"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."
- Oscar Wilde

"Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible."
                                                             – St. Francis of Assisi

About St. Francis of Assisi

St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and ecology in Catholicism, was born Giovanni "Francesco" Bernardone into a wealthy Italian merchant family in 1181. As a youth, he was known for carousing. After a series of illnesses, one of which occured while a prisoner of war, he had a spiritual awakening. God came to him in a vision and told him to build up his crumbling church. Taking the dream literally, he began rebuilding a local chapel. He took a vow of poverty and began traveling, preaching, and working to help the sick and the poor. A group formed around him, becoming the Franciscan order. He died in 1226.

   In order to live happy, joyous, and free, I had to give up boredom. At first that was not an easy choice to make, but it came out good.
   Even now, however, I occasionally balk at leaving a comfortable rut that I have created. 
   In the morning my left leg goes into my pants first. I brush my teeth with my right hand. My toilet paper unrolls over the top, not from underneath. I go to the grocery the same way every time. My phone answering message has not been changed in more than a year.
   Yesterday I discovered that I always bake potatoes wrapped in tinfoil. When I'm out of tinfoil I don't eat baked potatoes and I go into a funk.   
   None of these on their own are big deals, but I can improve the level of my happiness by changing only one little thing at a time.
   Oh, by the way, this is the first time I posted two entries on my blog on the same day. Ha! The idea still works.
   I can't explain this ... I'm just reporting.
                     Tom           

"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.

"We must dare to think "unthinkable" thoughts. We must learn to explore all the options and possibilities that confront us in a complex and rapidly changing world."
                                                                – James William Fulbright

About James William Fulbright

James William Fulbright, the US senator who represented Arkansas from 1945 to 1975, is memorialized in the Fulbright Prize, the international exchange program he created. He was born in 1905 in Missouri. As a congressman, he sponsored a resolution to form the peace-keeping organization that became the United Nations. As senator, he chaired the Foreign Relations Committee for 15 years. His book The Arrogance of Power critiques the government's involvement in the Vietnam War. He died in 1995.

"If you want something said,
     ask a man.
  If you want something done,
     ask a woman."
                                 -Margaret Thatcher

"Attempt something so large that failure is guaranteed unless God steps in."
                                 --Debra Kloor

I love this one so I'm repeating it from an earlier blog entry:

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

About Buddy Hackett

Buddy Hackett, the bawdy American comedian known for his high spirits and expressive face, primarily played comic roles in film and television but shined in his dramatic role in the 1979 TV movie Bud and Lou, about Abbott and Costello. He was born Leonard Hacker in Brooklyn in 1924. He made his reputation performing at nightclubs in the "Borscht Belt" of the Catskills resorts before bringing his act to Las Vegas in 1958. His television work includes the sitcom Stanley, which costarred a young Carol Burnett. He died in 2003.

SUCCESS REQUIRES NO APOLOGIES;
      FAILURE PERMITS NO ALIBIS.
                                  - Think and Grow Rich
                                           Napoleon Hill

"Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough."
Oprah Winfrey

 

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter.
              Try again. 
     Fail again. Fail better."

Great minds have purposes, little minds have wishes. 
                                                                – Washington Irving

About Washington Irving

Washington Irving, known for such stories as "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle," is considered by many the father of the American short story. He was born in New York in 1783. Although he ultimately returned to New York, he lived in Europe for 17 years, working for the US Embassy. His extensive travels through the southern and western United States led to books about his tours. He took many years to recover from the death of his fiancée in 1809 and never married. He died in 1859.

Do you believe this?
"It is better to be a lion for a day than a sheep all your life."
                              Some People Do.

"It has been my philosophy of life that difficulties vanish when faced boldly."
                                                                 – Isaac Asimov

About Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov, the American author known as one of the top writers of science fiction's golden age, penned nearly 500 fiction and nonfiction books, including the Foundation trilogy and I, Robot. Born in 1920 in Russia, he moved to the US with his parents at age three. As a teen, he would read pulp magazines in his parents' candy store and became inspired to write his own stories. His fiction frames interesting ideas in a bare-bones narrative. He died in 1992.

"We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results."
                                                                        – Herman Melville

About Herman Melville

American author Herman Melville is best known for his epic whaling novel, Moby-Dick, which wasn't recognized as a masterpiece until after his death. He was born in New York in 1819. At age 20, he went to sea on a whaling ship. His seafaring adventures included time with cannibals in the Marquesas Islands, the basis for his successful novel Typee. His later, more philosophical, novels were not as well received as his early adventure yarns, and he died in obscurity in 1891.

"Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt and dance like no one is watching."
                                         -Sachiel Page

(Before this one, the famous quote from this ancient major league baseball pitcher was: "Don't Look Back, Something Might Be Gaining On You.")  Satchel Paige

"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal."
- Henry Ford

"There are two ways of exerting one's strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up."
                                                                                  Booker T. Washington

About Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington, the influential American educator, was the first African-American to be invited to the White House; he also had tea with Queen Victoria. He was born in slavery in Virginia in 1856. After emancipation, he worked in the salt mines. When he learned of a school that would accept former slaves, he walked much of the 400 miles to get there. He became an outspoken advocate of education and hard work for African-Americans and founded Tuskegee University. He died in 1915.

"A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What one can be, one must be."
- Abraham Maslow

"The great challenge of adulthood is holding on to your idealism after you lose your innocence."
                                                             Bruce Springsteen