"The moment you feel yourself slipping, take action right away to get back on track. If you catch yourself quickly, you won't fall very far... It's great when you can stay disciplined and focused for long periods of time. At some point though, you'll get distracted and stray a little bit off course... That's not the end of the world. Don't beat yourself up just because you've momentarily lost your focus... Instead, give genuine thanks for how far you've already come. And then step right back on to the path you've set for yourself... Being disciplined doesn't mean being perfect. Remember that what really matters is what you choose to do right now... Even if you slip back one step for every two steps you take forward, you'll still be moving steadily ahead. Catch yourself, get back up, keep going and you'll get there".-- Ralph Marston

"It is now, and now is different. Even though you may have experienced an overwhelming amount of disappointment in the past, the past is over.
Perhaps you've failed again and again. Now is different... That was then and this is now. Now you have the opportunity to move forward... Now you can do what you've never been able to do before. Now you can follow through on the things you've been unable or unwilling to do in the past... Now is your moment to live. Now is the time to act... Now is when you can truly make a difference. Stand up, step forward and live".
-- Ralph Marston

"Wonderful, wonderful, day. Just so quiet. I just love to listen to the quiet. It always has a message. Today's was just a wisp of thankfulness. Thankful for living in a place that is quiet. Thankful for being able to enjoy the quiet".

-- Zane, ZaneJabbers

"If you wish to get something done, stop telling yourself why you can't. Begin telling yourself why you must... Of course there are obstacles to every achievement. Yet you can work through any obstacle when you have a clear and compelling reason to do so... Zero in on that reason. Make it your priority to keep that reason ever present in your thoughts... Though the challenges may be powerful, you can always make your purpose even more powerful. Keep telling yourself, again and again, why you must... Make a solid connection between your actions and your purpose. That will cause your effectiveness to soar... Remember always why you must. And you will." 

-- Ralph Marston

"Anger or hatred is like a fisherman's hook. It is very important for us to ensure that we are not caught by it".
-- Dalai Lama

"Praise the bridge that carried you over".
-- George Colman

"Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."
-- Antonio Smith

"Think today of how good life can be. And you'll see that life's true goodness comes not from what you have, but from how much you value and appreciate it.

"There is no end to the possibilities for richness and fulfillment in your life. There is no limit to what you can make of whatever you have.

"Consider what you are able to be thankful for, and you'll discover something wonderful and empowering. You can be thankful for it all.

"Look back and you'll see that the pleasures and the pains have both pushed you forward and given you countless opportunities for real growth. You've been supported by the good things you do have and inspired to reach for those things you do not yet have.

"The triumphs have given you joy and the disappointments have strengthened your determination. All of it has enabled you to more richly fulfill the beautiful, genuine person you are.

"Treasure all that is around you, whatever it may be, and open yourself to the positive possibilities. Be truly thankful for it all, and every day is even more rich and fulfilling than the day before".

-- Ralph Marston

"If I try to be like him, who will be like me?"
--Yiddish Proverb

"One man has enthusiasm for 30 minutes, another for 30 days, but it is the man who has it for 30 years who makes a success of his life".
-- Edward B. Butler

"A true leader is not the one with the most followers, but one who creates the most leaders".
-- Meditations from Conversations with God, Book 1, page 114

"Every decision you make is NOT a decision about what to do. It's a decision about Who You Are".
-- Neale Donald Walsch

"Be Authentic - Acting authentically with others basically involves acting with integrity. At its core, authenticity is simply acting in keeping with your own values. It means being truly honest with both yourself and others. In a power relationship authenticity is based on being yourself, and avoiding acts that create false appearances. You know how easy it is to spot someone that is putting on an act - we all have this intuitive capability. Being authentic creates deep levels of mutual trust and true respect".
-- Dr. Jill Ammon-Wexler

"Power Listening - Effective communication is far more than just talking - the real key is effective listening. Power communicators focus on what the other person is saying, rather than worrying on how they will respond. If you have trouble communicating clearly with others, you may want to try the following communication power tool: Mirror their thoughts back to them, and ask them if you properly understood what they said. The simplest way to do this is is to paraphrase what they just said to you, and ask them if you properly understood what they meant".

-- Dr. Jill Ammon-Wexler

"A loving heart is the truest wisdom".
-- Charles Dickens

"Happiness is a long succession of little decisions simply to be happy in the moment".
-- J. Donald Walters

"It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness".
-- Chinese Proverb

"People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"You won't become successful by complaining that life is unfair. Certainly there are many injustices in the world, yet you won't get anywhere by using those injustices as excuses.

Your best response is to work over, under, around and through them. Accept the fact that life is unfair, and choose to experience outstanding success anyway.

"It is admirable to fight against injustice. But fighting against injustice may very well make that injustice even stronger.

"A better way to end injustice is to make it irrelevant. When you create ways for yourself and others to succeed in spite of unfair circumstances, then you render those circumstances powerless.

"The world is filled with inequity and unfairness. And yet, there are always plenty of workable and creative ways to rise above those negative circumstances.

"When something in life is unfair, choose to succeed anyway. And make that unfairness so small and insignificant it won't even matter".

-- Ralph Marston

"Never permit the behavior of other people to tell you how to feel." 

-- Vernon Howard

“Between the ages of twenty and forty we are engaged in the process of discovering who we are, which involves learning the difference between accidental limitations which it is our duty to outgrow and the necessary limitations of our nature beyond which we cannot trespass with impunity.”

-- W.H. Auden

" I’ve been struck by the paradoxes I kept confronting. The opposite of a great truth is also true. I try to embrace these contradictions:

1. Accept yourself, but expect more of yourself.
2. Keep an empty shelf, and keep a junk drawer.
3. Take yourself less seriously—and take yourself more seriously. 
4. Use your time efficiently, yet make time to play, to wander, to read at whim, to fail.
5. Think about yourself so you can forget yourself. 
6. The days are long, but the years are short.

Often, the search for happiness means understanding both sides of the contradiction".

-- Gretchen Rubin, the Happiness Project

"Is there something you desperately need? Your sense of desperation and your need will work against you, and will make it even more difficult to attain what you're after... By very definition, whatever you need you do not have. When you continually reinforce the idea that you do not have something, you continually push that thing away from yourself... Replace your desperate need with a passionate desire. That will frame your situation in a much more positive, powerful perspective... With desperation, you feel like giving up. With passion, on the other hand, you create the energy to move decisively forward... With need, you feel an emptiness that drains your every moment. With desire, you constantly motivate yourself to create fulfillment... Let go of your needs, for they will only keep you needy. Replace them with positive desires, and feel the empowering passion that will make those desires happen..."
-- Ralph Marston

"I believe every human has a finite number of heartbeats. I don't intend to waste any of mine."
-- Neil Armstrong

"To me, success means effectiveness in the world, that I am able to carry my ideas and values into the world, that I am able to change it in positive ways."
-- Maxine Hong Kingston

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."
-- Leo Tolstoy

"There is only one rule in all of metaphysics: Don't complain!" 

-- Emma Curtis Hopkins

"The work you're doing has a purpose that means something to you. As you do the work, feel the purpose... You can work your way cheerfully through any obstacle as long as there's something truly desirable on the other side. Feel the satisfaction of accomplishment and let that feeling pull you toward it".
-- Ralph Marston

“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.”
~Lao Tzu

"The best way to secure future happiness is to be as happy as is rightfully possible today."
-- Charles W. Eliot, educator

"You can never have a happy ending at the end of an unhappy journey; it just doesn't work out that way. The way you're feeling, along the way, is the way you're continuing to pre-pave your journey, and it's the way it's going to continue to turn out until you do something about the way you are feeling".

-- Abraham-Hicks