Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around. (Henry David Thoreau, 19th century American essayist) Everyone has a belief system of some kind. Some believe in magic, horoscopes, or palm-reading. Others trust in education, research, and study. Thoreau emphasizes...
Don’t get upset when people say bad things about you. You are much worse then they know. (Charles Spurgeon, the “Prince of Preachers”) Wow, we don’t want to hear things like that, do we? Do others really know what is in our hearts and minds? We too often hear in the...
Our abundance leads to a dull joylessness which settles over us and empties our lives. (Darryl Tippens, distinguished scholar) “The more you have, the happier you can be” seems to be the mantra of our age. We live as if the accumulation of things is really the goal of...
[Poems] teach us what it means to be human. (Amy Julia Becker, writer, speaker) Becker wrote, “Poetry is useless. Poetry is without use, but it is valuable. . . . Although [the words of a poem] may not provide or produce clothing or shelter or food, they nonetheless...
It was December 29, 1992. Cynthia and I were on our way to the USC vs. Fresno State Freedom Bowl at Anaheim Stadium when I got a call from Dick Chitty. A gunman was in Lexus’ headquarters building. It was the holidays, and we’d staggered the workload so...
One who looks for a friend without faults will have none. (Hasidic saying) There are at least two lessons to be learned from this saying. First, there are no “perfect” people, so it’s a waste of time to hope to find such friends. Second, since that is true, we’re not...
Your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing. (Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the United States) When you think of all the failures Lincoln experienced, you marvel at his persistence in keeping at it. He lost numerous elections, was...
During the presidential debate in the fall of 1992 between Ross Perot, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, Bill Clinton complained about the Japanese government giving unfair advantage to automakers, noting that the U.S. domestic manufacturers, “didn’t have much...
This is the true joy in life—being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. (George Bernard Shaw, 19th-20th century Irish playwright Sometimes others may think very highly of something we’ve done or achieved, even when we haven’t thought it was all...
A human being’s moral integrity begins when he is prepared to sacrifice his life for his convictions. (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German theologian and author) As a prisoner in his own country during World War II, Bonheoffer’s faith was put to the test. Was his trust in God...
There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs. (Zig Ziglar, motivational speaker and author) Elevators and escalators are welcome inventions for many reasons. Climbing stairs can be exhausting, but Ziglar’s observation is an important reminder to many...
To obey is to be at peace. (Kip Cone, minister) We might take our pet dog to obedience school. It’s our hope to make it easier to manage the dog. As a result, we’ll have more peace than if we have to live with a troublesome pet. How much more important for human...