Saturday, March 15, 2008 The greatest challenge to any thinker is stating the problem in a way that will allow a solution. Bertrand Russell Friday, March 7, 2008 I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity. Albert Einstein Sunday, October 28, 2007 The best portion of a good man's life - His little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love. William Wordsworth Monday, October 22, 2007 The busy man is never wise, the wise man is never busy. Lin Yutang Sunday, July 29, 2007 The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it. The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Monday, July 16, 2007 Man in the Arena It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat. Theodore Roosevelt, "Citizenship in a Republic," Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910 Wednesday, March 28, 2007 The shortest and surest way to live with honour in the world, is to be in reality what we would appear to be; and if we observe, we shall find, that all human virtues increase and strengthen themselves by the practice of them. Socrates Wednesday, March 28, 2007 The superior man is slow in his words and earnest in his conduct. Confucius Monday, March 26, 2007 Three Pillars of Zen: Great Faith, Great Doubt and Great Determination Zen Buddism Saturday, March 24, 2007 The great aim of education is not knowledge, but action. Herbert Spencer Saturday, February 10, 2007 Accept everything just the way it is. Do not seek pleasure for its own sake. Do not, under any circumstances, depend on a partial feeling. Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world. Be detached from desire your whole life long. Do not regret what you have done. Never be jealous. Never let yourself be saddened by a separation. Resentment and complaint are appropriate neither for oneself or others. Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or love. In all things have no preferences. Be indifferent to where you live. Do not pursue the taste of good food. Do not hold on to possessions you no longer need. Do not act following customary beliefs. Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful. Do not fear death. Do not seek to possess either goods or fiefs for your old age Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help. You may abandon your own body but you must preserve your honour. Never stray from the Way. Miyamoto Musashi in his Dokkodo (The Way of Walking Alone) Saturday, December 2, 2006 Act only according to that maxim by which you can, at the same time, will that it would become a universal law. Immanuel Kant's "Categorical Imperative" Monday, November 26, 2006 There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it. Mary Wilson Little Sunday, October 1, 2006 What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do. John Ruskin Wednesday, September 27, 2006 I think my most marked characteristic is to dream more than others think practical and expect more than others think possible. Howard Schultz, Founder of Starbucks Monday, December 5, 2005 We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. Aristotle Tuesday, September 27, 2005 The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process, is its own reward. Amelia Earhart Sunday, July 31, 2005 What I do today is important because I am paying a day of my life for it. What I accomplish must be worthwhile because the price is high. Anonymous Wednesday, July 20, 2005 Art does not reproduce the visible. Paul Klee Tuesday, July 19, 2005 The earth laughs in flowers... Ralph Waldo Emerson Wednesday, April 13, 2005 The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift. Albert Einstein Friday, February 18, 2005 I do not think that there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the human brain unfolding to success... Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything. Nikola Tesla (Father of today's AC electrical system and other key inventions) Sunday, January 30, 2005 What is our deepest fear? "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." Read by Nelson Mandela at his inauguration in 1994. Original writing of Marianne Williamson, in her book, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles." Popularized in the movie "Coach Carter". Wednesday, December 29, 2004 Value judgments are destructive to our proper business, which is curiosity and awareness. John Cage Saturday, October 16, 2004 Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant. Horace (65-8 B.C.) Wednesday, July 28, 2004 Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, screaming "WOO HOO, WHAT A RIDE!" Anonymous Thursday, July 22, 2004 Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves... Rainer Maria Rilke Sunday, July 11, 2004 Learn as if you will live forever, Live as if you will die tomorrow. Gandhi (found on the Monty Roberts website) Thursday, April 2, 2004 What lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies within us. And when we bring what is within out into the world, miracles happen. Henry David Thoreau Thursday, April 2, 2004 Whenever I draw a circle, I immediately want to step out of it. R. Buckminster Fuller Thursday, April 1, 2004 We write to taste life twice. Anais Nin Friday, March 26, 2004 God never occurs to you in person, but always in action. Mohandas K. Gandhi Friday, February 27, 2004 A poem begins with a lump in the throat. Robert Frost Thursday, February 26, 2004 In the presence of eternity, The mountains are as transient as the clouds. Robert Green Ingersoll Wednesday, February 25, 2004 Reality and perfection are synonymous. Spinoza Friday, January 16, 2004 Adversity reveals genius, prosperity conceals it. Horace Monday, January 12, 2004 Example moves the world more than doctrine. Henry Miller Saturday, November 15, 2003 A Toast The soul may be mere pretense, the mind makes very little sense. So let us value the appeal of that which we can taste and feel Piet Hein Tuesday, November 11, 2003 He who works with his hands is a laborer. He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist. St. Francis of Assisi Friday, September 5, 2003 A great man is he who does not lose his child's heart. Mencius Tuesday, August 26, 2003 Think as you work, for in the final analysis, your worth to your company comes not only in solving problems but also in anticipating them. Tom Lehrer (folk musician and practical philosopher in the late '50s and '60s) Wednesday, July 2, 2003 A person is rich in proportion to the number of things they can leave alone. Henry David Thoreau Friday, June 13, 2003 When people come together on ceremonial occasions attired in their dress clothes, they create about themselves as a matter of routine an atmosphere from which the realities of life with their severity are excluded. There is an atmosphere of well-sounding oratory that likes to attach itself to dress clothes. Away with it! Einstein Sunday, June 8, 2003 It is characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things. Henry David Thoreau Friday, May 9, 2003 Be patient toward all that is unresolved in your heart, and try to love the questions themselves... Rilke Tuesday, April 22, 2003 Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom. Victor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning Tuesday, April 22, 2003 Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance. Will Durant Friday, March 14, 2003 My life is my message. Gandhi Wednesday, Febuary 12, 2003 We must become the change we want to see. Gandhi Thursday, Febuary 6, 2003 Peace "Tell me the weight of a snowflake," an eagle asked a wild dove. "Nothing more than nothing," was the answer. "In that case, I must tell you a marvelous story," the eagle said. "I was standing on a branch of a fir tree, close to its trunk, when it began to snow - not heavily, not a raging blizzard - no, just like a dream, without any wind and without any violence. I counted the snowflakes settling on the twigs and needles of my branch. Their number was exactly 3,741,123. When the very next snowflake dropped on the branch - nothing more than nothing, as you say - the branch broke off." Having said that, the eagle flew away. The dove, since Noah's time an authority on the matter, thought about the story for awhile and finally said to himself, "Perhaps there is only one person's voice lacking for peace to come to the world." Unknown Tuesday, January 28, 2003 Patrem familias vendacem, non emacem esse oportet. (The master should have the selling habit, not the buying habit.) Cato, De Agri Cultura Friday, January 17, 2003 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. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or old laws will be expanded and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings. Henry David Thoreau Sunday, January 12, 2003 The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of wonder. Lao Tsu and/or Ralph W. Sockman Tuesday, December 24, 2002 Power corrupts, absolute power is kind of neat. John F. Lehman, Jr Secretary of the Navy, 1981 - 1987 Thursday, November 28, 2002 To me, every hour of the day and night is an unspeakably perfect miracle. Walt Whitman Only a life lived for others is worth living. Albert Einstein A person's true wealth is the good he or she does in the world. Mohammed Sunday, November 24, 2002 Using an idea from an author is plagiarism. Using many ideas from many authors is research. Anon Sunday, November 17, 2002 Why Do You Share? A reporter once asked a farmer to divulge the secret behind his corn, which won the state fair contest year after year. The farmer confessed it was all because he shared his seed with his neighbors. "Why do you share your best seed corn with your neighbors when you're entering the same contest each year as well?" asked the reporter. "Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grew inferior corn, cross-pollination would steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbor do the same." And so it is with other situations in our lives. Those who want to be successful must help their neighbors, friends, relatives be successful. Those who choose to live well must help others live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all. James Bender Tuesday, October 22, 2002 To act is easy, to think is hard. Goethe Friday, October 18, 2002 Space is the breath of art. Frank Lloyd Wright Thursday, August 8, 2002 An Irish Friendship Wish May there always be work for your hands to do; May your purse always hold a coin or two; May the sun always shine on your windowpane; May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain; May the hand of a friend always be near you; May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you. Wednesday, July 24, 2002 When I am working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only of how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong. R. Buckminster Fuller Wednesday, July 17, 2002 When I get a little money, I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food and clothes. Erasmus June 22, 2002 The Legend of an Awakening Buddha Yielding like the earth, Joyous and clear like the lake, Still as the stone at the door, He is free from life and death. His thoughts are still. His words are still. His work is stillness. He sees his freedom and he is freed. The master surrenders his beliefs. He sees beyond the end and the beginning. He cuts all ties. He gives up all his desires. He resists all temptation. And he rises. The Dhammapada, verses 95-99 June 16, 2002 In the long run... we are all dead. John Maynard Keynes June 15, 2002 He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it. Douglas Adams "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" May 15, 2002 Femme du jour... Now is the time. If not now, when? Here is the place. If not here, where? What else is there to know? Only details. Love is the answer. M May 10, 2002 I'll tell you the real secret of life. You never ever ever ever lose your sense of humor. John Belushi February 13, 2002 The first thing is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second thing is to look things in the face, and know them for what they are. Marcus Aurelius January 7, 2002 We must resolve to work with greatness and never forget to do so again. Every workday is a concert, a Nobel-prize ceremony, or an Olympic victory. Peter Koestenbaum philosopher and business consultant December 1, 2001 The most pale ink is stronger than the greatest memory of a man. Confucius November 24, 2001 I have often regretted my speech, never my silence. Xenocrates (396-314 B.C.) Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2001 We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal, and then leap in the dark to our success. Henry David Thoreau Friday, November 2, 2001 I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright. Henry David Thoreau Wednesday, October 10, 2001 What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. Ralph Waldo Emerson Wednesday, October 22, 2001 Sure I am that this day we are masters of our fate, that the task which has been set before us is not above our strength; that its pangs and toils are not beyond our endurance. As long as we have faith in our own cause and an unconquerable will to win victory will not be denied us. Winston Churchill Sunday, October 7, 2001 I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things... Antoine de Saint-Exupery When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return. Leonardo da Vinci Birds do not conquer the air; they romance it. Peter Garrison Whether outwardly or inwardly, whether in space or time, the farther we penetrate the unknown, the vaster and more marvelous it becomes. Charles A. Lindbergh Flying alone! Nothing gives such a sense of mastery over time, over mechanism, master indeed over space, time and life itself, as this. Cecil Day Lewis Sunday, September 16, 2001 The greatest danger in communication is the illusion it has been achieved. George Bernard Shaw Thursday, September 13, 2001 I am neither ego nor reason, I am neither mind nor thought, I cannot be heard nor cast into words, nor by smell nor sight ever caught: In light and wind I am not found, nor yet in earth and sky - Consciousness and joy incarnate, Bliss of the Blissful am I. I have no name, I have no life, I breathe no vital air, No elements have moulded me, no bodily sheath is my lair: I have no speech, no hands and feet, nor means of evolution - Consciousness and joy am I, and Bliss in dissolution. I cast aside hatred and passion, I conquered delusion and greed; No touch of pride caressed me, so envy never did breed: Beyond all faiths, past reach of wealth, past freedom, past desire, Consciousness and joy am I, and Bliss is my attire. Virtue and vice, or pleasure and pain are not my heritage, Nor sacred texts, nor offerings, nor prayer, nor pilgrimage: I am neither food, nor eating, nor yet the eater am I - Consciousness and joy incarnate, Bliss of the Blissful am I. I have no misgiving of death, no chasms of race divide me, No parent ever called me child, no bond of birth ever tied me: I am neither disciple nor master, I have no kin, no friend - Consciousness and joy am I, and merging in Bliss is my end. Neither knowable, knowledge, nor knower am I, formless is my form, I dwell within the senses but they are not my home: Ever serenely balanced, I am neither free nor bound - Consciousness and joy am I, and Bliss is where I am found. Song of the Soul sung by Sankaracharya in his Atma Satkam Thursday, July 25, 2001 The way to freedom is through service to others. The way to happiness is through meditation and being in tune with God. Let your heart beat with love for others, let your mind feel the needs of others and let your intuition feel the thoughts of others... Forget yourself... melt your heart in all be one with all creation. Paramahansa Yogananda Thursday, June 28, 2001 Within you right now is the power to do things you never dreamed possible. This power becomes available to you just as soon as you can change your beliefs. Maxwell Maltz Sunday, June 24, 2001 Our chief want in life is somebody who shall make us do what we can. Ralph Waldo Emerson Tuesday, June 19, 2001 A rich person is not one who has the most, but is one who needs the least. Interview with God Monday, June 18, 2001 The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time. James Taylor (songwriter) You are what your deep driving desire is; As your deep driving desire is, so is your will; As your will is so is your deed; As your deed is so is your destiny. The Upanishads As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler. Henry David Thoreau Saturday, June 16, 2001 First comes thought, then organization of that thought into ideas and plans, then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination. Napoleon Hill Wednesday, June 13, 2001 I want to know God's thoughts... the rest are details. The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed. A. Einstein Work is love made visible. ------- ...the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. ------- ...the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow. ------- A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind, and another woman will bear me. The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran Thursday, June 07, 2001 The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated... I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man. Mahatma Gandhi Saturday, May 26, 2001 It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint - Exupery Thursday, May 24, 2001 The recent marriage of a good friend gets me to thinking of my life of solitude and the words of San Juan de la Cruz: The conditions of a solitary bird are five: The first, that it flies to the highest point; The second, that it does not suffer for company, not even of its own kind; The third, that it aims its beak to the skies; The fourth, that it does not have a definite color; The fifth, that it sings very softly. Monday, May 21, 2001 Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays. In all history, there is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare. Only one who knows the disastrous effects of a long war can realize the supreme importance of rapidity in bringing it to a close. The Art of War Sun Tzu Sunday, May 13, 2001 It doesn't matter if you can't fit inside or if they do four miles to the gallon or if the boot looks like a hamster cage only smaller, they're dream cars. All they need to do is burn rubber and have good enough looks to snap knicker elastic at 50 paces. BBC website Friday, May 04, 2001 Everything you do affects everything that is. Earthlink advertisement Thursday, May 03, 2001 Be Like Water When your path encounters a block, be like water and simply flow around it, or with patience rise up over it. Water is persistent, and shapes the hardest rock. But the immediate reaction of water is to go around. To treat the block as nonexistent. And to continue to seek the endless sea. This is the genius of water. MM Friday, April 27, 2001 Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting. The Art of War Sun Tzu You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you. Dale Carnegie Sunday, April 22, 2001 A warrior doesn't need personal history. One day, he finds it is no longer necessary for him, and he drops it. Journey to Ixtlan by Carlos Castaneda Thursday, April 19, 2001 Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. Ralph Waldo Emerson Tuesday, April 17, 2001 In the eternal war between rabbits and foxes, why does the rabbit always win? Because the fox is running for his meal, while the rabbit is running for his life! Run scared like the rabbit, and you'll always survive. Harry B. Combs Monday, April 16, 2001 In fighting and in everyday life you should be determined though calm. Meet the situation without tenseness yet not recklessly, your spirit settled yet unbiased. An elevated spirit is weak and a low spirit is weak. Do not let the enemy see your spirit. Miyamoto Musashi When you are inspired by some grand purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bounds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be. Patanjali Sunday, April 15, 2001 If you want to hear sweet music, then attend a concert or purchase a Jaguar. If you want to sit out in the heat in comfort, then find a restaurant or purchase a Mercedes. If you have fear of locking your brakes, then you shouldn’t be driving a stallion – buy a Porsche. But… If you want to stop breathing in 3.8 seconds, If you want your stomach to drop to your seat and your heart to leap into your throat, If you want a machine to give back to you everything you gave to it and then ask for more, If you want to feel the passion of a single man’s heart, Then, my good man, You purchase a Ferrari. Anonymous The Law of Entropy ...is just as definite a law as the law of relativity or gravity or inertia or any other orderly law. But it is the law of disorder and it says in effect that any spontaneous changes in air, water, gravy, gravel, or any other physical medium must naturally be in the direction of disorder or mixture, final equilibrium being reached when the disorder is complete, so complete in disorderliness that it is statistically perfect, a grand impeccable homogeneous hash spread out everywhere possible with not a trace of orderliness to be found anywhere in it. from Song of the Sky Guy Murchie Transport of the mails, transport of the human voice, transport of flickering pictures - in this century, as in others, our highest accomplishments still have the single aim of bringing men together. from Wind, Sand, and Stars Antoine de Saint - Exupery A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral. from Flight to Arras Antoine de Saint - Exupery If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea. As for the future, your task is not to forsee it, but to enable it. from The Wisdom of the Sands Antoine de Saint - Exupery IF If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting; Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or, being hated, don't give way to hating; And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise; If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with triumph and disaster And treat those two imposters just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to broken, And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools; If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on"; If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with kings- nor lose the common touch; If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you; If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run - Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son! Rudyard Kipling Wednesday, April 11, 2001 The flowers of all tomorrows are planted in the seeds of today. Ancient Chinese Proverb Tuesday, April 10, 2001 The top 3 richest people in the world (and their families) have more assets than the 48 poorest countries in the world. FHM Magazine Success: To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; 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 has breathed easier because you have lived. That is to have succeeded. Ralph Waldo Emerson Monday, April 09, 2001 Pain is weakness leaving the body. Marines Keep a green bough in your heart and the bird will land. Confucius We can not feel bad when we are helping others. MM Sunday, April 08, 2001 We have come to view feelings as unnecessary appendages, like tonsils -- useless, but capable of creating pain and dysfunction; but when we close the door to our feelings, we close the door to the vital currents that energize and activate our thoughts and actions. From The Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukov Saturday, April 07, 2001 BrainWaves goes online on the night of the Full Moon. Coincidence? I think not. For some unknown reason I am moved to write when the moon is full or new.