Welcome to my Daily Inspiration - Daily Quote. See today's daily inspirational quotes below.
May the world be kind to you, and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Monday, November 30, 2009

Circumstance does not make the man: it reveals him to himself. - James Allen

Circumstance does not make the man: it reveals him to himself. 
- James Allen 

Our lives are defined not by the challenges we encounter, but by how we respond to those challenges. 
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie 

To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing. - Elbert Hubbard

To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing. - Elbert Hubbard

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. - Winston Churchill 

  To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can perform. - Theodore H. White 

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Let It Be - Paul McCartney

Let It Be - Paul McCartney 

  Time, like life itself, has no inherent meaning. We give our own meaning to time as to life. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie 

 Don't fight against life, let it be. Life has its own rhythm, its own time. In most cases, you simply create stress and suffering for yourself whenever you attempt to hurry the course of history or to slow it.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Love's gift cannot be given, it waits to be accepted. - Rabindranath Tagore

Love's gift cannot be given, it waits to be accepted.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Love is not a mere sentiment. Love is the ultimate truth at the heart of creation.
- Rabindranath Tagore

I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you.
I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me.
I love you for that part of me you bring out.
- Roy Croft

Love is central to human existence - love of self, family, friends, and beyond. While the several kinds of love are all important, romantic love holds a special place in our lives.

Further reading: articles on Relationships - Marriage, Dating, and Divorce.

Love is saying "I feel differently" instead of "You're wrong."

Thursday, November 26, 2009

He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother. - Roe Fulkerson

He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother. - Roe Fulkerson

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving dinner and an inspiring day of conscious gratitude.

Perhaps you spent Thanksgiving day with relatives you don't see often. If so, how did it go?

If you have a great relationship with your extended family, congratulations. Family can be one of the finest blessings of life.

But, if you get frustrated by some of your family, focus on the good aspects of your relationship and attempt to overlook the irritations. Then give thanks for everyone who plays a part in your life. If you must, take solace in this cynical George Burns quote, "Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city."

Further reading: Consider a new beginning with your family - choose to take them less seriously 


Let Each Day be a Thanksgiving.

Let each day be a thanksgiving.

Each November, the United States celebrates a national day of Thanksgiving. It is my personal favorite holiday, and the one with which I most identify.

Gratitude is one of the values I hold most dear, each and every day, so I particularly appreciate having one day each year when gratitude and giving thanks are publicly recognized.

But rather than expressing gratitude once a year, let each day be a thanksgiving - a day of profound gratitude for all of life.

Why not take time today to celebrate your gratitude.

Make a gratitude list today. Consider beginning a Gratitude Journal and making an entry in that journal every day. My gratitude list begins with the gift of my own life, my being. I then add my health, my friends and family, and ... the list gets very long.

What is on your of gratitude list?

Celebrate your gratitude today... Form a circle and hold hands with friends and family. Raise a plate of food with outstretched fingers and offer thanks to Spirit. Place a candle and special remembrances on a table and offer thanks for those who have gone before. Let Spirit guide the form of your celebration today.

Further reading: A List of Gratitudes - a Thanksgiving

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

James Allen: No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.


Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.
- William Arthur Ward

No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.
- James Allen

I always squirm at the idea of anything being a "duty," but expressing our gratitude to friends, to family, and to Spirit, is one of the higher callings of this life.

Further reading: A great gift requires two people, the giver and the receiver. - jlh

Offering Comforting Words and Support ... Lord, grant that I might not so much seek to be loved as to love. - St. Francis of Assisi

Open Mind - Open Heart: A wonderful gift may not be wrapped as you expect

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Albert Pike: What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us.

What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal. - Albert Pike 

  One can pay back the loan of gold, but one dies forever in debt to those who are kind. - Malayan Proverb 

 For whose kindness do you owe a great debt of gratitude? 


Thanksgiving Graces - A Grace for All Blessings on Thanksgiving

On this day, as on every day, we Receive ALL of Life with Thanksgiving. We have gratitude for EVERYTHING that has ever occurred to bring us to this moment. We give thanks for the joys and the sufferings, the moments of peace and the flashes of anger, the compassion and the indifference, the roar of our courage and the cold sweat of our fear. We accept gratefully the entirety of our past and our present life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

As we join hands in fellowship around this bountiful table, we give thanks for the blessings of this food and the love of these friends as a symbol of our gratitude for all the manifold blessings of this life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

For food that stays our hunger,
For rest that brings us ease,
For homes where memories linger,
We give our thanks for these.
- Anonymous

We gather today in gratitude for the bounty of the land, the joyful company around this table, and all the other blessings of this life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

We return thanks to our mother,
the earth, which sustains us.
We return thanks to the rivers and streams
which supply us with water.
We return thanks to all herbs, which furnish medicines
for the cure of our diseases.
We return thanks to the corn, and to her sisters,
the beans and squashes, which give us life.
We return thanks to the bushes and trees,
which provide us with fruit.
We return thanks to the wind,
which, moving the air, has banished diseases.
We return thanks to the moon and the stars,
which have given us their light when the sun was gone.
We return thanks to our grandfather He-no,
that he has protected his grandchildren from witches and reptiles,
and has given us his rain.
We return thanks to the sun,
that he has looked upon the earth with a beneficent eye.
Lastly, we return thanks to the Great Spirit,
in whom is embodied all goodness,
and who directs all things for the good of his children.
- Iroquois traditional

We receive this food in gratitude to all beings
Who have helped to bring it to our table,
And vow to respond in turn to those in need
With wisdom and compassion.
- Buddhist traditional

Monday, November 23, 2009

Thornton Wilder: We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.


We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.
- Thornton Wilder

None is more impoverished than the one who has no gratitude. Gratitude is a currency that we can mint for ourselves, and spend without fear of bankruptcy.
- Fred De Witt Van Amburgh

Gratitude is the path to your own joy. If you wish to be happy, be grateful for all of life.

Further reading: Pay It Forward - as an Expression of Universal Gratitude

Mary Anne Radmacher: PREPARING MY HEART FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Caring - Kindness - Compassion - Appreciation ... It is my choice to care deeply about others. - jlh

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Mark Twain: Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.

I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. - Mark Twain 

 When was the last time you told those closest to you how grateful you are for their friendship? 


Saturday, November 21, 2009

Elie Wiesel: When a person doesn't have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity.


A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues.
- Cicero

When a person doesn't have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity. A person can almost be defined by his or her attitude toward gratitude.
- Elie Wiesel

Consider that, in some sense, gratitude and greed are directly opposite states of human existence.

Further reading: We attract abundance when we ask from a compassionate heart - jlh

What is Honor? Is there a place for Honor today?

Lao Tzu: Treat those who are good with goodness, and also treat those who are not good with goodness. Thus goodness is attained.

This Above All, To Thine Own Self Be True - 5 Ways to Apply William Shakespeare's Advice Today

Friday, November 20, 2009

Oscar Wilde: The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.


As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.
- John F. Kennedy

The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.
- Oscar Wilde

When it comes to gratitude, and kindness, actions do speak louder than words.

Further reading: Ten Little Tips to Feel Happier Right Now

Thursday, November 19, 2009

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, Thank You, that would suffice. - Meister Eckhart

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, Thank You, that would suffice.
- Meister Eckhart

Gratitude is the memory of the heart.
- Jean Baptiste Massieu

However much or little you have, "Thank You" is always a more powerful prayer than, "I need more."

Further reading: Unanswered Prayers

Have a Conversation with God, Today

Ralph Waldo Emerson quote: Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.

Rumi: Today, like every other day, we wake up empty and frightened.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life - Melody Beattie


Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
- Melody Beattie

I Receive ALL of Life with Thanksgiving. I have gratitude for EVERYTHING that has ever occurred to bring me to this moment. I give thanks for the joys and the sufferings, the moments of peace and the flashes of anger, the compassion and the indifference, the roar of my courage and the cold sweat of my fear. I accept gratefully the entirety of my past and my present life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie


Further reading: A List of Gratitudes - a Thanksgiving

Zero-Based Gratitude

Gratitude itself is a source of joy. - jlh

GRATITUDE - the third Point of Simply An Inspired Life

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

You cant stop the music, nobody can stop the music. - Village People

You can't stop the music, nobody can stop the music. - Village People

Life is a force that is mightier than any individual, any group, any country, any century, any millennium. The momentum of progress is unstoppable.

The clock can never be turned back and the advancement of nature and humanity can barely be slowed, even by those who cling most firmly to the way things are or the way they used to be.

Our children's children will know wonders of which we cannot even imagine. They will wonder about us as we wonder about those who first sharpened sticks and drew animal figures on the walls of caves.

Cheer progress and never try to stop the music.

Further reading: A life lived in fear is a life half lived

Honor tradition AND question tradition. - jlh

Monday, November 16, 2009

Bad habits are like a comfortable bed


Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of.
- Anonymous

Happiness is often the result of being too busy to be miserable.
- Anonymous

Is today the day to stop doing what doesn't inspire you, but has become a habit?

Is today the day to begin new projects and a new way of life that truly inspires you?

Further Reading: Habits - Like Water to a Fish

Take Charge of Your Life - 9 Secrets For Getting Un-Stuck

Beyond the Grief of Divorce - 7 Steps Toward New Beginnings

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Napoleon quote: Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.


Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.
- Napoleon

Don't take anything personally.
- don Miguel Ruiz (this is the second of his Four Agreements)

When that driver swerves into your lane and cuts you off, it may be stupidity, disregard, even anger, but it isn't personal and it is unlikely to be malice.

Relax, breathe, smile, and don't let it ruin your day.

Further reading: De-Stress Your Life

How To Stop Worrying By Using the Qigong Release Exercise

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Thomas Jefferson: Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
- Thomas Jefferson

Say NO to the demands of the world.
Say YES to the longings of your own heart.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie


First ask why the task is on your to-do list. When possible, discard those items to which you are not truly committed. For the tasks which do speak to the longings of your own heart, begin now, today, this moment.

Further reading: Time is my friend

Gifts freely given are never obligations - jlh

Time, like life itself, has no inherent meaning. - jlh

Urgency is a grim taskmaster. Escape time, and life becomes irie. - jlh

Friday, November 13, 2009

A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are for. - John A. Shedd

A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are for. - John A. Shedd 

 A truly safe car would be armor-plated and fully padded inside. Better yet, it wouldn't use gasoline or ever leave your garage. 

To be truly safe your children would never talk to anyone, let alone a stranger, would never breathe air in the same room with any other children, would never eat food from a restaurant, and would probably not eat food from a grocery store either.

 What is life for? We're all going to die anyway, so let's really live while we're alive. Personally, I have fond memories of playing on slippery rocks on the banks of a rushing river as a child and hitchhiking in college. 

To those who say, "But times are different now," I reply that statistically life is much safer now than in the 1950s, with regard to both crime and accidents. What has changed is our attitudes. In those years, a broken leg from falling off a swing or the back of a tractor was just part of childhood - an excuse for gathering autographs. Today that broken leg would be a source of outrage and probably lawsuits. I long for a simpler time when life was taken less seriously.

Further reading: A life lived in fear is a life half lived

Anais Nin: We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are.

Joseph Campbell: The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.

Babe Ruth quote: Never let the fear of striking out get in your way

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Abraham Maslow: If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.

If the only tool you have is a hammer,
you tend to see every problem as a nail.
- Abraham Maslow

Each one of us has many problem-solving abilities, but we tend to feel most comfortable with a small number of them - those techniques are our hammers.

For example, we may have learned that we get results by using anger. Others back down when we show anger, so we continue the practice. Anger has become the hammer.

So what happens when the problem is, for example, intimacy with a partner? Out comes the hammer - anger.

We all have a full tool box of interpersonal skills, which we can call upon whenever we take the time to take a deep breath and make conscious choices.


Further reading: Don't shoot the messenger

Albert Einstein: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results

Moderating the Anger Response Through Training

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Comparisons are odious

One of the greatest cause of unhappiness - perhaps even the only cause of unhappiness - is comparison. I remember as a young child hearing my mother say, "Comparisons are odious." That is one of the oldest sayings in the English language, and one of the most important.

Essentially all suffering is the result of...

* Comparing what we have (or don't have) today with what we had yesterday.
* Comparing what we fear we might have (or not have) tomorrow) with what we have today.
* Comparing what we have (or don't have) with what others have.

If I own two bicycles while my neighbor owns one, I feel rich, but if I own two bicycles while my neighbor owns a car, I feel that the world has treated me unfairly and I suffer. If I could only crawl yesterday, and can walk today, I am grateful, but if I could run yesterday, and can only walk today, I become angry and resentful.

The way to happiness is what I call Zero-Based Gratitude. Each day be happy and grateful for what you have, independent of yesterday and of other people. Think of Zero-Based Gratitude like zero-based budgeting, the process in which governments and businesses attempt to disregard the spending patterns they have become addicted to, and establish a realistic budget from a base-line of zero spending.

Further reading: Zero-Based Gratitude

7 Secrets of Happy Couples

GRATITUDE - the third Point of Simply An Inspired Life

Monday, November 9, 2009

Today is your day to paint life in bold colors - jlh


Today is your day to paint life in bold colors,
set today's rhythm with your heart-drum,
walk today's march with courage,
create today as your celebration of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Out with the gray! In with color; in with the juice of life.

Vision - Creation - Art? Each of us is an artist, but many are repressed artists. There is something of ourselves that cannot be expressed in words. Perhaps that something can be expressed in form or color, dance or music. If only with crayons or a tin drum, let that something that cannot be said move your hands or your body today.

New article: Feel Your Connection With the Infinite - a Meditation

Further reading: Be an Original

The Silver Lining of Losing Your Job

May your spirit soar

Today is your day to dance lightly with life. It really is. - jlh

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Victor Hugo quote: An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.


An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.
- Victor Hugo

What new ideas are you resisting? What traditions are you clinging to? What would be possible if you opened yourself to inspiration without reservation?

Affirmation: I am unlimited. I am unstoppable.


Further reading: Resilience is about believing in yourself, and trusting your own wisdom rather than being swayed by the opinions of others. - jlh

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Feel Your Connection With the Infinite - a Meditation

I Am One With Spirit and All Creation - I give thanks for the unity of all creation and for everything that has brought me to this moment. I release my entire being to the gentle nurture of Spirit.

Whenever it appears that life's troubles are conspiring against me, I find great comfort in this simple meditation...

Choose a quiet place and sit comfortably but erect in a chair with no arms. Remove your glasses, watch, jewelry and metal objects.

Place your feet flat on the floor. Lift your arms off your lap and extend them slightly to the side.

Close your eyes and begin to breathe deeply and rhythmically. Keeping your eyes shut, raise your chin slightly and focus your inner gaze upward.

With each in-breath, visualize clean white energy streaming in through the top of your head. Feel the renewal, the strength, the connection with Spirit and all creation. Feel the wellbeing, the relaxation, the sense of peace. Let the corners of your mouth form just the slightest smile of contentment in the knowing that all is right with your world.

On each out-breath, visualize dark clouds of stale energy leaving from the soles of your feet. Feel the tensions, the angers, the frustrations draining from your body. Feel all your fears and stress falling away as the dark cloud drifts toward the center of the earth.

As you continue breathing slowly, in and out, visualizing the new energy entering and the old energy leaving, the energy leaving through the soles of your feet will grow lighter, changing from black to dark gray to a lighter gray.

When the color of the energy you are exhaling has become almost as bright as the clean new energy that you are breathing in through the crown of your head, the process is complete.

Feel renewed and at peace with Spirit, with the world, with all people and beings, with yourself, with your past, your present and your future.

Give thanks for all that ever has been, all that is, and all that ever will be.

A Course In Miracles quote: Do you prefer that you be right or happy?

Do you prefer that you be right or happy?
- A Course In Miracles


One of the surest ways to cause yourself great suffering is to insist upon being right - to demand that all others view life exactly as you view it.

Why should it impede your happiness for others to have differing views on politics or religion? for others to paint their houses purple or grow asparagus in place of a grassy lawn? for others to dress, mingle, celebrate, or dine in their own manner?

The path to happiness is to live your life joyfully in your own way and to support and encourage others to do likewise.

Further reading: Live and let live

Acceptance Makes a Great Relationship Even Better

Know that Spirit transcends all cultural differences and embraces all creation.

Forgiveness and Acceptance, Another Look at the Challenges

Friday, November 6, 2009

Winston Churchill: Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.


Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.
- Winston Churchill


What is failure? As the Churchill quote illuminates, a failure is neither permanent nor a blot on one's character. A failure is simply the state of not reaching a particular goal.

Choose to adopt the attitude that sports teams do toward failure. In each game, one team succeeds and one fails. Then the next week they both get out a play again. Life is also a game - with some successes and some failures.

Don't think of failing to meet a goal as something terrible, but merely as this week's box score, and then get ready to play next week's game.

Further reading: The Eye-of-the-Storm

Life is as easy or as hard as you think it is - jlh

Lao Tzu: A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi: We may have our private opinions but why should they be a bar to the meeting of hearts?


We may have our private opinions but why should they be a bar to the meeting of hearts?
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi


A friend or co-worker shares a political, religious, economic, or social opinion that is opposite to yours - does that drive a wedge between your hearts?

Affirmation: All people are my heart-felt brothers and sisters.

Further reading: The Wisdom of Gandhi

Thomas Jefferson: I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.

The Nature of Beliefs

UNITY - the eighth Point of Simply An Inspired Life

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Albert Einstein: Whoever is careless with the truth...

Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.
- Albert Einstein


It really does matter when we tell even the slightest untruth. Even something as well intentioned as telling someone their ill-finished hair style looks wonderful will backfire - certainly karmically, and usually practically.

Further reading: What is Honor? Is there a place for Honor today?

Don Miguel Ruiz: "Agreement" #1 "Be impeccable with your word"

John Lennon: Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans

Albert Einstein quotes

Monday, November 2, 2009

Do or do not, there is no try. - Yoda (Star Wars movie)

Do or do not, there is no try.
- Yoda (Star Wars movie)


What's wrong with the common advice to Try, and Try Harder?

Saying, "I'll try," tends to feel half-hearted and unconvincing. We wouldn't say, "I'm going to try to go to the store for a loaf of bread," we would just say, "I'm going," and so we would.

We would feel extremely unsafe if the pilot of our aircraft announced, "I'm going to try to land at the New York airport in five minutes." When we say something like, "I'm going to try to get a better job," we exhibit a lack of confidence that inhibits our ability to accomplish what we intend.

Just take a deep breath, tell the world what you are going to do, and then do it.
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