英文励志文章

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英文励志散文

Feed Your Mind................................................................................................................. 4 Open up Your Dreams ........................................................................................................ 4 Youth ............................................................................................................................... 6 If I Rest, I Rust.................................................................................................................. 6 Ambition .......................................................................................................................... 7 What I Have Lived For....................................................................................................... 8 The Road to Success .......................................................................................................... 9 What is Your Recovery Rate? .............................................................................................10 Be Happy! ....................................................................................................................... 11 The Goodness of Life........................................................................................................ 11 Facing the Enemies Within ................................................................................................12 Giving Life Meaning.........................................................................................................13 Relish the Moment............................................................................................................14 Born to Win .....................................................................................................................15 On Motes and Beams ........................................................................................................16 To be or not to be..............................................................................................................17 Today I begin a new life. ...................................................................................................18 Failure is a good thing .......................................................................................................18 Clear Your Mental Space ...................................................................................................20 Get a thorough understanding of oneself ..............................................................................21 The prime condition and great secrets of success ..................................................................22 Be a Fighter .....................................................................................................................23 Hanover Square................................................................................................................24 Man Is Like a Fruit Tree ....................................................................................................27 Power of Self Talk ............................................................................................................28 Six Ways to Turn Desires into Gold.....................................................................................29 Spare No Efforts in Doing Things .......................................................................................30 Just for today ...................................................................................................................31 Growth That Starts From Thinking......................................................................................31 Why are you poor? ...........................................................................................................32

To be kind-hearted ............................................................................................................33 Draw a leaf for life............................................................................................................34 Extend the Miracle............................................................................................................35 Think Positive Thoughts Every Day ....................................................................................35 We're Just Beginning.........................................................................................................36 Never Give Your Dream ....................................................................................................37 Don't work for money .......................................................................................................38 Honesty...........................................................................................................................40 A Shining Day Will Come .................................................................................................41 How to Refill an Empty Life ..............................................................................................42 One Girl Changed My Life ................................................................................................43 Free Minds and Hearts at Work ..........................................................................................44 Don't Step Out of Character ...............................................................................................46 I Do a Lot of Office Fishing ...............................................................................................47 Suffering Is Self-Manufactured ..........................................................................................48 I Never Stopped Believing .................................................................................................49 A Reporter Quotes His Sources ..........................................................................................51 You Have to Water the Plant...............................................................................................52 Growing in the Middle Ground...........................................................................................53 I Live Four Lives at a Time ................................................................................................54 Baseball Has a Religion Too ..............................................................................................55 I Don`t Play to the Grandstand ...........................................................................................57 Maxis's Recipe for Happiness.............................................................................................58 Give Part of Yourself Away ................................................................................................59 Two Commandments Are Enough.......................................................................................60 Walk Clean Around the Hill ...............................................................................................62 The Thread of Permanence ................................................................................................63 I Call Things As I See Them ..............................................................................................65 Large and small ................................................................................................................66 Smile to life .....................................................................................................................66 Drift clouds......................................................................................................................67

Love Your Life .................................................................................................................67 The life I desired ..............................................................................................................68 Success ...........................................................................................................................68 Youth ..............................................................................................................................69 Lesson in heart .................................................................................................................69 Resolve to Remain Positive................................................................................................70 Write Your Own Life.........................................................................................................70 Guaranteed Failure ...........................................................................................................71 Faith ...............................................................................................................................71 If I Had My Life to Live Over ............................................................................................72 Man Is Like a Fruit Tree ....................................................................................................73 Growth That Starts From Thinking......................................................................................74 I must do it! I can do it! I will do it! I will succeed! ...............................................................75 A good heart to lean on......................................................................................................76 Encouragement Can Work Miracles ....................................................................................77 Words to Live By .............................................................................................................78 Remember What's Really Important--The true measurements of life........................................79 How to Find Your Passion..................................................................................................81 How to Build Self-Discipline .............................................................................................83 Forgiveness......................................................................................................................85 How to Grow Happiness....................................................................................................86 Love Your Life .................................................................................................................87 So much to learn...............................................................................................................87 Bill Gates: Unleashing your creativity .................................................................................88 Wealth Success and Love...................................................................................................

Feed Your Mind

Since the pre-historic times, man has had an urge to satisfy his needs. Be it hunger, shelter or search for a mate, he has always manipulated the circumstances to the best of his advantages. Probably this might be the reason why we human are the most developed of all living species on the earth, and probably also in the universe. As we climbed the steps of evolution with giant leaps, we somehow left behind common sense and logical thinking — we forgot that we have stopped thinking ahead of times.

If you are hungry, what do you do? Grab a piece of your favorite meal and stay quiet after that? Just like your stomach, even your mind is hungry. But it never lets you know, because you keep it busy thinking about your dream lover, favorite star and many such absurd things. So it silently began to heed to your needs and never let itself grow. When mind looses its freedom to grow, creativity gets a full stop. This might be the reason why we all sometimes think \"What happens next?\Well this is the aftermath of our own karma of using our brain for thinking of not-so-worthy things.

Hunger of the mind can be actually satiated through extensive reading. Now why reading and not watching TV? Because reading has been the most educative tool used by us right from the childhood. Just like that to develop other aspects of our life, we have to take help of reading. You have innumerable number of books in this world which will answer all your ―How to?‖ questions. Once you read a book, you just don't run your eyes through the lines, but even your mind decodes it and explains it to you. The interesting part of the book is stored in your mind as a seed. Now this seed is unknowingly used by you in your future to develop new ideas. The same seed if used many times, can help you link and relate a lot of things, of which you would have never thought of in your wildest dreams! This is nothing but creativity. More the number of books you read, your mind will open up like never before. Also this improves your oratory skills to a large extent and also makes a significant contribution to your vocabulary. Within no time you start speaking English or any language fluently with your friends or other people and you never seem to run out of the right words at the right time.

Actually, I had a problem in speaking English fluently, but as I read, I could improve significantly. I am still on the path of improvement to quench my thirst for satisfaction. So guys do join me and give food for your thoughts by reading, reading and more reading. Now what are you waiting for? Go, grab a book, and let me know!

Open up Your Dreams

Henceforth, we gonna show you every way We gonna change it perfectly every day We gonna make you ever brave

You're gonna to know that you'll be free If HOVER can open up your dreams If HOVER can open up your mind Don't say it never can be real You could see miracles happen to you Here HOVER show you the way We all have this only brief

We all dream of conquering English to start afresh We should make the future come together We will give what we've got You will know where it is from

This is the moment to be all that we can be As great hopes make great men

And time let me tell you tomorrow is another day That you are chosen to be good And when your dreams all come true It's the right time to get you through Don't be so depressed

Just join HOVER to practice English You could make yourself ever proud Raise your head you could see Dare to dream you will believe

That we can show the spirit of transcending ourselves that nobody else can achieve Just open up your dream You will know where it is from It's from the bottom of our hearts This is the moment to open up dreams that we can blossom out hand in hand

Youth

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.

Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being‘s heart the lure of wonders, the unfailing appetite for what‘s next and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart, there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, courage and power from man and from the infinite, so long as you are young.

When your aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you‘ve grown old, even at 20; but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there‘s hope you may die young at 80.

If I Rest, I Rust

The significant inscription found on an old key---―If I rest, I rust‖---would be an excellent motto for those who are afflicted with the slightest bit of idleness. Even the most industrious person might adopt it with advantage to serve as a reminder that, if one allows his faculties to rest, like the iron in the unused key, they will soon show signs of rust and, ultimately, cannot do the work required of them.

Those who would attain the heights reached and kept by great men must keep their faculties polished by constant use, so that they may unlock the doors of knowledge, the gate that guard the entrances to the professions, to science, art, literature, agriculture---every department of human endeavor.

Industry keeps bright the key that opens the treasury of achievement. If Hugh Miller, after toiling all day in a quarry, had devoted his evenings to rest and recreation, he would never have become a famous geologist. The celebrated mathematician, Edmund Stone, would never have

published a mathematical dictionary, never have found the key to science of mathematics, if he had given his spare moments to idleness, had the little Scotch lad, Ferguson, allowed the busy brain to go to sleep while he tended sheep on the hillside instead of calculating the position of the stars by a string of beads, he would never have become a famous astronomer.

Labor vanquishes all---not inconstant, spasmodic, or ill-directed labor; but faithful, unremitting, daily effort toward a well-directed purpose. Just as truly as eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, so is eternal industry the price of noble and enduring success.

Ambition

It is not difficult to imagine a world short of ambition. It would probably be a kinder world: with out demands, without abrasions, without disappointments. People would have time for reflection. Such work as they did would not be for themselves but for the collectivity. Competition would never enter in. conflict would be eliminated, tension become a thing of the past. The stress of creation would be at an end. Art would no longer be troubling, but purely celebratory in its functions. Longevity would be increased, for fewer people would die of heart attack or stroke caused by tumultuous endeavor. Anxiety would be extinct. Time would stretch on and on, with ambition long departed from the human heart.

Ah, how unrelieved boring life would be!

There is a strong view that holds that success is a myth, and ambition therefore a sham. Does this mean that success does not really exist? That achievement is at bottom empty? That the efforts of men and women are of no significance alongside the force of movements and events now not all success, obviously, is worth esteeming, nor all ambition worth cultivating. Which are and which are not is something one soon enough learns on one‘s own. But even the most cynical secretly admit that success exists; that achievement counts for a great deal; and that the true myth is that the actions of men and women are useless. To believe otherwise is to take on a point of view that is likely to be deranging. It is, in its implications, to remove all motives for competence, interest in attainment, and regard for posterity.

We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents. We do not choose our historical epoch, the country of our birth, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing. We do not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the time or conditions of our death. But within all this realm

of choicelessness, we do choose how we shall live: courageously or in cowardice, honorably or dishonorably, with purpose or in drift. We decide what is important and what is trivial in life. We decide that what makes us significant is either what we do or what we refuse to do. But no matter how indifferent the universe may be to our choices and decisions, these choices and decisions are ours to make. We decide. We choose. And as we decide and choose, so are our lives formed. In the end, forming our own destiny is what ambition is about.

What I Have Lived For

Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair.

I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy---ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of my life for a few hours for this joy. I have sought it, next, because it relieves loneliness---that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss. I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human life, this is what---at last---I have found.

With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine. And I have tried to apprehend the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway above the flux. A little of this, but not much, I have achieved.

Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always it brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.

This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me.

The Road to Success

It is well that young men should begin at the beginning and occupy the most subordinate positions. Many of the leading businessmen of Pittsburgh had a serious responsibility thrust upon them at the very threshold of their career. They were introduced to the broom, and spent the first hours of their business lives sweeping out the office. I notice we have janitors and janitresses now in offices, and our young men unfortunately miss that salutary branch of business education. But if by chance the professional sweeper is absent any morning, the boy who has the genius of the future partner in him will not hesitate to try his hand at the broom. It does not hurt the newest comer to sweep out the office if necessary. I was one of those sweepers myself.

Assuming that you have all obtained employment and are fairly started, my advice to you is ―aim high‖. I would not give a fig for the young man who does not already see himself the partner or the head of an important firm. Do not rest content for a moment in your thoughts as head clerk, or foreman, or general manager in any concern, no matter how extensive. Say to yourself, ―My place is at the top.‖ Be king in your dreams.

And here is the prime condition of success, the great secret: concentrate your energy, thought, and capital exclusively upon the business in which you are engaged. Having begun in one line, resolve to fight it out on that line, to lead in it, adopt every improvement, have the best machinery, and know the most about it.

The concerns which fail are those which have scattered their capital, which means that they have scattered their brains also. They have investments in this, or that, or the other, here there, and everywhere. ―Don‘t put all your eggs in one basket.‖ is all wrong. I tell you to ―put all your eggs in one basket, and then watch that basket.‖ Look round you and take notice, men who do that not often fail. It is easy to watch and carry the one basket. It is trying to carry too many baskets that breaks most eggs in this country. He who carries three baskets must put one on his head, which is apt to tumble and trip him up. One fault of the American businessman is lack of concentration.

To summarize what I have said: aim for the highest; never enter a bar room; do not touch liquor, or if at all only at meals; never speculate; never indorse beyond your surplus cash fund; make the firm‘s interest yours; break orders always to save owners; concentrate; put all your eggs in one basket, and watch that basket; expenditure always within revenue; lastly, be not impatient, for as Emerson says, ―no one can cheat you out of ultimate success but yourselves.‖

What is Your Recovery Rate?

What is your recovery rate? How long does it take you to recover from actions and behaviors that upset you? Minutes? Hours? Days? Weeks? The longer it takes you to recover, the more influence that incident has on your actions, and the less able you are to perform to your personal best. In a nutshell, the longer it takes you to recover, the weaker you are and the poorer your performance.

You are well aware that you need to exercise to keep the body fit and, no doubt, accept that a reasonable measure of health is the speed in which your heart and respiratory system recovers after exercise. Likewise the faster you let go of an issue that upsets you, the faster you return to an equilibrium, the healthier you will be. The best example of this behavior is found with professional sportspeople. They know that the faster they can forget an incident or missd opportunity and get on with the game, the better their performance. In fact, most measure the time it takes them to overcome and forget an incident in a game and most reckon a recovery rate of 30 seconds is too long!

Imagine yourself to be an actor in a play on the stage. Your aim is to play your part to the best of your ability. You have been given a script and at the end of each sentence is a ful stop. Each time you get to the end of the sentence you start a new one and although the next sentence is related to the last it is not affected by it. Your job is to deliver each sentence to the best of your ability.

Don‘t live your life in the past! Learn to live in the present, to overcome the past. Stop the past from influencing your daily life. Don‘t allow thoughts of the past to reduce your personal best. Stop the past from interfering with your life. Learn to recover quickly.

Remember: Rome wasn‘t built in a day. Reflect on your recovery rate each day. Every day before you go to bed, look at your progress. Don‘t lie in bed saying to you, ―I did that wrong.‖ ―I should have done better there.‖ No. look at your day and note when you made an effort to place a full stop after an incident. This is a success. You are taking control of your life. Remember this is a step by step process. This is not a make-over. You are undertaking real change here. Your aim: reduce the time spent in recovery.

The way forward?

Live in the present. Not in the precedent.

Be Happy!

“The days that make us happy make us wise.‖----John Masefield

when I first read this line by England‘s Poet Laureate, it startled me. What did Masefield mean? Without thinking about it much, I had always assumed that the opposite was true. But his sober assurance was arresting. I could not forget it.

Finally, I seemed to grasp his meaning and realized that here was a profound observation. The wisdom that happiness makes possible lies in clear perception, not fogged by anxiety nor dimmed by despair and boredom, and without the blind spots caused by fear.

Active happiness---not mere satisfaction or contentment ---often comes suddenly, like an April shower or the unfolding of a bud. Then you discover what kind of wisdom has accompanied it. The grass is greener; bird songs are sweeter; the shortcomings of your friends are more understandable and more forgivable. Happiness is like a pair of eyeglasses correcting your spiritual vision.

Nor are the insights of happiness limited to what is near around you. Unhappy, with your thoughts turned in upon your emotional woes, your vision is cut short as though by a wall. Happy, the wall crumbles.

The long vista is there for the seeing. The ground at your feet, the world about you----people, thoughts, emotions, pressures---are now fitted into the larger scene. Everything assumes a fairer proportion. And here is the beginning of wisdom.

The Goodness of Life

Though there is much to be concerned about, there is far, far more for which to be thankful. Though life‘s goodness can at times be overshadowed, it is never outweighed.

For every single act that is senselessly destructive, there are thousands more small, quiet acts of love, kindness and compassion. For every person who seeks to hurt, there are many, many more who devote their lives to helping and to healing.

There is goodness to life that cannot be denied.

In the most magnificent vistas and in the smallest details, look closely, for that goodness always comes shining through.

There si no limit to the goodness of life. It grows more abundant with each new encounter. The more you experience and appreciate the goodness of life, the more there is to be lived.

Even when the cold winds blow and the world seems to be cov ered in foggy shadows, the goodness of life lives on. Open your eyes, open your heart, and you will see that goodness is everywhere.

Though the goodness of life seems at times to suffer setbacks, it always endures. For in the darkest moment it becomes vividly clear that life is a priceless treasure. And so the goodness of life is made even stronger by the very things that would oppose it.

Time and time again when you feared it was gone forever you found that the goodness of life was really only a moment away. Around the next corner, inside every moment, the goodness of life is there to surprise and delight you.

Take a moment to let the goodness of life touch your spirit and calm your thoughts. Then, share your good fortune with another. For the goodness of life grows more and more magnificent each time it is given away.

Though the problems constantly scream for attention and the conflicts appear to rage ever stronger, the goodness of life grows stronger still, quietly, peacefully, with more purpose and meaning than ever before.

Facing the Enemies Within

We are not born with courage, but neither are we born with fear. Maybe some of our fears are brought on by your own experiences, by what someone has told you, by what you‘ve read in the papers. Some fears are valid, like walking alone in a bad part of town at two o‘clock in the morning. But once you learn to avoid that situation, you won‘t need to live in fear of it.

Fears, even the most basic ones, can totally destroy our ambitions. Fear can destroy fortunes. Fear can destroy relationships. Fear, if left unchecked, can destroy our lives. Fear is one of the many enemies lurking inside us.

Let me tell you about five of the other enemies we face from within. The first enemy that you‘ve got to destroy before it destroys you is indifference. What a tragic disease this is! ―Ho-hum, let it slide. I‘ll just drift along.‖ Here‘s one problem with drifting: you can‘t drift your way to the to of the mountain.

The second enemy we face is indecision. Indecision is the thief of opportunity and enterprise. It will steal your chances for a better future. Take a sword to this enemy.

The third enemy inside is doubt. Sure, there‘s room for healthy skepticism. You can‘t believe everything. But you also can‘t let doubt take over. Many people doubt the past, doubt the future, doubt each other, doubt the government, doubt the possibilities nad doubt the opportunities. Worse of all, they doubt themselves. I‘m telling you, doubt will destroy your life and your chances of success. It will empty both your bank account and your heart. Doubt is an enemy. Go after it. Get rid of it.

The fourth enemy within is worry. We‘ve all got to worry some. Just don‘t let conquer you. Instead, let it alarm you. Worry can be useful. If you step off the curb in New York City and a taxi is coming, you‘ve got to worry. But you can‘t let worry loose like a mad dog that drives you into a small corner. Here‘s what you‘ve got to do with your worries: drive them into a small corner. Whatever is out to get you, you‘ve got to get it. Whatever is pushing on you, you‘ve got to push back.

The fifth interior enemy is overcaution. It is the timid approach to life. Timidity is not a virtue; it‘s an illness. If you let it go, it‘ll conquer you. Timid people don‘t get promoted. They don‘t advance and grow and become powerful in the marketplace. You‘ve got to avoid overcaution.

Do battle with the enemy. Do battle with your fears. Build your courage to fight what‘s holding on back, what‘s keeping you from your goals and dreams. Be courageous in your life and in your pursuit of the things you want and the person you want to become.

Giving Life Meaning

Have you thought about what you want people to say about you after you‘re gone? Can you hear the voice saying, ―He was a great man.‖ Or ―She really will be missed.‖ What else do they say?

One of the strangest phenomena of life is to engage in a work that will last long after death. Isn‘t that a lot like investing all your money so that future generations can bare interest on it? Perhaps, yet if you look deep in your own heart, you‘ll find something drives you to make this kind of contribution---something drives every human being to find a purpose that lives on after death.

Do you hope to memorialize your name? Have a name that is whispered with reverent awe?

Do you hope to have your face carved upon 50 ft of granite rock? Is the answer really that simple? Is the purpose of lifetime contribution an ego-driven desire for a mortal being to have an immortal name or is it something more?

A child alive today will die tomorrow. A baby that had the potential to be the next Einstein will die from complication is at birth. The circumstances of life are not set in stone. We are not all meant to live life through to old age. We‘ve grown to perceive life3 as a full cycle with a certain number of years in between. If all of those years aren‘t lived out, it‘s a tragedy. A tragedy because a human‘s potential was never realized. A tragedy because a spark was snuffed out before it ever became a flame.

By virtue of inhabiting a body we accept these risks. We expose our mortal flesh to the laws of the physical environment around us. The trade off isn‘t so bad when you think about it. The problem comes when we construct mortal fantasies of what life should be like. When life doesn‘t conform to our fantasy we grow upset, frustrated, or depressed.

We are alive; let us live. We have the ability to experience; let us experience. We have the ability to learn; let us learn. The meaning of life can be grasped in a moment. A moment so brief it often evades our perception.

What meaning stands behind the dramatic unfolding of life? What single truth can we grasp and hang onto for dear life when all other truths around us seem to fade with time?

These moments are strung together in a series we call events. These events are strung together in a series we call life. When we seize the moment and bend it according to our will, a will driven by the spirit deep inside us, then we have discovered the meaning of life, a meaning for us that shall go on long after we depart this Earth.

Relish the Moment

Tucked away in our subconsciousness is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long trip that spans the moment. We are traveling by train. Out the windows, we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon row of corn ad wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of city skylines and village halls.

But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. On a certain day at a certain hour, we will pull into the station. Bands will be playing and flags waving. Once we get there, so many wonderful dreams will come true and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a completed jigsaw puzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles, damning the minutes for loitering---waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.

“When we reach the station, that will be it!‖ we cry. ―When I‘m 18.‖ ―When I buy a new 450SL Mercedes Benz!‖ ―When I put the last kid through college.‖ ―When I have paid off the mortgage!‖ ―When I get a promotion.‖ ―When I reach the age of retirement, I shall live happily ever after!‖

Sooner or later, we must realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us.

It isn‘t the burdens of today that drive men mad. It is the regrets over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today.

So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough.

Born to Win

Each human being is born as something new, something that never existed before. Each is born with the capacity to win at life. Each person has a unique way of seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and thinking. Each has his or her own unique potentials---capabilities and limitations. Each can be a significant, thinking, aware, and creative being---a productive person, a winner.

The word ―winner‖ and ―loser‖ have many meanings. When we refer to a person as a winner, we do not mean one who makes someone else lose. To us, a winner is one who responds authentically by being credible, trustworthy, responsive, and genuine, both as an individual and as a member of a society.

Winners do not dedicated their lives to a concept of what they imagine they should be; rather, they are themselves and as such do not use their energy putting on a performance, maintaining pretence and manipulating others. They are aware that there is a difference between being loving and acting loving, between being stupid and acting stupid, between being knowledgeable and acting

knowledgeable. Winners do not need to hide behind a mask.

Winners are not afraid to do their own thinking and to use their own knowledge. They can separate facts from opinions and don‘t pretend to have all the answers. They listen to others, evaluate what they say, but come to their own conclusions. Although winners can admire and respect other people, they are not totally defined, demolished, bound, or awed by them.

Winners do not play ―helpless‖, nor do they play the blaming game. Instead, they assume responsibility for their own lives. They don‘t give others a false authority over them. Winners are their own bosses and know it.

A winner‘s timing is right. Winners respond appropriately to the situation. Their responses are related to the message sent and preserve the significance, worth, well-being, and dignity of the people involved. Winners know that for everything there is a season and for every activity a time.

Although winners can freely enjoy themselves, they can also postpone enjoyment, can discipline themselves in the present to enhance their enjoyment in the future. Winners are not afraid to go after what he wants, but they do so in proper ways. Winners do not get their security by controlling others. They do not set themselves up to lose.

A winner cares about the world and its peoples. A winner is not isolated from the general problems of society, but is concerned, compassionate, and committed to improving the quality of life. Even in the face of national and international adversity, a winner‘s self-image is not one of a powerless individual. A winner works to make the world a better place.

On Motes and Beams

It is curious that our own offenses should seem so much less heinous than the offenses of others. I suppose the reason is that we know all the circumstances that have occasioned them and so manage to excuse in ourselves what we cannot excuse in others. We turn our attention away from our own defects, and when we are forced by untoward events to consider them, find it easy to condone them. For all I know we are right to do this; they are part of us and we must accept the good and bad in ourselves together.

But when we come to judge others, it is not by ourselves as we really are that we judge them, but by an image that we have formed of ourselves fro which we have left out everything that offends our vanity or would discredit us in the eyes of the world. To take a trivial instance: how

scornful we are when we catch someone out telling a lie; but who can say that he has never told not one, but a hundred?

There is not much to choose between men. They are all a hotchpotch of greatness and littleness, of virtue and vice, of nobility and baseness. Some have more strength of character, or more opportunity, and so in one direction or another give their instincts freer play, but potentially they are the same. For my part, I do not think I am any better or any worse than most people, but I know that if I set down every action in my life and every thought that has crossed my mind, the world would consider me a monster of depravity. The knowledge that these reveries are common to all men should inspire one with tolerance to oneself as well as to others. It is well also if they enable us to look upon our fellows, even the most eminent and respectable, with humor, and if they lead us to take ourselves not too seriously.

To be or not to be

Outside the Bible, these six words are the most famous in all the literature of the world. They were spoken by Hamlet when he was thinking aloud, and they are the most famous words in Shakespeare because Hamlet was speaking not only for himself but also for every thinking man and woman. To be or not to be, to live or not to live, to live richly and abundantly and eagerly, or to live dully and meanly and scarcely. A philosopher once wanted to know whether he was alive or not, which is a good question for everyone to put to himself occasionally. He answered it by saying: \"I think, therefore am.\"

But the best definition of existence ever saw did another philosopher who said: \"To be is to be in relations.\" If this true, then the more relations a living thing has, the more it is alive. To live abundantly means simply to increase the range and intensity of our relations. Unfortunately we are so constituted that we get to love our routine. But apart from our regular occupation how much are we alive? If you are interest-ed only in your regular occupation, you are alive only to that extent. So far as other things are concerned--poetry and prose, music, pictures, sports, unselfish friendships, politics, international affairs--you are dead.

Contrariwise, it is true that every time you acquire a new interest--even more, a new accomplishment--you increase your power of life. No one who is deeply interested in a large variety

of subjects can remain unhappy; the real pessimist is the person who has lost interest.

Bacon said that a man dies as often as he loses a friend. But we gain new life by contacts, new friends. What is supremely true of living objects is only less true of ideas, which are also alive. Where your thoughts are, there will your live be also. If your thoughts are confined only to your business, only to your physical welfare, only to the narrow circle of the town in which you live, then you live in a narrow cir-conscribed life. But if you are interested in what is going on in China, then you are living in China~ if you‘re interested in the characters of a good novel, then you are living with those highly interesting people, if you listen intently to fine music, you are away from your immediate surroundings and living in a world of passion and imagination.

To be or not to be--to live intensely and richly, merely to exist, that depends on ourselves. Let widen and intensify our relations. While we live, let live!

Today I begin a new life.

And I make a solemn oath to myself that nothing will retard my new life's growth. I will lose not a day from these readings for that day cannot be retrieved nor can I substitute another for it. I must not , I will not, break this habit of daily reading from these scrolls and, in truth, the few moments spent each day on this new habit are but a small price to pay for the happiness and success that will be mine.

As I read and re-read the words in the scrolls to follow, never will I allow the brevity of each scroll nor the simplicity of its words to cause me to treat the scroll's message lightly. Thousands of grapes are pressed to fill one jar with wine, and the grapeskin and pulp are tossed to the birds. So it is with these grapes of wisdom from the ages. Much has been filtered and tossed to the wind.Only the pure truth lies distilled in the words to come. I will drink as instructed and spill not a drop. And the seed of success I will swallow.

Today my old skin has become as dust. I will walk tall among men and they will know me not, for today I am a new man, with a new life.

Failure is a good thing

Last week, my granddaughter started kindergarten, and I wished her success. I was lying. What

I actually wish for her is failure. I believe in the power of failure.

Success is boring. Success is proving that you can do something that you already know you can do, or doing something correctly the first time, which can often be a problematic victory. First-time success is usually a fluke. First-time failure, by contrast, is expected; it is the natural order of things.

Failure is how we learn.

I have been told of an African phrase describing a good cook as \"she who has broken many pots.\"

If you've spent enough time in the kitchen to have broken a lot of pots, probably you know a lot about cooking. I once had a dinner with a group of chefs, and they spent time comparing knife wounds and burn scars. They knew how much credibility their failures gave them.

I earn my living by writing a daily newspaper column.

Each week I am aware that one column is going to be the worst column. I don't set out to write it; I try my best every day. I have learned to cherish that column.

A successful column usually means that I am treading on familiar ground, going with the tricks that work or dressing up popular sentiments in fancy words.

Often in my inferior columns, I am trying to pull off something I've never done before; something I'm not even sure can be done.

My younger daughter is a trapeze artist. She spent three years putting together an act.

She did it successfully for years. There was no reason for her to change the act- but she did anyway. She said she was no longer learning anything new and she was bored. So she changed the act.

She risked failure and profound public embarrassment in order to feed her soul.

My granddaughter is a perfectionist.

She will feel her failures, and I will want to comfort her.

But I will also, I hope, remind her of what she learned, and how she can do whatever it is better next time.

I hope I can tell her, though, that it's not the end of the world. Indeed, with luck, it is the beginning.

Clear Your Mental Space

Think about the last time you felt a negative emotion---like stress, anger, or frustration. What was going through your mind as you were going through that negativity? Was your mind cluttered with thoughts? Or was it paralyzed, unable to think?

The next time you find yourself in the middle of a very stressful time, or you feel angry or frustrated, stop. Yes, that‘s right, stop. Whatever you‘re doing, stop and sit for one minute. While you‘re sitting there, completely immerse yourself in the negative emotion.

Allow that emotion to consume you. Allow yourself one minute to truly feel that emotion. Don‘t cheat yourself here. Take the entire minute---but only one minute---to do nothing else but feel that emotion.

When the minute is over, ask yourself, ―Am I wiling to keep holding on to this negative emotion as I go through the rest of the day?‖

Once you‘ve allowed yourself to be totally immersed in the emotion and really fell it, you will be surprised to find that the emotion clears rather quickly.

If you feel you need to hold on to the emotion for a little longer, that is OK. Allow yourself another minute to feel the emotion.

When you feel you‘ve had enough of the emotion, ask yourself if you‘re willing to carry that negativity with you for the rest of the day. If not, take a deep breath. As you exhale, release all that negativity with your breath.

This exercise seems simple---almost too simple. But, it is very effective. By allowing that negative emotion the space to be truly felt, you are dealing with the emotion rather than stuffing it down and trying not to feel it. You are actually taking away the power of the emotion by giving it the space and attention it needs. When you immerse yourself in the emotion, and realize that it is only emotion, it loses its control. You can clear your head and proceed with your task.

Try it. Next time you‘re in the middle of a negative emotion, give yourself the space to feel the emotion and see what happens. Keep a piece of paper with you that says the following:

Stop. Immerse for one minute. Do I want to keep this negativity? Breath deep, exhale, release. Move on!

This will remind you of the steps to the process. Remember; take the time you need to really immerse yourself in the emotion. Then, when you feel you‘ve felt it enough, release it---really let

go of it. You will be surprised at how quickly you can move on from a negative situation and get to what you really want to do!

Get a thorough understanding of oneself

In all one's lifetime it is oneself that one spends the most time being with or dealing with. But it is precisely oneself that one has the least understanding of.

When you are going upwards in life you tend to overestimate yourself. It seems that everything you seek for is within your reach; luck and opportunities will come your way and you are overjoyed that they constitute part of your worth. When you are going downhill you tend to underestimate yourself, mistaking difficulties and adversities for your own incompetence. It's likely that you think it wise for yourself to know our place and stay aloof from worldly wearing a mask of cowardice, behind which the flow of sap in your life will be retarded.

To get a thorough understanding of oneself is to gain a correct view of oneself and be a sober realist -- aware of both one's strength and shortage. You may look forward hopefully to the future but be sure not to expect too much, for ideals can never be fully realized. You may be courageous to meet challenges but it should be clear to you where to direct your efforts. That's to way so long as you have a perfect knowledge of yourself there won't be difficulties you can't overcome, nor obstacles you can't surmount.

To get a thorough understanding of oneself needs selfappreciation. Whether you liken yourself to a towering tree or a blade of grass, whether you think you are a high mountain or a small stone, you represent a state of nature that has its own raison detre. If you earnestly admire yourself you'll have a real sense of self-appreciation, which will give you confidence. As soon as you gain full confidence in yourself you'll be enabled to fight and overcome any adversity.

To get a thorough understanding of oneself also requires doing oneself a favor when it's needed. In time of anger, do yourself a favor by giving vent to it in a quiet place so that you won't be hurt by its flames; in time of sadness, do yourself a favor by sharing it with your friends so as to change a gloomy mood into a cheerful one; in time of tiredness, do yourself a favor by getting a good sleep or taking some tonic. Show yourself loving concern about your health and daily life. As you are aware, what a person physically has is but a human body that's vulnerable when exposed to the elements. So if you fall ill, it's up to you to take a good care of yourself. Unless you know perfectly well when and how to do yourself a favor, you won't be confident and ready enough to resist the attack of illness.

To get a thorough understanding of oneself is to get a full control of one‘s life. Then one will find one's life full of color and flavor.

The prime condition and great secrets of success

It is well that young men should begin at the beginning and occupy the most subordinate positions. Many of the leading businessmen of Pittsburgh had a serious responsibility thrust upon them at the very threshold of their career. They were introduced to the broom, and spent the first hours of their business lives sweeping out the office. I notice we have janitors and janitresses now in offices, and our young men unfortunately miss that salutary branch of business education. But if by chance the professional sweeper is absent any morning, the boy who has the genius of the future partner in him will not hesitate to try his hand at the broom. The other day a fond fashionable mother in Michigan asked a young man whether he had ever seen a lady sweep in a room so grandly as her Priscilla. He said no, he never had ,and the mother was gratified beyond measure, but then said he ,after a pause, ―What I should like to see her do is sweep out a room‖ It does not hurt the newest comer to sweep out the office if necessary. I was one of those sweepers myself.

Assuming that you have all obtained employment and are fairly started, my advice to you is ―aim high‖. I would not give a fig for the young man who does not already see himself the partner or the head of an important firm. Do not rest content for a moment in your thoughts as head clerk, or foreman, or general manager in any concern, no matter how extensive. Say to yourself ，―My place is at the top.‖ Be king in your dreams.

most eggs in this country. He who carries three baskets must put one on his head, which is apt to tumble and trip him up. One fault of the American businessman is lack of concentration.

Be a Fighter

A young friend of mine asked me in a letter, \"What kind of man should I be?\" My answer was, \"Be a fighter.\"

Another friend of mine inquired, \"How should I live my life?\" Again my answer was, \"Be a fighter.\"

The author of In Praise of the Fighter says:

Riding on the ceaseless rushing torrent of life, I should pursue and overtake it so as to create an even greater and deeper torrent of my own.

If I were a lamp, it would be my duty to light up thick darkness. If I were the sea tide, I would marshal rolling waves to cleanse the beach of all accumulated filth.

This quotation reflects aptly the state of mind of a lighter.

Fighters are badly needed in our time. But such fighters do not necessarily go to the battle- field gun in hand. Their weapons are not necessarily bullets. Their weapons may be knowledge, faith and strong will. They can bring the enemy sure death without drawing his blood.

A fighter is always in pursuit of light. Instead of basking in the sunshine under a clear sky, he holds a burning torch in the darkness of night to illuminate people's way so that they can continue their journey till they see the dawn of a new day. It is the task of a fighter to dispel darkness. Instead of shirking darkness, he braves it and fights the hidden demons and monsters therein. He is determined to wipe them out and win light. He knows no compromise. He will keep on fighting until he wins light.

A fighter is perennially young. He is never irresolute or inactive. He plunges deep into teeming crowds in search of such vermin as flies and venomous mosquitoes. He will fight them relentlessly

and refuse to coexist with them under the same sky. To him, life means nothing but continuous fighting. He either survives by winning light, or perishes with his body covered all over with cuts and bruises. In the course of the struggle, it is the \"future\" that serves as the beacon light to him; the \"future\" gives people hope and inspiration. He will never lose his youthful vigour.

A fighter will never lose heart or despair. He will pile up broken pieces of brick and stone to rebuild a nine-story pagoda on the ruins of failure. No blows will ever break his will. He will never close his eyes until he has breathed his last.

A fighter is always fearless. His steps are firm. Once he has settled on an objective, he will press right ahead. He is never afraid of being tripped by a stumbling block. No obstacles will ever make him change his mind. His eyes will never be hoodwinked by false appearances. His actions are guided by faith. He can endure any hardships or sufferings while striving to attain his chosen objective. He will never abandon work as long as he is alive.

This is the kind of fighter we now need. He is not necessarily possessed of superhuman capability. He is just an ordinary person. Anyone can be a fighter so long as he has the determination. Hence a few words of mine about \"being a fighter\" to encourage those young people who wander about in a depressed state, not knowing which way to go.

Hanover Square

Can it really be sixty-two years ago that I first saw you?

It is truly a lifetime, I know. But as I gaze into your eyes now, it seems like only yesterday that I first saw you, in that small café in Hanover Square.

From the moment I saw you smile, as you opened the door for that young mother and her newborn baby. I knew. I knew that I wanted to share the rest of my life with you.

I still think of how foolish I must have looked, as I gazed at you, that first time. I remember watching you intently, as you took off your hat and loosely shook your short dark hair with your fingers. I felt myself becoming immersed in your every detail, as you placed your hat on the table and cupped your hands around the hot cup of tea, gently blowing the steam away with your pouted lips.

From that moment, everything seemed to make perfect sense to me. The people in the café and the busy street outside all disappeared into a hazy blur. All I could see was you.

All through my life I have relived that very first day. Many, many times I have sat and thought about that the first day, and how for a few fleeting moments I am there, feeling again what is like to know true love for the very first time. It pleases me that I can still have those feelings now after all those years, and I know I will always have them to comfort me.

Not even as I shook and trembled uncontrollably in the trenches, did I forget your face. I would sit huddled into the wet mud, terrified, as the hails of bullets and mortars crashed down around me. I would clutch my rifle tightly to my heart, and think again of that very first day we met. I would cry out in fear, as the noise of war beat down around me. But, as I thought of you and saw you smiling back at me, everything around me would be become silent, and I would be with you again for a few precious moments, far from the death and destruction. It would not be until I opened my eyes once again, that I would see and hear the carnage of the war around me.

I cannot tell you how strong my love for you was back then, when I returned to you on leave in the September, feeling battered, bruised and fragile. We held each other so tight I thought we would burst. I asked you to marry me the very same day and I whooped with joy when you looked deep into my eyes and said \"yes\" to being my bride.

I'm looking at our wedding photo now, the one on our dressing table, next to your jewellery box. I think of how young and innocent we were back then. I remember being on the church steps grinning like a Cheshire cat, when you said how dashing and handsome I looked in my uniform. The photo is old and faded now, but when I look at it, I only see the bright vibrant colors of our youth. I can still remember every detail of the pretty wedding dress your mother made for you, with its fine delicate lace and pretty pearls. If I concentrate hard enough, I can smell the sweetness of your wedding bouquet as you held it so proudly for everyone to see.

I remember being so over enjoyed, when a year later, you gently held my hand to your waist and whispered in my ear that we were going to be a family.

I know both our children love you dearly; they are outside the door now, waiting.

Do you remember how I panicked like a mad man when Jonathon was born? I can still picture you laughing and smiling at me now, as I clumsily held him for the very first time in my arms. I watched as your laughter faded into tears, as I stared at him and cried my own tears of joy.

Sarah and Tom arrived this morning with little Tessie. Can you remember how we both hugged each other tightly when we saw our tiny granddaughter for the first time? I can't believe she will be eight next month. I am trying not to cry, my love, as I tell you how beautiful she looks today

in her pretty dress and red shiny shoes, she reminds me so much of you that first day we met. She has her hair cut short now, just like yours was all those years ago. When I met her at the door her smile wrapped around me like a warm glove, just like yours used to do, my darling.

I know you are tired, my dear, and I must let you go. But I love you so much it hurts to do so. As we grew old together, I would tease you that you had not changed since we first met. But it is true, my darling. I do not see the wrinkles and grey hair that other people see. When I look at you now, I only see your sweet tender lips and youthful sparkling eyes as we sat and had our first picnic next to that small stream, and chased each other around that big old oak tree. I remember wishing those first few days together would last forever. Do you remember how exciting and wonderful those days were?

I must go now, my darling. Our children are waiting outside. They want to say goodbye to you. I wipe the tears away from my eyes and bend my frail old legs down to the floor, so that I can kneel beside you. I lean close to you and take hold of your hand and kiss your tender lips for the very last time.

Sleep peacefully my dear.

I am sad that you had to leave me, but please don't worry. I am content, knowing I will be with you soon. I am too old and too empty now to live much longer without you.

I know it won't be long before we meet again in that small café in Hanover Square. Goodbye, my darling wife.

You Have Only One Life

There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them for real! Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to make you happy? Always put yourself in others‘shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, it probably hurts the other person, too.

The happiest of people don‘t necessarily have the best of everything; they

just make the most of everything that comes along their way. Happiness lies for those who cry, those who hurt, those who have searched, and those who have tried, for only they can appreciate the importance of people

who have touched their lives. Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss and ends with a tear. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past, you can‘t go on well in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

Please send this message to those people who mean something to you, to those who have touched your life in one way or another, to those who make you smile when you really need it, to those that make you see the brighter side of things when you are really down, to those who you want to let them know that you appreciate their friendship. And if you don‘t, don‘t worry, nothing bad will happen to you, you will just miss out on the opportunity to brighten someone‘s day with this message.

Man Is Like a Fruit Tree

While taking my boat down the inland waterway to Florida a few weeks ago, I decided to tie up at Georgetown, South Carolina, for the night and visit with an old friend. As we approached the Esso dock, I saw him through my binoculars standing there awaiting us. Tall and straight as an arrow he stood, facing a cold, penetrating wind—truly a picture of a sturdy man, even though his next birthday will make him eighty-two. Yes, the man was our elder statesman, Bernard Baruch.

He loaded us into his station wagon and we were off to his famous Hobcaw Barony for dinner. We sat and talked in the great living room where many notables and statesmen, including Roosevelt and Churchill, have sat and taken their cues. In his eighty-second year, still a human dynamo, Mr. Baruch talks not of the past but of present problems and the future, deploring our ignorance of history, economics, and psychology. His only reference to the past was to tell me, with a wonderful sparkle in his eye, that he was only able to get eight quail out of the ten shots the day before. What

is the secret of this great man‘s value to the world at eighty-one? The answer is his insatiable desire to keep being productive.

Two of the hardest things to accomplish in this world are to acquire wealth by honest effort and, having gained it, to learn how to use it properly. Recently I walked into the locker room of a rather well-known golf club after finishing a round. It was in the late afternoon and most of the members had left for their homes. But a half-dozen or so men past middle age were still seated at tables talking aimlessly and drinking more than was good for them. These same men can be found there day after day and, strangely enough, each one of these men had been a man of affairs and wealth, successful in business and respected in the community. If material prosperity were the chief requisite for happiness, then each one should have been happy. Yet, it seemed to me, something very important was missing, else there would not have been the constant effort to escape the realities of life through Scotch and soda. They knew, each one of them, that their productivity had ceased. When a fruit tree ceases to bear its fruit, it is dying. And it is even so with man.

What is the answer to a long and happy existence in this world of ours? I think I found it long ago in a passage from the book, Genesis, which caught my eyes while I was thumbing through my Bible. The words were few, but they became indelibly impressed on my mind: ―In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread.‖

To me, that has been a challenge from my earliest recollections. In fact, the battle of life, of existence, is a challenge to everyone. The immortal words of St. Paul, too, have been and always will be a great inspiration to me. At the end of the road I want to be able to feel that I have fought a good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.

Power of Self Talk

Life is like a big swing, dangling between the depths of happiness and sadness. As soon as we descend down the slope of sadness, we accelerate over the ever-feel-good acclivity f happiness. At times of distress, when we are down we slip over an abyss of emotional trauma and frustrations. One who can rise above the occasion, is the architect of many wins over sorrows.

To come above tougher times you have to pep yourself up, when you are feeling low, lost and confused. This can be done effectively by self-talk. Self-talk is a way of talking to oneself. It can be effectively used for soul searching. When talking to ourselves, we hardly lie as our conscience

controls our speech. Self talk is efficient because when we are vocal about our thoughts, it makes a larger impact on our mind. Our brain then receives the same message from the mind as well as the ears. This repetition pep talks and thoughts fine tunes the performance of brain.

Self-talk is a software, which when properly loaded onto our mind directs ourselves for better results and a healthy mind. Actually many times in our life, we find others advising us to do better in studies, sports, life etc. We usually get bugged by these people and blank our ears out of their constructive suggestions. It is because it doesn't come from within us. And when something comes from within you, you always try your best to do justice to it. Self-talk can thus ameliorate our status.

Each one of us has some good points and some bad ones. Though we hardly admit in pubic, we know in our mind that we could do better in some areas of our personal landscape. This get better attitude can be converted into a practical reality using self-talk.

If you are an introvert and you want to be the gregarious person like you friend next door, all you need to do is talk to yourself. Tell yourself with all the sincerity and emotions that \"I can be like him. I am a natural born speaker. I do like people and speaking comes naturally to me. I just have to be ready to listen and speak\". Suppose you love a person and want to tell him or her, then just say to yourselves \"I love her with all my heart. She is the only one and I know it. If I don't let her know, it would be grave injustice on my part. Every person loves to be loved. Even she will\". These are just some examples I have explained. It's up to you to program your own mantra.

If you are highly optimistic to do better, there is no better motivator than self-talk. So guys start talking.

Six Ways to Turn Desires into Gold

The method, by which desire for riches can be transmuted into its financial equivalent, consists of six definite, practical steps, these:

First: fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire. It is not sufficient merely to say \"I want plenty of money.\" Be definite as to the amount. (There is a psychological reason for definiteness which will be described in a subsequent chapter.)

Second: determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money you desire. (There is no such reality as \"something for nothing.\")

Third: establish a definite date when you intend to possess the money you desire.

Forth: create a definite plan for carrying out your desire, and begin at once, whether you are read or not, to put this plan into action.

Fifth: write out a clear, concise statement of the amount of money you intend to acquire, name the time limit for its acquisition, state what you intend to give in return for the money, and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it.

Sixth: read your written statement aloud, twice daily, once just before retiring at night, and once after arising in the morning. As you read--see and feel and believe yourself already in possession of the money.

It is important that you follow the instructions described in these six steps. It is especially important that you observe, and follow the instructions in the sixth paragraph. You may complain that it is impossible for you to \"see yourself in possession of money\" before you actually have it. Here is where a burning desire will come to you aid. If you truly desire money so keenly that your desire is an obsession, you will have no difficulty in convincing yourself that you will acquire it. The object is to want money, and to become so determined to have it that you convince yourself you will have it.

Spare No Efforts in Doing Things

Concentration and perseverance built the great pyramids on Egypt's plains .

The matter of a single trade can support a family. The master of seven trades cannot support himself.

Now I know that in order to grow and flourish I must spare no efforts in doing things and keep a little in advance of the times . Those who reach the top are the ones who are not content with doing only what are required of them .They do more. They go extra mile ,And another.

I will Spare No Efforts In Doing Things.

Now I know that I cannot pursue a worthy goal, steadily and persistently ,with all the powers of my mind and yet fail . If I focus the rays of sun with a burning glass , even in the coldest days of winter. I can kindle a fire with ease.

I will Spare No Efforts In Doing Things.

The weakest living creature , by concentrating his powers on a single object can accomplish good results while the strongest ,by dispersing his effort over many chores, may fail to accomplish

anything. Drops of water ,by continually falling, hone their passage through the hardest of rocks but the hasty torrent rushes over it with hideous uproar and leaves no trace behind. I will leave my trace. The world will know I have been here.

I will Spare No Efforts In Doing Things

Just for today

Just for today I will try to live through this day only and not tackle my whole life problem at once. I can do something for twelve hours that would appall me if I had to keep it up for a lifetime.

Just for today I will be happy. This assumes to be true what Abraham Lincoln said，that \"Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.\"

Just for today I will adjust myself to what is, and not try to adjust everything to my own desires. I will take my \"luck\" as it comes.

Just for today I will try to strengthen my mind. I will study. I will lean something useful. I will not be a mental loafer. I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration.

Just for today I will exercise my soul in three ways. I will do somebody a good turn and not get found out: If anybody knows of it, it will not count. I will do at least two things I don't want to do—just for exercise. I will not show anyone that my feelings are hurt: they may be hurt, but today I will not show it.

Just for today I will be agreeable. I will look as well as I can, dress becomingly, talk low, act courteously, criticize not one bit，and try not to improve or regulate anybody but myself.

Just for today I will have a program, I may not follow it exactly, but I will have it. I will save myself from two pests: hurry and indecision.

Just for today I will have a quiet half hour all by myself and relax. During this half hour, sometime, I will try to get a better perspective of my life.

Just for today I will be unafraid. Especially I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful，and to believe that as I give to the world, so the world will give to me.

Growth That Starts From Thinking

It seems to me a very difficult thing to put into words the beliefs we hold and what they make you do in your life. I think I was fortunate because I grew up in a family where there was a very deep religious feeling. I don‘t think it was spoken of a great deal. It was more or less taken for granted that everybody held certain beliefs and needed certain reinforcements of their own strength and that that came through your belief in God and your knowledge of prayer.

But as I grew older I questioned a great many of the things that I knew very well my grandmother who had brought me up had taken for granted. And I think I might have been a quite difficult person to live with if it hadn‘t been for the fact that my husband once said it didn‘t do you any harm to learn those things, so why not let your children learn them? When they grow up they‘ll think things out for themselves.

And that gave me a feeling that perhaps that‘s what we all must do—think out for ourselves what we could believe and how we could live by it. And so I came to the conclusion that you had to use this life to develop the very best that you could develop.

I don‘t know whether I believe in a future life. I believe that all that you go through here must have some value, therefore there must be some reason. And there must be some ―going on.‖ How exactly that happens I‘ve never been able to decide. There is a future—that I‘m sure of. But how, that I don‘t know. And I came to feel that it didn‘t really matter very much because whatever the future held you‘d have to face it when you came to it, just as whatever life holds you have to face it exactly the same way. And the important thing was that you never let down doing the best that you were able to do—it might be poor because you might not have very much within you to give, or to help other people with, or to live your life with. But as long as you did the very best that you were able to do, then that was what you were put here to do and that was what you were accomplishing by being here.

And so I have tried to follow that out—and not to worry about the future or what was going to happen. I think I am pretty much of a fatalist. You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give.

Why are you poor?

The most important thing to becoming rich for you is to have a mindset to want to become rich. The reason I saythat is this, is because I wanted to become rich when I played Monopoly, that was, I

was nine years old. The greatest formula for wealth is found on that board game. When I was nine years old my poor dad, the schoolteacher says, ―Ah put that game away. Study, study, study! You're wasting your time playing Monopoly.‖

And my rich dad said the formula, ―You must open your mind and see the formula right on Monopoly.‖ He said, ―It's right in front of you.‖ And I went, ―What's the formula?‖ And finally I learned the formula is, four green houses, red hotel, four green houses, red hotel. Today I'm a rich man because all I ever did since the time I was 24 years old was buy four green houses, sell them all, buy a red hotel, four green houses, red hotel. It is not, that you have to go to school to become rich. Just play Monopoly; four green houses, red hotel. That's it.

You must look at how people before you have become rich. Do not talk to poor people. Poor people will tell you, ―Oh it's too risky. Don‘t do that. Don't take risk. Save your money. Play it safe.‖ That is a poor person's mindset. You must have an open mindset, open. And if you have an open mindset you will learn from everything.If you have a closed mindset you will learn from nothing. So I think that is the most important thing. The difference between money and wealth

No, I don't have a salary. I only had a job four years in my life. I don‘t want a salary. The middle class and poor, what they want is high income. They think they want money. But they have no wealth because they have no assets. You must know the difference between money and wealth but they're not the same same. Money will never make you rich. This makes you rich. I have large companies. I have lots of stocks. I trade options. I have real estate, that's what makes me rich. So the money just comes in whether I work or not.

Bill Gates makes $500,000 a year. That's all. I make more than him. That's all he makes but he's worth 40 billion. I'm trying to tell you there is a very big difference between income, money and wealth. So I have spent my life buying assets, businesses, stocks, real estate, that‘s what makes you rich, not a job. The reason the rich in America get richer is they pass this on to their kids. My poor dad always said, ―High paying job, high paying job, high paying job.‖ And my rich dad said, ―Assets, assets, assets.‖ That's the difference.

To be kind-hearted

One evening, it was raining and the wind was blowing hard. An old couple came to an inn and

prepared to put up for the night (投宿)there. A young man received them with open arms, but said ―I‘m sorry! Our guest rooms here are all full and the inns nearby are all full, too, for there will be an important meeting to be held here tomorrow.‖

Hearing the young man‘s words, the old couple felt very disappointed, and turned around to leave.

Just as they were leaving, the young man came up to them and stopped them: ―Madam and sir, if you don‘t mind, you can sleep in my bedroom for a night…….‖

The next evening, the old couple took out lots of money to give it to the young man, but he refused to take it.

―No！You needn‘t pay me any money, for I only lend my room to you.‖ said the young man with a smile on his face.

―You‘re great, young man! It‘s very kind of you. Maybe one day, I‘ll build a hotel for you!‖ said the old man gratefully.

With these words, the old couple left.

Gazing at their receding figures, the young man only laughed and went on working.

Several years later, the young man suddenly received a letter from the old couple, inviting him to go to Manhattan.

The young man met the old couple in front of a luxury hotel.

―Do you still remember what I said to you several years ago? Look! This is the hotel that I built for you!‖ said the old man.

Soon, the young man became the manager of the hotel.

Draw a leaf for life

In the sickroom, a young girl had lain in bed for almost two months. Beside her was her mother who looked pale.

―Mum, I want to take a look at the scenery outside the window!‖ said the young girl in a low voice. With the help of her mother, she came up to the window and looked out of it, sighing for her lost youth. When the wind was blowing hard, she noticed some leaves falling off a big tree outside the window.

―I am dying! As soon as all the leaves fall down, I will leave the world!......‖ said the young girl. Watching the falling leaves, the young girl couldn‘t‘t help bursting into tears.

From then on, the young girl's illness got worse and worse and she lost more and more color. In November, the girl's illness took a turn for the worse and she refuse the treatment.

The girl's mother was so worried that she asked her friend, who was an artist, for help. The artist had pity on the young girl who was dying and he felt that he must do something to help the girl. In order to save the young girl's life, the artist decided to draw many leaves and hung them on tree branches by stealth.

The young girl was pleased to see that the tree came into leaf again the next day. She began to feel pretty hopeful about her future and began to receive treatment. She made a quick recovery from her illness. Several months later, she was out of hospital.

Extend the Miracle

My skills, my mind, my heart, and my body will stagnate, rot, and die lest I put them to good use. I have unlimited potential. Only a small portion of my brain do I employ; only a paltry amount of my muscles do I flex. A hundredfold or more can I increase my accomplishments of yesterday and this I will do, beginning today.

Nevermore will I be satisfied with yesterday's accomplishments nor will I indulge, anymore, in self-praise for deeds which in reality are too small to even acknowledge. I can accomplish far more than I have, and I will, for why should the miracle which produced me end with my birth? Why can I not extend that miracle to my deeds of today?

And I am not on this earth by chance. I am here for a purpose and that purpose is to grow into a mountain, not to shrink to a grain of sand. Henceforth will I apply all my efforts to become the highest mountain of all and I will strain my potential until it cries for mercy.

I have been given eyes to see and a mind to think and now I know a great secret of life for I perceive, at last, that all my problems, discouragements, heartaches are, in truth, great opportunities in disguise. I will no longer be fooled by the garments they wear for mine eyes are open. I will look beyond the cloth and I will not be deceived.

Think Positive Thoughts Every Day

If your life feels like it is lacking the power that you want and the motivation that you need, sometimes all you have to do is shift your point of view.

Welcome to Faith Radio Online-Simply to Relax, I'm Faith. By training your thoughts to concentrate on the bright side of things, you are more likely to have the incentive to follow through on your goals. You are less likely to be held back by negative ideas that might limit your performance.

Your life can be enhanced, and your happiness enriched, when you choose to change your perspective. Don't leave your future to chance, or wait for things to get better mysteriously on their own. You must go in the direction of your hopes and aspirations. Begin to build your confidence, and work through problems rather than avoid them. Remember that power is not necessarily control over situations, but the ability to deal with whatever comes your way.

Always believe that good things are possible, and remember that mistakes can be lessons that lead to discoveries. Take your fear and transform it into trust; learn to rise above anxiety and doubt. Turn your ―worry hours‖ into ―productive hours‖. Take the energy that you have wasted and direct it toward every worthwhile effort that you can be involved in.

This is Faith at Faith Radio Online-Simply to Relax. You will see beautiful things happen when you allow yourself to experience the joys of life. You will find happiness when you adopt positive thinking into your daily routine and make it an important part of your world.

We're Just Beginning

\"We are reading the first verse of the first chapter of a book whose pages are infinite…‖ I do not know who wrote those words, but I have always liked them as a reminder that the future can be anything we want to make it. We can take the mysterious, hazy future and carve out of it anything that we can imagine, just as a sculptor carves a statue from a shapeless stone.

We are all in the position of the farmer. If we plant a good seed, we reap a good harvest. If our seed is poor and full of weeds, we reap a useless crop. If we plant nothing at all, we harvest nothing at all.

I want the future to be better than the past. I don't want it contaminated by the mistakes and errors with which history is filled. We should all be concerned about the future because that is where we will spend the remainder of our lives.

The past is gone and static. Nothing we can do will change it. The future is before us and dynamic. Everything we do will affect it. Each day brings with it new frontiers, in our homes and in

our business, if we only recognize them. We are just at the beginning of the progress in every field of human endeavor.

Never Give Your Dream

The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled，little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being. She said，―Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I' m eighty－seven years old. Can I give you a hug？‖I laughed and enthusiastically responded，―Of course you may.‖ and she gave me a giant squeeze.

―Why are you in college at such a young，innocent age？‖I asked. She jokingly replied，―I'm here to meet a rich husband，get married，have a couple of children，and then retire and travel.‖ ―No，seriously？‖I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.

―I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one.‖ she told me. After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milk shake We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months, we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this ―time machine‖ as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.

Over the course of the year，Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed up her from the other students. She was living it up. At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I'll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech，she dropped her three by five cards on the floor. Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said，―I'm sorry I'm so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent(一种威士忌的牌子) and this whisky is killing me. I'll never get my speech back in order so let me just t ell you what I know.‖ As we laughed she cleared her throat and began：―We do not stop playing because we are old；we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young，being happy，and achieving success.‖

―You have to laugh and find humor every day.‖

―You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams，you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead an d don't even know it.‖

―There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing，you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty－seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty－eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change.‖

―Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did，but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.‖

She concluded her speech by courageously singing ―The Rose.‖ She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives.

At the year's end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years a go. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep.

Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be.

Remember，growing older is mandatory，growing up is optional。

Don't work for money

The world is filled with smart, talented, educated and gifted people. We meet them every day. A few days ago, my car was not running well. I pulled it into a garage, and the young mechanic had it fixed in just a few minutes. He knew what was wrong by simply listening to the engine. I was amazed. The sad truth is, great talent is not enough.

I am constantly shocked at how little talented people earn. I heard the other day that less than 5 percent of Americans earn more than $100,000 a year. A business consultant who specializes in the medical trade was telling me how many doctors, dentists and chiropractors struggle financially. All this time, I thought that when they graduated, the dollars would pour in. It was this business consultant who gave me the phrase, ―They are one skill away from great wealth.‖ What this phrase means is that most people need only to learn and master one more skill and their income would jump exponentially. I have mentioned before that financial intelligence is a synergy of accounting,

investing, marketing and law. Combine those four technical skills and making money with money is easier. When it comes to money, the only skill most people know is to work hard.

When I graduated from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in 1969, my educated dad was happy. Standard Oil of California had hired me for its oil-tanker fleet. I had a great career ahead of me, yet I resigned after six months with the company and joined the Marine Corps to learn how to fly. My educated dad was devastated. Rich dad congratulated me.

Job security meant everything to my educated dad. Learning meant everything to my rich dad. Educated dad thought I went to school to learn to be a ship's officer. Rich dad knew that I went to school to study international trade. So as a student, I made cargo runs, navigating large freighters, oil tankers and passenger ships to the Far East and the South Pacific. While most of my classmates, including Mike, were partying at their fraternity houses, I was studying trade, people and cultures in Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Korea and the Philippines. I also was partying, but it was not in any frat house. I grew up rapidly.

There is an old cliché that goes, ―Job is an acronym for 'Just Over Broke.‗‖ And unfortunately, I would say that the saying applies to millions of people. Because school does not think financial intelligence is intelligence, most workers ―live within their means.‖ They work and they pay the bills. Instead I recommend to young people to seek work for what they will learn, more than what they will earn. Look down the road at what skills they want to acquire before choosing a specific profession and before getting trapped in the ―Rat Race‖. Once people are trapped in the lifelong process of bill paying, they become like those little hamsters running around in those little metal wheels.Their little furry legs are spinning furiously, the wheel is turning furiously, but come tomorrow morning, they'll still be in the same cage: great job.

When I ask the classes I teach, ―How many of you can cook a better hamburger than McDonald's?‖， almost all the students raise their hands. I then ask, ―So if most of you can cook a better hamburger, how come McDonald's makes more money than you?‖ The answer is obvious: McDonald's is excellent at business systems. The reason so many talented people are poor is because they focus on building a better hamburger and know little or nothing about business systems. The world is filled with talented poor people. All too often, they're poor or struggle financially or earn less than they are capable of, not because of what they know but because of what they do not know. They focus on perfecting their skills at building a better hamburger rather than the skills of selling and delivering the hamburger.

Honesty

I believe honesty is one of the greatest gifts there is. I know they call it a lot of fancy names these days, like integrity and forthrightness. But it doesn't make any difference what they call it; it's still what makes a man a good citizen. This is my code, and I try to live by.

I've been in the taxicab business for thirty-five years, and I know there is a lot about it that is not so good. Taxicab drivers have to be rough and tumble fellows to be able to take it in New York. You've got to be tough to fight the New York traffic eight hours a day, these days. Because taxi drivers are tough, people get the wrong impression that they are bad. Taxi drivers are just like other people. Most of them will shake down as honest fellows. You read in the papers almost every week where a taxi driver turns in money or jewels or bonds, stuff like that, people leave in their cabs. If they weren't honest, you wouldn't be reading those stories in the papers.

One time in Brooklyn, I found an emerald ring in my cab. I remembered helping a lady with a lot of bundles that day, so I went back to where I had dropped her off. It took me almost two days to trace her down in order to return her ring to her. I didn't get as much as ―thank you.‖ Still, I felt good because I had done what was right. I think I felt better than she did.

I was born and raised in Ireland and lived there until I was nineteen years old. I came to this country in 1913 where I held several jobs to earn a few dollars before enlisting in World War Number I. After being discharged, I bought my own cab and have owned one ever since. It hasn't been too easy at times, but my wife takes care of our money and we have a good bit put away for a rainy day.

When I first started driving a cab, Park Avenue was mostly a bunch of coal yards. Hoofer's Brewery was right next to where the Waldorf-Astoria is now. I did pretty well, even in those days.

In all my years of driving a taxicab, I have never had any trouble with the public, not even with drunks. Even if they get a little headstrong once in a while, I just agree with them and then they behave themselves.

People ask me about tips. As far as I know, practically everyone will give you something. Come to think of it, most Americans are pretty generous. I always try to be nice to everyone, whether they tip or not. I believe in God and try to be a good member of my parish. I try to act toward others like I think God wants me to act. I have been trying this for a long time, and the longer I try, the easier it gets.

A Shining Day Will Come

by Saul K Padover

A candid statement of faith becomes, for me, a concentrated spiritual autobiography. My fundamental beliefs are the products of three converging influences that have been silently at work within my personality: history, America, and Jefferson.

As a student of history, I have been impressed again and again by man‘s potentialities for good and evil. I spent my childhood in Vienna. The atmosphere of the dying Austrian Empire made me sensitive to comparative politics and history. Gradually the conviction grew in me that man everywhere, regardless of race or region or climate, is his own worst enemy or best friend. By and large, human beings themselves create their own heavens or hells. They do so because, of all the creatures on Earth, they alone have the intelligence and imagination to change their environment. My first American home was Detroit. This great middle-western metropolis, the very essence of 20th century American industrialism, stimulated my imagination. From the inspiring history of America, I have learned what good will, intelligence, and creative application can accomplish. It is one of my beliefs that the opportunities of social and human well being in America are still inexhaustible.

And this brings me to Thomas Jefferson. His influence on my spiritual and intellectual life has been continuous and pervasive. I think I know by now every word he has ever written. I feel inside me the very rhythm of his thought. His life and personality have been, to me, sources of spiritual strength and inspiration. Jefferson never failed me in any crisis.

What I learned from him, in brief, has been an abiding faith in human potentialities. I would call this the ―religion of democratic humanism.‖ Following Jefferson‘s optimistic faith, despite examples of horrors and bloodshed in recent times, I believe that man can and should be kind and just to his fellows; that man can and should strive for constant spiritual and social improvement and to keep the avenues of opportunity always open for himself and his fellow men. To state it negatively, I believe with all my heart that cruelty, injustice, and intolerance are social crimes that should be punished as severely as physical ones.

It is a cardinal article of faith with me that there is no limit to what men in society can achieve. In this context, I believe that the good, just, and happy life cannot be accomplished in any society

where power, political or economic, is monopolized in the hands of a single person or single group. I hold, with Jefferson, that only inside a democratic society, even if it is imperfect, can human beings make a successful effort to attain happiness.

And finally, I believe that all these human goals are attainable by men of all races and creeds; and that, if we use our social intelligence and the ample tools of science, a day will come when there is no bloodshed, hatred, and diseases, and no slums and no poverty, and no destructive fears of the unknown.

How to Refill an Empty Life

by Albert J Nesbitt

One day about fifteen years ago I suddenly came face to face with myself and realized there was something quite empty about my life. My friends and associates perhaps didn‘t see it. By the generally accepted standards, I was ―successful,‖ I was head of a prosperous manufacturing concern and led what is usually referred to as an ―active‖ life, both socially and in business. But it didn‘t seem to me to be adding up to anything. I was going around in circles. I worked hard, played hard, and pretty soon I discovered I was hitting the highballs harder than I needed. I wasn‘t a candidate for Alcoholics Anonymous, but to be honest with myself I had to admit I was drinking more than was good for me. It may have been out of sheer boredom.

I began to wonder what to do. It occurred to me that I might have gotten myself too tightly wrapped up in my job, to the sacrifice of the basic but non-materialistic values of life. It struck me abruptly that I was being quite selfish, that my major interest in people was in what they meant to me, what they represented as business contacts or employees, not what I might mean to them. I remembered that as my mother sent me to Sunday school as a boy, and encouraged me to sing in the church choir, she used to tell me that the value of what she called a good Christian background was in having something to tie to. I put in a little thought recalling the Golden Rule and some of the other first principles of Christianity. I began to get interested in YMCA work.

It happened that just at this time we were having some bitter fights with the union at our plant. Then one day it occurred to me: What really is their point of view, and why? I began to see a basis for their suspicions, their often chip-on-shoulder point of view, and I determined to do something about it.

We endeavored to apply—literally apply—Christian principles to our dealing with employees,

to practice, for example, something of the Golden Rule. The men‘s response, once they were convinced we were sincere, was remarkable. The effort has paid for its pains, and I don‘t mean in dollars. I mean in dividends of human dignity, of a man‘s pride in his job and in the company, knowing that he is no longer just a cog but a live personal part of it and that it doesn‘t matter whether he belongs to a certain church or whether the pigmentation of his skin is light or dark. But I can speak with most authority on how this change of attitude affected me and my personal outlook on life. Perhaps, again, many of my friends did not notice the difference. But I noticed it. That feeling of emptiness, into which I was pouring cocktails out of boredom, was filling up instead with a purpose: to live a full life with an awareness and appreciation of other people. I do not pretend for a second that I have suddenly become a paragon. My faults are still legion and I know them.

But it seems to me better to have a little religion and practice it than think piously and do nothing about it. I feel better adjusted, more mature than I ever have in my life before. I have no fear. I say this not boastfully but in all humility. The actual application of Christian principles has changed my life.

One Girl Changed My Life

by Rose Resnick

My childhood and adolescence were a joyous outpouring of energy, a ceaseless quest for expression, skill, and experience. School was only a background to the supreme delight of lessons in music, dance, and dramatics, and the thrill of sojourns in the country, theaters, concerts. And books, big Braille books that came with me on streetcars, to the table, and to bed. Then one night at a high school dance, a remark, not intended for my ears, stabbed my youthful bliss: ―That girl, what

a pity she is blind.‖ Blind! That ugly word that implied everything dark, blank, rigid, and helpless. Quickly I turned and called out, Please don‘t feel sorry for me, I‘m having lots of fun. But the fun was not to last.

With the advent of college, I was brought to grips with the problem of earning a living. Part-time teaching of piano and harmony and, upon graduation, occasional concerts and lectures, proved only partial sources of livelihood. In terms of time and effort involved, the financial remuneration was disheartening. This induced within me searing self-doubt and dark moods of

despondency. Adding to my dismal sense of inadequacy was the repeated experience of seeing my sisters and friends go off to exciting dates. How grateful I was for my piano, where—through Chopin, Brahms, and Beethoven—I could mingle my longing and seething energy with theirs. And where I could dissolve my frustration in the beauty and grandeur of their conceptions.

Then one day, I met a girl, a wonderful girl, an army nurse, whose faith and stability were to change my whole life. As our acquaintance ripened into friendship, she discerned, behind a shell of gaiety, my recurring plateaus of depression. She said, ―Stop knocking on closed doors. Keep up your beautiful music. I know your opportunity will come. You‘re trying too hard. Why don‘t you relax, and have you ever tried praying?‖

The idea was strange to me. It sounded too simple. Somehow, I had always operated on the premise that, if you wanted something in this world, you had to go out and get it for yourself. Yet, sincerity and hard work had yielded only meager returns, and I was willing to try anything. Experimentally, self-consciously, I cultivated the daily practice of prayer. I said: God, show me the purpose for which You sent me to this world. Help me to be of use to myself and to humanity.

In the years to follow, the answers began to arrive, clear and satisfying beyond my most optimistic anticipation. One of the answers was Enchanted Hills, where my nurse friend and I have the privilege of seeing blind children come alive in God‘s out-of-doors. Others are the never-ending sources of pleasure and comfort I have found in friendship, in great music, and, most important of all, in my growing belief that as I attune my life to divine revelation, I draw closer to God and, through Him, to immortality.

Free Minds and Hearts at Work

by Jackie Robinson

At the beginning of the World Series of 1947, I experienced a completely new emotion, when the National Anthem was played. This time, I thought, it is being played for me, as much as for anyone else. This is organized major league baseball, and I am standing here with all the others; and everything that takes place includes me.

About a year later, I went to Atlanta, Georgia, to play in an exhibition game. On the field, for the first time in Atlanta, there were Negroes and whites. Other Negroes, besides me. And I thought: What I have always believed has come to be.

And what is it that I have always believed? First, that imperfections are human. But that wherever human beings were given room to breathe and time to think, those imperfections would disappear, no matter how slowly. I do not believe that we have found or even approached perfection. That is not necessarily in the scheme of human events. Handicaps, stumbling blocks, prejudices—all of these are imperfect. Yet, they have to be reckoned with because they are in the scheme of human events.

Whatever obstacles I found made me fight all the harder. But it would have been impossible for me to fight at all, except that I was sustained by the personal and deep-rooted belief that my fight had a chance. It had a chance because it took place in a free society. Not once was I forced to face and fight an immovable object. Not once was the situation so cast-iron rigid that I had no chance at all. Free minds and human hearts were at work all around me; and so there was the probability of improvement. I look at my children now, and know that I must still prepare them to meet obstacles and prejudices.

But I can tell them, too, that they will never face some of these prejudices because other people have gone before them. And to myself I can say that, because progress is unalterable, many of today‘s dogmas will have vanished by the time they grow into adults. I can say to my children: There is a chance for you. No guarantee, but a chance.

And this chance has come to be, because there is nothing static with free people. There is no Middle Ages logic so strong that it can stop the human tide from flowing forward. I do not believe that every person, in every walk of life, can succeed in spite of any handicap. That would be perfection. But I do believe—and with every fiber in me—that what I was able to attain came to be because we put behind us (no matter how slowly) the dogmas of the past: to discover the truth of today; and perhaps find the greatness of tomorrow.

I believe in the human race. I believe in the warm heart. I believe in man‘s integrity. I believe in the goodness of a free society. And I believe that the society can remain good only as long as we are willing to fight for it—and to fight against whatever imperfections may exist.

My fight was against the barriers that kept Negroes out of baseball. This was the area where I found imperfection, and where I was best able to fight. And I fought because I knew it was not doomed to be a losing fight. It couldn‘t be a losing fight—not when it took place in a free society. And; in the largest sense, I believe that what I did was done for me—that it was my faith in God that sustained me in my fight. And that what was done for me must and will be done for others.

Don't Step Out of Character

By Virginia Sal

A plane flying from Chicago to New York, my seat companion was a young girl who gave me a friendly smile as I sat beside her, but whose young face showed great sadness. Hesitantly, she told me she was on her way to the funeral of her seventeen-year-old brother, had been Wiled in Korea. She also told me that her only other relatives were two brothers, both in the service, and that they had loss their eldest brother in the war in Europe. I wanted to say something to comfort her ... I felt so useless. ... All I could say was \"I'm so sorry.\" And I thought, \"Just what can I do to help bring order and hope into the world today?\" And the thought came to me, \"I can pray and my prayers will tune in with other sincere prayers to create a mighty force for good and for peace in the world.\" As a girl I was fortunate in having old-fashioned, religious parents and I often think of the old hymn my good father sang so lustily as I stood beside him in church, \"I need Thee every hour As I'v grown older my philosophy has changed in a way. I don't think of God now as an old man with a long gray beard sitting up on a throne I believe in a practical religion. What good is it unless I can use it that help solve my daily problems, large or small?

I am grateful for what I consider the most worthwhile things my life a happy marriage, a good husband, and a son and daughter who become ininitely finer as they grow up. Success in my theatrical career has come second to these. However, no matter what my material blessings may be, I realize that my happiness must come from within myself. I can't get back anything I don't give out. Anybody knows a sure cure for the blues is to get out and do something nice for someone else. I have had a wonderful opportunity, on my tours with my one woman show, to meet fine, good people in every one of the seven hundred towns I've played. From them I know that good people predominate in every part of this country.

I love my work. I believe that laughter is a great sou! cleanser, and I pray that my audiences may somehow be better off for having seen my show. I believe in blessing everything and everybody along the way. Sometimes I may have let stage fright and nerves rob me and my audience of my best performance. I have failed if I haven't beforehand blessed everyone in my audience, everyone backstage, and,

when I'm working in television, radio or motion pictures, everyone in the studio my fellow

actors and the director and technicians. I admire their courage, their goodhearted generous qualities. What do I mean by \"blessing\"? Well, I first have a deep sense of gratitude to an audience, and a feeling of good will and good wishes, so that I know there is complete harmony between them and me, and I know they will like me because I really like them that we will tune in together.

My late brother, the great character actor and comedian, Charles \"Chic\" Sale, said to me one time we were talking about spiritual things and about being perfect channels for expression: \"The thing to do, kiddo, is to stay in character be God's child.\" And I try never to forget this.

I Do a Lot of Office Fishing

by Richard Salmon

Some years ago, I started to look at the stars through high-powered binoculars and began reading books written by astronomers for people like me. I became an entranced stargazer for a while.

The men who have learned as much as we know about the universe point out that the sun is an insignificant, moderately hot star in a nebula where it is fixed. The Milky Way, which I have always wanted to spell ―w-h-e-y,‖ is composed of our brothers and sisters, and we are all moving around a central hub. And the hub is moving toward some place, I don‘t know where. My brothers and sisters are numbered in billions of billions, and our galaxy itself is one of many, many…how many, I don‘t know.

Our sun is so small and our earth, its offspring, is so tiny that when I think of the magnitude, I think of what O. Henry described as a ―Statue of What‘s the Use.‖

What difference does it make that I exist? What possible influence can I make, or my nation make, or a world make?

Where am I going on this ride and does it make any sense? Who‘s the boss and what‘s He got in mind?

That‘s what I got to thinking…it‘s all too big, too inevitable, too uncontrollable, and if I think about it with my eyes closed, it‘s a pretty pessimistic picture.

Then one day I saw a hunting dog in the woods, an English setter flecked with black. His tail tangled with dock burs. This is a common occurrence to guys like me. I always want to stop and pull out the burs. But this time, out of nowhere, came the realization that this bounding, healthy dog

was performing an important job: the job of transporting seeds that were constructed for the very purpose of hitchhiking. The fluff of milkweed sails on the wind to start a new colony miles from its original parent. This dog and its tangle of dock burs are all part of a plan. And so am I.

I believe the plan on this small, lonely earth is to make the best of it—a policy that is becoming increasingly more difficult as the number of human beings increases.

When I came to New York many years ago, I found that in big cities people live faster and decide things quicker than country folk. They have to, in order to survive in the struggle for existence.

Several times a week I slug it out with city dwellers for a place in the subway. They seem a bad lot. But when I pass a city dweller on a trout stream I find he‘s just like other people. He‘ll speak to me with interest, even warmth. He will ask me how many trout I‘ve taken, what fly was successful. And I break down and tell him, and point out that perhaps the black gnat he‘s using is too large. I have tried to make the best of it by doing a lot of office fishing, some front porch fishing, and some quiet mulling about the magnificent things such as dock burs and remote stars. What‘s more, I have found it fun; fun that has brought me a lot of happiness, a lot of contentment, and a lot of peace.

Suffering Is Self-Manufactured by Leon J Saul

I believe the immediate purpose of life is to live, to survive. All known forms of life go through life cycles. The basic plan is birth, maturing, mating, reproducing, death. Thus, the immediate purpose of human life is for each individual to fulfill his life cycle. This involves proper maturing into the fully developed adult of the species. The pine tree grows straight unless harmful influences warp it. So does the human being.

It is a finding of the greatest significance that the mature man and woman have the nature and characteristics of the good spouse and parent, namely the ability to enjoy, responsible, working, and loving. If the world consisted primarily of mature persons—loving, responsible, productive toward family, friends, and the world—most of our human problems would be resolved.

But most people have suffered in childhood from influences which have warped their development. Hence, as adults, they have not realized their full and proper nature. They feel

something is wrong without knowing what it is. They feel inferior, frustrated, insecure, and anxious. And they react to these inner feelings just as any animal reacts to any hurt or threat: by a readiness to fight or to flee. Flight carries them into alcoholism and other mental disorders. Fight impels them to crime, cruelty, and war. This readiness to violence, this inhumanity of man to man, is the basic problem of human life, for in the form of war, it now threatens to extinguish us.

Without the fight/flight reaction, man would never have survived the cave and the jungle. But now, through social living, man has made himself relatively safe from the elements and the wild beasts. He is even learning to protect himself against disease. He can produce adequate food, clothing, and shelter for the present population of the Earth. Barring a possible astronomical accident, he now faces no serious threat to his existence, except one: the fight/flight reaction within himself.

This jungle readiness to hurt and to kill is now a vestigial hangover, like the appendix, which interferes with the new and more powerful means of coping with nature through civilization. Trying to solve every problem by fighting or fleeing is the primitive method still central for the immature child. The later method—understanding and cooperation—requires the mature capacities of the adult. In an infantile world, fighting may be forced upon one. Then it is more effective if handled maturely for mature goals. Probably war will cease only when enough persons are mature. The basic problem is social adaptation and biologic survival. The basic solution is for people to understand the nature of their own biological, emotional maturity, to work toward it to help the children in their development toward it. Human suffering is mostly made by man himself. It is primarily the result of the failure of adults, because of improper child rearing, to mature emotionally. Hence, instead of enjoying their capacities for responsible work and love, they are grasping, egocentric, insecure, frustrated, anxious, and hostile.

Maturity is the path from madness and murder to inner peace and satisfying living for each individual and for the human species. This I believe on the evidence of science and through personal observation and experience.

I Never Stopped Believing

by Eva Saxl

I believe that it is important to be brought up with a firm belief in the good. I was fortunate in

this respect. My parents not only gave me a happy home, but they had me study half a dozen foreign languages and made it possible for me to travel in other countries. This made me more tolerant and helped me to bridge many difficulties in later life.

Soon after I had married, my husband and I left our native Czechoslovakia and went to live in Shanghai, China. Here was a really international city. People of all races and creeds lived and worked together. As everywhere, there were good and bad people. I found out that most people are kind and good. But in the Orient, one cannot always be certain. Many people do not show their true character openly. Often it is difficult to strike the chord that will get a harmonious response. But when we spoke Chinese, we could strike these chords. In return, the Chinese taught us much about their philosophy of life.

In Shanghai, in 1941, when I was only twenty years old, the doctors discovered that I had diabetes. It was a terrible shock, because diabetes is incurable. But it can be controlled by insulin. Although this drug was not manufactured in China, there were ample stocks of imported insulin available. This enabled me to continue a normal, happy life.

Then bombs fell on Pearl Harbor and the Japanese occupied Shanghai. The import of insulin was cut off. Before long, there was not enough for the diabetics. I was on a starvation diet to keep my insulin requirements as low as possible. But my meager supplies soon scraped bottom. Many diabetics had already died, and the situation became desperate. Throughout all of it, I never stopped believing that with the help of God and my husband‘s love and care, I would survive.

I continued to teach in Chinese schools. My faith and my husband‘s never-ending efforts to get the manufacture of insulin started gave me courage. Buffalo pancreas was secured, and in a small laboratory the production of insulin was attempted. I served as the human guinea pig on which it was tested. I‘ll never forget the day when my husband gave me the first injection of the new insulin, which had worked on rabbits. It helped! Can you imagine our happiness and relief?

But there were still other things to worry about. Tropical diseases, inflation, and the Japanese military. Oh yes, also American B-29s. Once, they hit the power plant and cut off our electricity. Without it, no insulin could be made. These were difficult times indeed!

Besides my trust in God, I derived the greatest strength from the deep love and complete understanding between my husband and me. And next to that was the kindness and help of many, many friends of many nationalities. Even some Japanese civilians, although their country was at war with us, helped whenever they could.

To me, who lived under enemy occupation, freedom has a special meaning. My dreams came true when we were sailing toward the United States, where life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are the rights of every human being.

Therefore, this country—of people from many lands—has so quickly become my cherished home. In it, I believe.

A Reporter Quotes His Sources

by William L Shirer

It‘s rather difficult in these noisy, confusing, nerve-racking days to achieve the peace of mind in which to pause for a moment to reflect on what you believe in. There‘s so little time and opportunity to give it much thought—though it is the thing we live by; and without it, without beliefs, human existence today would hardly be bearable.

My own view of life, like everyone else‘s, is conditioned by personal experience. In my own case, there were two experiences, in particular, which helped to shape my beliefs: years of life and work under a totalitarian regime, and a glimpse of war.

Living in a totalitarian land taught me to value highly—and fiercely—the very things the dictators denied: tolerance, respect for others and, above all, the freedom of the human spirit. A glimpse of war filled me with wonder not only at man‘s courage and capacity for self-sacrifice, but at his stubborn, marvelous will to preserve, to endure, to prevail—amidst the most incredible savagery and suffering. When you saw people—civilians—who where bombed out, or who, worse, had been hounded in the concentration camps or worked to a frazzle in the slave-labor gangs—when you saw them come out of these ordeals of horror and torture, still intact as human beings, with a will to go on, with a faith still in themselves, in their fellow man, and in God, you realized that man was indestructible. You appreciated, too, that despite the corruption and cruelty of life, man somehow managed to retain great virtues: love, honor, courage, self-sacrifice, compassion. It filled you with a certain pride just to be a member of the human race. It renewed your belief in your fellow men.

Of course, there are many days (in this Age of Anxiety) when a human being feels awfully low and discouraged. I myself find consolation at such moments by two means: trying to develop a sense of history, and renewing the quest for inner life.

I go back, for example, to reading Plutarch. He reminds you that even in the golden days of Greece and Rome, from which so much that is splendid in our own civilization derives, there was a great deal of what we find so loathsome in life today: war, strife, corruption, treason, double-crossing, intolerance, tyranny, rabble-rousing. Reading history thus gives you perspective. It enables you to see your troubles relatively. You don‘t take them so seriously then.

Finally, I find that most true happiness comes from one‘s inner life; from the disposition of the mind and soul. Admittedly, a good inner life is difficult to achieve, especially in these trying times. It takes reflection and contemplation. And self-discipline. One must be honest with oneself, and that‘s not easy. (You have to have patience and understanding. And, when you can, seek God.) But the reward of having an inner life, which no outside storm or evil turn of fortune can touch, is, it seems to me, a very great one.

You Have to Water the Plant by Leland Stowe

For the things I believe in, I must give a reporter‘s answer. Like everyone else, it‘s out of my own experience. For twenty-four years I‘ve been up to my neck in the world‘s troubles; meeting people in dozens of foreign countries; watching other nations drift into war—and America too. It‘s convinced me that one of the most important things in life, for every one of us, is understanding—trying to see the other fellow‘s point of view. I‘ve often thought: If I could really put myself in the other person‘s shoes, see things the way he sees them, feel what he feels, how much more tolerant and fair I‘d be.

I remember, back in the twenties, the bitter arguments between Europeans and Americans about reducing the war debts. I had to explain what the Europeans felt, and why. I learned then that there‘s almost always some right, and some wrong, on both sides. We didn‘t think enough about ours. When lack of understanding becomes pronounced, it leads to hatred and war. But it‘s like that in our daily life, too. If I talk disparagingly about any racial group, I promote hatred—dissension in our society. I haven‘t thought how I would feel if I belonged to that group.

In Berlin I saw Hitler‘s thugs beating up helpless Jews. Then, back home, sometimes I heard people say: ―Well, it‘s their affair.‖ They forgot that freedom and fair play belong to all human beings—not to lucky Americans only. They forgot that people are people—of whatever creed, color,

or nationality. I remember the poor Spanish and Greek peasants who shared their bread and cheese with me—all they had; the old Russian woman who made me take her bed, while she slept on the floor. So many simple people who couldn‘t speak my language but spoke with their hearts. One of the happiest things in my life is this: My best friends are like a roster of the United Nations—Europeans, Asians, Latin Americans, North Americans—just people, from all over the world. The best part is discovering how much we have in common; the constant reminder that friendship has no national barriers, the knowledge that all kinds of people really can understand each other.

We all have to live in this world, but we are all a mixture of good and bad. But I‘ve found more of the good than the bad in most people—in every country. I think you only have to look— Understanding is a flower blossoming. But you have to water the plant. Then, when it blossoms, what a wonderful feeling! You feel that way when you make a new friend. I guess understanding really is charity and love. I know it gives a new meaning to our lives. When I die, I wish people might say: ―He helped people to understand each other better.‖ Of course, I often fail. But just trying makes living seem worthwhile.

Growing in the Middle Ground

by Anne Phipps

I believe that my beliefs are changing. Nothing is positive. Perhaps I‘m in a stage of metamorphosis, which will one day have me emerging complete, sure of everything. Perhaps, I shall spend my life searching.

Until this winter, I believed in outward things, in beauty as I found it in nature and art. Beauty past—swift and sure—from the outside to the inside, bringing intense emotion. I felt a formless faith when I rode through summerwoods, when I heard the counterpoint of breaking waves, when I held a flower in my hand.

There was the same inspiration from art, here and there in flashes; in seeing for the first time the delicacy of a green jade vase, or the rich beauty of a rug; in hearing a passage of music played almost perfectly; in watching Markov dance Giselle; most of all, in reading. Other people‘s creations, their sensitivity to emotion, color, sound, their feeling for form, instructed me. The necessity for beauty, I found to be the highest good, the human soul‘s greatest gift. But there were

moments when I wasn‘t sure. There was an emptiness inside, which beauty could not fill. This winter, I came to college. The questions put to me changed. Lists of facts—and who dragged whom how many times around the walls of what—lost importance. Instead, I was asked eternal question: what is beauty, what is truth, what is God? I talked about faith with other students. I read St. Augustine and Tolstoy. I wondered if I hadn‘t been worshipping around the edges. Nature and art were the edges, and inner faith was the center. I discovered—really discovered—that I had a soul.

Just sitting in the sun one day, I realized the shattering meaning of St. Augustine‘s statement that, ―The sun and the moon, all the wonders of nature, are not God‘s first works but second to spiritual works.‖ I had, up till then, perceived spiritual beauty only through the outward. It had come into me. Now I am groping towards an inner, spiritual consciousness that will be able to go out from me. I am lost in the middle ground. I‘m learning.

I Live Four Lives at a Time

by Alice Thompson

Everyone who has past his first few birthdays has some kind of guideline or things in which he believes. Its hard to put them in words that mean anything. I live a life of four dimensions—a wife, a mother, a worker, an individual in society. Diversified roles, yes; but they are well knit by two major forces: an attempt to discover, understand, and accept other human beings; and a belief in my responsibility toward others. The first began in my childhood when my father and I acted out Shakespeare. He refused to let me merely parrot Hamlet‘s brooding soliloquy, Lady Macbeth‘s sleepwalking scene, or Cardinal Woolsey‘s self-analysis. He made a fascinating game of helping me understand the motivations behind the poetic words.

In college, a professor further sparked this passionate curiosity about the essence of others and, by his example, transmuted it into a deep concern, a sense of responsibility that sprang not from stern Calvinistic principles, but from an awareness of all I received—and must repay with gladness. I believe this acceptance, this tenderness one has for others, is impossible without an acceptance of self. Just when or where I learned that the full quota of human weakness and strength was the common property of each of us, I don‘t know. But somewhere in my late twenties, I grew able to admit my own drives—and, rid of the anguished necessity of re-costuming them, I was free

to face them, and recognize that they were neither unique nor uncontrollable.

The rich and happy life I lead every day brings new witness to the validity of my own philosophy, for me. Certainly it works in marriage. Any real marriage is a constant understanding and acceptance, coupled with mutual responsibility for one another‘s happiness. Each day I go out strengthened by the knowledge that I am loved and love.

In the mother-child relationship, those same two forces apply. Words are useless to describe my efforts to know my own children. But my great debt to them for their understanding of me is one I have often failed to repay. How can I overvalue a youngster with the thoughtfulness, the imagination to always phone when a late arrival might cause worry? To always know how to reassure. How can I repay the one who dashed into adulthood far too young but has carried all of its burden with a firm, joyous spirit?

My job itself is a reaffirmation of that by which I live. Very early in my working life, I was a small cog in a big firm. Emerging from a tiny job, I found a strange frightening world. Superficially, everyone was friendly. But beneath the surface were raging suspicion, distrust; the hand ever ready to ward off—or deliver—the knife in the back. For years I thought I was in a world of monstrous people. Then I began to know the company‘s president. What he had been I have no way of knowing. But at seventy, he was suspicious, distrusting, sure that no one was telling him the truth. He had developed a technique of pitting all of us against each other. Able to see the distortion he caused, I youthfully declared that if I every ran a business, it would be on the reverse principle. For the last two years, I have had that opportunity, and had the joy of watching people—widely different people, too—learn to understand each other, accept each other, feel mutually responsible. My trials and errors have really synthesized into one great belief, which is that I am not alone in my desire to reach my fellow man. I believe the human race is inherently cooperative and concerned about its brother.

Baseball Has a Religion Too

by Joe Williams

There is a saying at the race track that you can't \"rule a man off for trying.\" I believe in this approach to life on this earth. I believe in God. I believe in my country. I believe in basic human

decency. I believe there is a right and a wrong way to do things. If I were asked to define Americanism-what made our country what it is to date- I would say it was the American's willingness and ambition to stand on his own two feet. I keep a box score on every baseball game I cover. There is a credit column in which hits are recorded and there is a debit column in which errors are listed. These are often deceptive. They will give hits to a batter who has been lucky and they will charge errors against a fielder who has been unlucky. This is a small mirror of life itself. These things over a long run even up just as they do in life.

I've seen shortstops make errors on plays another shortstop would not even try to make. He had his record in mind. The shortstop who made the errors had the team's success in mind. He was willing to sacrifice his personal record in the greater interest of the team's success. There is a kind of religion in that attitude.

I've often wondered how it would be, how it would affect the lives of our people if we all kept a daily box score on ourselves. As a matter of fact, I believe in sports as a way of life. It was Wellington who said battles are won on the playing fields of Eton. I believe it can be stated with equal truth that the principles of decent citizenship are born on the sand lots of Bass River, Massachusetts, Peoria, Illinois, and Southgate, California.

That's where our youngsters first see the religion of sports, if 1 may be permitted the term, in actual use. They learn about fair play, sportsmanship and working together in a common cause. And because they frequently learn by ugly contrast, their instincts and the early teachings they got from their parents are sharpened against unfair practices, bullyragging and swell-headedness.

Not too long ago I had what was apparently a narrow escape from death. I was the last passenger out of a burning plane, the crash of which had instantly killed the pilot. I believe I am a physical coward, but singularly I felt no fear when I came to and began to seek a way to safety. Maybe I was still stunned, but I was completely composed. I did not pray, though I believe in prayer. I did not think of my family, though I am devoted to my family. I was neither sure I would escape nor that I would perish. I was, I suppose, completely resigned to whatever fate awaited me. They have another saying around the race tracks-\"The red board is up.\" This means the race is over, the result is final, and there's nothing anybody can do about it. It has gone into the records. I believe that somehow much of the philosophy of the people I live with has rubbed off on me. I don't know whether this is good or bad. All I know is that is how it is with me and I've lived a happy life and I hope a reasonably decent one according to my lights.

I Don`t Play to the Grandstand

By Bobby Doerr

It seems to me that what any man's beliefs are depends upon how he spends his life. I've spent a good part of mine as a professional baseball player and the game that I play for a living is naturally a very important thing to me. I've learned a lot of things on the baseball diamond about living -- things that have made me happier and, I hope, a better person.

I've found that when I make a good play and take my pitcher off the hook, it's just natural for me to feel better than if I made a flashy play that doesn't do anything except make me look good for the grandstands. It works the same way off the ball field, too. Doing a good turn for a neighbor, a friend, or even a stranger gives me much more satisfaction than doing something that helps only myself. It's as if all people were my teammates in this world and things that make me closer to them are good, and things that make me draw away from them are bad.

Another belief very important to me is that I am only as good as my actual performance proves that I am. If I cannot deliver, then my name and reputation don't mean a thing. I thought of this when in the season of 1951 I told my team that I would not play in 1952. I reached this decision because I realized that I wouldn't be able to give my best performance to the people who would pay my salary by coming through the turnstiles. I don't see how anyone can feel right about success or fame that is unearned. For me, most of the satisfaction in any praise I receive comes from the feeling that it is the reward for a real effort I have made.

Many ball players talk a lot about luck and figure that it is responsible for their successes and failures, on and off the field. Some of them even carry around a rabbit's foot and other good-luck charms, or they have superstitions they go through to make sure things going the way they want them to. I've never been able to go along with people who believe that way. I've got a feeling that there's something deeper and more important behind the things that happen to me and whether they turn out good or bad. It seems to me that many of the things which some people credit to luck are the results of Divine assistance. I can't imagine an all-wise, all-powerful God that isn't interested in the things I do in my life. Believing this makes me always want to act in such a way as to deserve the things that the Lord will do for me.

Maybe that's the most important thing of all. Doing good in order to deserve good. A lot of

wonderful things have happened to me in my lifetime. I've had a long, rewarding career in organized baseball. The fans have been swell to me, and I've always liked my teammates. But what really matters is that I've got just about the best folks that anyone could ask for. Doing what I can to make things more pleasant for my father and mother, and for my wife and our son has been one of the things I have enjoyed most because it seems to be a way for me to pay back something of what I owe them for all the encouragement and pleasure they've given me.

I guess the best way to sum it all up is that I'm happy to be around and I'd like to be able to make other people glad of it, too.

Maxis's Recipe for Happiness

by Meredith Willson

I guess the creed of all human beings embraces the desire to leave their mark on the moral world, when they pass to the immortal one. Maybe this is even the strongest of all urges of the human soul. Many men feel a fervent need to leave a son to carry on their name; noncreative people envy the Shakespeares and the Beethovens, as draftsmen envy the Frank Lloyd Wrights, and as the commercial artist envies the Rembrandts and the Raphaels. Maybe it's this kind of frustration that caused Henry Thoreau to remark, \"the mass of men live lives of quiet desperation.\"

Well, I had a friend by the name of Max Terr. And Max taught me that genius is by no means an essential for escape from this \"quiet desperation.\" Max had been associated with me as choral director for the past twenty years or so. Max was interested in almost everything; and considering that he was also a perfectionist, his interest was always a very intense one - even if it was only in a pencil.

Being a composer and orchestrator, he was constantly writing at the piano and he could see no reason to live with a clumsy pencil or a bad light, so he puttered and he searched until he found a graceful, dependable, thoroughtly efficient pencil and a fine light for his work, completely comfortable and satisfactory in every respect. Now, Max very casually included his friends in this continuous research of his, and no one knew Max ever took any of his suggestions lightly. Since Max has gone, not a day passes that isn't a pleasanter day because of the things he left behind him. I have his particular kind of pencil in every pocket of every suit, on the desk, on the right table and on the piano. Couldn't live without 'em. I have the light with the flexible stand Maxie

insisted I buy, so I no longer strain my eyes.

We have the world's greatest cookies at our house which Max sent one Christmas, after shopping all over town to find the best items to include in a basket for us. He found the cookies in a little shop as only he could patiently unearth such things. Now all our friends keep them around all the time. They call them \"Maxie's cookies\" without ever having met Max Terr.

\"Tristram Shandy\, \"is an old story with a tremendously inventive style. You like to write in the experimental forms. You have to read that book ... it'll give you a lot of courage in doing things your own way\" - and it sure did. Another day, he said, \"The colors in your music room make it difficult to have just the right kind of a picture in there, but you know, Meredith, I picked up a print in a little art store that I think will just do the trick. Here it is. Take a look at it - didn't cost hardly anything either.\"

In every room of our apartment there are memories of Max Terr. And lots of our friends swear by his patiently discovered items, passing them along to their friends ... praising \"Maxie's cookies,\" \"Maxie's music paper,\" \"Maxie's pencils and piano light\" without ever having known Max Terr. So I guess I believe pretty firmly that you don't have to be a Beethoven or a Rembrandt, or even a father, to leave a heritage to the mortal world. This is not a creed, exactly, nor is it a complete personal objective - or is it? Anyhow, I think if I leave behind me any part of the kind of things that keep Max Terr alive in the hearts of his fellow, I will have justified my brief hour of strutting and fretting upon the stage.

Give Part of Yourself Away

By Dr.harold Taylor

We are living in one of those periods in human history which are marked by revolutionary changes in all of man's ideas and values. It is a time when every one of us must look within himself to find what ideas, what beliefs, and what ideals each of us will live by. And unless we fins these ideals, and unless we stand by them firmly, we have no power to overcome the crisis in which we in our world fins ourselves.

I believe in people, in sheer, unadulterated humanity, I believe in listening to what people have to say, in helping them to achieve the things which they want and the things which they need. Naturally, there are people who behave like beasts, who kill, who cheat, who lie and who destroy.

But without a belief in man and a faith in his possibilities for the future, there can be no hope for the future, but only bitterness that the past has gone. I believe we must, each of us, make a philosophy a philosophy by which we can live. There are people who make a philosophy out of believing in nothing. They say there is no truth, that goodness is simply cleverness in disguising your own selfishness. They say that life is simply the short gap in between an unpleasant birth and an inevitable death. There are others who say that man is born into evil and sinfulness and that life is a process of purification through suffering and that death is the reward for having suffers. There are others who say that man is a kind of machine which operates according to certain laws, and that if you can learn the laws and seize the power to manipulate the machine, you can make man behave automatically to serve whatever ends you have in mind.

I believe these philosophies are false. The most important thing in life is the way it it lived, and there is no such thing as an abstract happiness, an abstract goodness or morality, or an abstract anything, except in terms of the person who believes and who acts. There is only the single human being who lives and who through every moment of his own personal living experience, is being happy or unhappy, noble or base, wise or unwise, or simply existing.

The question is: How can these individual moments of human experience be filled with the richness of a philosophy which can sustain the individual in his own life? Unless we give part of ourselves away, unless we can live with other people and understand them and help them, we are missing the most essential part of our own human lives. The fact that the native endowment of the young mind is one of liberalism and confidence in the powers of man for goos is the basis of my philosophy. And if only man can be given a free chance to use his powers, this philosophy will result in a boundless flow of vital energy and a willingness to try new things, combined with a faith in the future.

There are as many roads to the attainment of wisdom and goodness as there are people who undertake to walk them. There are as many solid truths on which we can stand as there are people who can search them out and who will stand on them. There are as many ideas and ideals as there are men of good will who will hold them in their minds and act them in their lives.

Two Commandments Are Enough

By Peggy Wood

Occasionally my mother used to announce that she was going to take time out from the day's activities \"to rest,\" she would say, \"and to invite my soul.\" She always put the phrase in quotes, in

order, I expect, to divert the facetious remarks which might arise from the worldly or practical-minded folk within earshot or disarm those who might feel \"soul\" was a Sunday word not to be used in everyday conversation.

But she meant to do exactly what she said, \"invite my soul.\"

The pressure of the modern world is so great upon us today that we find little time for rest, physical rest, let alone leisure for spiritual reception. Thus, when we take the word \"soul\" out of its Sunday clothes it is unfamiliar to us, we don't know it very well. We may have different interpretations of the meaning of the word; to some it may mean \"conscience,\" to others that part of our being given us with life. I believe with Dr. Schweitzer in the sanctity of life, that the miracle called life, which cannot be manufactured by man, does come from a source which we call God, and that life and soul are the same. And yet when I am asked point-blank, \"What do you believe?\" I hedge and play for time in my confusion by saying, \"Well, now, that's a pretty big question.\" It is not altogether the pressure of the modern world which has clouded our comprehension; \"the simple faith of our fathers\" got a nasty jolt when Copernicus propounded his theory that the sun and stars did not revolve around the earth and that therefore man was not the sole object of celestial concern. Darwin dealt another blow and Freud's search into the operations of our hidden selves shook our conviction that man could be made in the image of God.

It might be said that such matters affect only dogma and not belief, and yet the mounting complexities of man's discoveries about himself and the world he lives in increase so with the years it is little wonder man cries out for something simple and enduring in which to believe.

As in moments of great grief the reeling emotions steady themselves by concentrating upon small physical occupations - the careful tying of a shoelace, the straightening of a crooked picture on the wall, the tidy folding of a napkin - so I believe, in this heartbreaking world, in tending to the simple familiar chores which lie at hand. I believe I must keep my doorstep clean, I must tidy up my own backyard. I need keep only the two great commandments to live by: to respect the Giver of Life, and my duty towards my neighbor.

I believe that people deeply revere these two commandments (upon which hang all the laws and the prophets) and suffer personal distress when they are broken. When the property owners in South San Francisco refuse to let a Chinese family move into their district, when flaming crosses are burned and when the homes of decent people are bombed, we are all aware that our own doorsteps have been sullied and the human neighborhood besmirched.

If I am too puny to grasp the cosmic contours I believe I can at leave live my faith within my own small orbit, gaining in strength from others until that time when all men can rest - and invite their souls.

Walk Clean Around the Hill By Darryl F. Zanuck

Now that I can look back across the years, from the so-called vantage point of experience and two world wars, extensive travel and contact with many outstanding personalities, it gives me a great deal of reassurance to know that way down deep, the fundamental values I learned as a boy in a small town in Nebraska, stand me in good stead every day of my life. I have found one thing to be so very true—the virtues I learned as a boy are still fundamental virtues. My point of view has changed, of course, over the years, and so has that of my friends. But so much of all this change of viewpoint is like a small boy gazing at a hill on the plains of Nebraska. The hill remains the same; the small boy only sees it from another angle as he grows up.

I have always tried to walk completely around every hill I‘ve encountered in life so that I could get a view from every angle. This, I think, reveals the difference between honesty and cynicism. When you see the hill from every angle, you have a much better chance of keeping life in focus. When you only see it from one angle, you run the very great danger of becoming cynical, which, to my way of thinking, is not only superficial, but poisonous.

Two of the fundamental virtues that have been such a great comfort to me in my life, from the days of my boyhood in Wahoo, Nebraska, until now, are loyalty and charity. There are other fundamentals I learned as a boy that go hand in hand with me every day of my life wherever I am, but these two—loyalty and charity—I think have played a larger part in my life than others. Loyalty is not only just a term; it has always been a way of life for me. I mean not only loyalty to my friends and family, but to the honest values on which our country was founded, and to me, this guidepost of loyalty of necessity means loyalty to one‘s own self, which to me is a basic, essential honesty. When I was growing up, I rebelled against so many things and fought against so many of the basic ideas of life, but I found after so much rebellion and walking completely around that hill on the Nebraska plains in my mind‘s eye, that these virtues had not been tested over the centuries in vain.

Charity is another rule that has been of great comfort to me in so many trying situations. Charity is something you must learn. I‘ve been very lucky in life because I‘ve been in a position in life to give charity, and one should never expect any other reward from charity than the satisfaction it gives. When it is needed, there is such a desperate urgency about it that the recipient often does not have time to thank the giver. In talking about any charity, you must give from your heart, and any other type of giving is a terrible cheat on life itself. I think somewhere deep in the consciousness of things, such dishonesty is felt.

In walking around the hill on the plain each day of my life, the virtues I see, whether I am in London, Paris, Rome, Cairo, New York, Hollywood, or Wahoo, Nebraska, are always the same. I am grateful for those old-fashioned virtues that I learned as a boy in Nebraska, and I hope I will have enough humility always to be thankful I was born in a country that gave me this chance at life.

The Thread of Permanence By William Zorach

It is strange how certain things make a great impression on us in childhood. I remember these verses by Longfellow:

\"Life is real! Life is earnest! And the graves is not its goal; Dust thou art, to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul.\" And again:

\"Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time.\"

Of course, my generation was much more sentimental than today's youth but whether this was great poetry, it communicated in simple language a message, and made a lasting impression on a small boy.

When I was fifteen I had an imaginary guardian angel and when I went to the country to sketch on Sundays, I asked for guidance, praying that someday I would be a fine artist and paint nature as

beautiful as she really is. What this little ceremony brought me was faith in the world and a belief in myself.

My faiths and beliefs have been badly strained. The Atomic Age has caught us in a web of fear. Our lives seem so impermanent and uncertain. There is such a waste of human potential, of things worth while in people which never find expression. I sometimes think it's a miracle that anything survives. Yet I believe that a thread of permanence runs through everything from the beginning of time, and the most valuable residue will survive.

I believe everybody has an urge to somehow spin his own life into a thread of permanence. It is the impulse of life. Some would call it the drive to immortality. Whatever it is, I think it is good because it gives purpose to existence. But purpose is not enough. Artists are supposed to be notoriously impractical, but for myself, I found I had to make decisions and plans if I were to try to create anything. I realized that I must approach life not only with a sensitivity, a perception of beauty, but with a feeling of humility and reverence.

My creed as an artist is to love life and liberty and the world of people. A man who works and loves his work is often a man dreaming, and the spirit of his dreams will find forms and symbols to express that dream. It is a wonderful feeling to create something. But today, I think there is a lack of power of communication. If people, not just artists, but all kinds of people, could only open their hearts and express their sorrow, their happiness, their fears and hopes, they would discover they had an identity with the main stream of life which they never saw before.

Sometimes fear and cynicism so grip our minds that we lose heart. Then I try to remember how the great artists of the ages had the power of expressiveness. Theirs was the power to communicate, to exalt, to move the observer to joy or tears, to strike terror and awe in the hearts of men; not just to decorate or merely entertain.

If we can expand the boundaries of men's thoughts and beliefs, we will discover we all have creative possibilities - talents to make ourselves real identities as individuals, with a hold on the thread of immortality. If we can awaken ourselves to it, I am convinced we shall find that this is an alive and exciting age of adventure and experimentation from which a new beauty and a finer world will emerge.

I Call Things As I See Them by Ralph Pinelli

An umpire has to make instant decisions. I‘ve learned to call things as I see them. This helps me make a quick reply to such an important and personal question as my belief. My philosophy of life is simple, with a vital, driving force: I believe in my God, my family, my country, and baseball. Including baseball may seem out of place in this statement, but I firmly believe that baseball, more than being just a national pastime, has been officially bound up with American life, certainly with my own. It helped develop me physically as a boy. It taught me teamwork and an ability to cooperate with others. Another thing, it taught me to try to play according to the rules of the game. This has helped me throughout life.

My parents came to this country from Italy as poor immigrants. I grew up at a time when even a high school education was out of reach. My formal education never went beyond the elementary grades, but the lessons I learned at home, at church, and on the playground have carried me through. I believe firmly in higher education. My son was signed to a baseball contract when he was still in high school, but I insisted on a clause permitting him a full four-year college course before starting professional ball.

I believe that even more important than a college education, though, is the good, solid, practical, and religious training in the home and at church. My mother taught me a proper scale of values and trained me to live up to them. I still remember the sandlot game I had to leave before the final inning, so I could get on my Sunday suit and be at church in time for confirmation.

Experience has proved my belief in the importance of the family. This is where good, useful citizens come from. My wife and I have enjoyed the companionship of some 35 years of married life, and we have had the happiness of seeing our two sons grow into manhood and start their own families. We never had the pleasure of having a daughter, but now we happily share three granddaughters and five grandsons. Our happiness with them is a great consolation and comfort against the older years when many a couple grow lonely.

I have found strength and consolation in my church, and I have found peace and help in humble, daily prayer when I praise God for his goodness and ask Him to forgive me my trespasses, as I forgive others, and beg His blessings for myself, and my family and friends.

So these are the things I believe in: my God, who has given me a personal destiny and who deserves all praise and service; my family, who have given me happiness and strength; my country,

which has given me every opportunity to live my life according to my conscience; and baseball, which has given me healthy recreation and solid training for life. This is my theology and philosophy of life.

Large and small

A friend of his relatives, life has never been through the combined foot shoes, often wearing enormous shoes walked up and down. Younger son asked her if she would say: \"the size of shoes is the same price, why not buy big?\" Every time I relayed this story, there is always some people laugh bifurcation of the gas. In fact, life has a lot of us will see this kind of Nothing thought the writer, just write a thick bitter works; Nothing artist content, but painted with super-giant draw; often not at home business, there are huge homes. Many people constantly in pursuit of the great, in fact, only the inherent greed drive, just like buying king-size shoes, forget themselves in the foot like. No matter what shoes to buy, or foot the most important, regardless of the pursuit of what they want to stop before going too far.

Smile to life

Life is a long journey which is full of flowers and thorns. Smile to life and you will gain a surprise result. It is said that life is a mirror. If you smile upon it, it smiles back upon you. But if you frown and look doubtful on it, you will get a similar look in return. As we all know, life doesn‘t always go on smoothly. Life without failure is just like the sea without waves. It varies from time to time. When failure comes to you, don‘t give up yourself to despair, please smile to yourself and try again. When you are in trouble, don‘t lose heart and confidence. Just smile to life and you will get over it at last. Smile makes people feel warm in ice and snow. It gives thirsty people power to go on walk in a dessert. Smiling is the power for you. As the saying goes, ―hardships and frustration make a person‖. Don‘t fear hardships, just keep up your courage and laugh it away. What is more, to the students, smiling more contributes to reducing study pressure so that you can make great progress. What I want to say in the end is that everyone has his day; everyone must face up to some hardships and pains. Don＇t get vain when you success. Don‘t lose heart when meeting difficulties. Just take it easy and smile to life. Every time you smile, you give yourself a perfect chance to enjoy life. Every time you smile, you bring the brilliant sunshine to the whole world. So remember: smile, Smile

everyday Smile to life, and you will become younger! Smile to life, and you will get more succeeded! Smile to life, and you will lead a happier life!

Drift clouds

I‘ve opened the curtain of my east window here above the computer, and I sit now in a holy theater before a sky-blue stage. A little cloud above the neighbor‘s trees resembles Jimmy Durante‘s nose for a while, then becomes amorphous as it slips on north. Other clouds follow, big and little and tiny on their march toward whiteness. Wisps of them lead or droop because there must always be leading and drooping.

The trees seem to laugh at the clouds while yet reaching for them with swaying branches. Trees must think that they are real, rooted, somebody, and that perhaps the clouds are only tickled water which sometimes blocks their sun. But trees are clouds, too, of green leaves—clouds that only move a little. Trees grow and change and dissipate like their airborne cousins.

And what am I but a cloud of thoughts and feelings and aspirations? Don‘t I put out tentative mists here and there? Don‘t I occasionally appear to other people as a ridiculous shape of thoughts without my intending to? Don‘t I drift toward the north when I feel the breezes of love and the warmth of compassion?

If clouds are beings, and beings are clouds, are we not all well advised to drift, to feel the wind tucking us in here and plucking us out there? Are we such rock-hard bodily lumps as we imagine?

Love Your Life

However mean your life is, meet it and live it; do not shun it and call it hard names. It is not as bad as you are. It looks poorest when you are richest. The fault-finder will find faults in paradise. Love your life, poor as it is. You may perhaps have some pleasant, thrilling, glorious hours, even in a poor-house. The setting sun is reflected from the windows of the alms-house as brightly as from the rich man\\'s abode; the snow melts before its door as early in the spring. I do not see but a quiet mind may live as contentedly there, and have as cheering thoughts, as in a palace. The town\\'s poor seem to me often to live the most independent lives of any. May be they are simply great enough to receive without misgiving. Most think that they are above being supported by the town; but it often happens that they are not above supporting themselves by dishonest means. This should be more

disreputable. Cultivate poverty like a garden herb, like sage. Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends, Turn the old, return to them. Things do not change; we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts.

The life I desired

That must be the story of innumerable couples, and the pattern of life of life it offers has a homely grace. It reminds you of a placid rivulet, meandering smoothly through green pastures and shaded by pleasant trees, till at last it falls into the vast sea; but the sea is so calm, so silent, and so indifferent, that you are troubled suddenly by a vague uneasiness. Perhaps it is only by a kink in my nature, strong in me even in those days, that I felt in such an existence, the share of the great majority, something amiss. I recognized its social value. I saw its ordered happiness, but a fever in my blood asked for a wilder course. There seemed to me something alarming in such easy delights. In my heart was desire to live more dangerously. I was not unprepared for jagged rocks and treacherous, shoals it I could only have change-change and the excitement of unforeseen.

Success

Success is not easy to talk about because the word success it-self has hundreds of definitions. For some it means power, for some it means wealth, for others it is fame or great achievements. But I have my own understanding of it.

Success means to try your best.

Many people believe that success means to win. In my opinion, it means to try your best when you do everything, no matter you will win or not. When you are taking part in a long-distance race, if you keep on running as fast as you can, you are successful, although you may be the last to pass the finishing-line. Because you have showed your best to others, and you have made I your greatest effort to be the winner.

Success means to work hard.

No one can succeed without any hard work. Karl Max was successful, because he spent more than 30 years writing the book \"Communist Manifesto\"; Tomas Edison succeeded, because he had experimented thousands of times to find the best material for lights. Every success calls for hard

work. If you want to succeed, work hard first.

Success means not to lose heart.

No one can always be the winner. You will certainly lose or fail some day. It is important for you not to lose heart. A person who has lost heart is just like a tree without roots. It will be easily blown down by the wind. Nobel had failed many times when he was doing his experiments. Sometimes his lab was on fire and he was nearly killed. But he never lost heart and kept on trying. Finally he invented a new explosive. So when you fail or meet any difficulty, just believe in you, stand up and give the difficulty a heavy strike.

Youth

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20. Nobody grows old merely be a number of year. We grow old by deserting our ideas.

Years may winkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul, worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spring back to dust.

Lesson in heart

A lesson in ―heart‖ comes from my little 10 year old daughter, sarah, who has born with a muscle missing in her foot and wears a brace all the time. She came home on beautiful spring day to tell me she had competed in ―field day‖ –that‘s where they have lots of races and other competitive events.

Because of her leg support, my mind raced as 2 tried to think of encouragement. For my sarah, things I could say to her about not letting this get her down-but before I could get a word out, she said,

―Daddy, I won two of the races!‖ I couldn‘t believe it! And then sarah said, ―I had an advantage.‖

Ah, I knew it. I thought she must have been given a head start… some kind of physical advantage. But again, before I could say something, she said,

―Daddy, I didn‘t get a head start…my advantage was I had to try harder!‖

Resolve to Remain Positive

No matter how you really feel at the moment or what is happening in your life, resolve to

remain cheerful, optimistic and positive .When people ask you how you are, always tell them,‖ I feel terrific!\" It has been said that you should never share your problems with others because 80 percent of people don't care about your problems anyway, and the other 20 percent are kind of glad that you've got problems in the first place!

Write Your Own Life

Suppose someone gave you a pen – a sealed, solid-colored pen. You couldn‘t see how much ink it had. It might run dry after the first few tentative words or last just long enough to create a masterpiece (or several) that would last forever and make a difference in the scheme of things. You don‗t know before you begin. Under the rules of the game, you really never know. You have to take a chance! Actually, no rule of the game states you must do anything. Instead of picking up and using the pen, you could leave it on a shelf or in a drawer where it will dry up, unused. But if you do decide to use it, what would you do with it? How would you play the game? Would you plan and plan before you ever wrote a word? Would your plans be so extensive that you never even got to the writing? Or would you take the pen in hand, plunge right in and just do it, struggling to keep up with the twists and turns of the torrents of words that take you where they take you? Would you write cautiously and carefully, as if the pen might run dry the next moment, or would you pretend or believe (or pretend to believe) that the pen will write forever and proceed accordingly? And of what would you write: Of love? Hate? Fun? Misery? Life? Death? Nothing? Everything? Would you write to please just yourself? Or others? Or yourself by writing for others? Would your strokes be tremblingly timid or brilliantly bold? Fancy with a flourish or plain? Would you even write? Once you have the pen, no rule says you have to write. Would you sketch? Scribble? Doodle or draw? Would you stay in or on the lines, or see no lines at all, even if they were there? Or are they?

There‗s a lot to think about here, isn‗t there? Now, suppose someone gave you a life...

Guaranteed Failure

When you have negative habits, failure is guaranteed for you until you take the conscious decision to change you habits forever. Negative habits include overeating, gambling, smoking, drinking and taking drugs. However, let‘s not forget those other negative habits that are often the real cause of failure. These negative habits are character traits that will stop you from achieving success. I‘m talking about mental habits such as procrastination, laziness, fear, shyness, lack of courage, etc. Procrastination is the worst negative habit. It is a dream killer. Instead of taking action and working hard to achieve his goal, the procrastinator decides to delay and to wait until tomorrow. However, when tomorrow becomes today, the procrastinator keeps delaying. The only solution to his problem is to start taking action right now.

Faith

Faith is the ―eternal elixir‖ which gives life, power, and action to the impulse of thought! Faith is the starting point of all accumulation of riches! Faith is the basis of all ―miracles‖, And all mysteries which cannot be analyzed by the rules of science!

Faith is the only known antidote for failure! Faith is the element, the ―chemical!‖ which, When mixed with prayer, gives one direct communication with infinite intelligence. Faith is the only agency through which the cosmic force of infinite. Intelligence can be harnessed and used by man.

Extend the Miracle

My skills, my mind, my heart, and my body will stagnate, rot, and die lest I put them to good

use. I have unlimited potential. Only a small portion of my brain do I employ; only a paltry amount of my muscles do I flex. A hundredfold or more can I increase my accomplishments of yesterday and this I will do, beginning today?

If I Had My Life to Live Over

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go intoa holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the ―good‖ living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television—and more while watching life. I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute…look at it and really see it … live it … and never give it back.

Don't worry about who doesn't like you, who has more money, or who's doing what. Instead, let's cherish the relationships we have with those who do love us. Let's think about what God has blessed us with, and what we are doing each day to promote ourselves mentally, physically, and emotionally.

Man Is Like a Fruit Tree

Two of the hardest things to accomplish in this world are to acquire wealth by honest effort and, having gained it, to learn how to use it properly. Recently I walked into the locker room of a rather well-known golf club after finishing a round. It was in the late afternoon and most of the members had left for their homes. But a half-dozen or so men past middle age were still seated at tables talking aimlessly and drinking more than was good for them. These same men can be found there day after day and, strangely enough, each one of these men had been a man of affairs and wealth, successful in business and respected in the community. If material prosperity were the chief requisite for happiness, then each one should have been happy. Yet, it seemed to me, something very important was missing; else there would not have been the constant effort to escape the realities of life through Scotch and soda. They knew each one of them, which their productivity had ceased. When a fruit tree ceases to bear its fruit, it is dying. And it is even so with man.

Growth That Starts From Thinking

It seems to me a very difficult thing to put into words the beliefs we hold and what they make you do in your life. I think I was fortunate because I grew up in a family where there was a very deep religious feeling. I don’t think it was spoken of a great deal. It was more or less taken for granted that everybody held certain beliefs and needed certain reinforcements of their own strength and that that came through your belief in God and your knowledge of prayer.

And that gave me a feeling that perhaps that’s what we all must do—think out for ourselves what we could believe and how we could live by it. And so I came to the conclusion that you had to use this life to develop the very best that you could develop.

I don’t know whether I believe in a future life. I believe that all that you go through here must have some value; therefore there must be some reason. And there must be some “going on.” How exactly that happens I‘ve never been able to decide. There is a future—that I‘m sure of. But how, that I don‘t know. And I came to feel that it didn‘t really matter very much because whatever the future held you‘d have to face it when you came to it, just as whatever life holds you have to face it exactly the same way. And the important thing was that you never let down doing the best that you were able to do—it might be poor because you might not have very much within you to give, or to help other people with, or to live your life with. But as long as you did the very best that you were able to do, then that was what you were put here to do and that was what you were accomplishing by being here.

I must do it! I can do it! I will do it! I will succeed!

As you slowly open your eyes, look around , notice where the light comes into your room; listen carefully, see if there are new sounds you can recognize; feel with your body and spirit, and see if you can sense the freshness in the air.

Yes, yes, yes, it's a new day, it's a different day, and it's a bright day! And most importantly, it is a new beginning for your life, a beginning where you are going to make new desicisions, take new actions, make new friends, and take your life to a totally unprecedented level!

In your mind's eye, you can see clearly the things you want to have, the paces you intend to go, the relationships you desire to develop, and the positions you aspire to reach.

You can hear your laughers of joy and happiness on the day when everything happens as you dream.

You can see the smiles on the people around you when the magic moment strikes.

You can feel your face is getting red, your heart is beating fast, and your blood is rushing all over your body, to every single corner of your being!

You know all this is real as long as you are confident, passionate and committed! And you are confident, you are passionate, you are committed!

You will no longer fear making new sounds, showing new facial expressions, using your body in new ways, proaching new people, and asking new questions.

You will live every single day of your life with absolute passion, and you will show your passion through the words you speak and the actions you take.

You will focus all your time and effort on the most important goals of your life. You will never succumb to challenges of hardships.

You will never waver in your pursuit of excellence. After all, you are the best, and you deserve the best!

As your coach and friend, I can assure you the door to all the best things in the world will open to you, but the key to that door is in your hand. You must do your part, you must faithfully follow the plans you make and take the actions you plan, you must never quit, you must never fear. I know

you must do it, you can do it, you will do it, and you will succeed! Now stand firm and tall, make a fist, get excited, and yell it out:

I must do it! I can do it! I will do it! I will succeed! I must do it! I can do it! I will do it! I will succeed! I must do it! I can do it! I will do it! I will succeed!

A good heart to lean on

When snow or ice was on the ground, it was impossible for him to walk, even with help. At such times my sisters or I would pull him through the streets of Brooklyn, NY, on a child's sleigh to the subway entrance. Once there, he would cling to the handrail until he reached the lower steps that the warmer tunnel air kept ice-free. In Manhattan the subway station was the basement of his office building, and he would not have to go outside again until we met him in Brooklyn' on his way home. When I think of it now, I marvel at how much courage it must have taken for a grown man to subject himself to such indignity and stress. And at how he did it -- without bitterness or complaint. He never talked about himself as an object of pity, nor did he show any envy of the more fortunate or able. What he looked for in others was a \"good heart\if he found one, the owner was good enough for him.

Now that I am older, I believe that is a proper standard by which to judge people, even though I still don‘t know precisely what a \"good heart\" is. But I know the times I don't have one myself. Unable to engage in many activities, my father still tried to participate in some way. When a local sandlot baseball team found itself |without a manager, he kept it going. He was a knowledgeable baseball fan and often took me to Ebbets Field to see the Brooklyn Dodgers play. He liked to go to dances and parties, where he could have a good time just sitting and watching. On one memorable occasion a fight broke out at a beach party, with everyone punching and shoving. He wasn't content to sit and watch, but he couldn't stand unaided on the soft sand. In frustration he began to shout, \"I' ll fight anyone who will tit down with me!\"

Nobody did. But the next day people kidded him by saying it was the first time any fighter was urged to take a dive even before the bout began.

I now know he participated in some things vicariously through me, his only son. When I played ball (poorly), he \"played\" too. When I joined the Navy he \"joined\" too. And when I came

home on leave, he saw to it that \"I visited his office. Introducing me, he was really saying, \"This is my son, but it is also me, and I could have done this, too, if things had been different.\" Those words were never said aloud.

He has been gone many years now, but I think of him often. I wonder if he sensed my reluctance to be seen with him during our walks. If he did, I am sorry I never told him how sorry I was, how unworthy I was, how I regretted it. I think of him when I complain about trifles, when I am envious of another's good fortune, when I don't have a \"good heart\".

At such times I put my hand on his arm to regain my balance, and say, \"You set the pace, I will try to adjust to you.\"

Encouragement Can Work Miracles

Someone said that encouragement is simply reminding a person of the \"shoulders\" he's standing on, the heritage he's been given. That's what happened when a young man, the son of a star baseball player, was drafted by one of the minor-league teams. Hard as he tried, his first season was disappointing, and by midseason he expected to be released any day.

The coaches were bewildered by his failure because he possessed all the characteristics of a superb athlete, but he couldn't seem to incorporate those advantages into a coordinated effort. He seemed to have become disconnected from his potential.

His future seemed darkest one day when he had already struck out his first time at bat. Then he stepped up to the batter's box again and quickly ran up two strikes. The catcher called a time-out and ran to the pitcher's mound for a conference. While they were busy, the umpire, standing behind the plate, spoke casually to the boy.

Then play resumed, the next pitch was thrown---and the young man knocked it out of the park. That was the turning point. From then on, he played the game with a new confidence and power that quickly drew the attention of the parent team, and he was called up to the majors.

On the day he was leaving for the city, one of his coaches asked him what had caused such a turnaround. The young man replied that it was the encouraging remark the umpire had made that day when his baseball career had seemed doomed.

\"He told me I reminded him of all the times he had stood behind my dad in the batter's box,'' the boy explained. \"He said I was holding the bat just the way Dad had held it. And he told me, 'I

can see his genes in you; you have your father's arms.' After that, whenever I swung the bat, I just imagined I was using Dad's arms instead of my own.\"

Words to Live By

I‘ll give you some advice about life. Eat more roughage;

Do more than others expect you to do and do it at pains; Remember what life tells you;

Don‘t take to heart every thing you hear. Don‘t spend all that you have. Don‘t sleep as long as you want;

Whenever you say \"I love you\

Whenever you say \"I‘m sorry\ Fall in love at first sight; Don‘t neglect dreams;

Love deeply and ardently, even if there is pain, but this is the way to make your life complete; Find a way to settle, not to dispute; Never judge people by their appearance; Speak slowly, but think quickly;

When someone asks you a question you don‘t want to answer, smile and say, ―Why do you want to know?‖

Remember that the man who can shoulder the most risk will gain the deepest love and the supreme accomplishment;

Call your mother on the phone. If you can‘t, you may think of her in your heart; When someone sneezes, say, ―God bless you‖; If you fail, don‘t forget to learn your lesson;

Remember the three ―respects‖. Respect yourself, respect others, stand on dignity and pay attention to your behaviour;

Don‘t let a little dispute break up a great friendship;

Whenever you find your wrongdoing, be quick with reparation!

Whenever you make a phone call smile when you pick up the phone, because someone can feel it!

Marry a person who likes talking; because when you get old, you‘ll find chatting to be a great advantage;

Find time for yourself.

Life will change what you are but not who you are; Remember that silence is golden;

Read more books and watch less television;

Live a noble and honest life. Reviving past times in your old age will help you to enjoy your life again;

Trust God, but don‘t forget to lock the door; The harmonizing atmosphere of a family is valuable; Try your best to let family harmony flow smoothly;

When you quarrel with a close friend, talk about the main dish, don‘t quibble over the appetizers; You cannot hold onto yesterday;

Figure out the meaning of someone‘s words;

Share your knowledge to continue a timeless tradition;

Treat our earth in a friendly way; don‘t fool around with mother nature; Do the things you should do;

Don‘t trust a lover who kisses you without closing their eyes; Go to a place you‘ve never been to every year.

If you earn much money, the best way to spend it is on charitable deeds while you are alive; Remember, not all the best harvest is luck;

Understand rules completely and change them reasonably;

Remember, the best love is to love others unconditionally rather than make demands on them; Comment on the success you have attained by looking in the past at the target you wanted to achieve most;

Remember What's Really Important--The true measurements of life

I've shared with you a little about my own background this morning -- fairly standard, perhaps, for a fellow Union graduate and your commencement speaker. But the point is not what I have become in my life, it's what you have the potential for in yours. In that spirit, I will offer you a few

points of advice on your graduation day.

1.Take risks .I was lucky enough to have a close relationship with my parents, and one thing that my father said to me years ago has stayed with me ever since. My father told me that I would most likely at some point experience failure and setbacks -- like we all do. But what would matter would be how I reacted to them and handled them. This simple observation freed me to take chances, to risk failure, to believe in myself and in my ability to handle the adversity that's inevitable in all our lives.

It will be worth even if you do fail, the rewards you reap will be great. And you will find that your greatest opportunities come when you are called upon to take risks or to handle failure. As you build your path, don't always take the safest way, even if it assures easy success. Climb higher, and take risks.

2.Follow your instincts .Believe in yourself. Follow your instincts. Pursue what you enjoy whether it's writing or teaching or the arts or the sciences.

You may not gain the kind of immediate rewards on which our society places value: fast promotions, high salaries, and so on. Remember, you are building your path, not focusing on specific milestones along the way. Don't just do things simply for the sake of a raise or a promotion or a by line.

3.Act ethically . My third piece of advice: maintain your integrity,your own personal values, and the highest ethical standards.

In our lives, results do matter. But equally important -- and sometimes even more so -- is how you achieve those results. And genuine success depends on your values and your ethics. Always know what you're doing, and why. Sometimes this will be very difficult. Others may tell you that it's impossible to maintain certain values, because that's not the way it's done. I completely disagree. Not only do I think it's possible to succeed while maintaining ethical standards, I think it's the only way.

And treating others with dignity and respect is not only right,but it means that you'll end up surrounding yourself with the best and most talented people. What's more,people will help you in ways you would never expect,or perhaps even know about. People will want to promote you or work for you. Another plus: you'll never have to remember to keep your stories straight.

In building your own path, take risks. Pursue your dreams. Don't expect immediate rewards. Pay attention to how you do things, conducting yourself ethically and treating others with dignity,

and it will seem natural for you to lead and you will be asked to lead. High standards inspire the confidence and trust of others, helping to create the conditions you will need to be successful.

How to Find Your Passion

If you could do one thing to transform your life, I would highly recommend it be to find something you‘re passionate about, and do it for a living.

Now, this isn‘t as easy as it sounds, but it‘s well worth the effort. If you dread going to your job, or find yourself constantly lacking motivation, or find what you‘re doing dull and repetitive, you need to start looking for a new job. Staying in your current job will not only continue to make you unhappy, but you are not realizing your full potential in life.

Imagine this instead: you get up early, jumping out of bed, excited to go to work. You might put in more hours than the average person, but it doesn‘t seem difficult to you, because your work hours just zoom right by. You are often in that state of mind often referred to as ―flow,‖ where you can lose track of the world and time, losing yourself in the task at hand. Work is not work as many people refer to it, but something that is fun and interesting and exciting. It‘s not a ―job‖ but a passion.

If you‘ve got a job you dislike, or even hate, this will sound like a pipe dream to you. And if you never put in the effort to find what you‘re passionate about, you‘re right: such a thing will never be possible. But dare to dream, dare to imagine the possibilities, and dare to actually search for what you love, and it is not only a possibility, but a probability.

How can you find what you‘re passionate about? Here are some suggestions:

 Is there something you already love doing? Do you have a hobby, or something you loved

doing as a child, but never considered it as a possibility? Whether it‘s reading comic books, collecting something, making something, creating or building, there is probably a way you could do it for a living. Open a comic book shop, or create a comic book site online. If there‘s already something you love doing, you‘re ahead of the game. Now you just need to research the possibilities of making money from it.

 What do you spend hours reading about? For myself, when I get passionate about something,

I‘ll read about it for hours on end. I‘ll buy books and magazines. I‘ll spend days on the Internet finding out more. There may be a few possibilities here for you … and all of them are possible

career paths. Don‘t close your mind to these topics. Look into them.

 Brainstorm. Nothing comes to mind right away? Well, get out a sheet of paper, and start

writing down ideas. Anything that comes to mind, write it down. Look around your house, on your computer, on your bookshelf, for inspirations, and just write them down. There are no bad ideas at this stage. Write everything down, and evaluate them later.

 Ask around, and surf for possibilities. Ask other people for ideas. See what others have

discovered as their passions. Look all over the Internet for ideas. The more possibilities you find, the more likely your chances of finding your true passion.

 Don‘t quit your job just yet. If you find your calling, your passion, don‘t just turn in your

resignation tomorrow. It‘s best to stay in your job while you‘re researching the possibilities. If you can do your passion as a side job, and build up the income for a few months or a year, that‘s even better. It gives you a chance to build up some savings (and if you‘re going into business for yourself, you‘ll need that cash reserve), while practicing the skills you need. See below for more.

 Give it a try first. It‘s best to actually test your new idea before jumping into it as a career.

Do it as a hobby or side job at first, so that you can see if it‘s really your true calling. You may be passionate about it for a few days, but where the rubber meets the road is whether you‘re passionate about it for at least a few months. If you pass this test, you have probably found it.

 Do as much research as possible. Know as much about your passion as possible. If this has

been a passion for awhile, you may have already been doing this. At any rate, do even more research. Read every website possible on the topic, and buy the best books available. Find other people, either in your area or on the Internet, who do what you want to do for a living, and quiz them about the profession. How much do they make? What training and education did they need? What skills are necessary? How did they get their start? What recommendations do they have. Often you‘ll find that people are more than willing to give advice.

 Practice, and practice, and practice some more. Don‘t go into it with amateur skill level. If

you want to make money — to be a professional — you need to have professional skills. Get very good at your future career and you will make money at it. Practice for hours on end. If it‘s something you love, the practice should be something you want to do.

 Never quit trying. Can‘t find your passion at first? Give up after a few days and you‘re sure

to fail. Keep trying, for months on end if necessary, and you‘ll find it eventually. Thought you found your passion but you got tired of it? No problem! Start over again and find a new passion. There

may be more than one passion in your lifetime, so explore all the possibilities. Found your passion but haven‘t been successful making a living at it? Don‘t give up. Keep trying, and try again, until you succeed. Success doesn‘t come easy, so giving up early is a sure way to fail. Keep trying, and you‘ll get there.

What I‘ve outlined here is a lot of work … but it will be the best investment you‘ve ever made. Follow your passion, and you will be truly happy and incredibly fulfilled. I wish you the wildest successes of your wildest dreams!

Leo Babauta is a writer, a marathoner, an early riser, a vegan, and a father of six. He blogs regularly about achieving goals through daily habits onZen Habits, and covers such topics as productivity, GTD, simplifying, frugality, parenting, happiness, motivation, exercise, eating healthy and more.

How to Build Self-Discipline

Discipline is freedom. You may disagree with this statement, and if you do you are certainly not alone. For many people discipline is a dirty word that is equated with the absence of freedom. In fact the opposite is true. As Stephen R. Covey once wrote, ―the undisciplined are slaves to moods, appetites and passions‖. And in the longer term, the undisciplined lack the freedom that comes with possessing particular skills and abilities - e.g. to play a musical instrument or speak a foreign language.

Self-discipline involves acting according to what you think instead of how you feel in the moment. Often it involves sacrificing the pleasure and thrill of the moment for what matters most in life. Therefore it is self-discipline that drives you to:

* Work on an idea or project after the initial rush of enthusiasm has faded away * Go to the gym when all you want to do is lie on the couch and watch TV * Wake early to work on yourself

* Say ―no‖ when tempted to break your diet

* Only check your email a few times per day at particular times

In the past self-discipline has been a weakness of mine, and as a result today I find myself lacking the ability to do a number of things which I would like - e.g. to play the guitar. But I have improved, and I can say that it is self-discipline that got me out of bed this morning at 5am to run

and then write this article. Believe me, I would love to be curled up in bed right now, but this desire is subordinated by my inner sense of purpose.

If you struggle with self-discipline, the good news is that it can be developed. For example, it is only in the past two years that I have trained myself to wake early. The following are what I have found to be the five traits of self-discipline: 1. Self-Knowledge

Discipline means behaving according to what you have decided is best, regardless of how you feel in the moment. Therefore the first trait of discipline is self-knowledge. You need to decide what behavior best reflects your goals and values. This process requires introspection and self-analysis, and is most effective when tied to written expression. I highly recommend taking the time to write out your goals, dreams and ambitions. Even better, write out a personal mission statement. I found that writing such a statement gave me a greater understanding of who I am, what I am about and what I value. Dr. Covey has an excellent Mission Statement Builder on his site. 2. Conscious Awareness

Self-discipline depends upon conscious awareness as to both what you are doing and what you are not doing. Think about it. If you aren‘t aware your behavior is undisciplined, how will you know to act otherwise?

As you begin to build self-discipline, you may catch yourself being in the act of being undisciplined - e.g. biting your nails, avoiding the gym, eating a piece of cake or checking your email constantly. Developing self-discipline takes time, and the key here is you are aware of your undisciplined behavior. With time this awareness will come earlier, meaning rather than catching yourself in the act of being undisciplined you will have awareness before you act in this way. This gives you the opportunity to make a decision that is in better alignment with your goals and values. 3. Commitment

It is not enough to simply write out your goals and values. You must make an internal commitment to them. Otherwise when your alarm clock goes off at 5am you will see no harm in hitting the snooze button for ―just another 5 minutes….‖ Or, when initial rush of enthusiasm has faded away from a project you will struggle to see it through to completion.

If you struggle with commitment, start by making a conscious decision to follow through on what you say you‘re going to do - both when you said you would do it and how you said you would do it. Then, I highly recommend putting in place a system to track these commitments. As the

saying goes, ―What gets measured gets improved‖. 4. Courage

Did you notice the sweat dripping from the man in the picture at the start of this article? Make no mistake, self-discipline is often extremely difficult. Moods, appetites and passions can be powerful forces to go against. Therefore self-discipline is highly dependent on courage. Don‘t pretend something is easy for you to do when it is in fact very difficult and/ or painful. Instead, find the courage to face this pain and difficulty. As you begin to accumulate small private victories, your self-confidence will grow and the courage that underpins self-discipline will come more naturally. 5. Internal Coaching

Self-talk is often harmful, but it can also be extremely beneficial if you have control of it. When you find yourself being tested, I suggest you talk to yourself, encourage yourself and reassure yourself. After all, it is self-talk that has the ability to remind you of your goals, call up courage, reinforce your commitment and keep you conscious of the task at hand. When I find my discipline being tested, I always recall the following quote: ―The price of discipline is always less than the pain of regret‖. Burn this quote into your memory, and recall in whenever you find yourself being tested. It may change your life.

Forgiveness

To forgive may be divine, but no one ever said it was easy. When someone has deeply hurt you, it can be extremely difficult to let go of your grudge. But forgiveness is possible -- and it can be surprisingly beneficial to your physical and mental health.

\"People who forgive show less depression, anger and stress and more hopefulness,\" says Frederic, Ph.D., author of Forgive for Good. \"So it can help save on the wear and tear on our organs, reduce the wearing out of the immune system and allow people to feel more vital.\" So how do you start the healing? Try following these steps:

Calm yourself. To defuse your anger, try a simple stress-management technique. \"Take a couple of breaths and think of something that gives you pleasure: a beautiful scene in nature, someone you love,\" Frederic says.

Don't wait for an apology. \"Many times the person who hurt you has no intention of

apologizing,\" Frederic says. \"They may have wanted to hurt you or they just don't see things the same way. So if you wait for people to apologize, you could be waiting an awfully long time.\" Keep in mind that forgiveness does not necessarily mean reconciliation with the person who upset you or condoning of his or her action.

Take the control away from your offender. Mentally replaying your hurt gives power to the person who caused you pain. \"Instead of focusing on your wounded feelings, learn to look for the love, beauty and kindness around you,\" Frederic says.

Try to see things from the other person's perspective. If you empathize with that person, you may realize that he or she was acting out of ignorance, fear -- even love. To gain perspective, you may want to write a letter to yourself from your offender's point of view.

Recognize the benefits of forgiveness. Research has shown that people who forgive report more energy, better appetite and better sleep patterns.

Don't forget to forgive yourself. \"For some people, forgiving themselves is the biggest challenge,\" Frederic says. \"But it can rob you of your self-confidence if you don't do it.\"

How to Grow Happiness

Step one:

Plant yourself deep in a bed of faith, and pack it down solid and tight. Drench daily with positive thinking, and keep saturated just right. Mulch often with forgivenss, for this will help you grow. Quickly remove any seeds of worry, for they will soon germinate, and keep out the weeds of despair. Nourish disappointments with hope whenever it is neeeded, and always stay cool and shaded when you feel irritated or heated. Trim away guilt or depression, for they create decay, and cultivate with happy memories as often as every day.

Step two:

Harvest the lessons of the past; just dig, pick, and hoe. And nurture the roots of the present, for now is when you flourish and grow. Start planting for the future; set your goals in a row. Spade the bed well for all your dreams to grow.

Step three:

Remember that grief is a natural predator, so learn to tolerate some damage. Protect your garden with daily prayers, for this will help you manage. Bury the criticism and complaining, for

they are injurious pests. Sow the seed of love wherever you may go--for joy, love, and laughter are surely bound to grow. Although the thorns of life may be here to stay, just sprout a smile along the way...and be thankful for what you have today!

Love Your Life

However mean your life is, meet it and live it; do not shun it and call it hard names. It is not so bad as you are. It looks poorest when you are richest. The fault-finder will find faults in paradise. Love your life, poor as it is. You may perhaps have some pleasant, thrilling, glorious hours, even in a poor-house. The setting sun is reflected from the windows of the alms-house as brightly as from the rich man's abode; the snow melts before its door as early in the spring. I do not see but a quiet mind may live as contentedly there, and have as cheering thoughts, as in a palace. The town's poor seem to me often to live the most independent lives of any. Maybe they are simply great enough to receive without misgiving. Most think that they are above being supported by the town; but it often happens that they are not above supporting themselves by dishonest means, which should be more disreputable. Cultivate poverty like a garden herb, like sage. Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends. Turn the old, return to them. Things do not change; we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts.

So much to learn

It was the last day of final examination in a large Eastern university. On the steps of one building, a group of engineering seniors huddled, discussing the exam due to begin in a few minutes. On their faces was confidence. This was their last exam-then on to commencement and jobs. Some talked of jobs they already had; others of jobs they would get. With all this assurance of four years of college, they felt ready and able to conquer the world.

The approaching exam, they knew, would be a snap. The professor had said they could bring any books or notes they wanted. Requesting only that they did not talk to each other during the test. Jubilantly they field into the classroom. The professor passed out the papers. And smiles broadened as the students noted there were only five essay-type questions.

Three hours passed. Then the professor began to collect the papers. The students no longer

looked confident. On their faces was a frightened expression. No one spoke as, papers in hand, the professor faced the class.

He surveyed the worried faces before him, then asked: \"how many completed all five questions?\"

Not a hand was raised. \"How many answered four?\" Still no hands. \"Three? Two?\"

The students shifted restlessly in their seats. \"One, then? Certainly somebody finished one.\"

But the class remained silent. The professor put down the papers. \"that is exactly what I expected,\" he said.

I just want to impress upon you that, even though you have completed four years of engineering. There are still many things about the subject you don't know. These questions you could not answer are relatively common in everyday practice.\" Then, smiling, he added: \"you will all pass this course, but remember- even though you are now college graduates, your education has just begun.\"

The years have obscured the name of this professor, but not the lesson he taught.

Bill Gates: Unleashing your creativity

I've always been an optimist and I suppose that is rooted in my belief that the power of creativity and intelligence can make the world a better place.

For as long as I can remember, I've loved learning new things and solving problems. So when I sat down at a computer for the first time in seventh grade, I was hooked. It was a clunky old Teletype machine and it could barely do anything compared to the computers we have today. But it changed my life.

When my friend Paul Allen and I started Microsoft 30 years ago, we had a vision of \"a computer on every desk and in every home,\" which probably sounded a little too optimistic at a time when most computers were the size of refrigerators. But we believed that personal computers would change the world. And they have. And after 30 years, I'm still as inspired by computers as I was back in seventh grade.

I believe that computers are the most incredible tool we can use to feed our curiosity and

inventiveness —— to help us solve problems that even the smartest people couldn't solve on their own. Computers have transformed how we learn, giving kids everywhere a window into all of the world's knowledge. They're helping us build communities around the things we care about and to stay close to the people who are important to us, no matter where they are.

Like my friend Warren Buffett, I feel particularly lucky to do something every day that I love to do. He calls it \"tap-dancing to work.\" My job at Microsoft is as challenging as ever, but what makes me \"tap-dance to work\" is when we show people something new, like a computer that can recognize your handwriting or your speech, or one that can store a lifetime's worth of photos, and they say, \"I didn't know you could do that with a PC!\"

But for all the cool things that a person can do with a PC, there are lots of other ways we can put our creativity and intelligence to work to improve our world. There are still far too many people in the world whose most basic needs go unmet. Every year, for example, millions of people die from diseases that are easy to prevent or treat in the developed world.

I believe that my own good fortune brings with it a responsibility to give back to the world. My wife, Melinda, and I have committed to improving health and education in a way that can help as many people as possible.

As a father, I believe that the death of a child in Africa is no less poignant or tragic than the death of a child anywhere else. And that it doesn't take much to make an immense difference in these children's lives.

I'm still very much an optimist, and I believe that progress on even the world's toughest problems is possible —— and it's happening every day. We're seeing new drugs for deadly diseases, new diagnostic tools, and new attention paid to the health problems in the developing world.

I'm excited by the possibilities I see for medicine, for education and, of course, for technology. And I believe that through our natural inventiveness, creativity and willingness to solve tough problems, we're going to make some amazing achievements in all these areas in my lifetime.

Wealth Success and Love

A woman saw three old men sitting in her front yard. She said, ―I don‘t think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have something to eat. ‖

―We do not go into a house together. ‖they replied.

―Why is that？‖she wanted to know.

One of the old men explained：―His name is Wealth, this is Success, and I am Love. ‖Then he added, ―Now go in and discuss with your husband which one of us you want in your home. ‖

Then the woman went in and told her husband what was said. Her husband said, ―Let‘s invite Wealth. Let him come and fill our home with wealth.‖His wife disagreed, ―My dear, why don‘t we invite Success？‖Then the daughter made a suggestion：―Would it be better to invite Love？Our home will then be filled with love.‖―Let‘s take our daughter‘s advice. ‖said the father.

So the woman went out and asked, ―Which one of you is Love？Please come in and be our guest. ‖Love got up and started walking toward the house. The other two also got up and followed him. Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success：―I only invited Love. Why are you coming in？‖

The old men replied together：―If you had invited Wealth or Success, the other two of us would have stayed out, but since you invited Love, wherever he goes, we go with him. Wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success.‖

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