The bridge

Character is the sum total of all our everyday choices.  ~ Margaret Jensen
- What do your everyday choices reveal about you?

It's better to burn out than to fade away.  ~ Neil Young
- In what areas are you actively engaged?

Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.  ~ Jim Rohn
- What areas deserve your focused pursuit?

The Best Day

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.  ~ Winston Churchill
- In what ways can you give back?

Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.  ~ Plato
- What can you do to enrich your appreciation of music?

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
- What can you do to make this day a very good one?

To Awaken

Hope for the best.  Expect the worst.  Life is a play.  We're unrehearsed.  ~ Mel Brooks
- How do you make the most of each day?

If you do things well, do them better.  Be daring be first, be different, be just.  ~ Anita Roddick
- Where could you show some positive initiative and ingenuity?

We celebrate the past to awaken the future.  ~ John F. Kennedy
- What can you celebrate about your past which can provide direction for the future?

Life well Lived

If the world seems cold to you, kindle fires to warm it.  ~ Lucy Larcom
- In what areas could you spark some warmth?

We are all butterflies.  Earth is our chrysalis.  ~ LeeAnn Taylor
- How sensitive are you to the fragility of our environment?

I've learned that making a living is not the same thing as 'making a life.' - Maya Angelou
- What are the essential elements of a life well lived?

I have compiled 475 quotes and questions such as the above in How Do You Make a Life? Check out my author page on Amazon.

Ride the energy

If you surrender to the wind, you can ride it.  ~ Toni Morrison
- How willing are you to let go and experience situations as they arise?

It is not the length of life, but the depth of life.  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
- What are the qualities of a life well lived?

Ride the energy of your own unique spirit.  ~ Gabrielle Roth
- What brings you energy and enthusiasm for life?

The Reward

We can redeem anyone who strives unceasingly.  ~ Goethe
- For what are you striving?

My eyes were glued on life
and they were full of tears.  ~ Jack Kerouac
- What about the world brings you sadness and concern?

The journey is the reward.  ~ Chinese proverb
- What is rewarding about your journey through life?

Each step

Life is a great big canvas; throw all the paint you can at it.  ~ Danny Kaye
- What activities/pursuits enhance your life?

If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.  ~ Margaret Atwood
- What skill could you develop to enrich your life? 

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.  ~ Chinese proverb
- What understanding could you bring to each step?

Find a Remedy

The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.  ~ Flora Whittemore
- What choices can you make to enrich your life and possibly others?

I can live for two months on a good compliment.  ~ Mark Twain
- Who deserves a good compliment in your relationships?

Don't find fault.  Find a remedy.  ~ Henry Ford
- Where could you show some positive resourcefulness?

Simplify

Remember you humanity.  ~ Bertrand Russell
- What are the basic humanitarian principles?

Find a need and fill it.  ~ Ruth Stafford Peale
- Where could you provide a valued contribution?

Our life is frittered away by detail.  Simplify, simplify.  ~ Henry David Thoreau
- In what ways could you simplify your complex life?

Yes to Life

Be like a postage stamp.  Stick to it until you get there.  ~ Harvey Mackay
- On what do you need to focus?

The powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.  ~ Walt Whitman
- What lies within you to give?

I imagine that yes is the only living thing. ~ e. e. cummings
- In what ways do you say yes to life?

I have published 475 quotes and questions such as the above here.  It's entitled 'How Do You Make a Life?'

The Highs and Lows

The more you care the stronger you can be.  ~ Jim Rohn
- Where could you show greater care?

When your heart speaks, take good notes.  ~ Judith Campbell
- What does your heart convey?

All of life is peaks and valleys.  Don't let the peaks get too high and the valleys too low.  ~ John Wooden
- How do you seek to balance the highs and lows in your life?

Only that day...

Play energizes us and enlivens us.  It eases our burdens.  It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities.  ~ Stuart Brown
- In what diverse ways do your nurture play?

It is brave to be involved.  ~ Gwendolyn Brooks
- In what worthwhile project might you get involved?

Only that day dawns to which we are awake.  ~ Henry David Thoreau
- How awake are you to the possibilities of today?

I have compiled 475 quotes and questions such as the above in How Do You Make a Life?  Check out my author page on Amazon.

Get it out

Patience, persistence, and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.  ~ Napoleon Hill
- How well are you applying the three p's?

Do what you love, and you will find a way to get it out to the world.  ~ Judy Collins
- What do you love to do which could enrich yourself and possibly others?

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.  ~ Marcel Proust
- For whom are you grateful?
- Whom could you support and nurture?

Small ways

If the wind will not serve, take to the oars.  ~ Latin  proverb
- Where could you exert a little more effort to accomplish your goals?

The greatest gift you can give another is the purity of your attention.  ~ Richard Moss
- How can you improve the quality of your interactions?

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.  ~ Anne Frank
- In what small ways could you make a difference?

I have compiled 475 meditation nuggets like the above.  The book is entitled How Do You Make a Life?

Taking Steps to Blossom

The only way out is through.  ~ Carl Jung
-Why is confronting challenges often better than avoiding them?

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.  ~ Annie Dillard
- What small steps can you take to transform or enrich your days?

Bloom where you are planted.  ~ Mary Engelbreit
- What can you do to blossom in the circumstances around you?

I have compiled 475 quotes and questions such as the above.  The title of the book is 'How Do You  Make a Life?'  and it's available here.

Three More from 'How Do You Make a Life?'

Movement is a medicine for creating change in a person's physical, emotional, and mental states.  ~ Carol Welch
- What are you doing to enjoy the benefits of exercise?

Time is clay.  Go make something.  ~ Barbara Bach
- What worthwhile project could you begin?

Everything has beauty, but not everyone can see.  ~ Confucius
- Where might you be missing the beauty in your life?

5 More Selections from 'How Do You Make a Life?'

#6 He who angers you conquers you.  ~ Elizabeth Kenny
- What helps you to manage negative feelings?

#7 Everyone is necessarily the hero of his own life story.  ~ John Barth
- What positive qualities do you possess (need) to live your life well?

#8 Life is the sum of all your choices.  ~ Albert Camus
- What important choices lie ahead for you in the near term, in the long term?

#9 Enough is great riches.  ~ Danish proverb
- What makes your life rich?

#10 I am not an Athenian or  a Greek; I am a citizen of the world.  ~ Socrates
- Why is a global perspective needed?

5 of 475...

50 Selections from my Latest Book

Over the next several weeks I will provide readers with a perspective of the range of quotes and questions from my latest book.

#1 It is not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.  ~ Roy Disney
- What are some of your key values and principles which help to guide you through life?

#2 We see the brightness of a new page where everything yet can happen.  ~ Rainer Maria Rilke
- To what new page could you turn?

#3 Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.  ~ Albert Einstein
- What insights have you gained through the appreciation of nature?

#4 To make headway, improve your head.  ~ B. C. Forbes
- What are your learning frontiers?

#5 Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned.  ~ Peter Marshall
-  What special little things could you do today?

My book, the product of an enriching hobby for me, is entitled How Do You Make a Life?  475 Quotes and Questions for the Journey and is available here.

Publication of New Volume

My latest book, How do you Make a Life? 475 Quotes and Questions for the Journey, is a synthesis of much of what I have posted at quoteflections over the last few years. 

I have selected 475 pivotal quotes, and asked a question for each to encourage reflection.

The theme revolves around Maya Angelou's quote, "I've learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life."

"How do you make a life?"

The answer to this question is a multifaceted one, certainly deserving of some thought and application to our lives. Consider each a meditation nugget.

Once again, I published this volume at Create Space and made it available for purchase through Amazon. You may visit my author page here.

Thanks for following, possibly purchasing the book, and providing any positive recommendations to others.

Keep pedalling

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving. ~ Albert Einstein

- In what areas are you actively engaged?

(Dear Readers, I will return in September.  I hope to do some consolidating here over the next several months.)

What you spread

It is not what you gather, but what you scatter, that tells what kind of life you have lived.  ~ unknown

- What are you scattering?

The little moments

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

- What little moments can you cherish today?

Pure freedom

For Canadians and Americans (July 1, 4) happy Canada Day, Independence Day!

I wish that every human life might be pure transparent freedom.  ~ Simone de Beauvoir

- What freedoms do you enjoy?
- What freedoms are denied to millions around the world?

Special event

Life is a festival to the wise.  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

- What is so exciting and wondrous about life?

Within you to give

Finding the center of strength within ourselves is in the long run the best contribution we can make to our fellow men.  ~ Rollo May

- What is your center of strength?

Living messages

 Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.  ~ Neil Postman

- What messages are you sending?

Shades of gray

 Nothing is always absolutely so.  ~ Theodore Sturgeon

- How should one deal with most issues?

What you are

Your worth consists in what you are and not in what you have.  ~ Thomas A. Edison

- What aspects of character are worth a lot?

Striving for knowledge

We're drowning in information and starving for knowledge.  ~Rutherford Rogers

- How do you enrich and expand your knowledge?

Build a door

If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.  ~ Milton Berle

- What opportunity do you seek?

Liking life

Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.  ~ Maya Angelou

- How 'successful' are you?

A meaningful life

The meaning of life is to give life meaning.  ~ Ken Hudgins

- What are the central elements of a meaningful life?

A new page

We see the brightness of a new page where everything yet can happen. ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

-To what new page could you turn?

Do your best

All I ask is that you do your best, and forget the rest.  ~ Tony Horton

- In what areas could you focus on doing your best?

Sense of wonder

If you enjoy living, it is not difficult to keep the sense of wonder.  ~ Ray Bradbury

- What wonders surround you?

What you do

Act as if what you do makes a difference.  It does.  ~ William James

- What positive contributions can you make to the world around you?

To the heart

Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones.  A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you.  ~ Shanon  L. Alder

- How does one reach to the heart in relationships?

Extra mile

There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.  ~ Roger Staubach

- Where could you extend some extra effort and care?

Fences

The same fence that shuts others out shuts you in.  ~ Bill Copeland

- Where could you show more openness?

The director of life

Be the master-gardener of your soul, the director of life.  ~James Allen

- How do you enrich your soul and spirit?

Like a river

 I would like to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.  ~ John Donohue

- How might more acceptance and openness enhance your life?

A little pruning

Rather than turning over a new leaf, prune your tree so that new leaves continue to blossom.  ~ Feroz Bham

- What positive adjustments could you make in your behaviour or perspectives for continued growth?

Seeds of love

When you plant a seed of love, it is you that blossoms.  ~ Ma Jaya Sati

- When have you been enriched by showing some care?
- Where could you sew more seeds of love?

Worth living

It's faith in something and enthusiasm for something that makes a life worth living.  ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

-In what do you have faith and enthusiasm?

The sunny side

Grab your coat and get your hat.  Leave your worry on your doorstep.  Just direct your feet to the sunny side of the street.  ~ Dorothy Fields

- What opportunity is there for sunshine in your life today?

True beauty

Should you shield the canyons from the windstorms you would never see the true beauty of their carvings.  ~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

- What storms have helped to shape and strengthen you?

An act of courage

Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.  ~Seneca

- Where do you need to show some courage and resilience?

The noblest question

The noblest question in the world is, “What good may I do in it?"  ~ Benjamin Franklin

-What good could you do today?

Who we are

The values of the world we inhabit and the people we surround ourselves with have a profound effect on who we are.  ~ Malcolm Gladwell

- To what values do you aspire?

Provides enough

Earth provides enough for every man's needs, but not for every man's greed.  ~ Gandhi

- In what areas could you make responsible decisions?

Wide the window

Set wide the window.  Let me drink the day.  ~ Edith  Wharton

- What vitality may you experience today?

Live them

If you want to keep your memories, you first have to live them.  ~ Bob Dylan

- What positive memories could you create today?

On the journey

Not all those who wander are lost.  ~ J. R. R. Tolkien

- How open are you to daily discoveries?

As simple as ABC

Safety is as simple as ABC- Always Be Careful.  ~ unknown

- In what areas do you need to tread carefully?

A little whimsy

Fairy dust is very useful.  I use it to turn oatmeal into cake.  ~ David Shannon

- How could you cultivate a little more whimsy in your life?

Who you are

The most common form of despair is not being who you are. ~ Soren Kierkegaard

- How would you describe your authentic nature?

New frontiers

It's better to burn out than to fade away.  ~ Neil Young

- In what areas are you actively engaged?

On the way

 I don't know where I'm going, but I'm on my way.  ~ Carl Sandburg

- Why is the destination not the primary consideration?

Kindling some joy

Pain comes like the weather, but joy is a choice.  ~ Rodney Crowell

- In what areas could you kindle some joy?

Life gives

Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars.  ~ Henry Van Dyke

- What has life given you?

Daily endeavours

Movement is tranquility.  ~ Stirling Moss

- What pursuits help to keep you balanced?

The dash between

There’ll be two dates on your tombstone and all your friends will read ‘em but all that’s gonna matter is that little dash between ‘em.~ Kevin Welch

- How are you living your dash?

A shining light

Lighthouses don't go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.  ~ Anne Lamott

- What helps your light to shine?