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