Saturday, February 11, 2006

Pearls of Wisdom (III)

The sages do not consider that making no mistakes is a blessing. They believe, rather, that the great virtue of man lies in his ability to correct his mistakes and continually make a new man of himself.
Wang Yang-Ming (1472-1529) Chinese Philosopher

A life without purpose is a languid, drifting thing; Every day we ought to review our purpose, saying to ourselves: This day let me make a sound beginning, for what we have hitherto done is naught!
Thomas A. Kempis

If there is one thing upon this earth that mankind love and admire better than another, it is a brave man, -- it is the man who dares to look the devil in the face and tell him he is a devil.
James A. Garfield

Every man's work, whether it be literature or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of himself.
Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English Writer

A human activity having for its purpose the transmission of the highest and best feelings to which men have risen. (on the purpose of art).
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) Russian Novelist

Nothing will sustain you more potently than the power to recognize in your humdrum routine, as perhaps it may be thought, the true poetry of life.
Sir William Osler (1849-1919) Canadian Physician

It is better to say, "This one thing I do" than to say, "These forty things I dabble in."
Washington Gladden

The first virtue of all really great men is that they are sincere. They eradicate hypocrisy from their hearts.
Anotole France

I don't like work... but I like what is in work -- the chance to find yourself. Your own reality -- for yourself, not for others -- which no other man can ever know.
Joseph Conrad

The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.
Chinese proverb

None will improve your lot If you yourself do not.
Bertolt Brecht, 1933

In every person who comes near you look for what is good and strong; honor that; try to imitate it, and your faults will drop off like dead leaves when their time comes.
John Ruskin (1819-1900) English Art Critic

Justice is a certain rectitude of mind whereby a man does what he ought to do in circumstances confronting him.
St. Thomas Aquinas

The abundant life does not come to those who have had a lot of obstacles removed from their path by others. It develops from within and is rooted in strong mental and moral fiber.
William Mather Lewis

In the final analysis there is no solution to man's progress but the day's honest work, the day's honest decisions, the day's generous utterances and the day's good deed.
Clare Booth Luce

The best portion of a good man's life is the little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.
William Wordsworth (1770-1850) English poet

Not the owner of many possessions will you be right to call happy: he more rightly deserves the name of happy who knows how to use the Gods' gifts wisely and to put up with rough poverty, and who fears dishonor more than death.
Horace (65-8 BC) Roman Poet

It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expected of him.
John Steinbeck (1902-1968) American Novelist

Life is not holding a good hand; Life is playing a poor hand well.
Danish proverb

Nothing is ever lost by courtesy. It is the cheapest of pleasures, costs nothing, and conveys much.
Erastus Wiman

Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control. These three alone lead to sovereign power.
Lord Alfred Tennyson

I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.
Agatha Christie

Every man stamps his value on himself... man is made great or small by his own will.
J.C.F. von Schiller

Live your life each day as you would climb a mountain. An occasional glance towards the summit keeps the goal in mind, but many beautiful scenes are to be observed from each new vantage point.
Harold B. Melchart
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We love: that's why life is full of so many wonderful gifts.
Mevlana Rumi
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The beauty of the soul shines out when a man bears with composure one heavy mischance after another, not because he does not feel them, but because he is a man of high and heroic temper.
Aristotle

If you have not often felt the joy of doing a kind act, you have neglected much, and most of all yourself.
A. Neilen

To live in the presence of great truths and eternal laws, to be led by permanent ideals - that is what keeps a man patient when the world ignores him, and calm and unspoiled when the world praises him.
Honore De Balzac (1799-1850) French Novelist

He who reigns within himself and rules his passions, desires, and fears is more than a king.
John Milton (1608-1674) English Poet

I find that it is not the circumstances in which we are placed, but the spirit in which we face them, that constitutes our comfort.
Elizabeth T. King

Faith that the thing can be done is essential to any great achievement.
Thomas N. Carruther

The most important thing I have learned over the years is the difference between taking one's work seriously and taking one's self seriously. The first is imperative, and the second disastrous.
Margaret Fontey

Time and money spent in helping men do more for themselves is far better than mere giving.
Henry Ford (1863-1947) American Industrialist

The world is moved not only by the mighty shoves of the heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.
Helen Keller (1880-1968) American Writer

No matter who says what, you should accept it with a smile and do your own work.
Mother Teresa (1910-1997) Albanian Missionary

There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.
Beverly Sills (1929-) American Opera Singer

The great thing and the hard thing is to stick to things when you have outlived the first interest, and not yet got the second, which comes with a sort of mastery.
Janet Erskine Stuart

The height of your accomplishments will equal the depth of your convictions.
William F. Scolavino

If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has been owing more to patient attention than to any other talent.
Isaac Newton (1642-1727) English Scientist

He is a man of sense who does not grieve for what he has not, but rejoices in what he has.
Epictetus (55-135 AD) Greek Philosopher

Many of our fears are tissue paper thin, and a single courageous step would carry us clear through them.
Brendan Francis [Behan] (1923-1964) Irish Author

The real measure of your wealth is how much you'd be worth if you lost all your money.
Bernard Meltzer (1914-) American Law Professor

Anyone can sympathize with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathize with a friend's success.
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish Dramatist and Poet

A loyal friend laughs at your jokes when they're not so good, and sympathizes with your problems when they're not so bad.
Arnold H. Glasow

Not a day passes over this earth but men and women of note do great deeds, speak great words and suffer noble sorrows.
Charles Reed

A friend hears the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails.
Unknown

There are many ways to measure success; not the least of which is the way your child describes you when talking to a friend.
Unknown

You see things; and you say, "Why?" But I dream things that never were; and I say "Why not?"
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish Playwright

Courage to start and willingness to keep everlasting at it are the requisites for success.
Alonzo Newton Benn

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Pearls of Wisdom (II)

Pearls of Wisdom (I)

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Note: Most of these quotes are compiled from PositivePress.com's Positive Quote of the Day.

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