Adam and Eve's Faults

We all find fault with Adam and Eve for not being contented, but if they had been satisfied with the garden of Eden, and themselves, they would have been living there now, the only two human beings on the face of the earth, as innocent as a couple of vegetable oysters. They would have been two splendid specimens of the handy work of God, elegant portraits in the vestibule of heaven, but they would not have developed reason, the only God-like attribute in man. - Josh Billings


Contentment ain't natural.

The Crook in the Dog's Tail

If you bathe a curly-tailed dog's tail in oil and bind it splints, you cannot get the crook out of it. A man's way of thinking is the crook in the dog's tail, and it can't be got out, and every one should be allowed to wag his own peculiarity in peace. - Josh Billings


Doesn't mean you have to like it.

Just Dance

Every day brings a chance for you to draw in a breath, kick off your shoes, and dance. - Oprah Winfrey


Take advantage of opportunities.

Revolutionary Life

Promise yourself to live your life as a revolution and not just a process of evolution. - Anthony J. D'Angelo


Evolution requires no thought.

Silenced Voice

You have not converted a man because you have silenced him. - John Viscount Morley


This is why totalitarian regimes will never last.

Stick'n To It

Consider the postage stamp, son. It secures success through its ability to stick to one thing till it gets there. - Josh Billings


I'm stick'n to it!

Not As Good

A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation of temper is always a virtue, but moderation in principle is always a vice. - Thomas Paine


Half wrong is not a virtue.

Languor of Idleness

A well-informed mind is the best security against the contagion of folly and vice. The vacant mind is ever on the watch for relief, and to plunge into error, to escape from the languor of idleness. - Ann Radcliffe


Teach your children well and keep them busy.

Combining Words

Words -- so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them. - Nathaniel Hawthorne


If you are to do good in the world, learn and practice combining words.

Neighbours

Love thy neighbour as yourself, but choose your neighbourhood. - Louise Beal


Carefully, very carefully.

Improper Administration

You do not examine legislation in the light of the benefits it will convey if properly administered, but in the light of the wrongs it would do and the harms it would cause if improperly administered. - Lyndon B. Johnson


You can count on any legislation being improperly administered. Too bad he couldn't have followed his own advice.

Ordinary Favors

Any ordinary favor we do for someone or any compassionate reaching out may seem to be going nowhere at first, but may be planting a seed we can't see right now. Sometimes we need to just do the best we can and then trust in an unfolding we can't design or ordain. - Sharon Salzberg


But be sure the favors you extend do not compromise yourself.

Honestly

Honesty is the recognition of the fact that the unreal is unreal and can have no value, that neither love nor fame nor cash is a value if obtained by fraud. - Ayn Rand


Having is not the reward, honestly getting is.

Creativity

Some people create with words or with music or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say, "I've never seen anyone run like that before." It's more than just a race, it's a style. It's doing something better than anyone else. It's being creative. - Steve Prefontaine


Creativity is not limited to the traditional arts.

Meeting Difficulties

There are two ways of meeting difficulties. You alter the difficulties or you alter yourself to meet them. - Phyllis Battome


Procrastination is not an option.

Small Faults

To remove small faults within due vehemence, is as absurd as if a man should take a great hammer to kill a fly on his friend's forehead. - Unknown


Smile at your spouse's small faults.

Behavior

Men are rewarded or punished not for what they do but for how their acts are defined. That is why men are more interested in better justifying themselves than in better behaving themselves. - Thomas Szasz


If you don't speed you won't get a speeding ticket.

Are You Perfect Yet?

When you are not practicing, remember, someone somewhere is practicing, and when you meet him he will win. - Ed Macauley


True in every endeavor, not just basketball.

Vote

We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate. - Thomas Jefferson


Vote.

Your Place

If you do not feel yourself growing in your work and your life broadening and deepening, if your task is not a perpetual tonic to you, you have not found your place. - Orison Swett Marden

Perhaps your place is in what you do when you are not at work.

Running Lies

Never chase a lie. Let it alone, and it will run itself to death. - Lyman Beecher

Some things are better left alone.

Destinations

You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you. - James Lane Allen


Keep it positive.

Noble Vision

Whatever their future, at the dawn of their lives, men seek a noble vision of man's nature and of life's potential. - Ayn Rand


When you ask a youngster what they want to be when they grow up you will never hear "unemployed" (hopefully).

Contentment Motto

My motto is: Contented with little, yet wishing for more. - Charles Lamb


I wish he had said "working for more."

Educations Aim

The great aim of education is not knowledge but action. - Herbert Spencer


Unless you are an academic.

Missing the Lining

Too many people miss the silver lining because they're expecting gold. - Maurice Seller


High expectations should not obscure your vision.

No Rules

Hell, there are no rules here -- we're trying to accomplish something. - Thomas A Edison


Rules are not needed where principles are held dear.

Bad Behavior

When a woman behaves  like a man, why doesn't she behave like a nice man? - Edith Evans


I can't remember anyone saying they were impressed by someone (man or woman) who acted like an ass.

Childrens Prejudice

I am amused when goody-goodies proclaim, from the safety of their armchairs, that children are naturally prejudice-free, that they only learn to "hate" from listening to bigoted adults. Nonsense. Tolerance is a learned trait, like riding a bike or playing a piano. Those of us who actually live among children, who see them in their natural environment, know the truth: Left to their own devices, children will gang up and abuse anyone who is even slightly different from the norm. - Josh Lieb


Teach your children well.

Fools

Here cometh April again, and as far as I can see the world hath more fools in it than ever. - Charles Lamb


Present company excepted of course.