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.

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

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.