Good Living 123

Image by Chris Curry

Note to self:

Choose to be better and do better every day… today, tomorrow, forever.

“In all things it is better to hope than to despair.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
German poet, playwright, & novelist

“The next time you’re in a meeting, look around and identify the yes-butters and the why-notters. The why-notters move the world.”

— Louise Randall Pierson (1890 – 1969)
American author

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

— Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)
Indian lawyer, spiritual & political leader, and nonviolent resistance advocate

Image by Steve Leisher

“I learned that very often the most intolerant and narrow-minded people are the ones who congratulate themselves on their tolerance and open-mindedness.”

— Christopher Hitchens (1949 – 2011)
British-American author

Image by Maxim Hopman

Jefferson’s “Commonplace Book” 1774-1776:

“Laws that forbid the carrying of arms.. Disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes… Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve to encourage rather than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.”

— Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
American statesman; 3rd US President: 1801-09; wrote Declaration of Independence

“It takes a long time to become young.”

— Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973)
Spanish painter & sculptor

“Awards become corroded. Friends gather no dust.”

— James Cleveland “Jesse” Owens (1913 – 1980)
American athlete and Olympic track and field multi-gold medalist

Photo by Florian Olivo

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr., (1929 – 1968)
American Baptist minister & civil rights activist

Hmmmm… Perhaps only the wisdom of time, age, experience, and hindsight helps us grow and learn to educate ourselves before blindly spewing hatred, violence, and ignorance in unwittingly random directions. Let’s be better and smarter than this. Let’s get it together, America.

“A friend is someone who accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.”

— William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616)
English playwright

“Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong.”

— John G. Riefenbaker (1895 – 1979)
13th Prime Minister of Canada (1957 – 1963)

“Preach not to others what they should eat, but eat as becomes you, and be silent.”

— Epictetus (55 AD – 135 AD)
Greek Stoic Philosopher

Image by John Hain

“Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember… the only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you.”

– Zig Ziglar (1926 – 2012)
American author

“Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself.”

— Chinese proverb

“True hope is swift, and flies with swallow’s wings.”

— From “Richard III” by William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616)
English playwright

“I believe that the greatest gift you can give your family and the world is a healthy you.” 

— Joyce Meyer  (1943 – )
American author & speaker

“From the withered tree, a flower blooms.”

— Zen saying

Courage is contagious.  When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened.

— Billy Graham (1918 – 2018)
American evangelist

“Great hopes make great people.”

— Thomas Fuller (1710 – 1790)
African slave and renowned mathematician

Photo by Julia Gadalina

“Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.”

— Maya Angelou (1928 – 2014)
American poet & civil rights activist

“We should certainly count our blessings, but we should also make our blessings count.”

— Neal A. Maxwell (1926 – 2004)
American scholar & educator

“The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the rest willing to let them.”

— Robert Frost (1874 – 1963)
American poet

“Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.”

— M. Scott Peck (1936 – 2005)
American psychiatrist & author

For National Tax Day, here’s a look at some quotes regarding the income tax.

“They can’t collect legal taxes from illegal money.”

— Al Capone aka “Scarface” (1899 – 1947)
American gangster & businessman

“A fine is a tax for doing something wrong. A tax is a fine for doing something right.”

— Anonymous

“The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.”

— Albert Einstein  (1879 – 1955)
German-born theoretical physicist; developed theory of relativity

“It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell.” 

— William Tecumseh Sherman (1820 – 1891)
Union General in the American Civil War

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.”

— Albert Schweitzer (1875 – 1965)
French theologian, philosopher, physician, and Nobel laureate

“If I can be somewhere with sunshine and have bare feet and a book, I’m happy.”

— KT Tunstall (1975 – )
Scottish singer-songwriter