What did you do today?
Is anybody happier because you passed this way?
Does anyone remember that you spoke today?
The day is almost over, and its toiling time is through:
Is there anyone to utter now a kindly word of you?
Can you say tonight in parting with the day that's slipping fast,
That you helped a single person of the many that you passed?
Is a single heart rejoicing over what you did or said?
Does the one whose hopes were fading now with courage look ahead?
Did you waste the day or use it? Was it well or sorely spent?
Did you leave a trail of kindness, or a scar of discontent?
As you close you eyes in slumber, do you think that you can say:
You have earned one more tomorrow by what you did today?
--Anonymous
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not
parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not
seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in
iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all
things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.
--I Corinthians 13:4-8
Love - life's sweetest reward
--Theme from The Love Boat
A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams
---John Barrymore
We grow neither better nor worse as we get old, but more like ourselves
---May Lamberton Becker
Happiness may well consist primarily of an attitude toward time
---Robert Grudin
It takes no more time to see the good side of life than it takes to see the bad
--Jimmy Buffet
There is a part of me that wants to write, a part that wants to theorize,
a part that wants to sculpt, a part that wants to teach.... To force
myself into a single role, to decide to be just one thing in life, would kill
off large parts of me.
--H. Prather
Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97:
Wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.
The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proven by scientists,
whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own
meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not
understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But
trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall
in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how
fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.
Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as
effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum.
The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never cross
your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle
Tuesday.
Do one thing every day that scares you.
Sing.
Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss.
Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with
yourself.
Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch.
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to
do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.
Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.
Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky
chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't
congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.
Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of
what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever
own.
Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.
Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.
Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the
people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle,
because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when
you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize
that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble
and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.
Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply
it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the
past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen.
--Not Kurt Vonnegut!
In striving to better, we oft mar what is well.
--Shakespeare
A man could go quite mad and not be all that bad. Consider each superb,
disturbing urge you've ever had - to curse aloud in church or choke each
bloke who throws a smile your way.
--Mystery of Edwin Drood
I would rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck.
--Anonymous
In order to get the fruit of the tree, you have to be willing to go out on a limb.
--Unknown, contributed by John Bartok
I can only do one thing at a time, but I can avoid doing many things
simultaneously.
--Anonymous
Education is an admirable thing. But it is well to remember from time to
time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.
---Oscar Wilde
If growing up means it would be beneath my dignity to climb a tree, I'll never
grow up, never grow up, never grow up. Not me!
--Peter Pan
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
--Eleanor Roosevelt
The burdens that appear easiest to bear are those that are borne by others.
--Proverb
To love another person is to see the face of G-d.
--Les Miserables
Have you learned lessons only of those who admired you,
and were tender with you, and stood aside for you? Have
you not learned great lessons from those who braced
themselves against you, and disputed the passage
with you?
--Walt Whitman
The best mirror is an old friend.
--George Herbert
A clear conscience is usually a sign of a bad memory.
--anonymous
Dealing with reality is seldom difficult.
What is often difficult is determining what reality is.
--Charles Horton
When intuition and logic agree, you are always right.
--Salada teabag (tea company which provides fortunes on each teabag)
Anybody can see a pretty girl. An artist can look at a pretty girl and
see the old woman she will become. A better artist can look at an old
woman and see the pretty girl she used to be. A great artist can look at
an old woman, portray her exactly as she is...and force the viewer to see
the pretty girl she used to be...
--Robert Heinlen, in Stranger in a Strange Land
Needing someone is like needing a parachute. If he isn't there the first
time, chances are you won't be needng him again.
--anonymous
Yesterday I met a stranger. Today this
stranger is my friend. Had I not taken the time to
say hello, or return a smile, or shake a hand, or
listen, I would not have known this person. Yesterday
would have turned into today and our chance
meeting would be gone.
Yesterday I hugged someone very dear to me.
Today they are gone...and tomorrow will not
bring them back. Wouldn't it be nice if we
all knew tomorrow would be here? But this
is not to be, so take the time TODAY
to give a hug, a smile, an "I love you."
JUST FOR TODAY, ...smile at a stranger;
listen to someone's heart; drop a coin where
a child can find it; learn something new,
then teach it to someone; tell someone
you're thinking of them; hug a loved one;
don't hold a grudge; don't be afraid to say
"I'm sorry"; look a child in the eye and
tell them how great they are.
Don't kill that spider in your house, he's
just lost so show him the way out; look
beyond the face of a person into their
heart; make a promise, and keep it; call someone,
for no other reason than to just say "hi";
show kindness to an animal; stand up for
what you believe in; smell the rain, feel
the breeze, listen to the wind; use all your
senses to their fullest; cherish all your TODAYS.
--Unknown
What I've Learned
I've learned that when you're in love, it shows.
I've learned that just one person saying to me, "You've
made my day!" makes my day.
I've learned that having a child fall asleep in your arms
is one of the most peaceful feelings in the world.
I've learned that being kind is more important than being right.
I've learned that you should never say no to a gift from a child.
I've learned that I can always pray for someone when I
don't have the strength to help him in some other way.
I've learned that no matter how serious your life requires
you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with.
I've learned that sometimes all a person needs is a hand
to hold and a heart to understand.
I've learned that simple walks with my mother around the
block on summer nights when I was a child did wonders for me as an adult.
I've learned that life is like a roll of toilet paper. The
closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.
I've learned that we should be glad God doesn't give us
everything we ask for.
I've learned that money doesn't buy class.
I've learned that it's those small daily happenings that
make life so spectacular.
I've learned that under everyone's hard shell is someone
who wants to be appreciated and loved.
I've learned that the Lord didn't do it all in one day.
What makes me think I can?
I've learned that to ignore the facts does not change the facts.
I've learned that when you plan to get even with someone, you are only
letting that person continue to hurt you.
I've learned that love, not time, heals all wounds.
I've learned that the easiest way for me to grow as a
person is to surround myself with people smarter than I am.
I've learned that everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile.
I've learned that there's nothing sweeter than sleeping
with your babies and feeling their breath on your cheeks.
I've learned that no one is perfect until you fall in love with them.
I've learned that life is tough, but I'm tougher.
I've learned that opportunities are never lost; someone
will take the ones you miss.
I've learned that when you harbor bitterness, happiness
will dock elsewhere.
I've learned that I wish I could have told my Mom that I
love her one more time before she passed away.
I've learned that one should keep his words both soft and
tender, because tomorrow he may have to eat them.
I've learned that a smile is an inexpensive way to improve
your looks.
I've learned that I can't choose how I feel, but I can
choose what I do about it.
I've learned that when your newly born grandchild holds
your little finger in his little fist, that you're hooked for life.
I've learned that everyone wants to live on top of the mountain,
but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it.
I've learned that it is best to give advice in only two circumstances;
when it is requested and when it is a life-threatening situation.
I've learned that the less time I have to work with, the
more things I get done.
--Andy Rooney
No legacy is so rich as honesty.
--Shakespeare
Note: The translations to the spanish quotes are my own - if a "real" one exists, please let me know. My apologies, however, since things ALWAYS lose something when not in its original language.
No conquistaras el oceano si no tienes el valor para perder de vista la playa.
(You cannot conquer the ocean if you are not brave enough to lose sight of the beach)
--Unknown
Todos son locos, pero el que analiza su locura es llamado filosofo.
(We are all crazy, but those that analyze their craziness are called philosophers)
--No Sabemos (unknown) :)
Es tan corto el amor, y es tan largo el olvido.
(Love is so short, and forgetting it is so long)
--Pablo Neruda (en: 20 poemas de amor y un cancion desesperada)
I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and
suck out all the marrow of life, to put to rout all that was not life,
and not when I had come to die discover that I had not lived.
--Henry David Thoreau
The Road Less Traveled
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
--Robert Frost
It is better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness.
--Eleanor Roosevelt
Tis not many oaths
That makes the truth,
But the plain single vow
That is vowed true.
--Shakespeare
There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as
though everything is a miracle.
--Albert Einstein
Violent delights have violent ends,
And in their triumph die,
Like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume...
Therefore love moderately;
Long love doth so;
Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.
--Shakespeare
If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
--Unknown
Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to give up for it.
--H.L. Hunt
A friend is a gift you give yourself.
--Anonymous
The most interesting information comes from children, for they tell all
that they know and then stop.
--Mark Twain
Every man dies...Not every man really lives.
--William Wallace
Here's my secret, it is very simple. The essential is invisible to the
eyes, one sees clearly only with the heart.
--Antoine de Saint Exupery from Le Petit Prince
Those who can soar to the highest heights can also plunge to the
deepest depths, and the natures which enjoy most keenly are those
which also suffer most sharply.
--Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of the Island
Do not seek to have events happen as you want them to, but instead want
them to happen as they do happen, and your life will go well.
--Epictetus, stoic philospher (50-130 A.D.)
Remember that you are an actor in a play, which is as the playwright
wants it to be: short if he wants it short, long if he wants it long. If
he wants you to play a beggar, play even this part skillfully, or a
cripple, or a public official, or a private citizen. What is yours is to
play the assigned part well. But to choose it belongs to someone else.
--also Epictetus
If the misery of our poor be caused not by the laws of nature,
but by our institutions, great is our sin.
--Charles Darwin
Any question you ever have, the answer you will find in nature if you know
where to look and how to ask.
---The Power of One
On Being Vulnerable
Vulnerability is the greatest strength a person can
have. You can't experience life without feeling life.
Being vulnerable to somebody you love is not a
weakness, it's a strength. Sadness, joy, love,
wonder--all feelings--come from a place of grounded
strength that comes from trust in yourself.
We spend so much time trying to control our feelings
out of fear that something may happen, that somebody
may not love us, or walk away or die. It's only when
you stop living in that fear of what other people might
do to you or how they will react, only then are you free
to be alive.
--Morton S. Pruce
Inexpressible Love
If words could say what I feel for you,
I would cherish them in my heart,
I would warm them in my hands,
I would whisper them in your ear.
And if I keep my silence,
I hope you'll understand,
That words are only words,
So I just look at you and smile...
My inexpressible love.
--Jeunesse Voges
I say I'm in love with her. What does this mean? It means I review my
future and my past in light of this feeling. It is as though I wrote in a
foreign language that I am suddenly able to read. Wordlessly, she
explains me to myself. Like genius, she is ignorant of what she does.
--The Passion, by Jeannette Winterson
I wanted only to live in accord with the promptings which came from my true self.
Why was that so very difficult?
--Hermann Hesse, in Demian (1919)
We dance round in a ring and suppose,
While the secret sits in the middle and knows.
--Robert Frost
The time for peace has come. We, the soldiers who have returned
from battles stained with blood, we who have seen our relatives and
friends killed before our eyes... we who have come from a land where
parents bury their children... we say today in a loud and clear voice:
Enough of blood and tears. Enough.
--Yitzhak Rabin
I have always beleived that the majority of the people want peace and
are ready to take risks for peace. In coming here today, you
demonstrate, together with many others who did not come, that the people
truly desire peace and oppose violence. Violence erodes the basis of
Israeli democracy. It must be condemned and isolated. This is not the
way of the State of Israel. In a democracy there can be differneces, but
the final decision will be taken in democratic elections, as the 1992
elections which gave us the mandate to do what we are doing, and to
continue on this course ..... a course of peace making.
--Yitzhak Rabin, in his final speech before being assasinated on Nov. 4, 1995
If the statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one percent of the
human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of star dust lost in the
blaze of the Milky Way. Properly the Jew ought hardly to be heard of,
but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the
planet as any other people, and his commercial importance is
extravagantly out of porportion to the smallness of his bulk. His
contributions to the world's list of great names in literature, science,
art, music, finance, medicine, and abtuse learning are also way out of
porportion to the weakness of his numbers. He has made a marvelous fight
in this world, in all the ages; and has done it with his hands tied
begind him. He could be vain of himself and be excused for it. The
Egyptian, the Babylonian and the Persian rose, filled the planet with
sound of splendor, then faded to ream-stuff and passed away; the Greek
and Roman followed, and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other
peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it
burned out and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw
them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no
decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing
of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things
are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains...
--Mark Twain
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