Thoughts of the Day

"Friendship isn't a big thing; it's a million little things."—Source Unknown

"A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge."—Thomas Carlyle, 1795-1881, Scottish Philosopher and Author

"Love is not finding someone you can live with, it's finding someone you can't live without."—Rafael Ortiz

"Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain but it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving."—Dale Carnegie

"Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work."—Stephen King

"Live out of your imagination, not your history."—Stephen Covey

"Discipline is the refining fire by which talent becomes ability."—Roy L. Smith

Thoughts on character

"Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones."—Phillips Brooks

"Adversity is a severe instructor, set over us by one who knows us better than we do ourselves, as he loves us better too. He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper. This conflict with difficulty makes us acquainted with our object, and compels us to consider it in all its relations. It will not suffer us to be superficial."—Edmund Burke

"The highest reward for a man's toil is not what he gets for it but what he becomes by it."—John Ruskin

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved."—Helen Keller

"Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain—and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving."—Dale Carnegie

"I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death."—Thomas Paine

"If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it."—Marcus Aurelius

"Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny."—Frank Outlaw

"No member of a crew is praised for the rugged individuality of his rowing."—Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882, American Poet and Essayist

"If you can't be happy where you are, it's a cinch you can't be happy where you ain't."—Charlie Tremendous Jones

"Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching."—Thomas Jefferson (1743-1846), 3rd U. S. President

"Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional."—Roger Crawford

"The decision to grow always involves a choice between risk and comfort."—John Ortberg

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."—Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The conditions of conquest are always easy. We have but to toil awhile, endure awhile, believe always, and never turn back."—William Gilmore Simms (1806-1870) Historian and writer

"The art of medicine consists of keeping the patient amused while nature heals the disease."—Voltaire

"Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness."—Edward Stanley, Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

"Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones."—Sir Winston Churchill

"Will you be satisfied with the fruit of your life's work? Will the efforts you are making now bring you satisfaction when the things of time are receding and eternity looms ahead?"—Raymond L. Cox

"Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still."—Chinese Proverb

"It's not what you are that holds you back. It's what you think you're not."—Denis Waitley

"Find the person who will love you because of your differences and not in spite of them and you have found a lover for life."—Leo Buscaglia, 1924-1998, American Author

"The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose."—C.S. Lewis

"My Lord, I have nothing to do in this world, but to seek and serve Thee; I have nothing to do with my heart and its affections, but to breathe after Thee. I have nothing to do with my tongue and pen, but to speak to Thee, and for Thee, and to publish Thy glory and Thy will."—Richard Baxter (1615-1691)

"A man must seek his happiness and inward peace from objects which cannot be taken away from him."—Alexander Humboldt (1769-1859), Naturalist and explorer


"You were born rich, with 18 billion bountiful, beautiful, totally available and in all probability underused brain cells awaiting your desire, decision and directional compass to take you onward, upward, and Godward."—Mark Victor Hansen

"Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties."—Erich Fromm

"No one travels so high as he who knows not where he is going."—Oliver Cromwell

"Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward."—Vernon Law

"Don't be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones tend to take care of themselves."—Dale Carnegie

"The pain passes, but the beauty remains."—Pierre-Auguste Renoir

"It's in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped."—Anthony Robbins

"Man should not consider his material possessions his own, but common to all, so as to share them without hesitation when others are in need."—Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274) Philosopher

"Maturity is the ability to do a job whether or not you are supervised, to carry money without spending it, and to bear an injustice without wanting to get even."—Ann Landers

"Kindness has converted more sinners than zeal, eloquence, or learning."—Frederick W. Faber

"What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value."—Thomas Paine, 1737-1809, English-born Pamphleteer ("Common Sense") and Founding Father of the United States

"Hugging is a means of getting two people so close together that they can't see anything wrong with each other."—Author unknown

"Let your hook be always cast. In the pool where you least expect, it will be fish."—Ovid

"The real measure of your wealth is how much you'd be worth if you lost all your money."—Bernard Meltzer

"The most absurd and reckless aspirations have sometimes led to extraordinary success."—Vauvenargues

"Instead of looking for a miracle in your life, look to see if you are the miracle in someone else's life."—Nola Rohde Vollmer

Thoughts on Healthy Debates

"Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress."—Gandhi

"I argue very well. Ask any of my remaining friends. I can win an argument on any topic, against any opponent. People know this, and steer clear of me at parties. Often, as a sign of their great respect, they don't even invite me."— Dave Barry, American humorist, author, journalist

"Couples who never argue are 35 per cent more likely to divorce. On the surface, that seems like a strange finding, since we associate arguments with bad outcomes, but an inability to share frustration is a dangerous thing. If you don't argue, [frustrations] build up within you until they get bigger and bigger."—David Niven, psychologist, Florida Atlantic University and author of The 100 Simple Secrets of Relationships.

"Many times, often with the best of intentions, people at work decide it's more productive to remain silent about their differences than to air them. But as new research….shows, silencing doesn't smooth things over or make people more productive. It merely pushes differences beneath the surface and can set in motion powerfully destructive forces."—Leslie Perlow and Stephanie Williams, "Is Silence Killing Your Company?" Harvard Business Review

"No tree becomes rooted and sturdy unless many a wind assails it. For by its very tossing it tightens its grip and plants its roots more securely; the fragile trees are those that have grown in a sunny valley."—Seneca the Younger