Roots

Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches,
letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights.
- Pauline R. Kezer

The roots of all goodness lie
in the soil of appreciation for goodness.
- Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

Storms make trees take deeper roots.
- Dolly Parton

There are two lasting bequests we can give our children
One is roots, the other is wings.
- Hodding Carter

Further reading: Gratitude for All of Life

A Story of Money

Perspective on Tradition: An Open Mind

Quotes about Roots

Quotes about Wings

Quotes about Goodness

Quotes about Trees

Quotes about Appreciation

Quotes about Children

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt was born January 30, 1882.

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself -
nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror
which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Men are not prisoners of fate,
but only prisoners of their own minds.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

If civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the
science of human relationships -
the ability of all peoples,
of all kinds, to live together, in the same world at peace.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

The school is the last expenditure upon which America
should be willing to economize.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Rules are not necessarily sacred, principles are.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Further reading: Coping with the Impossible

Is failure the key to success?
 
What is Your Dream

Franklin D. Roosevelt Quotes

Dwight D. Eisenhower Quotes

Quotes about Fear

Quotes about Courage

Quotes about Principles

Quotes about Education

The Real You

What lies behind us and what lies before us
are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Listen to the compass of your heart.
All you need lies within you.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as
your own unguarded thoughts.
- The Buddha

We all go through life bristling
at our external limitations,
but the most difficult chains
to break are inside us.
- Bradley Whitford

You are not your mind. You, a Spiritual BEing,
are neither your mind nor your body.
Mind and body are your tools - to use as you choose.
Sometimes your body appears to have a will of its own,
as when it twitches or pains.
Likewise, your mind often appears to have its own will.
That incessant chattering of regret, disappointment, guilt,
shame, foreboding, worry, and fear
is your Rattlesnake Mind striking off on its own.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: How to Be Yourself

How to Deal with Rejection

Feel Your Connection With the Infinite - a Meditation

Quotes about The Mind

Quotes about Life Lessons

Quotes about Spirit

Within Quotes

Quotes about Heart

Quotes about Positive Thoughts

Point of View

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
- Anonymous

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

Your point of view sets you up well in advance
for how you view the events as they unfold.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

If there is any one secret of success,
it lies in the ability to get the other person's point of view
and see things from that person's angle as well as from your own.
- Henry Ford

Everyone believes that their beliefs are the right ones -
that is why they are called beliefs.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Perspective

What Do You See?

Blame

"Right" or Happy?

My thoughts on See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil.


Point of View Quotes

Perspective Quotes

Empathy Quotes

Acceptance Quotes

Quotes about Beliefs

Caring

It is in giving that we receive.
- St. Francis of Assisi

You can give without loving,
but you can never love without giving.
- Robert Louis Stevenson

Happiness... consists in giving, and in serving others.
- Henry Drummond

Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.
- Albert Schweitzer

You can't live a perfect day without doing something
for someone who will never be able to repay you.
- John Wooden

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, and there is also compassion in heartfelt empathy.

Further reading: Lighting the Way

Service

Kindness

Quotes about Caring

Quotes about Compassion

Quotes about Kindness

Quotes about Generosity

Quotes about Sharing

Quotes about Giving

Humility

There is no respect for others without humility in one's self.
- Henri Frederic Amiel

Humility is not cowardice.
Meekness is not weakness.
Humility and meekness are indeed spiritual powers.
- Swami Sivananda

Talent is God-given; be humble.
Fame is man-given; be thankful.
Conceit is self-given; be careful.
- John Wooden

Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less.
- Rick Warren

Real excellence and humility are not incompatible one with the other,
on the contrary they are twin sisters.
- Jean Baptiste Lacordaire

There is no virtue in speaking or thinking badly of oneself. The virtue is in focusing one's energy on serving others.


Further reading: Self-Importance

On importance - read this first - then this

Renewal

Well-being is making its way to you at all times.
If you will relax and find a way to allow it,
it will be your experience.
- Abraham (Esther Hicks)

Persevere. Plan. Strategize. Focus. Breathe. Write.
Let go: relax. Forgive. All this failing: take a nap.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Humor is healing.
- Brad Garrett

Believe in the goodness of life.
Believe in the power of time to heal and to renew.
Believe in the power of forgiveness and gratitude.
Believe in the gift of rainbows and butterflies.
Believe in the laughter of children.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Choose Your Habits, Choose Your Life

Renewal and Rebirth - The Great Cycle

Honor a season for rest and renewal

Quotes about Renewal

Relaxation Quotes

Quotes about Healing

Quotes about Awareness

Forgiveness Quotes

Count Your Blessings Quotes

Yin-Yang

The ancient Chinese yin-yang symbol represents the balance of yin (peacefulness, serenity, acceptance, rest, rejuvenation, roots, tradition) with yang (activity, strength, striving, movement, change, wings, invention, progress). A meaningful and joyful life is to be found in balance.

Life is a balance between rest and movement.
- Osho

There are two lasting bequests we can give our children
One is roots, the other is wings.
- Hodding Carter

Balance happens when I invite it to happen
with my intentional actions and my guided perspective.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

In the midst of movement and chaos,
keep stillness inside of you.
- Deepak Chopra

Further reading: Finding Balance in Life

Go With the Flow - Six Ways to Live a Happier Life

Balance Work and Play

Quotes about Balance

Quotes about Serenity

Quotes about Movement

Quotes about Wings

Quotes about Perspective

Quotes about Intention

Burdens

Life's burdens are lighter when I laugh at myself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

To carry each other is not a burden at all
but a kind of privilege.
- Bono

I have decided to stick with love.
Hate is too great a burden to bear.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Every burden is a blessing.
- Walt Kelly

Further reading: Depressed? Laugh!

Ten Little Tips to Feel Happier Right Now

Eight Rules for Living Your Greatest Life

Count Your Blessings Quotes

Quotes about Burdens

Quotes about Laughter

Gift Quotes

Quotes about Privilege

Quotes about Love

Innocence

Bringing a childlike wonder
and a beginner's mind to life
maximizes both success and joy.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Innocence isn't ever lost completely;
we just need to maintain our goodness to regain it.
- Jewel

Through our own recovered innocence
we discern the innocence of our neighbors.
- Henry David Thoreau

To live a pure unselfish life,
one must count nothing as one's own
in the midst of abundance.
- The Buddha

Become more and more innocent,
less knowledgeable and more childlike.
Take life as fun -
because that's precisely what it is!
- Osho

Further reading: Is Hope Futile?

What a Wonderful World

Is failure the key to success?

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe,
our class, and our nation;
and this means we must develop a world perspective.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Life's most urgent question is:
what are you doing for others?
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

We must learn to live together as brothers
or perish together as fools.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Cowardice asks the question - is it safe?
Expediency asks the question - is it politic?
Vanity asks the question - is it popular?
But conscience asks the question - is it right?
And there comes a time when one must take a position
that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular;
but one must take it BECAUSE it is right.
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.


Further reading:  Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
 
I have a Dream... Martin Luther King Jr. (video)

Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes

Responsibility

Quotes to Live By

Words of Encouragement

Compassion Quotes

Courage Quotes

Earth Quotes

Love Quotes

Enemies

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?
- Abraham Lincoln

If you want to make peace with your enemy,
you have to work with your enemy.
Then he becomes your partner.
- Nelson Mandela

There is some good in the worst of us
and some evil in the best of us.
When we discover this,
we are less prone to hate our enemies.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Man's enemies are not demons, but human beings like himself.
- Lao Tzu

You have heard that it was said,
'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
But I tell you: Love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you.
- Matthew 5:43-44

Further reading: Judging Others

Can You Really Lift Your Burden of Resentments?

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

Awareness

Quotes about Judging People

Quotes about Acceptance

Understanding Quotes

Anger Quotes

Revenge Quotes

Forgiveness Quotes

Walk

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.
- John Muir

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson 

An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.
- Henry David Thoreau

If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day,
he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer.
But if he spends his days as a speculator,
shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time,
he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen.
- Henry David Thoreau

Let today be a day to spend time alone in nature. Take a walk as far from the hustle and bustle of society as you can. Walk near trees or water if it is possible.

Further reading: Ten Little Tips to Feel Happier Right Now

Choose Inner Peace and a Less Stressful Life

Seven Tips for Stress-Free Living

Pretense

Our greatest pretenses are built up
not to hide the evil and the ugly in us,
but our emptiness.
The hardest thing to hide is something that is not there.
- Eric Hoffer

God has given you one face, and you make yourself another.
- William Shakespeare

Society is a masked ball,
where every one hides his real character,
and reveals it by hiding.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

It is impossible for a man to conceal himself.
In every act, word or gesture,
he stands revealed as he is,
and not as he would have himself appear to be.
From the Universe, nothing is or can be hidden.
- Ernest Holmes

Be yourself. There is nothing more for you to do
than to be the best YOU that you can be -
with no imitation, no pretense, no guilt, no shame.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: The Masks We Wear

How to Be Yourself

How To Not Care What Others Think

Need For Approval

Quotes about Pretense

Mask Quotes

Be Yourself Quotes

Quotes about Truth

Quotes about Invisible

Quotes about Appearances

Harmony

He who lives in harmony with himself
lives in harmony with the universe.
- Marcus Aurelius

Happiness is when
what you think,
what you say,
and what you do
are in harmony.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

Happiness is not a matter of intensity
but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.
- Thomas Merton

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

Harmony (the quality of forming a pleasing and consistent whole) is one of the qualities of a great life. Let all the aspects of your nature be in harmony with each other, and let your existence be in harmony with all of creation.

Further reading: Balance Your Life

Break the Cycle of Self-Inflicted Suffering

Let me bring peace into moments of chaos

Quotes about Harmony

Quotes about Melody

Quotes about The Universe

Quotes about Happiness

Quotes about Balance

Quotes about Inner Peace

Beauty

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread,
places to play in and pray in,
where nature may heal and cheer
and give strength to the body and soul.
- John Muir

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.
- John Muir

Go alone. Breathe deeply. Stay long. Keep silence. Listen to the voice.

Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.
- Franz Kafka

It is always the simple that produces the marvelous.
- Amelia Barr

See beauty in unexpected places.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

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.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: The Wisdom of Anne Frank

You are Beautiful

CELEBRATION
     

Healthy Body and Mind

To keep the body in good health is a duty...
otherwise we shall not be able
to keep our mind strong and clear.
- The Buddha

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

The secret of health for both mind and body
is not to mourn for the past,
nor to worry about the future,
but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.
- The Buddha

Healthy choices thread through every aspect of life.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Watch what you eat -
Your body becomes what you eat.
Watch what you think -
Your mind becomes what you think.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Avoid junk foods and junk thoughts. Treat your body, mind, and emotions with the gentle care they deserve.

Further reading: Choose Your Habits, Choose Your Life

How to Sleep Better

Stress Reduction: Make Healthy Choices to Relieve Stress

Count Your Blessings

Quotes about Health

Quotes about Healthy Choices

Habit Quotes

Quotes about Being Gentle

Being Strong Quotes

Choices Quotes

Be Flexible

In matters of style, swim with the current;
in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
- Thomas Jefferson

Nothing is softer or more flexible than water,
yet nothing can resist it.
- Lao Tzu

A tree that is unbending, is easily broken.
- Lao Tzu

Choose your battles wisely. While your core principles and your life goals are important, most of what you let upset you is not worth an argument or lost sleep. Take Lao Tzu's advice and become softer and more flexible.

Be resolute in your goals,
but flexible in your tactics.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The very nature of the world is constant change. You set a goal and create a plan to achieve it; then the assumptions on which you based your plan change - they always do. The challenge is to retain your goals while adapting your tactics. Relax and stay flexible in order to reach your goals and maintain your happiness.

The phrase "tilting at windmills" (from the fictional character Don Quixote - shown in today's picture) epitomizes the hopelessness of a determined but inflexible approach. Far better to change your tactics than to fail - however nobly.

Further reading: Success Tip: Drive Change

Respecting the ways of others

Stay adaptable, stay Joyful

Peace Pilgrim

When you find peace within yourself,
you become the kind of person who can live at peace with others.
- Peace Pilgrim

No one can find inner peace except by working,
not in a self-centered way, but for the whole human family.
- Peace Pilgrim

This is the way of peace: Overcome evil with good,
falsehood with truth, and hatred with love.
- Peace Pilgrim

We are all cells in the same body of humanity.
- Peace Pilgrim

Praying without ceasing is not ritualized,
nor are there even words.
It is a constant state of awareness of oneness with God.
- Peace Pilgrim

Further reading: Choose Inner Peace

Miracles Need Both God and You

Kindness and Charity

Marriage

Every good relationship, especially marriage, is based on respect.
If it's not based on respect,
nothing that appears to be good will last very long.
- Amy Grant

The formula for achieving a successful relationship is simple:
you should treat all disasters as if they were trivialities
but never treat a triviality as if it were a disaster.
- Quentin Crisp

Don't marry the person you think you can live with;
marry only the individual you think you can't live without.
- James C. Dobson

Marriage, ultimately, is the practice of
becoming passionate friends.
- Harville Hendrix

Further reading: 7 Secrets of Happy Couples

What is Love?

You Can't Make Them Change

Quotes about Marriage

Quotes about Love and Life

Relationship Quotes

Quotes about Respect

Family Quotes and Sayings

Work Life Balance Quotes

Observation

The traveler sees what he sees,
the tourist sees what he has come to see.
- Gilbert K. Chesterton

To acquire knowledge, one must study;
but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.
- Marilyn vos Savant

Accuracy of observation is the equivalent of accuracy of thinking.
- Wallace Stevens

Be an Observer of Life.
Gaining wisdom from carefully observing life
is not a substitute for action -
it is a prerequisite for informed action.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Be aware of what is going on around you today - truly conscious.
Don't make assumptions. Focus on looking behind the obvious.

Further reading:  Joy Blooms Where Minds and Hearts are Open

Begin a Rewarding Journaling Practice

Great Truths

Quotes about Observation

Observer Quotes

Pay Attention Quotes

Traveler Quotes

Quotes about Being Conscious

Quotes about Life Lessons

Lifetime Learning

Develop a passion for learning.
If you do, you will never cease to grow.
- Anthony J. D'Angelo

Anyone who stops learning is old,
whether at twenty or eighty.
Anyone who keeps learning stays young.
The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.
- Henry Ford

Learning is the beginning of wealth.
Learning is the beginning of health.
Learning is the beginning of spirituality.
Searching and learning is where the miracle process all begins.
- Jim Rohn

Education is learning what you didn't even know you didn't know.
- Daniel J. Boorstin

To stay interested in life, to stay alert and young,
learn something new - and surprising - each day.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Learn by Teaching

Learning Through Observation
 
Too Difficult?

New Eyes

The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes
but in having new eyes.
- Marcel Proust

The question is not what you look at, but what you see.
- Henry David Thoreau

You change the past when you change the way you see it.
- Alan Cohen

Often, the greatest joy is to be found not in new things,
but in old things seen through new eyes.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: The Nature of Belief

Maybe So, Maybe Not

Question Your Questions

Smell The Flowers

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

There are always flowers for those who want to see them.
- Henri Matisse

Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste
that they hurry past it.
- Soren Kierkegaard

Life only appears complicated when one is worrying.
Relax, and life becomes simple again.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Celebrate Whimsey Today

Avoiding Battles

You Can Be Happy

Worry

Worry is the interest paid by those who borrow trouble.
- George Washington

Do not anticipate trouble,
or worry about what may never happen.
Keep in the sunlight.
- Benjamin Franklin

If only the people who worry about their liabilities
would think about the riches they do possess,
they would stop worrying.
- Dale Carnegie

When I look back on all these worries,
I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed
that he had had a lot of trouble in his life,
most of which had never happened.
- Winston Churchill

The antidotes for worry are gratitude, action, and service.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: The Secret of Happiness

How to Think Positive

Happy Friends, Happy You

Memories

A life rooted deeply lives and grows in memory.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

I love the rain - it washes memories
off the sidewalk of life.
- the movie Play It Again, Sam

The heart of marriage is memories;
and if the two of you happen to have
the same ones and can savor your reruns,
then your marriage is a gift from the gods.
- Bill Cosby

Take care of all your memories.
For you cannot relive them.
- Bob Dylan

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

Further reading: Aging With Grace

Is There Virtue In Avoiding Battles?

Assumptions

Memory Quotes

Rain Quotes

Quotes about Memories

Deep Quotes

Quotes about Traditions

Wise Quotes about Life

Personal Growth

Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.
- John F. Kennedy

Intellectual growth should commence at birth
and cease only at death.
- Albert Einstein

As we grow as unique persons, we learn to respect
the uniqueness of others.
- Robert H. Schuller

Love dies only when growth stops.
- Pearl S. Buck

Further reading: Choose Your Habits, Choose Your Life

Are You Ready To Transform Your Life?

Break Old Patterns of Action

Quotes about Personal Growth

Comfort Zone Quotes

Quotes about Freedom

Quotes about Growing Old

Quotes about Love

New Beginning Quotes

Role Model

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

The full measure of a man is
not to be found in the man himself,
but in the colors and textures that
come alive in others because of him.
- Albert Schweitzer

Imagine for yourself a character,
a model personality whose example you determine to follow,
in private as well as in public.
- Epictetus

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: What Is Really Important?

Your Life Purpose

My Personal Greatest Hero

Good Example Quotes

Quotes about Responsibility

Quotes about Education

Quotes about Children

Quotes about Opportunity

Role Model Quotes

Life Is Unlimited

Life is unlimited - it expands with the generosity,
compassion, inventiveness, and service that you contribute.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

A man can succeed at almost anything
for which he has unlimited enthusiasm.
- Charles M. Schwab

We must accept finite disappointment,
but never lose infinite hope.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

I thank you God for this most amazing day,
for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and for the blue dream of sky
and for everything which is natural,
which is infinite, which is yes.
- e. e. cummings

Further reading: Living Your Greatest Life

Your Dream

Nothing to look forward to?

Quotes about Unlimited

Quotes about Today

Quotes about Enthusiasm

Quotes about Infinite

Quotes about Disappointment

Quotes about Hope

You Can Do It

Where there's a will, there's a way.
- old English proverb

In a gentle way, you can shake the world.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

If you can dream it, you can do it.
- Walt Disney

As long as a man stands in his own way,
everything seems to be in his way.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Choose your goal and keep your eye on it. Never give up.
Perhaps you will need to change your plan
and approach you goal from a different direction, but don't quit.
Keep thinking. Keep re-planning. Keep going.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Affirmation: I am unlimited. I am unstoppable.

Further reading: Take Charge of Your Life
How to Think Positive

Why be Reasonable?

Happy New Year

This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best.
- William Arthur Ward

Don't Wait!
Start on your dreams, your impulses,
your longings, your special occasions today.
Because this is your moment.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.
- Oprah Winfrey

Another Sunrise, Another New Beginning.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading:  Mary Anne Radmacher: Old Beginnings versus NEW beginnings

New Year Suggestions