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“I have found life so beautiful.” If half a century of living has taught me anything at all, it has taught me that “Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.”
man is not hurt so much by what happens, as by his opinion of what happens.”
“To be wronged or robbed,” said Confucius, “is nothing unless you continue to remember it.”
Sioux Indians: “O Great Spirit, keep me from ever judging and criticising a man until I have walked in his moccasins for two weeks.”
It is natural for people to forget to be grateful; so, if we go around expecting gratitude, we are headed straight for a lot of heartaches.
“Think and Thank.” Think of all we have to be grateful for, and thank God for all our boons and bounties.
“There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second.”
Count your blessings—not your troubles!
Let’s not imitate others. Let’s find ourselves and be ourselves.
Two men looked out from prison bars, One saw the mud, the other saw the stars.
The most important thing in life is not to capitalise on your gains. Any fool can do that. The really important thing is to profit from your losses. That requires intelligence; and it makes the difference between a man of sense and a fool.
When fate hands us a lemon, let’s try to make lemonade.
If we are going “to make things better for others”—as Dreiser advocated—let’s be quick about it. Time is a-wastin. “I shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any good that I can do or any kindness that I can show—let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”
Forget yourself by becoming interested in others. Every day do a good deed that will put a smile of joy on someone’s face.
The fact that we don’t understand totally the mysteries of our bodies or electricity or a gas engine doesn’t keep us from using and enjoying them. The fact that I don’t understand the mysteries of prayer and religion no longer keeps me from enjoying the richer, happier life that religion brings. At long last, I realise the wisdom of Santayana’s words: “Man is not made to understand life, but to live
“A little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men’s minds about to religion.”
Because psychiatrists realise that prayer and a strong religious faith will banish the worries, the anxieties, the strains and fears that cause more than half of all our ills.
by Saint Francis of Assisi seven hundred years ago: “Lord, make me an instrument of Thy Peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. Where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.”
Remember that unjust criticism is often a disguised compliment. Remember that no one ever kicks a dead dog.
Do the very best you can; and then put up your old umbrella and keep the rain of criticism from running down the back of your neck.
“The opinions of our enemies,” said La Rochefoucauld, “come nearer to the truth about us than do our own opinions.”
Rule 3: Let’s keep a record of the fool things we have done and criticise ourselves. Since we can’t hope to be perfect, let’s do what E H Little did: let’s ask for unbiased, helpful, constructive criticism.
do what the Army does—take frequent rests. Do what your heart does—rest before you get tired, and you will add one hour a day to your waking life.
