Revenge

Revenge only engenders violence,

not clarity and true peace.

I think liberation must come from within.

~ Sandra Cisneros ~

Stained-Glass Windows

People are like stained-glass windows.

They sparkle and shine when the sun is out,

but when the darkness sets in,

their beauty is revealed only if

there is a light from within.

~ Elizabeth Kubler-Ross ~

Formulate and Stamp

Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind

a mental picture of yourself as succeeding.

Hold this picture tenaciously.

Never permit it to fade.

Your mind will seek to develop the picture.

Do not build up obstacles in your imagination.

Do not be awestruck by other people and try to copy them.

Nobody can be you as efficiently as you can.

~ Norman Vincent Peale ~

Life & Consciousness

Life and consciousness are the two great mysteries.

Actually, their substrates are the inanimate.

And how do you get from neurons shooting around in the brain

to the thought that pops up in your head and mine?

There's something deeply mysterious about that.

And if you are not struck by the mystery,

I think you haven't thought about it.

~ Charles Krauthammer ~

R. I. P.

Positive Self-Image

A strong, positive self-image is the best

possible preparation for success.

~ Joyce Brothers ~

Enough

He who knows that enough is enough

will always have enough.

~ Lao Tzu ~

Good Relationships

Most good relationships are built

on mutual trust and respect.

~ Mona Sutphen ~

Fits the Lock

Smile, it is the key that fits

the lock of everybody's heart.

~ Anthony J. D'Angelo ~

Fathers

One father is more than

a hundred schoolmasters.

~ George Herbert ~

Happy Father's Day!

Flag Day

I believe that our flag is more than cloth and ink.

It is a universally recognized symbol that stands

for liberty and freedom.  It is the history of our

nation and it is marked by the blood of those

who died defending it.

~ John Thune ~

Happy Flag Day!

Food

Food is everything we are.

It's an extension of nationalistic feeling,

ethnic feeling,  your personal history, 

your province, your region, your tribe,

your grandma.  Its inseparable

from those from the get-go.

~ Anthony Bourdain ~

R.I.P.

The Artist

Why should I deem myself to be a chisel,

when I could be the artist?

~ Frederick von Schiller ~

Fidelity

Many persons have the wrong idea

of what constitutes true happiness.

It is not attained through self-gratification

but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.

~ Helen Keller ~

School

Grades don't measure tenacity, courage, leadership,

guts or whatever you want to call it.  Teachers 

or any other persons in a position of authority

should never tell anybody they will not succeed

because they did not get all A's in school.

~ Thomas J. Stanley ~

Congratulations to all school graduates!

Growing Good Corn

There once was a farmer who grew award-winning corn.  Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it won a blue ribbon.

One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it.  The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors.

"How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the reporter asked.

"Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know?  The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field.  If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn.  If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn."

He is very much aware of the connectedness of life.  His corn cannot improve unless his neighbor's corn also improves.

So it is with our lives.  Those who choose to live in peace must help their neighbors to live in peace.  Those who choose to live well must help others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches.  And those who choose to be happy must help others to find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.

The lesson for each of us is this:  if we are to grow good corn, we must help our neighbors grow good corn.

~ Anonymous ~