To Do That Which Will Endure

The three controlling desires of every normal man seem to be:
First, to live. Not merely to exist.
Second, to be a man among men.
Third, to do that which will endure.
- James Hulme Canfield

Death comes to all,
but great achievements build a monument
which shall endure until the sun grows cold.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Lives of great men all remind us, we can make our lives sublime,
and, departing, leave behind us, footprints on the sands of time.
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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

Further reading: A Truly Successful Life

The Seeds You Plant

Earning a Good Name

Your Legacy - Making a Difference

Our Grandchildren's Planet

Why Quotations

Quotations help us remember the simple yet profound truths
that give life perspective and meaning.
- Criswell Freeman

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.
- Mark Twain (attributed)

Examine, inquire.
Look into the nature of things.
Search out the grounds of your opinions,
the for and against.
Know why you believe, understand what you believe,
and possess a reason for the faith that is in you.
- Frances Wright

If you would be a real seeker after truth,
it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt,
as far as possible, all things.
- Rene Descartes

Everything is not as it appears to be.
- Proverb

Quotations are dead unless a spur for inquiry.
The greatest value of quotations is as a source of questions -
to get us thinking about new ideas.
Open minds - open hearts.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Experts and Authorities

Know Yourself

Suggestions for Reading Daily Inspiration - Daily Quote

Analysis AND Emotion

Byron Katie - The Work - No one can give you freedom but you

Fulfilling Your Dreams

Life expands to fill your dreams.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

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

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.
Live the life you have imagined.
- Henry David Thoreau 

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.
- Anais Nin

Believe in yourself. Dream big dreams.
Set important goals. Take action on those goals.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

To live a great life requires two steps...
1. Plan your life goals.
2. Act on your plan - every day.

Further reading: How to Choose Your Life Purpose

Follow Your Bliss

How To Not Care What Others Think

Choose Your Habits, Choose Your Life

Later is Never

Making Your Own Choices

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 a sum of all your choices.
- Albert Camus

To live is to choose.
But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for,
where you want to go and why you want to get there.
- Kofi Annan

The opposite of courage in our society
is not cowardice, it is conformity.
- Rollo May

Today's affirmation
I CHOOSE with Open Mind and Open Heart.
I renounce all assumptions and expectations.
I thoughtfully consider all possibilities.
I CHOOSE with courage, awareness, consciousness, and compassion toward all.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: The Trouble with Conformity

Doing What You Know Is Right

Embrace Change

Try Being Outrageous

Making a Decision

You Are What You Do

You are what you do, not what you say you'll do.
- Carl Jung

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

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

Formula to live your dream:
1. Be bold. 2. Begin now, 3. No exceptions.
- William James

Today's affirmation:
I boldly set sail with courage and intent.
I hold my course with focused attention and relentless commitment,
as I weather the storms of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Action Overcomes Fear

Wanting is Not Enough

Don't Wait - Begin Today

Creating Your Legacy

Only Today

Our Character

Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking.
- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

You can easily judge the character of others
by how they treat those who can
do nothing for them or to them.
- Malcolm S. Forbes

People do not seem to realize that
their opinion of the world
is also a confession of character.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Live so that when your children think of fairness,
caring and integrity, they think of you.
- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Further reading: Being Honorable

Your Inner Thoughts

Morality

Who You Are

Be a Light for Others

To Live, Not Merely To Exist

I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze
than it should be stifled by dry rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor,
every atom of me in magnificent glow,
than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.
- Jack London

Do not lose hold of your dreams or aspirations.
For if you do, you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
- Henry David Thoreau

Life is no brief candle to me.
It is a sort of splendid torch
which I have got a hold of for the moment,
and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible
before handing it on to future generations.
- George Bernard Shaw

We come this way but once.
We can either tiptoe through life
and hope we get to death without being badly bruised
or we can live a full, complete life
achieving our goals and realizing our wildest dreams.
- Bob Proctor

Further reading: Live Your Life Fully

Creating Your Masterwork

Keeping Curiosity Alive

Life's Daring Adventure

Passing the Torch

Give Thanks for the Love

God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.
- Saint Augustine

Each and every human being on Earth
has both the responsibility and the privilege
of viewing themselves as Divine beings
with the power to bring about peace.
- James Twyman

Know that you are loved.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

We live in a spiritual Universe.
God is in, through, around and for us.
- Ernest Holmes 

You know that you have fully experienced love
when you turn into love -
that is the spiritual goal of life.
- Deepak Chopra

Today... Give thanks for the miracles -
Give thanks for the love.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: A Light from Within

Same Breath

Thank You God

Simple Yet Divine

Slow Down and Focus

Beware the barrenness of a busy life
- Socrates

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

Slow but steady wins the race.
- Anonymous

Whenever you feel you must hurry,
ask yourself whether the busy-ness is fulfilling your purpose in life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: A Life of Harmony

Living in Peace

Feel Overwhelmed?

Choose Not To Stress

Don't Fight Against Time

Blessed to Forgive

We are most like God when we forgive.
- Anonymous

You may call God love, you may call God goodness.
But the best name for God is compassion.
- Meister Eckhart

The key to forgiveness is to forgive from the heart -- not from the mind.
- Sheri Rosenthal

Forgiveness does not change the past,
but it does enlarge the future.
- Paul Boese

Unconditional forgiveness is the path to your own inner peace.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Forgiveness Releases the Past

How to Forgive and Move On

Desmond Tutu on Forgiveness

Revenge, the Deadliest Sin?

Finding Peace in Forgiveness

Living Lightly

Tread Lightly:
1. Don't step on anyone's toes.
2. Don't look for trouble.
3. Keep your sense of humor.
4. Carry the Light of God wherever you go.

The keys to a great life are
taking oneself lightly, forgiveness, and acceptance.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When you encounter difficulties and contradictions,
do not try to break them, but bend them with gentleness and time.
- Saint Francis de Sales

If a warrior is to succeed at anything,
the success must come gently,
with a great deal of effort but with no stress or obsession.
- Carlos Castaneda

Today's affirmation:
I offer gentle understanding to myself.
I position myself in love, not fear.
I look behind me with forgiveness.
I look forward with festive anticipation.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Further reading: Dance Gently With Life

Not Too Serious

The Storms of Life

Live Gently

Finding Joy in Our Troubled Lives

Saying NO

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

To know what you prefer
instead of humbly saying Amen
to what the world tells you you ought to prefer,
is to have kept your soul alive.
- Robert Louis Stevenson

All that is real is seen with the heart.
- Vivian Greene

Value your own opinion more, and others' opinions less.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Today's Affirmation:
I have no need to conform to the stereotypes others have defined for me.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Your Intuition is Your Guide

Follow Your Bliss

Setting Your Rhythm

How to Be Yourself

Experts and Authorities

Possession Is Not Love

Love does not claim possession, but gives freedom.
- Rabindranath Tagore

He that is jealous is not in love.
- Saint Augustine

We really have to understand the person we want to love.
If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love.
If we only think of ourselves, if we know only our
own needs and ignore the needs of the other person,
we cannot love.
- Thich Nhat Hanh

You know you love someone when you know
you want them to be happy,
even if their happiness means
that you are not a part of it.
- Anonymous

Further reading: The #1 Secret of Great Relationships

Granting Space

A Loving Relationship

7 Secrets of Happy Couples

Hold Fast to Your Dreams

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die,
life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.
- Langston Hughes

You see things and you say, Why?
But I dream things that never were and say, Why not
- George Bernard Shaw

Live a Life of Bold and Courageous Action Inspired by Powerful Dreams.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Be Simply Yourself

Never Lose Hope

Choose With Intention

Steve Jobs' Three Rules of Life

How to Choose Your Life Purpose

Living in This Moment

Yesterday is ashes.
Tomorrow is green wood.
Only today does the fire burn brightly.
- Inuit Saying

If you are depressed you are living in the past.
If you are anxious you are living in the future.
If you are at peace you are living in the present.
- Lao Tzu

Only put off until tomorrow
what you are willing to die having left undone.
- Pablo Picasso

Do not dwell in the past,
do not dream of the future,
concentrate the mind on the present moment.
- The Buddha

There is only one time that is important - NOW!
It is the most important time because
it is the only time that we have any power.
- Leo Tolstoy

Further reading: Cherish This Moment

Appreciating Today

Gratitude for THIS Moment

Don't Wait - Begin Today

Living in the Moment

What You Focus On

The Main Thing is to Keep The Main Thing The Main Thing.
- Stephen Covey

Don't dwell on what went wrong.
Instead, focus on what to do next.
Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer.
- Denis Waitley

Clarity affords focus.
- Thomas Leonard

Instead of focusing on that circumstances that you cannot change -
focus strongly and powerfully on the circumstances that you can.
- Joy Page

Keep your attention focused entirely
on what is truly your own concern,
and be clear that what belongs to others
is their business and none of yours.
- Epictetus

Remember that there are a million "wrong things" in the world
(as well as a billion "right things"),
so focus your energies on addressing with courage the few issues closest to your heart,
and accept the rest of life with serenity.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Use Your Time Wisely

What One Emphasizes

Life as Currency

What You See

Earning a Good Name

Thankful and Content

He is richest who is content with the least,
for content is the wealth of nature.
- Socrates

As you simplify your life,
the laws of the universe will be simpler;
solitude will not be solitude,
poverty will not be poverty,
nor weakness weakness.
- Henry David Thoreau

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

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

Be Thankful. Be Content.

Further reading: Zero-Based Gratitude

Pay It Forward - as an Expression of Universal Gratitude

What If Happiness...

Celebrating Rainbows and Butterflies - the Small Miracles of Our Life

A Simple Life

Gaining Peace Through Peace

Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek,
but a means by which we arrive at that goal.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

There is no way to peace; peace IS the way.
- A. J. Muste

I am not only a pacifist but a militant pacifist.
I am willing to fight for peace.
Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go to war.
- Albert Einstein

Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world.
For, indeed, that's all who ever have.
- Margaret Mead

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
- St. Francis of Assisi

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

Further reading: World Peace

Thoughts of Peace

The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

Doing God's Work

Choosing Peace

Your Own Trail

Do not follow where the path may lead.
Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinions;
it is easy in solitude to live after your own;
but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd
keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

For those men who, sooner or later,
are lucky enough to break away from the pack,
the most intoxicating moment comes
when they cease being bodies in other men's command
and find that they control their own time,
when they learn their own voice and authority.
- Theodore H. White

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

Many people allow their need for other people's approval to control their lives.
They spend their lives worrying about what others think of them.
- Rick Warren

Resilience is about believing in yourself,
and trusting your own wisdom
rather than being swayed by the opinions of others.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Only Your Own Approval

Be Yourself

Independence - Liberty - Freedom

Have Confidence in Yourself

Tolerance, Not Judgement

He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her.
- Jesus of Nazareth (John 8:7)

The only vice that cannot be forgiven is hypocrisy.
- William Hazlitt

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye;
and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
- Matthew 7:5

Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs.
Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.
- John F. Kennedy

Further reading: Love All, Judge None

Criticism and Complaint

Tolerance

Either Accept It, or Change It

If it's important enough to complain about,
it is important enough to take action on.
Either accept it, or change it.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

There are three constants in life...
change, choice and principles.
- Stephen Covey

To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

Perhaps the surest test of an individual's integrity
is his refusal to do or say anything that would damage his self-respect.
- Thomas S. Monson

Prefer the honorable to the expedient.
- Horace

Further reading: Criticism and Complaint

Taking Action About Things That Matter

Complaining Only Makes You Miserable

This Is Your Life

Life as Currency

Reaching for Your Goals

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions.
Small people always do that,
but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.
- Mark Twain

Like so much of life, it's a balance.
It's important not to abandon family and friends,
but it's also important to spend most of your time
in the company of people who support you without meddling,
who give you the space to grow,
who applaud when you spread your wings in whatever way YOU want to fly.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The tragedy of life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal.
The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach.
- Benjamin Mays

Dare to dream of your great success.
Become intimate with those things
which deeply motivate you
and regularly work toward
the realization of that mission.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Further reading: Happy Friends - Happy You

Our Light that Frightens Us

Advice

May Your Spirit Soar

Live Every Moment, Joyfully

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away.
- Anonymous Read more about this quote.

Be happy for this moment.
This moment is your life.
- Anonymous

Every moment wasted looking back
keeps us from moving forward.
- Hillary Clinton

Today's affirmation:
I live every moment, and I live joyfully.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: The Paradox Of Living In The Moment

My thoughts on "safety" versus living full-out

Fear of the Unknown

This Above All, to Thine Own Self Be True

Lighten Up, Be Happy

The eyes of the cheerful and of the melancholy man
are fixed upon the same creation;
but very different are the aspects which it bears to them.
- Albert Pike

Be happy for this moment.
This moment is your life.
- Anonymous

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

Life must be lived as play.
- Plato

Laugh when you can,
apologize when you should,
and let go of what you can't change.
Life's too short to be anything... but happy.
- Anonymous

Let today be a day to take life less seriously.
Kick back, smile, laugh,
watch the busyness of the world from a quiet corner
and find joy in everything around you.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Ten Little Tips to Feel Happier Right Now

Creating Happiness

Like Angels

The Wisdom of Patience

Choose to Soar

Wanting To Win

Winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is.
- Vince Lombardi
Read my thoughts on wanting to win

Being defeated is often a temporary condition.
Giving up is what makes it permanent.
- Marilyn vos Savant

Circumstances don't defeat you -
you defeat yourself when you give up.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

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

Play to win, but be cheerful in defeat.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: How to Deal with Rejection

Coping With Life

Don't Give Up

Win Some, Lose Some

Basic Kindness

Look to be treated by others as you have treated others.
- Publilius Syrus

Remember, we all stumble, every one of us.
That's why it's a comfort to go hand in hand.
- Emily Kimbrough

Smile and the world smiles with you.
- Anonymous

The greatest gift that you can give to others is the
gift of unconditional love and acceptance.
- Brian Tracy

If you treat others kindly, a few will respond with unkindness,
or even take advantage of your kindness,
but most will respond with kindness and friendliness.
However, if you treat others unkindly, you can be quite certain
that they will respond with harsh thoughts and actions.

Whatever you do, do with kindness.
Whatever you say, say with kindness.
Wherever you go, radiate kindness.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Living from Your Heart

Opportunities for Kindness

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

Pay It Forward - as an Expression of Universal Gratitude

Choosing to Smile

Helping

Jesus preached more and taught more about helping
the poor and the sick and the hungry
than he did about heaven and hell.
Shouldn't that tell us something?
- John Grisham

If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need
but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
- 1 John 3:17

The only wealth which you will keep forever
is the wealth you have given away.
- Marcus Aurelius

Jesus said: "When you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.
And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you."
- Luke 14:13-14

Acting selfishly is human nature, and therefore forgivable.
Publicly advocating selfishness as a virtue in the name of Jesus is unforgivable.

Further reading: The Power of Generosity

We Belong to Each Other

Practicing Compassion

Giving of Yourself

Giving Love and Comfort

Independence Day - July 4th

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

We hold these truths to be self-evident:
that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights,
among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
- Thomas Jefferson [Declaration of Independence]

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

The only thing necessary for evil to triumph
is for enough good men to do nothing.
- Edmund Burke

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.
- Abraham Lincoln

The best way to enhance freedom in other lands
is to demonstrate here that our democratic system is worthy of emulation.
- Jimmy Carter

Further reading: Taking Action About Things That Matter

The Price of Standing for Something Important

Blaze Your Own Trail

A Different Drummer

Choose to Soar

What is "The Truth?"

Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact.
Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.
- Marcus Aurelius

Truth is not defined by
how many people believe something.
Ask. Question. Think.
Decide - for yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance -
it is the illusion of knowledge.
- Daniel J. Boorstin

The truth. It is a beautiful and terrible thing,
and should be treated with caution.
- J. K. Rowling

The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie,
deliberate, contrived and dishonest,
but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.
- John F. Kennedy

Keep the company of those who seek the truth;
run from those who have found it.
- Václav Havel

Further reading: Truth isn't True. Reality isn't Real.

Be a Seeker

Lifelong Learning

Perspective on Tradition: An Open Mind

All Life

Nature is full of genius, full of the divinity;
so that not a snowflake escapes its fashioning hand.
- Henry David Thoreau

Pause to appreciate the beauty around you.
Whether rainbow or butterfly,
mountain or tree, painting or poem -
whether crafted by nature or by a human hand -
beauty adds a magical element to life
that surpasses logic and science.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

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

One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.
- William Shakespeare

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
- Albert Einstein

Today's affirmation:
I see the miracle in all of life.
I am thankful for all creation.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Today's photo is of a jellyfish.

Further reading: Natural Web of Life

The Beat of the Universe

One Great Dewdrop

Life's Rhythm

One With The Earth

Obeying Nature

Honor the Children

Grown men can learn from very little children
for the hearts of little children are pure.
Therefore, the Great Spirit may show to them
many things which older people miss.
- Black Elk

There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul
than the way in which it treats its children.
- Nelson Mandela

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

If a child lives with criticism,
he learns to condemn.
...
If a child lives with fear,
he learns to be apprehensive.
...
If a child lives with encouragement,
he learns to be confident.
...
If a child lives with acceptance,
he learns to love.
- Dorothy Law Nolte

Nothing you do for a child is ever wasted.
- Garrison Keillor

Further reading: Childlike Wonder

As a Child Again 

God's Children

Feeding the Children

Our Grandchildren's Planet