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Cynthia Basinet |
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As noted previously, Cynthia collects wisdom quotes from great minds. Here are some of her favorites.
food for the soul Humility does not mean you think less of yourself. It means you think of yourself less. What we see depends mainly on Prayer is not an old woman's idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action. One cannot help being old, -o-
Unshared joy is an unlighted candle.
Take care of your gift.
Be yourself. No one can ever tell you you're doing it wrong.
Love wholeheartedly, be surprised, give thanks and praise- - then you will discover the fullness of your life.
It seems to me we can never give up longing and wishing while we are alive. There are certain things we feel to be beautiful and good, and we must hunger for them.
A woman is like a tea bag: you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water.
If you make it plain you like people, it's hard for them to resist liking you back.
The question for the child is not "Do I want to be good?" but "Whom do I want to be like?"
One must care about a world one will never see.
Work and play are words used to describe the ame thing under differing conditions.
A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.
Making the decision to have a child- - it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.
Take rest;
Here are the two best prayers I know: 'Help me, help me, help me' and 'Thank you, thank you, thank you.'
There are years that ask questions, and years that answer.
You can only find truth with logic if you have already found truth without it.
The heart, like the grape, is prone to delivering its harvest in the same moment it appears to be crushed.
Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told, 'I'm with you kid. Let's go.'
The future enters into us, in order to transform us, long before it happens.
We expect more of ourselves than we have any right to.
I have learned to seek my happiness by limiting my desires, rather than in attempting to satisfy them.
Within your heart, keep one still, secret spot where dreams may grow.
Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education; they grow there, firm as weeds along rocks.
Of all nature's gifts to the human race, what is sweeter to a man than his children?
Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought.
Love is an act of faith, and whoever is of little faith is also of little love.
You miss 100 percent of all the shots you never take.
Where there is great love, there are always miracles.
Great souls are not those which have less passion and more virtue than common souls, but only those which have greater designs.
How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world.
Hope arouses, as nothing else can arouse, a passion for the possible.
We can do no great things - - only small things with great love.
The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it's the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him with his friendship.
You are younger today than you ever will be again. Make use of it for the sake of tomorrow.
Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by an encounter with another human being. Each of us owes the deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this inner light.
Every man has three characters: that which he shows, that which he has, and that which he thinks he has.
He who wants to expand the field of happiness, let him lay the foundation of it on the bottom of his heart.
True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it be lost.
If the world seems cold to you, kindle fires to warm it.
Don't let life discourage you; everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was.
In our era, the road to holiness necessarily passes through the world of action.
Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man's desire to understand.
There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.
In our journey towards God, we proceed like those small birds whose flight is in loops. They always seem to be about to drop, but the drop in their flight seems to urge them forward.
The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat.
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
We know nothing of tomorrow, our business is to be good and happy today.
Every exit is an entry somewhere else.
Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.
All comes at the proper time to him who knows how to wait.
Nobody is bored when he is trying to make something that is beautiful or to discover something that is true.
A lie has speed, but truth has endurance.
Never think that God's delays are God's denials. Hold on; hold fast; hold out. Patience is genius.
Enthusiasm finds the opportunities, and energy makes the most of them.
The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing in the right place, but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
Unless you enter the tiger's den, you cannot take the cubs.
Life is a compromise of what your ego wants to do, what experience tells you to do, and what your nerves let you do.
The world is a great book; he who never stirs from home, reads only a page.
Values are like fingerprints. Nobody's are the same, but you leave 'em all over everything you do.
The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.
Nobody is bored when he is trying to make something that is beautiful or to discover something that is true.
Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.
It is vain to expect our prayers to be heard, if we do not strive as well as pray.
Life isn't a matter of milestones, but moments.
What is a friend? A single soul shared by two people.
Love the moment, and the energy of that moment will spread beyond all boundaries.
It seems to me we can never give up longing and wishing while we are alive. There are certain things we feel to be beautiful and good, and we must hunger for them.
Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, riches take wing, and only character endures.
Whoever can see through all fear will always be safe.
Snowflakes are nature's most fragile things, but just look what they can do when they stick together.
Nobody sees a flower, really- - it is so small we haven't time, and to see takes time.
There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.
Our strength is often composed of the weakness that we're damned if we are going to show.
Kindly words, sympathizing attentions, watchfulness against wounding men's sensitiveness: these cost very little, but they are priceless in their value.
When a man is wrapped up in himself he makes a pretty small package.
Strive to realize a state of inward happiness, independent of circumstances.
A single sunbeamis enough to drive away many shadows.
What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.
Work and play are words used to describe the same thing under differing conditions.
It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us...Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start.
If we all did the things we are capable of doing we would literally astound ourselves.
Good friendships are fragile things and require as much care as any other fragile and precious thing.
Humility is the solid foundation of all the virtues.
If God brings you to it, God will bring you through it.
Every blade of grass has an angel that bends over it and whispers, "Grow! Grow!"
He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.
Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.
When we look into our own hearts and begin to discover what is confused and what is brilliant, what is bitter and what is sweet, it isn't just ourselves that we're discovering. We're discovering the universe.
To describe happiness is to diminish it.
Today is yesterday's pupil.
"Just living isn't enough," said the butterfly, "one must also have freedom, sunshine, and a little flower."
A man does not have to be an angel in order to be a saint.
Self- trust is the first secret of success.
That they may have a little peace, even the best dogs are compelled to snarl occasionally.
We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?" Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.
We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.
Selfishness may be sweet only for oneself, but no harmony of the whole can come from it.
Optimism is essential to achievement and it is also the foundation of courage and of true progress.
Love consists in looking together in the same direction.
He who wants to expand the field of happiness, let him lay the foundation of it on the bottom of his heart.
No one grows old by living, only by losing interest in living.
A small trouble is like a pebble. Hold it too close to your eye and it fills the whole world and puts everything out of focus. Hold it at a proper distance and it can be examined and properly classified. Throw it at your feet and it can be seen in its true setting, just one more tiny bump on the pathway to life.
Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by an encounter with another human being. Each of us owes the deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this inner light.
The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it's the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him with his friendship.
A sorrow shared is half a sorrow, a joy shared is twice a joy.
In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through to you.
Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is a little like expecting the bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian.
There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self.
We can do no great things - - only small things with great love.
Hope arouses, as nothing else can arouse, a passion for the possible.
All receive advice. Only the wise profit from it.
Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid.
The proverb warns that 'You should not bite the hand that feeds you.' But maybe you should, if it prevents you from feeding yourself.
Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.
To live only for some future goal is shallow. It's the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top.
Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.
We cannot hold a torch to light another person's path without brightening our own.
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.
The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.
Man can live for about forty days without food, and about three days without water, about eight minutes without air ... but only for one second without hope.
When I first open my eyes upon the morning meadows and look out upon the beautiful world, I thank God I am alive.
Every new day begins with possibilities. It's up to us to fill it with the things that move us toward progress and peace.
Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things only hoped for.
I am happy and content because I think I am.
Modern man thinks he loses something- - time- - when he does not do things quickly. Yet he does not know what to do with the time he gains- - except kill it.
Don't wait for your ship to come in. Row out to meet it.
Self- pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world.
Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them.
What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?
We grow old as soon as we cease to love and trust.
Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don't.
Growth in wisdom may be exactly measured by decrease in bitterness.
Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.
Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.
Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.
There is nothing better than the encouragement of a good friend.
The talent for being happy is appreciating and liking what you have, instead of what you don't have.
Conditions are never just right. People who delay action until all factors are favorable are the kind who do nothing.
Be an opener of doors for such as come after thee, and do not try to make the universe a blind alley.
The man who views the world at fifty the same as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.
Depend on the rabbit's foot if you will, but remember it didn't work for the rabbit.
Why can't life's problems hit us when we're seventeen and know everything?
Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor.
If you are going through hell...keep going.
What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul.
Friendship is a promise of future loyalty, loyalty no matter what comes. Promises are the bricks of life and trust is the mortar.
Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
Go out into the world today and love the people you meet. Let your presence light new light in the hearts of people.
When the heart grieves over what it has lost, the spirit rejoices over what it has left.
It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived.
Recognize that you have the courage within you to fulfill the purpose of your birth. Summon forth the power of your inner courage and live the life of your dreams.
Great occasions do not make heroes or cowards; they simply unveil them to the eyes. Silently and imperceptibly, as we wake or sleep, we grow strong or we grow weak, and at last some crisis shows us what we have become.
Success consists of getting up just one more time than you fall.
We have not come into the world to be a number; we have been created for a purpose, for great things: To love and be loved.
The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but to reveal to him his own.
There is nothing better than the encouragement of a good friend.
If one is without kindness, how can one be called a human being?
People may fail many times, but they become failures only when they begin to blame someone else.
It's never the end of the world. It's already tomorrow in Australia.
It is vital that people "count their blessings:" to appreciate what they possess without having to undergo its actual loss.
Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?
The purpose of life is not to be happy. The purpose of life is to matter, to be productive, to have it make some difference that you lived at all.
Too many people miss the silver lining because they're expecting gold.
Sometimes the seeds of happiness are sown in darkness.
Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of traveling.
Confusion is a word we have invented for an order which is not understood.
Each day, and the living of it, has to be a conscious creation in which discipline and order are relieved with some play and pure foolishness.
Always aim for achievement, and forget about success.
So- called aging is not the deterioration of life, but the deterioration of our faith, our enthusiasm, our will to progress.
Doubt limits you from what is already yours, but faith unlocks the door allowing you to walk in and receive it.
We can't take any credit for our talents. It's how we use them that counts.
When we see men of worth, we should think of equaling them; when we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inward and examine ourselves.
Happiness is the delicate balance between what one is and what one has.
Imagination was given to us to compensate for what we are not; a sense of humor was given to us to console us for what we are.
After the verb 'to Love,' 'to Help' is the most beautiful verb in the world.
Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who love you. And remember that love is not leisure, it is work.
One can acquire everything in solitude- - except character.
Lady Luck generally woos those who earnestly, enthusiastically, unremittingly woo her.
All problems become smaller if you don't dodge them, but confront them. Touch a thistle timidly, and it pricks you; grasp it boldly, and its spines crumble.
Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal.
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
If you have made mistakes, even serious ones, there is always another chance for you. What we call failure is not the falling down, but the staying down.
In the pursuit of happiness, the difficulty lies in knowing when you have caught up.
Faith and doubt both are needed, not as antagonists, but working side by side to take us around the unknown curve.
Depend on the rabbit's foot if you will, but remember it didn't work for the rabbit. The supreme happiness of life is the conviction of being loved for yourself, or, more correctly, being loved in spite of yourself.
If you won't be better tomorrow than you were today, then what do you need tomorrow for?
There may be more to learn from climbing the same mountain a hundred times than by climbing a hundred different mountains.
Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.
A pleasure is not full grown until it is remembered.
Don't solve your problems, dissolve your problems - so that they should not recur again.
The true measure of an individual is how he treats a person who can do him absolutely no good.
In a moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing to do. The worst thing you can do is nothing.
The very purpose of our life is happiness, the very motion of our lives is toward happiness.
If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give.
If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.
It was never what I wanted to buy that held my heart's hope. It was what I wanted to be.
Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strength.
You must not pity me because my sixtieth year finds me still astonished. To be astonished is one of the surest ways of not growing old too quickly.
To be blind is bad, but worse is to have eyes and not see.
Happiness grows at our own firesides, and is not to be picked in strangers' gardens.
I'm an idealist. I don't know where I'm going but I'm on the way.
My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.
Real generosity is doing something nice for someone who will never find out.
Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.
It's not how much you have that makes people look up to you, it's who you are.
The only way to find the limits of the possible is by going beyond them to the impossible.
Give thanks for a little and you will find a lot.
It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them.
Never give way to melancholy; resist it steadily, for the habit will encroach.
An attitude of gratitude creates blessings.
Silent gratitude isn?t much good to anyone.
If you don't have the time to do something right, where are you going to find the time to fix it?
What you do may seem insignificant, but it's important that you do it.
Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't.
You don't just luck into things...You build step by step, whether it's friendships or opportunities.
There are men who hate me;
Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account.
If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.
Each age has deemed the new- born year
The farther a man knows himself to be free from perfection, the nearer he is to it.
Keep the faculty of effort alive in you by a little gratuitous exercise every day.
There is always a certain peace in being what one is, in being that completely.
We all move on the fringes of eternity and are sometimes granted vistas through the fabric of illusion.
All who would win joy, must share it; happiness was born a twin.
To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it.
If you are doing your best, you will not have time to worry about failure.
Truth does not become more true by virtue of the fact that the entire world agrees with it, nor less so even if the whole world disagrees with it.
Some people succeed because they are destined to, but most people succeed because they are determined to.
When eating a fruit, think of the person who planted the tree.
Anger or hatred is like a fisherman's hook. It is very important for us to ensure that we are not caught by it.
In pursuit of happiness, the difficulty lies in knowing when you have caught up.
There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience.
Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it.
Envy someone an' it pulls you down. Admire them and it builds you up. Which makes more sense?
Humility, like darkness, reveals the heavenly lights.
Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length.
Whether you and I and a few others will renew the world some day remains to be seen. But within ourselves we must renew it each day.
The reason so few people are successful is no one has yet found a way for someone to sit down and slide uphill.
Anger is never without a reason, but seldom a good one.
Life can only be understood backwards, but must be lived forwards.
Enthusiasm is a kind of faith that has been set on fire.
Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away.
A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
Thinking isn't agreeing or disagreeing. That's voting.
Goodness is love in action, love with its hand to the plow.
Ring out the old, ring in the new.
A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.
The person who is willing to say yes to experience is the person who discovers new frontiers.
The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands.
Tell me, I'll forget. Show me, I may remember. But involve me, and I'll understand.
Always remember: Joy is not merely incidental to your spiritual quest. It is vital.
It is by attempting to reach the top at a single leap that so much misery is caused in the world.
Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.
If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.
Choices are the hinges of destiny.
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