Books to read...

In the case of good books, the point is not how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.
-Mortimer J. Adler, philosopher, educator, and author (1902-2001)

wasted ammunition...

A book lying idle on a shelf is wasted ammunition. Like money, books must be kept in constant circulation. Lend and borrow to the maximum. 

-Henry Miller, writer (1891-1980)

Respect the potential..

When I approach a child, he inspires in me two sentiments; tenderness for what he is, and respect for what he may become. 

-Louis Pasteur, chemist and bacteriologist (27 Dec 1822-1895)

Future & Past

One faces the future with one's past.
- Pearl S. Buck

Who am I?

Human Connections

Cherish your human connections: your relationships with friends and family.

- Joseph Brodsky

tell the stories...

No one else sees the world the way you do, so no one else can tell the stories that you have to tell. 

-Charles de Lint, writer (b. 22 Dec 1951)

Merry Christmas

Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn't come from a store.
- Dr. Seuss

Sources of...

"Where it is a duty to worship the sun, it is pretty sure to be a crime to examine the laws of heat."
-John Morley, statesman and writer (1838-1923)

other way...

If they give you ruled paper, write the other way. 

-Juan Ramon Jimenez, poet, Nobel Prize in literature (23 Dec 1881-1958)

Kindness and wisdom

"Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom."

~ Theodore Isaac Rubin

Writing is...

Writing is like carrying a fetus. 

-Edna O'Brien, writer (b. 15 Dec 1930)

Only ONE minute...

It takes only ONE minute to tell a loved one you adore them.

It takes only ONE minute to run towards a fear.

It takes only ONE minute to set a big goal.

It takes only ONE minute to drink a glass of water.

It takes only ONE minute to read a great idea(that can change the world).

It takes only ONE minute to write the most beautiful thank you note to your parents or your teacher or your loved ones.

It takes only ONE minute to smile.

It takes only ONE minute to connect to a friend or a co-worker.

It takes only ONE minute to help a human being in need.

It takes only ONE minute to raise your standards to world-class.

It takes only ONE minute to go that extra mile and wow a customer or your partner.

It takes only ONE minute to reflect on what you can do today to be better than you were yesterday.

It takes only ONE minute to embrace change.

It takes only ONE minute to accept the other person as it is.

It takes only ONE minute to make a new choice that will lead to your best life.

Make the best of your minutes. Each one of them make up your life.

(This article is inspired from Robin Sharma's "Little Book of Stunning Success")

Thoughtful citizens can

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. 

-Margaret Mead, anthropologist (1901-1978)

Living well is...

Set of the sails...

It is the set of the sails, not the direction of the wind that determines which way we will go.

- Jim Rohn

...time's

Style is time's fool. Form is time's student. 

-Stewart Brand, writer and editor (b. 14 Dec 1938)

Truth and facts

There's a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure the truth.

- Maya Angelou

shall not live in vain

If I can stop one Heart from breaking 

I shall not live in vain 

If I can ease one Life the Aching 

Or cool one Pain 

Or help one fainting Robin 

Unto his Nest again 

I shall not live in Vain. 

-Emily Dickinson, poet (1830-1886)

Grow your own

Strongest can be the kindest

Around Christmas of 1980, my family took a trip to Los Angeles. As we drove along a street, I noticed a man driving a Rolls Royce, waving to all the people honking. He drove slowly. He looked graceful.

Long story short, we drove up alongside him in our little rental car (seriously) and asked for a photo. He pointed to a side street. And posed for photos with us with the utmost of patience.

Muhammad Ali taught me so much about humility that day. And that the strongest can be the kindest.

I write about this meeting and many more lessons in my new book The Everyday Hero Manifesto, yet I wanted to share this photo with you. To remind you of the power of decency, dignity and compassion for each other. I'm the one with the baseball cap. Yikes!

I promise you that The Everyday Manifesto (EHM) will be life-changing for you [if you practice the teachings in it step by tiny step until you generate a revolution of splendid results].

- Robin Sharma

...govern the

Syllables govern the world.

- George Bernard Shaw

Goal setting

Know how to...

"Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness."

~ George Sand

Eyes & blindness

Those who put out the people's eyes, reproach them for their blindness.

 -John Milton, poet (1608-1674)

Living well is...

My list of friends...

I would not enter on my list of friends, 

(Though graced with polish'd manners and fine sense, 

Yet wanting sensibility) the man

Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm. 

-William Cowper, poet (1731-1800)

Living beyond...

One trouble with living beyond your deserved number of years is that there's always some reason to live another year. And I'd like to live another year so that Nixon won't be President. If he's re-elected I'll have to live another four years. 

-Rex Stout, novelist (1886-1975) [Nixon resigned in 1974.]

Timid & confident

A timid question will always receive a confident answer. 

-Charles John Darling, lawyer, judge, and politician (1849-1936)

free thinking...

The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum -- even encourage the more critical and dissident views. That gives people the sense that there's free thinking going on, while all the time the presuppositions of the system are being reinforced by the limits put on the range of the debate. 

-Noam Chomsky, linguistics professor and political activist (b. 7 Dec 1928)

Few times in life

There are a few times in life when you leap up and the past that you'd been standing on falls away behind you, and the future you mean to land on is not yet in place, and for a moment you're suspended knowing nothing and no one, not even yourself. 

-Ann Patchett, writer (b. 2 Dec 1963)

Civil war

For the future