Tag: Literature

On the Majority

A portrait of the American writer Mark Twain t...

 

“Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” via Mark Twain.

 

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The value of experiments…

“I learned this, at least, by my experiment:  that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours.  He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings.  In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be.  Now put a foundation under them.” ~ Henry David Thoreau via The value of experiments………….

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On Being Yourself…

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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On Simplifying…

“Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

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On questions…

“You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.” – Naguib Mahfouz

via What Would YOUR Top 1% Do?.

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First thing in the morning…

Sunrise over Tauranga Harbor, as seen from the...

“First thing every morning before you arise say out loud, “I believe,” three times.”

– Norman Vincent Peale, the amazing author of “The Power of Positive Thinking”!

“There are four questions of value in life… What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for, and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same. Only love.“

– Johnny Depp, the raddest actor of our generation.

“The success of love is in the loving – it is not in the result of loving. Of course it is natural in love to want the best for the other person, but whether it turns out that way or not does not determine the value of what we have done.“

– Mother Teresa, was quite literally a Saint!

“The value you place on yourself is the value the world will give you. If you want to be compensated for your talents – value your time. If you want to be a valuable business – solve valuable problems. If you want to be a valuable lover – give your love away with no expectation of return. If you want be valuable to yourself – choose people who do the same.”

– Jackson Kiddard, author & polymath.

via Today’s Quotes: First Thing In The AM Say I BELIEVE!.

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Your Essential Guide to Beer

If you agree with me and Benjamin Franklin that “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy”, click the image to go to the source…

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It’s not enough to be busy…

“It’s not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: what are we busy about?” ~Henry David Thoreau

via Tiny Wisdom: Creating Time for Fun | Tiny Buddha: Wisdom Quotes, Letting Go, Letting Happiness In.

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Edwards’s Resolutions in Seven Categories

Rev. Jonathan Edwards, a leader of the Great A...
Image via Wikipedia

Jonathan Parnell shares this:

Back in 1723 Jonathan Edwards chartered a list of resolutions for his life. 70 of them. And he read them once a week.

Matt Perman writes:

[Edwards] shows us that a well lived life doesn’t just happen; it requires intentionality. And intentionality manifests itself in certain “mechanisms” that help us maintain our intentionality. Edwards’ resolutions are one example of such a “mechanism.”

So Edwards is a good example not just of a life that is lived well, but also of the “practical side” of how to actually build that intentionality into our lives, rather than just letting it remain a vague wish that never takes deep root and makes a real difference.

Refusing to be vague, Matt has organizedJonathan Edwards’s resolutions into seven specific categories. This approach is a fresh way to help us apply their wisdom where we live. The categories include:

  • Overall Life Mission
  • Good Works
  • Time Management
  • Relationships
  • Suffering
  • Character
  • Spiritual Life

The New Year is upon us. Read through Edwards’s resolutions. Print them out. Consider adopting them as your own for a Christ-exalting, God-entranced vision of all things.

Source: Edwards’s Resolutions in Seven Categories – Desiring God

How will you guide your thinking as you prepare for a new year? Better days don’t just come from singing a song…

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Be Humble or Be Humbled!

Peaceful
Image by Joewong038 via Flickr

“Humility is recognition of truth. Your worldly accomplishments are a gift bestowed upon you by the Uni-verse, nothing is possible without the support of the invisible realm of the Infinite Mystery. When you know that you actually do nothing and are simply a channel for the Good, Abundance, Joy and Peace that already existed before your birth to be rearranged to your preference you will be in harmony with Life. The minute you buy into being the doer of anything you have taken yourself out of the flow and stepped back into Ego thinking. All things have been created by the Joyful will of the Infinite Mystery, Life is an experience of making choices about how you want to arrange things in your life. You can choose to arrange things in a Fearful, Egoic way, or you can choose to arrange things in a Loving and Joyful way. When you choose Love and Joy you align with the greatest and highest Good and begin to express your unique creative perspective while at the same time feeling a oneness with everyone else. This will leave you with a feeling of wholeness, joy, peace and gratitude.”

– Jackson Kiddard, author & polymath.

via thedailylove.com
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Be Worthy Of Your Own Respect

“Don’t listen to those who say, ‘You’re taking too big a chance.’ Michelangelo would have painted the Sistine floor, and it would surely be rubbed out by today. Most important, don’t listen when the little voice of fear inside you rears its ugly head and says. ‘They’re all smarter than you out there. They’re more talented, they’re taller, blonder, prettier, luckier, and they have connections. I firmly believe that if you follow a path that interests you, not to the exclusion of love, sensitivity, and cooperation with others, but with the strength of conviction that you can move others by your own efforts, and do not make success or failure the criteria by which you live, the chances are you’ll be a person worthy of your own respects.”

– Neil Simon, is an American playwright and screenwriter.

via thedailylove.com
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Nothing can bring you peace…

““Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson from his “Self Reliance” Essay, Emerson was an American essayist, philosopher, poet” Source: Today’s Quotes: Don’t Die With Your Music Still In You

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Judgments…

“Of all the judgments we pass in life, none is more important than the judgment we pass on ourselves.”

– Nathaniel Branden

via thedailylove.com
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Create the Perfect Love

“We waste time looking for the perfect lover, instead of creating the perfect love.”

– Tom Robbins, Robbins is a best-selling American author.

via thedailylove.com
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Live!

“Death tugs at my ear and says: “Live, I am coming.”

– Oliver Wendell Holmes, Holmes was an American physician and professor who also achieved fame as a writer.

via thedailylove.com
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Love Me When I Least Deserve It

“Love me when I least deserve it, because that’s when I need it the most.”

– Swedish proverb

via thedailylove.com
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If it’s true that the first hour is the ‘rudder of the day’ than the next few weeks are the ‘rudder of the year’. If you lead an organization like I do, here are 4.5 books that will give you all the insight you need to chart a course for the year…

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Here they are in their recommended order of reading:

  1. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. There’s a reason why this book is one of the most popular of all time. Read or reread it!
  2. Getting Things Done. Another book that has become so popular that people have forgotten why.
  3. Awesomely Simple. This one is new, but powerful enough to be a ‘must read’ recommendation for me. John Spence defines what a ‘book’ should be in the new millennium by hosting a website with bonus materials for readers. He’s also active in social media and eagerly engages readers…
  4. Your Best Year Yet! Enough said.
  5. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. What? Yes, read it. Franklin’s systematic approach to building new habits is outlined here.

Now for the how. Yes, I’m even going to tell you how to read them. Read them via Kindle. “What”, you say? “I’m not going to buy a Kindle just to read these books!” “Well”, I say, “you don’t have to”. Kindle software runs on Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android, Windows Phone 7, BlackBerry and via web browser. It synchronizes wirelessly between devices creating a virtual library of all the books you download allowing you to access them anywhere at any time. So, if I’m reading a book on my Sprint Evo and highlight a section that I want to go back to later, when I get to my computer and synchronize my books, the same selection will be highlighted, along with any notes I’ve made, on my PC. Did I mention that most Kindle books are around $10 as well? The total in the title is the sum of all the Kindle books I recommended and you can click on any title in the slider to order it immediately…

This video will help you get the picture…

Now as much as I love all things Google, Kindle content is cheaper than the new Google Books by about 50% in my informal testing and although the Android reader for Google Books is more full featured, imho, Kindle software is a more compelling offering at the moment. btw, if you’d prefer to listen, there’s always Audible — another service from Amazon.com! Again, no special device is required because there’s Audible software available for Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android, Windows Phone 7, BlackBerry and web browser. Instead of listening to talk radio, now you can get smart while you’re driving around!

According to Einstein, doing the same things and expecting different results is the very definition of insanity. These books, combined with new ways of consuming their wisdom, will help you get from where you’re at to where you want to be as a business leader in 2011. Really!

All the best to you in 2011!

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