The key to suffering is our attitude toward it. (Bernard Schneider, late pastor and author) We all face difficulties, trials, and hard times at some time or another. Suffering is never pleasant, even when it might be the result of surgery, for example, which...
Happiness is not easily won; it is hard to find it in ourselves, and impossible to find it elsewhere. (Nicolas Chamfort, 18th century French writer) We’d like to think that happiness is easy to come by. After all, the right to happiness is guaranteed in the U.S....
A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. (Winston Churchill, British prime minister during World War II) Churchill made his comment well before the Internet was developed with its instant communication by email, Skype, or...
Gentle words are more powerful than angry words. (Bill Crowder, author) Most of us would probably have to admit that at some time or other we have hurt someone else by something we have said in anger. It’s an experience we can’t take back. Crowder gives this advice:...
Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company. (George Washington, 1st president of the United States) We were created to be social people. God said that it was not good for man to be alone, so...
If you believe you can, you probably can. If you believe you won’t, you most assuredly won’t. (Denis Waitley, motivational speaker) Self-confidence is a characteristic of most successful people. Folks who are unsure of their abilities rarely step “out of the box” to...
We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. (Martin Luther King, Jr, 20th century civil rights leader) Everyone faces disappointment at one time or another—maybe multiple times. Experience has taught us, however, that we do get over those...
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...
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...