Before we set our hearts too much
upon anything, let us examine how happy those are, who
already possess it.
The trying time for the Atheist is
when he feels thankful but has nobody to thank.
The man who blows his own trumpet is
usually a soloist.
Happiness is not inherited, it's got
to be earned.
It's better to go straight than move
in the best circles.
The man who continuously watches the
clock usually stays as one of the hands.
The man who thinks he can't, is
usually right.
Thoughts are your own, but words are
not.
Nothing can bring peace but
yourself.
Conscience is the little thing that
tells you someone is sure to find out.
A man makes a step forward when he
realises he has made a mistake.
All that stands between most men and
the top of the ladder is the ladder.
It's not the clock that ticks
loudest that goes best.
Dignity of manners always conveys a
sense of reserve force.
When pleasure becomes a habit it
ceases to be a pleasure.
The man who says he has no Call has
probably left the Receiver off.
It is never so difficult to speak as
when we are ashamed of our silence.
The best time to worry is tomorrow.
It's not work that kills, it is
worry. Work is healthy, worry is the rust on the blade.
Don't screen to-days sunshine with
yesterdays clouds.
It's the man that works when there
is nothing to do that gets in front.
The man who thinks he can't is
usually right.
He is wise who says nothing when he
has nothing to say.
Friends show me what I can do. Foes
teach me what I should do.
Jumping to conclusions is about the
only mental exercise that some people take.
A man can go a long way when he is
weary - don't give up.
A wise man changes his mind
sometimes, a fool never.
Only poverty is got without pains.
The shortest answer is doing the
thing.
Argument thrives when facts are
scarce.
The secret of success is constancy
to purpose.
I have lived too long not to find it
easier to love animals than to love man.
Children tell me on the highway what
they hear at the fireside.
Show how strong you are by not
noticing the weakness in others.
As proof that you have a true sense
of humour, laugh at yourself occasionally.
Four-fifths of the perjury of the
world is expended on tombstones.
There is nothing that needs to be
said in an unkind manner.
The man who does big things is too
busy to talk about them.
Contentment consists not in great
wealth but in few wants.
Speech is the gift of nearly all,
but the thought of few.
A mistake is not serious unless it
is repeated.
He who knows others is clever, but
he who knows himself is enlightened.
Happiness is a condition of the
mind, not a result of circumstances.
We keep the faults of others before
our eyes, our own behind our back.
Nothing great was ever achieve
without enthusiasm.
Remember nature has given us two
eyes, two ears but only one mouth.
Burdens can broaden your shoulders
or break your back.
A poor man hasn't much to do with
lawyers - but some of them have had.
Thoughts are your own. Your words
are so no more.
Old age begins when a man dislikes
improvements.
There is no ill luck in turning back
if you are on the wrong road.
The only way to look pleasant is to
feel pleasant.
Silence oft speaks the most cruel
lies.
If a man makes himself a worm, then
he must accept that way of life and not complain when
trodden on.
Reading is to the mind what exercise
is to the body.
The only way to have a friend is to
be one.
Life is half spent before we know
what it is.
The more one knows, the more one
simplifies.
The best gift is a good example.
We are not judged by the position we
are in, but by the way we fill it.
On the death of a child. Can you
imagine heaven without children?
It is easier to offer objections
than it is to get busy.
Beware of flattering yourself that
you are shrewd when you are only suspicious.
If I take care of my character, my
reputation will take care of itself.
The way to get ahead - use the one
you have.
Never put off till tomorrow the
smile you can give today.
Watch your tongue. Remember it is in
a wet place and likely to slip.
A man possessed with a serene mind
is the happiest of all God's creation.
Knowledge is boundless - human
capacity is limited.
The universe is a wise man's
library.
Don't marry for money - it's far
cheaper to borrow it.
If you want things done call a busy
man - the man of leisure has no time.
It's what you learn yourself - not
what others teach you - that really matters.
Cut your own wood and it will warm
you twice.
Men show their character in nothing
more clearly than by what they think laughable.
There is nothing in this world worth
doing a mean action for.
There is still plenty of room at the
top, but the top is higher than it used to be.
What more of us needs most is to
need less.
Don't rest on your laurels - they
make poor mattress.
If you wish to honour a person - do
it while they are still alive.
Laws are like cobwebs. The small
flies get caught, and the great break through.
The way to be safe is never to feel
too secure.
The majority are stimulated by a
little honest recognition.
The more you know the fewer your
competitors.
Use your stumbling blocks as
stepping stones.
If a man could have half his wishes
he would double his troubles.
Love is the silent picture; and
marriage the talking version.
The weaker the argument the stronger
the words.
A cheerful loser is a winner.
Deal with the faults of others as
gently as with your own.
Don't talk about yourself - that
will be done when you leave.
Your looking glass will tell you
more about yourself than your friends.
No man is poor who has himself to
give.
Be a live wire and no one will step
on you.
A Golden Wedding is when a couple
have gone fifty-fifty.
Hard work is the yeast that raises
the 'dough'.
If we could see ourselves as others
see us we would probably change our views.
The person who wants their dreams to
come true should wake up.
It is better to ask once than go
wrong twice.
There is no knowledge that is not
valuable.
If at first you don't succeed - ask
yourself why.
Always laugh when you can, it's
cheap medicine.
Facts not theories govern the world.
People who tell you that they bath
and dress for dinner are evidently not used to it.
We are not judged by the position we
are in, but by the way we fill it.
When a good idea comes into your
mind, don't give it a seat; put it to work.
Joy which we cannot share with
others is only half enjoyed.
A dance never seem too long when you
have the right partner.
It's the ability that a person uses,
not the ability they possess, that regulates the reward.
Best to bend it while still a twig.
The people who believe in themselves
are often easily convinced.
The better the service given to
customers, the less it costs to serve them.
Looking for new ways to do old jobs
means progress.
Tolerance is the threshold of peace.
Loss of interest, not years, is old
age.
It is what we learn after we think
we know it all that counts.
History is philosophy teaching by
example.
Be true to your teeth or they'll be
false to you.
Delegate responsibility. The big
mind must be kept for the big job.
Youth lives on hope; old age on
memory.
The future is not a gift to any of
us. It is the reward for what we do now.
It is not so important to know how
we stand, as it is to know that we are moving.
You never feel the ache in the other
man's tooth.
The good we do today becomes the
happiness of to-morrow.
Watch your opportunities - not the
clock.
Often a highly polished person is
dreadfully dull.
Wonder is involuntary praise.
Concentrate, it saves time and
money.
God gives every bird its food, but
does not throw it into the nest.
The wise man makes hay with the
grass that grows under the other fellow's feet.
Confidence is the secret of
strength.
To be simple about anything you have
to know a great deal about it.
It is madness to live like a wretch
and die rich.
An optimist is one who learns to
play the harp.
Something for nothing is like fish
bait - generally a hook on it.
Contentment consists, not in great
wealth, but in few wants.
A loving heart is the beginning of
knowledge.
Be severe with nobody but yourself.
When there is a twinkle in the eye
there is a spark of heaven in the heart.
If you can give your child only one
gift let it be enthusiasm.
To ignore the danger is to deserve
the disaster.
The secret of life is not to do what
one likes, but to try and like what one has to do.
It is better to be happy than rich,
but there is no harm in being both.
I'd rather have one blossom now than
a thousand when I'm dead.
A thought on the kerbstone is worth
two in the hospital.
The day dawns only to those who are
awake.
The qualities we possess never make
us so ridiculous as those we pretend to have.
We should not be judged by the
position we are in, but the way we fill it.
Joy which we cannot share with
others is only half enjoyed.
The nice thing about apathy is you
don't have to exert yourself to show that your are sincere about it.
The incessant breathing of the
waves.
Gulls like crumpled tissue-paper
cast away on the heaving air.
Sunset kindling on the sea.
The greatest fool may ask more than
the wisest man can answer.
From a Sussex parish magazine:
"The weather was kind to us and the vicarage garden was packed with young men and
women bent on enjoying themselves. It was the biggest open air fathering in the village
for years."
G K Chesterton once said that it is
often supposed that when people stopped believing in God, they
believe in nothing. Alas, it is worse than that. When they stop believing in God
they believe in anything.
A banker who swallowed a fish-bone
was saved by an eminent surgeon from death by suffocation.
The banker asked him what he expected as a fee. Replied the surgeon, "just give me
one third of
what you were willing to pay when the fish-bone was still stuck in your throat.
I asked the paediatrician when I
should stop sterilizing my son's bottles. "Well," he said, "one
day you will find Matthew in your wardrobe busily gnawing on a pair of your husband's
shoes.
You will say to yourself, 'And I'm sterilizing his bottles?"' That is when you will
stop."
"How long have you been wearing
bifocals?" "Since yesterday, I was baking some biscuits I
lifted up the fly swatter and killed four chocolate chips."
Noise pollution is a relative thing.
In a city, it's a jet plane taking off. In a monastery, it's a pen
that scratches.
Some years ago when applying for a
job, the foreman of the firm asked for a reference. I gave
it to him, and he went into the manager's office. A few moments later they both emerged
smiling
broadly. "this is some reference indeed, with good recommendations," said the
manager. I got
the job but found that, instead of a reference, I had handed in a love letter from my
fiancee typed
on similar paper.
A little girl in Sunday school was
asked to describe Jesus. "Jesus," she said, "is like God but
with skin on".
There are three types of people:
those who make things happen, those that watch things happen
and those who say, "What happened?"
Denis and I almost missed our
honeymoon flight and were unable to get seats together. When
airborne, I wrote to my new spouse a flirtatious note: "To the man sitting in 16C. I
find you very
attractive. would you care for an unforgettable evening? The lady in 4C." A
stewardess delivered it.
A few minutes later she returned with a cocktail. The man in 16C was flattered, she told
me, but
said he must decline my offer as he was on his honeymoon. I was still laughing when we
landed.
"Thank you for the drink," I said to my groom. "I didn't send you
one," he replied. He had been
sitting in number 14C. Cindy Braun.
The little boy was heard by his
teacher using a most unsuitable word. "Jeffrey," she said, "you
should not use that word. Where did you hear it?" " My daddy said it."
"Well that does not
matter," the teacher explained. "You do not even know what it means."
"I do, I do" Jeffrey
corrected. "it means that the car won't start."
- James Dent in Charleston Gazette.
Missionary in Africa wrote to Church
offices in Britain to say that the African members could
not understand what was meant by the "Lamb of God". A good lady in the Church
offices knitted
a lamb in white wool and sent it out to Africa - no one ever heard what was the reaction -
we can
only guess.
It often needs an open mind to keep
one's mouth shut.
Write it down. The worst ink
survives the best memory.
Only a mint can make money without
advertising.
Nothing is impossible for the man
who does not have to do it himself.
Having full length mirrors in a
small flat is like having a guest who never leaves.
People who complain about taxes can
be divided into two classes: men and women.
Some parents have difficulty in
deciding on a name for a new baby, but others have rich
relatives.
The quickest way to make a red light
turn green is to try to find something in the glove
compartment.
Age is in the mind, not in the
calendar.
You should take time to smell the
flowers.
It is a wise man that has his
afterthoughts first.
Greatness does not depend on size.
The Queen Mother once philosophized:
"Memories are everyone's second chance at happiness."
It's what you learn yourself - not
what other's teach you - that really matters.
Never let a fool kiss you, and never
let a kiss fool you.
No one ever became thoroughly bad
all at once.
The wise man changes his mind
sometimes, the fool never.
In motoring arguments there are
three points of view - your own, the other parties and the
right one.
The longer you live, the more you
will realise that forgivness, consideration, and kindness are
three of the great secrets of life.
Want of care does more damage than
want of knowledge.
When the devil wants to win recruits
he never wastes time among busy people.
Some so-called open minds should be
closed for repairs
A man's religion should be the
happiest thing in his life
Worry is not a neccessity, but a
habit
An agreeable companion upon the road
is better than a carriage
A wise man never blows his own knows
Mirth cannot move a soul in agony
It is from books wise men derive
consolation in the troubles of life
Keep your face in the sunshine and
the shadow will fall behind you
By the faults of others, wise men
correct their own
Adversity makes a man wise - not
rich
The face is no index to the heart
Better to keep one's mouth shut and
be thought a fool, than open it and remove any doubt
Fear is a great inventor
A country without laughter is like a
year without Spring
Oh what a tangled web we weave, when
first we practice to deceive Walter Scott
Haste is the mother of imperfection
Health is not valued until sickness
comes
"What kind of man deserves the
most pity?" - Benjamin Franklin replied "A lonely man on a
rainy day who does not know how to read".
An ounce of "don't-say-it"
is worth a pound of "didn't-mean-it"
Photocopiers make rapid
reproductions of human errors
Nothing is impossible until it is
sent to a committee
The first 90% of a job takes 10% of
the time - the remaining 10% takes 90%
If you can learn from another
person's mistake, you were probably the victim
If you don't make mistakes - you
don't make anything
Every dew-drop and rain drop has a
whole heaven within it
Remember the tide turns at low
water, as well as high
Whispering is rude when your friends
are near you - beside you risk being overheard
He was a bold man that eat that ate
the first oyster
A man owes it to himself to become a
success, then he owes it to the inland revenue
Come not to counsel uncalled.
Learning is a treasure which
accompanies its owner everywhere (Chinese Proverb)
Look before you leap if you like,
but if you really mean to leap, don't look too long.
Ideas are very much like children -
your own are wonderful.
We cannot, indeed give like God, but
surely we may forgive like Him (Sterne)
To read without reflecting is like
eating without digesting
No man can guess in cold blood what
he may do in a passion
Footprints on the sands of time are
not made sitting down
It's the tools a man uses, not the
tools he may possess, that makes his profit
A mans honesty is proportional to
his price.
Many a man's honesty is due to the
fact that his price is too high.
Those that forget history are
condemned to relive it. George Santayana
From City of London Police reprints
The man was employed by the electricity board when the offence came to light.
The upholsterer was unable to furnish details
The woman was pregnant and carrying a pup
The watchmaker was dismissed for poor timekeeping
The man stole a box of matches and other light articles
Travellers tales
We're on holiday, for goodness sake!
I thought you said you could get by in Spanish
I don't know what was wrong with the first bar we saw
So much for your famous sense of direction
Of course we don't have to book
May your joys be as sweet as the
peat reek, and your sorrows as scarce as white heather.
May your troubles be as many as
teeth in a hen.
There is no friendship, no love,
like that of a parent for the child
What gift has Providence bestowed on
humanity that is so dear as the children
Where children are, there is the
golden age
Children are like jewels dropped
unstained from heaven
Have a heart that never hardens,
and a temper that never tires,
and a touch that never hurts.
Some people will always live until
they die, but at 60 you should be dying to live
At 60 I am not interested in adding
years to my life, but in adding life to my years
Stastistics are no substitute for
Judgement
Life is a sexually transmitted
desease, ultimately fatal
95% of being smart is knowing the
subjects at which you are dumb
Difference between a diplomat and a
lady:
When a diplomat says yes he means perhaps.
When he says perhaps, he means no.
When he says no, he is not a diplomat.
When a lady says no, she means
perhaps.
When she says perhaps she means yes.
When she says yes, she is no lady.
Lord Denning
Forget your hurry, pause awhile,
Lose your frown and wear a smile,
Spare time to give a word of praise.
Think in minuites, not in days.
Do it now for time won't wait -
Tomorrow it may be too late.
Failure is never fatal and success
is never final
Lawyer's duty: to protect you from
others of their kind
Evolution is God's Spring
Oh what a tangled web we weave, when
first we practice to deceive Walter Scott
Photocopiers make rapid
reproductions of human errors
Nothing is impossible until it is
sent to a government department
When a person thinks their mind is
getting broader, it is often just their mind stretching
Each of us comes into life with
fists closed, set for aggressiveness and aquisition. But when we
abandon life our hands are open: there is nothing on earth that we need, nothing the soul
can
take with it.
Bishop Fulton Sheen
When we are born our hands are
clenched to grasp the things we need in life, but when we die
our hands are open as there is nothing that we can take with us.
Watch your thoughts; they become
words.
Watch you words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
Frank Outlaw, writer
T S Elliot - the Four Quartets
Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future
And time future contained in time past
Marriage is the price men pay for
sex, sex is the price women pay for marriage. Anonymous
Optimists are wrong just as often as
pessimists, but they enjoy life.
The following prayer is from a tiny
booklet, Jesus, my Shepherd, subtitled a Book of Catholic
Prayers for Seniors. It could empathise, since Multiple Sclerosis seems to share
many of these complaints.
A litany of Gentle Complaint.
Lord, a few things on my mind today,
as I sit and rest for a while.
I think you won't mind listening,
for you made me this way and you already know me through
and through.
Lord, it's my eyes: their tired. I
can't see too well, it's hard to read the paper or watch TV, and
I just can't find the right glasses when I need them.
Lord, it's my ears: nobody speaks
loud enough, music is always too strong. I can't hear the
priest at Mass, but I do like the quiet home:
Christ, have mercy.
Lord: my knees and legs: they won't
do what I tell them, they fall asleep too fast, and those
steps are just too steep:
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, food: it just don't taste the
same, it gets harder to shop and cook, and I can't eat what
I want to anyway:
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, the pains and aches: there are
new ones every day, at times I am embarrassed before
other people, and then I worry about having something serious happen:
Lord, have mercy.
Lord. there are too many pills: I
can't seem to keep them straight or take them at the right
time, and sometimes I worry I may take too many or too few:
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, I'm lonely: the phone never
rings, I haven't had visitors in ages, and when they do come
I'm not much of a host:
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, sleep: can't rest all night,
and then I nod off during the day, it makes me impatient and
irritable, and my memory has gone to the dogs:
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, you sure do have a sense of
humour, you've made for Yourself. Bear with me as I try to
figure out how best to give myself to You these days.
Lord, hear us. Christ, graciously
hear us.
Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.
John Keats
The automobile changed our dress, manners, social customs, vacation habits, shape of our
cities,
consumer purchasing patterns, common tastes and positions in intercourse.
If Detroit is right.... there is
little wrong with American cars that is not wrong with the American
public.
The automobile did not put the
adventure of travel within reach of the common man. Instead, it
first gave him the opportunity to make himself more and more common.
Marshall McLuhan
The car has become the carspace, the protective and aggressive shell, of urban and
suburban man.
The new electronic interdependance
re-creates the world in the image of a global village. (The
Gutenberg Galaxy).
The principal aspect of the electric
age is, that it establishes a global network, that has much of
the character of our central nervous system.
Lord Birket
I do not object to people looking at
their watches when I am speaking. But I strongly object when
they start shaking them to make sure they are still going.
The life of the dead is placed in
the memory of the living (Cicero BC 106 - 43)
A man's dying is more the survivor's
affair than his own (Thomas Mann 1875 - 1955)
This day, which thou fearest as thy
last, is the birthday of eternity (Seneca BC 3 - AD65)
The Gods conceal from men the
happiness of death, that they may endure life (Lucan 39 - 65 AD)
Oh how small a portion of earth will
hold us when we are dead, who ambitiously seek after the
whole world when we are living. (Phillip II BD 382 - 336)
There is no such thing as death
In nature nothing dies
From each sad remnant of decay
Some forms of life arise.
(Charles Mackay 1814 - 1889)
I died a mineral, and became a
plant.
I died a plant and rose an animal.
I died an animal and I was man.
Why should I fear ?
When was I less by dying ?
(Jalal-Uddin Rumi 1207 - 1273)
FAVOURITE QUOTES
"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 favour all manner of unforeseen
incidents and
meetings and material assistance which no one could have dreamed would have come their
way.
Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and
magic in it. Begin it now."
from "Notes on the Scottish
Himalayan Expedition" by William H. Murray. The last three
sentences beginning with "Whatever you can do..." is a quote from Goethe.
There is no end to what can be
accomplished if you don't care who gets the credit.
-Art Rennison.
Never doubt that a small group of
thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is
the only thing that ever has.
- Margaret Mead
Think globally; act locally
- anonymous
Never ascribe to malice, that which
can be explained by incompetence.
- Roedy
All great programmers are paranoid
- Roedy
An eye for an eye only ends up
making the whole world blind.
- Gandhi
We don't know who discovered water,
but we're certain it wasn't a fish.
- John Culkin
When elephants fight it is the grass
that suffers.
- Kikuyu Proverb
Make something beautiful for God
- Mother Theresa
Face your fears
- Barbara Green
Do unto others as you would have
them do unto you
- The Golden Rule
Be the planetary citizen you want
everyone else to be.
- Roedy
Imitation is the sincerest flattery
- Gandhi
Love your enemies. Do good to them
that persecute you.
- Jesus
I open myself genuinely to all
people by being willing to fully communicate my deepest feelings
since hiding in any degree keeps me stuck in my illusion of separateness from other
people:
- The Seventh Pathway from Handbook to Higher Consciousness by Ken Keyes
I am discovering how my
consciousness-dominating addictions create my illusory version of the
changing world of people and situations around me.
- The Second Pathway from Handbook to Higher Consciousness by Ken Keyes
I am perceiving everyone, includirng
myself as an awakening being who is here to claim his or
her birthright to the higher consciousness planes of unconditional love and oneness.
- The Twelfth Pathway from Handbook to Higher Consciousness by Ken Keyes
You are the people. You are this
season's people -- There are no other people this season. If you
blow it, it's blown.
- Stephen Gaskin
Enlightenment is getting off your
tail and doing something.
- Stephen Gaskin
SOLIDARITY
I bought a crab and set him free in
the ocean.
DISAPPOINTMENT
I pointed at the bun I wanted most
in the whole store.
The saleslady gave me something else with the same name.
LUNCH DATE
I went to buy a crab today to set
her free in the ocean.
There were no she crabs for sale.
PRIMES
Today, I bought another crab and set
him free in the ocean.
(for Dr. Melzak my math professor
who survived the Nazi concentration camps with by entertaining
with his feats of mental arithmetic.)
ANOTHER POINT OF VIEW
We listened with a herd of elk.
BECKY
I talked. She understood.
RABBIT GOD
Street people bring offerings of
carrot and apple to the blue rabbit.
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR
A spider mysteriously appeared in my
bathtub.
She chose my aloe plant for her new home.
FOR MANNY
A woman sewed a rainbow into my
coat.
One should strive not to lie in the
negative sense by remaining silent.
- Leo Tolstoy
With great power comes great
responsibility, Quoted by Jack Passarella in an Ilink conference
