Ancient Wisdom That Works Today

Wise People on Life Experiences

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” ~ Walt Disney

“I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition.” Martha Washington

The Reality of Success Belongs to Those Who Believe Before They See It ~ Don P

Success is measured by not by the height one attains, but by the Obstacles one overcomes in its attainment. ~ Booker T Washington

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” ~ Michael Jordan

When one door closes another opens. But often we look so long and regretfully on the closed door we fail to see the one that has opened for us. Helen Keller

“When you find yourself on the side of the majority it’s time to pause and reflect.” ~Mark Twain

They only Live who Dare. ~ Voltaire

Before you try to change others, remember how hard it is to change yourself.

“Blessed are the flexible for they will not be bent out of shape” ~ Unknown

‘The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.’ G. K. Chesterton

I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine. ~Bruce Lee

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people’s initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves. … Abraham Lincoln

Success may not go to those Courageous enough to Start; but it will be certain to those with the Perseverance and Determination not to Quit. Victory is not in the start, but in the Commitment to Finish. ~ Don P

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: His eyes are closed. ~ Albert Einstein

Perseverance

In the confrontation between the Stream and the Rock, the Stream always wins…

Not through strength, but through persistence.

The rock may control or shift the direction of the stream by its shear strength and mass, but eventually the stream changes its course, cutting the rock away in its path.

Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence.

Talent will not;
nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.

Genius will not;
unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.

Education will not;
the world is full of educated derelicts.

Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
The slogan ‘Press On’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
~ Calvin Coolidge (1872 – 1933)

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Energy and persistence conquer all things.
~Benjamin Franklin

He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.
Benjamin Franklin

There is nothing in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and he who considers price only is that man’s lawful prey.”
John Ruskin

“If you can’t manage your emotions, don’t expect to manage your money.”
–Warren Buffet

‎“Don’t fight forces, use them.” – R. Buckminster Fuller

Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. ~ John Wooden – Winningest College Basketball Coach UCLA

“You must accept that you might fail; then, if you do your best and still don’t win, at least you can be satisfied that you’ve tried. If you don’t accept failure as a possibility, you don’t set high goals, you don’t branch out, you don’t try – you don’t take the risk.”
~ Rosalynn Carter: Former first lady and author

Happiness depends upon ourselves. ~ Aristotle

Why would you give the key to your happiness to someone else? 

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature nor do the children of men as a whole experience it.  Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.
~ Hellen Keller

Upon the conduct of each depends the fate of All ~ Alexander the Great

As long as you are headed for a goal, may as well enjoy the journey rather than look at it as an obstacle. Then you can learn from it as well as be in joy!  The destination is important as well and the goals along the way. For without a …paycheck, you will not be able to continue the journey, unless you take from someone else to whom the goal is important enough to make certain they achieve it.  Socialism sounds like a good idea, until so many take from the few left achieving that they not longer have enough. Then collapse for all.
Achievement is vital for existence!
Never quit , is not good enough; We must Succeed!   Thank God for those who desire to Succeed, because they will rise again and create more than enough for themselves.
Only when we succeed can we help others to succeed also. And that is the only kind of socialism that works.
Sadly many will always choose not to put forth the the effort, the risk, the selflessness, control their emotions through the upsets, learn from others how to get over the obstacles and develop the character to lead others or be persistent enough to achieve.
Achievement is what true servants do out of love for others and responsibility for their fellow humans who will not be responsible. Don P

The path of a good woman is indeed strewn with flowers; but they rise behind her steps, not before them”
- John Ruskin

Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting a particular way…   you become just by performing just actions, temperate by performing temperate actions, brave by performing brave actions.
Aristotle

When a man is wrapped up in himself, he makes a pretty small package.
John Ruskin

The real tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he still lives
Albert Einstein

I have heard that if you tear off the petals of a rose, the stem will live, giving greater life to it…. sometimes God prunes the pretty and nice parts of our lives away that we love this world and the things of it less and focus more on our eternal life and the things that pertain to it. Don P

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“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?  Actually, who are you not to be?  You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” ~Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of “A Course in Miracles,” 1992 (quoted by Nelson Mandela, 1994 inauguration speech)

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

Obstacles:

For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin. Real life.

But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin.

At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life!   Alfred D’Souza

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Obstacles and Growth:

The world that we have made as a result of the level of thinking we have done thus far creates problems that we cannot solve at the same level we created them at.
Albert Einstein

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through EXPERIENCE Of Trial and Suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and Success Achieved.” - Helen Keller

I live inside this shell, Inside this box, That’s inside this fort, That’s inside this tunnel, that’s under the sea, That I hide in to keep away from you! If you loved me you would find me.
~Anonymous, Duh… under a shell somewhere, find me??

QUOTE FROM THE SCOTTISH HIMALAYAN EXPEDITION
By W.H. MURRAY
Until one is committed,
there is hesitancy,
the chance to draw back,
always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation)
there is one elementary truth,
the ignorance of which kills countless ideas
and splendid plans:
That the moment one definitely commits oneself,
then Providence moves too.
All sort of things occur to help one
that would never otherwise have occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one’s favor
all manner of unforeseen incidents
and meetings and material assistance,
which no man could have dreamed
would have come his way.
I have learned a deep respect
for one of Goethe’s couplets:
“Whatever you can do,
or dream you can,
begin it.
Boldness has genius,
power and magic in it.”
Pub. J.M. Dent & Sons, Ltd., 1951

“A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, ‘You are mad; you are not like us’.” – Anthony the Great (251-356 AD)

THE FINAL ANALYSIS

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered;

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;

Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;

Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone may destroy overnight;

Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they a may be jealous;

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;

Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;

Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is all between you and god;

It was never between you and them anyway.

-        Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Quotes on Integrity

Quotes on Government, Politics and World Affairs

Quotes on Health and Medicine

You May Have a Good Reason Why You Are That Way, But You Don’t Have to Stay That Way