#220 Three Ironies

It is the greatest of advantages to enjoy no advantage at all. ~ Henry David Thoreau

One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries. ~ A. A. Milne

Please all, and you will please none. ~ Aesop

#219 Hot or Cool

Jazz will endure just as long as people hear it through their feet instead of their brains. ~John Philip Sousa

Blues is to jazz what yeast is to bread — without it, it's flat. ~Carmen McRae

Jazz is the big brother of the blues. If a guy's playing blues like we play, he's in high school. When he starts playing jazz it's like going on to college, to a school of higher learning. ~ B. B. King

Hot can be cool and cool can be hot, and each can be both. But hot or cool, man, jazz is jazz. ~Louis Armstrong

#218 Anything Can Be

Listen to the mustn'ts child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen child, anything can be. ~ Shel Silverstein

Nine tenths of education is encouragement. ~ Anatole France

The job of an educator is to teach students to see vitality in themselves. ~ Joseph Campbell

- When have you provided children with encouragement and growth?

Theme Series: Imagination

Left/right brain? Teachers and parents know that both sides should be cultivated including the creative, imaginative side. Can one simply live on imagination? Can one live without it? Here are 14 quotes which provide some illumination:

- Fantasy is like jam; you have to spread it on a solid slice of bread. ~ Italo Calvino

- Imagination is more important than knowledge. ~ Albert Einstein

- Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter. ~ John Keats

- Wither is fled the visionary gleam?
Where is it now, the glory and the dream? ~ William Wordsworth

- Imagination is the highest kite one can fly. ~ Lauren Bacall

- People can die of mere imagination. ~ Geoffrey Chaucer

- Where there is no imagination there is no horror. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

Selected by quoteflections.

- Let each man exercise the art he knows. ~ Aristophanes

- A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral. ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

- Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common belief, is more powerful in the mature than in the young. ~ W. Somerset Maugham

- Imagination is a poor substitute for experience. ~ Havelock Ellis

- I imagine that yes is the only living thing. ~ e. e. cummings

-I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life's realities. ~ Dr. Seuss

-I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. ~ Michelangelo

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#217 Endless Immensity

If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea. ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

- What insight does this allegory provide for leaders, teachers, parents, individuals?
- When were you inspired by someone's enthusiasm and vision?
- What passion (s) do you have which could be kindled in someone?

#216 The Power of Stories

People are hungry for stories. It's part of our very being. Storytelling is a form of history, of immortality too. It goes from one generation to another. ~Studs Terkel

All human beings have an innate need to hear and tell stories and to have a story to live by ... religion, whatever else it has done, has provided one of the main ways of meeting this abiding need. ~William Harvey Cox

No story lives unless someone wants to listen. ~J. K. Rowling

#215 Apathetic Detachment

The opposite of live is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference. ~ Ellie Wiesel

The only kind of dignity which is genuine is that which is not diminished by the indifference of others. ~ Dag Hammarskjold

#214 Take Care of Minutes

Every instant of time is a pinprick of eternity. ~ Marcus Aurelius

I recommend to you to take care of minutes: for hours will take care of themselves. ~ Lord Chesterfield

#213 Spirit for Each New Day

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. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Take time to play!
Ask for what you want.
Laugh.
Live loudly.
Be avid.
Learn a new thing.
Be Yourself!
- Mary Anne Radmacher

#212 A Dream Controlled

Work and love- these are the basics; waking life is a dream controlled. ~ George Santayana

- Would you agree that work and love are the basics in life?
- To what extent is your life motivated by dreams and goals?
- How can you balance your wishes with the realities in your life?

Theme Series: Gratitude, 12 Inspirational Quotes

One of the most enriching sources for one's outlook on life is gratitude. The following quotations provide a window to the heart and soul of vital living:

-Gratitude changes the pangs of memory into a tranquil joy. ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

-What brings fulfillment is gratefulness, the simple responses of our heart to this life in all its fulness. ~ David Steindl-Rast

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

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

-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

-If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice. ~Meister Eckhart

Selected by quoteflections.

-I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder. ~G.K. Chesterton

-The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings! ~Henry Ward Beecher

-If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily. ~Gerald Good

-Who does not thank for little will not thank for much. ~Estonian Proverb

-Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. ~William Arthur Ward

-I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual…O how I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches. No run on my bank can drain it, for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment. ~ Henry David Thoreau

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#211 The Ultimate Test

The ultimate test of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and moments of convenience,but where he stands in moments of challenge and moments of controversy. ~Martin Luther King Jr.

I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one's head pointed toward the sun, one's feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death. ~ Nelson Mandela

#210 Life, Feeling, and Articulation

Life is like a box of crayons. Most people are the 8 color boxes, but what you're really looking for are the 64 color boxes with the sharpeners on the back. I fancy myself to be a 64 color box, though I've got a few missing. It's okay though, because I've got some more vibrant colors like periwinkle at my disposal. I have a bit of a problem though in that I can only meet the 8 color boxes. Does anyone else have that problem? I mean there are so many different colors of life, of feeling, of articulation. So when I meet someone who's an 8 color type...I'm like, hey girl, Magenta! and she's like, oh, you mean purple! and she goes off on her purple thing, and I'm like, no I want Magenta. ~ John Mayer

- How much nuance and subtlety do you observe in the world around you?
- What different colors of life, feeling, and articulation do you see?
- How does your perspective shape your life?

#209 The World is all Gates

The world is all gates, all opportunities, strings of tension waiting to be struck. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

- What gates await for you to open?
- What opportunities?
- What challenges which you can meet with confidence?

#208 Life Instructions

Instructions for living a life.
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it. ~ Mary Oliver

- What have you really noticed lately?
- When have you been truly astonished?
- How do you tell your story?

#207 Exhaust the Little Moment

I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow-creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again. ~ Stephen Grellet

Exhaust the little moment. Soon it dies.
And be it gash or gold it will not come
Again in this identical disguise. ~ Gwendolyn Brooks

#206 Different Roads to Fulfillment

People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they're not on your road doesn't mean they gotten lost. ~ Dalai Lama

I consider myself a Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, and Confucian. ~ Gandhi

#205 Every Day a Miracle

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle. ~Thich Nhat Hanh

- What miracle did you experience yesterday?
- Today?
- What might you expect tomorrow?

Theme Series: Quotations on Motivation

Need a pep talk occasionally to get on with your life? Here are 14 select quotes to get you motivated:

-Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you. ~ Thomas Jefferson

-Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later. ~ Og Mandino

-Be thine own palace, or the world's thy jail. ~ John Donne

-If you want to conquer fear, don't sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy. ~ Dale
Carnegie

-Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose– a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye. – Mary Shelley

-Wherever you go, go with all your heart. ~Confucius

-I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it. ~Pablo Picasso

Selected by quoteflections.

-Learning is the beginning of wealth.
Learning is the beginning of health.
Learning is the beginning of spirituality.
Searching and learning is where the miracle process all begins. ~ Jim Rohn

-People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing--that's why we recommend it daily. ~ Zig Ziglar

-As long as I have a want, I have a reason for living. Satisfaction is death. ~ George Bernard Shaw

-Before you act, listen. Before you react, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try. ~ Ernest Hemingway

-The secret of discipline is motivation. When a person is sufficiently motivated, discipline will take care of itself. ~ Sir Alexander Paterson

-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. ~ George Eliot

-If you ask me what I came into this life to do, I will tell you: I came to live out loud. ~ Emile Zola

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#204 Giving Back

I actually thought that it would be a little confusing during the same period of your life to be in one meeting when you're trying to make money, and then go to another meeting where you're giving it away. ~ Bill Gates

Of course, Gates, a man of immense wealth, is also a noted philanthropist through The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

#203 Life as Artistic Expression

Life is your art. An open, aware heart is your camera. A oneness with your world is your film. Your bright eyes, your easy smile is your museum. ~ Ansel Adams

As one of America's most recognized nature photographers, one can appreciate the metaphorical dimensions of this quote.
- How open and sensitive are you to nature's wonders?
- How enthusiastic and friendly?
- How can you nurture life as an artistic canvas of your individuality?

#202 A sense of worth

If I could give you one key, and one key only to more abundant life, I would give you a sense of your own worth, an unshakeable sense of your own dignity as one grounded in the source of the cosmic dance, as one who plays a unique part in the unfolding of the story of the world... ~Greta Crosby

#201 To Do Nothing

If we were not so single-minded

about keeping our lives moving
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with death.
Perhaps the world can teach us
as when everything seems dead
but later proves to be alive. ~ Pablo Neruda

- How difficult is it for you to stop?
- To what extent does sadness and confusion enter into your life?
- What can the world (nature) teach us?

#200 On the Shoulders of Giants

If I have seen farther it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. ~ Isaac Newton

- What several people (in life, in current events, in literature,...) have inspired you?
- How have they extended your vision?
- How can you nurture their example in practical ways in your life?

#199 Focus on the Present Moment

We can smile, breathe, walk, and eat our meals in a way that allows us to be in touch with the abundance of happiness that is available. We are very good at preparing to live, but not very good at living. We know how to sacrifice ten years for a diploma and we are willing to work very hard to get a job, a car, a house, and so on. But we have difficulty remembering that we are alive in the present moment, the only moment there is for us to be alive. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life. ~ Eckhart Tolle

#198 Inspiring Ideals

The ideals which have lighted me on my way and time after time given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. ~ Albert Einstein

- What ideals have motivated and inspired you?
- Where have you seen truth, goodness, and beauty?
- How can you cultivate your ideals?

Theme Series: Proverbial Wisdom

I had fun selecting 20 maxims/proverbs which sparkle with insight. They are perennial in their wisdom and provide direction in how to live one's life.

- It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. - Chinese proverb

-Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you. ~ Maori proverb

- Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more; hate less, love more; and all good things are yours. ~ Swedish proverb

-The obstacle is the path. - Zen proverb

- Trees often transplanted seldom prosper. ~ Flemish proverb

- Speak silver. Reply gold. ~ Swahili proverb

-The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials. - Chinese proverb

-A good beginning is half the work. - Irish proverb

-Pearls lie not on the seashore. If thou desirest one, thou must dive for it. - Chinese proverb

-Ask the experienced rather than the learned. - Arabic proverb

-Everyone thinks his own burden heavy. - French proverb

Selected by quoteflections.

-It's not good for all of our wishes to be fulfilled. Through sickness, we recognize the value of health; through evil, the value of good; through hunger, the value of food; through exertion, the value of rest. - Greek proverb

-Having two ears and one tongue, we should listen twice as much as we speak. - Turkish proverb

-He who gives to me teaches me to give. - Danish proverb

-Work relieves us from three great evils, boredom, vice, and want. - French proverb

-The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears. - Native American proverb

-There is nothing noble in being superior to someone else. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self. - Hindu proverb

-If you want 1 year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people. - Chinese proverb

-Be tolerant of those who are lost on their path. Ignorance, conceit, anger, jealousy and greed stem from a lost soul. Pray that they will find guidance. - Native American Saying

-Fear less, hope more; Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; Hate less, love more; And all good things are yours. - Swedish proverb

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#197 Love is Redemptive

...love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. Just keep being friendly to that person. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It is redemptive.. ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

To help the young soul, to add energy, inspire hope, and blow the coals into a useful flame; to redeem defeat by new thought and firm action, this, though not easy, is the work of divine man. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

#196 Create a New Model

You never change the existing reality by fighting it. Instead, create a new model that makes the old one obsolete. ~R. Buckminster Fuller

- With what reality have you disagreed?
- How did you respond?
- What new, more visionary model could take its place?

#195 Belonging to Everyone

...Why is compassion not part of our established curriculum, an inherent part of our education? Compassion, awe, wonder, curiosity, exaltation, humility - these are the very foundation of any real civilization, no longer the prerogatives, the preserves of any one church, but belonging to everyone, every child in every school. ~ Yehudi Menuhin

The act of compassion begins with full attention, just as rapport does. You have to really see the person. If you see the person, then naturally, empathy arises. If you tune into the other person, you feel with them. If empathy arises, and if that person is in dire need, then empathic concern can come. You want to help them, and then that begins a compassionate act. So I'd say that compassion begins with attention. ~Daniel Goleman

#194 A Wondrous Beautiful Mystery

Life is
the only chance you get,
how you live it,
what you take from it,
how much you give back,
a joy and a heartbreak,
doing the best with what you have,
loving with all of your heart,
treating all forms of it with respect,
and a wondrous beautiful mystery. ~ C.Yost

I feel as though I have lived many lives, experienced the heights and depths of each and like the waves of the ocean, never known rest. Throughout the years, I looked always for the unusual, for the wonderful, for the mysteries at the heart of life. ~ Leni Riefenstahl

#193 Responsible Advocacy

We are more connected than ever before, more able to spread our ideas and beliefs, our anger and fears. As we exercise the right to advocate our views, and as we animate our supporters, we must all assume responsibility for our words and actions before they enter a vast echo chamber and reach those both serious and delirious, connected and unhinged. ~ Bill Clinton

- To what extent has the Internet and social media enhanced societal values?
- How can you contribute to its positive role?