This is a compilation of thoughts and quotes that I have found or written recently, as well as many that I've collected throughout the years. Most thoughts are posted randomly, as I feel inspired. A listing of quotes can be found alphabetically (check the 2008 and 2009 archives listing), or by source.

Feel free to suggest additions!


“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” – Proverbs 23:7

Sunday, July 31, 2011

FOOTPRINTS

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
Other times there were one set of footprints.


This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.

So I said to the Lord,
“You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during
the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one
set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most,
you have not been there for me?”

The Lord replied,
“My precious, precious child,
I love you and I would never leave you!
The times when you have
seen only one set of footprints in the sand,
is when I carried you.”

by Mary Stevenson

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Thomas Jefferson - An Author of Wisdom

Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States, was key to the formation of our great nation, and the author of the Declaration of Independence. He was also the author of many wise thoughts.

One that has always impressed me as to his courage and desire to stand for good is carved into the interior walls of his monument in Washington, D.C. - a very impressive monument. It says:

"I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

There are many other great sayings by this great, though imperfect man. He offered us his own list of 10 Commandments:

1. Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.
3. Never spend your money before you have earned it.
4. Never buy what you do not want because it is cheap.
5. Pride costs more than hunger, thirst and cold.
6. We seldom report of having eaten too little.
7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.
8. How much pain evils have cost us that have never happened!
9. Take things always by the smooth handle.
10. When angry, count ten before you speak, if very angry, count a hundred.

More quotes by Thomas Jefferson:

It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and occupation which give happiness.

Peace, prosperity, liberty and morals have an intimate connection.

The order of nature [is] that individual happiness shall be inseparable from the practice of virtue.

Without virtue, happiness cannot be.

Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.

The moral sense [is] the first excellence of well organized man.

The greatest honor of a man is in doing good to his fellow men, not in destroying them.

A conviction that we are right accomplishes half the difficulty of correcting wrong.

I have ever deemed it more honorable and more profitable, too, to set a good example than to follow a bad one.

I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.

The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.

He does best in God's great world who does his best in his own little world.

I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.

Whenever you are to do a thing, though it can never be known but to yourself, ask yourself how you would act were all the world looking at you, and act accordingly.

When angry, count ten before you speak; if very angry, count a hundred.

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.

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

In matters of principle, stand like a rock; in matters of taste, swim with the current.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Gandhi - Wisdom from a "Great Soul"

Some of the best words of wisdom commonly used in today's vernacular came from the mouth and soul of the great Mohandas Gandhi, of India. Here are a few of his great words we use and hear often: 
 "Be the change that you want to see in the world." 
 "Glory lies in the attempt to reach one's goal and not in reaching it." 
 "Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." 
 "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." 
 "Nobody can hurt me without my permission." 
 "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." 
 "Where love is, there God is also." 

  Mohandas Gandhi was a pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement. He pioneered resistance to tyranny through mass civil resistance. His philosophy was firmly founded upon nonviolence. His philosophy and leadership helped India gain independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. Gandhi is often referred to as Mahatma, or "Great Soul". 

Here are some more great quotes by Gandhi: 
 A 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble. 

 A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes. 

 A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history. 

 A vow is a purely religious act which cannot be taken in a fit of passion. It can be taken only with a mind purified and composed and with God as witness. 

 Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well. 

 An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it. 

 An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind. 

 An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching. 

Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding. 

Are creeds such simple things like the clothes which a man can change at will and put on at will? Creeds are such for which people live for ages and ages. 

Confession of errors is like a broom which sweeps away the dirt and leaves the surface brighter and clearer. 

I feel stronger for confession. 

Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth. 

Everyone who wills can hear the inner voice. It is within everyone. 

Faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into. 

Freedom is never dear at any price. It is the breath of life. What would a man not pay for living? 

Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. 

God is, even though the whole world deny him. 

Truth stands, even if there be no public support. It is self-sustained. 

God sometimes does try to the uttermost those whom he wishes to bless. 

Healthy discontent is the prelude to progress. Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress. 

I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent. 

If patience is worth anything, it must endure to the end of time. And a living faith will last in the midst of the blackest storm. 

In a gentle way, you can shake the world. 

Infinite striving to be the best is man's duty; it is its own reward. Everything else is in God's hands. 

It is easy enough to be friendly to one's friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business. 

It is my own firm belief that the strength of the soul grows in proportion as you subdue the flesh. 

It is the quality of our work which will please God and not the quantity. 

Just as the body cannot exist without blood, so the soul needs the matchless and pure strength of faith.

Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow-men.

Man can never be a woman's equal in the spirit of selfless service with which nature has endowed her.

Man should forget his anger before he lies down to sleep.

Men often become what they believe themselves to be. 

If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn't have it in the beginning.

Morality is the basis of things and truth is the substance of all morality.

My imperfections and failures are as much a blessing from God as my successes and my talents and I lay them both at his feet. 

My life is my message. 

Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good.

Non-violence requires a double faith, faith in God and also faith in man. 

Nonviolence is the first article of my faith. It is also the last article of my creed. 

Peace is its own reward.

Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent then the one derived from fear of punishment. 

Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness.

It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart. 

Prayer is the key of the morning and the bolt of the evening. 

Purity of personal life is the one indispensable condition for building up a sound education.

Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory.

Service which is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the served. But all other pleasures and possessions pale into nothingness before service which is rendered in a spirit of joy. 

Spiritual relationship is far more precious than physical. Physical relationship divorced from spiritual is body without soul. 

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. 

Suffering cheerfully endured, ceases to be suffering and is transmuted into an ineffable joy.

That service is the noblest which is rendered for its own sake. 

The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problem.

The good man is the friend of all living things.

The main purpose of life is to live rightly, think rightly, act rightly.

The soul must languish when we give all our thought to the body.

The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within.

The real ornament of woman is her character, her purity.

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

There is more to life than increasing its speed.

There is nothing that wastes the body like worry, and one who has any faith in God should be ashamed to worry about anything whatsoever. 

Though we may know Him by a thousand names, He is one and the same to us all. 

To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest. 

To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer. 

Truth is by nature self-evident. As soon as you remove the cobwebs of ignorance that surround it, it shines clear. 

Truth stands, even if there be no public support. It is self-sustained. 

Unwearied ceaseless effort is the price that must be paid for turning faith into a rich infallible experience. 

We do not need to proselytize either by our speech or by our writing. We can only do so really with our lives. 

Let our lives be open books for all to study. 

We may have our private opinions but why should they be a bar to the meeting of hearts? 

When I admire the wonders of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in the worship of the creator. 

When restraint and courtesy are added to strength, the latter becomes irresistible. 

Whenever you are confronted with an opponent, conquer him with love. 

Whenever you have truth it must be given with love, or the message and the messenger will be rejected. 
 
Where there is love there is life. 

You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result. 

You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?

There is a Chinese story of an old farmer who had an old horse for tilling his fields. One day the horse escaped into the hills and, when all the farmer’s neighbors sympathized with the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, ‘Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?’

A week later the horse returned with a herd of wild horses from the hills and this time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, ‘Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?’

Then, when the farmer’s son was attempted to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was, ‘Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?’

Some weeks later the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw the farmer’s son with his broken leg they let him off. Now was that good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?

The Nine Aspects of Life

The adventure of life is to learn.

The purpose of life is to grow.

The nature of life is to change.

The challenge of life is to overcome.

The essence of life is to care.

The opportunity of life is to serve.

The secret of life is to dare.

The spice of life is to befriend.

The beauty of life is to give.

- William Arthur Ward

Friday, July 1, 2011

The Optimist Creed

Promise Yourself:

To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.

To think only of the best, to work only for the best and expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.

To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

- Christian D. Larson