Commonality We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now. (Martin Luther King, Jr.) Despite a variety of national origins, languages, skin colors, economic standing, and other obvious differences, King’s observation is helpful. We are all...
Reading II Once you have read a book you care about, some part is always with you (Louis L’Amour, 20th century American author). Books can have an amazing influence in your life. You can probably remember books you heard read as a child and their clever titles (e.g....
Reading I Reading to the mind is what exercise is to the body (Richard Steele, 17th-18th century Irish playwright). It might be argued that learning to read is the most valuable skill that a person can master. It’s a tragic reality in some places that illiteracy has...
Fear To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong (Joseph Chilton Pearce , late American author). Many people hesitate to step out to do something original, whether it’s a written piece, a new invention, or a cooking recipe for fear it might not be...
Be Heard To have great poets, there must be great audiences (Walt Whitman, 19th century American poet). If no one hears a tree fall in the forest, is there no sound? Scientists say there is. But Whitman’s comment is even more interesting. The applause of the hearing...
Reputation If we have character, our reputation will take care of itself (Lolly Daskal, leadership coach). During an election year here in the United States, the candidates are trying to make their case with plans and predictions. But, voters have to consider much...
Simplicity Out of the clutter, find simplicity (Albert Einstein, late renowned physicist). Surely, a scientist like Einstein would have to sort among the multitude of research studies to root out the most helpful and discard the unnecessary clutter in his lab. It...
Dreams The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up. (Paul Valery, French poet) Does Valery’s comment sound a little trite? Many great truths, however, are very simply stated and are quite clear. Dreamers are often creative and propose ideas that lead to...
Answers A solid answer to everything is not necessary. Blurry concepts influence one to focus, but postulated clarity influences arrogance (Criss Jami, poet and essayist). We would all like to get concrete answers to our questions, and we’ve discovered that it doesn’t...
Purpose People who lose their way are people who’ve lost their why (Kary Oberbrunner, motivation speaker and author). Some people seem not to know what it is they want to do or where they want to go. As we say, “they’ve lost their way.” They seem to struggle with...
Determination With ordinary talents and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable (Sir Thomas Fowell Buston, 18th-19th century British social reformer). Most of us, after all, are just “ordinary” people. And most of the time, we probably have only ordinary...
Handling Hurts Sometimes in life you have to let things just roll off of you… lest they make an ugly stain (Inspiration Line). We have all been hurt at one time or another by a criticism or an offhand comment about us, usually from someone that doesn’t really know us....