Daily Inspiration - Daily Quotes

Forgive - Again and Again

2026-11-12T00:30:00.000-05:00

Forgiveness is unlocking the door
to set someone free
and realizing you were the prisoner!
- Max Lucado

To err is human, to forgive divine.
- Alexander Pope

Forgiveness is an act of self-love.
- don Miguel Ruiz

Resentment is a Prison.
It is not easy to forgive,
but make the effort again and again.
Nothing else you can ever do in life
will repay you as richly as forgiving
and loving those you have called enemy.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

I can only have peace of mind
when I forgive rather than judge.
- Gerald Jampolsky

Further reading: Forgiveness Releases the Past Are You The Prisoner?

Treat ALL with Goodness

The Futility of Regret

Choose Where You Focus Your Attention

2026-11-11T00:30:00.000-05:00

Within you, there is a stillness and a sanctuary
to which you can retreat at anytime and be yourself.
- Hermann Hesse

Breathe; let go; relax; forgive.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Learn to become still.
And to take your attention away from what you don't want,
and all the emotional charge around it,
and place your attention on what you wish to experience.
- Michael Beckwith

In the midst of movement and chaos,
keep stillness inside of you.
- Deepak Chopra

Never let frustration or disappointment tarnish your appreciation for
all that is good in life.
Every day say Thank You to the source of all
that is good.
The essence of your true being dwells in stillness; meet yourself there.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Solitude vs. Feeling Lonely

A Mind that is Still

Keep Stillness

Breath by Breath

Know the Difference

Let Go and Accept This Moment

Fully Engage with Life

2026-11-10T00:30:00.000-05:00

The key to success, and to happiness,
is being fully engaged in life -
leading yourself with inspiration and committed action -
setting your own fine and honorable example.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Alas for those that never sing,
But die with all their music in them!
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Wherever you go, go with all your heart.
- Confucius

You can choose to follow your heart always.
- don Miguel Ruiz

Further reading: I Dreamed a Dream

Live With Enthusiasm

Think Big, Act Big

Choose to Follow Your Heart

Have Gratitude, and Pay It Forward

2026-11-09T00:30:00.000-05:00

TODAY, consider performing an act-of-kindness for someone who can never repay you.

Sometimes our light goes out but
is blown into flame by another human being.
Each of us owes deepest thanks
to those who have rekindled this light.
- Albert Schweitzer

Each of us has been generously gifted by parents, teachers, mentors, and others we can never repay. So, in gratitude for what we have received, it is now our turn to generously gift the children, the up-and-coming, and the down-and-out -- with no expectation that they can ever repay us - and with the hope that they will, in turn, pay-forward to another generation.

Pay It Forward.
Gift future generations in proportion to your gratitude.
The nature of life is that we pay forward
our biological creation and nurture.
Our parents gift us with life and nurture,
and we gift our children with life and nurture.
While this much is essential to continued human existence,
choose to take "pay it forward" farther - much farther.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The debt of gratitude we owe our mother and father
goes forward, not backward.
What we owe our parents is the bill presented to us by our children.
- Nancy Friday

The moment you become miserly you are closed
to the basic phenomenon of life: expansion, sharing.
The moment you start clinging to things,
you have missed the target.
Because things are not the target,
you, your innermost being, is the target -
not a beautiful house, but a beautiful you;
not much money, but a rich you;
not many things, but an open being,
available to millions of things.
- Osho

Further reading: Pay It Forward - as an Expression of Universal Gratitude

Opportunity for Daily Thanksgiving

True Measure of a Successful Life

Universal Kindness and Compassion

Assumptions and Expectations Limit Growth

2026-11-08T00:30:00.000-05:00

You can't base your life on other people's expectations.
- Stevie Wonder

Question every Assumption and Expectation.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

It is a better thing to weigh and measure priorities
in the illuminating light of your own mission
than to have your activities formed by the
impressions and expectations of others.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

"You always..." and "you never..." are code phrases for
"you don't meet my expectations, so I am declaring you inadequate and unacceptable."
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

People see you as an object, not as a person,
and they project a set of expectations onto you.
- Candice Bergen

Other People's Expectations are NOT Your Life's Marching Orders.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

[Your inner] Peace is a choice,
and it has nothing to do with
what other people do or think.
- Gerald Jampolsky

Take time to contemplate -
away from the opinions and influence of others -
what you really want
and what you believe to be important in your life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Choice, Not Obligation

A Choice for Joy

Value Your Self Respect

Criticism and Complaint

Accept Your Friends and Your Lover As They Are and Don't Try to Change Them

2026-11-07T11:21:00.000-05:00

To the people who love you, you are beautiful already.
This is not because they’re blind to your shortcomings
but because they so clearly see your soul.
- Victoria Moran

Real love is accepting other people the way they are
without trying to change them.
- don Miguel Ruiz

In true friendship, one can express
anything and everything without feeling ashamed
or afraid of being rejected.
- Aparna Chatterjee

Appreciate your friends.
Grant them the freedom to be lovable, but fully imperfect.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Accept Your Friends' Uniqueness

Like Angels

Encourage Me

Appreciating Friends

Meddling is Never Helpful

2026-11-06T00:30:00.000-05:00

We cause ourselves untold misery whenever we believe
others to be imperfect and try to change them.
You have no ability whatsoever to change anyone other than yourself.
You can only cause yourself great suffering if you try.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The true secret of giving advice is,
after you have honestly given it,
to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not,
and never persist in trying to set people right.
- Henry Ward Beecher

Unsolicited Advice Is Always Meddling.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
Read my thoughts on meddling in the affairs of others.

It is an easy thing for one whose foot is on the outside
of calamity to give advice and to rebuke the sufferer.
- Aeschylus

Advice is seldom welcome,
and those who "need" it the most, like it the least.
- Lord Chesterfield

Further reading: The Problem with Advice

Live and Let Live

The #1 Secret of Great Relationships

Don't Take It Personally

Choose YES

2026-11-05T00:30:00.000-05:00

Choose in ways that support your dreams.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves.
The process never ends until we die.
And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Sharpen your pencil as you create the story of your life.
Ask today as you consider the many choices in your view -
what is the highest and best use of your talents, skills and abilities?
When you answer that, seize the opportunity to sharpen
those qualities even more sharply by applying your focused effort.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

The big question is whether you are going to be able
to say a hearty yes to your adventure.
- Joseph Campbell

Further reading: Choose to Soar

Pursue Your Dreams

Choosing a Joyful Life

Personal Boundaries

No Regrets and No Resentments

2026-11-04T00:30:00.000-05:00

Live life with no regrets and no resentments.
Whatever happened in the past,
forgive yourself and others. Choose love.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

For all sad words of tongue and pen,
The saddest are these, "It might have been."
- John Greenleaf Whittier

I rest in the light of forgiveness.
I forgive myself and others for that
which is done (and better left undone)
and also that which is not done (and better if done).
I give myself permission to enjoy this moment without guilt.
I freely release all uncertainty, regret, and fear.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Further reading: Learn To Get Over Regrets And Resentments

Never Second Guess Yourself

Forgiveness Releases the Past

Never Give Up

2026-11-03T00:30:00.000-05:00

Give the world the best you have
and it may never be enough.
Give the world your best anyway.
- Kent Keith (frequently attributed to Mother Teresa)

Simply do your best, and you will avoid
self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.
- don Miguel Ruiz

Success has a simple formula: do your best, and people may like it.
- Sam Ewing

Success comes from knowing that
you did your best to become the best
that you are capable of becoming.
- John Wooden

Today's affirmation:
I will do my best...
and then relax in the knowing
that I have done all I could.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Take Charge of Your Life

Play to Win, but be a Good Loser

DO IT

Ignore Your Critics

Trust Common Sense and Thoughtful Logic Rather Than "Belief"

2026-11-02T00:30:00.000-05:00

Since you are the one who has to live with your choices,
be sure they are your own.
- Alan Cohen

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it,
or who said it, no matter if I have said it,
unless it agrees with your own reason
and your own common sense.
- The Buddha

Don't follow any advice, no matter how good,
until you feel as deeply in your spirit as you think
in your mind that the counsel is wise.
- Joan Rivers

The ultimate authority must always rest
with the individual's own reason and critical analysis.
- Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

Each man is the architect of his own fate.
- Appius Claudius

Don't believe me.
I don't want you to believe me
but I want you to listen and make choices - your choices.
If what I say, doesn't work for you, leave it.
But if it works for you and that's what you want, then make it yours.
- don Miguel Ruiz

Further reading: To Thine Own Self Be True

Don't Take It Personally

Encourage Me

True to Your Best

A Month of Giving Thanks 2026

2026-11-01T09:20:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving is my favorite American holiday, as being grateful for everything, especially for the gift of life itself, is at the top of my list of values. Will you join me in a celebration of Gratitude and Thanksgiving for the entire month of November?

[For ME, Thanksgiving is a Celebration of Gratitude for all our Blessings, and independent of the events of 1621 - which is an entirely different subject]

Affirmation:
I commit the whole month of November to expressing gratitude and thanksgiving.

Suppose our gratitude could be zero-based gratitude.
With zero-based gratitude,
we would be grateful for everything we had each day -
regardless of whether it was more or less than yesterday.
With zero-based gratitude, I can be grateful for all the people,
the love, the food, the shelter, the services,
the health, that I am blessed with today,
regardless of what I had yesterday.
With zero-based gratitude,
I can be grateful each day for the gift of life itself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie -- Read about Zero-Based Gratitude

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough, and more.
It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.
It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
- Melody Beattie

He who can give thanks for little
will always find he has enough.
- Anonymous

Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter
everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe
that change forever how we experience life and the world.
- John Milton

Further reading: Know that You have been Blessed

Recognizing Our Abundance

The Truly Rich

Gratitude for THIS Moment

My Glass of Life

Resentment Does Not Serve You

2026-10-31T00:30:00.000-04:00

Love people who hate you. Pray for people who have wronged you.
It won’t just change their life, it will change yours.
- Mandy Hale

You have heard that it was said,
"Love your neighbor and hate your enemy."
But I tell you: Love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you.
- Jesus (Matthew 5:43-44)

Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it.
Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it.
Hatred darkens life; love illumines it.
- Martin Luther King Jr.

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?
- Abraham Lincoln

The practice of forgiveness is our most important
contribution to the healing of the world.
- Marianne Williamson

If you want to make peace with your enemy,
you have to work with your enemy.
Then he becomes your partner.
- Nelson Mandela

Further reading: Go and Do Likewise

Life is a Reflection

Fear and Love Categorizing People

On the Unworkability of Vengeance

There is No Freedom Until ALL are Free

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

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

When the rights of any group, no matter how small, no matter how marginal,
are violated, your liberty, your freedom is put at risk.
Let there never be a day when we cast about in horror
and have to ask the question, "How did it ever come to this?"
- Thomas Childers

Safeguarding the rights of others is the most noble
and beautiful end of a human being.
- Khalil Gibran

The end does NOT justify the means.
Freedom cannot be gained by sacrificing the freedom of others.
Free speech cannot be gained by limiting the free speech of others.
Human rights cannot be secured by trampling the human rights of others.
Viciousness in others cannot be fought by becoming vicious oneself.
Neither individual nor nation can long survive by meeting hatred with hatred,
injustice with injustice, prejudice with prejudice.

Freedom Demands Freedom for All
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

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

Further reading: Independence - Liberty - Freedom

Force

Honorable Paths to Noble Goals

Take Control of Your Own Life

2026-10-29T00:30:00.000-04:00

Whether we allow external events to shape our lives
at a core level is very much within our own control.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

All that is necessary to break the spell
of inertia and frustration is this:
Act as if it were impossible to fail.
- Dorthea Brande

Our fatigue is often caused not by work,
but by worry, frustration and resentment.
- Dale Carnegie

Fatigue makes cowards of us all.
- Vince Lombardi

3 Rs that Plague Humanity - Regret, Resentment, and Revenge.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

It is hardly possible to build anything,
if frustration, bitterness and a mood of helplessness prevail.
- Lech Walesa

Never Yield to Worry, Frustration or Resentment.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Find Peace in Forgiveness

Live a Stress-Free Life

Feeling Stuck?

How to Think Positive

Renew Yourself

Follow Your Heart

2026-10-28T00:30:00.000-04:00

Everyone who wills, can hear the inner voice.
It is within everyone.

- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

Listen to the compass of your heart.
All you need lies within you.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition -
they somehow already know what you truly want to become.
- Steve Jobs

Your inner knowing is your only true compass.
- Joy Page

Further reading: Feel Your Connection With the Infinite - a Meditation

Three Rules of Life

Ask from a Compassionate Heart

My Burdens are Lightened When I Laugh at Myself

2026-10-27T00:30:00.000-04:00

What appears very scary is probably nothing to fear when thoughtfully examined in the light.

Take time to laugh at yourself. Those who feel too important to laugh at themselves rob themselves, their family, and their friends of a great source of joy.

Grin your smile; giggle your laugh; unfurl your joy;
dash the last trace of your self-consciousness;
and cavort your most uninhibited play.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.
- e. e. cummings

The burden of the self is lightened when I laugh at myself.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Laugh at yourself and at life.
Not in the spirit of derision or whining self-pity,
but as a remedy, a miracle drug, that will ease your pain,
cure your depression, and help you to put in perspective
that seemingly terrible defeat and worry
with laughter at your predicaments,
thus freeing your mind to think clearly
toward the solution that is certain to come.
Never take yourself too seriously.
- Og Mandino

I will not play tug o' war.
I'd rather play hug o' war.
Where everyone hugs instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles and rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses, and everyone grins,
and everyone cuddles, and everyone wins.
- Shel Silverstein

Further reading: Lighten Up, Be Happy

Laughter

The Need for Humor

Not Too Serious

Drop Your Assumptions and Opinions, Look Anew

2026-10-26T00:30:00.000-04:00

It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble.
It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.

- Mark Twain (attributed)

If you would be a real seeker after truth,

it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt,
as far as possible, all things.
- Rene Descartes

The more opinions you have, the less you see.
- Wim Wenders

About most subjects, there is not "The Truth."
There is merely one's personal truth.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The problem with making assumptions
is that we believe they are the truth
- don Miguel Ruiz

Examine, inquire.
Look into the nature of things.
Search out the grounds of your opinions,
the for and against.
Know why you believe, understand what you believe,
and possess a reason for the faith that is in you.
- Frances Wright

Everything is not as it appears to be.
- Proverb

People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow.
- 1997 Comedy Movie "Men In Black"

Further reading: Question Your Questions

The Illusion of Knowledge

Maybe So, Maybe Not.

Expectations

Truth isn't True

Assumptions

The Miracle of Gratitude

2026-10-25T00:30:00.000-04:00

Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received.
Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling.
Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.
- Henry Van Dyke

The miracle of gratitude is that it shifts your perception
to such an extent that it changes the world you see.
- Robert Holden

None is more impoverished than the one who has no gratitude.
Gratitude is a currency that we can mint for ourselves,
and spend without fear of bankruptcy.
- Fred De Witt Van Amburgh

Our opportunity is to Soar our Spirit.
To see Light and Joy in everything.
To spread our wings and fly boldly.
To give thanks for rainbows and butterflies -
our symbols of renewal and rebirth.
To offer daily Thanksgiving - for ourselves, our family,
our friends, our community, for the whole world.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: The Miracle of Gratitude

Give Thanks for the Commonplace

Appreciate Today

Gratitude for THIS Moment

The Impossible Just Takes a Little Longer

2026-10-24T00:30:00.000-04:00

It is difficult to say what is impossible,
for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today
and the reality of tomorrow.
- Robert H. Goddard
(Developed the world's first liquid-fueled rocket in 1926)

Stand often in the company of dreamers.
They believe you can achieve impossible things.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

It always seems impossible until it is done.
- Nelson Mandela

Act as if it were impossible to fail.

- Dorthea Brande

The only place where your dream becomes impossible
is in your own thinking.
- Robert H. Schuller

Further reading: Attitude is Everything

How to Think Positive

How to Choose Your Life Purpose

See all my motivational articles

Never Ignore Your Inner Journey

2026-10-23T00:30:00.000-04:00

The only journey is the one within.

- Rainer Maria Rilke

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all of our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time
- T. S. Eliot

The longest journey is the journey inwards.
Of him who has chosen his destiny, Who has started
upon his quest for the source of his being.
- Dag Hammarskjold

The key to growth is the introduction of
higher dimensions of consciousness into our awareness.
- Lao Tzu

Never make your home in a place.
Make a home for yourself inside your own head.
You'll find what you need to furnish it -
memory, friends you can trust, love of learning,
and other such things.
That way it will go with you wherever you journey.
- Tad Williams

Further reading: At the Center of Your Being

You Can't Escape Yourself

How We See Things

Act on Your Dreams - TODAY

2026-10-22T00:30:00.000-04:00

YOU make a difference to the world.
Act on your dreams today.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

It is not the easy or convenient life for which I search,
but life lived to the edge of all that I may be.

- Mary Anne Radmacher

Life is not easy for any of us.
But what of that?
We must have perseverance
and above all confidence in ourselves.
We must believe that we are gifted for something
and that this thing must be attained.
- Marie Curie

Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking.
There is an almost universal quest
for easy answers and half-baked solutions.
Nothing pains some people more than having to think.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Eternity
I am drawn to the wild edge of the ocean of my being
My curiosity unbound, I test the limits of the limitless and the boundaries of the timeless.
I walk the path - the way - the way of ways - to the end that is not an end.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Your Legacy - Making a Difference

Fulfilling Your Dreams

Follow Your Bliss

Only Today

Focus on Prevention and Preparation

2026-10-21T00:30:00.000-04:00

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

The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.
- Malcolm X

At times it is folly to hasten,
at other times to delay.
The wise do everything in its proper time.
- Ovid

All difficult things have
their origin in that which is easy,
and great things in that which is small.
- Lao Tzu

Whether it is a health condition, a family feud, or overdue bills, manage small fires before they become uncontrollable blazes.

Further reading: Later is Never

Take Action

Eight Rules for Living Your Greatest Life

Make Your Own Choice, Then Take Action

2026-10-20T00:30:00.000-04:00

Begin today. Act on your vision. Do your best.
If you take action, you may succeed or you may fail,
but if you do nothing, the only possible outcome is failure.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

You can't let praise or criticism get to you.
It's a weakness to get caught up in either one.
- John Wooden

It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles.
Then the victory is yours
It cannot be taken from you,
not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.
- The Buddha

Take the initiative - don't wait for life to come to you.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

If you wait to do everything until you're sure it's right,
you'll probably never do much of anything.
- Win Borden

Today is your day to Spread Wing and Soar.
Fly Life on Free Wings, and Sing to its Glory.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: New Strength

Let Go and Begin Anew

Another Door Opens

Build Self Confidence

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