Christmas Eve The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. (Burton Hills, 20th century member of Canadian House of Commons) “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” is a popular but sadly emotional seasonal song....
Give a smile Perhaps the best yuletide decoration is being wreathed in smiles. (from a Norman Rockwell calendar) It’s just two days till Christmas, and we’ve enjoyed all the decorations for several days now. The house—inside and out, probably—is covered with lights...
Success In my experience, each failure contains the seeds of your next success—if you are willing to learn from it. (Paul Allen, late co-founder of Microsoft) No one likes to fail, and often we just want to put that failure way back in our minds—just forget about it....
Protest First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. (Mahatma Gandhi, 19th-20th century independence leader in India) Gandhi demonstrated what progress was like in the long battle for independence in India. Are there some lessons...
Friendship A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words. (Donna Roberts, imprisoned felon) When you learn that Roberts is on death row in an Ohio prison, you have to wonder how many friends she has...
Power I firmly believe that before many centuries more, science will be the master of man. (Henry Adams, 19th-20th century historian) Way back in 1862 Adams also wrote, “Someday science may have the existence of mankind in its power, and the human race [may] commit...
Your Gift List Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas. (Peg Bracken, late American author) Just one week till Christmas, and if you’ve not already finished your Christmas shopping, this is a good reminder from Peg Bracken....
Reactions Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out. (John Wooden, late hall-of-fame basketball coach) Our reaction to the unexpected and sometimes really bad circumstances of life determines how well it will all work out for us. We are...
Wisdom Meaningful learning must go far beyond mere knowledge of the facts. (Jesse Deloe, writer, editor) We’re told that on average human knowledge is doubling every 13 months, and some say that it will soon be every 12 hours. Wow, how can we keep up with it all? The...
Anticipation An intense anticipation itself transforms possibility into reality… (Samuel Smiles, 19th century Scottish author) Remember, when you were a child, how you looked forward to a long planned vacation trip? Sometimes, the reality wasn’t nearly as much fun as...
Winning The game of life is a lot like football. You have to tackle your problems, block your fears, and score your points when you get the opportunity. (Inspiration Line) Football is a complicated game. Only the coaches, players, and sports commentators seem to be...
Unity Diversity without unity makes about as much sense as dishing up on a plate flour, sugar, water, eggs, shortening, and baking powder and calling it a cake. (C. William Pollard, businessman and author) Today’s society is full of talk about diversity, but we must...