Happy People Produce

The happy people are those who are producing something; the bored people are those who are consuming much and producing nothing.
- - William Ralph Inge

How true! We need to make something happen! Be productive! It is not because of boredom that people are not productive, but rather they are bored because they do not produce. Keep striving! You will eventually succeed.

Just Keep Smiling

No matter who says what, you should accept it with a smile and do your own work.
- Mother Teresa

Don't worry about what people think or say about you, just do your work honestly and forthrightly. Work so well that you don't mind signing your name to it!

I Defend Your Right

I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.
Voltaire

I certainly do not agree with men like Jeremiah Wright and others who spew their hatred and anti-American "centrisms." I must however defend their right to speak. To deny people a right to voice their opinions is to deny them the very foundation on which this country was founded. I enjoy freedom of speech and employ it often. People may not like what I have to say but my constitutional right to say it remains free. You don't have to like the message but you must allow people their voice!

Freedom of speech stops, however, when the speaker crosses over into malicious rhetoric about killing and destroying people, or it includes defamation of character. This type of behavior should be eradicated. Whether it is preached from a pulpit, spoken in a political state house, or shouted from a street corner, hatred is NEVER acceptable!

I may not agree with what you say, but I WILL defend your right to say it as long it does not enter the area of willful and malicious intent!

Life's Lessons

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children...to leave the world a better place...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Success is not to be measured by what one has but rather by what one leaves behind. If you do not leave behind wealth, but you have left children with a well-balanced life: children who love God and their fellow man, and entreat both with honor and respect: then you have succeeded.

Keep Pushing

The world is moved not only by the mighty shoves of the heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.
- Helen Keller

No matter how small and insignificant you feel, simply remember, you are doing more than you feel that you are doing. If everyone quit pushing, no matter how small the push, nothing would ever be accomplished. Few heroes ever changed the world, it is the small touch: a mother brushing the tears away from her child, the hug from a friend, a kiss from your lover. These small seemingly insignificant pushes or touches are what keeps people going.

YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR WORLD WITH JUST ONE SMALL PUSH AT A TIME! KEEP PUSHING!!

Goodness and Strength

To be capable of steady friendship or lasting love, are the two greatest proofs, not only of goodness of heart, but of strength of mind.
- William Hazlitt

When we love, or at least have a strong friendship with someone, we are willing to forgive and continue our love with them. We can strongly disagree and not strain our love for one another because our love is not based on whether we agree or not. True love is based on our heart and mind. It is no wonder that the Bible states, "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment." (Mark 12:30) Jana and I have had a lasting love simply because of our profound love for one another and our strength of mind to keep it that way--you can too!

Just a subscript: You can learn a lot more from listening than you can from talking. If you want to learn something about someone, take a seat, shut your mouth and don't argue back. You might be surprised how much alike that you really are! It is physically impossible to listen and speak at the same time!

Chance Of A Lifetime

A day dawns, quite like other days; in it, a single hour comes, quite like other hours; but in that day and in that hour the chance of a lifetime faces us.
- Maltbie Babcock

Sometimes life gives us only one chance at something, and we will never get that chance again. In a single moment we can seize the chance of a lifetime and our lives are forever changed, or we can miss the opportunity and forever regret the missed chance. Every moment of every day, be aware of the chance that life affords you and apprehend that moment. It might be the one chance that you get to make a difference!