Fair?

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

Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions.
All life is an experiment.
The more experiments you make the better.
What if they are a little coarse,
and you may get your coat soiled or torn?
What if you do fail, and get fairly rolled
in the dirt once or twice.
Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a tumble.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

There is a secret wisdom-of-the-ages
that holds the key to breaking
our cycle of self-imposed suffering.
The secret wisdom is,
"Life is not supposed to be fair."
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie


Further reading: Life is Not Supposed to be Fair

Question Your Questions

To love - To be loved

To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try to understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget.
- Arundhati Roy

People will forget what you said,
people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget
how you made them feel.
- Maya Angelou

To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children,
to leave the world a better place,
to know even one life has breathed easier
because you have lived,
this is to have succeeded.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Further reading: The Secret of Happiness

See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil

Quotes about Feelings

Quotes about Love

Quotes about Service

Quotes about Joy

Quotes about Beauty

Quotes about Strength

What Is Life All About?

What is life all about? Consider these various perspectives...

The true meaning of life is to plant trees,
under whose shade you do not expect to sit.
- Nelson Henderson

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

The meaning of life is not simply to exist, to survive,
but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer.
- Arnold Schwarzenegger

There is not one big cosmic meaning for all,
there is only the meaning we each give to our life,
an individual meaning, an individual plot,
like an individual novel, a book for each person.
- Anais Nin

Further Reading: How to Choose Your Life Purpose

Planting Seeds

Meaning of Life Quotes

Quotes about Trees

Quotes about Life

Perspective Quotes

What is the Purpose of Life?

Simple Life

The essence of life is not in
the great victories and grand failures,
but in the simple joys.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

If thou wilt make a man happy,
add not unto his riches but take away from his desires.
- Epicurus

A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin;
what else does a man need to be happy?
- Albert Einstein

Life is really simple,
but we insist on making it complicated.
- Confucius

It is neither wealth nor splendor;
but tranquility and occupation which give you happiness.
- Thomas Jefferson

Further reading: Simplicity

Zero-Based Gratitude

Simple Life Quotes

Abundance Quotes

Truth Quotes

Wealth Quotes

Contentment Quotes

Health Quotes

Little Things

It's the little things you do
that can make a big difference.
What are you attempting to accomplish?
What little thing can you do today
that will make you more effective?
You are probably only one step away from greatness.
- Bob Proctor

Practice yourself in little things,
and then proceed to greater.
- Epictetus

Our "Rainbows and Butterflies" are the small miracles of our life -
the little things that are so easy to overlook,
yet so awe inspiring when we take a moment
to notice and to pay attention.
Give thanks for the rainbows, for the butterflies,
for all God's creatures - large and small,
for the bright blue sky and the soft fog and the gentle rain,
for the tree veiled in the season's first frost,
for the baby's laugh,
for the touch of a hand and the whispered "I love you."
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Ten Little Tips to Feel Happier Right Now

Celebrating Rainbows and Butterflies - the Small Miracles of Our Life

Little Things

Rainbows and Butterflies

Quotes about Greatness

Quotes about Practice

Quotes about Habit

Making a Difference Quotes

Fear and Love

Love is what we were born with.
Fear is what we learned here.
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.
- Marianne Williamson

A mentality of scarcity - of lack -
is the natural consequence of
viewing the world through eyes of fear.
In contrast, when the world is viewed
through eyes of love,
the future becomes unlimited.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Today, spend some time considering the idea that there are only two basic emotions in the world - ONLY TWO. There is Love, and there is Fear, and all other emotions derive from those two opposites. In particular, Hate is a derivative of Fear. A person can never hate that which they do not first fear. Read more...

You never hate that which you do not first fear.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Break the Cycle of Self-Inflicted Suffering

How to Stop Worrying

How to Deal with Fear

Fear Quotes

Love Quotes

Hate Quotes

Anger Quotes

Quotes to Live By

Why They Do What They Do

Before you criticize a man,
walk a mile in his shoes.
- Anonymous

You never really understand a person
until you consider things from his point of view.
- Harper Lee

Understanding is a two-way street.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Everything that irritates us about others
can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.
- Carl Jung

Stop! Breathe deeply.
Begin bringing peace to the outer world
by regaining your own inner peace.
Choose love, choose gratitude,
choose forgiveness, choose peace.
Begin with your own inner peace.
Then use that inner peace
as a platform from which
to approach the outer world
with perspective, understanding, and patience.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Consider the other person's true motivations. Try to visualize yourself in their shoes. If you can see that they are motivated by love, forgive any lack of skill or lack of tangible accomplishment.

Further reading: You Can't Make Them Change

Feeling Used and Left Out

Positive Attitude: How to be Positive Around Negative People

Jimmy Yen - My Personal Greatest Hero

Quotes about Understanding

Quotes about Diversity

Quotes about Acceptance

Quotes about Compassion

Everything Happens for a Reason Quotes

Generations

The ultimate test of a man's conscience
may be his willingness to sacrifice something today
for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard.
- Gaylord Nelson

In Iroquois society, leaders are encouraged to
remember seven generations in the past and
consider seven generations in the future
when making decisions that affect the people.
- Wilma Mankiller

That sense of sacredness,
that thinking in generations,
must begin with reverence for this earth.
- Paul Tsongas

Plant trees for your great-grandchildren -
for future generations.
Create the legacy of a better world.
Leave this world a better place than you found it.
Literally planting trees for
your great-grandchildren is a wonderful idea,
but far more important...
use this symbolism - this imagery -
to represent the kind of legacy
you want to leave to future generations.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: The World We Leave Our Children

Leave the world a bit better

Aging With Grace by Dr. David Mokotoff

Generations Quotes

Quotes about Life

Quotes about Meaning

Quotes about Children

Pay It Forward Quotes

Earth Day

Treat the earth well.
It was not given to you by your parents,
it was loaned to you by your children.
We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors,
we borrow it from our Children.
- Native American traditional

Be gentle with the earth.
- Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

To cherish what remains of the Earth and to foster its renewal
is our only legitimate hope of survival.
- Wendell Berry

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy,
if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you,
if the simple things in nature have a message you understand,
Rejoice, for your soul is alive.
- Eleanora Duse

Know that you are one with the earth, with the water,
with the fire, with the air that you breathe, with all living things,
and that all of these are one with Spirit.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Your legacy to future generations

Earth Quotes

Nature Quotes

Beauty Quotes

Renewal Quotes

Good Quotes about Life

Keep Going

Winners never quit and quitters never win. 

- Vince Lombardi 

 The secret of success is constancy to purpose. 

- Benjamin Disraeli 

 The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart. 

- Robert Ingersoll 

 Further reading: What Can Christopher Columbus Teach Us Today? 

Work/Business

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. - Confucius 

 Profit is a byproduct of work; happiness is its chief product. - Henry Ford 

 You can close more business in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get people interested in you. - Dale Carnegie 

 The success of a project is best predicted by the enthusiasm of its participants. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie 

 Further reading: How to be Successful in Business 

  Eight Ways to Balance Your Life 

  Choose Your Habits, Choose Your Life

Empathy

Could a greater miracle take place
than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant?
- Henry David Thoreau

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
- Philo

It is my choice to care deeply about others.
No kindness is too small to be important -
the smile to the bank teller,
the sincere "thank you" for all kindnesses received,
the reassuring hand on the shoulder of a loved one or friend.
There is compassion in selfless generosity,
but there is also compassion in heartfelt empathy.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Open Mind - Open Heart

Perspective

Differences/Unity
    

Abundance

Not what we have,
but what we enjoy,
constitutes our abundance.
- Epicurus

Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head,
and knows not that it brings abundance
to drive away the hunger.
- Saint Basil

We attract abundance when we ask from a compassionate heart.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: How good things really are

Gratitude for All of Life

Tending the Garden of Our Lives

Abundance Quotes

Acceptance Quotes

Appreciation Quotes

Awareness Quotes

Quotes that Make You Think

Patriot

Patriots' Day, a holiday commemorating the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the American Revolutionary War, is observed in Massachusetts and Maine on the third Monday in April.

 
They who can give up essential liberty
to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety.
- Benjamin Franklin

Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.
- Edward Everett

A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.
- Edward Abbey

Give me your tired, your poor,
your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
- written on the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor

Further reading: Question Your Questions

Boldly Sail the Storms of Life

Hope for the Future

Every child comes with the message
that God is not yet discouraged of man.
- Rabindranath Tagore

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

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

Further reading: Have a Conversation With God, Today

Unanswered Prayers

How God Works (humorous story)

Hope Quotes

Faith Quotes

Spiritual Quotes

Henry Ward Beecher Quotes

Rabindranath Tagore Quotes

You are Beautiful

To the people who love you, you are beautiful already. This is not because they're blind to your shortcomings but because they so clearly see your soul. - Victoria Moran 

 The greatest gift is a portion of thyself. - Ralph Waldo Emerson 

 Further reading: How to Be Yourself How to Deal with Rejection

A Safe Place

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

Nothing can bring a real sense of security
into the home except true love.
- Billy Graham

We think sometimes that poverty is only
being hungry, naked and homeless.
The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and
uncared for is the greatest poverty.
We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.
- Mother Teresa

Home is our sanctuary, where we:
relax into being ourselves,
play with our inner child,
paint the walls green and pink,
dig in the dirt,
grow something,
love somebody else,
love ourselves even more,
snuggle with a warm blanket on a Sunday afternoon,
hang "go away" on the door whenever we want,
clean and tidy often... or never,
launch from and return to,
are truly ourselves.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Choose Inner Peace and a Less Stressful Life

What is Love?

Quotes about Home

Quotes about Love

Quotes about Laughter

Quotes about Joy

Blessings

Where There is Love, Nothing is Missing - a Parable

Values of an Inspired Life

Honor, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Choice,
Vision, Action, Celebration, Unity -
The Values of an Inspired Life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Click on any of the words above to read my quotes on that subject.

Read Eight Points of An Inspired Life - Keys to Happiness

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.
If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
- Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

Life is an exciting business,
and most exciting when it is lived for others.
- Helen Keller

Lighting the Way

As we work to create light for others,
we naturally light our own way.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion
are the things which renew humanity.
- The Buddha

The only gift is a portion of thyself.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?
- George Eliot

Further reading: Plant Trees For Your Grandchildren

Kindness and Charity

Pay It Forward - as an Expression of Universal Gratitude

Quotes about Helping Others

Kindness Quotes

Forgiveness Quotes

Mottos to Live By

Quotes to Live By

Self Respect

That you may retain your self-respect, it is better to displease the people by doing what you know is right, than to temporarily please them by doing what you know is wrong.
- William J. H. Boetcker

Most of the shadows of life are caused by standing in our own sunshine.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The snow goose need not bathe to make itself white.
Neither need you do anything but be yourself.
- Lao Tzu

Further reading: Called to be a street sweeper

The Importance of Self-Honor

9 Paths To Happiness

Solitude

There is sanctuary in being alone with nature.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Language... has created the word "loneliness" to express the pain of being alone.
And it has created the word "solitude" to express the glory of being alone.
- Paul Tillich

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside,
somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God.
Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be.
- Anne Frank

Further reading: Choose Inner Peace and a Less Stressful Life

Celebrating Rainbows and Butterflies

The River of Life (Poem)

Being Alone Quotes

Inner Peace Quotes

Don't Worry Be Happy Quotes

Buddhist Quotes

Zen Koans

Easter 2012

Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection,
not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time.
- Martin Luther

Guide our feet into the way of peace.
- Luke 1:79

The great gift of Easter is hope -
Christian hope which makes us have that confidence in God,
in his ultimate triumph, and in his goodness and love,
which nothing can shake.
- Basil C. Hume

Love one another.
- Jesus of Nazareth

Further reading: Love even those who hate you

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

We Can Do It

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual,
you have an obligation to be one.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Well-behaved women seldom make history.
- Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

A woman is like a tea bag - you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Further reading: Action

Finding Balance in Life Beats Moderation

How to be Successful in Business

Can Do Quotes

Strong Women Quotes

Quotes about Overcoming Adversity

Empowering Quotes

Encouraging Quotes

Death - Good Friday

Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.
- Khalil Gibran

Death is nothing else but going home to God,
the bond of love will be unbroken for all eternity.
- Mother Teresa

"I go to prepare a place for you."
- John 14:2

Where there is great love there are always miracles.
- Willa Cather

Further reading: Unanswered Prayers

Where There is Love, Nothing is Missing - a Parable

Quotes about Losing a Loved One

Quotes about Death

Renewal and Rebirth - The Great Cycle

Life is Beautiful Quotes

Famous Quotes about Life

Life Quotes and Sayings

Inner Peace

The life of inner peace, being harmonious and without stress, is the easiest type of existence. - Norman Vincent Peale 

 Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset. - Saint Francis de Sales 

 Choose Inner Peace. Nothing is worth losing your inner peace. Take action as circumstances require, but never surrender your inner peace. Stop. Breathe deeply. Close your eyes and breathe deeply again. Then, and only then, take action - from a peaceful heart. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie 

 Further reading: How to Feel Better About Yourself 

  Ten Little Tips to Feel Happier Right Now 

  Joy is a Choice - but Not an Easy Choice

Daily Motivation

You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water. - Rabindranath Tagore 

 Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses. - George Washington Carver 

 Whatever you can do, or dream you can, Begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it, Begin it now. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 

 Further reading: How to Motivate Yourself 

  Boldly Sail the Storms of Life 

  On the Nature of Quotes

Predictable?

Is your life predictable? Neither being unreliable, nor being stuck in a rut, is a path to a great life. Strike a balance that honors both the routine and the creative in your life.

Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again,
but expecting different results.
- Rita Mae Brown, also attributed to Einstein

Unless you try to do something
beyond what you have already mastered,
you will never grow.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

All our dreams can come true,
if we have the courage to pursue them.
- Walt Disney

Further reading: Is Now a Time to be Reasonable?

How to Move On and Let Go

Getting Un-Stuck

Beyond Quotes

Dreams Quotes

You Can Do It Quotes

Winnie The Pooh Quotes

Khalil Gibran Quotes

Thanksgiving - Every Day

When you arise in the morning,
give thanks for the morning light, for your life and strength.
Give thanks for your food, and the joy of living.
If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies with yourself.
- Tecumseh

Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more.
If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough.
- Oprah Winfrey

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

Affirmation:
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: Zero-Based Gratitude

A List of Gratitudes - a Thanksgiving

Let Each Day be a Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Quotes

Attitude Quotes

Serenity Prayer

Encouraging Quotes

Quotes about Letting Go

April Fool

April Fool's Day is a 600 year old tradition. At its best, this tradition is a reminder not to take oneself, or one's sense of propriety, too seriously.

The moment you start seeing life
as non-serious, a playfulness,
all the burden on your heart disappears.
All the fear of death, of life,
of love - everything disappears.
- Osho

Today is your day to laugh at life,
laugh at what's funny - laugh at what's sad,
laugh loud - laugh often,
laugh at me - laugh at you - laugh at life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Just stop it. Seriously.
Whatever it is. Just stop it.
If only for an hour, a day, a week.
Stop doing it long enough to get a glimpse
of what the change would actually look like.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

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

Further reading: Never Let Anyone Get Your Goat

Maybe So, Maybe Not.

Celebration

Laugh Quotes

Serious Quotes

Quote of the Day