A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body. Benjamin Franklin

A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body.
- Benjamin Franklin

A house is made of walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams.
- Anonymous

Home is where our loved ones are.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Home is not a structure, but the place that we feel comfortable - the place we belong - the place of our loved ones.

Further reading: Mother Teresa: Love begins at home

Home is our sanctuary

Home is where our loved ones are

Our loved ones

Youngsters need good models more than they need critics. John Wooden

Being a role model is the most powerful form of educating. Youngsters need good models more than they need critics. It's one of a parent's greatest responsibilities and opportunities.
- John Wooden

Where there is shouting, there is no true knowledge.
- Leonardo da Vinci

Your example is far more influential and inspiring than any words of instruction, or threats, or even words of encouragement.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Affirmations of an Inspired Life - Young-Adult Version (Share this with all the young people in your life)

We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children. - Native American traditional

You and I are sons of one religion, and it is the Spirit. Khalil Gibran

I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the Spirit. - Khalil Gibran 

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

 Drop the sword - for there is but one flesh to wound, and that is the one flesh of all humankind. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie 

 We are all of one body. Any harm or hatred toward another is injury or hate toward the whole of creation and toward oneself. 

 Further Reading: Feel Your Connection With the Infinite - a Meditation 

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

  A common denominator of all religions is that they have the power to bring out the best and the worst in people. - jlh

Enjoy each step along the way. Wayne Dyer

When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It's to enjoy each step along the way.
- Wayne Dyer

Life is a journey. It is not a race to test who can finish first or who can end up with the most loot. Rather, life is best enjoyed as a meander - watching the view to left and right - above and below - as the days slowly move past in dress review.

Further reading: I hope you dance

Be sure to smell the flowers along the way. Walter Hagen

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance.

Half Reveal and Half Conceal

Humans are amphibians - half spirit and half animal.
As spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time.
- C. S. Lewis

Words, like nature, half reveal and half conceal the soul within.
- Alfred Lord Tennyson

The challenge of living a great life is to create a meaningful whole out of sometimes ill-fitting halves.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Check out my quotes collection, Life Sayings Quotes at www.LifeSayingsQuotes.com

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

Dont die with your music still inside you. Wayne Dyer

Don't die with your music still inside you. Listen to your intuitive inner voice and find what passion stirs your soul.
- Wayne Dyer

Powerful Dreams Inspire Powerful Action.
When you can taste, smell, and touch your dreams, you can enroll the world.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

I Dream with Powerful Intention. Opening my mind to Spirit, I trust my intuition to deliver powerful visions of my inspired future, and I empower my intent to transform those visions into reality.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Wayne Dyer: Failure does not exist

Joy is a Choice - but Not an Easy Choice

Marianne Williamson: Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.

My newest quotes collection

Please check out my newest quotes collection, Life Sayings Quotes at www.LifeSayingsQuotes.com

There are quotes about Life, Love, Friendship, Family, Death, Success, Courage, Happiness, and more. These life quotes are a mixture of famous quotes I have selected and life sayings I have authored. There are also some cute and funny sayings.

Be curious, not judgmental. - Walt Whitman

Be curious, not judgmental.
- Walt Whitman

We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.
- Walt Disney

To keep your thinking young, stay curious.

Further reading: When you keep getting the wrong answers, try asking better questions - jlh

Mark Twain: It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.

Quotes about Curious and Curiosity

Eternity

Smile and the world smiles with you.

Everything you say and do, is a reflection of the inner you.
- Anonymous

Smile and the world smiles with you.
- Anonymous

Life is a reflection of intent.
Love reflects love.
Hate reflects hate.
- jlh

More often than not, the world mirrors your attitude back to you.

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

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

On the Unworkability of Vengeance 

Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love. - A Course in Miracles

Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love.
The real miracle is the love that inspires them.
In this sense everything that comes from love is a miracle.
- A Course in Miracles

Each of us dwells in a cathedral of our own BEing t

hat is created vast enough to encompass Unity with all creation.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Love, real love, powers everything good. 

Let your life be an expression of your love of God, 

your love of all people around the world, 

and your love of all God's other creations.

Further reading: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr: Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illumines it.

We are most like God when we forgive

To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. Bertrand Russell

To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.
- Bertrand Russell

Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...
It's about learning how to dance in the rain.
- Vivian Greene

Let today be a day to face life with courage, with faith, and with a light heart.

Further reading: mary anne radmacher: courage doesn't always roar

Mark Twain quote: Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great ...

Choose the World You See, and See the World You Choose. -jlh

Choose the World You See, and See the World You Choose.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

We don't see things as they are,
we see things as we are.
- Anaïs Nin

The key word is "choose." You have a choice about the perspective you take on life. See tragedy, and the world is tragic - see beauty, and the world is beautiful.

Further reading: I Say NO - I Say YES

Set and enforce your personal boundaries. - JLH

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr: Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illumines it.

I do not need anyone's permission to be my true self. - jlh

I do not need anyone's permission to be my true self. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie 

  The greatest hazard of all, losing one’s self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all. - Søren Kierkegaard 

  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

Life is not supposed to be fair. - jlh

Life is not supposed to be fair.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.
- Henry Ward Beecher

You don’t have the power to make life “fair,” but you do have the power to make life joyful.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The stairs we carefully build to help us scale the daunting cliffs of life are no match for the forces of Nature. Know that joy lies in faith, positive attitude, and courage. Adversity is a challenge, not a defeat.

Further reading: CELEBRATION - the seventh Point of Simply An Inspired Life

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

Life is too important to be taken seriously. Oscar Wilde

Play with life, laugh with life, dance lightly with life, and smile at the riddles of life, knowing that life’s only true lessons are writ small in the margin.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Life is too important to be taken seriously.
- Oscar Wilde

Further reading: De-Stress Your Life - Reducing Stress

Dalai Lama: The purpose of our lives is to be happy

An Irish Blessing for St Patricks Day

May flowers always line your path and sunshine light your day.
May songbirds serenade you every step along the way.
May a rainbow run beside you in a sky that's always blue.
And may happiness fill your heart each day your whole life through.
- Traditional Irish Blessing

May the world be kind to you, and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Read my two newest Happiness Articles:

How to be Happier in Life

How to be Happy in Life by Breaking the Cycle of Self-Inflicted Suffering

Service: Albert Schweitzer, Henry Ford

One thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.
- Albert Schweitzer

Wealth, like happiness, is never attained when sought after directly. It comes as a by-product of providing a useful service.
- Henry Ford

The path to your own happiness is usually found in service.

Further reading: Offering Comforting Words and Support

Constant kindness can accomplish much. Albert Schweitzer

Constant kindness can accomplish much. 

As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes 

misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.
- Albert Schweitzer

Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.
- attributed to Theodore Roosevelt but probably older and anonymous

I choose to be caring, compassionate and kind toward all people, 

and I also choose to be indifferent to gossip, petty complaints, and idle chatter. 

About those, I just don't care.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Quotes about Caring, Compassion, and Kindness

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

You cannot do a kindness too soon - Ralph Waldo Emerson

A bird does not sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.

A bird does not sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.
- Chinese Proverb

Today is your day to Spread Wing and Soar.
Fly Life on Free Wings, and Sing to its Glory.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: 176 of our inspiring picture-quotes are collected at
http://www.dreamthisday.com/inspiring-picture-quotes/
Just keep clicking to see another quote and picture.

The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your 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.- although attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, this prayer first appeared (written in French) in 1912

Further reading: Universal Kindness and Compassion

We are most like God when we forgive

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

Spiritual Quotes

Start living now. Mary Manin Morrissey

Start living now. Stop saving the good china for that special occasion. Stop withholding your love until that special person materializes. Every day you are alive is a special occasion. Every minute, every breath, is a gift from God. - Mary Manin Morrissey

Further reading: Life is no brief candle to me - George Bernard Shaw 

  Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance. 

  The most difficult phase of life is not when no one understands you, it is when you don't understand yourself. - Anonymous

Be sure to smell the flowers along the way. Walter Hagen

You're only here for a short visit. Don't hurry. Don't worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.
- Walter Hagen

Let today be a day to enjoy life exactly as it comes - a day to relax and enjoy life's small pleasures.

Further reading: 12 Life Lessons I Learned From My Cat

Let It Be - Paul McCartney

Lao Tzu: Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished

Familiarity breeds consent. Oscar Wilde

Familiarity breeds consent.
- Oscar Wilde

Read today's quote carefully. Wilde's saying is a play-on-words on the old saw "Familiarity breeds contempt."

It is a human tendency to put up with emotional abuse from those we know well that if done by a stranger would have us calling 911. Ask yourself whether you tolerate behaviors by a spouse or someone else close to you merely out of familiarity and habit.

Further reading: Oscar Wilde Quotes

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

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

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

Alas for those that never sing, But die with all their music in them! Oliver Wendell Holmes

Alas for those that never sing,
But die with all their music in them!
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Incite a riot of new ideas.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Let today be a day to break with convention and try out a truly new approach to living.

Further reading: I Dreamed a Dream
Tips for Keeping Your New Years Resolutions

Practice makes perfect - sometimes

The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness. Abraham Maslow

The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness.
- Abraham Maslow

What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself.
- Abraham Maslow

Unhappiness is generally a result of spending too much time regretting and resenting the past or worrying about the future. The key to happiness and success is focusing, with awareness, on the present moment.

Further reading: True learning is not about facts, but about conscious appreciation of the experience of living. - jlh

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

Abraham Maslow: Appreciate again and again
       

Success has a simple formula: do your best, and people may like it. Sam Ewing

Success has a simple formula: do your best, and people may like it.
- Sam Ewing

Your example is far more influential and inspiring than any words of instruction, or threats, or even words of encouragement.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

It is important to set a good example for your children, your loved ones, your community, and future generations. Setting a good example becomes automatic if you always do your best. When you do your best, you never have to worry about having a negative impact on another.

Further reading: This Above All, To Thine Own Self Be True

don Miguel Ruiz: Always do your best

The greatest wealth is health. Virgil

The greatest wealth is health.
- Virgil

If you have health, you probably will be happy, and if you have health and happiness, you have all the wealth you need, even if it is not all you want.
- Elbert Hubbard

If you have good health, or even tolerably good health, be very grateful and joyful, and be compassionate toward those whose health is failing.

Further reading: The Cab Ride

Choose Your Habits, Choose Your Life - 5 Secrets For Breaking Your Bad Habits

Joseph Campbell: When we quit thinking primarily about ourselves...

Elbert Hubbard quote: Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.

There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth - not going all the way and not starting. - The Buddha

There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth - not going all the way and not starting.
- The Buddha

What are you committed to? Have you started, or are you still thinking about it - and making excuses? Do you work toward your goal each day?

Further reading: Mark Twain: It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.

The Buddha: Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.

The Buddha: Hate is never conquered by hate, Hate is only conquered by love.

Mother Teresa prayer

Mother Teresa prayer

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
... Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
... Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
... Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
... Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
... Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
... Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
... Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
... Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

We can do no great things - only small things with great love.

- Kent Keith (www.paradoxicalcommandments.com)
Mother Teresa kept a copy of this "prayer" on the wall of her orphanage

Further reading: Mother Teresa quotes: Love begins at home

Gandhi: The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.

Five Questions to Ask Yourself When You Feel Sad for No Apparent Reason

Self Confidence quotes

We must let go of the shore

We must let go of the shore To my fellow swimmers: here is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift, that there are those who will be afraid, who will try to hold on to the shore, they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly. Know that the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, and keep our heads above water. And I say see who is there with you and celebrate. At this time in history we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves, for the moment we do, our spiritual growth and journey come to a halt. The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves. Banish the word struggle from your attitude and vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration. For we are the ones we have been waiting for. - Hopi Proverb

I hope you dance

When you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance.
- Lee Ann Womack (Watch the I Hope You Dance video)

Today is your day to dance lightly with life.
Sing wild songs of adventure.
Invite rainbows & butterflies out to play.
Soar your spirit and unfurl your joy.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

A few days ago, I asked you to send in your Happy Day quotes. I have put a few of them on a Happy Day Quotes page.

No one is in control of your happiness but you

No one is in control of your happiness but you; therefore, you have the power to change anything about yourself or your life that you want to change. - Barbara De Angelis 

 Self-disciplined begins with the mastery of your thoughts. If you don't control what you think, you can't control what you do. Simply, self-discipline enables you to think first and act afterward. - >Napoleon Hill 

 If we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently. - Anthony Robbins 

 egrets are the tears of choices not made and of good deeds left undone. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Choose Your Habits, Choose Your Life - 5 Secrets For Breaking Your Bad Habits 

  How To Talk Yourself Into Making Personal Changes