"People are like religions...there is good in all, but none are perfect"
"We are but the product of our thoughts; what we think, we become"
(corollary #1: we become what we consume)
(corollary #2: we become what we read)
(corollary #3: we become what we worship)
"The positive change we desire in others will happen in proportion to the positive change we affect within ourselves"
From The Imitation of Christ:
"Grace walks in simplicity"
"Giving up exterior things brings interior peace"
Paraphrasing Buddha:
"All people should strive to cultivate roots of virtue according to their natures, their beliefs, their deeds, their words and their means"
From The Rule of St. Benedict:
"Ora et labora" -- ["Pray and work"]
From Henri Amiel:
"Life is short, and we do not have much time to gladden the hearts of those who walk with us. So let us be swift to love and make haste to be kind."
"Our duty is to be useful, not according to our desires, but according to our powers"
"The man who insists on seeing with perfect clearness before he decides, never decides." [aka The enemy of 'good' is 'better']
From Bhagavad Gita:
"Let the wise man work unselfishly for the good of all the world" [BG 3:25]
"The victory won by the man of wisdom is also won by the man of good work" [BG 5:5]
"They all attain perfection when they find joy in their work. A man attains perfection when his work is a worship of God" [BG 18:45-46]
From The Quotable Thoreau:
"My greatest skill has been to want but little"
(corollary: My greatest gift has been to need but little)
"Cultivate the tree which you have found to bear fruit in your soil"
"It is by obeying the suggestions of a higher light within you that you escape from yourself"
"Greatness is in the ascent"
"Men will lie on their backs and talk about the fall of man and never make an effort to get up"
"The highest that we can attain is not Knowledge, but Sympathy with Intelligence"
From Robinson Crusoe:
“Discontent about what we want springs from the want of thankfulness of what we have”
From St. Francis of Assisi:
"Lord, make us an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy."
"Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love."
"What is it that stands higher than words? Action."
Paraphrasing Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr:
"Grant us the strength and the courage to change the things which can be changed, the patience and serenity to accept the things which cannot, and the wisdom to distinguish between the two."
From the AA Handbook:
"We do not seek perfection...we seek progress."
"True ambition is the deep desire to live usefully and walk humbly under the Grace of God."
From Julian of Norwich:
"The constant seeking of the soul pleases God very much."
"Our Lord has one us together in love." [a beautifully elegant way to use 'one' as a verb]
"All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well."
From Rumi:
"Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself."
From Thomas Merton's The Seven Storey Mountain:
"The logic of worldly success rests on a fallacy: the strange error that our perfection depends on the thoughts and opinions and applause of other men!"
"Indeed, the truth that many people never understand, until it is too late, is that the more you try to avoid suffering, the more you suffer, because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you, in proportion to your fear of being hurt."
"...people who value material security unconsciously venerate people who do not fear insecurity."
Also from Thomas Merton:
"To live a spiritual life we must find the courage to enter the desert of our loneliness and to change it by gentle and persistent efforts into a garden of solitude."
From Eric Greitens' Resilience:
"When real transformation does occur in someone's life, it usually happens through evolution, not revolution"
"Lord, make us an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy."
"Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love."
"What is it that stands higher than words? Action."
Paraphrasing Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr:
"Grant us the strength and the courage to change the things which can be changed, the patience and serenity to accept the things which cannot, and the wisdom to distinguish between the two."
From the AA Handbook:
"We do not seek perfection...we seek progress."
"True ambition is the deep desire to live usefully and walk humbly under the Grace of God."
From Julian of Norwich:
"The constant seeking of the soul pleases God very much."
"Our Lord has one us together in love." [a beautifully elegant way to use 'one' as a verb]
"All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well."
From Rumi:
"Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself."
From Thomas Merton's The Seven Storey Mountain:
"The logic of worldly success rests on a fallacy: the strange error that our perfection depends on the thoughts and opinions and applause of other men!"
"Indeed, the truth that many people never understand, until it is too late, is that the more you try to avoid suffering, the more you suffer, because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you, in proportion to your fear of being hurt."
"...people who value material security unconsciously venerate people who do not fear insecurity."
Also from Thomas Merton:
"To live a spiritual life we must find the courage to enter the desert of our loneliness and to change it by gentle and persistent efforts into a garden of solitude."
From Eric Greitens' Resilience:
"When real transformation does occur in someone's life, it usually happens through evolution, not revolution"
"Not knowing everything cannot be an excuse for not doing anything"
"Not what we have, but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance"
"How
many people have put off the necessary, unglamarous work of building
habits because they spend their lives waiting for an epiphany that never
comes?"
From St. Mother Teresa:
"Even if you help only one person, that is enough. You can do what I cannot. I can do what you cannot. Together we can do something beautiful for God."
"God has created us so we do small things with great love."
From Henri J. M. Nouwen:
"When we look at a pruned vineyard, we can hardly believe it will bear fruit. But when harvest comes, we realize that the pruning allows the vines to concentrate their energy and produce more grapes. Grateful people learn to celebrate even amid life's hard and harrowing memories because they know that pruning is no mere punishment, but preparation."
From St. Mother Teresa:
"Even if you help only one person, that is enough. You can do what I cannot. I can do what you cannot. Together we can do something beautiful for God."
"God has created us so we do small things with great love."
From Henri J. M. Nouwen:
"When we look at a pruned vineyard, we can hardly believe it will bear fruit. But when harvest comes, we realize that the pruning allows the vines to concentrate their energy and produce more grapes. Grateful people learn to celebrate even amid life's hard and harrowing memories because they know that pruning is no mere punishment, but preparation."
