If you do not want an average life, you must be on guard against, and quietly suspicious of, conclusions made by conventional thinking.
I now know that criticism is part of the price paid for leaping past mediocrity.
Because how you think determines who you are, it also determines who you are becoming and who you ultimately become.
A standard is an agreed-upon level of quality or attainment. One. One level of quality or attainment that is agreed upon. In other words, when a society grows comfortable with the idea that there can be many standards, the people have, in effect, accepted the reality that there will be no standard. Anything goes. And that, my friends, is exactly what happened to a once great, once wealthy, once undefeatable world power.
Most people fail at whatever they attempt because of an undecided heart. Should I? Should I not? Go forward? Go back? Success requires the emotional balance of a committed heart. When confronted with a challenge, the committed heart will search for a solution. The undecided heart searches for an escape.
The difference in the past and history is that the past is set in stone history is just an account from the guy with the strongest axe.
It is astonishing with how little wisdom mankind allows itself to be governed.
One idea will change everything. One idea will change the world... And one idea can move you from where you are to where you want to be.
Always remember that you have been created with a will that is stronger than your emotions. You can choose how you act, despite how you feel.
Your acceptance, your opportunities, and your finances are all part of a sliding scale that yields increase or decline according to your body of work. What you do. How you act.
Life is a breath, a passing breeze; a blade of grass, green and vibrant for a time, only to wither, die, and disappear. Soon you will be dead.
We can choose to be offended. We can choose not to be offended. It really is that simple. Not necessarily easy. Simple. And always a choice that is completely within our control.
We can choose not to allow the choices and actions of someone else to dictate our own.
When a person says, “What I believe is just as valid as anything you or anyone else believes,” recognize the statement for what it is: a declaration that is not only childish and untrue but also easily refuted. Mature people understand that while they are entitled to their own opinions, they are not entitled to their own facts.
Some though Dad was irreverent – that he was not respectful enough. Once, a visiting preacher concluded his sermon by yelling to everyone that all the televisions should be thrown into the river, all the stereos and radios should be thrown into the river, and all the miniskirts and bikinis should be thrown into the river. When he finally sat down, Dad approached the pulpit and said, “Please rise and join me now in singing hymn number 481, ‘Shall We Gather at the River.
Misusing our imagination grants power to fear. Know that fear and its many demon relatives do not – and cannot – exist without a human host.
So how does one become a person whom other people want to be around? Let me make a suggestion. Ask yourself this question every day: ‘What is it about me that other people would change if they could?
I see,” he said, though, clearly, he did not.
If a person has any inclination toward the best that life has to offer, a constant and never-ending search for truth is a must. For while one can know the truth and never achieve the best, it is not possible to achieve the best without knowing the truth.
A wise person seeks to make peace with the truth, especially when it’s personal and even when it hurts.
It doesn’t take many people to lead a nation in a direction that has serious repercussions on the liberty of others. Indeed, most will agree that we have already given up liberties for various reasons, and we may never get them back. Under certain circumstances, things can take a very bad turn very rapidly. This cycle has repeated itself with many societies throughout history. Despite the solid foundation of our culture and political system, America is not immune.