Appreciate Small Beginnings

"The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn."
                               -Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Without change, something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken."
                                                               – Frank Herbert

About Frank Herbert

American author Frank Herbert is the author of Dune, the ecological science-fiction classic that has inspired cult-like devotion among fans. He was born in Tacoma in 1920. He lied about his age to get his first newspaper job in 1939. He was inspired to write Dune after researching an article about sand dunes in Oregon. The book took six years to write and was rejected by 23 publishers. It was a critical success for its exploration of issues of religion, politics, and survival. He died in 1986.

"A day of worry is more exhausting than a week of work."
                                                                      – John Lubbock

About John Lubbock

John Lubbock, the multifaceted British banker, statesman, and scientist, was responsible for the institution of England's monthly Bank Holidays, sometimes referred to as St. Lubbock Days. He was born in 1834 in England. Growing up, he learned science from his father's friend Charles Darwin. He coined the terms Paleolithic and Neolithic to denote the different Stone Ages, and he wrote the well-regarded books Prehistoric Times and Ants, Bees, and Wasps. He died in 1913.

   "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.
             Live the life you've imagined."
         Henry David ThoreauHenry David Thoreau

"If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm,
  you'll never enjoy the sunshine."
                                                            – Morris West

About Morris West

Morris West, the popular Australian writer best known for religious thrillers including The Shoes of the Fisherman and The Devil's Advocate, spent 12 years in a Christian Brothers monastery but left before taking his final vows. He was born in Melbourne in 1916. He wrote his first book while serving in the South Pacific during World War II. After the war, he held such varied jobs as a radio soap-opera writer and Vatican correspondent for London's Daily Mail. He died in 1999.

"People become really quite remarkable
when they start thinking that they can do things.
When they believe in themselves,
they have the first secret of success."
- Norman Vincent Peale

"Within us all there are wells of thought and dynamos of energy which are not suspected until emergencies arise."
                                                                 – Thomas J. Watson

About Thomas J. Watson

American businessman Thomas J. Watson built IBM into a Fortune 500 company. He was born in rural New York in 1874. He sold sewing machines, musical instruments, and cash registers before becoming president of the Computing-Tabulating-Recording company, which merged with IBM in 1924. His paternalistic business style was a model for later Japanese management, and his motto, "THINK," became his company's slogan. Under his leadership, IBM funded the first computers. He died in 1956.

"Don't carry a grudge. While you're carrying a grudge,
               the other guy's out dancing."
                                                                    – Buddy Hackett

"The power of imagination makes us infinite."
                                                                    – John Muir

About John Muir

American naturalist John Muir is remembered as a passionate champion of the natural wonder of Yosemite; he was instrumental in turning the land into a national park. Born in Scotland in 1838, he immigrated with his family to Wisconsin in 1849. He dropped out of college to walk 1,000 miles from Indiana to Florida. After falling in love with Yosemite, he took a job herding sheep nearby. He developed the theory that the valley was created by glaciers, which is now accepted as fact. He died in 1914.

      

"Reading is important — read between the lines. Don't swallow everything."
                                                               – Gwendolyn Brooks

About Gwendolyn Brooks

In 1950, poet Gwendolyn Brooks became the first African-American awarded a Pulitzer Prize. She was born in 1917 in Kansas and grew up in Chicago. Her poetry often evokes the environment of Chicago's tough South Side neighborhood. In later years her work became more overtly political, though she continued to combine an understanding of traditional forms like sonnets and ballads with the rhythm of the blues and experimental verse. She died in 2000.

"Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."
                                                             --Christopher Robin to Winnie The Pooh

"Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life —
    learn some and think some and draw and
     paint and sing and dance and play and
              work every day some."
                                                                            – Robert Fulghum

About Robert Fulghum

American author Robert Fulghum is best known for his book All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, which dominated the New York Times best-seller list for nearly two years. He was born in 1937 in Texas. In his youth he worked at odd jobs, including ditchdigger, ranch hand, and singing cowboy. After a short career at IBM, he became a Unitarian minister. He has written eight best-selling books of essays. His anecdotes of everyday life encapsulate his down-home philosophy. He lives in Seattle, Washington and on the Greek Island of Crete.

   Here on the last day of April 2011, I want to share with you that at least once a week I study other published writers to see how they do what they do. I hope to learn more about the art of book writing. 
   Some of what I read is just a publisher's propaganda. That's OK. Someday I'll have one of those spin doctors too. 
   Some of what I read is truly inspiring. That's usually what I'm looking for. 
   Most of it, however, reveals traits about other writers that I do not have. This month I discovered that the writers who create a new book every year have a copy machine with a remote. All I get with my remote is The Shopping Channel and Fox News. 
   I must call the local Social Welfare office next month. I am technically underprivileged and I need to get on some government program.

"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life."
           -Ancient Chinese Slogan Confucius

    "To be yourself in a world that is
     constantly trying to make you 
              something else is
     the greatest accomplishment."
                                -EmersonEmerson

"It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expected of him."
                                                         – John Steinbeck

About John Steinbeck

American author John Steinbeck is famous for his portrayals of workers struggling during the Great Depression in books such as the Dust Bowl novel The Grapes of Wrath and the novella Of Mice and Men. He was born in 1902 in California, the setting for many of his novels. Fascinated with marine biology, he joined an expedition in the Gulf of California, which led to the book The Sea of Cortez and an understanding, shown in his work, of the interdependence of living organisms. He died in 1968.

"To live is the rarest thing in the world.
Most people exist, that is all."
Oscar Wilde

"Inspiration follows aspiration."
                                         – Rabindranath Tagore

About Rabindranath Tagore

Indian poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore, a contemporary of Mahatma Gandhi, was the first Asian to garner a Nobel Prize, which he won in 1913 for literature. He was born in India in 1861, the youngest of 13 children. He wrote poetry, stories, travelogues, dramas, essays, and songs. In the West, he was seen as a mystical figure and his fame faded with time, but his legacy lives on in India, where his work has become part of the fabric of the culture. He died in 1941.

"If you must begin then go all the way, because if you begin and quit, the unfinished business you have left behind begins to haunt you all the time."
– Chögyam Trungpa

About Chögyam Trungpa

Tibetan Buddhist leader Chögyam Trungpa was instrumental in bringing Buddhism to the West. He was born in 1939 in Tibet and was recognized as the reincarnation of a Rinpoche (enlightened teacher) at 13 months old. After moving to England, he abandoned his monk garb: He wanted his Western students to perceive the Buddhist teachings without becoming distracted by exotic trappings. He founded Naropa University in Colorado and wrote several books. He died in 1987.

"Everything you want is just
outside your comfort zone."