Quotes

The Real Horse.biz

FOR INSPIRATION
IN HORSEMANSHIP AND LIFE

The Light of God surrounds me;
The Love of God enfolds me;
The Power of God protects me;
The Presence of God watches over me;
Wherever I am, God is,
And all is well.
- James Dillet Freeman

I'd rather be able to face myself in the bathroom mirror than be rich and famous.
-Ani DiFranco

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the
things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference. -Reinhold Niebuhr

You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.
-Christopher Robin to Pooh

SIL                         “Such is life.”          Life is full of disappointments, frustrations and
things that
don’t go like we planned. The only way we can stop those things is to stop doing things
and that in itself creates frustrations and problems. Face it, life has problems,
disappointments and issues.
In every area, in every form, sometimes every day.    Such is life.
There are the problems but there are also the beautiful parts, and there are plenty of
both. Sure, the Cap-Cup has to wait, but
we had a working cap. It wasn’t as good as what could be but it was working. I’m
thankful for that.
I have a good friend who was genuinely concerned that my project didn’t turn out like I
wanted. That’s worth more than the project.
We must also understand that delay is not denial.
Disappointments and Joys
Problems and Solutions
Friends and Difficult Relations
Shortfalls and Sufficiency

The Four Agreements ~~ Don Miguel Ruiz
1. Be Impeccable With Your Word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against
yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth
and love.

2. Don't Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own
reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others,
you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don't Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate
with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With
just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are
healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will
avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

"What horses are to me... nobility without conceit, friendship without envy, or beauty
without vanity. A willing servant, yet no slave."      --Author unknown

There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.   -Ben Williams
A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than you love yourself. - Josh
Billings

I was born upon the prairie, where the wind blew free, and there was nothing to break the
light of the sun. I was born where there were no enclosures, and where everything drew a
free breath. . . I lived like my fathers before me, and like them, I lived happily. ------ Ten
Bears, Yamparika Comanche Chief

Every animal is a gateway to the phenomenal world of the human spirit. What most fail
to realize is that what they think of animals reflects the way they think of themselves. –
Ted Andrews, “Animal-Speak”

The eternal being, as it lives in us, also lives in every animal. – Arthur Schopenhauer
Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things man himself will not
find peace. – Albert Schweitzer

Living and working with horses expands our awareness of Creation and allows us to
experience and enjoy a new dimension of intimacy with it. – Adele, Deborah and
Thomas McCormick, “Horses and the Mystical Path”

In my path, through my constant search, my horse has taught me the limitless
progression of life. Every time in my learning that I felt a breakthrough, I opened the
doors and I found my horse saying, “It’s about time. I’ve been waiting for you.” A few
weeks later another breakthrough. I opened the doors and there was my horse again. So
far I have never found any limits but my own.   --- Dominique Barbier

The elders were wise. They knew that man’s heart, away from nature, becomes hard;
they knew that lack of respect for growing, living things, soon led to lack of respect for
humans, too. --- Chief Luther Standing Bear, Lakota Sioux

We must see these creatures who live in our midst not as a replacement for their wild
cousins but as a connection to the wild. Let us never forget our roots . . . If we ever cut
ourselves apart from the wilderness from whence we arose, we will no longer be human.
--- Don Hamilton, DVM

If you want to get close to the horse, you have to get close to yourself. Then the horse
can come to you. --- Carol Nichols

Not to hurt our humble brethren is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough.
We have a higher mission – to be of service to them wherever they require it. Saint
Francis of Assisi

Horses are persistently hopeful that humanity will wake up. --- Kate Solisti–Mattelon,
“Conversations with Horse”

In their innocence and wisdom, in their connection to the earth and its most ancient
rhythms, animals show us a way back to a home they have never left. ---Susan Chernak
McElroy, “Animals as Teachers and Healers”

A horse is the matter and subject whereupon the art worketh, and is a creature sensible,
and therefore so far as he is moved to do anything, he is thereunto moved by sense and
feeling. Further, this is common to all sensible creatures, to shun all things as annoy
them, and to like all such things as do delight them. – John Astley, The Art of Riding set
foorth in a breefe treatise (1584)

If one induces the horse to assume that carriage which it would adopt of its own accord
when displaying its beauty, then, one directs the horse to appear joyous and magnificent,
proud and remarkable to having been ridden. – Xenophen, (530 -355 B.C.E.)

A good horse should have three propyrtees of a man, three of a woman, three of a foxe,
three of a hare, and three of an asse:
Of aman. Bold, prowde, and hardye.
Of a woman. Fayre-breasted, fair of hair, and easy to move.
Of a foxe. A fair taylle, short ears, with a good trot.
Of a hare. A grate eye, a dry head, and well rennynge.
Of an asse. A bygge chynn, a flat legge, and a good hoof.
-----Wynkyn de Worde (1496)

When God created the horse he said to the magnificent creature: I have made thee as no
other. All the treasures of the earth shall lie between thy eyes. Thou shalt cast thy
enemies between thy hooves, but, but though shalt carry my friends upon thy back. Thy
saddle shall be the seat of prayers to me. And thou fly without a sword. Oh, horse.
----The Holy Qu’ran (The Koran)

You will hear the beat of a horse’s feet And the swish of a skirt in the dew Steadily
cantering through The misty solitudes, As though they perfectly knew The old lost road
through the woods – But there is no road through the woods! --Rudyard Kipling, (1865 –
1936) The Way Through the Woods

Dear Priscus, don’t ride on that hard-pulling mare, Or gallop so fast in pursuit of the
hare. Too often the hunter turns victim, and lies Where he fell off his horse, never more
to arise. Though you still skirt the hedge and the ditch and the wall, The plain’s hidden
perils may give you a fall. You’ll see lots of riders come off, every Meet. Let’s hope they
are lucky and land on their feet! If you must have blood-sports, take a tip from a friend,
The more dangerous game brings less risk in the end. Let’s go and hunt boar; with your
galloping habits You’ll come to more grief than you bring to the rabbits. –Martial
(Marcus Valerius Martialis) (40 C.E. – 103 C.E.)

The neck of the animal, before arched, as if in compassion. . . was now extended, at full
length. . . The eyes, before invisible, now wore an energetic and human expression, while
they gleamed with a fiery and unusual red; and the distended lips of the apparently
enraged horse left in full view his sepulchral and disgusting teeth. – Edgar Allen Poe,
Metzengerstein (1831)

I see nothing unusual,” replied the King. “True, the mane is a handsome one. Yes, he
is twice the size of the horses we keep here in the stables. His form is handsome. His
eyes are bright –“
That is not all,” interrupted the traveler. “You have only to climb on his back and wish
yourself anywhere in the world – and, no matter how far the distance, in a flash of time
too short to count you will ind yourself there. It is this, your highness, that makes my
house so wonderful.” ---The Arabian Nights

A little neglect may breed mischief: For want of a nail the shoe was lost, For want of a
shoe the horse was lost, For want of a horse the rider was lost, For want of a ride the
battle was lost For want of a battle the kingdom was lost – and all for the want of a
horseshoe nail.   – Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac (1732)

There are no handles to a horse, but the 1910 model has a string to each side of its face
for turning its head when there is something you want it to see. – Stephen Leacock,
Reflections on Riding, in Literary Lapses (1910)

Well could he ride, and often men would say, “That horse his mettle from his rider
takes: Proud of subjection, noble by the sway, What rounds, what bounds, what course,
and what stop he makes!” And controversy hence a question takes, Whether the horse by
him became his deed, Or he is managed by the well-doing steed. –William Shakespeare
A Lover’s Complaint (1609)

I will not change my horse with any that treads on four pasterns. Ca, Ha! He bounds
from the earth, as if his entrails were hairs, le cheval Volant, the Pegasus, chez les narines
de feu! When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk: he trots the air; the earth sings when
he touches it; the basest horn of his hoof is more musical than the pope of Hermes . . . he
is pure air and fire. . . the price of palfreys; his neigh is like the bidding of a monarch and
his countenance enforces homage. – William Shakespeare, Henry IV (1598)

Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me.   -Carol Burnett

To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance. -Oscar Wilde

"The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another."
~ William James, American philosopher and psychiatrist

The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing in the right place, but to
leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.          Dorothy Nevill

In dreams and in love there are no impossibilities.   -Janos Arany

What the world really needs is more love and less paperwork.    -Pearl Bailey

Don't argue with an idiot, the people watching may not be able to tell you two apart. -
Unknown

Dalai Lama---- Blessings are not enough. Blessings must come from within. Without your
own effort, it is impossible for blessings to come.

The man who views the world at fifty the same as he did at twenty has wasted thirty
years of his life.-Muhammad Ali

"We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep
inside us is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust,
sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk
curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that
reveals the human spirit."
~ e.e. cummings

There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.
-James Anthony Froude

The word 'appreciation' means to be thankful and express admiration, approval, or
gratitude. It also means to grow or appreciate in value. As you appreciate life, you
become more valuable--both to yourself and others. ~ Sara Paddington, author of
"Hidden Power of the Heart”

Depend on the rabbit's foot if you will, but remember it didn't work for the rabbit.
-R.E. Shay

Evening Prayer
Almighty God, we give you thanks for surrounding us, as daylight fades, with the
brightness of the vesper light; and we implore you of your great mercy that, as you enfold
us with the radiance of this light, so you would shine into our hearts the brightness of
your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Grant us, Lord, the lamp of charity which never fails, that it may burn in us and shed its
light on those around us, and that by its brightness we may have a vision of that holy
City, where dwells the true and never-failing Light, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O Lord God Almighty, as you have taught us to call the evening, the morning, and the
noonday one day; and have made the sun to know its going down: Dispel the darkness
of our hearts, that by your brightness we may know you to be the true God and eternal
light, living and reigning for ever and ever. Amen.

Seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning,
and darkens the day into night; who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out
upon the surface of the earth: The Lord is his name. Amen.

"We have every reason to look forward into the future with hope and excitement. Fear
nothing and no one. Work honestly. Be good, be happy. And remember that each of you
is unique, your soul your own, irreplaceable and individual in the miracle of your mortal
frame."
~ Pearl S. Buck

Just because everything is different doesn't mean anything has changed.   -Irene Peter

Keep your fears to yourself, but share your inspiration with others.   -Robert Louis
Stevenson

Adversity is the first path to truth. -Lord Byron

It is no longer good enough to cry peace, we must act peace, live peace, and live in
peace.   Shenandoah proverb (submitted by ta-ho-da)

There truly is a blessing contained in every moment. Whether it
reveals itself as a lesson or an insight or a precious memory
rekindled, it is a blessing, still. But sometimes, as Ms. Bailey's
story suggests, we first must pause and quiet the world around us
before the blessing can be found.

Tradition is a guide and not a jailer.       -W. Somerset Maugham

Never underestimate the impression you make on others.     ~Author Unknown~

"When you live in reaction, you give your power away. Then you get to experience what
you gave your power to."    ~ Author Unknown

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I CARRY YOUR HEART WITH ME
i carry your heart with me        (i carry it in my heart)
i am never without it    (anywhere I go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear no fate   (for you are my fate, my sweet)
i want o world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

~ Author E. E. Cummings

Loving each other is the most audacious of enterprises.       –Balzac

"If you cannot take it any more, now is the time to turn toward higher powers which can
take anything."   ~ Vernon Howard

"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have
trouble remembering how to fly!”

The fragrance always stays in the hand that gives the rose.                -Hadia Bejar

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
Father in heaven,
We thank thee.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly."
~Robert F. Kennedy, former U.S. Attorney General

The moment your fear of not trying overrides your fear of failure -- in that one
spectacular moment -- the pathway to success is cleared of all debris and you take the
first steps toward a magnificent future. Never let fear stop you when it can just as
easily push you forward.

Friendship is a promise of future loyalty, loyalty no matter what comes. Promises are the
bricks of life and trust is the mortar.   -Stephen Carter, "The Emperor of Ocean Park"
(submitted by rosaliekg)

Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. - James Allen

Loving God, there are times in each life when there is no one.
No one with whom to share a word, a laugh, a sad remembrance, a gentle touch, a fond
embrace, a kiss of love.
Bless each one who suffers from such loneliness.
Enrich life with a friend or gentle stranger who will spend a moment noticing and loving.
In those times your love shines through, the world is reborn, and Christ is known.
So be it! Amen.
- Vienna Cobb Anderson

May all living beings have happiness and the causes of happiness;
May all living beings be free from misery and the causes of misery;
May all living beings never be separated from happiness, devoid of misery;
May all living beings abide in equanimity free from prejudicial attachments and aversions.
- The Buddha

Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the
goal. ~Pamela Vault Starr

"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least."
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German author, poet and scientist, 1749-1832

One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach. One can collect only a few, and
they are more beautiful if they are few.    -Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Don't try to solve serious matters in the middle of the night. -Philip K. Dick

People are always so boring when they band together. You have to be alone to develop
all the idiosyncrasies that make a person interesting.    --Andy Warhol

Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt. -Motto of the Special
Olympics

'Twas her thinking of others that made you think of her. -Elizabeth Barrett Browning

"Self-love is not so vile a sin as self-neglecting." -- William Shakespeare, King Henry V
If God brings you to it, God will bring you through it.     -Robert Schuller (submitted by
Mstaff01)

It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get back up. -Vince Lombardi

Light tomorrow with today.   -Elizabeth Barrett Browning

The Healing of Self:   "In order to be who you really are, it is necessary to understand
what you really are. Once you become aware of your truth, you will come to know that
all things are possible. It is only you that offers your own limitations." Reiki 321

Most people fail to see this reality, for they are attached to what they cling to, to pleasures
and delights. Since all the world is so attached to material things, it's very difficult for
people to grasp how everything originates in conditions and causes. It's a hard job for
them to see the meaning of the fact that everything, including ourselves, depends on
everything else and has no permanent self-existence.   -Majjhima Nikaya

Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand." – Baruch Spinoza

Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission. ~~Eleanor Roosevelt

The more I think about it, the more I realize there is nothing more artistic than to love
others -Vincent Van Gogh

How can there be happiness for one who is not peaceful"    - Bhagavad Gita 2:66

Joy is not in things; it is in us. -Richard Wagner

Choices are the hinges of destiny. -Edwin Markham

A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials. -Chinese
proverb

Great products are usually born out of need. Instead of complaining about a problem,
find a solution, make it work, make it the best, make it affordable, tell people about it ...
and people will be happy to pay you for it.

"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct
individual accomplishment toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows
common people to attain uncommon results." — Author Unknown

Life goes by rapidly. Don't delay. Don't put it off. Don't wait until you have some spare
time. Don't wait until the time's "right."— Ken Keyes

"If people understood what they're really capable of, we could transform our societies
almost overnight." — Kenneth MacLean

"I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the
direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will
meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will
pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish
themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his
favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of
beings." —Henry David Thoreau

Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those
who matter don't mind. -Dr. Seuss

You must do the thing you think you cannot do. -Eleanor Roosevelt

Superball==========So much of success in life has to do with how well you are able
to bounce like a ball. Some of us bounce like a multi-colored super-ball while others like a
lead cannonball. ~Jake Ehrlich III~ as quoted in the sermon,"Superball or Bowling
Ball" from the series, Tools for Climbing The Mountains of Life" http://www.
theonlineword.com/series.html

Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. -Dale Carnegie

In order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles. -David Ben-Gurion

The way to succeed is never quit. That's it. But really be humble about it. -Alex Haley

The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.
-Chinese Proverb

One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine who have only interests.
-John Stuart Mill

According to Charlene M. Proctor, Ph.D., "Every day we have an opportunity to choose
our attitude and focus our intentions in the present moment." The following excerpts from
her new book, "The Women's Book of Empowerment: 323 Affirmations That Change
Everyday Problems into Moments of Potential," offer ways to help overcome the past.

You must do the thing you think you cannot do. -Eleanor Roosevelt

When there is an original sound in the world, it makes a hundred echoes. -John A.
Shedd

“Debt is the slavery of the free”   Publilius Syrus

No matter what accomplishments you make, somebody helped you.
-Althea Gibson

I'm an idealist. I don't know where I'm going but I'm on the way.
-Carl Sandburg

Anger or hatred is like a fisherman's hook. It is very important for us to ensure that we are
not caught by it.
-Dalai Lama

Every gift, though it be small, is in reality great if given with affection. -Pindar

It is in everybody's interest to seek those [actions] that lead to happiness and avoid those
which lead to suffering. And because our interests are inextricably linked, we are
compelled to accept ethics as the indispensable interface between my desire to be happy
and yours. -His Holiness the Dalai Lama

"Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits."    – Thomas A. Edison

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." –
Albert Einstein    (Hmmmm, Ray Hunt: If you always do what you always did, you will
always get what you have always got!)

The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one. -
Thomas Paine

The way you overcome shyness is to become so wrapped up in something that you forget
to be afraid. -Lady Bird Johnson

You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.
Unknown (submitted by prcincyta)

AFFIRMATIONS: from Louise L. Hay
=        My income is constantly increasing. I begin now, today, to open myself to ever
increasing prosperity.

=        I am discovering how wonderful I am. I choose to love and enjoy myself.

=        I love who I am, and I assert my power wisely.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From Louise L. Hay’s website:
Over the years I’ve learned that there are really just two mental patterns that contribute to
disease: Fear and Anger.

Anger can show up as impatience, irritation, frustration, criticism, resentment, jealousy or
bitterness. These are all thoughts that poison the body. When we release this burden, all
the organs in our body begin to function properly.

Fear could be tension, anxiety, nervousness, worry, doubt, feeling not good enough or
unworthiness. Do you relate to any of this? We must learn to substitute faith for fear if we’
re to heal. Faith in what? Faith in Life! I believe we live in a "Yes" Universe. No matter
what we choose to believe or think or say, the Universe always says "yes" to us. If we
think poverty, the Universe says "yes" to that. If we think prosperity, the Universe say
"yes" to that. It's up to us! The Universe wants us to experience anything we desire. So
let's say "yes" to all good. Be a "yes" person, living in a "yes" world being responded to by
a "yes" Universe.

If you find yourself with some sort of diseases that is not listed in Heal Your Body,
become your own investigator and healer. Ask yourself, is it one of the forms of fear or is
it one of the forms of anger? Are you willing to release those thoughts. And replace them
with positive affirmations? Loving yourself will also contribute greatly to healing your
body for love heals.

So how do you love yourself? First of all and most importantly: Cease all criticism of
yourself and others. Accept yourself as you are. Praise yourself as much as you can.
Criticism breaks down the inner spirit, praise builds it up. Look into a mirror often and
simply say: I LOVE YOU, I REALLY LOVE YOU. It may be difficult at first, but keep
practicing and soon you will mean and feel what you say. Love yourself as much as you
can and all of life will mirror this love back to you.
Do you have any words of wisdom about money and prosperity?
What is it you are truly afraid of? Look within and see if there is a belief that you are not
deserving of your financial good. So often we subconsciously sabotage the manifestation
of what we desire as a means to protect ourselves. As odd as it seems, it is most often our
success that frightens us rather than our failure. Subconsciously you may be thinking that
upon fulfilling your goal you may discover that either it does not make you happy or it
could be taken away from you. It is imperative to constantly remind yourself that this is
the moment in which you are either enjoying or not enjoying your life. What you are
feeling now is creating your tomorrow. When it comes to your affirmations, continue
doing them in faith that Life doesn’t make mistakes. Open them up by simply accepting
your highest good. In this way you do not limit your opportunities by being too specific
and you allow the Divine Intelligence to guide and direct your perfectly unfolding
expression and experience.

We affirm for you the absolute perfect working and home life situation that supports the
unfoldment of your highest potential.

How can I create a loving relationship?
You may still have some fear that is standing between you and the life you desire, and
that you’re still holding back from allowing a relationship to be in your life the way that
you wish. You may have to reach back into your childhood relationship with your father
or mother to resolve deep-seated fears surrounding a relationship. Ask yourself: What do
I have to give up to be in a relationship? How do I lose me when I’m in a relationship?
What messages did I receive as a child that created a belief in me that relationships are
painful or not forthcoming? I suggest that you work on loving yourself non-stop. Treat
yourself to romance and love. Demonstrate to yourself how special you are. Pamper
yourself. Buy yourself flowers, surround yourself with colors, textures, and scents that
please you. Life always mirrors back to us the feelings we have inside. As you grow in an
inner sense of love and romance, the right person to share your growing sense of intimacy
will be attracted to you like a magnet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PRAYER: Keep Us From Pettiness   Keep us, O God, from pettiness; let us be large in
thought, in word, in deed.
Let us be done with faultfinding and leave off self-seeking.
May we put away all pretenses and meet each other, face to face, without self-pity and
without prejudice.
May we never be hasty in judgment and always generous.
Let us take time for all things; make us to grow calm, serene, gentle.
Teach us to put in action our better impulses-straightforward and unafraid.
Grant that we may realize it is the little things of life that create difficulties; that in the big
things of life we are as one.
Oh, Lord, let us not forget to be kind.
Amen.           - Mary Stewart, Queen of Scots

We are born believing. A man bears beliefs, as a tree bears beauty.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tell me whom you love, and I will tell you who you are.
-Houssaye

"None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he
listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone." – Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could
miss it." - Unknown

"Don't Cry Because It Is Over, Smile Because It Happened" - Unknown

If I won't be myself, who will? -Alfred Hitchcock

A fool always finds a greater fool to admire him. ~Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux~

Life's most urgent question is: what are you doing for others? -Martin Luther King, Jr.

The U.S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to
catch up with it yourself.   -Benjamin Franklin

Whenever the desire for recognition assumes control of our psychic life, it results in a
constant striving for power and superiority. This expresses itself in thoughts or activities
that seek to display and glorify the self. We soon lose contact with reality, fail to
contribute to society or to cooperate with others, and sadly lack a sense of appreciation
and understanding of the laws that govern human life. Being primarily concerned with
our own reputation and the impression we make on others, our thinking becomes
inverted. At this point, our most obvious character trait is vanity.   This chapter begins
on page 55 in "Rays of the Dawn."

Our mind and our delusions are formless and colorless. However, our ignorance
believing in true existence is harder than a rocky mountain. Our delusions are harder than
steel. -Lama Zopa Rinpoche, "The Door to Satisfaction"

"I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it."
– Thomas Jefferson

“Riding is like life. It can be Painful. And Difficult. The Question is, What Will We
Do With The Pain? Will We Give Into It Or Learn From It? ADVERSITY to Me, is
Life’s Greatest Teacher.” Ty Murray – 7 Time All-Around World Champion Cowboy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WWW.WISDOMQUOTES.COM
COURAGE
ALAN COHEN: It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to
embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is
more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in
change there is power.
ARISTOTLE: Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit. We become just by
doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.
BALTASAR GRACIAN: Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit.
BERNADETTE DEVLIN: Yesterday I dared to struggle. Today I dare to win.
BUCKMINSTER FULLER: Dare to be naive.
CHARLES DUBOIS: The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice
what we are for what we could become.
DOROTHY THOMPSON: Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live.
DOROTHY THOMPSON: Courage, it would seem, 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.
ELEANOR ROOSEVELT: 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.
ERICH FROMM: Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE: All serious daring starts from within.
HELEN KELLER: I long to accomplish a great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty
to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved
along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny
pushes of each honest worker.
HELEN KELLER: We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy
in the world.
HENRY DAVID THOREAU: When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable.
I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest.
JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE: Conscience is the root of all true courage; if a man
would be brave let him obey his conscience.
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS:   Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before
which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.
KESHAVAN NAIR: With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be
compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity.
MARGARET CHASE SMITH:   Moral cowardice that keeps us from speaking our
minds is as dangerous to this country as irresponsible talk. The right way is not always
the popular and easy way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral
character.
MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN: Whoever said anybody has a right to give up?
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.:   If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that
keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite
of it all. And so today I still have a dream.   The Trumpet of Conscience
MAYA ANGELOU:   History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced
with courage, need not be lived again.
MAYA ANGELOU : One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with
potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We
can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON:   When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great
bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes
off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON (PROBABLY ERRONEOUSLY):   Whatever you do,
you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you
that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your
critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of
the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and
women to win them.
ROBERT COLES:   Abraham Lincoln did not go to Gettysburg having commissioned a
poll to find out what would sell in Gettysburg. There were no people with percentages for
him, cautioning him about this group or that group or what they found in exit polls a
year earlier. When will we have the courage of Lincoln?
ROBERT FROST:   The best way out is always through.
ROBERT G. INGERSOLL:   Courage without conscience is a wild beast.
SOREN KIERKEGAARD:   To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. To not dare is
to lose oneself.
SUSAN B. ANTHONY: Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their
reputation and social standing, never can bring about a reform. Those who are really in
earnest must be willing to be anything or nothing in the world's estimation, and publicly
and privately, in season and out, avow their sympathy with despised and persecuted
ideas and their advocates, and bear the consequences.
THEODORE H. WHITE:   To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most
of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can
perform.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT:   It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points
out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust
and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again,
who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy
cause, who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while
daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know
neither victory nor defeat.     From a speech given in Paris at the Sorbonne in 1910
WINSTON CHURCHILL: Courage is going from failure to failure without losing
enthusiasm.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adventure With Grandma === I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma.
I was just a kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big
sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even dummies know
that!"
My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I
knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew
that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her
world-famous cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said
so. It had to be true.
Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything.
She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus!" she snorted. "Ridiculous! Don't believe it. That
rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad. Now, put on
your coat, and let's go."
"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second world-famous,
cinnamon bun. "Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town
that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma
handed me ten dollars. That was a bundle in those days. "Take this money," she said,
"and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she
turned and walked out of Kerby's.
I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I
shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people
scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there,
confused, clutching that ten- dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy
it for.
I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school,
the people who went to my church. I was just about thought out, when I suddenly
thought of Bobby Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right
behind me in Mrs. Pollock's grade-two class. Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew
that because he never went out for recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a
note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby Decker
didn't have a cough, and he didn't have a coat. I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing
excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat!
I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would
like that. "Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked
kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down. "Yes," I replied shyly. "It's .... for Bobby." The nice
lady smiled at me. I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag and wished me a
Merry Christmas.
That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas paper and ribbons (a little
tag fell out of the coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible) and wrote, "To Bobby, From
Santa Claus" on it -- Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove
me over to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever
officially one of Santa's helpers.
Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and
hid in the bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa
Claus," she whispered, "get going."
I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step,
pounded his doorbell and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma. Together
we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there
stood Bobby.
Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my
Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about
Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were: ridiculous. Santa was alive and
well, and we were on his team.
I still have the tag from that coat, (tucked inside my Bible now.) It was $19.95.
===============================

He who has no Christmas in his heart will never find Christmas under a tree.
"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the
closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us."
– Helen Keller

"Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any
experience that reveals the human spirit." – e. e. cummings

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm."    – Sir
Winston Churchill

Real Love is not based on attachment, but on altruism. In this case, your compassion will
remain as a humane response to suffering as long as beings continue to suffer. -His
Holiness the Dalai Lama

If someone does you a favor, you never forget it; if you do someone else a favor, never
mention it.   -Arabic saying

He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from opposition;
for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach himself. ~Thomas
Paine

When and How to Give Advice
Rule 1: Give advice only when it's asked for. I have made the mistake of offering advice
... very good advice ... to people who weren't ready or willing to listen to it. As I was
giving the advice, I looked into their eyes and realized there was zero chance they were
going to pay attention to what I was saying. I thought to myself, "This person has no
idea how valuable this could be to him."
Rule 2: Give the same good advice only once. I have friends and colleagues who are
perennially in money trouble, and to whom I continually explain how to get out of debt
and develop wealth. This is a foolish habit of mine. If you give someone good advice and
he doesn't listen to it the first time, it is better to say nothing from then on. Just nod
sympathetically when he tells you, every time he sees you, how life has screwed him.
Rule 3: Make everyone but close friends and relatives pay for your advice. Countless
psychological studies have proven that people don't value things they get for free. If you
want people to listen to your advice, charge for it. If you want it to be taken as seriously
as it should be, charge a lot for it.
When and How to Give Money
Rule 1: Don't give anyone but close friends or relatives money for free. You will almost
always regret it. I give away hundreds of thousands of dollars every year, and it is almost
all wasted. It is wasted because the receiver almost never invests it wisely. Easy come,
easy go. That's the way it is. I continue to give away money because I can't help myself.
It seems worth it to me, because every once in a while - maybe 10 percent of the time - it
is invested wisely.
Rule 2: If you do give away money, don't expect it to be used wisely and don't expect
gratitude. More often than not, you will create resentment in the heart of the receiver.
Rule 3: If a friend or colleague has a good business and needs a loan, extend him one -
but only if (a) you think it's a good investment on an arm's length basis and (b) you are
willing to charge him an arm's length interest rate on the loan.
Rule 4: An arm's length loan has a written contract, terms, and collateral. Be satisfied
with all three before you lend the money.
Rule 5: Realize that even though you have the power to seize the collateral if your friend
or colleague reneges on the loan, you may not want to do that, because it might end the
relationship. Figure out beforehand which is more important - the return of your loan or
the continuation of your relationship. If the latter, be prepared to lose everything without
resentment.

Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese. ~G. K. Chesterton (1874-
1936)