quoteflections

In Being Bold

noreply@blogger.com (Paul C) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 +0000

There is plenty of intelligence in the world, but the courage to do things differently is in short supply. ~ Marilyn Vos Savant

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. ~ Winston Churchill

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. ~ E. E. Cummings

Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim. ~ Nora Ephron

A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for. ~ William G. T. Shedd

Freedom lies in being bold. ~ Robert Frost

Quotes about courage, life

The Whole Human Family

noreply@blogger.com (Paul C) — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 04:00:00 +0000

If I have been of service, if I have glimpsed more of the nature and essence of ultimate good, if I am inspired to reach wider horizons of thought and action, if I am at peace with myself, it has been a successful day. ~ Alex Noble

Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it towards others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will also be in our troubled world. ~ Etty Hillesum

Whatever peace I know rests in the natural world, in feeling myself a part of it, even in a small way. ~ May Sarton

Success isn't measured by money or power or social rank. Success is measured by your discipline and inner peace. ~ Mike Ditka

No one can find inner peace except by working, not in a self- centered way, but for the whole human family. ~ Peace Pilgrim

Quotes about inner peace,life

A Hero to Me

noreply@blogger.com (Paul C) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 04:00:00 +0000

If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in. ~ Rachel Carson

Don't handicap your children by making their lives easy. ~ Robert A. Heinlein

I have a passion for teaching kids to become readers, to become comfortable with a book, not daunted. Books shouldn't be daunting, they should be funny, exciting and wonderful; and learning to be a reader gives a terrific advantage. ~ Roald Dahl

Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand. ~ W. B. Yeats

Anyone who does anything to help a child in his life is a hero to me. ~ Fred Rogers

Quotes about children, life

To Dance on a Shifting Carpet

noreply@blogger.com (Paul C) — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 12:29:00 +0000

To dance, put your hand on your heart and listen to the sound of your soul. ~ Luigi

Kids: they dance before they learn there is anything that isn't music. ~ William Stafford

Everybody should be able to make some music... That's the cosmic dance! ~ Ruth Gordon

O body swayed to music, O brightening glance,
How can we know the dancer from the dance? ~ William Butler Yeats

Live a balanced life - Learn some and think some, and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some. ~ Robert Fulghum

Instead of seeing the rug being pulled from under us, we can learn to dance on a shifting carpet. ~ Thomas Crum

Quotes about dance, life

It Takes Place Every Day

noreply@blogger.com (Paul C) — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 04:00:00 +0000

A man is judged by his deeds, not by his words. ~ Russian Proverb

Beware so long as you live, of judging people by appearances. ~ La Fontaine

Judge not, that ye be not judged. ~Matthew 7:1

If you judge people, you have no time to love them. ~ Mother Teresa

You can judge the character of others by how they treat those who can do nothing to them or for them. ~ Malcolm Forbes

Don't wait for the Last Judgement. It takes place every day. ~ Albert Camus

Quotes about judgement, life

Energy Waiting to Happen

noreply@blogger.com (Paul C) — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony. ~ Thomas Merton

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

Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter. ~ Mark Twain

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. ~ Aesop

Energy is liberated matter, matter is energy waiting to happen. ~ Bill Bryson

Quotes about matter, life

Every Exit an Entry

noreply@blogger.com (Paul C) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 04:00:00 +0000

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. ~ William Shakespeare, As You Like It

Every exit is an entry somewhere. ~ Tom Stoppard

Quotes about entrances, exits, life

Pick Up the Mirror

noreply@blogger.com (Paul C) — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 04:00:00 +0000

The greatest magnifying glasses in the world are a man's own eyes when they look upon his own person. ~Alexander Pope

When you descant on the faults of others, consider whether you be not guilty of the same. To gain knowledge of ourselves, the best way is to convert the imperfections of others into a mirror for discovering our own. ~Henry Home

We should every night call ourselves to an account: What infirmity have I mastered to-day? what passion opposed? what temptation resisted? what virtue acquired? Our vices will abate of themselves if they be brought every day to the shrift. ~Seneca

How shall we learn to know ourselves? By reflection? Never; but only through action. Strive to do thy duty; then shalt thou know what is in thee. ~ Goethe

Put down the magnifying glass and pick up the mirror. ~ Hippocrates

Quotes about self, life

The Purpose of Life is Not to Be Happy

noreply@blogger.com (Paul C) — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 04:00:00 +0000

How dreadful knowledge of the truth can be
When there's no help in truth! ~ Sophocles

You will find that the mere resolve not to be useless, and the honest desire to help other people, will, in the quickest and delicatest ways, improve yourself. ~ John Ruskin

The best advisers, helpers and friends, always are not those who tell us how to act in special cases, but who give us, out of themselves, the ardent spirit and desire to act right, and leave us then, even through many blunders, to find out what our own form of right action is. ~ Phillips Brooks

The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

No one has ever become poor by giving. ~ Anne Frank

Quotes about helping, life

A Thousand Times Too Short

noreply@blogger.com (Paul C) — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 04:00:00 +0000

I've reached a milestone at 365 Quote Quest with one thousand entries. So here are some select quotes about a thousand.

The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. ~ Lao Tzu

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. ~ Buddha

Hollywood is a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul. ~ Marilyn Monroe

A hero is born among a hundred, a wise man is found among a thousand, but an accomplished one might not be found even among a hundred thousand men. ~ Plato

I spent three days a week for 10 years educating myself in the public library, and it's better than college. People should educate themselves - you can get a complete education for no money. At the end of 10 years, I had read every book in the library and I'd written a thousand stories. ~ Ray Bradbury

Is life not a thousand times too short to bore ourselves? ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

(Quotes about a thousand, life)

If you wish to read four reflective questions about this list, feel free to visit my other blog. I've only got 95 more entries to go before I publish Volume #3 of 365 Quote Quest. (365 x 3=1,095) Volumes #1 and #2 are available here.

Thanks for following quoteflections and, possibly, my complement, 365 Quote Quest. Recommending/sharing these blogs is appreciated.

Keep the Pathway Open

noreply@blogger.com (Paul C) — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 04:00:00 +0000

The many great gardens of the world, of literature and poetry, of painting and music, of religion and architecture, all make the point as clear as possible: The soul cannot thrive in the absence of a garden. ~ Thomas More

A garden to walk in and immensity to dream in--what more could he ask? A few flowers at his feet and above him the stars. ~ Victor Hugo

Gardens are not made by singing 'Oh, how beautiful!' and sitting in the shade. ~ Rudyard Kipling

God made a beauteous garden
With lovely flowers strown,
But one straight, narrow pathway
That was not overgrown.
And to this beauteous garden
He brought mankind to live,
And said "To you, my children,
These lovely flowers I give.
Prune ye my vines and fig trees,
With care my flowers tend,
But keep the pathway open
Your home is at the end. ~ Robert Frost from 'God's Garden'

Quotes about the garden, life

Always Discoveries to Be Made

noreply@blogger.com (Paul C) — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 04:00:00 +0000

My kitchen is a mystical place, a kind of temple for me. It is a place where the surfaces seem to have significance, where the sounds and odors carry meaning that transfers from the past and bridges to the future. ~Pearl Bailey

We owe much to the fruitful meditation of our sages, but a sane view of life is, after all, elaborated mainly in the kitchen. ~Joseph Conrad

In the childhood memories of every good cook there's a large kitchen, a warm stove, a simmering pot and a mom. ~ Barbara Costikyan

The kitchen is a country in which there are always discoveries to be made. ~Grimod de la Reynière

Cooking demands attention, patience, and above all, a respect for the gifts of the earth. It is a form of worship, a way of giving thanks. ~Judith B. Jones

Quotes about kitchens, cooking, life

One of the Greatest Sources of Happiness

noreply@blogger.com (Paul C) — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 04:00:00 +0000

The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. ~ Ellen Parr

One who is too wise an observer of the business of others, like one who is too curious in observing the labor of bees, will often be stung for his curiosity. ~ Alexander Pope

Every man ought to be inquisitive through every hour of his great adventure down to the day when he shall no longer cast a shadow in the sun. For if he dies without a question in his heart, what excuse is there for his continuance? ~ Frank Moore Colby

Curiosity is, in great and generous minds, the first passion and the last. ~ Samuel Johnson

Satisfaction of one's curiosity is one of the greatest sources of happiness in life. ~ Linus Pauling

Quotes about curiosity, life

Forever is Composed of Now

noreply@blogger.com (Paul C) — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 04:00:00 +0000

The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is. ~ C. S. Lewis

The point of power is always in the present moment. ~ Louise L. Hay

With the past I have nothing to do; nor with the future. I live now. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

People are always asking about the good old days. How about the good now days? ~ Robert M. Young

Forever is composed of now. ~ Emily Dickinson

Quotes about the present, life

Growing through a Crack in the Concrete

noreply@blogger.com (Paul C) — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 04:00:00 +0000

It is a beautiful truth that all men contain something of the artist in them. And perhaps it is the case that the greatest artists live and die, the world and themselves alike ignorant what they possess. ~ Walt Whitman

We are sun and moon, dear friend; we are sea and land. It is not our purpose to become each other; it is to recognize each other, to learn to see the other and honor him for what he is: each the other's opposite and complement. ~ Herman Hesse

Thank goodness I was never sent to school; it would have rubbed off some of the originality. ~ Beatrix Potter

Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can offer with the cumulative force of a whole life's cultivation, but of the adopted talent of another, you have only an extemporaneous, half possession. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

I like it when a flower or a little tuft of grass grows through a crack in the concrete. It's so heroic. George Carlin

Quotes about uniqueness, life

A Secret Place

noreply@blogger.com (Paul C) — Fri, 31 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

We may forget with whom we laughed, but not with whom we shared tears.   ~Tansanian proverb

My eyes were glued on life
and they were full of tears. ~ Jack Kerouac

Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts.   ~ Charles Dickens

Tears are the noble language of eyes, and when true love of words is destitute. The eye by tears speak, while the tongue is mute. ~ Robert Herrick

It is such a secret place, the land of tears.   ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Quotes about tears, life

That's How the Light Gets In

noreply@blogger.com (Paul C) — Thu, 30 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

As we work to create light for others, we naturally light our own way. ~ Mary Anne Radmacher

Man reading should be man intensely alive. The book should be a ball of light in one's hand. ~ Ezra Pound

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in. ~ Leonard Cohen

How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world. ~ William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

Love is not consolation. It is light. ~ Simone Weil

Quotes about light, life

Will Not Appreciate Your Neutrality

noreply@blogger.com (Paul C) — Wed, 29 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself. ~ Archibald MacLeish

Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world...would do this, it would change the earth. ~ William Faulkner

Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence. ~ Leonardo da Vinci

It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority. ~ Benjamin Franklin

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. ~ Desmond Tutu

Quotes about dissent, life

Do you think others might enjoy these regular postings? Thanks for sharing.

A Race to Be Worthy

noreply@blogger.com (Paul C) — Tue, 28 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Seek not greater wealth, but simpler pleasure; not higher fortune, but deeper felicity (happiness).   ~ Mahatma Gandhi

I have always believed, and I still believe, that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value.   ~ Herman Hesse

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

Henceforth I ask not good fortune. I myself am good fortune. ~ Walt Whitman

A lot of my life happened in great, wonderful bursts of good fortune, and then I would race to be worthy of it.   ~ Julie Andrews

Quotes about good fortune, life

Not All Who Wander

noreply@blogger.com (Paul C) — Mon, 27 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted. - Bertrand Russell

Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and popular opinion. - Charles Kuralt

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. - Mark Twain

You don't get harmony when everybody sings the same note. - Doug Floyd

Not all those who wander are lost. - J.R.R. Tolkien

Quotes about nonconformity, life

Work Joyfully and Peacefully

noreply@blogger.com (Paul C) — Sat, 25 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Establishing goals is all right if you don't let them deprive you of interesting detours. ~ Doug Larson

However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results. ~ Winston Churchill

We should work on our process, not the outcome of our processes. ~ W. Edwards Deming

Work joyfully and peacefully, knowing that right thoughts and right efforts will inevitably bring about right results. ~ James Allen

I can honestly say that I was never affected by the question of the success of an undertaking. If I felt it was the right thing to do, I was for it regardless of the possible outcome. ~ Golda Meir

Quotes about outcome, life

Back into Integration

noreply@blogger.com (Paul C) — Fri, 24 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

We seek an enlargement of our being. We want to be more than ourselves... We want to see with other eyes, to imagine with other imaginations, to feel with other hearts, as well as with our own . . . We demand windows. ~ C.S. Lewis

To do nothing at all is the most difficult thing in the world, the most difficult and the most intellectual. ~ Oscar Wilde

One's action ought to come out of an achieved stillness: not to be a mere rushing on. ~ D.H. Lawrence

In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently. ~ Anthony Robbins

There is only one story - going out into disunity and coming back into integration. ~ Joseph Campbell

Quotes about doing, life

Purpose and Passion

noreply@blogger.com (Paul C) — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being. ~ Carl Jung

Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose. ~ Helen Keller

This is our purpose: to make as meaningful as possible this life that has been bestowed upon us; to live in such a way that we may be proud of ourselves; to act in such a way that some part of us lives on. ~ Oswald Spengler

The only true happiness comes from squandering ourselves for a purpose. ~ William Cowper

With me poetry has not been a purpose, but a passion. ~ Edgar Allan Poe

Quotes about purpose, life

An Attitude of the Heart

noreply@blogger.com (Paul C) — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

It takes two to speak the truth - one to speak and another to hear. ~ H.D. Thoreau

If you spend more time asking appropriate questions rather than giving answers or opinions, your listening skills will increase. ~ Brian Koslow

Listening is the only way to entertain some folks. ~ Kin Hubbard

The older I grow the more I listen to people who don’t talk much. ~ Germain G. Glien

Listening, not imitation, may be the sincerest form of flattery. ~ Dr. Joyce Brothers

Listening is an attitude of the heart, a genuine desire to be with another which both attracts and heals. ~ J. Isham

Quotes about listening, life

Life is Fun or Suffering?

noreply@blogger.com (Paul C) — Tue, 21 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Fun is a good thing but only when it spoils nothing better. ~ George Santayana

If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun. ~ Katharine Hepburn

People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing. ~ Dale Carnegie

The world is a funny paper read backwards. And that way it isn't so funny. ~ Tennessee Williams

The making of fun where no real occasion for fun exists is essentially what comedy is about. ~ David L. Hall

Most people get a fair amount of fun out of their lives, but on balance life is suffering, and only the very young or the very foolish imagine otherwise. ~ George Orwell

Quotes about fun, life