Write Your Own Melody

Don't live your life to please other people.
- Oprah Winfrey
[Be of service, but don't be a doormat.]

This is your life.
In the symphony of your life, you are the star.
You write the melody and the lyrics.
You are the soloist and the conductor.
You are merely a bit player in other people's lives,
but in your own life, you are the star.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

You get what you settle for.
- the character Louise in the movie Thelma and Louise

It does not do to dwell on dreams, ...
and forget to live.
- the movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Be the Melody in the Symphony of Your Life.
Write the melody and the lyrics.
Be the soloist and the conductor.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: How to Choose Your Life Purpose

What guides you and maintains your direction?

Where Are You Going?

The Melody Within Your Soul
    

What Tools are in Your Toolkit?

If your only tool is a hammer,
you tend to see every problem as a nail.
- Abraham Maslow
Read my thoughts about this... 

If your only tool is a bomb,
you tend to see every problem as a target.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Little men with little minds and little imaginations
go through life in little ruts,
smugly resisting all changes which would jar their little worlds.
- Zig Ziglar

If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer.
- Alan Lewis
[Sometimes a bigger hammer works, but it isn't a very creative approach.]

Thaw with her gentle persuasion is more powerful
than Thor with his hammer.
The one melts, the other breaks into pieces.
- Henry David Thoreau

Further reading: 9 Secrets For Getting Un-Stuck

Focus and Flexibility

Be Present in the Moment

Our Habits

Adaptability
     

Hate Cannot Drive Out Hate, Choose Compassion and Kindness

Darkness cannot drive out darkness;
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate;
only love can do that.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

That which you hate to be done to you,
do not do to another.
- Ancient Egyptian Proverb
[There is a form of the "Golden Rule" in virtually every religious and cultural tradition.
This is perhaps the earliest.]

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

When we hate our enemies, we are
giving them power over us:
power over our sleep, our appetites,
our blood pressure, our health, and our happiness.
Our enemies would dance with joy if only
they knew how they were worrying us,
lacerating us, and getting even with us!
Our hate is not hurting them at all,
but our hate is turning our own days
and nights into a hellish turmoil.
- Dale Carnegie

An "enemy" is a mirage -
an image of self reflected on the sands of Hell.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite [religious leader], when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan [Samaritans and Jews generally disliked and were suspicious of each other] came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds ... and ... took him to an inn and took care of him. ...
Jesus [said] "Go and do likewise."
- Luke 10:25-37 (The Parable of the Good Samaritan)

Hate returns upon itself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Be a Pillar of Goodness

Allow Love to Conquer Hate

Hatred vs. Love

Revenge, the Deadliest Sin?

Don't Get Burned by Your Own Anger
      

Your Habits Are Your Life

Question: Can't I just fix myself so I will stay motivated and inspired all the time?
My answer: It will probably always be a daily task to keep yourself on track.

People often say that motivation doesn't last.
Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily.
- Zig Ziglar

The strength of a man's virtue should not be measured
by his special exertions,
but by his habitual acts.
- Blaise Pascal

Our daily decisions create the scrapbook of our life.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

What you don't do daily, you probably won't do weekly either.
What you make a habit of putting-off
just keeps getting pushed away again and again.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

You will never change your life
until you change something you do daily.
- Mike Murdock

Our character is basically a composite of our habits.
Because they are consistent, often unconscious patterns,
they constantly, daily, express our character.
- Stephen Covey

Successful people are simply those with successful habits.
- Brian Tracy

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

Today, examine your beliefs, your actions, your wants,
to determine whether they still represent your highest purpose.

Choose your Habits, Choose your Life.
Your Habits Are Your Life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: 5 Secrets For Breaking Your Bad Habits 

Choose Your Focus

Be the Melody in Your Own Life

You are the Captain

Habits - Like Water to a Fish

How to Change Bad Habits

Seek to Understand
      

Patience and Perseverance

The habit of persistence is the habit of victory.
- Herbert Kaufman 

Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman,
before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air.
- John Quincy Adams

The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is
that one comes from a strong will,
and the other from a strong won't.
- Henry Ward Beecher

All endeavor calls for the ability
to tramp the last mile,
shape the last plan, endure the last hours toil.
The fight to the finish spirit is the one...
characteristic we must posses
if we are to face the future as finishers.
- Henry David Thoreau

Patience, persistence, and perseverance.
A little more each day,
a little better each day.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Emulate the Patience of Nature

Stand Up To Your Obstacles

Realize Success

The Power of Mental Attitude
    

Stay Home During the Pandemic *AND* Try Not To Worry

I want to be very clear that the preceding post refers only to not letting
"experts" stifle your creativity and goals.

PLEASE trust the medical experts
(and not the politicians) regarding the COVID19 pandemic, it is still spreading
exponentially in the United States and Europe, and places like India and Africa 
are going to get hit hard.

Please Stay Home (especially if you are over 60 or have a medical condition)!
Protect yourself, your family, and your community by minimizing all contact.

Take precautions, but try not to worry.

Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow,
it only saps today of its joy.
- Leo Buscaglia

Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.
- Winston Churchill

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

It is of the small joys and little pleasures
that the greatest of our days are built.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
the courage to change the things I can;
and the wisdom to know the difference.
- Reinhold Niebuhr (Serenity Prayer)

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

Light and Joy...
 Jonathan

Don't let "Experts" Stiffle Your Creativity

I want to be very clear that today's Daily Inspiration Quotes refers only to not letting
"experts" stifle your creativity and goals. PLEASE trust the medical experts
(and not the politicians) regarding the COVID19 pandemic, it is still spreading
exponentially in the United States and Europe, and places like India and Africa 
are going to get hit hard.

Please Stay Home (especially if you are over 60 or have a medical condition)!
Protect yourself, your family, and your community by minimizing all contact.

Take precautions, but try not to worry.

Always listen to the experts.
They'll tell you what can't be done and why.
Then do it.
- Robert A. Heinlein

"There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance."
- Steve Ballmer (CEO Microsoft in April 30, 2007 interview)

If stock market experts were so expert,
they would be buying stock, not selling advice.
- Norman Ralph Augustine

The best way to predict the future is to create it.
- Peter F. Drucker

No statement should be believed [solely] because it is made by an authority.
- Robert A. Heinlein

An expert is someone who knows a lot about the past.
- Tom Hopkins

Don't Let "Experts" Throw Cold Water on Your Dreams.

Further reading: The Illusion of Knowledge

Don't Be Too Sure

Be an Instrument of Change

Success Tip: Drive Change
    

Think, Become

What we think, we become.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts, we make the world.
- The Buddha

The ancestor of every action is a thought.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

A man is but the product of his thoughts -
what he thinks, he becomes.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

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

Further reading: Your Inner Thoughts

Life Is A Mirror

Choose Not To Stress
            

When You Become Centered

Breathe deeply and slowly.
Let yourself become centered - shut out all distractions.
Breathe out your worries; empty your body of regrets and resentments.
Breathe in eternal peace; let your body fill with unconditional love.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When you become centered, suddenly there is great freedom
because you know you are not the mind and you are not the body.
- Osho

Inhale, and God approaches you.
Hold the inhalation, and God remains with you.
Exhale, and you approach God.
Hold the exhalation, and surrender to God.
- Krishnamacharya

A mind at peace, a mind centered and not focused on harming others,
is stronger than any physical force in the universe.
- Wayne Dyer

Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free.
Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing.
- Zhuangzi

Further reading: Conscious Breathing to Relieve Stress

Forgiveness: Path to Inner Peace

Breath by Breath

Gratitude for THIS Moment
   

Live, Listen, Play, Laugh, Choose

I challenge you to make your life a masterpiece.
I challenge you to join the ranks of those people
who live what they teach, who walk their talk.
- Tony Robbins

Live with intention.
Walk to the edge.
Listen hard.
Practice wellness.
Play with abandon.
Laugh.
Choose with no regret.
Appreciate your friends.
Continue to learn.
Do what you love.
Live as if this is all there is.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

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

Today's affirmation: Today, I will do my best...
and then relax in the knowing that I have done all I could.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Don't Miss Out On Life

Live Every Moment, Joyfully

Progress

Enthusiasm and Passion
        

A Sense of Humor is a Necessary Life Skill

The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.
- Mark Twain

A well-developed sense of humor is the pole
that adds balance to your steps as you walk the tightrope of life.
- William Arthur Ward

Life is not a tragedy, it is a comedy.
To be alive means to have a sense of humor.
- Osho

A sense of humor... is needed armor.
Joy in one's heart and some laughter on one's lips is a sign
that the person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life.
- Hugh Sidey

Further reading: Be as a Child

Sense of Humor

Cherish the Whimsey

Not Too Serious
    

Embrace Change

He who rejects change is the architect of decay.
- Harold Wilson

Scientific advancement should aim to affirm and to improve human life.
- Nathan Deal

Knowledge is power.
Information is liberating.
Education is the premise of progress,
in every society, in every family.
- Kofi Annan

Seeds of great discoveries are constantly floating around us,
but they only take root in minds well prepared to receive them.
- Joseph Henry

You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines,
whimpering and complaining.
You make progress by implementing ideas.
- Shirley Chisholm

If we all did the things we are capable of doing,
we would literally astound ourselves.
- Thomas Edison

Live out of your imagination, not your history.
- Stephen Covey

Further reading:  Welcome Change

How to Move On and Let Go

Forward Together

Adapt to Change
         

Pause, Think, Then Act

Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are,
and doing things as they ought to be done.
- Josh Billings

Success is more a function of consistent common sense than it is of genius.
- An Wang

Common sense in an uncommon degree
is what the world calls wisdom.
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it,
or who said it, no matter if I have said it,
unless it agrees with your own reason
and your own common sense.
- The Buddha

A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.
- William James

I reject any religious doctrine that does not appeal
to reason and is in conflict with morality.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

Pause. Take the time to THINK before you act.

Further reading: Take Nothing On Authority

Trust Reason

Consciousness

See, Really See
        

Understand, Transform

If you begin to understand what you are
without trying to change it,
then what you are undergoes a transformation.
- Jiddu Krishnamurti

Today's affirmation:
I am the master of my emotions -
I transform fear to love, anger to compassion,
pain to comfort, scarcity to abundance,
expectation to gratitude, and jealousy to generosity.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

At all times and under all circumstances,
we have the power to transform the quality of our lives.
- Werner Erhard

Personal transformation can and does have global effects.
As we go, so goes the world, for the world is us.
The revolution that will save the world
is ultimately a personal one.
- Marianne Williamson

Revolution begins with the self, in the self.
- Toni Cade Bambara

Transformation in the world happens when people are
healed and start investing in other people.
- Michael W. Smith

Further reading: The Power of Transformation

Be an Instrument of Change

What is Transformation?

A Great Future
  

Sweat, Determination and Hard Work

A dream doesn't become reality through magic;
it takes sweat, determination and hard work.
- Colin Powell

If you dream of something worth doing
and then simply go to work on it
and don't think anything of personalities,
or emotional conflicts, or of money,
or of family distractions;
it is amazing how quickly
you get through those 5,000 steps.
- Edwin Land

Vision without action is merely a dream.
Action without vision just passes the time.
Vision with action can change the world.
- Joel A. Barker

To lead a great life:
Dream, Take Action, Repeat.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Some people dream of success
while others wake up and work hard at it.
- Anonymous

Further reading: You Are What You Do

Walking Your Path

Fulfilling Your Dreams

Action Beats Inaction
    

St. Patrick's Day 2020

May God grant you always...
A sunbeam to warm you,
a moonbeam to charm you,
a sheltering Angel so nothing can harm you.
Laughter to you.
Faithful friends near you.
And whenever you pray,
Heaven to hear you.
- Irish Blessing

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 road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields.
And until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.
- Irish Blessing

May love and laughter light your days, and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours, wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world with joy that long endures.
May all life's passing seasons bring the best to you and yours.
- Irish Blessing

Further reading: Celebrate the Small Miracles of Life

Learn to be Happier in Life
   

Mystery and Wonder

As soon as man does not take his existence for granted,
but beholds it as something
unfathomably mysterious, thought begins.
- Albert Schweitzer

Be thankful that life is a mystery.
There is so much we can never know.
Breathe deeply and relax into the not-knowing.
There is much that we do not have to know in order to live joyfully.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Uncertainty that comes from knowledge
(knowing what you don't know)
is different from uncertainty coming from ignorance.
- Isaac Asimov

Mystery creates wonder,
and wonder is the basis of man's desire to understand.
- Neil Armstrong

Further reading: Nothing is Certain

Cherish Mystery

Childlike Wonder

Magnificent Mystery
        

Heaven Within

Heaven is within us, and we experience it
to the degree that we become conscious of it.
- Ernest Holmes

Heaven means to be one with God.
- Confucius

Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.
- Henry David Thoreau

Affirmation:
I am one with Spirit. Spirit is within me.
Spirit permeates me and surrounds me.
Spirit is my comfort and my strength.
I am one with Spirit.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Be at Peace

Attitude of Gratitude

Serving Others (pathway to Heaven)

Welcome to Our Family
   

Elimination of Non-Essentials

Be Selective.
Choose to do a few things really well,
and let others do the rest.
 - Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about
God while one is peeling potatoes.
Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.
- Alan Watts

By letting it go, it all gets done.
The world is won by those who let it go.
But when you try and try,
The world is beyond the winning.
- Lao Tzu

Besides the noble art of getting things done,
there is the noble art of leaving things undone.
The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.
- Lin Yutang

Be - don't try to become.
Being is enlightenment, becoming is ignorance.
- Osho

The things of this world exist;
they are; you can't refuse them.
- Lao Tzu

Further reading: Stillness

Paradox

Gratitude for THIS Moment

Stay Adaptable
    

The Best and Most Beautiful

The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.
- Oscar Wilde

Many men go fishing all of their lives
without knowing that it is not fish they are after.
- Henry David Thoreau

To know the whole world is nothing
when it is compared to knowing your own inner mystery of life.
- Osho

The best and most beautiful things in the world
cannot be seen or even touched.
They must be felt with the heart.
- Helen Keller

Further reading: Wonder and Mystery

The Mystery of Life

Beyond Answers

Experience Life with Reverence
      

Do What You Can With What You Have

If you don't like the way the world is,
you change it.
You have an obligation to change it.
You just do it one step at a time.
- Marian Wright Edelman

Do what you can,
with what you have,
where you are.
- Theodore Roosevelt

Sometimes you get the results you wanted,
sometimes you don't.
What matters is that you did your best.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Whatever your life's work is, do it well.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
- John Wooden

Further reading: Simply Do Your Best

Step Up to the Plate

Take Charge of Your Life

How to Feel Good About Yourself
   

Harmony with God's Creation

We have an obligation to live in harmony with God's creation.
- Bruce Babbitt

Everything you do, and everything you do not do,
is your legacy to future generations.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

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

A man is ethical only when life, as such, is sacred to him,
that of plants and animals as that of his fellow men,
and when he devotes himself helpfully to all life that is in need of help.
- Albert Schweitzer

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

Further reading:

Plant Trees For Your Grandchildren

The World We Leave Our Children

The Seeds You Plant

All Life
   

Be a Seeker of Truth

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

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion,
but not their own facts.
- Daniel Patrick Moynihan

When we blindly adopt a religion,
a political system, a literary dogma,
we become automatons. We cease to grow.
- Anais Nin

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

Believe those who are seeking the truth.
Doubt those who find it.
- Andre Gide

Facts Don't Change With One's Opinions Or Beliefs.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The presence of those seeking the truth
is infinitely to be preferred
to the presence of those who think they've found it.
- Terry Pratchett

Everyone has an opinion on many subjects
and is ready to share those opinions -
labeling them as "truth."
Sometimes it is relatively easy
to filter out these opinions.
Upon hearing an ad for the latest
weight-loss powder on late-night TV,
our skepticism leaps to our defense.
However, if we have heard the same opinion for years
from our parents, friends,
government officials, or religious leaders,
we are more likely to believe without questioning
than to raise our filter of skepticism
and ask the hard questions.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Be a Seeker

The Illusion of Knowledge

Truth Does Not Convert
 
     

What Are You Running From?

All men should strive to learn before they die,
what they are running from, and to, and why.
- James Thurber

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

We tell lies when we are afraid...
afraid of what we don't know,
afraid of what others will think,
afraid of what will be found out about us.
But every time we tell a lie,
the thing that we fear grows stronger.
- Williams Tad

A good question is never answered.
It is not a bolt to be tightened into place
but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed
toward the hope of greening the landscape of idea.
- John Ciardi

Further reading: A Truly Successful Life

Where Are You Going?

Eyes on the Heavens

To Serve
      

A Wish Of Comfort

This is my wish for you:
Comfort on difficult days,
Smiles when sadness intrudes,
Rainbows to follow the clouds,
Laughter to kiss your lips,
Sunsets to warm your heart,
Hugs when spirits sag,
Beauty for your eyes to see,
Friendships to brighten your being,
Faith so that you can believe,
Confidence for when you doubt,
Courage to know yourself,
Patience to accept the truth,
Love to complete your life.
- Anonymous

Calm provides clarity. Pause to consider
the gifts you have been given,
the difference you have made
and the direction in which you are headed.
- Anonymous

As the years pass, I am coming more and more to understand
that it is the common, everyday blessings of our common everyday lives
for which we should be particularly grateful.
They are the things that fill our lives with comfort and our hearts with gladness --
just the pure air to breathe and the strength to breath it;
just warmth and shelter and home folks; just plain food that gives us strength;
the bright sunshine on a cold day; and a cool breeze when the day is warm.
- Laura Ingalls Wilder

Lord, grant comfort, joy and health
to those I call friend,
to those I call enemy,
and to those I have cursed by my indifference.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

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

Give Unconditional Love

The Secret of Happiness

Offering Comfort
   

Get The Question Right First

A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.
- Francis Bacon

There are no right answers to wrong questions.
- Ursula K. Le Guin

To raise new questions, new possibilities,
to regard old problems from a new angle,
requires creative imagination.
- Albert Einstein

When you keep getting the wrong answers,
try asking better questions.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
[For example, instead of asking "how can I win this battle," consider asking "how can I avoid this battle."]

A good question is never answered.
It is not a bolt to be tightened into place
but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed
toward the hope of greening the landscape of idea.
- John Ciardi

When we have arrived at the question,
the answer is already near.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Well, you ask a silly question, and you get a silly answer.
- Tom Lehrer

We thought that we had the answers,
it was the questions we had wrong.
- Bono

Today's affirmation: I question my questions.

Further reading:  Profound Questions

Many Answers

A Better Plan

What You See

Learn to Listen

Seek the Truth
      

Allow Joy

Half the joy of life is in little things taken on the run...
but let us keep our hearts young and our eyes open
that nothing worth our while shall escape us.
- Victor Cherbuliez

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

Look for joy in your life; it's not always easy to find.
- Charles Kuralt

Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open.
- John Barrymore

Further reading: Life Lessons I Learned From My Cat

Is your glass of life half empty? Or half full?

Life is Beautiful

What we enjoy constitutes our abundance

How To Be Happy In Life
     

Inquire, Examine

Inquiry is fatal to certainty.
- Will Durant

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

Doubt is the incentive to truth, and inquiry leads the way.
- Hosea Ballou

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

What each must seek in his life never was on land or sea.
It is something out of his own unique potentiality for experience,
something that never has been and never could
have been experienced by anyone else.
- Joseph Campbell

It is error only, and not truth, that shrinks from inquiry.
- Thomas Paine

Further reading: Assumptions

Practice Conscious Awareness

Analysis AND Emotion

Quotations as a Spur for Inquiry
   

We Need To Meet Resistance To Fully Develop

When life is too easy for us, we must beware
or we may not be ready to meet the blows
which sooner or later come to everyone, rich or poor.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Overcome obstacles - grow and bloom anyway.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

We must free ourselves of the hope
that the sea will ever rest.
We must learn to sail in high winds.
- Aristotle Onassis

Do not pray for easy lives.
Pray to be stronger men.
- John F. Kennedy

You can't soar without a headwind.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Opportunity within Crisis

We Must Sail, Not Drift

Serenity rather than Fear

Life Is As Hard As You Think It Is
      

Set a Noble Example

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

Example is not the main thing in influencing others.
It is the only thing.
- Albert Schweitzer

Pull the string, and it will follow wherever you wish.
Push it, and it will go nowhere at all.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower

A good example is the best sermon.
- Benjamin Franklin

If you want others to follow your example,
don't criticize or cajole others,
but rather live your own life
in a manner that convincingly demonstrates
both the virtue and the success
of your way of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Inspire Others

Live a life you hope your children will emulate

Be a Leader

The Nature of Education

How We Learn
      

Clean the Lens Through Which You View the Past

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

History is a vast early warning system.
- Norman Cousins

Study the past, if you would divine the future.
- Confucius

He who spends time regretting the past,
loses the present and risks the future.
- Quevedo

Oh yes, the past can hurt.
But, you can either run from it or, learn from it.
- the movie The Lion King

Live life with no regrets and no resentments.
Whatever happened in the past,
forgive yourself and others. Choose love.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Clean the Lens Through Which You View the Past.
Clear away the prejudices and the biases.
Consider history from the perspective of both the losers and the winners.
Attempt to strip history (both your personal history and world history) down to just the facts.
 - Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Learning From History

Release the Past

The Cleansing Power of Forgiveness

Letting Go - Moving On
       

The Quiet Voice of God

God's voice is still and quiet and easily buried under an avalanche of clamor.
- Charles Stanley

The woods speak with the voice of God.
- George Washington Carver

It is the still, small voice that the soul heeds,
not the deafening blasts of doom.
- William Dean Howells

My hope for my children must be that they respond
to the still, small voice of God in their own hearts.
- Andrew Young

Conscience is the authentic voice of God to you.
- Rutherford B. Hayes

Further reading: Heaven is Within Us

Honor Stillness

The Quiet Voice of Courage

The Beat of the Universe