"Virtue is not left to stand alone."

"Virtue is not left to stand alone. 
He who practices it will have neighbors."

~ Confucius 

“The atheism and nihilism of my earlier years now seems shallow, and even a bit cocky.”

“The atheism and nihilism of my earlier years now seems shallow, and even a bit cocky.”

"My faith in Christ is central to my life. My conversion from a pessimistic atheist lost in a world I didn’t understand, to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me. But following Christ does not mean following His followers."

~ Anne Rice

https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2021/12/22/anne-rice-obituary-spirituality-vampire-242096

"Success is sometimes the outcome of a whole string of failures."

"Success is sometimes the outcome of a whole string of failures."

~ Vincent van Gogh

quote:

"With his spectacular paintings hanging in such venerable institutions as the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and New York’s Museum of Modern Art, it is hard to imagine that Vincent van Gogh ever experienced failure. But in reality, the Dutch post-impressionist artist went through overwhelming hardship in his life, both personally and professionally, and only found global fame and success after his death in 1890. If Van Gogh could see the silver lining of life’s dark storm clouds, then so can we."

quote from Inspiring Quotes email, December 23, 2021

Maya Angelou’s writing practice

"If you’re always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be."

~ Maya Angelou

quote:

Maya Angelou’s life was anything but normal. At the age of 16, she became the first Black woman to drive a San Francisco cable car. Later, after training as a dancer, actress, and singer, she toured with the musical “Porgy and Bess.” She also recorded an album of calypso music, wrote and acted in plays, composed film soundtracks, and organized protests against racial discrimination. Though she is now known primarily as a poet and autobiographer, she never limited herself to just one identity. 

Even Angelou’s writing practice might seem a bit eccentric: She would check herself into a hotel room in the morning with a legal pad, deck of cards, Bible, thesaurus, and a bottle of sherry, and write until early afternoon. The goal, as she put it, was to “enchant” herself: to "relive the agony, the anguish,” and to feel at last the ecstatic relief of telling her truth.

quote from Inspiring Quotes email, December 4, 2021

the affairs of your government

"If you do not take an interest in the affairs of your government,
then you are doomed to live under the rule of fools."

~ Plato

“When people show you who they are, believe them.”

“When people show you who they are, believe them.”

~  Maya Angelou

"Great necessities call out great virtues."

"Great necessities call out great virtues."

~ Abigail Adams, First Lady

"It is in times of need, distress, and reckoning that great women and men rise to the occasion and act. First Lady Abigail Adams, along with her colonial American compatriots, witnessed countless examples of courage, sacrifice, humility, and honor during the American Revolution and the founding of the United States. In 1780, amid the trials of the Revolutionary War, Adams wrote these words in a letter to her young son, John Quincy Adams, to remind him that hard times require us to act on our best qualities."

quote from Inspiring Quotes email, November 29, 2021

"inside the person you know, there is a person you do not know”

“But in Syria there is a saying: inside the person you know, there is a person you do not know.”

~ Christy Lefteri, The Beekeeper of Aleppo

"Whoever is happy will make others happy too."

"Whoever is happy will make others happy too."

~ Anne Frank

Choose wisely

“Attitude is a choice.
Happiness is a choice.
Optimism is a choice.
Kindness is a choice.
Giving is a choice.
Respect is a choice.
Whatever choice you make makes you.
Choose wisely.”

~ Roy T. Bennett

A poem lovely as a tree.

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray.

~Joyce Kilmer (1886–1918)

“The body will go where the mind takes it”

quote:

The night my husband was diagnosed with cancer, a dear friend, @drstephmoore, said to buy a candle that very night. A candle? Seemed like an odd “doctor’s order.” 

“The body will go where the mind takes it,” she said. The body will go where the mind takes it. Light the candle, she told him. Focus on the flame. That’s the power of the human spirit, will, determination, love. Harness that strength. Now, watch the wax drip away. Those are the cancer cells. Envision them disappearing.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/celebrity/today-show-fans-rally-behind-hoda-kotb-after-she-shares-emotional-instagram/ar-AAQjEwd

The Light Collection

Its very essence is change. Be inspired by its flame. That’s your inner strength, the power of faith, hope and love. And may the wax that melts away take with it your troubles and doubts.

https://lifesaboutchange.com/pages/the-light-collection

9 percent fear ghosts and zombies

The New York Times Evening Briefing, October 29, 2021

quote:

Do you believe in ghosts? 

According to one study, about 9 percent of 1,035 adults surveyed this year said they feared ghosts and zombies (many more said they were afraid of government corruption, the coronavirus and civil unrest). Belief in paranormal phenomena has pervaded American culture and media for centuries. But researchers are now studying whether such beliefs are linked to an absence of religious affiliation.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/28/style/do-you-believe-in-ghosts.html

if you find a perfect church . . .

 The evangelist Billy Graham told a crowd, 

“If you find a perfect church, don’t join it. You’ll ruin it.”

"Well, you’re not such a great prize, either."

Elizabeth Strout Knows We Can’t Escape the Past

by Annabel Gutterman, October 13, 2021

https://time.com/6105980/elizabeth-strout-oh-william/  Accessed 10/21/2021

interview with Elizabeth Strout, quotes:

What do you think is the biggest misconception people have around marriage?

People, especially when they’re younger, get married thinking that their lives will be so much better. And hopefully they will be. But there’s this sense that there’s a perfect way to live, and there is not. Marriage is not the finishing line that sometimes people think it is.

What’s the best advice for a happy marriage?

My daughter told me that she heard this from a friend of hers, and I thought it was pretty amazing. She said: “Look in the mirror every morning and think to yourself, ‘Well, you’re not such a great prize, either.’” That sounds a little harsh, but I take the point. We all have our difficulties. You always think the other person’s not behaving the way you want them to, but then you look at yourself and realize, well, maybe I’m not behaving the way they want me to, either.

Time Magazine, Oct. 25/Nov. 1, 2021, p. 116

Chris Hemsworth: "Just get moving. Movement creates motivation."

Men's Health

Chris Hemsworth’s ‘Extraction 2’ Prep Has Got Him Looking Jacked as Hell

Philip Ellis, Mon, October 18, 2021

https://www.yahoo.com/news/chris-hemsworth-extraction-2-prep-174500298.html  accessed 10-21-2021

quote:

Hemsworth is a pro when it comes to pushing through fatigue. In a recent Instagram video, he shared his personal mantra for getting motivated and forcing himself to grind through his workouts even when he doesn't want to: "If you're feeling flat, just get moving. Movement creates motivation."

"what you would have wanted had you known"

 “Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted
but getting what you have, which
once you have it
you may be smart enough to see
is what you would have wanted had you known. ”

~ Garrison Keillor, Lake Wobegon U.S.A.

"if you want to test a man’s character, give him power"

quote from Snopes:

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/lincoln-character-power/ accessed 10/12/2021

Did Lincoln Say, ‘If You Want to Test a Man’s Character, Give Him Power’?

For nearly a century, people have made the mistake of claiming that a quotation about Lincoln was actually a quotation by him.

By Dan MacGuill,  Published 25 September 2019

... The full quotation is usually given as, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”

In reality, Lincoln never uttered or wrote those words, or words to that effect. Rather, they were said about him. The original version of the quotation came on Jan. 16, 1883, during a speech in Washington, D.C., by the prominent writer and orator Robert Ingersoll. 

According to newspaper reports, Ingersoll was introducing another speaker, who was scheduled to give a lecture on Lincoln, at an unspecified “auditorium” in the nation’s capital. During the course of his introductory remarks (which were printed in full by the press), Ingersoll said:

“… If you want to know the difference between an orator and a speaker, read the oration of Lincoln at Gettysburg, and then read the speech of Everett at the same place. One came from the heart, the other was born only of the voice. Lincoln’s speech will be remembered forever. Everett’s no man will read. It was like plucked flowers. [Applause]. 

“If you want to find out what a man is to the bottom, give him power. Any man can stand adversity — only a great man can stand prosperity. It is the glory of Abraham Lincoln that he never abused power only on the side of mercy. [Applause]. He was a perfectly honest man. When he had power, he used it in mercy …”

A modified version of those lines later appeared in published volumes of Ingersoll’s speeches and essays. For example, in his 1895 “Abraham Lincoln, a Lecture,” he wrote:

“Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except on the side of mercy.”

The exact same formulation of words appeared in Volume 3 of the 12-volume “Works of Robert G. Ingersoll,” which was published in 1902, three years after the well-known orator’s death. ...

“Life exists somewhere between effort and surrender.”

quoted from an interview with Tom Brady: 

What’s the one sentence that sums up your philosophy of life?

I heard a really good saying, “Life exists somewhere between effort and surrender.” We think we’re always in control. And what we realize in life is that we’re so little in control of things.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/tom-brady-on-the-one-game-hed-like-to-do-over-11632918639 accessed 10/2/2021

quoted:

"Life is a balance between what we can control and what we cannot. I am learning to live between effort and surrender."

~ Danielle Orner

http://soulscapecoaching.com/effort-or-surrender/  accessed 10/2/2021

'God is good'

https://www.today.com/parents/babies/barbara-bush-gave-birth-first-child-daughter-cora-rcna2463

The place where Barbara Bush gave birth was an unexpected family tribute

Sept. 30, 2021, 12:21 PM EDT / Source: TODAY

By Scott Stump

Barbara Bush was supposed to give birth to her first child in New York City, but it turned out her baby daughter was delivered in a place that was meant to be.

Bush's twin sister, Jenna Bush Hager, shared on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna Thursday that after Barbara's water broke six weeks early, she gave birth to her daughter, Cora Georgia Coyne, at the Barbara Bush Children's Hospital in Portland, Maine, on Monday. . . .

Barbara and her husband, Craig Coyne, had planned on having their first child at a New York City hospital, but baby Cora had other plans while they were staying at the family's longtime home in Kennebunkport, Maine.  . . .

Jenna, who has three children of her own, also described the moment she found out the baby was coming early.

"I woke up to a text message on Monday morning," she said. "I burst into tears, I was frantic, I woke up (husband) Henry (Hager). He was like, 'What?' I’m like, ‘She’s in labor!'"

Cora's middle name of Georgia is a tribute to their father, former President George W. Bush, who helped calm Jenna down after she found out that Barbara was in labor.

"One of the things that I think is so cool about my parents is all my dad wrote back to the text: 'God is good,'" Jenna said. "And it all of a sudden calmed me. I was kind of frantic. I was nervous." . . .