Take Action A life of reaction is a life of slavery, intellectually and spiritually. One must fight for a life of action, not reaction. (Rita Mae Brown, writer) While we may admire people who are initiators—always starting something new, many of us are reactors. We...
Pleasure Recreation becomes the goal of life.... a meaningless life. (William Wilberforce, 18th-19th British statesman) His full statement included “…almost any form of entertainment is pursued to fill the void created by a meaningless life.” Modern Americans seem to...
Why Not? Imagination is more important than knowledge. (Albert Einstein, late renowned scientist) Einstein was certainly not devaluing knowledge. What you know is not only the basis of learning; it is also the material from which you make your choices and decisions....
Anger Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be. (Thomas à Kempis, 15th century German-Dutch cleric) Anger is an insidious and often uncontrollable emotion. As Kempis suggests, when we are angry...
The Future It is difficult to live in the present, ridiculous to live in the future, and impossible to live in the past. (Jim Bishop, 20th century journalist) He concludes, “Nothing is as far away as one minute ago.” No matter how much we may long for a time past—even...
Friends A hug is worth a thousand words. A friend is worth more. (Jasmine Fitzwilliam, photographer) There was a time (maybe only senior citizens will remember) when hugging was reserved for families and lovers. Today, however, everyone seems to hug—even strangers....
Time God has a time for everything, a perfect schedule. He is never too soon, never too late. The when of His will is as important as the what and the how. (Richard Halverson, late chaplain of the U.S. Senate) Life seems to become more complicated as time moves on. So...
Habits You leave old habits behind by starting out with the thought, “I release the need for this in my life.” (Wayne Dyer, self-help author) As we grow, we develop habits—both good and bad—that often begin to control our thoughts and actions. The longer we continue...
Power No power on earth is greater than a mind and soul reawakened. (Cal Thomas, syndicated columnist) We see demonstrations of all kinds of power in today’s world. There’s the destructive power of hurricanes and tornados. The life-threatening power of nuclear weapons...
Influence Control violates the human will and renders freedom an illusion. (Roy Angle, cross-cultural worker) Angle continues, “The illusion of control is starkly contrasted with the reality of influence. Influence always gives options.” We all know a few people who...
Respect If you want to be respected by others the great thing is to respect yourself. (Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 19th century Russian novelist) Looking at it another way, former general and U.S. secretary of state Colin Powell wrote, “Trying to get everyone to like you is a...
Character Character is the one thing we make in this world and take with us into the next. ( William Hershey Davis, seminary professor) Davis continues, “Reputation is what you have when you come to a new community; Character is what you have when you go away.”...