Email Nancy at: Nancy@nancyplanet.com

Some of my favorite quotes:

Make this fact part of your philosophy of life: people change: "The old woman I shall become will be quite different from the woman I am now. Another "I" is beginning." ....George Sand

"Hope is the feeling you have that the feeling you have isn't permanent." ....Jean Kerr

"Rudeness is the weak man's limitation of strength." ....Eric Hoffer

"If you are sure you understand everything that is going on, you are hopelessly confused." ....Walter Mondale

"We most always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise we harden." ....Johann von Goethe

"Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are."......Malcolm Forbes

"Breaks balance out. The sun don't shine on the same old dog's rear end every day."......Darrell Royal

Be yourself and wear what you like: "Fashion is what you adopt when you don't know who you are."......Quentin Crisp

If you must argue, remember that..... "It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in argument.".........William Gibbs McAdoo

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

Enlightenment is understanding that there is nowhere to go, nothing to do, and nobody you have to be except exactly who you're being right now. ......Neale Donald Walsch

"Not all those who wander are lost." --J.R.R. .........Tolkien

"This is not a dress rehearsal. This is *It*........Tom Cunningham

"Waste your money and you're only out of money, but waste your time and you've lost a part of your life."......Michael Leboeuf

Have more than thou showest, Speak less than thou knowest.......William Shakespeare

Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul; the blue prints of your ultimate accomplishments.....Napoleon Hill

"You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try.".....Beverly Sills

Victory is sweetest when you’ve known defeat.....Malcolm Forbes

Nurture your mind with great thoughts; to believe in the heroic makes heroes......Benjamin Disraeli

This above all, to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.....William Shakespeare and my MOTHER !!!

"Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person. ".......Mother Teresa

"My will shall shape my future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man's doing but my own.".......Elaine Maxwell

"Life begets life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich.".....Sarah Bernhardt

To be capable of steady friendship or lasting love, are the two greatest proofs, not only of goodness of heart, but of strength of mind..... William Hazlitt, 1823

"A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water." ....Nancy Reagan

"When it is dark enough, you can see the stars."......Charles A. Beard

When things reach their absolute worst, remember: "If you're going through hell, keep going."......Winston Churchill

There is in every true woman's heart a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity, but which kindles up, and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity....... Elisabeth Guizot

Do not look where you fell -- but -- where you slipped !!! ....... African Proverb

No matter how far you have gone on the wrong road, turn back....... Turkish Proverb

The easiest person to deceive is one's own self....... Edward Bulwer-Lytton

The best index of a person's character is (a) how he treats people who can't do him any good (b) how he treats people who can't fight back........ Abigail Van Buren

You should not live one way in public and another in private...... Publilius Syrus

Charity sees the need not the cause....... German Proverb

Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life....... Sophia Loren

The vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal that you enthrone in your heart – this you will build your life by, and this you will become......James Lane Allen

The aim of life is the flowering of persons. Nowadays people seem concerned mostly with the perfectioning of things."........Anthony de Mello, SJ

Money is not required to buy one necessity of the soul......Henry David Thoreau

Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.......B.F. Skinner

Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world......George Bernard Shaw

Life is a quarry, out of which we are to mold and chisel and complete a character.........Goethe (1749-1832)

"An ideology is as good or bad as the people who make use of it. If a million wolves were to organize for justice, would they cease to be a million wolves?"..........Anthony de Mello, SJ

Each snowflake in an avalanche pleads not guilty..............Stanislaw J. Lee

You will learn more about a road by travelling it, than consulting all the maps in the world.

Your religion is what you do when the sermon is over.

Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking.

Good character is more to be praised than outstanding talent. Most talents are, to some extent, a gift. Good character, by contrast, is not given to us. We have to build it piece by piece - by thought, choice, courage, and determination......John Luther

People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they're not on your road, doesn't mean they've gotten lost.

"Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness, and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again.....Og Mandino

Those who are awake live in a state of constant amazement............Buddha

It isn’t the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog, that counts.........Woody Hayes

Always aim for achievement, and forget about success......Helen Hayes

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

Sometimes, when the soul least thinks of it, and when it least desires it, God touches it divinely causing certain recollections of Himself...........John of the Cross (1542-1591)

The intelligent man who is proud of his intelligence is like the Condemned man who is proud of his large cell. --Simone Weil

He who knows the precepts by heart, but fails to practice them, Is like unto one who lights a lamp and then shuts his eyes. ..............Nagarjuna

Spirituality is about being deliberate in your actions and true to your own values in how you live your life. It's about developing your creativity and cultivating relationships. It's about integrating the emotional and intellectual sides of your personality, your head and your heart. "Just being alive is a sacred act". "It's absurd to think that spirituality isn't in the workplace. It's everywhere. It just isn't recognized. "I am absolutely convinced that nobody empowers me except me". Thus the challenge for companies is to create a work environment that supports each person's own choice to empower himself or herself. ……. unknown

What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.....Ralph Waldo Emerson

We should be bringing peace to our jobs and not be the cause of confusion. We should be the ones to bring our gifts & talents to the table to help in WHATEVER area God has chosen for us to work in. Col.3:23-24

~Don't Look Back~ As you travel through life there are always those times when decisions just have to be made when the choices are hard, and solutions seem scarce and the rain seems to soak your parade! There are some situations where all you can do is to simply let go and move on gather courage together and choose a direction that carries you toward a new dawn. So pack up your troubles and take a step forward the process of change can be tough but think about all the excitement ahead if you can be stalwart enough! There could be adventures you never imagined just waiting around the next bend and wishes and dreams just about to come true in ways you can't yet comprehend! Perhaps you'll find friendships that spring from new interests as you challenge your status quo and learn there are so many options in life, and so many ways you can grow! Perhaps you'll go places you never expected and see things that you've never seen or travel to fabulous, faraway worlds and wonderful spots in between! Perhaps you'll find warmth and affection and caring- a "somebody special" who's there to help you stay centered and listen with interest to stories and feelings you share. Perhaps you'll find comfort in knowing your friends are supportive of all that you do and believe that whatever decisions you make, they'll be the right choices for you! So keep putting one foot in front of the other and taking your life day by day. There's a brighter tomorrow that's just down the road. Don't look back- you're not going that way! ~Jan Miller Girando~

Reason to smile: Every 7 minutes of every day, someone in an aerobics class pulls a hamstring !!!!

Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor....Let no one come to you without leaving better or happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile and kindness in your warm greeting. ~ Mother Teresa

The real measure of your wealth is how much you'd be worth if you lost all your money. .........Anonymous

There is no right way to do wrong !!!!!!!

If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.................Anatole France (1844-1924)

There is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who has not had a king among his..........Helen Adams Keller (1880-1968)

Live as you will wish to have lived when you are dying. ................Christian Furchtegott Gellert

We only get what we give !!!!!

Women who seek to be equal to men lack ambition !!!!!!!

Holding on to anger is like holding on to a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned........... Buddha

There is in every true woman's heart a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity; but which kindles up, and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.......Washington Irving, "The Sketch Book," 1820

The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes - but in having new eyes. --Marcel Proust

Is salvation obtained through action or through meditation?" "Through neither. Salvation comes from seeing." "Seeing what?" "That the gold necklace you wish to acquire is hanging round your neck. --That the snake you are so frightened of is only a rope on the ground." Anthony de Mello, SJ

All that is -- is the result of what we have thought. ..............Buddha

Paradoxical as it seemed, the Master always insisted that the true reformer was one who was able to see that everything is perfect as it is -- and able to leave it alone. Then why would he wish to reform anything?" protested his disciples "Well, there are reformers and reformers: One type lets action flow through them while they themselves do nothing; these are like people who change the shape and flow of a river. The others generate their own activity; they are like people who exert themselves to make the river wetter. Anthony de Mello, SJ

Life's Tragedy is that we get old to soon and wise too late. .......................Benjamin Franklin

The Dead speak to us from beyond the grave, it’s called conscious.

During my second month of nursing school, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I as a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one:  'What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?"  Surely this was some kind of joke.  I had see the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, bu how would I know her name?  I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.  Absolutely,said the professor.  "In your careers you will meet many people.  All are significant.  They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say hello". I've never forgotten that lesson.  I also learned her name was Dorothy.

A smooth sea never made a skilled mariner................. English proverb

Pickup in the Rain One night, at 11:30 pm, an older African-American woman was standing on the side of a Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rain storm.  Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.  A young white man stopped to help her-generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxi cab. She seemed to be in a big hurry!  She wrote down his address, thanked him and drove away. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man's door.  To his surprise, a giant combination console color TV and stereo record player were delivered to his home. A special note was attached.  The note read: "Dear Mr. James,        Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes but my spirits. Then you came along.  Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband's bedside just before he passed away.  God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others. Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole".

Giving Blood Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at Stanford Hospital, I  got to know a little girl named Liza who was suffering from a rare and serious disease.  Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her five-year-old brother, who had miraculously survived the same diseaseand had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes, I'll  do it if it will save Liza." As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded.  He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?" Being young, the boy had misunderstood the doctor.  He thought he was going to have to give her all his blood.

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win..............Gandhi

"Calamities can bring growth and Enlightenment," said the Master. And he explained it thus: "Each day a bird would shelter in the withered branches of a tree that stood in the middle of a vast deserted plain. One day a whirlwind uprooted the tree, forcing the poor bird to fly a hundred miles in search of shelter -- till it finally came to a forest of fruit-laden trees." And he concluded: "If the withered tree had survived, nothing would have induced the bird to give up its security and fly." Anthony de Mello, SJ

Experience is what you get when you do not get what you want.

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light......... Plato

When the water In your mind - Clears up Calm stars can be seen - Reflected on it ................................ (Zen poem)

Much advance publicity was made for the address the Master would deliver on "The Destruction of the World" and a large crowd gathered at the monastery grounds to hear him. The address was over in less than a minute. All he said was: "These things, will destroy the human race: politics without principle, progress without compassion, wealth without work, learning without silence, religion without fearlessness and worship without awareness." Anthony de Mello, SJ

It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and occupation, that gives happiness.......... Thomas Jefferson

The disciple asked for a word of wisdom. Said the Master, "Go sit within your cell and your cell will teach you wisdom." "But I have no cell. I am no monk." "Of course you have a cell. Look within."

Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be amused.

"You are so proud of your intelligence," said the Master to a disciple. "You are like the condemned man who is proud of the vastness of his prison cell." Anthony de Mello, SJ

God washes the eyes by tears until they can behold the invisible land where tears shall come no more. --Henry Ward Beecher

Disciples who were always asking for words of wisdom the Master said, "Wisdom is not expressed in words. It reveals itself in action." But when he saw them plunge headlong into activity, he laughed aloud and said, "That isn't action. That's motion." Anthony de Mello, SJ

Said the jilted lover, "I have burned my fingers once. I shall never fall in love again." Said the Master, "You are like the cat who, having burned itself from sitting on a stove, refused to sit again." Anthony de Mello, SJ

To be wronged is nothing, unless you continue to remember it. .........Confuscius

Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength.-- Corrie Ten Boom

The Master had no use at all for scholarly discourses. He called them "pearls of wisdom." "But if they are pearls, why do you scorn them?" said the disciples. "Have you ever known pearls to grow when planted in a field?" was the reply. Anthony de Mello, SJ

When an idea is wanting, a word can always be found to take its place........ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

"Of what use is your learning and your devotions? Does a donkey become wise through living in a library or a mouse acquire holiness from living in a church?" - "What is it, then, we need?" - "A heart." - "How does one get that?" ....................The Master would not say. What could he say that they wouldn't turn into a subject to be learned or an object of devotion? Anthony de Mello, SJ

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

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius power and magic in it. --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

The greatest quality on earth is the willingness to become.

Self-pity gets you nowhere. One must have the adventurous daring to accept oneself as a bundle of possibilities and undertake the most interesting game in the world -- making the most of one's best. ....Harry Emerson Fosdick

The Master was always teaching that guilt is an evil emotion to be avoided like the very devil -- all guilt. "But are we not to hate our sins?" a disciple said one day. "When you are guilty, it is not your sins you hate but yourself." Anthony de Mello, SJ

If a man's mind becomes pure, his surroundings will also become pure. --Buddha (B.C. 568-488)

Let us be thankful for fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed. ................Mark Twain

When we accept tough jobs as a challenge to our ability and wade into them with joy and enthusiasm, miracles can happen. .........Arland Gilbert

Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person. ........Mother Teresa

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do. .........Eleanor Roosevelt

A person is only as big as the dream they dare to live. ...........Unknown

"Why are you so wary of thought?" said the philosopher. "Thought is the one tool we have for organizing the world." "True. But thought can organize the world so well that you are no longer able to see it." ..................To his disciples he later said, "A thought is a screen, not a mirror; that is why you live in a thought envelope, untouched by Reality." Anthony de Mello, S.J

For a small reward a man will hurry away on a long journey, while for eternal life, many will hardly take a single step...........Thomas A Kempis

Uncertainty and mystery are energies of life. Don't let them scare you unduly, for they keep boredom at bay and spark creativity...........R. I. Fitzhenry

Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart ... Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens. ~ Carl Jung

The conditions of conquest are always easy. We have but to toil awhile, endure awhile, believe always, and never turn back..........Marcus Annaeus Seneca

The disciples were absorbed in a discussion of Lao-tzu's dictum: "Those who know do not say; Those who say do not know." When the Master entered, they asked him exactly what the words meant. Said the Master, "Which of you knows the fragrance of a rose?" All of them knew. Then he said, "Put it into words." All of them were silent. Anthony de Mello, SJ

Well-timed silence is the purest speech. ............Alan Harris

What you can do, or dream you can do, begin it; boldness has genius, power and magic in it.........Johann von Goethe

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. .............Mark Twain (1835-1910)

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live a life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.......Henry David Thoreau

You have it easily in your power to increase the sum total of this world's happiness now. How? By giving a few words of sincere appreciation to someone who is lonely or discouraged. Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them over a lifetime.......Dale Carnegie

To a disciple who complained of his limitations the Master said, "You are limited indeed. But have you noticed you can do things today that you would have thought impossible fifteen years ago? What changed?" "My talents changed." "No. You changed." "Isn't that the same thing?" "No. You are what you think you are. When your thinking changed, you changed." Anthony de Mello, SJ

Destroying pride -- man becomes endearing; Destroying anger -- man gets rid of sorrow; Destroying desire -- man aquires peace; Destroying greed -- man achieves happiness. Satya Sai Baba

Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant........Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)

The Master welcomed the advances of technology, but was keenly aware of its limitations. When an industrialist asked him what his occupation was, he replied, "I'm in the people industry." "And what, pray, would that be?" said the industrialist. "Take yourself," said the Master. "Your efforts produce better things; mine, better people." To his disciples he later said, "The aim of life is the flowering of persons. Nowadays people seem concerned mostly with the perfectioning of things." Anthony de Mello, SJ

Young men are apt to think themselves wise enough, as drunken men are apt to think themselves sober enough. ....... Lord Chesterfield

The world stands aside to let anyone pass who knows where he is going.......David Starr Jordan

If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed. ......Albert Einstein

We become trapped, not by the truth, but rather by our limiting beliefs. --Rev. Mary Manin Morrissey

Pain nourishes courage. You can't be brave if you've only had wonderful things happen to you..........Mary Tyler Moore

In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ........Thomas Jefferson

I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be honorable, to be compassionate. It is, after all, to matter: to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all..........Leo C. Rosten

The Master was an advocate both of learning and of Wisdom. "Learning," he said when asked, "is gotten by reading books or listening to lectures." "And Wisdom?" "By reading the book that is you." He added as an afterthought: "Not an easy task at all, for every minute of the day brings a new edition of the book!" Anthony de Mello, SJ

Think of yourself on the threshold of unparalleled success. A whole clear, glorious life lies before you. Achieve! Achieve!.......Andrew Carnegie

The way to use life is to do nothing through acting, The way to use life is to do everything through being.......Lao Tzu

A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows the public opinion. --Chinese Proverb

Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles......Helen Keller

The Master never ceased to attack the notions about God that people entertain. "If your God comes to your rescue and gets you out of trouble," he would say, "it is time you started searching for the true God." When asked to elaborate, this is the story he told: "A man left a brand-new bicycle unattended at the marketplace while he went about his shopping. He only remembered the bicycle the following day — and rushed to the marketplace, expecting it would have been stolen. The bicycle was exactly where he had left it. Overwhelmed with joy, he rushed to a nearby temple to thank God for having kept his bicycle safe only to find, when he got out of the temple, that the bicycle was goner" Anthony de Mello, SJ

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

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD HAVE: 1. One old boyfriend you can imagine going back to and one who reminds you of how far you've come. 2. Enough money within your control to move out and rent a place on your own, even if you never wanted or need to. 3. Something perfect to wear if the employer or man of your dreams wants to see you in an hour. 4. A purse, a suitcase and an umbrella you're not ashamed to be seen carrying. 5. A youth you're content to move beyond. 6. A past juicy enough that you're looking forward to retelling it in your old age. 7. The realization that you are actually going to have an old age and some money set aside to help fund it. 8. A set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill and a black lace bra. 9. One friend who always makes you laugh and one who lets you cry. 10. A good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in your family. 11. Eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems and a recipe for a meal that will make your guests feel honored. 12. A resume that is not even the slightest bit padded. 13. A feeling of control over your destiny. 14. A skin care regime, an exercise routine and a plan for dealing with those few other facets of life that don't get better after 30. 15. A solid start on a satisfying career, a satisfying relationship and all those other facets of life that do get better.

It is a fine thing to have ability, but the ability to discover ability in others is the true test.......Elbert Hubbard

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW: 1. How to fall in love without losing yourself. 2. How you feel about having kids. 3. How to quit a job, break up with a man, and confront a friend without ruining the friendship. 4. When to try harder and when to walk away. 5. How to kiss a man in a way that communicates perfectly what you would and wouldn't like to happen next. 6. How to have a good time at a party you'd never choose to attend. 7. How to ask for what you want in a way that makes it most likely you'll get it. 8. That you can't change the length of your calves, the width of your hips, or the nature of your parents. 9. That your childhood may not have been perfect, but it's over. 10. What you would and wouldn't do for love or more. 11. How to live alone, even if you don't like it. 12. Who you can trust, who you can't, and why you shouldn't take it personally. 13. Where to go - be it your best friend's kitchen table or a charming inn hidden in the woods - when your soul needs soothing. 14. What you can and can't accomplish in a day, a month, a year. 15. Why they say life begins at 30.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR LIFE 1. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully. 2. Memorize your favourite poem. 3. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want. 4. When you say, "I love you", mean it. 5. When you say, "I'm sorry", look the person in the eye. 6. Be engaged at least six months before you get married. 7. Believe in love at first sight. 8. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much. 9. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely. 10. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling. 11. Don't judge people by their relatives. 12. Talk slowly but think quickly. 13. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?" 14. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk. 15. Call your mom. 16. Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze. 17. When you lose, don't lose the lesson. 18. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; Responsibility for all your actions. 19. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship. 20. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it . 21. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice. 22. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other. 23. Spend some time alone. 24. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values. 25. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer. 26. Read more books and watch less TV. 27. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll get to enjoy it a second time. 28. Trust in God but lock your car. 29. A loving atmosphere in your home is so important. Do all you can to create a tranquil harmonious home. 30. In disagreements with loved ones, deal with the current situation.Don't bring up the past. 31. Read between the lines. 32. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality. 33. Be gentle with the earth. 34. Pray. There's immeasurable power in it. 35. Never interrupt when you are being flattered. 36. Mind your own business. 37. Don't trust a man/woman who doesn't close his/her eyes when you kiss. 38. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before. 39. If you make a lot of money, put it to use helping others while you are living. That is wealth's greatest satisfaction. 40. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a stroke of luck. 41. Learn the rules then break some. 42. Remember that the best relationship is one where your love for each other is greater than your need for each other. 43. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it. 44. Remember that your character is your destiny. 45. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

We shall never cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring, will be to arrive where we started - and know the place for the first time.......T.S. Eliot

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

The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them.........George Bernard Shaw

When you talk, you repeat what you already know; when you listen, you often learn something.........Jared Sparks (1789-1866)

Mind is like a mirror; it gathers dust while it reflects. It needs the gentle breezes of Soul-Wisdom to brush away the dust of our illusions. --Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891)

The first step toward change is acceptance. Once you accept yourself, you open the door to change. That's all you have to do. Change is not something you do, it's something you allow.........Will Garcia

The greater the obstacle the more glory in overcoming it...........Moliere

PONDERINGS * I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe. * Do you ever wonder how much deeper the ocean would be without sponges? * Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm. * I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol. * Borrow money from a pessimist; he doesn't expect to be repaid. * If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried. * Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it. * To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research. * The sooner you fall behind the more time you'll have to catch up. * A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

Strange is our situation upon earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, Not knowing why, yet sometimes Seeming to a divine purpose. ............Albert Einstein

All big things in this world are done by people who are naive and have an idea that is obviously impossible.

The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend. .........Henri L. Bergson

Be the change that you want to see in the world.........Gandhi

Forget past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you're going to do now and do it.........William Durant, founder of General Motors

"Sitting quietly doing nothing. Spring comes and the grass grows."..........Anthony de Mello, SJ

Serenity Isn't freedom from the storm, it is peace within the storm.

The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That's real glory. That's the essence of it.........Vince Lombardi

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.

To be capable of steady friendship or lasting love are the two greatest proofs, not only of goodness of heart, but of strength of mind..........William Hazlitt, "Characteristics," 1823

To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.........Robert Louis Stevenson, "Of Men and Books," 1882

Don't listen to anyone who tells you that you can't do this or that. That's nonsense. Make up your mind, you'll never use crutches or a stick, then have a go at everything. Go to school, join in all the games you can. Go anywhere you want to. But never, never let them persuade you that things are too difficult or impossible. -- Sir Douglas Bader (1910-1982), British fighter pilot who lost both legs in a flying accident, but still fought in World War Two. He was knighted for his work with the disabled, and the quote above is from his talk to a 14-year-old boy who had lost a leg after a car accident.

The fact is, that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can..........Robert Cushing

An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity; A pessimist sees a calamity in every opportunity. ............Sir Winston Churchill

An old Hasidic tale... Young Hasid was distracted. He couldn't work, he couldn't study. He needed to know the answer to a burning question. Hasid goes to the wisest man he know and asks, "What is the meaning of life?" He pleads for an answer and gets a slap in the face. "You fool. You have such a good question--why exhange it for an answer? It is the answers which separate us, the questions which unite us." Richard Wright

"A cheerful heart does good like medicine, but a broken spirit makes one sick." ~Proverbs 17:22 (The Living Bible)

Speak less than thou knowest..............William Shakespeare

Fear is the tax that conscience pays to guilt. --George Sewell

Life can only be understood backwards It must be lived forwards. --Soren Kierkegaard

The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them............George Bernard Shaw

Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be amused

If you judge people, you have no time to love them. -- Mother Teresa

What a curious phenomenon it is that you can get men to die for the liberty of the world who will not make the little sacrifice that is needed to free themselves from their own individual bondage.........Bruce Barton (1886-1967)

"Of an early death showing no awareness the cicada sings."

He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe. ..............Marcus Aurelius

In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail !!!!!...............Cassius Longinus

That's what it takes to be a hero, a little gem of innocence inside you that makes you want to believe that there still exists a right and wrong, that decency will somehow triumph in the end.......... Lise Hand, describing the late Irish journalist Veronica Guerin

Nostalgia is like a grammar lesson: You find the present tense and the past perfect.

A person desperately searching for God is like a fish desperately searching for water.

Ours is a society that has perfected its means yet neglected its meaning. ...........Albert Einstein

I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man. --Chuang-tzu (c.369-c.286 BC)

He who obtains has little. He who scatters has much. ............ Lao-Tzu

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.".........Albert Einstein

There is nothing noble in being superior to some other man. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self..........Hindu proverb

Listen or thy tongue will keep thee deaf..............American Indian Proverb

The one resolution, which was in my mind long before it took the form of a resolution, is the key-note of my life. It is this, always to regard as mere impertinences of fate the handicaps which were placed upon my life almost at the beginning. I resolved that they should not crush or dwarf my soul, but rather be made to blossom, like Aaron's rod, with flowers. --Helen Keller

Doubt is the vestibule through which all must pass before they can enter into the temple of wisdom. --Colton (1780-1832)

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office............ Aesop, Greek fabulist

He who smiles rather than rages is always the stronger.............Japanese proverb

Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive, along with which comes the inner voice which says, "This is the real me," and when you have found that attitude, follow it. --William James

Rest not ! Life is sweeping by; go and dare before you die. Something mighty and sublime, leave behind to conquer time. --Goethe