This page is dedicated to my parents, my grandparents, my pastor, and my scoutmaster,
all of whom have inspired and impacted me deeply in my life.

Following are some of my favorite phrases, quotes, slogans, sayings, proverbs, and words of wisdom that I have picked up from people in various times and places in my journey through life. Many of these quotes and phrases have given me inspiration, helped me through difficult times, or helped me reach my goals in life, and many of them come to mind in my day-to-day life.   (*denotes my personal favorites!)

I especially appreciate phrases that deal with success, music, the arts, laughter, languages, sailing, or traveling on our journeys through life. Some of my favorite people to quote are Thoreau, Martin Luther, C.S. Lewis, Sir Richard Francis Burton, Winston Churchill, and my mom and dad.

If you have a favorite phrase, saying or quote that you think I might like, please e-mail it to me, and if I like it, I'll add it to this page! (If you know it, please be sure to include the name of the person who originally made the quote or any quotes that I have listed as "Unknown").

I hope these quotes may have as much meaning for your life as they have for mine...

Imagination, Dreams, Goals, Vision, Destiny

"Imagination is the eye of the soul"
		--Joubert

"Imagination is more important than knowledge"
		--Albert Einstein

"Without repeating life in imagination,
you can never be fully alive."
		--Karen Blixen, Letters From Africa 1914-1931

"You can't depend on your eyes,
when your imagination is out of focus"   
		--Mark Twain

"To accomplish great things, 
we must not only act, but also dream; 
not only plan, but also believe."
		--Anatole France

"Have a goal.
A goal is just a dream with a deadline."   
		--Marjorie Blanchard

"A man's dreams 
are an index of his greatness."   
		--Zadok Rabinowitz

"All men who have achieved great things
have been dreamers."  
		--Orison Swett Marden

"When you cease to dream,
you cease to live."
		--Malcomb S. Forbes

"Where there is no vision, 
the people perish"   
		--Jewish Proverb 29:18

"People with a vision THRIVE!"   
		--Dan Meyer

"The most pathetic person in the world 
is someone who has sight but no vision."   
		--Helen Keller

"Cherish your visions and your dreams, 
as they are the children of your soul,
the blueprints of your ultimate achievements."   
		--Napoleon Hill

* "If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams 
and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined,
he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." 
		--Henry David Thoreau

"Make no little plans; They have no magic to stir men's blood 
and probably themselves will not be realized.
Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, 
remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will not die, 
but long after we are gone be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistence."
		--Daniel Hudson Burnham

"Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things 
which escape those who dream only by night."   
		--Edgar Allan Poe

"All men dream, but not equally. 
Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds,
wake in the day to find that it was vanity;
But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, 
for they may act their dream with open eyes,
to make it possible. "
		--T. E. Lawrence

"I've lowered my expectations 
to the point where they've already been met."
		--Unknown

"In the long run, 
we only hit what we aim at." 
		--Henry David Thoreau

"Experience is what you get
when you don't get what you wanted." 
		--Unknown

"Shoot for the moon -
Even if you miss, you're among the stars." 
		--Sue Trythall

* "Reach for the stars -
You might not always get a star, 
but at least you won't end up with a handful of dirt."  
		--Leo Burnette

"Reach high -
for stars lie hidden in your soul.
Dream deep -
for every dream precedes the goal." 
		--Ralph Vaull Starr

"The heavens are as deep
as our aspirations are high."
		--Henry David Thoreau

"When it is dark enough,
you can see the stars."
		--Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Without darkness,
there are no dreams."   
		--Karla Kuban

"We all see the same sky, 
but we don't all have the same horizons."
		--Plaque in Pat Collins' office

"The horizon ceases to be the horizon when you get there."   
		--C.S. Lewis

"Ansiktet mot stjärnorna, fötterna på jorden."   
("Face towards the stars, feet on the ground") 
		--Swedish saying

"The world stands out on either side
No wider than the heart is wide;
Above the world is stretched the sky -
No higher than the soul is high." 
		--Edna St. Vincent Millay

"He who would leap high 
must take a long run." 
		--Danish Proverb

"I may lose in the long run, 
but until then, I'll set a pretty mean pace."
		--Dr. Hunter S. Thompson 



Travel, Journeys, Home, Roots

"The world is a book.
He who does not travel only reads one page."
		--St. Augustine

"Before he sets out, the traveler must possess
 fixed interests and facilities to be served by travel." 
		--George Santayana

"The greater thing in this world is not so much where we stand,
as in what direction we are going."
		--Oliver Wendell Holmes

"Even if you're on the right track, 
you'll get run over if you just sit there."
		--Will Rogers

"Our nature lies on movement; 
Complete calm is death."
		--Pascal, Pensees

"Life is a bridge. 
Cross over it, 
but build no house on it."
		--American Indian proverb

"We don't always know where we're going,
but we're making good time."
		--Unknown

"I have been a stranger in a strange land."
		--Exodus 2:22

"When you travel,
remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable.
It is designed to make its own people comfortable."
		--Clifton Fadiman

"He who would travel happily must travel light."
		--Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Own only what you can carry with you; 
know language, know countries, know people. 
Let your memory be your travel bag."
		--Alexander Solzhenitsyn

"Travel is one way of lengthening life,
 at least in appearance."
		--Benjamin Franklin

* "I travel - not to go, but to travel..."   
		--Robert Louis Stevenson

"Life is a journey,
not a destination."
		--Unknown

"It is good to have an end to journey toward,
but it is the journey that matters in the end."
		--Ursula K. LeGuin

"To travel hopefully
is a better thing than to arrive."   
		--Robert Louis Stevenson

"Remember that happiness is a way of travel,
 not a destination."
		--Roy M. Goodman

"Happiness is not a state to arrive at, 
but rather a manner of traveling."
		--M.L. Runbeck

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

"Wherever you go, 
there you are."
		--Douglas Adams

"Slow down. The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail.
Travel too fast, and you miss all you are traveling for."
		--Louis L'Amour, "Ride the Dark Trail"

"People travel to wonder at the height of mountains,
at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of rivers, 
at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; 
and they pass by themselves without wondering." 
		--Saint Augustine (354-430)

"The best climber in the world
is the one who's having the most fun."   
		--Alex Lowe, professional mountaineer

"Life can only be understood backwards, 
but it must be lived forwards."
		--Soren Kierkegaard

"God sees all of time
as a person would see an entire train from an airplane overhead - 
from engine to caboose."
		--Bob George

"Don't run through life so fast 
that you forget not only where you've been, 
but also where you're going. 
Life is not a race, 
but a journey to be savored 
each step of the way."
		--Nancye Sims

"What lies behind us
and what lies before us
are small matters compared to 
that which lies within us."
		--Ralph Waldo Emerson

"All seasons are beautiful
for him who carries happiness within."
		--Horace Friess

"Happiness is as a butterfly, 
which when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, 
but which, if you will sit down quietly, 
may alight upon you."
		--Nathaniel Hawthorne

"Happiness is like a butterfly. 
The more you chase it, the more it will elude you. 
But if you turn your attention to other things, 
it comes and softly sits on your shoulder."
		--Richard Lessor

"Find those things in life that bring you happiness. 
Never let them go.

Learn what it is that steals your joy. 
Find a way to remove it from your life."
		--Unknown

"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

"I would rather have a crust and a tent with you
than be queen of all the world."
		--Isabel Burton to her husband Richard Burton, the 19th century explorer

"Love people. Use things. Not vice-versa."
		--Kelly Ann Rothaus

"If you don’t have all the things you want,
be grateful for all the things you don’t have that you didn’t want."
		--Gil Atkinson

"Don’t cry because it’s over; smile because it happened."
		--Melanie Swift

"The future is not some place we are going, 
but one we create.
The paths are not found, but made,
and the activity of making them
changes both the maker and the destination."
		--John Schaar

"In all your ways acknowledge Him, 
and He will direct your paths."
		--Proverbs 3:6

"We are not yet what we shall be,
but we are growing towards it.
The process is not yet finished,
but it is going on.
This is not the end,
but it is the road."
		--Martin Luther

"We are not living in a world where all roads are radii of a circle and where all, 
if followed long enough, will therefore draw gradually nearer and finally meet at the centre; 
Rather in a world where every road, after a few miles, forks into two, 
and each of those into two again, 
and at each fork you must make a decision.  
I do not think that all who chose wrong roads perish; 
but their rescue consists in being put back on the right road."
		--C.S. Lewis

"People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. 
Just because they're not on your road doesn't mean they've gotten lost."
		--H. Jackson Browne

"How many roads must a man walk down
Before he admits he is lost?"
	--Unknown

"Not all who wander are lost."
	--J.R.R. Tolkein

"Travel is more than the seeing of sights; 
it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living."
		--Miriam Beard
 
"Travel teaches toleration."
		--Disraeli

"Solvitur ambulando."
("It is solved by walking.")
		--Latin saying

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness... 
Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things 
cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."
		--Mark Twain, "Innocents Abroad"

"He who does not travel 
does not know the value of men."
		--Moorish proverb

"And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, 
go with him two."
		--Matthew 5:41

"Inch by inch, Life's a cinch,
Yard by yard, Life is hard"  
		--Jenny Mullen

"Ett steg i taget"
("One step at a time") 
"Ett steg i taket!"
("One step on the roof!") 
		--Swedish sayings

"A journey of a thousand miles 
must begin with a single step." 
		--Chinese Proverb

"A journey of a thousand miles
begins with a cash advance." 
		--American Proverb

"A journey of a thousand miles
begins with a broken fan belt and a leaky tire." 
		--American Proverb

"Wie buiten is heeft al een flink deel van de reis achter hem."
"He who is outside the door already has a good part of his journey behind him." 
		--Dutch proverb

"Everywhere is walking distance
if you have the time." 
		--Steven Wright

"The feet go to that place that the heart goes." 
		--Afghan saying

* "Be flexible - Go with the flow..."    
		--Greg Ormson, Tamil Nadu, India, 1978

"You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you're going,
because you might not get there."    
		--Yogi Berra

"When you don't know where you're going, 
every road will take you there."    
		--Yiddish Proverb

"The road to success is always under construction....
Meet the challenge."    
		--Unknown

"The road to success
is dotted with many tempting parking spaces." 
		--Unknown

"We must walk toward goals
instead of running away from our problems." 
		--Mildred Norman, "Peace Pilgrim"

"The true traveler is he who goes on foot, 
and even then, he sits down a lot of the time." 
		--Colette, Paris From My Window (1944)

"If you don't climb the mountain,
you can't see the view. " 
		--Unknown

"The best climber in the world
is the one who's having the most fun."   
		--Alex Lowe, professional mountaineer

"Half the fun is getting there..."   
		--Unknown

"It is a fine thing to be out on the hills alone.
A man can hardly be a beast or a fool alone
on a great mountain."   
		--Rev. Francis Kilvert

* "Long walk, part of gift..."  
		--African Proverb


"Sá einn veit

er víða ratar

og hefir fjöld um farið,


Hverju geði

stýrir gumna hver

sá er vitandi er vits"
--Havamál

"Den ensam vet,

som vandrar vida

och har farit flitigt


Vilken förmåga

som följer den man

som vet att bruka sitt vett"
--Visdomsord från Havamál

"He is truly wise

who has traveled far

and knows the ways of the world.


He who has traveled

can tell what spirit

governs the men he meets."
--Old Viking Hávamál proverb

"Man må tude med de ulve man er iblandt."
"You must howl with the wolves you are with."
		--Old Danish saying

* "When in Rome, 
do as the Romans do."
		--Unknown

"Someday we'll look back on this moment
and plow into a parked car."
		--Evan Davis

"It's hard to make a comeback
when you haven't been anywhere."
		--Written in the dust on the back of a bus in Wickenburg, AZ

"Without music,
life is a journey through a desert."
		--Pat Conroy

"We are all travellers in the wilderness of this world, 
and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend."
		--Robert Louis Stevenson

"One should keep old roads and old friends"
		--Dutch saying

"Good company in a journey
makes the way to seem the shorter."
		--Izaak Walton

"Goed gezelschap, korte afstanden."
"Good company makes short miles."
		--Dutch proverb

* "Like cold water to a weary soul,
so is good news from a distant land"  
		--Jewish Proverb 25:25

"Borta bra, men hemma bäst."
"Away is good, but home is best."  
		--Swedish saying --Carl Jonas Love Almqvist

"Hospitality is making your guests feel at home, 
even if you wish they were."  
		--Unknown

"There's no place like http://www.home.com"  

"[ALT]+[HOME] is where the heart is"

"Strong legs are needed to carry good days."
		--Icelandic saying

"Det gamle stend på sterke røter."
"That which is old stands on strong roots."
		--Old Norwegain proverb

"Prosperity will have its season
Even when it's here, it's going by
And when it's gone we pretend we know the reason
And all the roots grow deeper when it's dry..."
		--David Wilcox - "Big Horizon" (1993)

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, 
but I think I have ended up where I intended to be."
		--Douglas Adams

"It's nice to be here in Iowa."
		--Gerald Ford while campaigning for president in 1976 -- in Ohio
 



Communication, Speech, Language

"Language, as well as the faculty of speech,
was the immediate gift of God."
		--Noah Webster

"Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain."
		--Lily Tomlin

"The limits of my language are the limits of my mind. 
All I know is what I have words for."
		--Ludwig Wittgenstein

"Never use a big word 
where a diminutive one will suffice."
		--Unknown

"Natives who beat drums to drive off evil spirits 
are objects of scorn to smart Americans 
who blow horns to break up traffic jams."
		--Mary Ellen Kelly



Prayer, Praying

"Some people pray just to pray and
some people pray to know God."
		--Andrew Murray

"There is a mighty lot of difference between saying prayers and praying."
		--John G. Lake

"You may pray for an hour and still not pray. 
You may meet God for a moment and then be in touch with Him all day."
		--Fredrik Wisloff

"I have so much to do that I spend several hours in prayer before I am able to do it."
		--John Wesley

"I have been driven many times to my knees 
by the overwhelming conviction that I had absolutely no other place to go."
		--Abraham Lincoln

"Always respond to every impulse to pray.
The impulse to pray may come when you are reading or when you are battling with a text.
I would make an absolute law of this – always obey such an impulse."
		--Martyn Lloyd-Jones

"Wishing will never be a substitute for prayer."
		--Ed Cole

"One can believe intellectually in the efficacy of prayer and never do any praying."
		--Catherine Marshall

"Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?"
		--Corrie Ten Boom

"Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul,
 a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan"
		--John Bunyan

"Of all the duties enjoined by Christianity,
none is more essential and yet more neglected than prayer."
		--François Fénelon

"We must alter our lives in order to alter our hearts,
for it is impossible to live one way and pray another."
		--William Law

"The third petition of the Lord's Prayer is repeated daily 
by millions who have not the slightest intention 
of letting anyone's will be done but their own."
		--Aldous Huxley

"Is the Son of God praying in me, or am I dictating to Him?
Prayer is not simply getting things from God, that is a most initial form of prayer; 
Prayer is getting into perfect communion with God. 
If the Son of God is formed in us by regeneration, He will press forward in front of our common sense 
and change our attitude to the things about which we pray."
		--Oswald Chambers

"Those who know God the best are the richest and most powerful in prayer. 
Little acquaintance with God, and strangeness and coldness to Him, make prayer a rare and feeble thing."
		--E. M. Bounds

"How often have we prayed something like, 
"O Lord, be with cousin Billy now in a special way"? 
Have we stopped to consider what it is we're requesting? 
Imagine that you are a parent who is preparing to leave your children with a babysitter. 
Would you dream of saying, 
"O Betsy, I ask you now that you would be with my children in a special way"? 
No way. You would say, 
"Betsy, the kids need to be in bed by 9 pm. They can have one snack before their baths, 
and please make sure they finish their homework. You can reach us at this number if there's any problem. 
Any questions before we go?" 
We are very specific with our requests and instructions for our babysitters. 
We want them to know specifics.  
It should be no different with prayer.
		--David Jeremiah

"There is a general kind of praying which fails for lack of precision. 
It is as if a regiment of soldiers should all fire off their guns anywhere. 
Possibly somebody would be killed, but the majority of the enemy would be missed."
		--Charles Haddon Spurgeon

"When a Christian shuns fellowship with other Christians, the devil smiles. 
When he stops studying the Bible, the devil laughs. 
When he stops praying, the devil shouts for joy."
		--Corrie Ten Boom

"When I pray, coincidences happen, 
and when I don't pray, they don't."
		--William Temple

"Faith in a prayer-hearing God 
will make a prayer-loving Christian."
		--Andrew Murray

"Do you know what prayer is? 
It is not begging God for this and that. 
The first thing we have to do is to get you beggars to quit begging 
until a little faith moves in your souls."
		--John G. Lake

"Those who do not believe do not pray. 
This is a good functional definition of faith. 
Faith prays, unbelief does not."
		--John A. Hardon

"Pray, and let God worry."
		--Martin Luther

"Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. 
Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers, pray for powers equal to your task.
		--Phillips Brooks

"This is our Lord's will... 
that our prayer and our trust be, alike, large."
		--Julian of Norwich

"If you can't pray a door open, 
don't pry it open."
		--Lyell Rader

"God's answers are wiser than our prayers."
		--Unknown

"There are more tears shed over answered prayers than over unanswered prayers."
		--Teresa of Avila

"God does not delay to hear our prayers because He has no mind to give; 
but that, by enlarging our desires, He may give us the more largely."
		--Anselm of Canterbury

"We waste most of our time trying to get God to do something He has already done,
or praying for God to do something He told us to do."
		--Jacquelyn K. Heasley

"If God will do whatever He wishes, regardless of whether we pray or not, 
then we do not need to pray at all, 
and the Lord's instructions on praying for the Kingdom and the Will are superfluous. 
But the truth is that God waits for a Remnant to rise up and to pray in agreement with His Purpose before He does anything.
He will do nothing apart from the Church. 
Apart from HIM, we CAN do nothing; 
Apart from US, He WILL do nothing."
		--Chip Brogden

"We lean to our own understanding, 
or we bank on service and do away with prayer, 
and consequently by succeeding in the external 
we fail in the eternal, 
because in the eternal we succeed only by prevailing prayer."
		--Oswald Chambers

"The Church is looking for better methods; 
God is looking for better men.
The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. 
He does not come on machinery, but on men. 
He does not anoint plans, but men…Men of prayer."
		--E. M. Bounds

"The Church has not yet touched the fringe of the possibilities of intercessory prayer. 
Her largest victories will be witnessed when individual Christians everywhere 
come to recognize their priesthood unto God and day by day give themselves unto prayer."
		--John R. Mott

"I must secure more time for private devotions. 
I have been living far too public for me. 
The shortening of devotions starves the soul, it grows lean and faint. 
I have been keeping too late hours."
		--William Wilberforce

"We hear it said that a man will suffer in his life if he does not pray; 
I question it. 
What will suffer is the life of the Son of God within him, 
which is nourished not by food but by prayer...
Prayer is the way the life of God is nourished."
		--Oswald Chambers

"Why is it so important that you are with God and God alone on the mountain top? 
It's important because it's the place in which you can listen to the voice of the One who calls you the beloved. 
To pray is to listen to the One who calls you "my beloved daughter," "my beloved son," "my beloved child." 
To pray is to let that voice speak to the center of your being, to your guts, 
and let that voice resound in your whole being.
		--Henri Nouwen

"The lover of silence draws close to God. 
He talks to Him in secret and God enlightens him."
		--John Climacus

"Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one's heart, its pleasures and its pains, to a dear friend. 
Tell God your troubles, that God may comfort you; tell God your joys, that God may sober them; 
Tell God your longings, that God may purify them; tell God your dislikes, that God may help you conquer them; 
Talk to God of your temptations, that God may shield you from them;
Show God the wounds of your heart, that God may heal them. 
If you thus pour out all your weaknesses, needs, troubles, there will be no lack of what to say. 
Talk out of the abundance of the heart, without consideration say just what you think. 
Blessed are they who attain to such familiar, unreserved intercourse with God."
		--François Fénelon

"Our ordinary views of prayer are not found in the New Testament. 
We look upon prayer as a means for getting something for ourselves; 
The Bible idea of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself."
		--Oswald Chambers

"If you are sick, fast and pray; 
If the language is hard to learn, fast and pray; 
If the people will not hear you, fast and pray, 
If you have nothing to eat, fast and pray."
		--Frederick Franson

"Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, 
oppose our arguments, despise our persons; 
But they are helpless against our prayers."
		--J. Sidlow Baxter

"Notice that we never pray for folks we gossip about, 
and we never gossip about the folk for whom we pray! 
For prayer is a great deterrent."
		--Leonard Ravenhill

"God never gives us discernment in order that we may criticize, 
but that we may intercede."
		--Oswald Chambers

"There is nothing that makes us love a man so much as praying for him."
		--William Law

"Rich is the person who has a praying friend."
		--Janice Hughes

"A servant of the Lord stands bodily before men, 
but mentally he is knocking at the gates of heaven with prayer."
		--John Climacus

"It is necessary to rouse the heart to pray, 
otherwise it will become quite dry. 
The attributes of prayer must be: 
love of God, sincerity, and simplicity."
		--John of Kronstadt

"Whether we think of or speak to God; 
Whether we act or suffer for him; 
All is prayer when we have no other object than his love, 
and the desire of pleasing him."
		--John Wesley

"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

"The true spirit of prayer is no other than God's own Spirit dwelling in the hearts of the saints. 
And as this spirit comes from God, so doth it naturally tend to God in holy breathings and pantings. 
It naturally leads to God, to converse with him by prayer."
		--Jonathan Edwards

"God does not stand afar off as I struggle to speak. 
He cares enough to listen with more than casual attention. 
He translates my scrubby words and hears what is truly inside. 
He hears my sighs and uncertain gropings as fine prose."
		--Timothy Jones

"Prayer is not a discourse. It is a form of life, the life with God. 
That is why it is not confined to the moment of verbal statement."
		--Jacques Ellul

"In prayer it is better to have a heart without words 
than words without a heart."
		--John Bunyan

"When a man has found the Lord, he no longer has to use words when he is praying, 
for the Spirit Himself will intercede for him with groans that cannot be uttered."
		--John Climacus

"Prayer is not so much an act as it is an attitude—
an attitude of dependency, dependency upon God."
		--Arthur W. Pink

"Prayer does not fit us for the greater work, 
prayer is the greater work.
		--Oswald Chambers




Character

"Appreciation is a wonderful thing: 
It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well."
		--Unknown

"The cleaning of rooms has a great deal to do 
with forming one's character."   
		--Booker T. Washington

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

"Increscunt animi, virescit volnere virtus."
("The spirits increase, vigor grows through a wound.")
		--2nd Century Roman author, Aulus Gellius

"Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker."

("What does not kill me, makes me stronger.")
		--Friedrich Nietzsche, "Die Götzen-Dämmerung" (1889)

"What doesn't kill ya, will make you stronger."
		--Gina Drummonds

"If life is a grind, use it to sharpen your character."
		--Unknown

"Nearly all men can stand adversity,
but if you want to test a man's character,
give him power."
		--Abraham Lincoln

"I have always thought the actions of men
the best interpreters of their thoughts."
		--John Locke

"A fool thinks
he's full of wisdom
when he's safe and sound.
When alone
he is at a loss
for courage and cunning." 
		--Old Viking Hávamál Proverb

"One man with courage
makes a majority." 
		--Thomas Jefferson

"Being cool is a coverup for cowards,
Building character calls for courage."
		--Stephen Mansfield

"People grow through experience 
if they meet life honestly and courageously.
This is how character is built."
		--Eleanor Roosevelt

"A man's character is his destiny."
		--Heraclitus

"Character is like a fence - 
It cannot be strengthened by whitewash."
		--Unknown

* "Character is produced in solitude;
personality in the stream of life."
		--From a poster I grew up looking at daily

"Quiet water splits a stone."
		--Bengali saying

"Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. 
Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world."
		-- Hans Margolius

"Following the path of least resistance 
is what makes rivers and men crooked."
		--Unknown

"Efficiency is intelligent laziness."
		--David Dunham

"A man without ambition is dead. 
A man with ambition but no love is dead. 
A man with ambition and love for his blessings here on earth 
is ever so alive."
		--Pearl Bailey, American singer and actress

"The men who succeed are the efficient few. 
They are the few who have the ambition and will power to develop themselves."
		--Herbert N. Casson, English poet

"Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings."
		--C. Archie Danielson, Spanish painter and printmaker
 
"Without ambition one starts nothing. 
Without work one finishes nothing. 
The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it. 
The man who knows how will always have a job. 
The man who also knows why will always be his boss."
		--Ralph Waldo Emerson



Education, Teaching, Learning, Books, Knowledge, Experience

"All generalizations are dangerous, 
even this one."
		--Alexandre Dumas

"Intuition is the uncanny sixth sense
 which tells people that they are right,
 whether they are or not."
		--Georges Lessard

"I do not feel obliged to believe that 
the same God who has endowed us 
with sense, reason, and intellect 
has intended us to forgo their use."
		--Galileo Galilei

"I am always ready to learn, 
although I do not always like being taught."
		--Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"Leermeesters sterven, maar boeken blijven leven."
"Teachers die, but books live on."
		--Dutch proverb

"The man who does not read good books
has no advantage over the man who can't read them."
		--Mark Twain

"Een kamer met boeken is redelijk gezelschap."
"A room full of books makes good company."
		--Dutch proverb

"We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards 
could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; 
Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true."
		--Robert Wilensky, University of California

"Plagiarism is copying from one source;
Research is copying from two or more."
		--Unknown

"Learning is acquired by reading books;
but the much more necessary learning, 
the knowledge of the world,
is only to be acquired by reading man, 
and studying all the various editions of them."
		--Lord Chesterfield

"Read much, 
but not too many books."
		--Benjamin Franklin

"I have learned silence from the talkative,
tolerance from the intolerant, 
and kindness from the unkind; 
yet strangely, I am ungrateful to these teachers."
		--Khalil Gilbran

"Education makes a people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; 
easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
		--Baron Henry Peter Brougham

"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything
without losing your temper."
		--Robert Frost

"A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, 
and a man of understanding is even-tempered."
		--Proverbs 17:27

"Do not always jump to offer advice,
when just lending an ear will often suffice."
		--Matt Thompson

"Listen with your heart. 
Learn from your experiences, 
and always be open to new ones."   
		--Cherokee Proverb

"Everyone hears what you say. 
Friends listen to what you say. 
Best friends listen to what you don't say."  
		--Unknown

"I went outside to find a friend, but could not find one there.
I went outside to be a friend, and friends were everywhere."  
		--Payne

"You can't learn anything 
with your mouth open."  
		--Earl Nightingale

"Seek first to understand,
then to be understood."  
		--Unknown

"The cautious guest
who comes to the table
speaks sparingly;
Listens with ears, 
learns with eyes.
Such is the seeker or knowledge."
		--Ancient Viking Hávamál proverb

"Insight demands opening up your senses,
talking less and listening more.
I believe you can learn almost everything you need to know
- and more than other people would like you to know -
simply by watching, listening, and keeping your eyes peeled, 
your ears open, and your mouth closed."  
		--McCormack "What They Don't Teach You At Harvard Business School" (1984)

"God gave us two ears
but only one mouth."
		--Unknown

"We must train ourselves 
not to see the world only through our own eyes."
		--Michael Levine

"A log's flame
leaps to another
Fire kindles fire.
A man listens
thus he learns
The shy stays shallow." 
		--Old Viking Hávamál Proverb

"Let us sit bent, 
but talk straight."
		--Turkish saying

"What I am about to say 
represents one four-billionth of the world's opinion."
		--Jack Williams in Phoenix Gazette

"Most of us would rather be ruined by praise
than saved by criticism."
		--Norman Vincent Peale

"If we only spoke the truth based on cold hard fact
instead of assumptions, suspicion, opinion, or envy,
we would speak a lot less."
		--Unknown

"If you're going to let words come into play, 
Say what you mean, and mean what you say."   
		--John Mallon, Llama trainer

"The mediocre teacher tells.
 The good teacher explains. 
 The superior teacher demonstrates. 
 The great teacher inspires."
		--William A. Ward

"Tell me, and I may forget.
Show me, and I might remember.
Involve me, and I will understand."
		--Chinese proverb

"The whole art of teaching is 
only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds 
for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards."
		--Anatole France

"If you can't explain it simply,
you don't understand it well enough."
		--Albert Einstein

"You do not really understand something
 unless you can explain it to your grandmother."
		--Unknown

"Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, 
but the passages that bother me are those I do understand."
		--Mark Twain

"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; 
seek what they sought."
		--Basho

"For I do not seek to understand so that I may believe;
but I believe so that I may understand."
		--St. Anselm (1033-1109)

"If you understand what you're doing,
you're not learning anything."
		--Abraham Lincoln

"Den som inte förstår allvar, 
han förstår inte svenska." 
		--Gustaf af Geijerstam vid en föreläsning i Köpenhamn 1906

"Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day;
Teach a man to fish, and he'll eat for a lifetime."
		--Native American saying

"Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day;
Teach a man to fish, and he'll be in a boat drinking all day..."
		--Tennessee saying

"Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day;
Teach a man to use the Internet, and he won't bother you for weeks!."
		--Unknown

"Never trouble the water
you intend to fish."
		--Unknown

"It's not a fish until it's on the bank."
		--Irish saying

"He who teaches his son to swim at the top of a waterfall 
will not long be a father."
		--Rowan Atkinson

"Good judgement comes from experience. 
Experience comes from bad judgement."
		--Jim Horning

"Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you
to recognize a mistake when you make it again."
		--F. P. Jones

"The first time's the worst time"   
		--John Mallon, Llama trainer

"Experience keeps a dear school, 
but fools will learn in no other."
		--Benjamin Franklin

"Ervaring is de beste leermeester."
"Experience is the best teacher." 
		--Dutch proverb

"Experience is one thing you can't get for nothing."   
		--Oscar Wilde

"Listen with your heart. 
Learn from your experiences, 
and always be open to new ones."   
		--Cherokee Proverb

"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, 
but more useful than a life spent doing nothing."   
		--George Bernard Shaw

"Mistakes are proof that you are trying."
		--Unknown

"Mistakes are the price we pay for a full life."
		--Sophia Loren

"Practice doesn't make perfect, nor is it supposed to.
Practice is about increasing your repertoire of ways to recover from your mistakes."   
		--John Gutin

"Anyone can make mistakes.
Fools insist on repeating them."   
		--Robertine Maynard

"Learn from the mistakes of others. 
You can't live long enough to make them all yourself."
		--Martin Vanbee

"Nunca es tarde para aprender"
"Det är aldrig för sent att lära sig"
"Es ist niemal zu Spät zu lehrnen"
"It is never too late to learn"
		--Unknown

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

"Hvad du i barndommen nemmer,
 du sent i alderdommen glemmer."
"(What you in childhood learn well,
 you in adulthood remember well.)"
		--Old Danish saying

"Seen it all, done it all,
can't remember most of it."
		--Unknown

"Amnesia used to be my favorite word, 
but then I forgot it."
		--Unknown



Striving, Achieving, Attaining - Good, Better, Best

"Always do right.
This will gratify some people and astonish the rest."
		--Mark Twain

"...und tue, was du schuldig bist zu tun in deinen Berufe."
		--Martin Luther

"Whatever you are,
 be a good one."
		--Abraham Lincoln

"What you seem to be, 
be really."
		--Benjamin Franklin

"Esse quam videri"
"To be, rather than to appear."

"Be all that you can be..."
		--U.S. Army

"Always do your best;
 What you plant now,
 you will harvest later"   
		--Og Mandino

"I want to be the best me possible"   
		--Celine Dion

"Wherever you are, be ALL there."   
		--Jim Eliot, martyred missionary to Ecuador

"Freedom to be your best means nothing
unless you're willing to do your best."  
		--Colin Powell

"We should know our weaknesses as well as out strengths
if we would attain to be the best in our civilization."   
		--Booker T. Washington

"If you can't be a good example, 
then you'll just have to be a horrible warning."   
		--Catherine Aird

"Doe je best, God doet de rest."
"Do your best, God does the rest."   
		--Dutch proverb

Grandma's advice: 
"Do your best, and leave the rest."
		--Unknown

"I do the very best I know how - 
the very best I can;
And I mean to keep on doing it until the end."
		--Abraham Lincoln

"There is always a best way of doing everything,
even if it be to boil an egg." 
		--Ralph Waldo Emerson

"I can find a new way to do it better!"  
		--little Danny Meyer in childhood

"Good, better, best
Never let it rest
Get your good better
and your better best." 
		--George Burns

“Let no on ever come to you
without leaving better.”  
		--Mother Teresa



Success, Preparation, Planning, Opportunities, Adversity, Obstacles

Education's secret to business:
"Find a need, and serve it"  
		--ISU/Belmont University Business classes

Thomas Edison's secret to success:
"The secret to success is focus of purpose."  
		--Thomas Edison

Mark Twain's secret to success:
"Find out where the people are going and get there first."  
		--Mark Twain

Politicians' secret to success:
"There are two rules for ultimate success in life:
 1).  Never divulge everything you know..."


Millionaires' secret to success:
"Take opportunity when it knocks."  
		--Millionaires I interviewed in Bahamas

My secret to success:
"Look at every obstacle as an opportunity -
Make opportunities;  Knock!"
		--Dan Meyer

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity;
An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."   
		--Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"Jumping at several small opportunities 
may get you there more quickly 
than waiting for one big one to come along".    
		--Hugh Allen

“I have never been bored an hour in my life.
I get up every morning wondering what new strange glamorous thing is going to happen
 and it happens at fairly regular intervals.”
	--William Allen White

"It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare;
It is because we do not dare that they are difficult."
		--Seneca Proverb

"Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life,
as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed."   
		--Booker T. Washington

"Success comes in cans;
Failure comes in can'ts."
		--Unknown

"Success is a journey, 
not a destination."  
		--Ben Sweetland

"Humility comes from understanding that 
the obstacles in front of you are not going to go away."  
		--Sarah Ferguson

"Great heights are only reached
by overcoming great obstacles."   
		--Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"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

"The only people who achieve much
are those who want knowledge so badly 
that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable.
Favorable conditions never come."
		--C.S. Lewis

"There is no security on this earth, 
only opportunity."
		--Douglas MacArthur

"Be wise in the way you act toward others;
make the most of every opportunity."
		--Colossians 4:5

"Learn to listen carefully;
Opportunity often knocks softly."
		--Unknown

"Opportunity is missed by most people 
because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."
		--Thomas Edison

"Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities;
Seize common occasions and make them great!"  
		--Orison Swett Marden

"A window of opportunity will not open itself."   
		--Michael Crichton

"Opportunities multiply as they are seized."   
		--Sun Tzu

"Success is simply a matter of luck: 
Ask any failure."   
		--Earl Wilson

"I find that the harder I work,
the more luck I seem to have."   
		--Thomas Jefferson

"Some people dream of success, 
while others wake up and work hard at it..."
		--Unknown

"The golden opportunity you are seeking is in yourself.
It is not in your environment;
It is not in luck or chance, or the help of others;
It is in yourself alone."
		--Orison Swett Marden

"Four things come not back: 
the spoken word, 
the spent arrow, 
the past life,
and the neglected opportunity."  
		--Arabian saying

"Opportunities always look bigger 
going than coming."  
		--Unknown

"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

"Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time;
It is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable."
		--Sydney Harris

"Don't fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things.
The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions:
could have, might have, and should have."    
		--Louis E. Boone

"For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
the saddest are these, 'It might have been!' "    
		--John Greenleaf Whittier

"Nothing ventured,
 Nothing gained."
		--William Shakespeare

"There will come a time when you believe everything is finished.
That will be the beginning."
		--Louis L'Amour

* "Lord, Grant that I may always desire 
more than I can accomplish."
		--Michelangelo

"When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this -
you haven't."
		--Thomas Edison

"Start by doing what's necessary, then what's possible,
and suddenly you are doing the impossible."
		--St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226)

"Things are only impossible until they're not."
		--Jean-Luc Picard

"Jesus said, 
'What is impossible with men is possible with God.' "
		--Luke 18:27

"My job is to take care of the possible
 and trust God with the impossible."
		--Unknown

"Accomplishing the impossible means only that 
the boss will add it to your regular duties."
		--Unknown

"Success always occurs in private 
and failure in full public view."
		--Unknown

"All sunshine all the time
sometimes results in a desert."
		--Unknown

"Every cloud has its silver lining,
but lightning kills hundreds of people each year 
who are trying to find it!"
		--Unknown

* "Success is failure turned inside out
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit,
It's when things seem worst, that you mustn't quit."
		--Uncle Luther (quoting Piggott)

* "A winner never quits,
and a quitter never wins."  
		--My Dad

"You haven't truly lost until you quit trying."  
		--Bill Stevens

"Triumph is directly proportional 
to the amount of "umph"
that goes behind the "try".  
		--Rewording of a thought by Penny Pennington

"If at first you don't succeed,
try, try again..."  
		--My Dad

"If at first you don't succeed, 
don't take up skydiving."
		--Jerry Seinfeld(?)

"If at first you don't succeed, 
don't take up sword swallowing."
		--Dan Meyer

"If at first you don't succeed,
see if the loser gets anything."
		--Unknown

"When your dreams turn to dust, 
it's time to vacuum."
		--Unknown

"People stumble,
not on mountains, 
but on small stones."
		--Unknown

"Failure is not when you fall down;
It's when you don't get up."
		--Unknown

"Success consists of getting up
just one more time than you've fallen down."
		--Unknown

"Success is how high you bounce
when you hit bottom."  
		--General George Patton

"A wise man can see more from the bottom of a well 
than a fool can from a mountain top."
		--Unknown

"When you find yourself in a hole, 
The first thing to do is stop digging!"   
		--John Mallon, Llama trainer

"If life deals you lemons, make lemonade; 
If it deals you tomatoes, make Bloody Marys."
		--Unknown

"If you're going through hell, 
keep going."  
		--Rob Estes

"The best way out of difficulty is through it..."
		--Unknown

"If you have tried to do something and failed, 
you are vastly better off than 
if you had tried to do nothing and succeeded."
		--Unknown

"A person can make many mistakes, 
but he isn't a failure until he starts blaming someone else."  
		--Unknown

"If you really aspire to do something, 
you will find a way to make it so.
If you don't, you will find an excuse."
		--Amy Wirdzek

"He who is good at making excuses
is seldom good for anything else."
		--Unknown

"You can make either one of two things in this life: 
You can make excuses, or make money!"
		--Unknown

"The will to succeed is important,
but the will to prepare is even more important."   
		--Bobby Knight

* "Be prepared - 
Always keep a dime in your shoe for emergencies."   
		--My Scoutmaster Lloyd Miller

"A problem defined is half solved"  
		--Written on a whiteboard at work
"(...unless the definition is wrong!)"
		--scrawled beneath it

"Well begun
is half done."   
		--Aristotle

"Goed begonnen, half gewonnen."
"Well begun is half won."   
		--Dutch proverb

"Well done 
is better than 
well said."   
		--Benjamin Franklin

"Wat mut, dat mut."
"What must be done, must be done."
		--Norbert Bialek, Köln, Germany

"Measure twice, cut once"   
		--My Dad

"People don't plan to fail;
They just fail to plan..."
		--Zig Zigler

"An ounce of prevention 
is worth a pound of cure."
		--Benjamin Franklin

"It is better to sleep on things beforehand,
than lie awake about them afterward."   
		--Baltasar Gracian

"I have always gone on the plan of finding the right of a thing to be done,
then working in that direction until I have accomplished it."   
		--Booker T. Washington

"Plan your work,
Then work your plan."
		--Zig Zigler

"Commit your works to the Lord,
and your plans WILL succeed."
		--Jewish Proverbs 16:3

"The working out of all things has been assigned to each person by our Lord,
but it all happens according to His sovereign will, even though He gives advice.
He lacks nothing that is in the power of men to give Him. 
Oh, what a gracious Lord, who desires that people should perform for Him
those things for which He holds Himself responsible 
day and night, moment by moment, 
everyone should express their most devoted gratitude to Him."
		--Christopher Columbus

"If we don't succeed,
we run the risk of failure." (Duh!) 
		 --Vice President Al Gore

"I don't know the key to success, 
but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."
		--Bill Cosby

"If you can't win, 
make the one ahead of you break the record."
		--Jan McKeithen

"The more I help others to succeed,
 the more I succeed."
		--Ray Kroc, McDonalds

"The fastest way to succeed is to look as 
if you're playing by somebody else's rules, 
while quietly playing by your own."
		--Michael Konda

"Success is to get what you want;
Happiness is to want what you get..."
		--Unknown

"Success is not the key to happiness;
Happiness is the key to success.
If you love what you are doing, you will be successful."
		--Albert Schweitzer

"Happiness is not having what you want, 
but wanting what you have."
		--Hyman Schachtel

"Money can't bring you happiness, 
but it enables you to look for it in more places."
		--Unknown

"Money can't buy you happiness, 
but it can buy you a boat big enough to sail right up next to it."
		--David Lee Roth

"Money doesn't always bring happiness; 
People with ten million dollars are 
no happier than those with nine million."
		--Unknown

"No one can possibly achieve any real and lasting success 
or 'get rich' in business by being a conformist."  
		--J. Paul Getty

"Far better it is to dare mighty things,
to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure,
than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy
nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight
that knows neither victory nor defeat"  
		--Theodore Roosevelt

"Life is 10% of what happens to you, 
and 90% of how you respond to it."
		--Chuck Swindoll

"It's not the load that breaks you down;
It's the way you carry it."
		--Lena Horne

* My two rules for a happy life:
1). Don't sweat the small stuff
2). Everything is small stuff!
		--Dan Meyer

"Don't sweat the petty things,
and don't pet the sweaty things."
		--George Carlin

"Life is too important to take too seriously."
		--Corky Siegel

"If life is just a game,
then I must have missed the kickoff."
		--Unknown

* "Don't cry over spilled milk."
"Gråt inte över spilld mjölk."   
		--My Mom

"Cast all your cares on Him
 for He cares for you."
		--I Peter 5:7

"I know God won't give me more than I can handle. 
I just wish He didn't trust me so much."  
		--Unknown

"Let go,
and let God..."
		--Unknown

"If all the gold in the world could not buy a dying man one more breath,
what would that make tomorrow worth?"
		--Unknown

"Who of you by worrying 
can add a single hour to his life?"
		--Matthew 6:27

"The unwise man 
is awake all night
worries over and again.
When morning rises
he is restless still,
his burden as before." 
		--Old Viking Hávamál Proverb

"Worry doesn't improve the future;
It only ruins the present."
		--Unknown

"...So what big-time crisis 
were you worried about this time last year?"   
		--Sign on a church bulletin board

"Worry is the darkroom 
in which 'negatives' are developed."
		--Unknown

"If you worry, you die. 
If you don't worry, you also die. 
So why worry?"
		--Mike Horn

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, 
for tomorrow will worry about itself."
		--Matthew 6:34

"Wir werden das Kind schon schaukeln..."
"Det ordnar sig alltid..."
"Everything will work itself out..."  
		--Unknown

"Be anxious for nothing,
but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving,
let your requests be known to God."
		--Philippians 4:6

"Delight yourself in the Lord, 
and He will give you the desires of your heart."
		--Jewish Proverbs 37:4

"Sök och du skall finna."

"Ask, and it will be given to you; 
Seek, and you will find; 
Knock, and the door will be opened for you.
For everyone who asks receives; 
He who seeks finds; 
and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."
		--Jesus Christ, Matthew 7:7-8

"Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; 
they will run and not grow weary, 
they will walk and not be faint."
		--Isaiah 40:31

"If you're not living on the edge,
you're taking up too much space."
		--Lou Whitaker

"If you're living on the edge,
make sure you're wearing your seat belt."
		--Unknown

"Snooze, ya lose..."
		--Issac Air Freight

"Nunc aut nunquam"
"Now or never"
		--Phineas T. Barnum

"This chance may never come again..."

* "Seize the moment"

"Carpe diem;  Quam minimum credula postero"
"Seize the day;  Trust as little as possible in tomorrow"
		--Q. Horatius Flaccus

"Carpe diem, seize the day
Seize the moment, make a way
Take the chance while you may
Carpe diem, seize the day"
		--Dan Meyer

"When the pain of staying the same
 is greater than the pain of change,
 then we change."
		--Unknown

"There is great audacity in the willingness to change,
and more than a little optimism."
		--Robert Crais

"If you don't like something, change it.
If you can't change it, change your attitude,
and don't complain."  
		--Maya Angelou

"Let us become the change we seek in the world."
		--Mahatma Gandhi

"Be the change that makes the difference
That makes us realize we're all the same
Be the one that sees no color
That only paints the world in shades of gray"
		--Margaret Harris/Renee Martin (1999)

"My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world.
I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it."
		--Barack Obama

"Change your thoughts 
and you change your world."
		--Norman Vincent Peale

"To improve is to change;
To be perfect is to change often."
		--Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"The only things that remains the same in this world
is change."
		--Unknown

"Change is inevitable,
except from a vending machine."
		--Unknown

"A cow never stays milked."
		--Glendon Johnson

"The only one who likes change
is a wet baby."
		--Yiddish proverb

"Mere change is not growth; 
Growth is the synthesis of change and continuity, 
and where there is no continuity there is no growth."
		--C. S. Lewis

"The greatest pleasure in life
 is doing what people say you cannot do..."
		--Walter Bagehot

"It is never too late to be 
 what you might have been..."
		--George Eliot

"The best way to predict the future
 is to create it."
		--Alan Kay

"If you don't like the news,
 go out and make some."
		--Unknown

"If you don't like something, change it.
If you can't change it, change your attitude,
and don't complain."  
		--Maya Angelou

"As a man thinks in his heart,
 so he is..."
		--Jewish Proverbs 23:7

"Follow your heart,
and listen when it speaks to you."
		--Susanna Tamaro "Follow Your Heart"

* "Where there's a will,
 there's a way."
		--My Dad

"When the going gets tough,
 the tough get going."  
		--My Dad to me during High School swim team

"You don't have to be great to get started,
but you have to get started to become great."  
		--Les Brown

"I do today what others will not 
so tomorrow I can live like others cannot."  
		--Unknown

"We set ourselves limits, but we all have the capacity in us
to aim higher and achieve higher goals never before thought reachable."
		--Belteshazzar the Blade Glommer

"We set ourselves limits, but we are all strong enough to aim higher, to achieve our goals. 
All we have to do is find such strength within ourselves. Know how to develop it."
		--Alain Robert, the Real Spiderman



Courage, Adventure, Exploration, Discovery, Ships, Sailing

"De eerste in de boot mag de riemen kiezen."
"The first in the boat has the choice of oars." 
		--Dutch proverb

"Beter het anker verliezen dan het hele schip."
"Better to lose the anchor than the whole ship." 
		--Dutch proverb

"Optimism is waiting for your ship to come in,
when you haven't sent one out yet." 
		--Unknown

"Don't wait for your ship to come in;
swim out to it." 
		--Unknown

"We cannot change the direction of the wind... 
but we can adjust our sails."  
		--Unknown

"Raise your sail one foot 
and you get ten feet of wind." 
		--Chinese proverb

* "Passion is the wind that moves your sails;
Reason is the rudder that guides your course."
		--Arthur Doak/Dan Meyer

"No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, 
or sailed to an uncharted land, 
or opened a new heaven to the human spirit."
		--Helen Keller

"One doesn't discover new lands
without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time." 
		--Andre Gilde

"As the island of our knowledge grows,
so does the shore of our ignorance." 
		--John Wheeler

"They are ill discoverers who think there is no land, 
when they can see nothing but sea." 
		--Francis Bacon

"A sailor without a destination
 cannot hope for a favorable wind."
		--Leon Tec, M.D.

"The human heart is like a ship on a stormy sea
 driven about by winds blowing from all four corners of heaven."
		--Martin Luther

"We set the sail; 
God makes the wind."
		--Unknown

"God promises a safe landing,
not a calm passage."
		--Unknown

"A ship in the harbor is safe,
but that's not what ships were made for."
		--Unknown

"It takes more than sailing on calm waters 
to make one a good sailor."
		--Dan Meyer

Ships sail east and ships sail west 
While the self same breezes blow: 
It's the set of the sails and not the gales 
That determines the way they go. 

Like the winds of the sea is the way of fate 
As we journey along through life. 
It's the set of the soul that determines the goal 
And not the calm or the strife.
		--Unknown

"Sometimes the Lord calms the storm; 
Sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms His child..."
		--Unknown

"A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor"
		--Unknown

"I am not afraid of storms,
for I am learning to sail my ship." 
		--Louisa May Alcott

"Et er et skib at styre, 
et andet et søkort at forstå"
"It is one thing to steer a ship, 
another to understand a map"
		--Old Danish saying

"The sea is dangerous and its storms terrible, 
but these obstacles have never been sufficient reason to remain ashore...
Unlike the mediocre, intrepid spirits seek victory over those things that seem impossible...
It is with an iron will that they embark on the most daring of all endeavors...
to meet the shadowy figure without fear and conquer the unknown."
		--Ferdinand Magellan, Explorer (1520)

"Adventure: The land between entertainment and panic."
		--Unknown

"A life without adventure
is likely to be unsatisfying..."
		--Bertrand Russel, Social Cohesion and Human Nature, Authority and the Individual, 1949

* "A man proves his valour
by doing what he likes."
		--Sir Richard Francis Burton

"He begins to die
that quits his desires."
		--George Herbert

"Your dreams can be realities.
They are the stuff that leads us through life toward great happiness."
		--Deborah Norville

"Define your dreams,
then pursue them passionately;
Always evaluate your circumstances -
Be flexible enough to redefine your goals,
yet strong enough to keep sight of your true vision and hold fast to it;
Be true to yourself,
Live up to your highest standards,
Live life boldly and passionately, 
and you will succeed in fulfilling your dreams."
		--Dan Meyer

"Passion without purity is wildness
Purity without passion is prudishness."
		--Unknown

"Significant Success automatically happens 
when your Passion also becomes your Profession."  
		--Dr. Dan Cheatham

"If you're not fired with enthusiasm, 
you will be fired with enthusiasm."  
		--Vince Lombardi

"Whatever you are by nature, keep to it; 
Never desert your line of talent.
Be what nature intended you for and you will succeed."
		--Sydney Smith

"He who buries his talents
Is making a grave mistake."
		--Unknown

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams;
Live the life you have imagined."  
		--Henry David Thoreau

"Success is not the key to happiness;
Happiness is the key to success.
If you love what you are doing, 
you will be successful."
		--Albert Schweitzer

"Pleasure in the job
puts perfection in the work."
		--Aristotle

"Let God make your Calling your Career."  
		--Dr. Dan Cheatham

"The place where God calls you
is the place where your deep gladness
and the world's deep hunger meet." 
		--Frederick Buechner

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate; 
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. 
We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' 
Actually, who are you not to be? 
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. 
And as we let our own light shine, 
we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same." 
		--Marianne Williamson

"Remember that you are needed.  
There is at least one important work to be done 
that will not be done unless you do it."   
		--Charles Allen

"Wisdom is knowing what to do next;
Virtue is doing it."   
		--David Starr Jordan, American Naturalist

"I hate to see things done by halves.
If it be right, do it boldly;
If it be wrong, leave it undone."  
		--Gilpin

"Do or do not; 
There is no try."  
		--Yoda

"Just DO it!"   
		--Nike

"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment."   
		--Jim Rohn

"He who is not courageous enough to take risks
will accomplish nothing in life."   
		--Muhammad Ali

"The tragedy of life 
is what dies inside a man while he lives."
		--Albert Schweitzer

"You are not stuck where you are
unless you decide to be..."
		--Unknown

"Life is too short for traffic."
		--Dan Bellack

"Est unusquisque faber ipsae suae fortunae"
"Cada quien es el arquitecto de su propio destino"
"Every man is the architect of his own fortune/destiny"
		--Appius Claudius Caecus

"A Christian cannot help being free, 
because in the pursuit and attainment of his object, 
no one can either hinder or retard him."
		--Leo Tolstoy

"Donde una puerta se cierra, otra se abre"
"När en dörr stängs öppnas en annan"
"When one door shuts, another one opens"
		--Unknown

"When one door closes, another door opens; 
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, 
that we do not see the ones that are open for us."
		--Alexander Graham Bell

"There is always one unexpected little moment in life 
when a door opens to let the future in." 
		--Graham Greene
 
"Happiness comes through doors 
you didn't even know you left open."
		--Unknown

* "...Don't go back through that door - you've already been there and done that;
Find a new door and go through it - create new windows of opportunity"
		--Bob Shultz, Blakes, Michigan City, IN, 1978

"A window of opportunity will not open itself."   
		--Michael Crichton

"Sometimes the roof must fall 
for us to see the sky again."   
		--Unknown

"Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered,
you will never grow."
		--Unknown

"If you settle for what you've got,
you deserve what you get."
		--Kathy Lee Gifford

If you always live
Like you've always lived,
If you always think
Like you've always thought,
If you always do
What you've always done,
You will always get
What you always got!
		--Dan Meyer

"God's call to me, His child, is not to safeness, 
but always to something more -
always upward, higher, further along.  
To bypass the call is to settle for mediocrity, complacency and dormancy.  
And should I choose not to risk, 
I will more than likely wake up some morning with the haunting question on my mind,
'Could God have had something more for me, if only I had dared to trust?' "  
		--Ruth Senter, "Beyond Safe Places"

"When you come to the end of all the light you know, 
and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, 
faith is knowing that two things shall happen: 
Either you will be given something solid to stand on, 
or you will be taught to fly."
		--Edward Teller

"I believe in Christ like I believe in the sun,
not just because I see it,
but because by it I can see everything else."
	--C.S. Lewis

"Faith is daring the soul
to go beyond what the eyes can see."
		--Unknown

"Faith is not belief without proof, 
but trust without reservation."
		--Unknown

"Faith is the refusal to panic."
		--Unknown

"Faith is not believing that God can
It's knowing He will."
		--Unknown

"A coincidence is when God performs a miracle, 
and decides to remain anonymous."    
		--Unknown

"No one can arrive from being talented alone.
God gives talent;
Work transforms talent into genius."
		--Anna Pavlova, Russian Ballerina

"Boldness has genius in it;
If you can dream it, do it."
		--Goethe

"Genius is one percent inspiration,
and ninety-nine percent perspiration."
		--Thomas Edison

"The difference between genius and stupidity
is that genius has its limits."
		--Unknown

"There's a fine line between a genius and an idiot:  
An idiot has wild ideas;  
A genius does something with them."
		--Randall Owen

"People with small minds talk about people.
People with average minds talk about events.
People with great minds talk about ideas."
		--Eleanor Roosevelt

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition 
from mediocre minds."
		--Albert Einstein

"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

"The next best thing to being wise oneself
 is to live in a circle of those who are."
		--C.S. Lewis

"He who walks with wise men will be wise."
		--Proverbs 13:20

"When you are among the swans, 
you become a swan."
		--Siamese saying

"He who kneels before God 
can stand before anyone!"
		-Unknown

"Hier stehe ich. Ich kann nicht anders. Gott hilf mir."
("Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me.")
		-Martin Luther (1521)

"Courage is clearly a readiness to risk self-humiliation."
		--Nigel Dennis

"Being cool is a coverup for cowardice;
Building character calls for courage."
		--Rewording of a thought by Stephen Mansfield

"Life shrinks or expands
 in proportion to one's courage."
		--Anaïs Nin

"Be brave -   
Even if you are not, pretend to be;
No one can tell the difference."
		--Unknown

"Great ability develops and reveals itself increasingly 
with every new assignment."
		--Baltasar Gracian

"Engång skall du vara en av dem som levat för längesen."
 ("Some day you shall be among those who lived long ago.")
		--Pär Lagerkvist, Aftonland

"You never know when you're making a memory."
		--Rickie Lee Jones

"To dream of the person you would like to be 
is a waste of the person that you are..."
		--Unknown

"He who buries his talents
Is making a grave mistake."
		--Unknown

"Your destiny is fulfilled
as you invest in the destinies of others."
		--Stephen Mansfield

"Scouting rounds a guy out"
		--Boy Scouts of America

* "Don't just live the length of your life;
Live the width of it as well."
		--Diane Ackerman

"I come that you might have life, 
and have it more ABUNDANTLY."
		--Jesus Christ, John 10:10

"You can do anything you set your mind to,
as long as it is in God's will."
		--Dan Meyer

"Greater is he who is in you
than he who is in the world."  
		--I John 4:4

* "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me..."   
		--Philippians 4:13

"Todo lo puedo en Cristo que me fortalece..."   
		--Filipenses 4:13

"Allt förmår jag i honom som giver mig kraft..."
"Jag kan göra allt som Gud ber mig om, tack vare Kristus, 
som ger mig styrka och kraft..."   
		--Filipperbrevet 4:13

"No problem, man"   
		--Local natives in India and the Bahamas

"Oú sont les neiges d'autant?"   
		--Unknown



History

"A people without a heritage
 are easily persuaded."   
		--Karl Marx

"The greatest advances in human civilization 
have come when we recovered what we had lost:
when we learned the lessons of history."   
		--Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"The only thing new in the world
is the history you don't know."   
		--Harry Truman

"A nation which does not remember what it was yesterday
does not know what it is today nor what it is trying to do.
We are trying to do a futile thing
if we do not know where we came from or what we have been about.
Ours is a rich legacy.  Rich but lost."   
		--Woodrow Wilson

"To comprehend the history of a thing
 is to unlock the mysteries of its present, 
and more, to disclose the profundities of its future."   
		--Hilaire Belloc

"I make known the end from the beginning, 
from ancient times, what is still to come.  
I say: "My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please."   
		--Isaiah 46:10

"Some people live in the present, 
oblivious of the past and blind to the future.
Some dwell in the past.
A very few have the knack of applying the past 
to the present in ways that show them the future.
Great leaders have this knack."   
		--Richard M. Nixon

"The future is always built out of the materials of the past."   
		--Booker T. Washington

"Great leaders apply the past to the present
so as to shape the future."   
		--Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"History is philosophy learned from examples."   
		--Thucydides

"Those who cannot remember the past
are condemned to repeat it."   
		--George Santayana

"We cannot say the past is past
without surrendering the future."   
		--Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)



Time, Aging, Life, Death

"There is an appointed time for everything.
And there is a time for every event under heaven -

A time to give birth, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to uproot what is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to tear down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to throw stones, and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace, and a time to shun embracing;
A time to search, and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep, and a time to give away;
A time to tear apart, and a time to sew together;
A time to be silent, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time for war, and a time for peace."
		--Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

"There will come a time when you believe everything is finished.
That will be the beginning."
		--Louis L'Amour

"One will never find time
unless he makes it."    
		--Unknown

"Tempus fugit."
"Time flies."  
		--Unknown

"Time flies
when you're having fun."
		--Unknown

"Time flies
when you're having lunch."
		--Dan Meyer

"Time flies
whether you're having fun or not!" 
		--Bill Stevens

"Time flies like an arrow,
but fruit flies like bananas."
		--Perry Brown

"Time's fun 
when you're having flies." 
		--Kermit T. Frog

"It is better to add life to your years,
than to add years to your life." 
		--Unknown

"Counting time is not as important
as making time count." 
		--Chinese Fortune Cookie

"Does thou love life? 
Then do not squander time; 
for that's the stuff life is made of." 
		--Benjamin Franklin

"Time is too slow for those who wait; 
too swift for those who fear; 
too long for those who grieve; 
too short for those who rejoice. 
But for those who love, time is eternity." 
		--Lady Jane Fellowes 

"Everywhere is walking distance
if you have the time." 
		--Steven Wright

"All you have to decide is 
what to do with the time that is given you." 
		-Gandalf the Grey from Lord of the Rings

"God sees all of time
as a person would see an entire train from an airplane overhead - 
from engine to caboose."
		--Bob George

"Time is that quality of nature which keeps events from happening all at once.
Lately it doesn't seem to be working." 
		--Unknown

"The day after tomorrow
is the third day of the rest of your life."
		--George Carlin

"Time may be a great healer,
but it's also a lousy beautician."   
		--Unknown

"Time is the best teacher;
 Unfortunately it kills all its students."   
		--Unknown

"Time is a circus,
always packing up and moving away."  
		--Ben Hecht

"The early bird gets the worm, 
but the second mouse gets the cheese."   
		--Unknown

"You may delay,
but time will not."
		--Benjamin Franklin

"Never put off until tomorrow
what you can avoid altogether."
		--Unknown

"Nice guys finish last, 
but we get to sleep in." 
		--Evan Davis

"I have noticed that the people who are late
are often so much jollier than the people who have to wait for them."
		--E.V. Lucas

"To many a place
I made my way late,
and far too soon to some.
The ale was drunk
or yet unserved
the unwelcome guest is untimely." 
		--Old Viking Hávamál Proverb

"I'm always late; 
My ancestors arrived on the June Flower."
		--Unknown

"I always wanted to be a procrastinator, 
but never got around to it."
		--Unknown

"Procrastination means you know what you need to do and you don't do it.
If you don't know what to do, you aren't procrastinating.
You are thinking."   
		--Lynn Lively

"If it weren't for the last minute,
nothing would get done."
		--Unknown

* "Whatever thou doest,
 do quickly..."
		--My Dad

"Whatever you want to do, do it now. 
There are only so many tomorrows."
		--Michael Landon

"Festina lente..."
"Make haste slowly..."
		--Imperator C. Iulius Caesar Octavianus Augustus

"Forever doesn't happen in a moment."
		--Dan Meyer

"The future is much like the present, 
only longer."
		--Don Quisenberry

"Youth is a gift of nature;
Age is a work of art." 
		--Unknown

"If age is a state of mind,
and I've lost my mind,
am I ageless?"
		--Barb Urbassik

"Age doesn't always bring wisdom;
Sometimes age comes alone."  
		--Unknown

"Old age is always fifteen years older than I am." 
		--Bernard Baruch

"Age is a very high price to pay for maturity." 
		--Unknown

"The first sign of maturity is the discovery
that the volume knob also turns to the left."
		--Unknown

"There's no point in being grown up 
if you can't be childish sometimes."  
		--Dr. Who

"Growing up is an option;
Growing older is not."
		--Steve Mitchell

"No ray of sunshine is ever lost, 
but the green which it awakens into existence needs time to sprout, 
and it is not always granted for the sower to see the harvest. 
All work that is worth anything is done in faith."  
		--Albert Schweitzer

"Más vale tarde que nunca..."
"Bättre sent än aldrig..."
"Betra seint en aldrei..."
"Besser Spät als niemal..."
"Better late than never..."
		--Unknown

"Ein god dag kjem aldri for seint"
"En bra dag kommer aldrig för sent"
"A good day never comes too late"
		--Old Norwegian proverb

"When it comes time to die, 
make sure all you gotta do is die."    
		--Unknown

* "Today is a good day to die"   
		--Lakota Sioux saying

It's a good day to die if you know where you're going
It's a good day to die every day of your life
It's a good day to die if your living is showing 
that you know that today is a good day to die.    
		--Dan Meyer

"Porque para mí el vivir es Cristo,
y el morir es ganancia."    
		--Filipenses 1:21

"For me to live is Christ;
to die is to gain."    
		--Philippians 1:21

"Sapos mi stap laip, no sapos mi dai,
Orait mi stap wantaim Kraist.
Na sapos mi dai,
bai mi kisim gutpela samting moa."    
		--Filipai 1:21 Tok Pisin Nupela Testamen Bilong Bikpela Jisas Kraist

"Cowards may die many times before their deaths, 
The valiant never taste of death but once. 
Of all the wonders that I have yet heard, 
It seems most strange that humans fear, 
Seeing death, a necessary end, 
Will come when it will come"  
		--Julius Caesar

"Fear not death; 
for the sooner we die, 
the longer shall we be immortal."
		--Benjamin Franklin

"Men who believe in eternal life
seldom fear death in this life."
		--Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"Work as if you were to live a hundred years,
Pray as if you were to die tomorrow."
		--Benjamin Franklin

"Live in such a way 
that you would not be ashamed 
to sell your parrot to the town gossip."
		--Will Rogers

"Live your life in the manner 
that you would like your kids to live theirs."
		--Michael Levine

"Live innocently;
God is watching."    
		--Unknown

"Live each day 
as if it were the last day of your life, 
because so far, it is."    
		--Unknown

"Live each day 
as if it were the last day of your life; 
One day, it will be."    
		--Unknown

"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. 
It's already tomorrow in Australia."   
		--Charles Schulz

"Everyday I beat my own previous record 
for number of consecutive days I've stayed alive."    
		--Unknown

"I am ready to meet my Maker. 
Whether or not my Maker is prepared for the 
great ordeal of meeting me is another matter."   
		--Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of
God's grace.  
And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace."    
		--Jerry Bridges

"When you were born, you were crying
and everyone around you was smiling.
Live your life so that when you die, 
you're smiling and everyone around you is crying."    
		--Old Indian saying

"When we die, we leave behind everything we have 
and carry with us everything we are."
		--Unknown

"He who dies with the most toys
is nonetheless dead"    
		--Unknown



Arts - Laughter, Fools, Clowns, Circus, Comedy, Music, Art

"Laugh alone and the world thinks you're an idiot."
		--Unknown

"You don't stop laughing because you grow old;
You grow old because you stop laughing."  
		--Unknown

"A joyful heart is good medicine."
		--Jewish Proverbs 17:22

"You cannot deal with the most serious things in the world
unless you also understand the most amusing."
		--Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"The only reason I'm what you call witty 
is 'cause I believe laughter is better than tears. 
People tend to take life too seriously sometimes, 
and if you can laugh at yourself,
all life's little problems seem trivial. 
When the humor is gone, it's time for curtain call."
		--Mephisto, Fire-manipulator

"Personer som saknar humor
förstår sällan allvar."
("People who lack humor
seldom understand being serious")
		--Carl Zetterström

"Some people think it's difficult to be a Christian and to laugh,
but I think it's the other way around.
God writes a lot of comedy;
It's just that He has so many bad actors."
		--Garrison Keillor

"There's never been an imitator that ever got to be a big star -
that I know of..."
		--Jimmy Durante, on imitating other comics

"Imitation is the greatest form of flattery."
		--Unknown

"Life is a free circus;
All you have to do is pay attention!"
		--Unknown

"Time is a circus,
always packing up and moving away."  
		--Ben Hecht

"Too many freaks, not enough circuses!"
		--Unknown

"Gravity always gets me down."
		--Juggler's saying

"I would give my right arm to be ambidextrous."
		--Juggler's saying

"When the going gets weird, 
the weird turn pro."
		--Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

"...Stop and smell the kerosene"
		--Mephisto, Fire-manipulator

"Old fire eaters never die. They just go up in smoke"
		--Mephisto, Fire-manipulator

 "Life is like a double-edged sword;  It can be hard to swallow, 
  but you just have to stick with it,  push past the bumps, 
  and try not to gag along the way!" 
		 --Sword Swallower's saying

 "Mroowk maw, mngo hangmphf!"
		--Me while swallowing a sword for my mom

 "Don't run with swords in your mouth!"
		--My mom

 "It's all fun and games 
until someone punctures an esophagus!"
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