Worth Quoting

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a sucker for a good quote.  

Today, for your reading pleasure, I present you with ten little wonders I’ve stumbled upon lately.  

Which one speaks to you?

1.  I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than closed by belief. – Gerry Spence

2.  Money often costs too much.  – Ralph Waldo Emerson

3.  If you want others to be happy, practice compassion; if you want to be happy, practice compassion.  – The 14^th Dalai Lama

4.  Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field.  I will meet you there.  – Rumi

5.  Fear is the cheapest room in the house.  I would like to see you living in better conditions.  – Hafiz

6.  Say not, “I have found the truth,” but rather, “I have found a truth.” – Kahlil Gibran

7.  Trying to satisfy one’s desires with possessions is like trying to put out fire with straw. – Confucius

8.  The constant assertion of belief is an indication of fear. – Jiddu Krishnamurti

9.  The winds of grace are always blowing, but it is you who must raise your sails. – Rabindranath Tagore

10.  What we plant in the soil of contemplation, we shall reap in the harvest of action. – Meister Eckhart 

Today is the Day

Today, for you, are some of my favorite quotes about living in the moment.  Which one is your favorite?

1.  “What day is it?" It's today," squeaked Piglet. My favorite day," said Pooh.”

 – A.A. Milne

2.  “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

3.  “Forever is composed of nows.”

― Emily Dickinson

 

4.  “Happiness, not in another place but this place...not for another hour, but this hour.”

― Walt Whitman

 

5.  “Be present in all things and thankful for all things.”

― Maya Angelou

 

6.  “Life is a preparation for the future; and the best preparation for the future is to live as if there were none.”

― Albert Einstein

 

7.  “Learn from yesterday, live for today, look to tomorrow, rest this afternoon.”

― Charles M. Schulz, Charlie Brown's Little Book of Wisdom

 

8.  “You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.”

― Henry David Thoreau

 

9.   “Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of.”

― Benjamin Franklin

 

10.  “Look at everything always as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time: Thus is your time on earth filled with glory.”

― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

 

 

Rays of Hope

A funny thing happened the other day when I was driving home.  It was about 5:30 p.m. and it was light outside.

There you have it people. The temperatures may not show it yet, but the light sure does.  Hang in there -- spring is definitely on the way. 

 

 

 

 

Contemplation Day

Each new season seems to beg for a little personal introspection.  As we ease slowly into shorter days, consider these ten inspirational quotes and decide if any of them speak to you.

1.  “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” – Kurt Vonnegut

2.  “The unexamined life is not worth living.” – Socrates

3.  “It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it.” – Lou Holtz

4.  “I was never really insane except upon occasions when my heart was touched.” – Edgar Allan Poe

5.  “Imagine there's no country.  It isn’t hard to do.  Nothing to kill or die for.  No religion too.  Imagine all the people living life in peace.” – John Lennon

6.  “I dream my painting and I paint my dream.” – Vincent van Gogh

7.  “You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” – Jack London

8.  “It's hard to beat a person who never gives up.” – Babe Ruth

9.  “Why do they always teach us that it's easy and evil to do what we want and that we need discipline to restrain ourselves? It's the hardest thing in the world--to do what we want. And it takes the greatest kind of courage.” – Ayn Rand

10.  “Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: ‘It’s not where you take things from - it’s where you take them to.’” – Jim Jarmusch

Which quote do you like best today?  Is there another quote that you’re drawn to lately that you’d like to share?

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is, without doubt, a leader in every sense of the word.  His numerous speeches are loaded with inspiration.  Here, I've compiled but a few of this civil rights leader's most memorable lines.  Which are your favorites?

1.  “Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.”

2.  "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."

3.  "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

4.  "The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically.  Intelligence plus character -- that is the goal of true education."

 5.  "I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.  This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant."

6.  "We must accept finite disappoint, but never lose infinite hope."

7.  "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."

8.  "The time is always right to do what is right."

9.  "We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear."

10.  "Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it.  It is a sword that heals."

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Iron Jawed Angels

I don't need to tell you what's going on this Tuesday, Nov. 6th.  And, hopefully, I don't need to tell you to exercise your right to vote, either.

But, here's something else for you.  A little treat.  A reward.  I just found out that the famed film "Iron Jawed Angels" is on YouTube for your viewing pleasure.  This amazing film is a must-see, especially now.  It tells the story of the first wave of feminism and the American Suffrage Movement's struggle to obtain the vote for women.  It's an important film, true, but it's also really good!  Enjoy it.  Then, go out and vote.

Click here to watch the film:  Iron Jawed Angels




Coins on top or bottom?

What's wrong with this picture?  Isn't it obvious?  The cashier has given you back your change with the coins on top method.  Now the coins are going to slide all over the place, maybe even land on the floor.  And, if  you're lucky, same cashier will top this whole debacle off with the receipt, which you'll stash in your mouth for safekeeping while you deal with the rolling coins and eventually get a chance to tuck the all-important bills into your wallet.  Grrrrrrr.

 Now, take a look at this picture.  Doesn't your blood pressure go down?  How calming and reasonable to have the cashier give you back your change with the coins on bottom method.  You slip the bills into your wallet, put the coins in your pocket or change purse, and all is well.  Perhaps, the cashier has even nicely counted your change back to you -- coins first -- and you are certain you've gotten back the correct amount.  Maybe you even feel so good about this transaction that you take your handful of coins and deposit them in the cashier's tip jar!

 

It's obvious which method I prefer.  Lately, the coins-on-top thing has become a pet peeve of mine.  But, I've heard various defenses for the coins on top method -- mainly, that the cash register shows the change as dollars first, coins second, and so cashiers grab the change that is shown and put it into your hand . . . also as it is shown, with coins on top.  They don't count back to you because they don't know how or were trained not to.  I've also heard that cashiers use the coins on top method because they don't want to touch germy hands and so put the bills (sanitary as they are) into your hand first, then drop the coins on top to avoid actual skin-to-skin contact. 

 

We won't even begin to talk about putting the receipt on top of everything because this issue is complicated enough.  But, please do tell which you prefer.  Are you a coins on top or a coins on bottom kind of customer?  And, if you're a cashier, what is your method of change delivery?

 

 

Feminist = Fine

First, she took Britain by storm. Next up, the United States.  Caitlin Moran’s mission: to blow up the nasty image feminism has acquired and to reclaim the word (and the ideology) for the people. Sort of a backlash to the backlash. And, she's a hoot (which helps).

According to Sarah Lyall of The New York Times, Moran’s book, How to Be a Woman, is “part memoir, part philosophical rant, part manifesto written with the lightest touch. . . The book aims to make women proud of being feminists.”

Moran says, “The word ‘feminism’ has for some reason gone off the rails to connote, incorrectly, preachy humorlessness and grim separatism.  When I talk to girls, they go, ‘I’m not a feminist.’  And I say, ‘What?  You don’t want to vote?  Do you want to be owned by your husband?  Do you want your money from your job to go into his bank account?  If you were raped, do you still want that to be a crime?  Congratulations:  you are a feminist.”

Check out Caitlin Moran’s website and see for yourself:  http://www.how-tobeawoman.com/

Inspiration

Today, I am lucky to be the featured guest blogger on famed Smoky Zeidel's "Inspiration Series."  Click below for my musings about one way I get inspired as a writer . . . by being with and experiencing the wonderful works of other writers.  Then, explore the rest of Smoky's blog!

Click here to read my guest post and to explore Smoky's amazing blog:  Inspiration