It's never too late to be what you might have been - George Eliot

That best portion of a good man's life: his little, nameless, unremembered, acts of kindness and of love - William Wordsworth

Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing - Helen Keller

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world: indeed it's the only thing that ever has! - Margaret Mead

There is a wonderful law of nature that the three things we crave most - happiness, freedom and peace of mind - are always attained by giving them to someone else - Anonymous

When there is light in the soul, There is beauty in the person; When there is beauty in the person, There is harmony in the home; When there is harmony in the home, There is honor in the nation; When there is honor in the nation, There is peace in the world ~ Old Chinese Proverb

The Girl I Used To Be

She came tonight as I sat alone..

The girl I used to be....
And she gazed at me with her earnest eye
And questioned reproachfully:

Have you forgotten the many plans
And hopes I had for you?
The great career, the splendid fame,
all the wonderful things to do?

Where is the mansion of stately height
With all its gardens rare?
The silken robes that I dreamed for you
And the jewels in your hair?

And as she spoke, I was very sad
For I wanted her pleased with me...
This slender girl from the shadowy past
The girl that I used to be.

So gently rising, I took her hand
And guided her up the stairs
Where peacefully sleeping, my babies lay
Innocent, sweet, and fair.

And I told her that these are my only gems,
And precious they are to me;
That silken robes is my motherhood
Of costly simplicity.

And my mansion of stately height is love, And the only career I know
Is serving each day in these sheltered walls
For the dear ones who come and go

And as I spoke to my shadowy guest,
She smiled through her tears at me.
And I saw the woman that I am now
Pleased the girl I used to be.

Author Unknown

Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten. -B.F. Skinner

Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy - Anne Frank

A Man can be destroyed but not defeated - Ernest Hemingway

If only you could sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to people you may never dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person ~ Fred Rogers

If a problem has no solution, it may not be a problem, but a fact - not to be solved, but to be coped with over time - Shimon Peres

Anger makes you smaller, while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you were - Cherie Carter-Scott

One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done - Marie Curie

Pure logic is the ruin of the spirit - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief - Gerry Spence

Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else - Judy Garland

Saying nothing... sometimes says the most ~ Emily Dickinson

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

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded - Ralph Waldo Emerson

If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain
- Emily Dickinson

Knock on the sky and listen to the sound ~ Zen Saying

The courage to be is the courage to accept oneself, in spite of being unacceptable - Paul Tillish

I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again - Ettiene De Grellet

What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us ~ Olive Wendell Holmes

The heart that loves is always young ~ Anonymous (Greek Proverb)

Dance as though no one is watching you. Love as though you have never loved before, Sing as though no one can hear you, Live as though Heaven is on earth...

- From the Gaelic

Next time you feel there isn't enough time to do something, remember that your day is no shorter than Michelangelo's, Leonardo da Vinci's, Albert Einstein's.... Anonymous

If you understand, things are just as they are; if you do not understand, things are just as they are ~ Zen proverb

Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower; we will grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind ~ William Wadsworth

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

A father deserted by a wise son is like being caught in a shower without a felt.

Excellent people are honored wherever they go.

Goodness speaks in a whisper, evil shouts.

The wise understand by themselves, fools follow the reports of others.

The wish is father to the thought.

-Tibetan

I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment, while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance that I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn - Henry David Thoreau

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step - Confucius

I am sometimes asked, 'Why do you spend so much time and money talking about kindness to animals when there is so much cruelty to men?' I answer: 'I am working at the roots - George Angell, 1823-1909

Anonymity is the truest expression of altruism - Eric Gibson

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest ~ Confucius

There are great things beyond our capability to do, and some small things which we refuse to do. The important thing is not to not do - Unknown

In Germany, the Nazis first came for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then the came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, but I didn't speak up because I was a protestant.
Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak for me.
- Martin Neimoeller

Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character ~ Margaret Chase Smith

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Those who go through life knowing exactly where they are going never get the chance to end up somewhere else ~ unknown

We often fear being rejected so very much that we reject ourselves first before anyone else has the chance ~ Anonymous

Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires . . . courage ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

You are here for a purpose. There is not a duplicate of you in the whole wide world; there never has been, there never will be. You were brought here now to fill a certain need. Take time to think that over - Lou Austin

Life is the flower for which love is the honey ~ Victor Hugo

Life is a sexually transmitted disease - Anonymous

Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect - Ralph Waldo Emerson

AN APACHE WEDDING CEREMONY

Now you will feel no rain,

for each of you will be shelter for the other.

Now you will feel no cold,

for each of you will be warmth for the other.

Now there is no more loneliness,

for each of you will be companion to the other.

Now you are two persons,

but there is only one life before you.

Go now to your dwelling to enter into

the days of your life together.

And may your days be good,

and long upon the earth.

All I Really Need To Know I learned In Kindergarten written by Robert Fulghum

Each spring, for many years, I have set myself the task of writing a personal statement of belief: a Credo. When I was younger, the statement ran for many pages, trying to cover every base, with no loose ends. It's sounded like a Supreme Court brief, as if words could resolve all conflicts about the meaning of existence.

The Credo has grown shorter in recent years -- sometimes cynical, sometimes comical, sometimes bland -- but I keep working at it. Recently I set out to get the statement of personal belief down to one page in simple terms, fully understanding the naive idealism that implied.

The inspiration for brevity came to me at a gasoline station. I manage to fill an old car's tank with super-deluxe high-octane go-juice. My old hoopy couldn't handle it and got the willies -- kept sputtering out at intersections and belching going downhill. I understood. My mind and my spirit get like that from time to time. Too much high-content information, and I get the existential willies -- keep sputtering out at intersections where life choices must be made and I either know too much or not enough. The examined life is no picnic.

I realise then that I already know most of what's necessary to live a meaningful life -- that it isn't all that complicated. I know it. And have known it for a long, long time. Living it -- well, that's another matter, yes?

Here's my Credo: All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be, I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday School.

These are the things I learned:

Share everything.

Play fair.

Don't hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Clean up your own mess.

Don't take things that aren't yours.

Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.

Wash your hands before you eat.

Flush.

Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

Live a balanced life--learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

Take a nap every afternoon.

When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.

Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - - they all die. So do we.

And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned -- the biggest word of all -- LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

Take anyone of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or your government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we all -- the whole world -- had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.

And it is still true, no matter how old you are -- when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow."

There is a wonderful law of nature that the three things we crave most - happiness, freedom and peace of mind - are always attained by giving them to someone else - Anonymous

A profession is a personal thing that man acquires. It cannot be inherited. It cannot be bequeathed. Only he who, having mad the acquisition, puts to use the knowledge and skill with all his ability and complete dedication of purpose can be truly called a professional - R. E Onstad

Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend - Albert Camus

The unexamined life is not worth living - Socrates

Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness ~ George Sand

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