IT IS THE LITTLE THINGS THAT MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE

There was a man taking a morning wa lk at or the beach. He saw that along with the morning tide came hundreds of starfish and when the tide receded, they were left behind and with the morning sun rays, they would die. The tide was fresh and the starfish were alive. The man took a few steps, picked one and threw it into the water. He did that repeatedly. Right behind him there was another person who couldn't understand what this man was doing. He caught up with him and asked, "What are you doing? There are hundreds of starfish. How many can you help? What difference does it make?" This man did not reply, took two more steps, picked up another one, threw it into the water, and said, "It makes a difference to this one."

What difference are we making? Big or small, it does not matter. If everyone made a small difference, we'd end up with a big difference, wouldn't we?

Motivational quotes for the day (Integrity)

Integrity is not something that you have-- its something that you are.
~Anonymous

Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.
~Samuel Johnson

A little integrity is better than any career.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

On personal integrity hangs humanity's fate.
~Buckminster Fuller

In silence man can most readily preserve his integrity.
~Meister Eckhart

Who walks in the way of integrity... shall minister to me.
~Bible, Psalms, 101.6

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE REMEMBERED?

About a hundred years ago, a man looked at the morning newspaper and to his surprise and horror, read his name in the obituary column. The news papers had reported the death of the wrong person by mistake. His first response was shock. Am I here or there? When he regained his composure, his second thought was to find out what people had said about him. The obituary read, "Dynamite King Dies." And also "He was the merchant of death." This man was the inventor of dynamite and when he read the words "merchant of death," he asked himself a question, "Is this how I am going to be remembered?" He got in touch with his feelings and decided that this was not the way he wanted to be remembered. From that day on, he started working toward peace. His name was Alfred Nobel and he is remembered today by the great Nobel Prize.

Just as Alfred Nobel got in touch with his feelings and redefined his values, we should step back and do the same.

What is your legacy?

How would you like to be remembered?

Will you be spoken well of?

Will you be remembered with love and respect?

Will you be missed?

Motivational quotes for the day (Silence)

True silence is the rest of the mind; it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment. ~William Penn

Silence is the true friend that never betrays.
~Confucius

Silence is a source of great strength.
~Lao -Tzu

In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in an clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness.
~Mahatma Gandhi

You can hear the footsteps of God when silence reigns in the mind.
~Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Motivational quotes for the day (Love)

Love has no desire but to fulfill itself. To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night. To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving.
~Kahlil Gibran

Let your love be like the misty rains, coming softly, but flooding the river.
~Malagasy Proverb

Love is like dew that falls on both nettles and lilies.
~Swedish Proverb

A man is not where he lives, but where he loves.
~Latin Proverb

Love does not care to define and is never in a hurry to do so.
~Charles du Bos

Love is a canvas furnished by Nature and embroidered by imagination.
~Voltaire

THE MIDAS TOUCH

We all know the story of the greedy king named Midas. He had a lot of gold and the more he had the more he wanted. He stored all the gold in his vaults and used to spend time every day counting it.

One day while he was counting a stranger came from nowhere and said he would grant him a wish. The king was delighted and said, "I would like everything I touch to turn to gold." The stranger asked the king, Are you sure?" The king replied, "Yes." So the stranger said, "Starting tomorrow morning with the sun rays you will get the golden touch." The king thought he must be dreaming, this couldn't be true. But the next day when he woke up, he touched the bed, his clothes, and everything turned to gold. He looked out of the window and saw his daughter playing in the garden. He decided to give her a surprise and thought she would be happy. But before he went to the garden he decided to read a book. The moment he touched it, it turned into gold and he couldn't read it. Then he sat to have breakfast and the moment he touched the fruit and the glass of water, they turned to gold. He was getting hungry and he said to himself, "I can't eat and drink gold." Just about that time his daughter came running and he hugged her and she turned into a gold statue. There were no more smiles left.

The king bowed his head and started crying. The stranger who gave the wish came again and asked the king if he was happy with his golden touch. The king said he was the most miserable man. The stranger asked, "What would you rather have, your food and loving daughter or lumps of gold and her golden statue?" The king cried and asked for forgiveness. He said, "I will give up all my gold. Please give me my daughter back because without her I have lost everything wo rth having." The stranger said to the king, "You have become wiser than before" and he reversed the spell. He got his daughter back in his arms and the king learned a lesson that he never forget for the rest of his life.

What is the moral of the story?

1. Distorted values lead to tragedy.

2. Sometimes getting what you want may be a bigger tragedy than not getting what you want.

3. Unlike the game of soccer where players can be substituted, the game of life allows no substitutions or replays. We may not get a second chance to reverse our tragedies, as the king did.

A CREED FOR THOSE WHO HAVE SUFFERED

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve.

I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey . . .

I asked for health, that I might do greater things.

I was given infirmity, that I might do better things ...

I asked for riches, that I might be happy.

I was given poverty, that I might be wise ...

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men.

I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God .. .

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life.

I was given life, that I might enjoy all things ...

I got nothing I asked for--but everything I had hoped for.

Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.

I, among all men, am most richly blessed!

MEANINGLESS GOALS

A farmer had a dog who used to sit by the roadside waiting for vehicles to come around. As soon as one came he would run down the road, barking and trying to overtake it. One day a neighbor asked the farmer "Do you think your dog is ever going to catch a car?" The farmer replied, "That is not what bothers me. What bothers me is what he would do if he ever caught one." Many people in life behave like that dog who is pursuing meaningless goals.

Life is hard by the yard,
but by the inch,
it's a cinch.

--Gean Gordon

SMART Goals

If you ask most people what is their one major objective in life, they would probably give you a vague answer, such as, "I want to be successful, be happy, make a good living," and that is it. They are all wishes and none of them are clear goals.

Goals must be SMART:

1. S--specific. For example, "I want to lose weight." This is wishful thinking. It becomes a goal when I pin myself down to "I will lose 10 pounds in 90 days."

2. M--must be measurable. If we cannot measure it, we cannot accomplish it. Measurement is a way of monitoring our progress.

3. A--must be achievable. Achievable means that it should be out of reach enough to be challenging but it should not be out of sight, otherwise it becomes disheartening.

4. R--realistic. A person who wants to lose 50 pounds in~30 days is being unrealistic.

5. T--time-bound. There should be a starting date and a finishing date.

Please comment your opinion on this and add something yours...

Why are Goals Important? - Must read

On the best sunny day, the most powerful magnifying glass will not light paper if you keep moving the glass. But if you focus and hold it, the paper will light up. That is the power of concentration.

A man was traveling and stopped at an intersection. He asked an elderly man, "Where does this road take me?" The elderly person asked, "Where do you want to go?" The man replied, "I don't know." The elderly person said, "Then take any road. What difference does it make?"

How true. When we don't know where we are going, any road will take us there.

Suppose you have all the football eleven players, enthusiastically ready to play the game, all charged up, and then someone took the goal post away. What would happen to the game? There is nothing left. How do you keep score? How do you know you have arrived?

Enthusiasm without direction is like wildfire and leads to frustration. Goals give a sense of direction. Would you sit in a train or a plane without knowing where it was going? The obvious answer is no. Then why do people go through life without having any goals?

KEEP YOUR EYES UPON THE GOAL

On July 4, 1952, Florence Chadwick was on her way to becoming the first woman to swim the Catalina Channel. She had already conquered the English Channel. The world was watching. Chadwick fought the dense fog, bone-chilling cold and many times, the sharks. She was striving to reach the shore but every time she looked through her goggles, all she could see was the dense fog. Unable to see the shore, she gave up. Chadwick was disappointed when she found out that she was only half a mile from the coast. She quit, not because she was a quitter but because her goal was not in sight anywhere. The elements didn't stop her. She said, "I'm not making excuses. If only I had seen the land, I could have made it." Two months later, she went back and swam the Catalina Channel. This time, in spite of the bad weather, she had her goal in mind and not only accomplished it but beat the men's record by two hours.

Focus and Concentrate

An ancient Indian sage was teaching his disciples the art of archery. He put a wooden bird as the target and asked them to aim at the eye of the bird. The first disciple was asked to describe what he saw. He said, "I see the trees, the branches, the leaves, the sky, the bird and its eye.." The sage asked this disciple to wait. Then he asked the second disciple the same question and he replied, "I only see the eye of the bird." The sage said, "Very good, then shoot." The arrow went straight and hit the eye of the bird.

What is the moral of the story?

Unless we focus, we cannot achieve our goal. It is hard to focus and concentrate, but it is a skill that can be learned.

A PUPPY

A boy went to the pet store to buy a puppy. Four of them were sitting together, priced at Rs. 5000 each. Then there was one sitting alone in a corner. The boy asked if that was from the same litter, if it was for sale, and why it was sitting alone. The store owner replied that it was from the same litter, it was a deformed one, and not for sale. The boy asked what the deformity was. The store owner replied that the puppy was born without a hip socket and had a leg missing. The boy asked, "What will you do with this one?" The reply was it would be put to sleep. The boy asked if he could play with that puppy. The store owner said, "Sure." The boy picked the puppy up and the puppy licked him on the ear. Instantly the boy decided that was the puppy he wanted to buy. The store owner said "That is not for sale!" The boy insisted. The store owner agreed. The boy pulled out RS. 200 from his pocket and ran to get RS. 4800 from his mother. As he reached the door the store owner shouted after him, "I don't understand why you would pay full money for this one when you could buy a good one for the same price." The boy didn't say a word. He just lifted his left trouser leg and he was wearing a brace. The pet store owner said, "I understand. Go ahead, take this one." This is empathy.

Practice Humility

Many years ago, a rider came across some soldiers who were trying to move a heavy log without success. The corporal was standing by as the men struggled. The rider asked the corporal why he wasn't helping. The corporal replied, "I am the corporal; i give orders." The rider dismounted, went up and stood by the soldiers and as they were lifting the log, he helped them. With his help, the log got moved. The rider quietly mounted his horse and went to the corporal and said, "The next time your men need help, send for the Commander-in-Chief." After he left, the corporal and his men found out that the rider was George Washington.

The message is pretty clear. Success and humility go hand in hand. When others blow your horn, the sound goes further. Just think about it? Simplicity and humility are two hallmarks of greatness. Humility does not mean self-demeaning behavior.

* In The Book of Virtues, edited by William J. Bennett, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1993, p. 204.

BEWARE OF HALF-TRUTHS OR MISREPRESENTATION OF TRUTHS

There was a sailor who worked on the same boat for three years. One night he got drunk. This was the first time it ever happened. The captain recorded it in the log, "The sailor was drunk tonight." The sailor read it, and he knew this comment would affect his career, so he went to the captain, apologized and asked the captain to add that it only happened once in three years which was the complete truth. The captain refused and said, "What I have written in the log is the truth." The next day it was the sailor's turn to fill in the log. He wrote, "The captain was sober tonight." The captain read the comment and asked the sailor to change or add to it explaining the complete truth because this implied that the captain was drunk every other night. The sailor told the captain that what he had written in the log was the truth.

Both statements were true but they conveyed misleading messages;

Motivational Quotes for the day (Enjoyment)

Every minute should be enjoyed and savored.
~Earl Nightingale

As you walk down the fairway of life you must smell the roses, for you only get to play one round.
~Ben Hogan

Be absolutely determined to enjoy what you do.
~Gerry Sikorski

t is essential to our well-being, and to our lives, that we play and enjoy life. Every single day do something that makes your heart sing.
~Marcia Wieder

Enjoy the journey, enjoy ever moment, and quit worrying about winning and losing.
~Matt Biondi

If your capacity to acquire has outstripped your capacity to enjoy, you are on the way to the scrap-heap.
~Glenn Buck

Credibility

We all know the story of the shepherd boy who cried wolf. The boy decided to have some fun at the expense of the villagers. He shouted, "Help, help, the wolf is here." The villagers heard him and came to his rescue. But when they got there, they saw no wolf and the boy laughed at them. They went away. The next day, the boy played the same trick and the same thing happened. Then one day, while the boy was taking care of his sheep he actually saw a wolf and shouted for help. The people in the village heard him but this time nobody came to his rescue. They thought it was another trick and didn't trust him anymore. He lost his sheep to the wolf.

The moral of the story is -

When people tell lies, they lose credibility. Once they have lost credibility, even when they tell the truth, no one believes them.

Make yourself an honest man and then you may be sure there is one rascal less in the world. --Thomas Carlyle

Motivational quotes for the day (Intuition)

Trust your own instinct. Your mistakes might as well be your own, instead of someone else's.
~Billy Wilder

Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.
~Benjamin Spock

Trust your hunches. They're usually based on facts filed away just below the conscious level.
~Joyce Brothers

Intuition is a spiritual faculty and does not explain, but simply points the way.
~Florence Scovel Shinn

Instinct is the nose of the mind.
~Madame De Girardin

Follow your instincts. That's where true wisdom manifests itself.
~Oprah

For the spiritual being, intuition is far more than a hunch. It is viewed as guidance or as God talking, and this inner insight is never taken lightly or ignored.
~Wayne Dyer

If the single man plant himself indomitably on his instincts, and there abide, the huge world will come round to him.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Motivational quotes for the day (Nature)

I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out,
I found, was really going in.
~John Muir

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright. ~Henry David Thoreau

You can't be suspicious of a tree, or accuse a bird or a squirrel of subversion or challenge the ideology of a violet.
~Hal Borland

The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.
~Galileo

The sky is the daily bread of the eyes.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
~Lao Tzu

A POUND OF BUTTER

There was a farmer who sold a pound of butter to the baker. One day the baker decided to weigh the butter to see if he was getting a pound and he found that he was not. This angered him and he took the farmer to court. The judge asked the farmer if he was using any measure. The farmer replied, amour Honor, I am primitive. I don't have a proper measure, but I do have a scale." The judge asked, "Then how do you weigh the butter?" The farmer replied "Your Honor, long before the baker started buying butter from me, I have been buying a pound loaf of bread from him. Every day when the baker brings the bread, I put it on the scale and give him the same weight in butter. If anyone is to be blamed, it is the baker."

What is the moral of the story? We get back in life what we give to others. Whenever you take an action, ask yourself this question: Am I giving fair value for the wages or money I hope to make? Honesty and dishonesty become a habit. Some people practice dishonesty and can lie with a straight face. Others lie so much that they don't even know what the truth is anymore. But who are they deceiving? Themselves

Motivational quotes for the day (Creativity)

Dig within. Within is the wellspring of good; and it is always ready to bubble up, if you just dig.
~Marcus Aurelius

The only limits are, as always, those of vision.
~James Broughton

There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come.
~Victor Hugo

There are painters who transform the sun to a yellow spot, but there are others who with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun.
~Pablo Picasso

An avalanche begins with a snowflake.
~Joseph Compton

Motivational quotes for the day (Wise Proverbs)

Chinese Proverbs:

A man grows most tired while standing still.

A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows the public opinion.

Be not afraid of going slowly; be afraid only of standing still.

German Proverbs:

Begin to weave and God will give the thread.

Who digs a pit for others will fall in themselves.

Japanese Proverbs:

The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists.

Time spent laughing is time spent with the Gods.

Swedish Proverbs:

God gives every bird a worm, but he does not throw it into the nest.

Those who wish to sing always find a song.

Worry (often) gives a small thing a big shadow.

Forgive and Forget

When a person refuses to forgive, he is locking doors that some day he might need to open. When we hold grudges and harbor resentment, who are we hurting the most? Ourselves.

Jim and Jerry were childhood friends but for whatever reasons, the relationship fell apart and they hadn't spoken for 25 years. Jerry was on his deathbed and didn't want to enter eternity with a heavy heart. So he called Jim, apologized and said, "Let's forgive each other and be done for the past." Jim thought it was a good idea and decided to visit Jerry at the hospital. They caught up on 25 years, patched up their differences and spent a couple of hours together. As Jim was leaving, Jerry shouted from behind, "Jim, just in case I don't die; remember, this forgiveness doesn't count." Life is too short to hold grudges. It is not worth it.

While it is not worth holding grudges, it doesn't make sense to be bitten time and again. It is well said, "You cheat me once, shame on you; you cheat me twice, shame on me."

John Kennedy once said, "Forgive the other person but don't forget their name." I am sure that his message was that one should not get cheated twice.

Motivational quotes for the day (Anger)

If a small thing has the power to make you angry, does that not indicate something about your size?
~Sydney J. Harris

He who angers you conquers you.
~Elizabeth Kenny

For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness.
~Author Unknown

Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die.
~Malachy McCourt

Anger blows out the lamp of the mind.
~Robert G. Ingersoll

I KNEW YOU WOULD COME

There were two childhood buddies who went through school and college and even joined the army together. War broke out and they were fighting in the same unit. One night they were ambushed. Bullets were flying all over and out of the darkness came a voice, "Harry, please come and help me." Harry immediately recognized the voice of his childhood buddy, Bill. He asked the captain if he could go. The captain said, "No, I can't let you go, I am already short-handed and I cannot afford to lose one more person. Besides, the way Bill sounds he is not going to make it." Harry kept quiet. Again the voice came, "Harry, please come and help me." Harry sat quietly because the captain had refused earlier. Again and again the voice came. Harry couldn't contain himself any longer and told the captain, "Captain, this is my childhood buddy. I have to go and help." The captain reluctantly let him go. Harry crawled through the darkness and dragged Bill back into the trench. They found that Bill was dead. Now the captain got angry and shouted at Harry, "Didn't I tell you he was not going to make it? He is dead, you could have been killed and I could have lost a hand. That was a mistake." Harry replied, "Captain, I did the right thing. When I reached Bill he was still alive and his last words were 'Harry, I knew you would come.

Good relationships are hard to find and once developed should be nurtured. We are often told: Live your dream. But you cannot live your dream at the expense of others. People who do so are unscrupulous. We need to make personal sacrifices for our family, friends, and those we care about and who depend on us.

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Be Enthusiastic

Nothing great is ever achieved without enthusiasm. --Ralph Waldo Emerson

Enthusiasm and success go hand in hand, but enthusiasm comes first. Enthusiasm inspires confidence, raises morale, builds loyalty! and is priceless. Enthusiasm is contagious. You can feel enthusiasm by the way a person talks, walks or shakes hands. Enthusiasm is a habit that one can acquire and practice.

Many decades ago, Charles Schwab, who was earning a salary of a million dollars a year, was asked if he was being paid such a high salary because of his exceptional ability to produce steel. Charles Schwab replied, "I consider my ability to arouse enthusiasm among the men the greatest asset I possess, and the way to develop the best that is in a man is by appreciation and encouragement."

Live while you are alive. Don't die before you are dead.

Enthusiasm and desire are what change mediocrity to excellence.

Water turns into steam with a difference of only one degree in temperature and steam can move some of the biggest engines in the world.

That is what enthusiasm helps us to do in our lives.

SPOKEN WORDS CAN'T BE RETRIEVED

A farmer insulted his neighbor. Realizing his mistake, he went to the preacher to ask for forgiveness. The preacher told him to take a bag of feathers and drop them in the center of town. The farmer did as he was told. Then the preacher asked him to go and collect the feathers and put them back in the bag. The farmer tried but couldn't as the feathers had all blown away. When he returned with the empty bag, the preacher said, "The same thing is true about your words. You dropped them rather easily but you cannot retrieve them, so be very careful in choosing your words."

Motivational Quotes for the day (Gifts)

You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. ~Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

The only gift is a portion of thyself.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give.
~George MacDonald

The manner of giving is worth more than the gift.
~Pierre Corneille, Le Menteur

What we are is God's gift to us. What we become is our gift to God.
~Eleanor Powell

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift. That's why we call it the present. ~Babatunde Olatunji

Motivational quotes for the day (Soul)

To live happily is an inward power of the soul.
~Marcus Aurelius

Man is so made that when anything fires his soul, impossibilities vanish.
Jean De La Fontaine

Begin to see yourself as a soul with a body rather than a body with a soul.
~Wayne Dyer

The one thing in the world, of value, is the active soul.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.
~Oscar Wilde

Motivational quotes for the day (Personal Responsibility)

Ultimately, whatever is in your reality is your responsibility.
~Nisandeh Neta

The willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life is the source from which self-respect springs.
~Joan Didion

Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn again to exercise his will - his personal responsibility.
~Albert Schweitzer

You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of.
~Jim Rohn

A weakened sense of responsibility does not weaken the fact of responsibility.
William J. Bennett

Motivational quotes (Happiness)

The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness.
You have to catch it yourself.
~Benjamin Franklin

If you want to be happy, be.
~Leo Tolstoy

Happiness is never stopping to think if you are.
~Palmer Sondreal

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
~Abraham Lincoln

Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.
~Nathaniel Hawthorne

A man's as miserable as he thinks he is.
~Seneca

Think Of Others

A man died and St. Peter asked him if he would like to go to heaven or hell. The man asked if he could see both before deciding. St. Peter took him to hell first and the man saw a big hall with a long table, lots of food on it and music playing. He also saw rows of people with pale, sad faces. They looked starved and there was no laughter. And he observed one more thing. Their hands were tied to four-foot forks and knives and they were trying to get the food from the center of the table to put into their mouths. But they couldn't. Then, he went to see heaven. There he saw a big hall with a long table, with lots of food on the table and music playing. He noticed rows of people on both sides of the table with their hands tied to four-foot forks and knives also. But he observed there was something different here. People were laughing and were well-fed and healthy-looking. He noticed that they were feeding one another across the table. The result was happiness, prosperity, enjoyment, and gratification because they were not thinking of themselves alone. The same is true of our lives.

Motivational quotes for the day (Forgiveness)

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
~Mahatma Gandhi

Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.
~Mark Twain


To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.
~Lewis B. Smedes

He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass.
~George Herbert

Forgive all who have offended you, not for them, but for yourself.
~Harriet Nelson

Motivational Quotes (Present Moment)

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

~Buddha

The point of power is always in the present moment.

~Louis L. Hay

Life can be found only in the present moment. The past is gone, the future is not yet here,

and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch with life.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Present-moment living, getting in touch with your now, is at the heart of effective living.

When you think about it, there really is no other moment you can live.

Now is all there is, and the future is just another present moment to live when it arrives.

~Wayne Dyer

The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness.

~Abraham Maslow

The art of life is to live in the present moment

~Emmet Fox

He who neglecteth the present moment, throweth away all that he hath.

~Akhenaton (King of Egypt 14th century B.C.)

God Himself culminates in the present moment.
~Henry David Thoreau

Motivational quotes for the day (Confidence)

As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.
~Johann Wolfgang van Goethe

The confidence which we have in ourselves gives birth to much of that which we have in others.
~Francois Da La Rouchefoucauld

Confidence imparts a wonderful inspiration to its possessor.
~John Milton

As is our confidence, so is our capacity.
~William Hazlett

Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.
~Norman Vincent Peale

Motivational quotes (Procrastination)

Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task.
~William James

There are a million ways to lose a work day, but not even a single way to get one back.
~Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister

You may delay, but time will not.
~Benjamin Franklin

To think too long about doing a thing often becomes its undoing.
~Eva Young

Don't fool yourself that important things can be put off till tomorrow; they can be put off forever, or not at all.
~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960

Procrastination is opportunity's assassin.
~Victor Kiam

Motivational quotes for the day (Challenges)

I have little patience with scientists who take a board of wood, look for its thinnest part, and drill a great number of holes where drilling is easy.
~Albert Einstein

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
~Mark Twain

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

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.
~Dale Carnegie

He who finds diamonds must grapple in mud and mire because diamonds are not found in polished stones. They are made.
~Henry B. Wilson

Accept challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory.
~George Patton

Motivational quotes for the day (Faith)

Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.
~Henry Ward Beecher

The smallest seed of faith is better than the largest fruit of happiness.
~Henry David Thoreau

There is but one cause of human failure. And that is man's lack of faith in his true self.
~William James

Your faith is what you believe, not what you know.
~John Lancaster Spalding

Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe.
~St. Augustine

Consideration - Must read

One day, a ten-year-old boy went to an ice cream shop, sat at a table and asked the waitress, "How much is an ice-cream cone?" She said, "seventy-five cents." The boy started counting the coins he had in his hand. Then he asked how much a small cup of ice-cream was. The waitress impatiently replied, "sixty five cents." The boy said, "I will have the small ice-cream cup." He had his ice-cream, paid the bill and left. When the waitress came to pick up the empty plate, she was touched. Underneath were ten cent coins as tip.

The little boy had consideration for the waitress before he ordered his ice-crearn. He showed sensitivity and caring. He thought of others before himself. If we all thought like the little boy, we would have a great place to live. Show consideration, courtesy, and politeness. Thoughtfulness shows a caring attitude.

Motivational quotes for the day (Doing your Best)

We have to do the best we can. This is our sacred human responsibility.
~Albert Einstein

When we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another.
~Helen Keller

If a man does his best, what else is there?
~George S. Patton

You better live your best and act your best and think your best today, for today is the sure preparation for tomorrow and all the other tomorrows that follow.
~Harriet Martineau

Life does not require us to make good; it asks only that we give our best at each level of experience.
~Harold Ruopp

Never settle for anything less than your best.
~Brian Tracy

WE SEE THINGS NOT THE WAY THEY ARE BUT THE WAY WE ARE

There is a legend about a wise man who was sitting outside his village. A traveler came up and asked him, "What kind of people live in this village, because I am looking to move from my present one?" The wise man asked, "What kind of people live where you want to move from?" The man said, "They are mean, cruel, rude." The wise man replied, "The same kind of people live in this village too." After some time another traveler came by and asked the same question and the wise man asked him, "What kind of people live where you want to move from?" And the traveler replied, "The people are very kind, courteous, polite and good." The wise man said, "You will find the same kind of people here too."

What is the moral of the story?

Generally we see the world not the way it is but the way we are. Most of the time, other people's behavior is a reaction to our own.

Motivational quotes for the day (Helping Others)

Wherever a man turns he can find someone who needs him.
~Albert Schweitzer

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.
~Nelson Henderson

The difference between a helping hand and an outstretched palm is a twist of the wrist.
~Laurence Leamer, King of the Night

No man stands so straight as when he stoops to help a boy.
~Knights of Pythagoras

In about the same degree as you are helpful, you will be happy.
~Karl Reiland

How far that little candle throws his beams!
So shines a good deed in a weary world.
~William Shakespeare

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
~Winston Churchill

What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.
~Albert Pike

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
~Buddha

Motivational Quotes for the day (Personal Resposibility)

The willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life is the source from which self-respect springs.
~Joan Didion

Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn again to exercise his will - his personal responsibility.
~Albert Schweitzer

Accountability breeds response-ability.
~Stephen Covey

Whatever happens, take responsibility.
~Anthony Robbins

You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.
~Abraham Lincoln

LIFE IS A BOOMERANG

Whether it is our thoughts, actions or behavior, sooner or later they return and with great accuracy. Treat people with respect on your way up because you will be meeting them on your way down. The following story is taken from The Best of Bits & Pieces.

Many years ago two boys were working their way through Stanford University. Their funds got desperately low, and the idea came to them to engage Ignacy Paderewski for a piano recital. They would use the funds to help pay their board and tuition.
The great pianist's manager asked for a guarantee ofÄ$2,000. The guarantee was a lot of money in those days, but the boys agreed and proceeded to promote the concert. They worked hard, only to find that they had grossed only $1,600. After the concert the two boys told the great artist the bad news. They gave him the entire $1,600, along with a promissory note for $400, explaining that they would earn the amount at the earliest possible moment and send the money to him. It looked like the end of their college careers. "No, boys," replied Paderewski, "that won't do." Then, tearing the note in two, he returned the money to them as well. "Now," he told them, "take out of this $1,600 all of your expenses and keep for each of you 10 percent of the balance for your work. Let me have the rest."

The years rolled by. World War I came and went. Paderewski, now premier of Poland, was striving to feed thousands of starving people in his native land. The only person in the world who could help him was Herbert Hoover, who was in charge of the US Food and Relief Bureau. Hoover responded and soon thousands of tons of food were sent to Poland. After the starving people were fed, Paderewski journeyed to Paris to thank Hoover for the relief sent him. "That's all right, Mr. Paderewski ," was Hoover's reply. "Besides, you don't remember it, but you helped me once when I was a student at college, and I was in trouble." It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.

Goodness has a way of coming back; that is the nature of the beast. One doesn't have to do good with a desire to get back. It just happens automatically.

Motivational Quotes for the day (Attitude)

We tend to live up to our expectations.
~Earl Nightingale

It is not the position, but the disposition.
~J.E. Dinger

There are no menial jobs, only menial attitudes.
~William John Bennett

An inexhaustible good nature is one of the most precious gifts of heaven, spreading itself like oil over the troubled sea of thought, and keeping the mind smooth and equable in the roughest weather.
~Washington Irving

Human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes.
~Norman Vincent Peale

Nothing is good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
~William Shakespeare

Motivational quotes for the day (Love)

Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within the reach of every hand.
~Mother Teresa

A heart that loves is always young.
~Greek Proverb

Love and you shall be loved.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Think lovingly, speak lovingly, act lovingly, and every need shall be supplied.
~James Allen

I've decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.
~Martin Luther King Jr.

Love is the master key opens the gates of happiness.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes

LIFE IS AN ECHO

A little boy got angry with his mother and shouted at her, "I hate you, I hate you." Because of fear of reprimand, he ran out of the house. He went up to the valley and shouted, "I hate you, I hate you," and back came the echo, "I hate you, I hate you." This was the first time in his life he had heard an echo. He got scared, went to his mother for protection and said there was a bad boy in the valley who shouted "I hate you, I hate you." The mother understood and she asked her son to go back and shout, "I love you, I love you." The little boy went and shouted, "I love you, I love you," and back came the echo.

That taught the little boy a lesson that our life is like an echo: We get back what we give. Benjamin Franklin said, "When you are good to others, you are best to yourself.”

YOUR STRENGTHS AND YOUR WEAKNESSES

Take Inventory: Make a List of All Your Strengths and Weaknesses. Write it on a Piece of paper and make an action plan accordingly.

Successful people realize their limitations and build on their strengths. Focus on what you want to do and be, rather than what you don't.

Motivational quotes for the day (Effort)

We forget that every good that is worth possessing must be paid for in strokes of daily effort.
~William James

Great effort springs naturally from a great attitude.
~Pat Riley

Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory.
~Mahatma Gandhi

Do every act of your life as if it were your last.
~Marcus Aurelius

Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they've got a second. Give your dreams all you've got and you'll be amazed at the energy that comes out of you.
~William James

You must not only aim right, but draw the bow with all your might.
~Henry David Thoreau

Motivational quotes for the day (Kindness)

A kind heart is a fountain of gladness, making everything in its vicinity into smiles.
~Washington Irving

Always be kind, for everyone is fighting a hard battle.
~Plato

Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.
~Mother Teresa

Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution.
~Kahlil Gibran

Kindness is the sunshine in which virtue grows.
~Robert Green Ingersoll

False Limitations

Henry Ford gave this world the V8 engine. He did not have much formal education. In fact, he did not go to school beyond the age of 14. He was intelligent enough to know there had to be a V8 engine but he was ignorant and didn't know how to build it. So he asked all his highly qualified, educated people to build one. But they told him what could be done and what couldn't. According to them, a V8 was an impossibility. But Henry Ford insisted on having his V8. A few months later he asked his people if they had the V8 and they replied, "We know what can be done and we also know what cannot be done and V8 is an impossibility." This went on for many months and still Henry Ford said, "I want my V8." And shortly thereafter the same people produced his V8 engine. How come? They let their imagination run beyond academic limitation.

Education teaches us what can be done and sometimes also teaches us false limitations.It teaches us what we can do and also teaches us what we cannot do.


THE BUMBLEBEE

According to scientists, the bumblebee's body is too heavy and its wing span too small. Aerodynamically, the bumblebee cannot fly. But the bumblebee doesn't know that and it keeps flying.


When you don't know your limitations, you go out and surprise yourself. In hindsight, you wonder if you had any limitations. The only limitations a person has are those that are self-imposed. Don't let education put limitations on you.

Motivational quotes for the day (Self-Improvement)

Unless you try to do something beyond what you have mastered, you will never grow.
~C.R. Lawton

I don't think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.
~Abraham Lincoln

There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self.
~Aldous Huxley

Become addicted to constant and never ending self improvement.
~Anthony J. D'Angelo

Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound.
~James Allen

What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.
~Zig Ziglar

Motivational quotes (The Power Of Now)

Forever is composed of nows.
~Emily Dickinson

Rejoice in the things that are present; all else is beyond thee.
~Montaigne

Nothing is worth more than this day.
~Johann Wolfgang Van Goethe

People are always asking about the good old days. I say, why don't you say the good 'now' days?
~Robert M. Young

We must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind us to the fact that each moment of life is a miracle and mystery.
~H.G. Wells

Motivational quotes for the day (Determination)

Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve. He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind.
~Leonardo Da Vinci

People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don't know when to quit. Most men succeed because they are determined to.
~George Allen

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.
~Calvin Coolidge

Tough times never last, but tough people do.
~Dr. Robert Schuller

We will either find a way, or make one.
~Hannibal

Motivational quotes for the day (Strength)

Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look there.
~Marcus Antonius

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.
~Mahatma Gandhi

If you haven't the strength to impose your own terms upon life, you must accept the terms it offers you.
~T.S. Eliot

Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.
~Mother Teresa

Motivational quotes for the day (Goals)

A goal properly set is halfway reached.
~Abraham Lincoln

If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes.
~Andrew Carnegie

Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.
~Louisa May Alcott

When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.
~Seneca

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.
~T.S. Eliot