Daily Inspiration - Daily Quotes

Healthy Relationships are Based on Mutual Respect

2026-10-19T00:30:00.000-04:00

Love is granting another the space
to be the way they are
and the way they are not.

- Werner Erhard

Every good relationship, especially marriage, is based on respect.
If it's not based on respect,
nothing that appears to be good will last very long.
- Amy Grant

I love you not only for what you are,
but for what I am when I am with you.
I love you not only for what you have made of yourself,
but for what you are making of me.
I love you for that part of me you bring out.
- Roy Croft

Love that does not renew itself every day
becomes a habit and in turn a slavery.
- Khalil Gibran

Further reading: A Loving Relationship

Celebrate Your Differences

7 Secrets of Happy Couples

Say It Out Loud

The First Step is the Dream

2026-10-18T00:30:00.000-04:00

Do not lose hold of your dreams or aspirations.
For if you do, you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
- Henry David Thoreau

So many of our dreams at first seem impossible,
then they seem improbable, and then,
when we summon the will,
they soon become inevitable.
- Christopher Reeve

Winners Dream Big Dreams.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

We come this way but once.
We can either tiptoe through life
and hope we get to death without being badly bruised
or we can live a full, complete life achieving
our goals and realizing our wildest dreams.
- Bob Proctor

Further reading: Don’t Quit

Hold Fast to Your Dreams

What You Become

Boldly Sail the Storms of Life

Appreciate Your Life

2026-10-17T00:30:00.000-04:00

I will greet this day with love in my heart.
And how will I do this?
Henceforth will I look on all things with love and be born again.
I will love the sun for it warms my bones;
yet I will love the rain for it cleanses my spirit.
I will love the light for it shows me the way;
yet I will love the darkness for it shows me the stars.
I will welcome happiness as it enlarges my heart;
yet I will endure sadness for it opens my soul.
I will acknowledge rewards for they are my due;
yet I will welcome obstacles for they are my challenge.
- Og Mandino

The key to forgiveness is to forgive from the heart -
not from the mind.
- Sheri Rosenthal

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly;
what is essential is invisible to the eye.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The heart is always right -
if there's a question of choosing between the mind and the heart -
because mind is a creation of the society.
It has been educated.
You have been given it by the society, not by existence.
The heart is unpolluted.

- Osho

Further reading: Your Heart's Longing

Honor Your Heart

Listen To Your Heart

Follow Your Heart

Changing Your Heart

Seek Action or Acceptance Rather than Fear

2026-10-16T00:30:00.000-04:00

It is not death or pain that is to be dreaded,
but the fear of pain or death.
- Epictetus

It is idle to dread what you cannot avoid.

- Publilius Syrus

We are not victims of aging, sickness and death.
These are part of scenery, not the seer,
who is immune to any form of change.
This seer is the spirit, the expression of eternal being.
- Deepak Chopra

Some people are so afraid to die that they never begin to live.
- Henry Van Dyke

Old age and sickness bring out the essential characteristics of a man.

- Felix Frankfurter

Tell your heart that the fear of suffering
is worse than the suffering itself.
- Paulo Coelho

There can be no happiness when one lives in fear.
Whatever the future holds, fear will not improve tomorrow,
and it will destroy your happiness today.
Action is empowering, fear is disempowering.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: My Thoughts about Fear (particularly recommended)

A Life Without Fear

Choose to be Courageous

Beyond Fear

Honesty and Integrity in Action and Thought

2026-10-15T00:30:00.000-04:00

To be a person of honor is to live with honesty and integrity in action and thought.

This is my simple religion.
There is no need for temples;
no need for complicated philosophy.
Our own brain, our own heart is our temple;
the philosophy is kindness.
- Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

Honor, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Choice,
Vision, Action, Celebration, Unity -
The Values of an Inspired Life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Today's project:
Meaningful and joyful lives are lived by adhering to one's personal value system - one's principles. Today, write your six to eight most important values on an index card, and refer to that card as you go about your life today.

Further reading: What We Are Made Of

Do What You Know Is Right

Secret of Happiness

Things Divine

Build Your Inspired Future

2026-10-14T00:30:00.000-04:00

Create your future from your future not your past.
Begin building the future through
"conversation for possibility."
- Werner Erhard

Imagine the future you want.
Then design that future.
Then implement that future.
Choose.
Choose to soar.
Choose to be of service.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie FYI:

The golden age is before us, not behind us.
- William Shakespeare

Life is the future, not the past.
- Terry Goodkind

Fill your heart with the creative power
to accept the past,
decorate the present
and transform the future.
- Osho

Today's affirmation:
I trust my intuition to deliver
powerful visions of my inspired future,
and I empower my intent to
transform those visions into reality.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: What Are You Going To Do About It?

Create Your Own Future

Embrace Change

Consider Doing Something New

2026-10-13T00:30:00.000-04:00

Habit and routine have an unbelievable power to waste and destroy.
- Henri de Lubac

Life is defined more by its risks than by its samenesses.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history
to wait for the train of the future to run over him.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Beware of monotony; it's the mother of all the deadly sins.
- Edith Wharton

Repetition can be a choice, but often it isn't.
The athlete or pianist who practices the same routine
day after day, year after year, has their eye on a goal.
The unending repetition is a conscious choice
in the pursuit of a life dream.
But what about the sameness of most lives?
Observe the morning commute, the after-work drink,
the Sunday football game or religious service -
how many of those people are consciously following their dream,
training their mind, body, and spirit through that daily repetition?
And how many are mindlessly slogging through each day
out of habit and boredom?
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Curious - Adventurous

The Myth of Security

The Power of Courage

Cultivate Empathy for All Others

2026-10-12T00:30:00.000-04:00

If everyone howled at every injustice,
every act of barbarism, every act of unkindness,
then we would be taking the first step towards a real humanity.
- Nelson DeMille

There is no neutrality.
There is only greater or lesser
awareness of one's bias.
- Phyllis Rose

Do not judge another person
until you have walked a mile
in their moccasins.
- Native American (various wordings)

It is not our differences that divide us.
It is our inability to recognize, accept,
and celebrate those differences.
- Audre Lorde

In the century following Columbus' arrival in the Americas, 95% of the 70 million Native Americans were either killed by Europeans, or died from diseases brought by the Europeans.

Further reading: Your Point of View

Through the Eyes of Another

Why I Choose to Believe that Others are Never the Cause of My Unhappiness

Byron Katie - The Work - No one can give you freedom but you

Be Happy When Others Succeed

2026-10-11T00:30:00.000-04:00

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

The more we care for the happiness of others,
the greater is our own sense of well-being.
- Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

One of the sanest, surest, and most generous joys of life
comes from being happy over the good fortune of others.
- Robert A. Heinlein

Sadly, it is human nature to measure success by comparison with our neighbors.
A consequence of this tendency is the instinct to wish for others to fail
and our own status to therefore appear higher by comparison.

Strive to cheer whenever others succeed
and to avoid viewing your own achievements in comparison to others.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Eight Rules for Living Your Greatest Life

Empathy

Light for Others

Disappointment

The Art of Listening

Offer Comfort

Life is More Joyful When You are Thankful

2026-10-10T00:30:00.000-04:00

The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies;
but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and,
as the magnet finds the iron,
so it will find, in every hour,
some heavenly blessings!
- Henry Ward Beecher

When we trust in the natural goodness around us,
we open ourselves for the blessings of life to flow toward us.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

We return thanks to the Great Spirit,
in whom is embodied all goodness,
and who directs all things for the good of his children.
- Iroquois traditional

The roots of all goodness lie
in the soil of appreciation for goodness.
- Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

Blessings flow toward gratitude.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Create the world that could be

Know that You have been Blessed

Believe in People; Believe in Yourself

The Power of Your Intention

Understand How Others View Our World

2026-10-09T00:30:00.000-04:00

Unhappiness is generally a result of spending too much time
regretting and resenting the past or worrying about the future.
The key to happiness and success is focusing,
with awareness, on the present moment.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
- Aldous Huxley

The ability to be in the present moment
is a major component of mental wellness.
- Abraham Maslow

Dwell in stillness.
Observe without reacting and without judging.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn

Life is simple.
Everything happens for you, not to you.
Everything happens at exactly the right moment, neither too soon nor too late.
You don't have to like it... it's just easier if you do.
- Byron Katie

Be still and know who you are.
- Kirtana

Give yourself permission to allow this moment to be exactly as it is,
and allow yourself to be exactly as you are.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn

You're either attaching to your thoughts or you're inquiring. There is no other choice.
- Byron Katie

What is necessary to change a person is
to change his awareness of himself.
- Abraham Maslow

When we stop opposing reality, action becomes simple, fluid, kind, and fearless.
- Byron Katie

Have you ever arrived at work after your morning commute, and noticed that you didn't remember a single thing you saw during your drive? Let today be a day of awareness. Consciously pay attention to what is going on around you as drive, walk, do your business, or relax. Consider the world from the perspective of those you pass - the small child, the elderly lady trying to cross the street, the homeless person, the truck driver, the policeman, the executive in the big limo.

First accept reality, only then choose how to react to it.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Cherish This Moment Question Your Questions

Byron Katie - No one can give you freedom but you

Truth isn't True. Reality isn't Real.

Cultivate Awareness Consciousness

Live in the Present

Cease Striving

VISION - the fifth Point of Simply An Inspired Life

Breath by Breath

Always Seek Peace

2026-10-08T00:30:00.000-04:00

Never succumb to the notion that others are less important
based on their place of birth.
All of humanity are our brothers and sisters.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind,
because oneness is the secret of everything.
- Swami Vivekananda

The reason why the world lacks unity,
and lies broken and in heaps,
is because man is disunited with himself.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is the way of peace: Overcome evil with good,
falsehood with truth, and hatred with love.
- Peace Pilgrim

All wars are civil wars, because all men are brothers.
- Francois Fenelon

Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.
- Pema Chodron

Few are the giants of the soul that actually feel
that the human race is their family circle.
- Freya Stark

Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
- Winston Churchill

Drop the sword - for there is but one flesh to wound,
and it is the one flesh of all humankind.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: One Great Dewdrop

The Beat of the Universe

Unity with Spirit and All Creation

Feel Your Connection With the Infinite - a Meditation

Honor Everyone's Personal Choices

2026-10-07T00:30:00.000-04:00

Why should it impede your happiness for others to have differing views on politics or religion?
for others to paint their houses purple or grow asparagus in place of a grassy lawn?
for others to dress, mingle, celebrate, or dine in their own manner?

The path to happiness is to live your life joyfully in your own way
and to support and encourage others to do likewise.

One of the surest ways to cause
yourself great suffering
is to insist upon being right -
to demand that all others view life
exactly as you view it.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Do you prefer that you be right or happy?
- A Course In Miracles

Love is stronger than justice.
- Sting

We cling to our own point of view,
as though everything depended on it.
Yet our opinions have no permanence;
like autumn and winter, they gradually pass away.
- Zhuangzi

You never really learn much from hearing yourself speak.
- George Clooney

The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
- Dale Carnegie

You prove your worth with your actions,
not with your mouth.
- Jean Paul

The greatest of these is love.
- 1 Corinthians 13:13

What we have to do...
is to find a way to celebrate our diversity
and debate our differences
without fracturing our communities.
- Hillary Clinton

Arguments only confirm people in their own opinions.
- Booth Tarkington

Further reading: Arguing

Listen, Really Listen

Opinions

Disagreement

Beauty Occurs Where You Least Expect It

2026-10-06T00:30:00.000-04:00

It is always the simple that produces the marvelous.
- Amelia Barr

The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

See beauty in unexpected places.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.
- Aristotle

Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous.
- Bill Moyers

There is beauty and adventure in the commonplace
for those with eyes to see beyond.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Prepare to See Unexpected Beauty

Things Divine

Simple Joys

Ten Little Tips to Feel Happier Right Now

We humans are but one thread within the web of life

2026-10-05T00:30:00.000-04:00

When you experience the unity of life,
you see your own Self in all beings,
and all beings in your own Self.
- The Buddha (paraphrase)

Simply see that you are at the center of the universe,
and accept all things and beings
as parts of your infinite body.
When you perceive that an act done to another
is done to yourself,
you have understood the great truth.
- Lao Tzu

Humankind has not woven the web of life.
We are but one thread within it.
Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.
All things are bound together.
All things connect.
- generally attributed to Chief Seattle
but actually written by Ted Perry in 1972

We are all connected to everyone and everything in the universe.
Therefore, everything one does as an individual affects the whole.
All thoughts, words, images, prayers, blessings, and deeds
are listened to by all that is.
- Serge Kahili King

Further reading: Everything is God

Sharing the Same Breath

One With Spirit and All Creation

All Brothers and Sisters

Look Deeply Into Nature

2026-10-04T00:30:00.000-04:00

Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head,
and knows not that it brings abundance
to drive away the hunger.
- Saint Basil

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
- Albert Einstein

Water is the driving force of all nature.
- Leonardo da Vinci

When the well's dry, we know the worth of water.
- Benjamin Franklin

Give thanks for the rain in your life
which waters the flowers of your soul.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

In one drop of water are found all the secrets of all the oceans.
- Khalil Gibran

Further reading: Gratitude for Our Blessings

The true meaning of life

Natural World

The World We Leave Our Children

Watering

PLEASE: Register to Vote - and Vote! Help Your Family and Friends to Register

2026-10-03T00:30:00.000-04:00

PLEASE: Register to Vote - and Vote! EVERY Year! In EVERY Election!
In many ways, our future is determined as much by local school boards and city councils as by federal officials.

And make sure all your family and friends are registered also!
[ONE in FOUR adult American citizens are not yet Registered to VOTE!
College students and other younger adults are the most likely not to be Registered.]

Voting for the kind of America you believe in
is one of the greatest gifts you can give your grandchildren.
Make a difference.
All tyranny needs to gain a foothold
is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
- Thomas Jefferson

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

We are called to be architects of the future, not its victims.
- R. Buckminster Fuller

Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act!
Action will delineate and define you.
- Thomas Jefferson

Bad politicians are sent to Washington [and state and local government] by good people who don't vote.
- William E. Simon

Voting is an expression of three key life principles -
CHOICE, INTENT, and ACTION.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: You Are What You Do

Either Accept It, or Change It

Walk Your Path

True Measure of a Successful Life

It takes no courage to defend popular speech

2026-10-02T00:30:00.000-04:00

I disapprove of what you say,
but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
- Unknown, but commonly attributed to Voltaire

To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains,
but to live in a way that respects
and enhances the freedom of others.
- Nelson Mandela

Free speech is meant to protect unpopular speech.
Popular speech, by definition, needs no protection.
- Neal Boortz

Without free speech, no search for truth is possible.
- Charles Bradlaugh

Support Freedom of Speech, Especially for Those You Dislike.
...
The whole point of Freedom-of-Speech
is supporting the right of others
to say things you find personally offensive.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.
- Abraham Lincoln

Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game.
Free speech is life itself.
- Salman Rushdie

It is easy to believe in freedom of speech for those with whom we agree.
- Leo McKern

We should silence anyone who opposes the right to freedom of speech.
- Boyle Roche (hopefully said satirically)

One of the surest ways to cause
yourself great suffering
is to insist upon being right -
to demand that all others view life
exactly as you view it.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Independence - Liberty - Freedom

Point of View

Our Bond of Humanity

Soar Above the Madness of the World

2026-10-01T00:30:00.000-04:00

Let today be a day to soar -
soar your spirits, soar your joy,
soar your belief in yourself.
Let all aspects of your life soar.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Protect your vision.
Prevail over adversity.
Persevere in the midst of turmoil.
Passionately act upon your convictions.
Purposely walk into the day.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

We are strange beings, we seem
to go free, but we go in chains -
chains of training, custom, convention,
association, environment -
in a word, Circumstance -
and against these bonds
the strongest of us struggle in vain.
- Mark Twain

Today's affirmation:
I soar on eagle wings,
high above the madness of the world.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Soar, It's Your Natural State

Fly Life on Free Wings

No Limits on Your Life

Free Yourself from the Expectations of Others

2026-09-30T00:30:00.000-04:00

Value your own opinion more, and others' opinions less.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

To free us from the expectations of others,
to give us back to ourselves -
there lies the great singular power of self-respect.
- Joan Didion

That you may retain your self-respect, it is better
to displease the people by doing what you know is right,
than to temporarily please them by doing what you know is wrong.
- William J. H. Boetcker

Celebration wears a lot of different outfits
but always wears the same old, beautiful dancing shoes.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Everyone should carefully observe
which way his heart draws him,
and then choose that way with all his strength.
- Hasidic Proverb

To know what you prefer
instead of humbly saying Amen
to what the world tells you you ought to prefer,
is to have kept your soul alive.
- Robert Louis Stevenson

Resilience is about believing in yourself,
and trusting your own wisdom
rather than being swayed by the opinions of others.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Whatever anyone else says or does, their words and their actions are truly about themselves. Don't take it personally when they rant, even if they direct their unhappiness in your direction.

While I appreciate how unpleasant it is to have others making unreasonable demands of you, it may help to remind yourself that it's not personal. Others are often 100% focused on their own issues and their own perceived needs. They project their frustration out into the mirror of life. When they look into that mirror, they think they are seeing your face, but in reality, they are seeing their own emotions.

Each of us is responsible for the consequences of our choices. When we choose for others rather than for ourselves, we suffer. Make all your choices from the longing of your own heart.

Gather all the facts.
Listen respectfully to others.
Be charitable to all.
And then make your own decisions.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Remember to love yourself and to take time for yourself.

Say NO to the demands of the world.
Say YES to the longings of your own heart.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Make Your Own Choices

Your Intuition is Your Guide

At the Center of Your Being

Experts and Authorities

How to Be Yourself

Personal Boundaries

Generate Your Own Inner Peace

2026-09-29T00:30:00.000-04:00

What is real is beyond all reach.
- Julian Green

We know nothing at all.
All our knowledge is but the knowledge of schoolchildren.
The real nature of things we shall never know.
- Albert Einstein

Each one has to find his peace from within.
And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

Dispassionate objectivity is itself a passion,
for the real and for the truth.
- Abraham Maslow

The wise man looks into space,
and does not regard the small as too little,
nor the great as too much;
for he knows that there is no limit to dimensions.
- Lao Tzu

True religion is real living;
living with all one's soul,
with all one's goodness and righteousness.
- Albert Einstein

Know that you are unlimited.

Today's affirmation: I have ready access to a power beyond my wildest imagination.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Go Beyond

Abundance

Beauty and Adventure

The time has come

FEAR

Nothing is beautiful until it is looked at

2026-09-28T00:30:00.000-04:00

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful,
we must carry it with us or we find it not.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

In these times of health, political, social, and economic challenge,
it is our task to generate beauty and happiness for ourselves
rather than hoping to "find" them.
...
The beauty does not live out there; the beauty's in my eyes.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The sculptor produces the beautiful statue
by chipping away such parts of the marble block as are not needed -
it is a process of elimination.
- Elbert Hubbard

Perspective. Point-of-view. Is something ugly, or beautiful?
Noble or insensitive? There are six billion ways of seeing life.
Trust your own inner eye for beauty.

Outer show is a poor substitute for inner worth.
- Aesop

Further reading: How to Build Self Esteem

How to Love Yourself

How to Feel Good About Yourself

If you can't crash through an obstacle or leap over it, walk around it

2026-09-27T00:30:00.000-04:00

One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles
possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity.
- Albert Schweitzer

Real obstacles don't take you in circles. They can be overcome.
Invented ones are like a maze.
- Barbara Sher

Obstacles are like wild animals.
They are cowards but they will bluff you if they can.
If they see you are afraid of them...
they are liable to spring upon you;
but if you look them squarely in the eye,
they will slink out of sight.
- Orison Swett Marden

Press on.
Obstacles are seldom the same size tomorrow as they are today.
- Robert H. Schuller

Further reading: Choose Your Habits, Choose Your Life

Later is Never

Learn to Motivate Yourself

Focus on Solutions Rather Than Blame

2026-09-26T00:30:00.000-04:00

All the world is full of suffering.
It is also full of overcoming.
- Helen Keller

When you are offended at any man's fault,
turn to yourself and study your own failings.
Then you will forget your anger.
- Epictetus

It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out;
it's the grain of sand in your shoe.
- Robert W. Service

Ninety-nine percent of the failures
come from people who have the habit of making excuses.
- George Washington Carver

Where there is no accusation of "fault,"
there can be no anger.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Fall seven times, stand up eight.
- Japanese Proverb

Sometimes "bad" things just happen. Try to avoid lashing out at whoever is handiest - your spouse, your family, your friend, the government, God.

Direct your attention to finding a way forward,
rather than on assigning blame.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: How to Deal with Anger

Revenge is Never the Answer

When You Have Been Wronged

Don't Limit Your Own Growth

2026-09-25T00:30:00.000-04:00

The only limits in our life are those we impose on ourselves.
- Bob Proctor

May your mind whirl joyful cartwheels of creativity.
May your heart sing sweet lullabies of timelessness.
May your spirit soar throughout the vast cathedral of your being.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

There are no great limits to growth because there are
no limits of human intelligence,
imagination, and wonder.
- Ronald Reagan

Further reading: Soar Your Spirit

How to Regain Your Dreams

Choose Your Life Purpose

The Edge