Frendship Improves Happiness

“Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief.”

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43); Roman orator

Be Better than Yourself

“Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.”

William Faulkner (1897-1962); novelist, Nobel Prize winner

More Kindness Needed

“We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness.”

Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977); comic actor, filmmaker, writer

Power to Imagine Better

“We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already. We have the power to imagine better.”

J.K. Rowling (born 1965); novelist

Do What you Love

“The only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work, and the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking, and don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking, don't settle.”

Steve Jobs (1955-2011); Co-founder Apple Inc.

Do What Makes You Come Alive!

“Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

Howard Thurman (1899-1981); author, philosopher, theologian, educator, civil rights leader

Facing Problems

“Self-acceptance comes from meeting life's challenges vigorously. Don't numb yourself to your trials and difficulties, nor build mental walls to exclude pain from your life. You will find peace not by trying to escape your problems, but by confronting them courageously. You will find peace not in denial, but in victory.”

Swami Sivananda (1887-1963); spiritual leader, author, physician

New Beginnings

“New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.”

Lao Tzu (600-531); philosopher

What We See

“What we see depends mainly on what we look for.”

John Lubbock (1834-1913); Biologist, politician

The Social Butterfly Effect is Real!

“I firmly believe in small gestures: pay for their coffee, hold the door for strangers, or over tip, smile  be kind even when you don’t feel like it, pay compliments, chase the kid’s runaway ball down the sidewalk and throw it back to him, try to be larger than you are— particularly when it’s difficult. People do notice, people appreciate. I appreciate it when it’s done to (for) me. Small gestures can be an effort, or actually go against our grain (“I’m not a big one for paying compliments…”), but the irony is that almost every time you make them, you feel better about yourself. For a moment life suddenly feels lighter, a bit more Gene Kelly dancing in the rain.”

Jonathan Carroll (born 1949); Author

Strength and Will

“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.”

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948); Indian political and spiritual leader

Happy Duty

“There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy. By being happy we sow anonymous benefits upon the world.”

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894); essayist, poet, novelist

Take the Time

“Watch the sunrise at least once a year, put a lot of marshmallows in your hot chocolate, lie on your back and look at the stars, never buy a coffee table you can't put your feet on, never pass up a chance to jump on a trampoline, don't overlook life's small joys while searching for the big ones.”

H. Jackson Brown, Jr. - writer

You Can Start Where You Are

“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.”

Nido Qubein (born 1948); Businessman, motivational speaker, educator

Decide, then Act!

“Decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it.”

Bill Cosby (born 1937); comedian, actor

Small Act of Courage

“What may look like a small act of courage is courage nevertheless. The important thing is to be willing to take a step forward.”

Dr. Daisaku Ikeda -Educator, Buddhist philosopher

Why are you Busy?

“It’s not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: what are we busy about?”

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862); naturalist, author, philosopher

Just Keep Going to Succeed

“People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don't know when to quit. Most men succeed because they are determined to.”

George Allen (1918-1990); American football coach

Live "with" the World

“The single greatest lesson the garden teaches is that our relationship to the planet need not be zero-sum, and that as long as the sun still shines and people still can plan and plant, think and do, we can, if we bother to try, find ways to provide for ourselves without diminishing the world. ”

Michael Pollan (born 1955); Author, activist

Go, Explore

“Be fearless. Have the courage to take risks. Go where there are no guarantees. Get out of your comfort zone even if it means being uncomfortable. The road less traveled is sometimes fraught with barricades bumps and uncharted terrain. But it is on that road where your character is truly tested. And have the courage to accept that you’re not perfect nothing is and no one is — and that’s OK.”

Katie Couric (born 1957); American journalist

Get Up!

“No matter how slow you go, you are still lapping everyone on the couch.”

                             —Unknown

Change your attitude, Change your Mind

“The greatest discovery of our generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind. As you think, so shall you be.”

William James (1842-1910); psychologist, philosopher, author

Plant your Good Works

“Someone is enjoying shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”

Warren Buffett (born 1930); American businessman, philanthropist

Work Hard

“Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires avid faith in yourself. That is why some people with mediocre talent, but with great inner drive, go much further than people with vastly superior talent. ”

Sophia Loren (born 1934); actress

Show your light

“There is not enough darkness in all the world to put out the light of even one small candle.”

Robert Alden

Go for it

“Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion. The potential for greatness lives within each of us. ”

Wilma Rudolph (1940-1994); Athlete; Olympic Gold Medalist

Don't Stay Down

“If you have made mistakes, even serious ones, there is always another chance for you. What we call failure is not the falling down, but the staying down.”

Mary Pickford (1892-1979); actress

Not Impossible

“Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance.”

Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784); poet, essayist, lexicographer

Be at peace

“Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.”

Unknown

Pass on a Good Inheritance

“Every one of us receives and passes on an inheritance. The inheritance may not be an accumulation of earthly possessions or acquired riches, but whether we realize it or not, our choices, words, actions, and values will impact someone and form the heritage we hand down.”

Ben Hardesty - musician

Truth

“Emotions cannot be trusted as a path to truth.”

Edmond Danken Sailer; (1962) Poet, Philosopher

“Develop your own compass, and trust it. Take risks, dare to fail, remember the first person through the wall always gets hurt.”

Aaron Sorkin (born 1961); Academy award winning screenwriter, producer, and playwright

Keep working

“For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. A lot of people never get past this phase; they quit. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions.”

Ira Glass (born 1959); American public radio personality

Finish it, whatever it is!

“To finish first, you must first finish. ”

Rick Mears (born 1951); American race car driver

Fail to succeed

“I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot...and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that's precisely why I succeed.”

Michael Jordan (born 1963); retired professional basketball player, businessman

Become Rich!

“No man can tell whether he is rich or poor by turning to his ledger. It is the heart that makes a man rich. He is rich according to what he is, not according to what he has.”

Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887); clergyman, social reformer

Struggle for the future

“The struggle of today, is not altogether for today–it is for a vast future also”

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865); 16th U.S. President

Help your friend to grow a little

“A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.”

William Shakespeare (1564-1616); dramatist, poet

Turn on Your Light!

“Happiness can be found in even the darkest of times, if only one remembers to turn on the light.”

J.K. Rowling (born 1965); novelist

Take the Chance

“Our lives improve only when we take chances- and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves.”

Walter Anderson (1903-1965); American artist

Preparation

“For me, winning isn’t something that happens suddenly on the field when the whistle blows and the crowds roar. Winning is something that builds physically and mentally every day that you train and every night that you dream.”

Emmitt Smith (born 1969); American football player

You can change the world

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”

Margaret Mead (1902-1978); cultural anthropologist

Failure is not failing

"When you prohibit failure, you kill innovation."

--Dan Pallotta

The Future Belongs to...

“The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of bold projects and new ideas. Rather, it will belong to those who can blend passion, reason and courage in a personal commitment to [their] ideals.”

Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968); 64th US Attorney General

Who stops you?

“The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.”

Ayn Rand (1905-1982); writer, philosopher

Just Don't Give Up

“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don't give up.”

Anne Lamott - author, political activist

Sacrifice can be good

“Nothing really worth having is easy to get. The hard-fought battles, the goals won with sacrifice, are the ones that matter.”

Aisha Tyler (born 1970); American actress and comedian

Think for yourself

“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud. ”

Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel (1883-1971); French fashion designer

Use Elegance to Persuade

“Raise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.”

Jalal ad-Din Rumi (1207-1273); Persian poet, mystic

Do the small deeds

“Each of us can look back upon someone who made a great difference in our lives, someone whose wisdom or simple acts of caring made an impression upon us. In all likelihood it was someone who sought no recognition for their deed other than the joy of knowing that, by their hand, another's life had been made better.”

Stephen M. Wolf (born 1941); American businessman

Never Too Old

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963); writer, theologian, scholar

Life gets Better through Change

“Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.”

Jim Rohn (1930-2009); entrepreneur, author, motivational speaker

Do what Matters Most

“Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832); philosopher, scientist, author

Let go of Anger

“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”

Buddha

Prepare to do the job right

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax.”

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865); 16th U.S. President

Adversity makes you Stronger

“Storms make trees take deeper roots.”

Dolly Parton (born 1946); Singer-songwriter, actress, author, philanthropist

Get a Purpose

“Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose- a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.”

Mary Shelley (1797-1851); English novelist

No one is Useless

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”

Charles Dickens (1812-1870); novelist

Those who get on

“The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.”

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950); playwright, Nobel Prize winner

Being Wrong, is not Wrong

“To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.”

Joseph Chilton Pearce (born 1926); American author

Practice

“To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it. ”

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1922-2007); Writer

Destiny

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882); Philosopher, Poet, Author, Essayist

Opportunities

“A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.”

Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626); English statesman, scientist, author

Elevate Our Children

“It should be your care, therefore, and mine, to elevate the minds of our children and exalt their courage; to accelerate and animate their industry and activity; to excite in them an habitual contempt of meanness, abhorrence of injustice and inhumanity, and an ambition to excel in every capacity, faculty, and virtue.”

John Adams (1735-1826); 2nd U.S. President

Work on YOUR Dreams!

"If you are not working on your own dreams, you are working on the dreams of someone else!"

Edmond Danken Sailer; (1962) Poet, Philosopher

Don't Limit Yourself for Other's Sake

“When you say 'yes' to others, make sure you aren't saying 'no' to yourself.”

Paulo Coelho (born 1947); poet, writer

A Mature Person

“A mature person is one who does not think only in absolutes, who is able to be objective even when deeply stirred emotionally, who has learned that there is both good and bad in all people and in all things, and who walks humbly and deals charitably with the circumstances of life, knowing that in this world no one is all-knowing and therefore all of us need both love and charity.”
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962); U.S. First Lady, diplomat, human rights activist

Do Something

Sometimes there is nothing you can do, and in those times, you must do something anyway.”

Garrison Keillor (born 1942); author, radio personality

Measure Up!

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968); minister, civil rights activist

No Small Acts of Kindness

“Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.”

Scott Adams (born 1957); creator of Dilbert Comic Strip

Be Kind and Fair

“In life you can never be too kind or too fair; everyone you meet is carrying a heavy load. When you go through your day expressing kindness and courtesy to all you meet, you leave behind a feeling of warmth and good cheer, and you help alleviate the burdens everyone is struggling with.”
Brian Tracy (born 1944); motivational author

What are Your Values?

“If you don't stick to your values when they are being tested, they're not values: they're hobbies.”
Jon Stewart (born 1962); Television host, writer, comedian

Be Ready to Step Up and Shine!

“To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour."

Winston Churchill (1874-1965); British statesman, prime minister, author, Nobel Prize winner

Never Abuse Someone

“When you can be verbally abuse someone without fear of repercussions, you have too much power over them.”

Edmond Danken Sailer; (1962) poet, philosopher

Be an Original

“An original life is unexplored territory. You don't get there by taking a taxi- you get there by carrying a canoe.“

Alan Alda (born 1936); actor, director, screenwriter

Making Art

“Making art is translating emotion!”
-- Edmond Danken Sailer; (1962; Poet, Philosopher)

We are Here to Enrich the World

“We are not here merely to make a living. We are here to enrich the world with a finer spirit of hope and achievement- and we impoverish ourselves if we forget the errand.”

Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924); 28th U.S. President