1. A politician worries about the next election; a statesman worries about the next generation. ~Unknown
2. All means prove but a blunt instrument, if they have not behind them a living spirit. ~Albert Einstein
3. All of the significant battles are waged within the self. ~Sheldon Koggs
4. Always know in your heart that you are far bigger than anything that can happen to you. ~Dan Zadra
5. Be true to your work, your word, and your friend. ~Henry David Thoreau
6. Best keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you see the world. ~George Bernard Shaw
7. Character is doing what's right when nobody is looking. ~J. C. Watts, Jr.
8. Character is made by many acts; it may be lost by a single one. ~Unknown
9. For the cause that lacks assistance, for the wrong that needs resistance,
For the future in the distance, and the good that I can do. ~George Linnaeus Banks
10. He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away. ~Raymond Hull
11. Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anyone else expects of you. ~Henry Ward Beecher
12. How glorious it is — and also how painful — to be an exception. ~Alfred de Musset
13. I am a part of all that I have seen. ~Alfred Lord Tennyson
14. I count him braver who conquers his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is the victory over self. ~Aristotle
15. I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong. - Leo Rosten
16. I live for those who love me, for those who know me true; for the heaven that smiles above me and awaits my spirit too. For the cause that lacks assistance, for the wrong that needs resistance, for the future in the distance, and the good that I can do.—George Linnaeus Banks
17. In man, the things which are not measurable are more important than those which are measurable. ~Alexis Carrel
18. It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out where the strong man stumbled, or where a doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, and who comes up short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at best, knows the triumph of high achievement and who, at worst, if he fails, fails while daring greatly, so that his place will never be with those cold, timid souls who never knew victory or defeat ~ Theodore Roosevelt
19. It is not what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable. ~Molière
20. It is the characteristic excellence of the strong man that he can bring momentous issues to the fore and make a decision about them. The weak are always forced to decide between alternatives they have not chosen themselves. ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer
21. It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that’s important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there’ll be any fruit. But that doesn’t mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result. ~Gandhi
22. Making a Difference (The Story of the Starfish)
A man was walking down a deserted ocean beach at sunset.
As he walked along, he could make out the silhouette of another man in the distance. As he drew nearer, he observed this person repeatedly bending down, picking something up off the beach, and throwing it out into the water.
Time and again the man kept hurling things into the ocean. As the man approached even closer, he noticed that this man was picking up starfish and, one at a time, he was throwing them back into the water.
Puzzled at this behaviour, the man approached. “Good evening, friend,” he said, “can I ask what it is you are doing?”
The man replied: “I’m throwing these starfish back into the sea. You see, it’s low tide, and all of these starfish have been washed up on the shore. If they’re not thrown back into the water, they’ll die from lack of oxygen.”
“While I understansd and applaud your intentions,” the first man responded, “there must be thousands of starfish on this beach. You can’t possibly save all of them. And there must be hundreds of beaches just like this one up and down the coast. Can’t you see that you can’t possibly make a difference?”
The man smiled. Then, bending down, he picked up yet another starfish and, having tossed it carefully into the surf, turned to the other man. “Made a difference to that one,” he replied as he walked away. ~Unknown
23. One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man. ~Elbert Hubbard
24. One should never be ashamed to own that s/he’s been wrong; that is but saying in other words that s/he is wiser today than yesterday. Unknown
Sing your song; don't let the bastards get you down. ~Garrison Keillor
25. Some people will like me and some won’t. So I might as well be myself, and then at least I’ll know that the people who like me, like me. ~Hugh Prather
26. Start with Yourself.
The following words were written on the tomb of an Anglican Bishop in the Crypts of Westminister Abbey:
When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older and wiser, I discovered the world would not change, so I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country. But it, too seemed immovable.
As I grew into my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt, I settled for changing only my family, those closest to me, but alas, they would have none of it.
And now, as I lie on my deathbed, I suddenly realize: If only I had changed myself first, then by example I would have changed my family. From their inspiration and encouragement, I would then have been able to better my country and, who knows, I may have even changed the world. ~Unknown
27. Success in relationships is not so much about finding the right person, as it is being the right person. ~Unknown
28. The man who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The man who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been. ~Alan Ashley-Pitt
29. The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious to the rose. ~Kahlil Gibran
30. The size of your body is of little account; the size of your brain is of much account; the size of your heart is of the most account of all. ~B.C. Forbes
31. The superior man understands what is right; The inferior man understands what will sell. ~Confucius
32. The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good. ~Ann Landers
33. The true perfection of man lies not in what man has, but in what man is. ~Oscar Wilde
34. There are two types of people--those who come into a room and say, Well, here I am! and those who come in and say, Ah, there you are. ~Frederick L Collins
35. Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves. But deep down below the surface of the average conscience a still, small voice says to us, 'Something is out of tune.' ~Carl Jung
36. To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else, means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting. ~e e cummings
37. We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves. ~Eric Hoffer
38. What you do when you don't have to, determines what you will be when you can no longer help it. ~Rudyard Kipling