Bits & Pieces III

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On the Lighter Side

     The legendary comedian Milton Berle defined a committee as a
     group of people who "keep minutes and waste hours." 

     A bus station is where a bus stops. 
     A train station is where a train stops.
     On my desk I have a workstation. 


On Success

Success in the modern world takes far more than knowledge. 
It takes stability, stamina, level-headedness, courage, 
a desire to learn, and the ability to make good use of 
one's learning. 

Alice L. Dement

Success is not a destination: It is a journey. 
The happiest people I know are those who are busy working 
toward specific objectives. The most bored and miserable 
people I know are those who are drifting along with no worthwhile
objectives in mind. 

Zig Ziglar
Professional speaker


On Character

A good way to judge people is by observing how they treat those
who can do them absolutely no good. 

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because
your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely
what others think you are. 

John Wooden
Former college basketball coach


On Human Relation

   People have one thing in common: 
   They are all different. 

   Robert Zend
   Writer
          
Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if he or she were going to
be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness, and
understanding you can muster, and do so with no thought of any reward
Your life will never be the same again. 

Og Mandino (1923 - 1996)
Writer


On Marriage

   A good marriage is the union of two forgivers. 

   Ruth Bell Graham

A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, 
always with the same person. 

Mignon McLaughlin


On Enthusiasm

 What the world needs is more people who will apply to their jobs the
 same enthusiasm for getting ahead as they display in traffic. 

Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do
a thing, do it with your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with
your own personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and
faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever
achieved without enthusiasm. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)
Philosopher, essayist, and poet


On Laughter

The human race has one really effective weapon, 
and that is laughter. 

Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)
Humorist and writer

 You grow up the day you have your first real laugh-at 
 yourself! 

 Ethel Barrymore (1879 - 1959)
 Actress
           

On Fault

          Don't find fault. Find a remedy. 

          Henry Ford (1863 - 1947)
          Founder, Ford Motor Company

In bygone days, a thin man insulted a fat man. The fat man 
challenged his tormentor to a duel with pistols. 

On the day of the duel a debate ensued about the unfair advantage 
held by the thin man because he was a much smaller target. 
Finally the thin man came up with a solution. 

"Let the outline of my figure be chalked upon your body," 
he said to his opponent, "and any shots of mine that hit outside 
the chalk lines, we won't count." 


On Attitude


What life means to us is determined not so much by what life brings
to us as by the attitude we bring to life; not so much by what
happens to us as by our reaction to what happens. 

Lewis Dunning

 If you go by other people's opinions or predictions, 
 you'll just end up talking yourself out of something. 
 If you're running down the track of life
 thinking that it's impossible to break life's records, 
 those thoughts have a funny way of sinking into your feet. 

 Carl Lewis
 Olympic track champion


On Luck

Combine common sense and the Golden Rule and you will have very
little bad luck. 

  I don't know anything about luck. I've never banked on it, 
  and I'm afraid of people who do. 
  Luck to me is something else; hard work-and realizing
  what is opportunity and what isn't. 

  Lucille Ball (1911 - 1989)
  Actress


On Courtesy

Life is not so short but that there is always time enough for
courtesy. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)
Philosopher and writer
        
 Knowledge, ability, experience are of little avail in 
 reaching high success if courtesy be lacking. 
 Courtesy is the one passport that will be accepted 
 without question in every land, in every office, in every home, 
 in every heart in the world. 
 For nothing commends itself so well as kindness; and
 courtesy is kindness. 

George D. Powers


On Work

  Work banishes those three great evils: 
  boredom, vice, and poverty. 

  Voltaire (1694 - 1778)
  Writer and historian

My grandfather once told me that there are two kinds of people: those
who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be
in the first group; there was less competition there. 

Indira Gandhi


On Risk

If no one ever took risks, Michelangelo would have painted the
Sistine floor. 

Neil Simon
Playwright

           There was a very cautious man
           Who never laughed or played.

           He never risked, he never tried,
           He never sang or prayed.

           And when he one day passed away,
           His insurance was denied.

           For since he never really lived,
           They claimed he never died.


On Forgiveness

      Forgiveness is a funny thing. 
      It warms the heart and cools the sting.

  Those who cannot forgive others break the bridge over 
  which they themselves must pass. 

  Confucius (551 - 479 B.C.)
  Chinese philosopher


On Quality

          Good and quickly seldom meet. 

          George Herbert (1593 - 1633)
          Clergyman and poet
       
If a thing is old, it is a sign that it was fit to live. 
Old families, old customs, old styles survive because 
they are fit to survive. The guarantee of continuity is quality. 
Submerge the good in a flood of the new, and the good will 
come back bigger than ever. Old-fashioned hospitality, 
old- fashioned politeness, old-fashioned honor in business 
had qualities of survival. 
These will come back. 


On Smile

     A smile is a language even a baby understands. 

A smile costs nothing, but it creates much. 
It enriches those who receive it without impoverishing those who give it. 
It happens in a flash, and the memory of it may last forever. 
None are so rich that they can get along without it, and none so poor
that they cannot be richer for its benefits. 

It creates happiness in the home, fosters goodwill in a business, and is
the countersign of friends. 

It is rest to the weary, daylight to the discouraged, sunshine to the sad,
and nature's best antidote for trouble. 

Yet it cannot be begged, bought, borrowed, or stolen, for it is something
that is worth nothing to anyone until it is given away. 

In the course of the day, some of your acquaintances may be too tired to
give you a smile. Give them one of yours. 

Nobody needs a smile so much as those who have none left to give. 


On Chances

                 Life is change...
                 Growth is optional...
                 Choose wisely... 

                 Karen Kaiser Clark
                 Writer
Markets change, tastes change, so the companies and the individuals
who choose to compete in those markets must change. 

But change is not always sudden and dramatic, and the changes that can
do the most harm are those that we don't see coming. Consider the story
of the frog that was dropped into a pan of hot water. The frog
immediately reacted to the heat by jumping out of the pan. 

Another frog was put into a pan of cold water on a stove. The burner
beneath the pan was turned on low, then the heat was gradually
increased so the temperature of the water rose only a degree at a time.
Change was occurring, but because it was gradual the frog accepted it
and stayed in the pan and was boiled. 

In a way, we're all in the same pan. We react immediately to dramatic
changes, but we run the risk of getting cooked if we fail to notice the
little, slow changes occurring around us. 


On Giving

You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving. 

First you believe in Santa Claus. Then you don't believe in Santa Claus.
And before you know it, you are Santa Claus. 


On Appreciation

   Nobody notices what I do, until I don't do it. 

A saleswoman caught in a traffic jam looked out of her car window into
the window of a music store where a piano was on display. At it sat a
man who, by the rapt expression on his face, was playing some music
that he obviously loved. 

The saleswoman couldn't hear a note, but she was fascinated as she
watched him play. When he finished, she caught his eye, held her hands
up and applauded, mouthing the words, Bravo! Bravo! 

The pianist stood up and bowed deeply. Then they both laughed, the
traffic light changed, and the saleswomen drove off, pleased with herself,
humankind, and life in general. 


On Problem

   A problem well stated is a problem half solved. 

   Charles Kettering
 
Problems call forth our courage and our wisdom; indeed, they create our
courage and our wisdom. It is only because of problems that we grow
mentally or spiritually. When we desire to encourage the growth of the
human spirit, we challenge and encourage the human capacity to solve
problems. 

M. Scott Peck
Psychiatrist and writer


On Thinking

   Thinking is the hardest work there is, 
   which is probably the reason why so few engage in it. 

   Henry Ford

The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men, but
that men will begin to think like computers. 

Sydney J. Harris (1917 - 1986)
Syndicated columnist


On Preparation

 It's better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than
 to have an opportunity and not be prepared. 
 Whitney Young (1921 - 1971)
 Civil rights leader
         
If you prepare yourself at every point as well as you can, with whatever
means you have...you will be able to grasp opportunity for broader
experience when it appears. Without preparation, you cannot do it. 

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 - 1962)
U.S. First Lady and humanitarian


On Humor

 A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks almost
 instantly. 

 A sense of humor is the pole that adds balance to our steps 
 as we walk the tightrope of life. 


On Perservation

  Perseverance is not a long race; 
  it is many short races one after another. 

  Walter Elliott
           
           When doubts and fears are growing,
           It's hard to keep on going
           From day to day not knowing
           Just what the end will be.
           Take each day as you find it,
           If things go wrong, don't mind it,
           For each day leaves behind it
           A chance to start anew.

           Gertrude Ellgas