Thoughts To Ponder

The best thing to give your enemy is forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to your child, a good example; to a father, deference; to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; to all men, charity Francis Maitland Balfour - morphologist (1851-1882)

Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness James Thurber

We are often so caught up in our destination, that we forget to appreciate the journey, especially the goodness of the people we meet along the way

When one door closes, another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us Alexander Graham Bell

People should learn to use things and love people, instead of loving things and using people

Sorrow looks back Worry looks around Faith looks up

Happiness comes more from loving than being loved; and often when our affection seems wounded, it is only our vanity bleeding. To love, and to be hurt often, and to love again - this is the brave and happy life J.E. Buchrose

How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it Marcus Aurelius

Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if he or she were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do so with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again Og Mandino

If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything Mark Twain

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow growth and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation George Washington

We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey Stephen R. Covey

Everyone who does evil, hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth, comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done, has been done through God John 3:20-21

Truth is seen in what it does and whom it seeks

Darkness cannot drive out darness, only light can do that. Hate can not drive out hate, only love can do that Martin Luther King Jr

Resolve to never to do anything which I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life Jonathan Edwards

When you get to the end of all the light you know and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen:  either you will be given something solid to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly Edward Teller

Imagination is more important than knowledge, for knowledge is limited while imagination embraces the entire world Albert Einstein

To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men - that is genius Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nothing goes by luck in composition. It allows of no tricks. The best you can write will be the best you are Thoreau

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use Galileo Galilei

Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow Helen Keller

Live your life as an exclamation, not an explanation

Knowlege, in truth, is the great sun in the firmament. Life and power are scattered with all its beams Daniel Webster

Never ask God to give you anything, ask Him to put you where things are Mexican Proverb

We are never so happy or unhappy as we think Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Pleasure is very seldom found where it is sought. Our brightest blazes are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks Samuel Johnson

Action will remove the doubts that theory cannot solve Tehyi Hsieh

If you have made mistakes there is always another chance. You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call "failure" is not the falling down, but the staying down Mary Pickford

It is easy to sit up and take notice. What is difficult is getting up and taking action Al Batt

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook William James

If it takes a lot of words to say what you have in your mind, give it more thought Dennis Roch

To be successful, you've got to be willing to fail Ronald Reagan

If you cry "Forward," you must make plain in what direction to go Anton Chekov

If you want to see the sun shine, you have to weather the storm Frank Lane

Opportunities are seldom labeled John A Shedd

Always forgive your enemies, nothing annoys them so much Oscar Wilde

Knowledge is the power of the mind, wisdom is the power of the soul Julie Shannahan

It is awfully important to know what is and what is not your business Gertrude Stein

Honest criticism is hard to take, particularly from a relative, a friend, and acquaintance or a stranger Franklin P Jones

Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it Helen Keller

Life consists of what man is thinking about all day Ralph Waldo Emerson

With each sunrise, we start anew Anon

To love another person is to see the face of God Victor Hugo "Les Miserables"

I would prefer even to fail with honor than win by cheating Sophocies

Decision is a sharp knife that cuts clean and straight; indecision is a dull one that hacks and tears, leaving ragged edges behind it

Let us make one point that we meet each other with a smile, when it is difficult to smile. Smile at each other, make time for each other in your family Mother Teresa

There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action Johann von Goethe

I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once Jennifer Unlimited

You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely

The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important John Dewey

Don't be resentful. It allows someone you don't like to live in your head rent free

A laugh is a mighty good thing, and rather too scarce a good thing Herman Melville

A healthy family is sacred territory

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter E E Commings

Both humor and faith are the expressions of the freedom of the human spirit, of its capacity to stand outside of life, and itself, and view the whole scene Reingold Niebuhr

Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living; it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope and that enables you to laugh at life's realities Dr Seuss

Beware of him who hates the laugh of a child Henry Ward Beecher

The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it Arnold H. Glasgow

A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked Bernard Meltzer

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty Winston Churchill

If you are sure you understand everything that is going on, you are hopelessly confused Walter Mondale

We make our friends; we make our enemies; but God makes our next door neighbour G. K, Chesterton

Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but doesn't make any progress Alfred A. Montapert

When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail Abraham Maslow

Don't be so open minded that your brains fall out

When there is nothing left but God, that is when you find out that God is all you need

Oh, what a tangled web do parents weave; when they think that their children are naive Ogden Nash

Success: The road to success is not straight. There is a curve called failure, a loop called confusion, speed bumps called friends, caution lights called family, and you will have flats called jobs. But . . . if you have a spare called determination, an engine called perseverance, insurance called faith, and a driver called Jesus, you will make it to a place called success! That about sums it up, wouldn't you say?

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it Life is a beauty, admire it Life is a dream, realize it Life is a challenge, meet it Life is a duty, complete it Life is a game, play it Life is a promise, fulfill it Life is sorrow, overcome it Life is a song, sing it Life is a struggle, accept it Life is a tragedy, confront it Life is an adventure, dare it Life is luck, make it Life is life, fight for it Mother Teresa

The devil finds work for idle hands

A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs, jolted by  every pebble in the road

Happy moments, praise God Difficult moments, seek God Quiet moments, worship God Painful moments, trust God Every moment, thank God

It's a good thing to have all the props pulled out from underneath us occasionally.  It gives us some sense of what is rock under our feet and what is sand Madeleine L'Engle

Never ruin an apology with an excuse Kimberly John

I believe in the sun, even when it's not shining I believe in love, even when I don't feel it I believe in God, even when He is silent

Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns. I am thankful  that thorns have roses Alphonse Karr

All human wisdom is summed up in two words: wait and hope Alexandre Dumas

In times like these, it is helpful to remember that there has always been times like these Paul Harvey

Experience is that marvellous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake  when you make it again Franklin

We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we  stopped playing

Never miss a good chance to shut up

Be fishers of men - you catch them - he'll clean them

People should learn to use things and love people, instead of loving things and  using people

When a man says he approves of something in principle, it means he hasn't the slightest intention of putting it into practice Otto Von Bismarck

Salvation is a process which begins when a person first becomes a christian, then continues through the rest of his or her life and concludes on the last day

If God brings you to it, he will bring you through it