Inspirational Thoughts

Reflections of a Mother

• I gave you life, but cannot live it for you.
• I can teach you things, but I cannot make you learn.
• I can give you directions, but I cannot be there to lead you.
• I can allow you freedom, but I cannot account for it.
• I can take you to church, but I cannot make you believe.
• I can teach you right from wrong, but I cannot always decide for you.
• I can buy you beautiful clothes, but I cannot make you beautiful inside.
• I can offer you advice, but I cannot accept it for you.
• I can give you love, but I cannot force it upon you.
• I can teach you to share, but I cannot make you unselfish.
• I can teach you respect, but I cannot force you to show honor.
• I can advise you about friends, but cannot choose them for you.
• I can advise you about sex, but I cannot keep you pure.
• I can tell you the facts of life, but I can't build your reputation.
• I can tell you about drinking, but I can't say "no" for you.
• I can warn you about drugs, but I can't prevent you from using them.
• I can tell you about lofty goals, but I can't achieve them for you.
• I can teach you about kindness, but I can't force you to be gracious.
• I can warn you about sins, but I cannot make you moral.
• I can love you as a child, but I cannot place you in God's family.
• I can teach you how to live, but I cannot give you eternal life.

Author Unknown

Thoughts

A thought which does not result in an action is nothing much,
and an action which does not proceed from a thought is nothing at all.

Georges Bernanos

Wealth

The real measure of your wealth
is how much you'd be worth
if you lost all your money.

Unknown

Beginning

There will come a time when you believe everything is finished.
That will be the beginning.

Louis L'Amour

Be aware of yourself and validate your experience.
Pay attention to your world, what's happening, and why.

Alexandra G. Kaplan

Opportunity

Circumstances may cause interruptions and delays,
but never lose sight of your goal.
Prepare yourself in every way you can
by increasing your knowledge and adding to your experience,
so that you can make the most of opportunity when it occurs.

Mario Andretti

Instincts

Good instincts usually tell you what to do
before your head has figured it out.

Michael Burke

Adversity

Trials, temptations, disappointments –
all these are helps instead of hindrances,
if one uses them rightly.
They not only test the fiber of character
but strengthen it.
Every conquering temptation
represents a new fund of moral energy.
Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit
makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before.

James Buckham

Opportunity

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity.
The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

Winston Churchill

Potential

Someone told me that blind people need to realize their limitations;
but I think it's more exciting to realize my potential.

Erik Weihenmayer
This is the blind fellow who climbed El Capitan...
the 3000 foot sheer rock face in Yosemite.

Luck

All of us have bad luck and good luck.
The man who persists through the bad luck –
who keeps right on going –
is the man who is there when the good luck comes –
and is ready to receive it.

Robert Collier

Talent

Everyone has talent.
What is rare is the courage to follow the talent
to the dark place where it leads.

Erica Jong

Wisdom

Wisdom comes more from living than from studying

Anonymous

"When your life is filled with the desire
to see the holiness in everyday life,
something magical happens:
ordinary life becomes extraordinary,
and the very process of life begins to nourish your soul!"

Rabbi Harold Kushner

"He who laughs, lasts."

Mary Pettibone Poole

"Research is to see what everybody else has seen,
and to think what nobody else has thought."

Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

Giving people the gift of attention
is the greatest gift you can give.
What if you got money but lost sense of value.
Finally earned enough money to buy stuff that almost killed me.
Doubled value - didn't get paid. You still gain.
What you become is better than the money.
Don't become a spender - not an achiever.

Jim Rohn

Perception

What the caterpillar calls the end of the world,
the master calls a butterfly.

Richard Bach

Honor

Our own heart,
and not other men's opinion,
forms our true honor.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

To me good health is more than just exercise and diet.
It's really a point of view and a mental attitude you have about yourself."

Angela Lansbury

"Real generosity toward the future consists in giving all to what is present."

Albert Camus

"The first step is the hardest."

Madame De Vichy-Deffand

Kindness

A man has made at least a start
on discovering the meaning of human life
when he plants shade trees
under which he knows full well he will never sit.

D. Elton Trueblood

What one has to do usually can be done."

Eleanor Roosevelt

"How to succeed: Try hard enough.
"How to fail: Try too hard."

Malcolm Forbes

"What cannot be altered must be borne, not blamed."

Thomas Fuller

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