Bits & Pieces I

Back II III IV

On History 

  History repeats itself, which is good because most people
  don't pay attention the first time anyway. 


  Charles A. Beard, the historian, was once asked if he could
  summarize the lessons of history. Beard replied that he could
  do it with four simple observations: 

  1. Whom the gods would destroy they first make 
     mad with power. 
  2. The mills of the gods grind slowly, but they 
     grind exceedingly fine. 
  3. The bee fertilizes the flower it robs. 
  4. When it is dark enough, you can see the stars. 


On Courage 

   Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not
   absence of fear ~ Mark Twain

   Courage...is nothing less than the power to overcome danger,
   misfortune, fear, injustice, while continuing to affirm inwardly
   that life with all its sorrows is good; that everything is
   meaningful even if in a sense beyond our understanding; and
   that there is always tomorrow. 

   Dorothy Thompson (1894 – 1961)
   Journalist


On Gratitude 

   It's not good to say "thank you" and not mean it, but it's
   even worse to mean it and not say it. 

   I look back upon my youth and realize how so many people
   gave me help, understanding, courage – very important things
   to me – and they never knew it. They entered into my life and
   became powers within me. 

   All of us live spiritually by what others have given us, often
   unwittingly, in the significant hours of our life. At the time
   these significant hours may not even be perceived. We may
   not recognize them until years later when we look back, as one
   remembers some long-ago music or a boyhood landscape. 

   We all owe to others much of the gentleness and wisdom that
   we have made our own; and we may well ask ourselves what
   will others owe to us. 

   Albert Schweitzer (1875 – 1965)
   French medical missionary


On Change 

   Every change is not an improvement, but every
   improvement is by change. 


On Human Nature 

   It's easy to be an angel when nobody ruffles your
   feathers. 

   Some of us are like wheelbarrows – only useful when pushed,
   and very easily upset. ~ Jack Herbert


On Obstacles 

   To become you have to overcome. 

   What set [Thomas] Edison apart was that, with all his boundless
   exaggeration, he conveyed the feeling that he would succeed. No matter
   what the obstacles, he would pound away until they were demolished. 

   Robert Conot
   Writer


On Words 

   Words to live by are just words, unless you live by them. You have
   to walk the talk. 

   Handle them carefully, for words have more power than atom bombs. 


On Ideas 

   The problem is never how to get new, innovative thoughts into your
   mind, but how to get old ones out. 

   Dee Hock
   Founder, Visa


On Responsibility 

   The most ability is responsibility. Nothing happens until someone
   steps forward and says, "You can count on me." 

   John Maxwell
   Speaker and writer

   The celebrated historian Barbara Tuchman called our times, "The Age of
   Disruption, a period when we've lost belief in certain kinds of moral
   understanding of good and bad." 

   A reporter for The Indianapolis Star once asked the two-time Pulitzer
   Prize winner what she thought was most needed in the next century. 

   "Probably personal responsibility," she replied, explaining that this means
   "taking responsibility for your behavior and your expenditures and your
   actions, and not forever supposing that society must forgive you because
   it's not your fault." 


On Potential 

   The most delightful surprise in life is to suddenly recognize your
   own worth. 

   Maxwell Maltz (1899 – 1975)
   Surgeon and writer

   In the long run you hit only what you aim at. Therefore, though you
   should fail immediately, you had better aim at something high. 

   Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862)
   Philosopher and writer

On Thinking 

    My problem is I say what I'm thinking before I think what I'm
    saying. 

    Laurence J. Peter
    Educator and writer

    There are two kinds of people: 
        Those who stop to think and 
        Those who stop thinking. 


On Courage 

    It's a rare person who wants to hear what he doesn't want to hear. 

    Dick Cavett
    Television personality

    To dream anything that you want to dream – that is the beauty of the
    human mind. 
    To do anything you want to do – that is the strength of the human will. 
    To trust yourself to test your limits – that is the courage to succeed. 


On Wisdom 

    To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one
    must observe. 

    Marilyn Vos Savant
    Writer
 
    Much wisdom can be crowded into but four words: 

    In God we trust. This too shall pass. Live and let live. Still waters run
    deep. Bad news travels fast. Love laughs at locksmiths. Nothing succeeds
    like success. Charity begins at home. Politics make strange bedfellows.
    Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Man proposes, God disposes. Let
    sleeping dogs lie. 


On Giving 

    Life is the first gift, love is the second, and understanding is the
    third. 

    Marge Piercy
    Writer
   
    You get more than you give when you give more than you get. 


On Happiness 

    Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length. 

    Robert Frost

    We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life,
    when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be
    enthusiastic about. 

    Charles Kingsley (1819 – 1875)
    Writer


On Choice 

    People always have two reasons for the things they do:
    1) The logical reason, and
    2) The real reason. 

The greatest power we have is the power of choice. It's an actual fact
that if you've been moping in unhappiness, you can choose to be joyous
instead and, by effort, lift yourself into joy. If you tend to be fearful, 
you can overcome that misery by choosing to have courage. Even in darkest
grief you have a choice. 

The whole trend and quality of anyone's life is determined in the long run
by the choices that are made. 

Norman Vincent Peale (1898 - 1993)
Clergyman


On Achievement 

  The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are first,
  hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; and third, common sense. 

  Thomas Edison (1847 - 1931)
  Inventor

           Bite off more than you can chew,
                 then chew it.
           Plan more than you can do,
                 then do it.
           Point your arrow at a star,
                 take your aim, and there you are.

           Arrange more time than you can spare,
                 then spare it.
           Take on more than you can bear,
                 then bear it.
           Plan your castle in the air,
                 then build a ship to take you there. 


On Lighter Side

   If I like it, I say it's mine. 
   If I don't, I say it's a fake. 
   
   Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
   Artist
      
STRANGE BUT TRUE...the other line moves faster. This applies to all lines
- bank, supermarket, tollbooth, customs, and so on. And don't try to
change lines. The Other Line - the one you were in originally - will then
move faster. 

Barbara Ettore