VERN McLELLAN

What the New Year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the New Year.

ALBERT EINSTEIN

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.

ANON

A new year’s resolution is something that goes in one ear and out the other.

WILLIAM LOUDEN

To be sure of good health - eat lightly, breathe deeply, live moderately, cultivate cheerfulness, and maintain an interest in life.

ANON

Every day must come to you as -
a new hope
a new promise
a new aspiration
a new energy
a new thrill and
a new delight.

RABINDRANATH TAGORE

I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.

CHARLES DICKENS

I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.

WASHINGTON IRVING

Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.

BUDDHA

Do not pursue the past - the past no longer is.
Do not lose yourself in the future - the future has not yet come.
Looking deeply at life as it is in the very here and now, the practitioner dwells in stability and freedom.

ANON

Don't cry because it's over.
Smile because it happened.

SIR FRANCIS DRAKE

There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory.

KITARO NISHIDA

If my heart can become pure and simple like that of a child, I think there probably can be no greater happiness than this.

JOHN LENNON

We've got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can't just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it's going to get on by itself. You've got to keep watering it. You've got to really look after it and nurture it.

KAREN KENYON

Life need not just happen to us.
We can choose.
We are choosing every moment which direction to turn, towards the light or towards the dark.

CHRISTOPHER MORLEY

Read every day something no one else is reading.
Think every day something no one else is thinking.
Do every day something no one else would be silly enough to do.
It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity.

FRIDTJOF NANSEN

The difficult is what takes a little time.
The impossible is what takes a little longer.

ANON

To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.

VINCE LOMBARDI

Winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is.

RICHARD BRAUNSTEIN

It is possible to give without loving, but it is impossible to love without giving.

SALVADOR de MADARIAGA

Considering how bad men are, it is wonderful how well they behave.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

It is hard to fail, but it is worse never have tried to succeed.

GOETHE

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

Chinese Saying

Begin with an error of an inch and end by being a thousand miles off the mark.

SOPHOCLES

Look and you will find it.
What is unsought will go undetected.

HELEN KELLER

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

ROBERT LOUIS STEPHENSON

No man is useless while he has a friend.



HAIKU HOMESTEAD has now resumed and will be updated every Wednesday
http://haikuhomestead.blogspot.com

Arabian Proverb

Four things come not back: the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life and the neglected opportunity.



HAIKU HOMESTEAD has now resumed and will be updated every Wednesday
http://haikuhomestead.blogspot.com

MALCOLM FORBES

It's a very short trip. While alive, live.



HAIKU HOMESTEAD has now resumed and will be updated every Wednesday
http://haikuhomestead.blogspot.com

ANON

Live for today,
Forget tomorrow,
Think of your hopes
And not your sorrow.



HAIKU HOMESTEAD has now resumed and will be updated every Wednesday
http://haikuhomestead.blogspot.com

BUDDHA

Look within, be still, free from fear and attachment.
Know the sweet joy of living in the Way.

GUILLAUME APOLLINAIRE

Now and then its good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

This above all - to thine own self be true;
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not be false to any man.

SIVANANDA

Love expects no reward.
Love knows no fear.
Love gives - does not demand.
Love thinks no evil - imputes no motive.
To Love is to share and serve.

WINSTON CHURCHILL

The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes.

ANON

If you are waiting for someone to come along and save you from yourself, you have a long wait.

ENID BLYTON

Growing old is compulsory, but growing up is optional.

DALE CARNEGIE

All life is a chance. So take it! The person who goes furthest is the one who is willing to do and dare.

Chinese Saying

A rumour goes in one ear and out many mouths.

ARISTOTLE

Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting a particular way. You become just by performing just actions, temperate by performing temperate actions, brave by performing brave actions.

DOUG McLEOD

I still say a church steeple with a lightning rod on top shows a lack of confidence.

From the Dhammapada

Hold not a sin of little worth, thinking "This is little to me."
The falling drops of water will in time fill a water-jar.
Even so the foolish man becomes full of evil, although he gather it little by little.

Hold not a deed of little worth, thinking "This is little to me."
The falling drops of water will in time fill a water-jar.
Even so the wise man becomes full of good, although he gather it little by little.

HUMPHRY DAVY

Life is made up, not of great sacrifices or duties, but of little things, in which smiles and kindness, and small obligations, given habitually, are what win and preserve the heart, and secure comfort.

HELEN KELLER

Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have.

SAMUEL JOHNSON

The happiest conversation is where there is no competition, no vanity, but a calm quiet interchange of sentiments.

LAMA SURYA DAS

Truth is everywhere.
It knows no religious, cultural, temporal or ethnic bounds.
Truth is the perfect circle.
Its centre is everywhere.
Its circumference stretches into infinite space.

BERNARD MELTZER

A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.


SCOTTISH TALES FROM THE OTHER WORLD
“The Tailor who minded the Bairn” at -
http://scottishtalesfromtheotherworld.blogspot.com

African Proverb

I pointed out to you the stars and all you saw was the tip of my finger.



SCOTTISH TALES FROM THE OTHER WORLD
“The Tailor who minded the Bairn” at -
http://scottishtalesfromtheotherworld.blogspot.com

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but playing a poor hand well.

RUMER GODDEN

There is an Indian belief that everyone is in a house of four rooms - a physical, a mental, an emotional and a spiritual. Most of us tend to live in one room most of the time, but unless we go into every room everyday, even if only to keep it aired, we are not complete.

MARY ANNE RADMACHER

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 that there is.

ALBERT SCHWEITZER

In the hope of reaching the moon, men fail to see the flowers that blossom at their feet.

LAYMAN P'ANG

The past is already past.
Don't try to regain it.
The present does not stay.
Don't try to touch it.

From moment to moment.
The future has not come;
Don't think about it beforehand.

ANON

You cannot plough a field by turning it over in your mind.

DAVID RUSSELL

The hardest thing in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn.

Ven. K. Sri. DHAMMANANDA

Happy is he who has lofty and noble aspirations.
Happy is he who enriches the lives of others.
Happy is he who allows others to live in peace.
Happy is he who makes this world a better place to live in.
Happy is he whose work, chores and daily tasks are labours of love.
Happy is he who loves love.

CHARLES CALEB COLTON

True friendship is like sound health.
The value of it is seldom known until it be lost.



NEW…4-minute stories online…NEW
SCOTTISH TALES FROM THE OTHER WORLD
http://scottishtalesfromtheotherworld.blogspot.com

GANDHI

We must not, like the frog in the well who imagines that the universe ends with the wall surrounding his well, think that our religion alone represents the whole truth and all others are false.


NEW...4-minute stories online...NEW
SCOTTISH TALES FROM THE OTHER WORLD
http://scottishtalesfromtheotherworld.blogspot.com

GEORGE ASAF

What’s the use of worrying? It never was worth while.
[from the song “Pack up your troubles”]



NEW...4-minute stories online...NEW
SCOTTISH TALES FROM THE OTHER WORLD
http://scottishtalesfromtheotherworld.blogspot.com

CARL SCHURZ

Ideals are like stars. You will not succeed in touching them with your hands, but, like the seafaring man on the ocean desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them reach your destination.


NEW...4-minute stories online...NEW
SCOTTISH TALES FROM THE OTHER WORLD
http://scottishtalesfromtheotherworld.blogspot.com

The DALAI LAMA

My religion is very simple.
My religion is kindness.


NEW...4-minute stories online...NEW
SCOTTISH TALES FROM THE OTHER WORLD
http://scottishtalesfromtheotherworld.blogspot.com

ANON

Blessed are those that can give without remembering and receive without forgetting.

BUDDHA

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.

JOHN DRYDEN

It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.

ALFRED D. SOUZA

For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin--real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life

Chinese Saying

A rumour goes in one ear and out many mouths

LILLIAN DICKSON

Life is like a coin - you can spend it any way you wish, but you only spend it once.

MARK TWAIN

Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.

EURIPIDES

One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives.

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

Look not mournfully into the past.
It comes not back again.
Wisely improve the present.
It is thine.
Go forth to meet the future without fear and with a manly heart.

WINSTON CHURCHILL

A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.

CATHERINE PULSIFER

When you find yourself stressed, ask yourself one question - will this matter in five years from now?
If yes, then do something about the situation.
If not, then let it go.

ANON

When someone allows you to bear his burdens, you have found deep friendship.

NORMAN VINCENT PEALE

Believe in yourself!
Have faith in your abilities!
Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.

ECCLESIASTES

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow. But woe unto him that is alone when he falleth, for he hath not another to help him up.

OSCAR WILDE

Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and richness to life that nothing else can bring.

INDIRA GANDHI

Where there’s love, there’s life.

Chinese Saying

A bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives you roses

WILL ROGERS

If you want to be successful, it's just this simple.
Know what you're doing.
Love what you're doing.
Believe in what you're doing.

RABINRANATH TAGORE

I slept and dreamt that life was Joy.
I woke and saw that life was Duty.
I acted, and behold, Duty was Joy.

THOMAS SOWELL

There is only a limited amount of damage that can be done by dull or stupid people. For creating a truly monumental disaster, you need people with high IQs.

ANON

Watch your thoughts - they become your words.
Watch your words - they become your actions.
Watch your actions - they become your habits.
Watch your habits - they become your character.
Watch your character - it becomes your destiny.

PETER USTINOV

Beliefs are what divide people. Doubt unites them.

BUDDHA

Happiness never decreases by being shared.

MARY PICKFORD

If you have made mistakes, even serious ones, there is always another chance for you. What we call failure is not the falling down but the staying down.


This week at HAIKU HOMESTEAD -
When is a Haiku not a Haiku?

http://haikuhomestead.blogspot.com

Gaelic Saying

Chan ann leis a’chiad bhuille thuiteas a’chraobh.

It’s not with the first stroke that the tree is felled.

ALBERT EINSTEIN

A mind that has been stretched will never return to its original dimension.

LAO-TZU

Kindness in words creates confidence.
Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.
Kindness in giving creates love.

JOHN NUNLEY

The only gracious way to accept an insult is to ignore it.
If you can't ignore it, top it.
If you can't top it, laugh at it.
If you can't laugh at it, it's probably deserved.

THOMAS CARLYLE

Silence is more eloquent than words.

SAI BABA

Life is a song - sing it.
Life is a game - play it.
Life is a challenge - meet it.
Life is a dream - realize it.
Life is a sacrifice - offer it.
Life is love - enjoy it.

Swedish Proverb

Worry often gives a small thing a gigantic shadow.

KAHLIL GIBRAN

Keep away from the wisdom that does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh, and the greatness which does not bow before children.

SYDNEY HARRIS

Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time.
It is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.

SHUNRYU SUZUKI

The most important thing is to find out
what is the most important thing.

ANON

It costs nothing, but creates much.
It enriches those who receive without impoverishing those who give.
It happens in a flash, and the memory of it sometimes lasts forever.
It cannot be begged, borrowed, or stolen, but it is of no earthly good to anyone until it's given away.
So if in your hurry you run across someone too weary to smile, leave one of yours.

MARY ANNE RADMACHER

Consider calling it a challenge rather than a crisis.

LORD BYRON

There is pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society where none intrudes,
By the deep sea and the music in its roar
I love not man the less, but Nature more.


There are more nature quotes today at JOHN’S QUIET CORNER
http://john-quietcorner.blogspot.com

WINSTON CHURCHILL

Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.

ARISTOTLE

If one way be better than another, that you may be sure is Nature’s way.

MARY PICKFORD

What we call failure is not the falling down but the staying down.

JOHN WESLEY

Beware you be not swallowed up in books.
An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge.

OSCAR WILDE

The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself.

JASCHA HEIFETZ

No matter what side of an argument you’re on, you always find some people on your side that you wish were on the other side.

Taoist Saying

Those who know do not speak.
Those who speak do not know.



More Taoist sayings have been posted at John’s Quiet Corner.

http://john-quietcorner.blogspot.com

DENG MING-DAO

You may be capable of great things, but life consists of small things.



I was very pleased with the Haiku Homestead blog which re-started last week.

This Friday’s posting is already available and can be seen at -
http://haikuhomestead.blogspot.com

The theme is Autumn and I give some answers to the question “What exactly is a haiku?”

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.

Greek Proverb

A heart that loves is always young.

ERICA JONG

Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer, but wish we didn't.

PUBLILIUS SYRUS

Every day should be passed as if it were to be our last.

AESOP

It is easy to be brave from a safe distance.

GEORGE HERBERT

He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass.

GOETHE

Daring ideas are like chess men moved forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

After a break of three months, my HAIKU HOMESTEAD blog is in operation again. I’ve made some changes to the format and to the style, and you can see it at -

http://haikuhomestead.blogspot.com

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

KAHLIL GIBRAN

Keep away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh,
and the greatness which does not bow before children.

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE

Happiness is as a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.

ANON

Every day is a good day.

THOMAS MORE

Sweet is the dream, divinely sweet, when absent souls in fancy meet.

CONFUCIUS

If one’s mind is elsewhere, one will look but not see, listen but not hear.

LEWIS CARROLL

Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it.

BUDDHA

To meditate is to listen with a receptive heart.

PATRICIA NEAL

A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug.

PIERRE NICOLE

We need a reason to speak, but none to keep silent.

from FragrantHeart.com

Today is not just the first day of the rest of my life. It is also the first moment of the rest of my life, and every moment after that in which I am fully present.

The DALAI LAMA

What is religion? As far as I am concerned, any deed done with good motivation is a religious act. On the other hand, a gathering of people in a temple or church who do not have good motivation are not performing a religious act when they pray together.

ANON

Do not pretend you know.
Start the day fresh and new.
The only thing you know is that you do not know.

MARY KAY ASH

Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as the mind lets you. What you believe, you can achieve.



This week John’s Quiet Corner includes a painting by the Australian artist Frederick McGubbin, a poem by the Ettrick Shepherd (James Hogg) and a slide show of pictures of roses accompanied by the panpipes of Gheorghe Zamfir

http://john-quietcorner.blogspot.com

DALE CARNEGIE

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.

Cherokee Saying

When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.

BERTRAND RUSSELL

The fundamental cause of trouble in the world today is that the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.

FRANCIS GRAY

Look well to this day.
Yesterday is but a dream and tomorrow is only a vision. But today well-lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well therefore to this day.

The next posting here will be on
MONDAY 24TH AUGUST

JAMES OPPENHEIM

The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance.
The wise man grows it under his feet.

ANON

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

NISARGADATTA

Wisdom tells me I'm Nothing.
Love tells me I'm Everything.
Between the two my life flows.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Energy and persistence conquer all things.

MOTHER TERESA

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.

CHARLES LAMB

The greatest pleasure in life is to do good by stealth
and be found out by accident

King James Bible - Proverbs

A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger.

RUMI

I have lived on the lip of insanity, wanting to know reasons.
Knocking on a door, it opens -
I've been knocking from the inside.

LAURENS van der POST

Human beings are perhaps never more frightening than when they are convinced beyond doubt that they are right

JOHN’S QUIET CORNER today includes a poem by Robert Browning, a painting by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, the Romance from the Gadfly Suite by Shostakovich, plus something to think about...
http://john-quietcorner.blogspot.com

GEORGE ASAF

What's the use of worrying? It never was worthwhile.

[from the song “Pack up your troubles”]

JOHN’S QUIET CORNER tomorrow will include a poem by Robert Browning, a painting by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, the Romance from the Gadfly Suite by Shostakovich, plus something to think about…….
http://john-quietcorner.blogspot.com

LAO TSU

The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.

GOETHE

If you treat a man as he is, he will stay as he is. However, if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be, and could be, he will become that bigger and better man.

ANON

Stop struggling for perfection, and recognise the perfection you already are.

CAROL BURNETT

Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me.

SAMUEL JOHNSON

A man had rather have a hundred lies told of him, than one truth which he does not wish should be told.

A Gaelic blessing

Deep peace of the running wave to you,
Deep peace of the flowing air to you,
Deep peace of the shining stars to you,
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.


http://john-quietcorner.blogspot.com

OSCAR WILDE

Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.

BUDDHA

Better than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings peace.

Spanish Proverb

He who knows nothing, doubts nothing.

FRANCIS BACON

If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts, but if he will be content to begin with doubts he shall end in certainties.

CONFUCIUS

Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.

CHARLES BUXTON

You will never find time for anything. If you want the time, you must take it.

MOTHER TERESA

We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But if that drop was not in the ocean, I think
the ocean would be less, because of that missing drop.


This week John’s Quiet Corner includes a Chinese poem, a Turner painting, a 1940s love song and Clair de Lune (Debussy)
http://john-quietcorner.blogspot.com

WINSTON CHURCHILL

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others.

LANGSTON HUGHES

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow

GEORGE MOORE

There is always a right way and a wrong way,
and the wrong way always seems the more reasonable.

MARIA ROBINSON

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.

from the Tao Te Ching

There is no greater sin than desire,
No greater curse than discontent,
No greater misfortune than wanting something for oneself.
Therefore he who knows that enough is enough
Will always have enough.

BERTRAND RUSSELL

The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.

ANON

Nothing lasts for ever, not even your troubles.

FRANCIS BACON

Choose the life that is most useful, and habit will make it the most agreeable.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
That strain again! it had a dying fall:
O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odour!


There are more famous music quotes today on John’s Quiet Corner.
http://john-quietcorner.blogspot.com

CONFUCIUS

When anger rises, think of the consequences.

IVAN TURGENEV

If you wait for the moment when absolutely everything is ready, you will never begin.

KATHLEEN NORRIS

Life is easier than you think. All that is necessary is to accept the impossible, do without the indispensable and bear the intolerable.

XENOCRATES

I have often regretted my speech, never my silence.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

The morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books.

Buddhist Saying

As a single slab of rock won’t budge in the wind, so the wise are not moved by praise, by blame.

WALT WHITMAN

After you have exhausted what there is in business, politics, conviviality, and so on, and have found that none of these finally satisfy, what remains? Nature remains.


John’s Quiet Corner posted today includes a painting by Yun Shouping, a poem by Henry Austin Dobson, a poem by William Wordsworth and The Humming Chorus from Madame Butterfly.
http://john-quietcorner.blogspot.com

MALCOLM FORBES

The dumbest people I know are those who know it all.

MAYA ANGELOU

Lift up your eyes
Upon this day breaking for you,
Give birth again
To the dream.

JIMMY DEAN

I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to reach my destination.

GANDHI

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

ANON

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

WILLIAM E. GLADSTONE

No man ever became great or good except through many and great mistakes.

MAX EHRMANN

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
And remember what peace there may be in silence.


Those are the first lines of Max Ehrmann’s prose poem “Desiderata.”
In my blog John’s Quiet Corner posted today I have included a visual presentation of the complete poem against a background of lovely scenery, and accompanied by the sublime music of Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings.

The whole video takes 10 minutes, but I highly recommend it.

http://john-quietcorner.blogspot.com/

SAMUEL JOHNSON

Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance.

REBA McENTIRE

To succeed in life you need three things - a wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Hitch your wagon to a star.

BUDDHA

There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts. It is a sword that kills.

SHANTI

You are really rich when you enjoy yourself as you are, when you are contented with what you have.

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.
Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

JAMES M. BARRIE

Life is a long lesson in humility.

The DALAI LAMA

Don’t try to use what you learn from Buddhism to be a Buddhist. Use it to be a better whatever-you-already-are.

ANON

Fear knocked at the door.
Faith answered, and lo -
No-one was there.

DANIEL DEFOE

The killing of time is the worst of murders.

HORACE

Learn to be wise, strain out the wine and prune lavish hopes to the quick. While we converse, envious time will have vanished. Harvest today, placing the least credence on what is to come.

DANNY KAYE

Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can.

SENECA

We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly and without hesitation. There is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the fingers.

AMY BLOOM

Love at first sight is easy to understand; it’s when two people have been married for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle.

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Since today is my 55th Wedding Anniversary, I’ve posted some of our Wedding Photographs on the EIGHTY PLUS website - http://80plus.blogspot.com/

C.S. LEWIS

Love is unselfishly choosing for another's highest good.

ANON

Today is the absolute day, the only day in the eternity of time.
Every day is fresh and new, just as one’s life is new every day.

THOMAS A KEMPIS

If we live in peace ourselves, we in turn may bring peace to others. A peaceable man does more good than a learned one.

GOETHE

One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.

RICHARD BACH

If it's never our fault, we can't take responsibility for it. If we can't take responsibility for it, we'll always be its victim.

ANDRE GIDE

Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it.

MARY OLIVER

When it’s over, I want to say -
All my life I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom taking the world into my arms.
When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder if I have made of my life something particular and real.
I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened, or full of argument.
I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

Be resolutely and faithfully what you are. Be humbly what you aspire to be.

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My EIGHTY PLUS blog today includes two paintings by Abraham Solomon, a poem by William Makepeace Thackeray, an unusual aspect of Scottish life in the 18th century, and a real treat for octogenarians who are still kids at heart!!!

http://80plus.blogspot.com

WINSTON CHURCHILL

The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.

LOU HOLTZ

Ability is what you're capable of doing.
Motivation determines what you do.
Attitude determines how well you do it.

JIM BEGGS

Before you put on a frown, make absolutely sure there are no smiles available.

Ancient Egyptian Saying

Silence is more profitable than abundance of speech.

JONATHAN SWIFT

We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to
make us love one another.

BUDDHA

Believe nothing because a wise man said it.
Believe nothing because it is generally held true.
Believe nothing because it is written.
Believe nothing because it is said to be divine.
Believe nothing because someone else believes it.
But believe only what you yourself judge to be true.

ANON

A wise man can see more from the bottom of a well than a fool can from a mountain top

JOHN'S QUIET CORNER is a new blog which started today.
I'm hoping that it will provide a few relaxing minutes.
The address is -
http://john-quietcorner.blogspot.com

WISE MEN SAY will continue daily and EIGHTY PLUS every Friday.

JEAN KERR

If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, it is possible you haven’t grasped the gravity of the situation.

GANDHI

Seven Blunders of the World -

1. Wealth without work
2. Pleasure without conscience
3. Knowledge without character
4. Commerce without morality
5. Science without humanity
6. Worship without sacrifice
7. Politics without principle

ANON

Be content with what you have,
Rejoice in the way things are,
When you realise there is nothing lacking -
The World belongs to You!

JOHN RUSKIN

It is far more difficult to be simple than to be complicated.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Vessels large may venture more,
But little boats should keep near shore.

AMY CARMICHAEL

You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.

HILAIRE BELLOC

Before the curse of statistics fell upon mankind we lived a happy innocent life, full of merriment and go, and informed by fairly good judgment.

DENG MING-DAO

seek silence
gladden silence
adore silence

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

It is not enough to be busy - so are the ants. The question is - what are we busy about?

PLUTARCH

To make no mistakes is not in the power of man, but from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future.

GEORGE SAND

Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness.

BUDDHA

Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue.

THOMAS FULLER

That which is bitter to endure may be sweet to remember.

BEN HOGAN

As you walk down the fairway of life, you must smell the roses, for you only get to play one round.

CHOGYAM TRUNGPA

First thought, best thought.

WINSTON CHURCHILL

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.

ANON

Speak well of your enemies.
After all, you made them.

PLATO

Let me make the songs of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws.

PETER USTINOV

Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit.

Chinese Proverb

Those who drink the water should remember with gratitude those who dug the well.

ALAN PATON

When a deep injury is done us, we can never recover until we forgive.

ANTONIO MACHADO

Traveller, there is no path,
Paths are made by walking.

CHARLOTTE GRAY

Human beings who leave behind them no great achievements, but only a sequence of small kindnesses, have not had wasted lives.

ARNOLD BENNETT

It is easier to go down a hill than up, but the view is from the top.

BUDDHA

He who experiences the unity of life sees his own self in all beings, and all beings in his own self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye.

ANON

Smiling is infectious,
You can catch it like the flu.
Someone smiled at me today,
And I started smiling too.

KIN HUBBARD

Don’t knock the weather. Nine-tenths of people couldn't start a conversation if it didn't change once in a while.

WILLIAM BLAKE

No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.

Spanish Proverb

The door to the human heart can be opened only from the inside.

HELEN KELLER

When we do the best we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another.

THOMAS CARLYLE

Oh, give us the man who sings at his work.

EDMUND HILLARY

It is not the mountain that we conquer but ourselves.

LAO-TZU

At the centre of your being you have the answer. You know who you are and you know what you want.

DR.SEUSS

You have brains in your head, You have feet in your shoes,
You can steer yourself, any direction you choose.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

He that waits upon fortune is never sure of a dinner.

BUDDHA

Teach this triple truth to all:- A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.

THOMAS PARNELL

Let those love now who never loved before. Let those who always loved now love the more.

ANON

No one needs a smile as much as he who has none to give.

WILLIAM BLAKE

Can I see another's woe,
And not be in sorrow too?
Can I see another's grief,
And not seek for kind relief?

from Fragrantheart.com

Nature is always giving and from her comes the richness of life. I too find my life a lot richer when I give.

Attrib. WILDE, TWAIN, WC FIELDS etc.

Whenever I feel like exercise, I lie down till the feeling passes.

IKKYU

Many paths lead from
The foot of the mountain,
But at the peak
We all gaze at the
Single bright moon

WILLIAM ARTHUR WARD

A cloudy day is no match for a sunny disposition.

The DALAI LAMA

Chairman Mao once said that political power comes from the barrel of a gun. Of course it is true that violence can achieve certain short-term objectives. But it cannot obtain long-lasting ends. If we look at history, we find that in time humanity’s love of peace, justice and freedom triumphs over cruelty and oppression. That is why I am a fervent believer in non-violence.

ARTHUR ASHE

From what we get, we can make a living. What we give, however, makes a life.

ANON

Cease wretch to mourn to weep -
Sip up the sun,
We dance along death's icy rim,
But is the dance less fun?

ANTON CHEKHOV

A good upbringing means not that you won’t spill sauce on the tablecloth, but that you won’t notice it when someone else does.

ANNE FRANK

Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.

JOHN RUSKIN

What we think or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only thing of consequence is what we do.

LAO-TZU

Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt.

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher.

SOCRATES

Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.

GROUCHO MARX

I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it.

MARY ANNE RADMACHER

May your walls know joy. May every room hold laughter and every window open to great possibility.

VICTOR HUGO

Adversity makes men and prosperity makes monsters.

ANON

The Meaning of Life is to give life Meaning.

MOTHER TERESA

Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.

GEOFFREY SMITH

If I am depressed or if I think the world’s a filthy place, I just go and look at a flower.

WILLIAM BLAKE

He who binds himself to joy
Doth the winged life destroy,
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity’s sunrise.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

JESUS of NAZARETH

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

MARK TWAIN

It's noble to be good. It's still nobler to teach others to be good - and less trouble.

from FragrantHeart.com

This day I awaken to joy, to love, to life, for that is who I truly am. I am joy, I am love, I am life.

BUDDHA

Cease to do evil, start to do good……work out your own salvation with diligence.

ZADOK RABINWITZ

A man's dreams are an index to his greatness.

RICHARD LOVELACE

Stone wall do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage;
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for an hermitage;
If I have freedom in my love,
And in my soul am free,
Angels alone that soar above
Enjoy such liberty.

CONFUCIUS

Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.

ELLA WHEELER WILCOX

The truest greatness lies in being kind,
The truest wisdom in a happy mind.

ANON

If you don't have a smile, I'll give you one of mine.

HENRY MILLER

Develop an interest in life as you see it - the people, things, literature , music. The world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself.

LOU HOLTZ

A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.

JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER Jr.

Giving is the secret of a healthy life - not necessarily money, but whatever a person has of encouragement, sympathy and understanding.

MIGUEL DE CERVANTES

Tell me what company thou keepst, and I'll tell thee what thou art.

ANON

You can complain that the roses have thorns, or you can rejoice that the thorns have roses.

RABINDRANATH TAGORE

The same stream of life, that runs through my veins night and day, runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures. My pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.

THOMAS CARLYLE

The block of granite, which was an obstacle in the path of the weak, becomes a stepping stone in the path of the strong.

PHYLLIS DILLER

A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

It is better to be faithful than famous.

JOHN BURROUGHS

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.

Ancient Chinese Proverb

A single conversation across a table with a wise man is worth a month's study of books.

DEEPAK CHOPRA

Giving connects two people, the giver and the receiver, and this connection gives birth to a new sense of belonging.

MARK TWAIN

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.

BLAISE PASCAL

All the good maxims have been written. It only remains to put them into practice.

W.E.HENLEY

I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.

ANON

Laundry is the only thing that should be separated by colour.

BUDDHA

He who receives kindness should never forget it, but he who performs it should never remember it.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Allow yourself to trust joy and embrace it. You will find you dance with everything.

DR.SEUSS

Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting! So - get on your way!

JOHN RUSKIN

Life is a magic vase filled to the brim, so made that you cannot dip into it nor draw from it, but it overflows into the hand that drops treasures into it. Drop malice into it and it overflows hate. Drop in charity and it overflows love.

ARISTOTLE

Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting a particular way. You become just by performing just actions, temperate by performing temperate actions, brave by performing brave actions.

ANON

A little bit of help is better than a great deal of pity.

ELLA WHEELER WILCOX

‘Tis easy enough to be pleasant when life flows along like a song; But the man worth while is the one who will smile when everything goes dead wrong.

GANDHI

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

DAVID GRAYSON

Adventure is not outside man; it is within.

WILLIAM FAULKNER

The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.

RABINDRANATH TAGORE

Faith is the bird that sings when the dawn is still dark.

ALFRED ADLER

The chief danger in life is that you may take too many precautions.

ANON

There is so much bad in the best of us, and so much good in the worst of us, that it ill behoves the best of us to say any ill of the worst of us.

[It’s exactly 3 years since I created this blog. When I began I was uncertain in how it would progress, and on that first day I posted no fewer than 30 quotations! Since then, a routine has developed and my aim has been to publish a quote daily. There have been 1065 posts, and since last December the number of hits has averaged 70 per week. The majority of visitors to the site are from the UK and the USA, but there are a surprising number of people all over the world who access the blog.]

THOMAS CARLYLE

Stop a moment, cease your work, and look around you.

ALBERT SCHWEITZER

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.

HECTOR BERLIOZ

Time is a great teacher. Unfortunately it kills all its pupils.

Buddhist Saying

Neither fire nor wind nor birth nor death can erase our good deeds.

MOTHER TERESA

A joyful heart is the inevitable result of a heart burning with love.

for St Valentine's Day

Two anonymous quotes -

What would it be like to swing on a star, or walk on a cloud? Would it be anything like what I feel whenever you are near?

Love means nothing in tennis, but it's everything in life.

VOLTAIRE

Stand upright, speak thy thoughts, declare the truth thou hast, that all may share. Be bold, proclaim it everywhere. They only live who dare.

From Fragrantheart.com

When we are connected to Nature even the tiniest creature elicits our awe and reverence.

EDWARD DE BONO

The simple process of focussing on things that are normally taken for granted is a powerful source of creativity.

BUDDHA

It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

There are three things which are extremely hard - steel, a diamond, and to know oneself.

GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

The more I see of the moneyed classes, the more I understand the guillotine.

MIGUEL DE CERVANTES

Time ripens all things, no man is born wise.

Indian Proverb

Every time you wake up, ask yourself, "What good things am I going to do today?" Remember that, when the sun goes down at sunset, it will take a part of your life with it.

MALCOLM FORBES

Failure is success if we learn from it.

LAO-TZU

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength. Loving someone deeply gives you courage.

ALBERT SCHWEITZER

I have always held firmly to the thought that each one of us can do a little to bring some portion of misery to an end.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Insist on being yourself. Never imitate.

CONFUCIUS

To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order. To put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order. To put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life. We must first set our hearts right. 

AUGUSTE RODIN

Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.

ANNE FRANK

Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.

MARK TWAIN

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.

St.BASIL

He who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.

ANON

A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success.

MARCUS AURELIUS

I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned the hard way that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Adapt yourself to the things among which your lot has been cast and love sincerely the fellow creatures with whom destiny has ordained that you shall live.

VICTOR HUGO

The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved - loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.

MICHAEL KORDA

In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can.

Zen Buddhist Saying

The finger pointing at the moon is not the moon.

ERICA JONG

Everyone has a talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

How poor are they that have not patience.

RABINDRANATH TAGORE

The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.

D.H. LAWRENCE

I got the blues thinking of the future, so I left off and made some marmalade. It’s amazing how it cheers one up to shred oranges and scrub the floor.

BUDDHA

It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.

MARYANNE RADMACHER-HERSHEY

Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, “ I'll try again tomorrow.”

ANON

Don't ever save anything for a special occasion. Being alive is that special occasion.

T.S.ELIOT

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. You can out-distance that which is running after you, but not what is running inside you.

JOAN MILLS

I've gone through life believing in the strength and competence of others, never in my own. Now I discover that my capacities are real - it's like finding a fortune in the lining of an old coat.

from the Dhammapada

Conquer the angry man by love.
Conquer the ill-natured man by goodness.
Conquer the miser with generosity.
Conquer the liar with truth.

WILLIAM ARTHUR

Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I may not forget you.

MARK TWAIN

The best way to cheer yourself is to cheer somebody else up.

Spanish Proverb

How beautiful it is to do nothing, and then rest afterwards.

RABINDRANATH TAGORE

I slept and dreamt that life was Joy,
I woke and saw that life was Duty,
I acted and behold - Duty was Joy.

MAYA ANGELOU

A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.

STEPHEN COVEY

Begin with the end in mind.

DIOGENES

We have two ears and one tongue so that we would listen more and talk less.

Chinese proverb

Even a great feast has a last course

ALBERT SCHWEITZER

Anyone who proposes to do good must not expect people to roll stones out of his way, but must accept his lot calmly, even if they roll a few stones upon it.

RICHARD NELSON BOLLES

One of the saddest lines in the world is - oh come now, be realistic. The best parts of this world were not fashioned by those who were realistic. They were fashioned by those who dared to look hard at their wishes and gave them horses to ride.

ANAIS NIN

I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and moulding my life, is too much of a daily event for me.

OPRAH WINFREY

Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right.