Choose the Meaning You Give

I don't any longer think that it's possible that other people can hurt me. They are just giving me their observation and I'm giving it meaning. And so I get to choose what that meaning is. - Rita Bridenstine

We All Want the Same Thing

We live in different spaces, different parts of the country, have different goals but ultimately we all want the same thing. We want to know that we matter. We want to know that we were heard and that what we had to say meant something. Whether you're talking to your boss, whether you're talking to friends, everybody and every conversations, and particularly in every arguments and disagreements just want to know, "did you hear me?" and "did what I say mean anything to you?". - Oprah Winfrey

Celebrate Your Independence

This month, I celebrate my own independence. I choose to be free of all negativity, anger, fear, insecurities, jealousies--and any thought that makes me feel "less than." I no longer choose to live in the prison of my mind. I choose thoughts of love, joy, prosperity, and unlimited creativity and opportunities. - Louise L. Hay

Vision

"That's because I micro-manage, I will be on top of every single thing so that nothing goes wrong. It's not just because my money is in it. It's because it's my vision and I can't bear to see it go any other way." - Michelle Chong (Actress, model, writer, director, producer and founder of Huat Films)

Silence and Words

"He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words." Elbert Hubbard (American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher)

Surprise

“Be at peace with surprise.” – Wayne Dyer

The Insecure Ones

"To the insecure ones, the world is always against them. Everyone seems to owe them something. No matter how much good intentions and assurances given, they will never be enough. Until they are able to feel secure at their own time, don't let them affect your sanity. Your response is not controlled by how loud they shout out their insecurities. But by how much control you have over your own mind and emotion." - D.D.

A Star of Happiness

"Each of us keeps at the bottom of his heart a memory which does not want to die. It is the sound of a footfall, the sound of a voice, a name or a smile. Each of us keeps at the bottom of his hearts a star of happiness." - Guy de Maupassant

Refuse to be Reduced

I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it. - Maya Angelou

Flame

“Flame is a fickle mistress.” Mozzie, White Collar

Good Points of Others

"It is healthier to see the good points of others than to analyze our own bad ones." - Francoise Sagan (French playwright, novelist, and screenwriter)

Why & Why Not

Life's two most important questions are "why" and "why not". The trick is knowing which one to ask. - Shania Twain

Divert the Sadness

"The idea here is not to divert the sadness, but to give it a context from life other than what is making you sad. Just as a ginger can lose its bitterness when baked in bread, sadness can be leavened by other life. When feeling the sharpness of being sad or hurt, it helps to take new things in. This pours the water of life on the fire of the heart. So when exhausted from expressing all that hurt, listen to music you’ve never heard of, or ask someone to tell you an old story from before your birth, or take a drive down a road near a ridge you’ve always meant to look out from. Look with your sad eyes on things new to you that will give you something to do with your sadness. Your sadness is the paint. You must find a canvas." - T.H. White

Choose to Inhale

"Choose to inhale; do not breathe simply to exist. That's not always easy but it is always worthy." - Final sentences of Mattie Stepanek on his dying bed.

Every Bad

"And yet to every bad there is a worse."
- Thomas Hardy

Money and Happiness

Money truly can't buy happiness, especially if you're unhappy to begin with. "If you are worrying about vegetables now, you'll be worrying about yachts then," - Jacob Needleman

Praise and Blame

Never mind whom you praise, but be very careful who you blame.
- Edmund Gosse

Do Better

"Do better if possible, and that is always possible..." - Francois Constantin, Turin, Italy, 1819

Inspiration and Work

"Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it." - Madeline L'Engle

Selflessness of Nature

"Even after all this time. The sun never says to the earth, "You owe me." Look what happens with A love like that. It lights the whole sky." - Hafiz of Persia

We are What We Think

"We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world." - The Buddha

Go for It

"When you get the chance, go for it. You can't accomplish anything worthwhile if you inhibit yourself." - Oprah

Balance Lives in the Present

"Balance lives in the present. The surest way to lose your footing is to focus on what dreadful things might happen." - Oprah

There is No Greater Gift

"There is no greater gift you can give or receive than to honor your calling. It's why you were born. And how you become most truly alive." - Oprah

Everyday Religion

"I have an everyday religion that works for me, love yourself first and everything else falls into place." - Lucille Ball

Communication is Like A Dance

Communication is like a dance. One person takes a step forward; the other takes one back. Even one misstep can land both on the floor in a tangle of confusion. - Oprah

How You Do

"How you do anything is how you do everything." - Anon

Fame Does Not Change Who You Are

Fame does not change who you are. Fame is like having a magnifying glass on who you are. And it only highlights and enlarges what was already there. - Oprah Winfrey

Learn from Differences

"Perhaps if humanity focused less on what separates us from one another and more on what we could learn from our differences, we would stop killing one another."
--Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard, NCIS Season 7 Episode 10

Rhythm and Rhyme

Rhythm and rhyme; answer man's immortal need for monotony and symmetry, as opposed to the vanity and danger of inspiration. - Charles Baudelaire (Les Fleurs du Mal - Flowers of Evil)

Beliefs and Results

It has always been true that you act according to your beliefs and, since the way you act has consequences, your beliefs manifest in the world through various situations. When you act out your beliefs, you see the results of your actions everywhere. - Geneen Roth