Mirrors

[The following is from a book called “Mirrors” by Richard Anthony, which is a compilation of short quotes throughout the years from many different sources. This book was started in 1985, and continues to be updated from time to time].

Whenever you're down,
Just look in this mirror;
If you can find yourself,
All will be clearer.

Life is a journey, not a destination.

Don't measure a situation by what it is, but by what it can become.

A mistake, if understood, is but a step towards wisdom.

We are all faced with opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.

One should give more concern to making a life than to making a living.

Remember, when you point your finger accusingly at someone else, you have three fingers pointing at yourself.

The grand essentials of life are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.

Common sense is just about the most uncommon thing there is.

Any system that takes responsibility away from people, dehumanizes them.

As a man grows wiser, he talks less and says more.

I had the blues because I had no shoes, until upon the street I met a man who had no feet.

You teach best what you most need to learn.

If you have a college degree, you can be absolutely sure of one thing…you have a college degree.

The act of failing doesn't mean you're a failure, it means that you are human.

Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

More people commit suicide with a knife, fork, and spoon, than with any other weapon.

Some people are willing to work, only if they can start at the top and work up.

Perhaps many of us do not like it where we are in the universe now, but we can all be certain that we got where we are by our own decisions to expand in love or withdraw from it.

No one is so blind as the man who refuses to see.

If you want to leave footprints in the sands of time, don't drag your feet.

They live happiest who have forgiven most.

It is remarkable that we are willing to sacrifice for a war, but we won't sacrifice to avoid a war.

Your interpretation of what you see and hear is just that…your interpretation.

The only thing that shatters dreams is compromise.

There's nothing so suddenly startling as a drop in your voice. A low tone is better than a clenched fist.

Aren't people ridiculous? They spend money they don't have, to buy things they don't need, to impress folks they don't like.

Our faults irritate us most when we see them in others.

Many people, when they run into a telephone pole, blame the pole!

It is better to have nothing to do, than to be doing nothing.

There's always someone waiting for you to make a mistake.

To be upset over what you don't have, is to waste what you do have.

From what may anyone be saved? Only from themselves; that is, their individual hell. They dig it with their own desires.

Not to decide is to decide.

The passed is dead, the future is imaginary. Happiness can only be in the eternal now moment.

For to hold grudges, to hold malice, to hold those things that create or bring contention, only builds the barrier to prevent oneself from enjoying peace and contentment.

You don't 'go' to heaven, you 'grow' to heaven.

Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.

If a thing will go without saying, then let it go.

All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts.

Like the dew on the mountain, like the foam on the river, like the bubble on the fountain, thou art gone and forever!

What you see depends mainly on what you look for.

A man who performs a good act with the hope of reward is not free. He is a servant of self, and works for the benefit of self and not for God. It is, therefore, not the power of God which will reward him, he can only expect that reward from his own temporary surroundings.

What is, was. What was, is. What will be is up to me.

There are only two things you “have to” do in life; you “have to” die, and you “have to” live until you die. You made up all the rest.

There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, it doesn't benefit any of us to speak evil of the rest of us.

When you blame others, you give up your power to change.

O, what men dare do; what men may do; what men daily do; not knowing what they do!

If people want to call me a nut, that's okay. But remember, I'm screwed on to a strong bolt.

If you must say anything unpleasant, speak slowly and in a gentle manner.

He who sedulously attends, pointedly asks, calmly speaks, coolly answers, and ceases when he has no more to say, is in possession of some of the best requisites of man.

The surest way to become rich is by being content with what we have; the safest way to obtain power is to sacrifice ourselves for others; and if we desire love, we must distribute the love we possess to others, and then the love of others will descend upon us like the rain descends upon the earth.

Boredom between two people doesn't come from being together physically, it comes from being apart mentally and spiritually.

When a panther is in a corner it yawns and stretches. There's nothing more powerful than the behavior of relaxation in tense situations.

When truth does not guide the imagination, the mind creates disorderly fancies and hallucinations. He dreams while awake and to him his dreams are realities.

When you prelive something, pretend it's tomorrow now, or next month…how do you feel?

Excuses are your lack of faith in your own power.

If you want to stop worrying and start living, count your blessings, not your troubles.

A picture is a poem without words.

You cannot control without being controlled.

How much compassion and forgiveness do you want for yourself? Give it to others.

Look in a mirror and one thing's sure…what we see is not who we are.

People don't plan to fail, they just fail to plan.

If you could kick in the pants the one responsible for most of your troubles, you would not be able to sit down for weeks.

Learning is finding out what you already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know it. Teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you. We are all learners, doers, and teachers.

Change our thought, and the world around us changes.

The harder I work, the luckier I get!

He who receives a good turn should never forget it; he who does one should never remember it.

Whatever you assume to be true will become real for you.

As empty vessels make the loudest sounds, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.

There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts.

It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness.

What you deny to others will be denied to you, for the plain reason that you are always legislating for yourself; all your words and actions define the world you want to live in.

Most of us would rather be ruined by flattery than to be benefited by criticism.

There can be no victories without battles. There can be no peaks without valleys. There can be no roses without thorns.

Strong people make as many mistakes as weak people; the difference is that strong people admit their mistakes, laugh at them, learn from them. That is how they become strong.

You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it however.

'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view.

When we fail to use imagination, our lives become routine.

We first make our habits, and then our habits make us.

If a man has religion, it matters little by what name he may call it, or under what form he may attempt to express that which cannot be expressed in a form.

People condemn what they do not understand.

Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.

Whenever the external form of a thing is examined carefully, it will always be found to constitute an illusion. The illusion does not exist in those things, it exists in ourselves.

Know that a smile will rally many to thy cause, while a frown would drive all away.

Know that what is truly thine cannot be taken away from thee.

Man does not create or originate a thought. Ideas are already in existence. He does not invent ideas, the ideas are already present. He can only collect, elaborate, and modify their expressions. We cannot imagine anything that does not exist, we can only make new combinations of that which is already in existence.

Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished; if you're alive, it isn't.

Reason rests upon the recognition of truth. Wherever truth is disregarded, illusions appear.

Freedom defined is freedom denied.

Lives of great men all remind us we can make our lives sublime. And departing, leave behind us footsteps on the sands of time; footsteps that perhaps another, sailing over life's solemn main, a forlorn shipwrecked brother, seeing shall take heart again.

The real measure of a man's worth is…how much would he be worth if he lost all his money?

When you open the window yourself, you get fresh air. When someone else opens it, you get a draft.

Every man and woman, all the events of your life, are there because you have drawn them there. What you choose to do with them is up to you.

Men of genius are admired; men of wealth are envied, men of power are feared, but only men of character are trusted.

No two people se or hear a given event, or even a given body, exactly the same.

Trying provides two excuses; an excuse for not doing, and an excuse for not having.

Most of us would get along well if we used the same advice we give others.

If you want to make an enemy, try to change someone.

When looking for faults, use a mirror, not a telescope.

All unhappiness is caused by comparison.

Never feel shame for trying and failing, for he who has never failed has never tried.

If you are constantly being mistreated, you're cooperating with the treatment.

Anger is one letter short of danger.

When it is definitely settled by a committee that a thing can't be done, watch somebody go ahead and do it.

Sometimes simple prevention proves wiser than the most wondrously complex cures.

How can a society that exists on instant mashed potatoes, packaged cake mixes, frozen dinners, and instant camera, teach patience to its young?

Our strength is shown in the things we stand for; our weakness is shown in the things we fall for.

You get treated in life the way you train people to treat you.

Your success is measured by your ability to complete things.

Some people try to softly tip-toe through life so that they can arrive at death safely.

To be angry is to revenge the fault of others upon ourselves.

People who can't face drugs turn to reality.

If you're life isn't working the way you want it to, notice you're lying.

He that never changed any of his opinions never corrected any of his mistakes; and he who was never wise enough to find out any mistakes in himself will not be charitable enough to excuse what he reckons mistakes in others.

“We've been talking too much about me, now let's talk about you. What do you think of me?”

Live as though it will be your last day on earth; some day you will be right!

The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it.

If you don't know what direction to take, you haven't acknowledged where you are.

Most of the time we don't communicate, we just take turns talking.

Don't worry about what people will think about you…chances are they seldom think about you at all.

When a man is wrong, and won't admit it, he always gets angry.

Stand for something, or you'll fall for anything.

People would rather be 'right' than be happy.

The best way to avoid responsibility is to say, “I've got responsibilities.”

The more you speak of yourself, the more you are likely to lie.

Dependency is slavery by mutual agreement.

If you give up the need for security, you will be secure.

War destroys men, but luxury destroys mankind, at once corrupts the body and the soul.

Others can stop you temporarily, only you can do it permanently.

If there weren't people unafraid to be judged insane by their peers, we'd still be living in caves.

The way to win is to make it okay to lose.

Never answer an angry word with an angry word. It's the second one that produces a quarrel.

If you and your partner always agree, one of you is unnecessary.

The true way to be deceived is to think oneself more clever than others.

The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.

It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.

An old man on his deathbed was asked, “How did you come to live such a happy life?” His reply, “When young, I searched and searched for happiness. Then I decided to be happy without it.”

When you look directly at an insane man, all you see is a reflection of your own knowledge that he's insane, which is not to see him at all.

To live only for some future goal is shallow. It's the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not the top.

Institutions such as schools, churches, governments and political organizations of every sort all tend to direct thought for ends other than truth, for the perpetuation of their own functions, and for the control of people in the service of these functions.

Mistakes are unexpected learning experiences.

There's no disaster that can't become a blessing, and no blessing that can't become a disaster.

A tiny change today brings us to a dramatically different tomorrow.

No one can solve problems for someone whose problem is that they don't want problems solved.

No matter how qualified or deserving we are, we will never reach a better life until we can imagine it for ourselves and allow ourselves to have it.

Any powerful idea is absolutely fascinating and absolutely useless until we choose to use it.

Bad things are not the worst things that can happen to us; “nothing” is the worst thing that can happen to us.

There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do.

We spend our time searching for security, and hate it when we get it.

Expert advice is a great comfort, even when it's wrong.

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.

Just as there are no little people or unimportant lives, there is no insignificant work.

Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them.

Cats seem to go on the principle that it never does any harm to ask for what you want.

The most difficult thing in the world is to know how to do a thing and to watch someone else doing it wrong, without comment.

Man blames fate for other accidents, but feels personally responsible when he makes a hole-in-one.

Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing.

Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.

Your expression is the most important thing you can wear.

Laughter is a tranquilizer with no side effects.

To thine own self be true and thou canst not then be false to any man.

The world isn't a dream, but the image is.

If a crowd is scared, they're either going to crucify somebody or worship him.

Bureaucracy is the art of making the possible impossible.

The opposite of courage in society is not cowardice, it's conformity.

Time goes, you say? Ah no! Alas, time stays, we go.

Youth is a blunder, manhood a struggle, old age a regret.

Secrets with girls, like loaded guns with boys, are never valued till they make a noise.

The dwarf sees farther than the giant, when he has the giant's shoulder to mount on.

Little drops of water, little grains of sand, make the mighty ocean and the beauteous land. And the little moments, humble though they may be, make the mighty ages of eternity.

Epitaph: If there's another world, he lives in bliss; if there is none, he made the best of this.

All tragedies are finished by a death; all comedies are ended by a marriage.

A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees.

Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them.

Andrea: Unhappy the land that has no heroes.
Galileo: No, unhappy the land that needs heroes.

History is philosophy from examples.

The principle of logic is an unearthly ballet of bloodless categories.

To see a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour.

Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed.

A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.

The truth is daily crucified between superstition and selfishness and laid in the tomb of ignorance.

Temptation resisted is a true measure of character.

Success is ninety-nine percent mental attitude.

A man living in a continual state of isolation of the heart, cares for nothing but for his own personality. He passes away his life in dreaming of that which he does not possess, and thus he loses his spiritual substance and power, becoming himself like a vapory dream.

Solitude is one of the highest enjoyments of which our nature is susceptible. It is also, when too long continued, capable of being made the most severe, indescribable, unendurable source of anguish.

A person is a single note in the great orchestra composing the world.

He who claims to love God without having any spiritual knowledge of Him is a hypocrite or a fool.

God made my body, and if it is dirty, then the imperfection lies with the manufacturer, not the product.

Each man's life is a symphony, in which either harmonious or discordant tunes may prevail.

Life itself never perishes, only the forms perish, if life ceases to manifest itself in them.

The truth is what is, not what 'should be.' What 'should be' is a dirty lie, and never did exist, but people keep trying to live up to it. There is only what is.

Is he who opens a door and he who closes it the same being?

We suffer under the illusion that everything can be cured by passing a law. Most things cant.

You're only bored if you're boring.

When people attack you for being selfish, it invariably means that they're trying to control you in some way. They want you to live, work, and spend your money the way they think you should.

It's not the physical attraction between two people that count, it's the mental and spiritual help two people receive from each other that are important.

Forgive, O Lord, my little jokes on thee, and I'll forgive thy great big one on me.

If the heart of a man is deprest with cares, the mist is dispell'd when a woman appears.

The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves.

You can't step twice into the same river.

Beware of no one more than yourself; we carry our worst enemy within us.

All that you accomplish or fail is the result of your thoughts.

To succeed means that you may have to step out of line and march to the sound of your own drummer.

If you want to be successful, Know what you are doing, Love what you are doing, and Believe in what you are doing. It's just that simple.

Don't criticize people; they are just what we would be under similar circumstances.

A great man shows his greatness by the way he treats little men.

The surface of a lake whose water is in motion reflects only distorted reproductions of images projected upon it; the more the emotions rage, the more the mind becomes disturbed and the spiritual soul be forced into its interior prison; the true images of things seen will be equally distorted.

If, of all the words of tongue and pen, the saddest are, “it might have been;” more sad are these we daily see, “it is, but hadn't ought to be!”

What is a good man but a bad man's teacher? What is a bad man but a good man's job?

If you over esteem great men, people become powerless. If you overvalue possessions, people begin to steal.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.

If you think you know what is advantageous or harmful, read this story from Huai Nan Tzu:
A poor farmer's horse ran off into the country of the barbarians. All his neighbors offered their condolences, but his father said, “How do you know that this isn't good fortune?” After a few months, the horse returned with a barbarian horse of excellent stock. All his neighbors offered their congratulation, but his father said, “How do you know that this isn't a disaster?” The two horses bred, and the family became rich in fine horses. The farmer's son spent much of his time riding them. One day he fell off and broke his hipbone. All his neighbors offered the farmer their condolences, but his father said, “How do you know that this isn't good fortune?” Another year passed and the barbarians invaded the frontier. All the able-bodied young men were conscripted, and nine-tenths of them died in the war. Thus good fortune can be a disaster and vice versa. Who can tell how events will be transformed?

To be seventy years young is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful than to be forty years old.

A man may build himself a throne of bayonets, but he cannot sit on it.

There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse; as I have found in traveling in a stage coach, that it is often a comfort to shift one's position and be bruised in a new place.

Every man has a right to utter what he thinks is truth, and every other man has a right to knock him down for it. Martyrdom is the test.

There is a wicked inclination in most people to suppose and old man decayed in his intellects. If a young or middle-aged man, when leaving company, does not recollect where he laid his hat, it is nothing; but if the same inattention is discovered in an old man, people will shrug their shoulders and say, “His memory is going.”

Slanders are answered best by silence.

A man of genius makes no mistakes. His errors are volitionary and are the portals of discovery.

Ships in the harbor are safe, but that's not what they're built for.

Tell me, I might forget. Show me, I may remember. Involve me, I'll understand.

Your persistence is the measure of your faith in yourself.

What you think about, you bring about.

If you don't say what you mean, you don't mean what you say.

Ulcers are not caused by what you eat, but by what's eating you.

Don't steal. The government hates competition.

What is an addiction but a way of not being alone in the universe?

Forgive me father, for I have syntaxed.

America is a nation of citizens locked in the solitude of their own heart.

The same people who make the laws, break the laws every day.

The American prayer, “Lord, give me patience, and I want it now!”

The rich get richer, the poor get prison.

Two nations between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are as ignorant of each other's habits, thoughts and feelings, as if they were dwellers in different zones, or inhabitants of different planets; who are formed by a different breading, are fed by a different food, are ordered by different manners, and are governed by the same laws. I speak of the rich and the poor.

White men draft black men to fight yellow men to protect land we stole from the red men.

How can we expect honesty from others when they lie to themselves?

When everyone is wrong, everyone is right.

Goodness does not more certainly make men happy than happiness makes them good.

Two men look out through the same bars; one sees the mud, and one the stars.

New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common.

The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, and a hell of heaven.

You are the sum total of the choices you make in your life.

The mind is a metronome, orchestrating, second by second, the working of our bodies, all the while conducting us from birth to old age.

Every thought is a cause, and every condition is an effect.

The world is a bewildering place, but nothing is more perplexing than the contradictions within ourselves.

The meeting of two people is like the contact of two chemical substances; if there's any reaction, both are transformed.

I discovered three types of men on earth: those who say, “Let's make it happen”; those who say, “It can't happen”; and the largest category, those who say “What happened?”

All things that are, are in all things.

Anger is the product of a troubled mind.

The future is created out of the past by those who live in the present.

People cause accidents, accidents cause people.

Happiness isn't a direct path, it happens from accomplishments.

Courage is not the absense of despair; it is, rather, the capacity to move ahead in spite of despair.

The emptiness within corresponds to an apathy without; and apathy adds up, in the long run, to cowardice.

There is a timeless fear that every society harbors of its saints. For they are the ones who threaten the status quo, which each society is devted to protecting.

The intrinsic value of money is nothing. Its value depends mainly on a very large amount of people tactfully agreeing to believe in the same illusion that money has value.

Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.

I am not ashamed to confess that I am ignorant of what I do not know.

Be a real revolutionary…practice your faith!

Capitalism is a license to steal; the government simply regulates who steals and how much.

You see things and you say, “Why?” But I dream things that never were and say, “Why not?”

Every fragment of song holds a mirror to a past moment for someone.

Every problem was once a solution to a previous problem.

This will be a shock to many people, “You can't please everyone.”

Great men have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.

There is quite a difference between knowledge and belief…all men know they will die, and none of them believe it.

Even when you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.

All generalizations are false, including this one.

If God had meant for people to be naked, they would have been born that way.

People kill whatever threatens their idols.

Prophets don't care what the secular world has to say; they hold up a mirror that the people might see themselves and be appalled by their own iniquity.

When confronting the terror of time, we tend to carve out special mythologies for ourselves. We surround our lives with images that promise to lessen discomfort, block out awareness of the inexorable progress of decay. Out of fear and panic and isolation, we fashion for ourselves idols to serve as blockades against the thunderous onslaught of mystery.

In our pride and delusion we rebel against the sovereignty of God and rely on the strength of human beings. And who can say, “I have made my heart clean; I am pure from my sin?” Each of us is bent and twisted and empty and divided.

Don't let college interfere with your education.

Remember that a kick in the ass is a step forward.

People who think they know everything are very ittitating to those of us who do.

For the most part, prayer rises out of selfish comcern. It begins with a desire to manipulate God. We want creation to change to meet our needs. This prayer begins with a sudden expression of anguish or sorrow, of anger or joy. Spiritual pilgrims do not seek to avert the outcry, but instead strive to align self-centerdness with God.

There's always free cheese in a mousetrap.

You can never expect anything original from an echo.

Remember, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.

When small men begin to cast big shadows, it means the sun is about to set.

When life hands you a lemon, make lemonaid.

Every sunrise is a message from God, and every sunset His signature.

Time is the coin of life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.

Hatred does not cease by hatred; hatred ceases by love.

It was not the apple on the tree, but the pair on the ground that caused all the trouble in the garden.

When the world pushes you to your knees, you're in the perfect position to pray.

Money does not raise loving children; parents do.

Be an organ donor…give your heart to Jesus.

What is missing from this ch ch?
ur

What really divides men is their relationship to God, not the place of their birth.

Reading the scripture is an intellectual and spiritual practice which gives us perception and insight.

Your mother was Pro-Life.

The church is not something that people attend, the church is something people are.
Heaven is not something you go to (John 3:13), but something that comes to you.

Jesus doesn't love us because of who we are, he loves us because of who he is.

Know Jesus, Know life. No Jesus, No life. (John 17:3).
Know Jesus, Know truth. No Jesus, No truth. (John 14:6).

Your true religion is what you do when you're alone.

Justice - when you get what you deserve.
Mercy - when you don't get what you deserve.
Grace - when you get what you don't deserve.

Jesus first
Others second
Yourself last

BIBLE:
Behold, I Bring Life Eternal.
Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.

Man is not at peace with his fellow man because he's not at peace with himself, and he's not at peace with himself because he's not at peace with God.

No distraction can cure boredom, just as company so unceasingly pursued cannot stave off loneliness. The bored man is lonely for himself and not, as he thinks, for others. He misses the individuality, the capacity for experience from which he is disbarred.

The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.

There is not enough darkness in the world to extinguish the light of a small candle.

Don't curse the darkness--light a candle.

People don't care what somebody knows until they know somebody cares.

Say what you mean, mean what you say, but don't say it mean.

If you think education is expensive, just look at the cost of ignorance.

We always judge others by their actions, and we always judge ourselves by our intent.

What we are is God's gift to us. What we become is our gift to God.

It is easier to be tolerant of the principles of other people if you have none of your own.

Would the boy you were be proud of the man you are?

It's possible to own too much. A man with one watch knows what time it is; a man with 2 watches is never quite sure.

The gospel is about GRACE, and not about RACE (Acts 11:1-3,17).

The diamond cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.

What we are afraid to do before men, we should be afraid to think before God.

Character is what you are in the dark when no one but God is watching. Anyone can look good in front of an audience. We don't define someone's true character by the image he or she wishes to convey or the reputation he hides behind, but by the choices and decisions he or she has made and makes each day.

To live dangerously is not to live recklessly but righteously, and it is because of God's radical grace for us that we can risk living a life of radical obedience to Him.

Those who stop trying to please people are less intimidated by them.

You can't drive sheep, you must lead sheep.

He is no fool who gives up that which he cannot keep for that which he cannot loose.

Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.

Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic.

The devil doesn't fill us with hatred of God, but with forgetfulness of God.

When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease being honest.

“God is Dead” - Friedrich Nietzsche
“Friedrich Nietzsche is dead” - God.

Evolutionists need to be reminded that their "theory" requires faith to accept!
Humanists need to realize that, by faith, they have determined, "there is absolutely no absolute truth.”

When the prodigal son was hungry, he went to the pigs-when he was desperate, he went to his father.

Apathy on the individual level translates into insanity at the mass level.

God can't lead you where you ought to go if you won't follow Him.

Never seem clever to your enemies. The bigger fool you appear, the less dangerous is his attack.

Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery, Today is a gift, that's why it's called the 'Present'

To compromise God's Word yields poor fruits because ones heart is not in it.

If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.

There is no cure for birth or death save to enjoy the interval.

As you journey through life, take a minute every now and then to give a thought for the other fellow; he could be plotting something.

Time is the best teacher; unfortunately, it kills all its students.

The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds; the pessimist fears it's true

Marriage is where two people who are not related become related.

When you throw mud at others, you not only get your own hands dirty, you lose ground.

More opportunites are lost through inaction than by taking the wrong action.

Miracles happen when someone has the courage to say, "By the Grace of God, this shall be done." That's how Joshua brought down the walls. It is how David defeated Goliath. While others cowered in fear, he spoke up and said, "I'm not afraid of that man. My God is greater than he is." He said it first and then did it.

Anyone can honor a good deal, one that has great advantage. But it takes a leader of integrity to keep his word when circumstances show a bad deal was made.

Next time you're having one of those days, be sure the only reason you're lowering your head is to barge ahead.

God's principles are not true because they work; they work because they are true.

Excellence doesn't mean being better than everyone else, just being your best.

God will always forgive. But lack of character will cost you your seat of influence.

Are your children always watching you leave, or getting to watch firsthand how you lead?

If insecurity or lack of confidence keeps you from using your gifts, you're not winning brownie points for meekness. You are failing in your duty.

God has a way of weaving all your past experiences, relationships, and connections into a life plan you never would have figured out on your own.

Ordinary obedience is the only real path to finding God's Will.

Your ability to cope with rings of responsibility will cause people to ask where your strength comes from. Introduce them to your Silent Partner.

Public statements of thanks are nice, but going out of your way to say thanks in private let's people know you really mean it.

People will follow if you're honest about the problems, fair about the expectations, and confident about the outcome.

Taking the time to be thoughful of others separates good leaders from great ones.

The easiest course of action is to not get involved. But by making yourself vulnerable, you make yourself valuable.

Training your children to obey you now will make it easier for them to obey God later.

Perhaps the best thing you can know is that you can't know everything, but that you serve a living God who does.

Peace of mind does not come from doing eveything perfectly, but from trusting God to work through you.

Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to stay at rest amid conflict.

What may seem like a lack of effort may really be a lack of confidence. The disciples certainly didn't feel up to their task, but Jesus instilled confidence in them.

The best marriage is the one where husband and wife are both serving each other.

Marriage matter to God, and it ought to matter to you. When leaders keep their vows, it becomes easier for followers to keep their promises.

Unsure about whether this task is even God's Will for you? Study the Word, seek wise councel, and trust God to turn even your mistakes into successes.

The cure for insecurity is belief in God's mission and belief in God's help.

Jesus always defended his disciples.When the Pharisees criticized them, He knew that He was the ultimate target of their scorn. It must have engendered a great feeling among the disciples to have the Master come to their defense and take the brunt of the verbal attack.

Challenges are meant to be prepared for and learned from, not to be afraid of.

Don't be spooked by the discipline of meditation. Dwelling on the scripture will cement its truths in your life.

The scripture isn't true because it works; the reason it works is because it's true.

Wise leaders make themselves accountable to someone else.

Always wanting more can keep you on an endless chase, but good stewardship makes you content with what you have.

Paul opposed Peter "to his face." That's always better than opposing someone behind their back.

If important issues are left unresolved, good people get hurt bad.

Leaders can't let even the familiar tug of friendship keep them from pointing out glaring errors. The first step toward defending the things you care about is to care about things that are worth defending.

Honesty is about much more than your words. Honesty is a way of life, a look on your face, a purity in all your motives.

There is no substitution for "a clear conscience." You can withstand a lot of heat when your own heart can defend you.

Short cuts will rarely take you to your desired destination, and never in the way God intended.

Leaders need to understand the difference between the tempting shortcut and the most efficient way to accomplish something. There is a vast difference. Most things of quality are built slowly over time and come at a significant price.

There are no shortcuts to becoming a servant of Christ. Time spent in God's Word, prayer, and faith-building acts of obedience, over time, is the only formula. There are no quick fixes.

You'll need others to help you achieve your goals. Don't try to do it all yourself. Share the dream, the load, and the reward.

Some matters do require immediate action, but not everything that screams deserves an abrupt decision. Waiting is often the best course of action.

The first step into compromise is a step in the wrong direction. You will never regret doing what you knew was right.

Leaders are not fearless, but do not let fear dictate their thinking.

Don't worry about what you don't have. Make the best with what you do have.

Challenge the rut of unquestioned expectations with the fresh air of a new approach.

Leaders enjoy great blessings, but they pay a higher price.

Don't expect fairness in a fallen world.

Sound leadership requires more than hard work, but it will not happen without it.

Many people talk about doing something - writing a book, starting a company, beginning a ministry - but few actually do the hard work of getting it done. As the old saying goes, "When all is said and done, more is said than done."

You can expect a reward for all your hard work, not by how much you've done, but by how well you've done it.

If you never feel like you're accomplishing enough, maybe it's because you're trying to do too much.

"To the world you might be one person, but to a person you just might be the world"