If you can recognize the need for improvement, things are already improving."

Author Unknown

Whatever else you do or forbear,
impose upon yourself the task of happiness;
and now and then abandon yourself
to the joy of laughter.
And however much you condemn the evil in the world,
remember that the world is not all evil;
that somewhere children are at play,
as you yourself in the old days;
that women still find joy in the stalwart hearts of men;
And that men, treading with restless feet their many paths,
may yet find refuge from the storms of the world
in the cheerful house of love."

Max Ehrmann, 1872-1945
American Lawyer, Philosopher and Poet

"Of all the gifts
You have offered to God,
Your happiness-gift
He treasures most."

Sri Chinmoy
Indian Philosopher and Teacher

Let us take care of the children, for they have a long way to go. Let us take care of the elders, for they have come a long way. Let us take care of those in between, for they are doing the work."

Traditional African Prayer

WHAT ARE WE HERE FOR

What are we here for, if not to help one another?
Surely, we didn't come all this way to be comfortable
We didn't travel across so much time and space
To impress our neighbors with our fancy cars.
And we're certainly not here to sit on the sidelines
And watch the world go by on our big screen tv's...
So what are we here for, if not to help one another?

Ron Atchison

TOP TEN THINGS...

My best advice to any young person is to write down the top ten things you want in a partner, then become that person.

Kriss Hakala
American Mom, Friend and Human Rights Activis

Everywhere I look ...

Everywhere I look I see myself. There I go: that bald man, this angry child, that fearful cat, that cool stone, that bubbling brook, that worm struggling for its life, that bird desperate to feed her hungry babies, that one trapped in his rage, this one anxious but fearful of finding out why. Hardly strangers! Empathy is the life of the soul, I think, because the soul that allows us to see the one in the other is the soul that finds joy.

Claudia Michele

Nobody is born a warrior, in exactly the same way that nobody is born an average man. We make ourselves into one or the other."

Carlos Castaneda
20th Century Mystic and Author

Do not judge yourself harshly.
Without mercy for ourselves
we cannot love the world.

Buddha, 563-483 B.C.

Listen to the Mustn'ts,child,
Listen to the Don'ts
Listen to the Shouldn'ts
The Impossibles, the Won'ts
Listen to the Never Haves,
Then listen close to me --
Anything can happen, child,
Anything can be."

Shel Silverstein

"Dear Lord, be good to me
the sea is so wide
and my boat is so small."

--Irish Fisherman's Prayer

There are things you do because they feel right
and they may make no sense
and they may make no money
and it may be the real reason we are here:
to love each other
and to eat each others' cooking
and say it was good.

Brian Andreas
American Artist and Storyteller

"The world is before you, and you need not take it or leave it as it was when you came in."

James Baldwin, 1924-1987
American Author

One can live
magnificently
in this world
if one knows how to work
and how to love.

Leo Tolstoy, 1828-1910

Anyone can slay a dragon, he told me, but try waking up every morning & loving the world all over again. That's what takes a real hero."

Brian Andreas

Do not fear what may happen tomorrow. The same loving Father who cares for you today will care for you tomorrow and everyday. Either he will shield you from suffering or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace then and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginings."

St. Francis de Sales
17th Century Bishop of Geneva

For money you can have everything it is said. No, that is not true. You can buy food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; soft beds, but not sleep; knowledge but not intelligence; glitter, but not comfort; fun, but not pleasure; acquaintances, but not friendship; servants, but not faithfulness; grey hair, but not honor; quiet days, but not peace. The shell of all things you can get for money. But not the kernel. That cannot be had for money.

Arne Garborg, 1851-1924
Norwegian Author and Journalist

If you always think what you've always thought,
You will always do what you've always done.
If you always do what you've always done,
You will always get what you've always got.
If you always get what you've always got,
You will always think what you've always thought.

Author Unknown

What can anyone give you that is greater than this precious little instant known as 'now'?"

Author Unknown

As I stand alone
walls on all sides
On the hardness and trials
I will stand tall
as tall as I might,
for all of my
humble little life.
Til the world tramples me,
and I am no more,
I will stand tall
as tall as I might.
Always reaching for the sun.
Even though all around
is brokenness and pain
I'll lend my brief beauty
and stand tall
as tall as I might."

Amanda Kiser

All men and women are born, live suffer and die; what distinguishes us one from another is our dreams, whether they be dreams about worldly or unworldly things, and what we do to make them come about... We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents. We do not choose our historical epoch, the country of our birth, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing. We do not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the time and conditions of our death. But within this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we live.

Joseph Epstein

The people who make a difference
are not the ones with the credentials,
but the ones with the concern.

Max Lucado
American Minister and Spiritual Author

If there was ever a time to dare, to make a difference, to embark on something worth doing, It is now. Not for any grand cause, necessarily... but for something that tugs at your heart, something that's your inspiration, something that's your dream."

Author Unknown

You've got a lot of choices. If getting out of bed in the morning is a chore and you're not smiling on a regular basis, try another choice.

Steven D. Woodhull

The chief beauty about time
is that you cannot waste it in advance.
The next year, the next day, the next hour
are lying ready for you,
as perfect, as unspoiled,
as if you had never wasted or misapplied
a single moment in all your life.
You can turn over a new leaf every hour
if you choose."

Arnold Bennett, 1867-1931
British Novelist

Bless those who challenge us to grow,
to stretch, to move beyond the knowable,
to come back home to our essential nature.
Bless those who challenge us
for they remind us of doors we have closed
and doors we have yet to open.

Native American Prayer
Attributed to the Navajo Indian Tribe

I said to the almond tree,
'Sister, speak to me of God.'
And the almond tree blossomed.

Nikos Kazantzakis
Greek Author, Poet and Playwright

When just starting out on a new journey it's only natural to feel vulnerable. After all, it may seem that you have much to lose. But may I remind you that never again, at any other point in the same journey, will you have so much to gain."

Mike Dooley
Inspirational Author, Speaker and Friend

have a purpose – growing;
I have a goal – glowing.

I have a hobby – giving;
I have a song – living.

I have a mission – reaching;
I have a love – teaching.

I have a calling – caring;
I have a joy – sharing.

William Arthur Ward, 1921-1994
American Author and Poet

f we do not feel grateful for what we already have,
what makes us think we'd be happy with more?

Author Unknown

The best day of your life is the one
on which you decide your life is your own.
No apologies or excuses.
No one to lean on, rely on, or blame.
The gift is yours - it is an amazing journey -
and you alone are responsible for the quality of it.
This is the day your life really begins."

Author Unknown

Everyone wants to live
on top of the mountain.
But all the happiness
and growth occurs
while you're climbing it.

Author Unknown

To have striven, to have made an effort, to have been true to certain ideals - this alone is worth the struggle. We are here to add what we can to, not to get what we can from, life."

Sir William Osler, 1849-1919
Canadian Physician

It ought to be plain
how little you gain
by getting excited
and vexed.

You'll always be late
for the previous train,
and always in time
for the next.

Piet Hein, 1905-1996
Danish Poet and Scientist

Loving people live in a loving world.
Hostile people live in a hostile world.
Same world."

Wayne Dyer
American Author and Lecturer

Whatever you want in life, start today.
Not tomorrow - today.
Let it be a small beginning - a tiny beginning.
Your happiness depends on starting today - every day.

Jonathan Lockwood Huie
Inspirational Author and Speaker

When you are here, you are here.
When you are gone, you are gone.
It isn't a problem to be gone,
so long as you are really here
when you're here.

Kent Nerburn
American Author, Sculptor and Educator

If you can't fly, then run.
If you can't run, then walk.
If you can't walk, then crawl.
But whatever you do, keep moving."

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
American Civil Rights Leader