"I feel that I've lived several different lives, and that was one of them."
-- Margaret Truman, 1924-2008

"Your willingness is the most important factor. And willingness comes when you connect to a solid, meaningful reason why... Discipline, integrity and effective action are tools that you can use at any time and in any situation to achieve valuable results. Follow a purpose that is truly yours, and it's not that difficult at all".
-- Ralph Marston

"That's all your house is, it's a place to keep your stuff while you go
out and get - more stuff."
-- George Carlin

"Those are my principles, and if you don't like them ... well, I have others."
-- Groucho Marx

"These beings, that are acting out in those ways that you find so awful,
are tormented and suffering in ways that you will not understand. Their
horrible acts are extensions of that pain. We also have to say to you --
no one who is not a vibrational match to that could be their victim."
-- Abraham-Hicks

"If all you did was just look for things to appreciate you would live a
joyous, spectacular life. If there was nothing else that you ever came
to understand other than just look for things to appreciate, it's the
only tool you would ever need to predominantly hook you up with who you
really are. That's all you'd need".
-- Abraham-Hicks

"I only do this because I'm having fun. The day I stop having fun, I'll just walk away."
-- Heath Ledger, 1979-2008

“I get bored real quick... I have to work really, really hard to stay enthused sometimes... Being a little bit frightened, and saying ‘I don’t know if I can do this, but I think I can,’ is a huge impulse for me. I like being out there."
-- Michael Keaton

"Remember that whatever you may encounter is virtually insignificant when compared with what you choose to do with it. Always choose the best response, no matter what comes your way, and each day you'll rise a little higher than you were the day before".
-- Ralph Marston

"It's important to be in a good piece of work no matter the size of
one's own part."
-- Suzanne Pleshette, 1937-2008

"It's not that difficult to be disciplined. It's just a matter of choosing to be, again and again... It's not that difficult to avoid destructive habits. In fact, all you really must do is nothing... It's not that difficult to take positive, productive action. You simply choose to put yourself into motion... Success is not that difficult. It's mainly a matter of doing it, and you're completely capable of doing whatever is necessary".
-- Ralph Marston

"A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains."
-- Fortune Cookie

"Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence."
-- Aristotle

"We are spiritual beings, and inherent in our DNA is a design to return us home -- home to our true essence, our greatest self, our limitless self. One of the ways we unconsciously ensure our return is through pain. Pain is the greatest motivator for change. It is the spiritual crowbar that pries open the door to new realities. Would we look into our deeper selves or dwell in them, grapple with them, or inquire into them and initiate change if everything was perfect? More than likely we would just continue living day by day in the comfort of our familiar worlds".
-- Debbie Ford, Why Good People Do Bad Things:
How to Stop Being Your Own Worst Enemy

"If you want to distance yourself from the masses and enjoy a rich and unique lifestyle, understand this – your habits will determine your future... The fact is, if you keep on doing things a certain way, you will get a predictable result. That’s the simple law of Cause and Effect. Successful habits create positive rewards. Negative habits breed negative consequences...

"If you want to enjoy longevity, you must have healthy habits. If you are in the habit of starving your most important relationships of time, energy and love, how can you expect a happy outcome? If you spend money on the fly or don’t save any money, your bad habits will lead you to a never-ending cycle of work.

"Shift yourself out of your bad habits
Fortunately, you can jump from this bad habits path anytime you want. It’s a very simple process – it just takes some applied focus. Here’s the step-by-step process I recommend:

1. Clearly identify your bad or unproductive habits. Write them down.
* Be specific.
* Remember to consider the long-term consequences should you continue in this bad habit. As an example, a couple cigarettes a day may not seem like much, but after 10 years, the buildup of having smoked 7,300 cigarettes remains in your system.
* Consider habits at home, in your communications and relations with others, at work, in your driving habits, in your free time, and in matters related to your physical, emotional and spiritual health.
* Be totally honest.
2. Define your new successful habit and visualize its results in your life. Your new habit is usually the simple opposite of your bad habit. To motivate yourself, think about all the benefits and rewards for adopting your new successful habit. The more vividly you describe the benefits and create the picture in your mind, the more likely you are to take action.
3. Create a three-part action plan.For every bad habit, there are at least 15 action steps you can take to help you stop. Put some time into this and think about it – it’s easy to come up with action steps, but they have to be YOUR action steps that you know are within your realm of taking. As an example, if you want to stop smoking, hypnosis therapy may be more preferable than a nicotine patch. Don’t list action steps that you know in your heart you won’t do.
4. For the next three weeks, schedule these action steps into your day.If you know you want to start exercising three times a week, schedule it now in your appointment book. If you want to start reading uplifting books, schedule an hour in your daily schedule and make plans now as to where you will read without interruption. Whatever the new habit, work it into your schedule for the month ahead as most habits – even the very ugliest ones – can be completely re-patterned in this short time-frame.
5. Then, take action! Start with one habit that you really want to change. Focus on your three immediate steps and put them into action. Do it now. Remember, nothing will change until YOU do."

-- Mark Victor Hansen

"The eleventh point of the Scout Law. It states: A Scout is Clean. He keeps clean in body and thought, stands for clean speech, clean sport, clean habits, and travels with a clean crowd."
-- The Boy Scout Encyclopedia, 1952.

"The best choice is to make a choice. You have the power to choose, so make use of it".
-- Ralph Marston

"Don't do anything that you don't really want to do. Keep yourself in a place of feeling good. Reach for the thought that feels better -- and watch what happens".
-- Abraham-Hicks

"You will never reach the place where you will not need to be diligent
about your choice of thought. Because you live in a world that is
determined to show you every pocket of despair. So you must diligently
choose. But it gets easier and easier and easier to do so. Right now, it
may feel to you like those moments of Connection are the rare ones.
There will be a time when those moments of Connection will feel so
normal that it will shock you when you get into a place of
disconnection".
-- Abraham-Hicks

"Leadership: The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it."
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower 

"My voice is a little hoarse, my eyes are a little bleary, my back is a little sore... But, my spirit is strong."
-- Barack Obama, yesterday in Jersey City

"You can't change the world by whispering."
-- Governor Eliot Spitzer

"Most people fall short of their potential for happiness because they misuse precious time - racing like rats, seeking mindless hedonism, or resigning themselves to nihilism."
-- Tal Ben-Shahar, Happier.

"Paradise is here or nowhere: You must take your joy with you, or you will never find it."
-- O.S. Marden 

"Here are the five simple principles that can help you to a stress-free existence in the New Year:

1. Be who you wish to be. Whenever you find yourself contemplating the idea of becoming, stop and repeat the phrase, "I do not need to become, I will be this person beginning right now."

2. Solve the problem. It is folly to lament the fact that you have a problem. What you must do is decide on a solution and try it.

3. Concentrate. Whatever you do, put everything into it. If you decide to be lazy, be lazy, concentrate on your laziness! When you relax, really relax.

4. Have faith. Believe in yourself, believe in the religion of your choice (if you choose one at all), believe in an idea or goal. Believe that you can conquer stress through the stress-free habit.

5. Meditate. Meditation is a vehicle for bringing the other four principles into perspective on a regular and orderly basis. Meditation is at the heart of the routine practice of the stress-free habit. It is also one of the best tools available for helping us learn to concentrate".

-- John M. Perkins , Adapted from The Stress-Free Habit, by John M. Perkins (Inner Traditions, 1989).

“When you can be your own best audience and when your applause is the best applause you know of, you’re in good shape.”
-- L. Ron Hubbard

"The fifth point of the Scout Law. It states: A Scout is Courteous. He
is polite to all, especially to women, children, old people, and the
weak and helpless. He must not take pay for being helpful or
courteous."
-- The Boy Scout Encyclopedia, 1952

"Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."
-- Abraham Lincoln

“Avoid idleness, and fill up all the spaces of thy time with severe and useful employment: for lust easily creeps in at those emptinesses where the soul is unemployed and the body is at ease; no easy, healthful, idle person was ever chaste if he could”
-- Jeremy Taylor

"Today is the day to begin. This new year is a blank canvas upon which you have the delightful opportunity to paint.

As you do, be authentic. Your greatest accomplishments are the ones that contain the greatest quantity of you.

Be innovative and creative. The challenges you face will melt away when you apply fresh, original thinking to them.

Remember not to take yourself too seriously. You'll climb much higher when you're thoroughly enjoying the effort.

As you move forward, do so with genuine and persistent integrity. That way, the results you create will be results that are actually worth attaining.

Today you stand at the beginning of a grand adventure, with the very real and present opportunity to shape this year into the best one ever. Begin now, take the initiative, and never stop living life according to who you know you are."

-- Ralph Marston

"In whatever sense this year is a New Year for you, may the moment find you eager and unafraid, ready to take it by the hand and with joy and gratitude."
-- Howard Thurman