't just stand there, make it happen.

Lee Iacocca



All my life I used to wonder what I would become when I grew up. Then, about seven years ago, I realized that I was never going to grow up - that growing is an ever ongoing process.

M. Scott Peck


Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.

William James


A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals.

Larry Bird


Your own words are the bricks and mortar of the dreams you want to realize. Your words are the greatest power you have. The words you choose and the use establish the life you experience.

Sonia Croquette


You will never find time for anything. you must make it.

Charles Buxton


Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.

Helen Keller


You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.

James Allen


When you face your fear, most of the time you will discover that it was not really such a big threat after all. We all need some form of deeply rooted, powerful motivation -- it empowers us to overcome obstacles so we can live our dreams.

Les Brown

[edit]

We cannot become what we need to be, remaining what we are.

Max Depree
(1924-, American Furniture Manufacturing Company Executive)
***************************

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

Epictetus
(50-120, Stoic Philosopher)

***************************************
Faith is to the soul what life is to the body. Prayer is
to faith what breath is to the body. How a person can live and
not breathe is past my comprehension, and how a person can
believe and not pray is past my comprehension too.
... J. C. Ryle, "A Call to Prayer"
[Thanks to Robert J. Douglas at RJDOUGLAS@stthomas.edu]

******************************

Say not always what you know, but always know what you say.

Claudius
(10 BC-AD 54, Roman Emperor)

***************************

Nobody seriously believes the universe was made by God
without being persuaded that He takes care of His works.
... John Calvin (1509-1564)

*******************************
You create your opportunities by asking for them.

Patty Hansen
(American Author)

*******************************
Adversity cause some men to break; others to break records.

William A. Ward
============================================
You don't always get what you ask for, but you never get what you
don't ask for... unless it's contagious!

Franklyn Broude
============================================
[At the Garden of Olives Monastery]
"Why are you all so quiet all the time?" I say, still
whispering at him in this hoarse voice.
"We are teachers and workers," he says, "not talkers."
"Workers, O.K.," I say, "but how can a teacher be quiet all
the time and teach anybody anything?"
"Christ was the best," he says, thinking of something. "He
lived thirty-three years. Thirty years he kept quiet; three
years he talked. Ten to one for keeping quiet."
... Franc Smith, Harry Vernon at Prep [1959]

_______________________________________________________________
Over the years, I have come to realize that the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection. Success, popularity, and power can indeed present a great temptation, but their seductive quality often comes from the way they are part of the much larger temptation to self-rejection. When we have come to believe in the voices that call us worthless and unloveable, then success, popularity, and power are easily perceived as attractive solutions. The real trap, however, is self-rejection. As soon as someone accuses me or criticizes me, as soon as I am rejected, left alone, or abandoned, I find myself thinking, "Well, that proves once again, that I am a nobody." ....[My dark side says,] "I am no good... I deserve to be pushed aside, forgotten, rejected and abandoned." Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the "Beloved." Being the Beloved constitutes the core truth of our existence.

Henri Nouwen (1932 - 1996) was a Jesuit priest and writer, born in the Netherlands.
************************
We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers. They see
things in the soft haze of a spring day or in the red fire of a long
winter's evening. Some of us let these great dreams die, but others
nourish and protect them; nurse them through bad days till they bring
them to the sunshine and light which comes always to those who sincerely
hope that their dreams will come true.

Woodrow T. Wilson
(1856-1924, Twenty-eighth President of the USA)

============================================
There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than
the long range risks of comfortable inaction.

John F. Kennedy
(1917-1963, Thirty-fifth President of the USA)

============================================


"Read something positive every night and listen to something helpful
every morning."

-- Tom Hopkins
*************************
You don't have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things - to
compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to
reach challenging goals.

Sir Edmund Hillary
(1919-, New Zealand Mountaineer, Explorer)

============================================
Needing someone is like needing a parachute. If he
isn't there the first time you need him, chances
are you won't be needing him again.

I can please only one person per day. Today is not
your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either.



Kindness is a hard thing to give away. It keeps coming back to the giver." **
************************
Your enemies are your best spiritual teachers because
their presence provides you with the opportunity to
enhance and develop tolerance, patience, and under-
standing [and thus] to develop your capacity for
compassion.

Dalai Lama


If the only prayer you say in your life is
"thank you," that would suffice.

Meister Eckhart


If you want to live a happy life, tie it to
a goal, not to people or things.

Albert Einstein


The unexamined life is not worth living.
Socrates


For let me tell you, that the more the
pleasures of the body fade away, the greater
to me is the pleasure and charm of
conversation.
Plato

In order for us to realize genuine happiness, we must
be willing to court contentment every step of the way.
Sarah Ban Breathnach

Sarah Ban Breathnach writes on simplicity and
abundance.


The real art of conversation is not only to say the
right thing at the right time, but also to leave
unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.


***************************************************************************
Nothing is small or great in God's sight; whatever He wills
becomes great to us, however trifling, and if once the voice of
conscience tells us that He requires anything of us, we have no
right to measure its importance.
... J. N. Grou (1731-1803)

Liken yourself to a beautiful original part of creation -- a true work of art. Then each day ask yourself how you are living: either in ways that show gratitude for this beauty of in ways that indicate how you are defacing it.

Robert J. Wicks writes about simplicity and every day spirituality.

"Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad
memory." -- Franklin Pierce Adams.


"Memory is a complicated thing, a relative to truth, but not
its twin." -- Barbara Kingsolver.


"Nostalgia is a file that removes the rough edges from the
good old days." -- Doug Larson.


"The little reed, bending to the force of the wind, soon stood
upright again when the storm had passed over." -- Aesop.


"Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in
rising every time we fall." -- Oliver Goldsmith


"The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be
what we pretend to be." -- Socrates


"Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel
that has crushed it." -- Mark Twain


"Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may
have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you."
-- Colossians 3:13


"Many men fail because they quit too soon. They lose faith when
the signs are against them. They do not have the courage to hold
on, to keep fighting in spite of that which seems insurmountable.
If more of us would strike out and attempt the "impossible," we
very soon would find the truth of that old saw that nothing is
impossible... Abolish fear and you can accomplish anything you
wish." -- C. E. Welch


"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but
Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith
in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
-- Galatians 2:20


"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are
perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."
-- 1 Corinthians 1:18)


"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
-- Matthew 6:21


=================
Seen it all, done it all, can't remember most of it.



'Cultivate an attitude of gratitude, of giving and
forgiving. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.'

- Ralph Waldo Emerson -



Liken yourself to a beautiful original part of creation
-- a true work of art. Then each day ask yourself how
you are living: either in ways that show gratitude for
this beauty of in ways that indicate how you are
defacing it.
Robert J. Wicks

Robert J. Wicks writes about simplicity
and every day spirituality.



To live happily with other people, ask of them only what they can give.

Tristan Bernard



"Football isn't a contact sport, it's a collision sport.
Dancing is a contact sport." -- Duffy Daugherty


"If you train hard, you'll not only be hard, you'll be hard to
beat." -- Herschel Walker (greatest back in UGA history)


"The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital."
-- Joe Paterno


"The road to Easy Street goes through the sewer." -- John Madden


"How you respond to the challenge in the second half will
determine what you become after the game, whether you are a
winner or a loser." -- Lou Holtz


"I am delighted to have you play football. I believe in rough,
manly sports. But I do not believe in them if they degenerate
into the sole end of any one's existence. I don't want you to
sacrifice standing well in your studies to any over-athleticism;
and I need not tell you that character counts for a great deal
more than either intellect or body in winning success in life.
Athletic proficiency is a mighty good servant, and like so many
other good servants, a mighty bad master. " -- Theodore Roosevelt


"Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you
will go about achieving it and staying with that plan."
-- Tom Landry


"The difference between a successful person and others is not a
lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of
will." -- Vince Lombardi


"The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at
hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have
applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand."
-- Vince Lombardi


"Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all time thing. You
don't win once in a while, you don't do things right once in a
while, you do them right all the time. Winning is habit.
Unfortunately, so is losing." -- Vince Lombardi
****************************

The deeper sorrow carves into your being, the more joy
you can absorb.
Jan Coleman

I am one of those who believe that spiritual
progress is a rule of human life, but the approach
to perfection is slow and painful. If a woman
elevates herself in one respect and is retarded in
another, it is because the rough trail that leads
to the mountain peak is not free of ambushes of
thieves and lairs of wolves.
Kahlil Gibran


I don't suffer from stress. I'm a carrier.


Believe that you are bigger than your difficulties,
for you are, indeed.
Norman Vincent Peale


I don't have an attitude problem. You have a
perception problem.

The doctor and the pastor ask about your health,
but eternity makes you responsible for your
condition.
Soren Kierkegaard

It is no use saying "we are doing our best." You
have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.
Winston Churchill

What is the use of living if it be not to strive for
noble causes and to make this muddled world a better
place for those who will live in it after we are gone.
Winston Churchill

It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.


One nice thing about egotists; they don't talk
about other people.

Diplomacy is the art of saying "good doggie" while
looking for a bigger stick.

He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves,
and sharpens our skills. Our antagonist is our
helper.
Edmund Burke

It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply
to serve as a warning to others.

Never test the depth of the water with both feet.

Don't be irreplaceable; if you can't be replaced,
you can't be promoted.

Learn from the mistakes of others, you can't live
long enough to make them all yourself.

You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different
from something that happens to you: You produce it.
You live it.
Bruce Mau

***********************************************
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small
people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you,
too, can become great.


Mark Twain
(1835-1910, American Humorist, Writer

In the long run, in spite of everything, I have been
very lucky. I asked for bread and was given a stone.
It turned out to be precious.
Quentin Crisp



Quote: To have someone understand why we cry or laugh, why we feel downcast for no apparent reason, is to have a friend. A friend accepts our changes of mood without telling us to snap out of it. They know if we could so easily handle tears we would have done it already. All our loneliness and worry and fear seems to fade in the presence of a friend who never judges but stands alongside with loyalty... It gives us what we need to be a friend as well.

Joyce Sequichie Hifler

" People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when darkness sets in, their beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within." - Elizabeth Kubler-Ross



All our loneliness and worry and fear seems to fade in
the presence of a friend who never judges but stands
alongside with loyalty... It gives us what we need to
be a friend as well.
Joyce Sequichie Hifler




"Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances."
- Thomas Jefferson

"The price of greatness is responsibility."
- Winston Churchill

"The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time."
- Abraham Lincoln



pain allows us 2 appreciate grace wid depth. hapiness allows us 2 learn how 2 celebrate n d gudnes of god. we nd both 2 nurture a faith not boneles but viagrous-david

debate where? maintain d tension bet sovereignty n human responsibility. dat s a mystery but affirm both bec both r true.-david

Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives
I can get.


Insanity is my only means of relaxation.


Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox:what is soft is strong.
Lao Tsu

Like water which can clearly mirror the sky and
the trees only so long as its surface is
undisturbed, the mind can only reflect the true
image of the Self when it is tranquil and wholly
relaxed.
Indra Devi

If we could read the secret history of our enemies,
we should find in each man's life sorrow and
suffering enough to disarm any hostility.
H.W. Longfellow

Resolve to find thyself; and to know that he who
finds himself, loses his misery.
Matthew Arnold

-- A BIT OF WISDOM/REFLECTION:

"Don't pray to escape trouble. Don't pray to be
comfortable in your emotions. Pray to do the will
of God in every situation. Nothing else is worth
praying for." - Samuel M. Shoemaker

"I have found the greatest power in the world is
the power of prayer." - Cecil B. DeMille


"SELECTED QUOTES"
_________________



"The sun with all its planets moving around it, can ripen the
smallest bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else to do. Why
then should I doubt His power?" -- Galileo, Italian Astronomer


"Pray like it depends entirely upon God and work like it depends
entirely upon you." -- Unknown


"Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run
faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning
a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or
it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a lion
or a gazelle -- when the sun comes up, you had better be running.
-- Unknown


"Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened."
-- Unknown


"We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are
pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are
different colors... but, they all exist very nicely in the same
box." -- Unknown


"A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a
detour." -- Unknown


"The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine
upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his
countenance upon thee, and give thee peace." -- Numbers 6:24-26


"And what, incidentally, do you think integrity is? The ability
not to pick a watch out of your neighbor's pocket? No, it's not
as easy as that. If that were all, I'd say that 95% of humanity
were honest, upright men. Only, as you can see, they aren't.
Integrity is the ability to stand by an idea."
-- Ayn Rand "The Fountainhead" (1943)


"It is more difficult to be an honorable man for a week than to
be a hero for fifteen minutes." -- Jules Renard


"What is left when honor is lost?" -- Publilius Syrus


"Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge
without integrity is dangerous and dreadful." -- Samuel Johnson


"If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your
tears will prevent you from seeing the stars."
-- Rabindranath Tagore


A successful person is one who can lay a firm
foundation with the bricks that others throw at him
or her.


David Brinkley

It is never right to compromise with dishonesty.
Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.

Hearts that are "fit to break" with love for the Godhead
are those who have been in the Presence and have looked with
opened eye upon the majesty of Deity. Men of the breaking
hearts had a quality about them not known to or understood by
common men. They habitually spoke with spiritual authority.
They had been in the Presence of God and they reported what
they saw there. They were prophets, not scribes: for the
scribe tells us what he has read, and the prophet tells us what
he has seen. The distinction is not an imaginary one. Between
the scribe who has read and the prophet who has seen, there is
a difference as wide as the sea. We are today overrun with
orthodox scribes; but the prophets, where are they? The hard
voice of the scribe sounds over evangelicalism, but the Church
waits for the tender voice of the saint who has penetrated the
veil and has gazed with inward eye upon the Wonder that is God.
... A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God [1948]


The deeper sorrow carves into your being, the more joy
you can absorb.
Jan Coleman

The more extensive a man's knowledge of what has
been done, the greater will be his power of
knowing what to do.
Benjamin Disraeli



When you judge another, you do not define them, you define
yourself.

Wayne Dyer
(1940-, American Psychotherapist, Author, Lecturer)

==================================

Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself.

James Allen



We Christians too often substitute prayer for playing the
game. Prayer is good; but when used as a substitute for
obedience, it is nothing but a blatant hypocrisy, a despicable
Pharisaism... To your knees, man! and to your Bible! Decide
at once! Don't hedge! Time flies! Cease your insults to God,
quit consulting flesh and blood. Stop your lame, lying, and
cowardly excuses. Enlist!
... C. T. Studd (1860-1931)




"You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have,
for instance."

-- Franklin P. Jones



We all sorely complain of the shortness of time, and yet have
much more than we know what to do with. Our lives are either spent in
doing nothing at all, or in doing nothing to the purpose, or in doing
nothing that we ought to do. We are always complaining that our days
are few, and acting as though there would be no end of them.

Seneca
(BC 3-65 AD, Roman Philosopher, Dramatist, Statesman)

There are no rules for friendship. It must be left to itself. We
cannot force it any more than love.

William Hazlitt

The superior man... does not set his mind either for or against
anything, he will pursue whatever is right. The superior man thinks of
virtue, the common man of comfort.

Confucius
(BC 551-479, Chinese Ethical Teacher, Philosopher)



In order for us to realize genuine happiness, we must be willing to court contentment every step of the way.

Sarah Ban Breathnach writes on simplicity and abundance.



"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."

-- Oscar Wilde



Right is right, even if everyone is against it; and wrong is
wrong, even if everyone is for it.

William Penn



People do not lack strength; they lack will.

Victor Hugo
(1802-1885, French Poet, Dramatist, Novelist)



Reading is good, hearing is good, conversation and
meditation are good; but then, they are only good at times and
occasions, in a certain degree, and must be used and governed
with such caution as we eat and drink and refresh ourselves, or
they will bring forth in us the fruits of intemperance. But
the spirit of prayer is for all times and occasions; it is a
lamp that is to be always burning, a light to be ever shining:
everything calls for it; everything is to be done in it and
governed by it, because it is and means and wills nothing else
but the totality of the soul -- not doing this or that, but
wholly... given up to God to be where and what and how He
pleases.
... William Law (1686-1761)



Nothing is small or great in God's sight; whatever He wills
becomes great to us, however trifling, and if once the voice of
conscience tells us that He requires anything of us, we have no
right to measure its importance.
... J. N. Grou (1731-1803)



Temptations discover what we are.

Thomas á Kempis



God wants us to know that when we have Him we have
everything.
... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)



If you don't like the way the world is, you change it. You have
an obligation to change it. You just do it one step at a time.

Marian Wright Edelman



Failure is not failure to meet your goal. Real failure is failure to reach as high as you possibly can. No man will ever truly know that he had succeeded until he experiences an apparent failure.

Robert Schuller



Act well at the moment, and you have performed a good action to all eternity.

Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741-1801) was a Swiss physiognomist, theologian, and poet.