Words of Wisdom

Today, my friends, is International Women’s Day – the annual holiday to promote equal rights for women. While women have certainly come a long way (baby), there is still much work to be done to ensure that all women are treated as equals to men and that socialized gender inequality is addressed. In the spirit of the day, I offer sage wisdom from wise sages. 

Pick your favorite, please.

1. “Woman is the companion of man, gifted with equal mental capacity.” – Gandhi

2. “The fastest way to change society is to mobilize the women of the world.” – Charles Malik

3. “We've begun to raise daughters more like sons . . . but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters.” – Gloria Steinem

4. “Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

AND “A woman is like a tea bag – you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

5. “The day will come when men will recognize woman as his peer, not only at the fireside, but in councils of the nation. Then, and not until then, will there be the perfect comradeship, the ideal union between the sexes that shall result in the highest development of the race.” – Susan B. Anthony

6. “Women have served all these centuries as looking glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of a man at twice its natural size.” – Virginia Woolf

7. “Human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights.” – Hillary Clinton

8. “I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved.” – B. R. Ambedkar

9. “The question isn't who's going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.” – Ayn Rand

10. “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.” – Alice Walker

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

 

 

Wise and Witty Irish Toasts

To help you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, I offer you ten wise and witty toasts.  Pick your favorite to spout before raising those glasses of green beer.

 

1.  May you live as long as you want,

and never want as long as you live. 

2.  As you slide down the banisters of life

may the splinters never point the wrong way.

 3.  May your troubles be as few and as far apart

as my Grandmother’s teeth.

 4.  May the roof above us never fall in,

and may we friends gathered below never fall out.

 5.  May the Lord keep you in His hand

and never close His fist too tight.

6.  May you have the hindsight to know where you’ve been,

the foresight to know where you’re going

and the insight to know when you’re going too far.

 7.  May the hinges of our friendship never grow rusty.

 

8.  Here’s to me, and here’s to you,

And here’s to love and laughter-

I’ll be true as long as you,

And not one moment after.

 9.  May your glass be ever full.

May the roof over your head be always strong.

And may you be in heaven half an hour

before the devil knows you’re gone.

 10.  When we drink, we get drunk.

When we get drunk, we fall asleep.

When we fall asleep, we commit no sin.

When we commit no sin, we go to heaven.

So, let’s all get drunk, and go to heaven!

 I love #5!  How about you?  Have a great St. Patrick's Day!

 

 

A Word from the Wise

Jiddu Krishnamurti

“No expectation, no judgment.” ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti 

This is one of my favorite quotes and one I try to remember when faced with life’s “grand” events.  (Now, whether I’m actually successful in remembering this sage advice is sometimes another story.) 

Do you have a favorite tidbit of wisdom to share this holiday season?  Well, don’t just keep it all to yourself – do tell, do tell!

 

Gratitude

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and I know I'm not the only one who feels that way.  We spend a lovely day feasting and holding our dear ones close and then . . . we dash full steam ahead into holiday mode.  Keep that Thanksgiving feeling alive a little longer by taking a peek at these famous/infamous gratitude quotes.  Today, I like the Proust one the best. What about you?  

1.  " Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others."  ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

2.  “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” ~ John F. Kennedy

3.  “Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.” ~ Aesop

4.  “Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.” ~ Henry Ward Beecher

5.  “Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” ~ Melody Beattie

6.  "Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." ~ Marcel Proust

7.  “At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” ~ Albert Schweitzer

8.  “Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”  ~ A.A. Milne  (Winnie-the-Pooh)

9.  “When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.” ~ Maya Angelou

10.  “We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” ~ Thornton Wilder



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?

Candy is dandy . . .

 

A dear friend of mine recently gave me the book The Best of Ogden Nash.  What fun to peruse these funnies!  Here, for your mid-week boost are a few of the quotes that jumped out at me.  Read.  Grin.  Share.

"Happiness is having a scratch for every itch."

"If you don't want to work you have to work to earn enough money so that you won't have to work."

 "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of."

"The bed is a bundle of paradoxes: we go to it with reluctance, yet we quit it with regret; we make up our minds every night to leave it early, but we make up our bodies every morning to keep it late."

And, of course:  “Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker.”

What's your favorite?