Additional inspiration by other writers

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Lakota Instructions for Living: “Friend do it this way- whatever you do in life, do the very best you can with both heart and mind. And if you do it that way, the Power of the Universe will assist you, if your heart and mind are in Unity. When one sits in the Hoop of the People, one must be responsible since All of Creation is related. The hurt of one is the hurt of all. The honor of one is the honor of all. Whatever we do affects everything in the universe. If you truly join your heart and mind as One-whatever you ask for is the Way It’s Going To Be.”–White Buffalo Calf Woman

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” — Howard Thurman

“If you think you’re wrong, you are.” –Anonymous

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” –Anne Frank

“The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” –Marcel Proust

“The greatest part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not our circumstances.” –Martha Washington

“Be satisfied with success in even the smallest matter. And think such a result is no trifle.” –Marcus Aurelius

“They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night” –Edgar Allen Poe

“The best, most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.” –Helen Keller

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” –Albert Einstein

“Be satisfied with success in even the smallest matter. And think that even such a result is no trifle.” –Marcus Aurellius

“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.” –Benjamin Franklin

“Greater happiness comes with simplicity than with complexity. –The Buddha

“The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain.” –Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.” –The Buddha

“O friend awake, and sleep no more! The night is past, would you lose your day also? You have been asleep for countless ages; this morning will you not awake?” –Kabir

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

“I will seek elegance rather than luxury, refinement rather than fashion. I will seek to be worthy more than respectable, wealthy and not rich. I will study hard, think quietly, talk gently, and act frankly. I will listen to stars and birds, babies and sages, with an open heart. I will bear all things cheerfully, do all things bravely, await occasions and hurry never. In a word I will let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common.” — William Ellery Channing

“When you are good to others, you are best to yourself.” — Benjamin Franklin

“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.” — Carl Gustav Jung

“The only certainty is that there is nothing certain.” — Pliny the Elder

“Conscience is God’s presence in Man” — Emanuel Swededborg

“God exists in eternity. The only point where eternity meets time is in the present. The present is the only time there is.” — Marianne Williamson

“We have long forgotten that activities can be simple and precise. Every act of our lives can contain simplicity and precision and thus can have tremendous beauty and dignity.” — Chogyam Trungpa

“To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, remove things every day.” — Lao Tzu

“Reflect on your present blessings, of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” –Charles Dickens

“There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the infinite passion of life.” — Frederico Fellini

“You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Only those who risk going too far can know how far they can go.” — Unknown source

“A life spent in making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” — George Bernard Shaw

“To try is to risk failure. But risk must be taken because the greatest hazard of life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow, live, and love.” — Leo Buscaglia

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.” –John Muir

“Here it is – right now. Start thinking about it and you miss it.” –Huang Po

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” –Lao-tzu

“Sincerity and truth are the basis of every virtue.” –Confucius

“Worldly ups and downs should be treated as lightly as clouds gathering and breaking up.” –Anonymous

“When you are guided by compassion and lovingkindness, you are able to look deeply into the heart of reality and see the truth. –Thich Nhat Hanh

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” –Albert Einstein

“He who has no faith in himself can never have faith in God.” –Vivekananda

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.” –John Muir

“Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.” –Confucius

“This is the real secret of life: to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.” –Alan Watts

“Dare to proceed, even while being afraid.” –Guy Finley

“People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong. Why not try and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom?” –Thich Nhat Hanh

“What we are today comes from out thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: our life is the creation of our mind.” –TheDhammapada

“When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.” –Lao-tzu

“Nature teaches more than she preaches. There are no sermons in stones. It is easier to get a spark out of a stone than a moral.” — John Burroughs

“Walking, then, with Courage and Kindness, Never ceasing to walk in Wonder.” –Ji Aoi Isshi

“It is a puzzling thing. The truth knocks on the door and you say, ’Go away, I’m looking for the truth,’ and so it goes away. Puzzling.” –Robert M. Pirsig

“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.” –Buddha

“Listen or thy tongue will keep thee deaf.” –Native American Indian proverb

“The deepest waters make the least noise.” –Guatemalan proverb

“We cling to our own point of view, as though everything depended upon it. Yet our opinions have no permanence; like autumn and winter, they gradually pass away.” –Chuang Tzu

“The world is a great mirror. It reflects back t you what you are. If you are loving, if you are friendly, if you are helpful, the world will prove loving and friendly to you.” –Thomas Dreier

“There is a soul force in the universe, which if we permit it, will flow through us and produce miraculous results.” –Gandhi

“How can I be still? By flowing with the stream.” –Lao-tzu

“It is not length of life, but depth of life.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“In this world hate never dispelled hate. Only love dispels hate. This is the law, ancient and inexhaustible.” –Buddha

“Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed.” –Corita Kent

“Enlightenment is understanding that there is nowhere to go, nothing to do, and nobody you have to be except exactly who you’re being right now.” –Neale Donald Walsch

“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.”  –Buddha

“Our true home is in the present moment. To live in the present moment is a miracle. The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green Earth in the present moment, to appreciate the peace and beauty that are available now.” –Thich Nhat Hanh

“Inner peace is the key: If you have inner peace, the external problems do not affect you deep sense o peace and tranquility…Without this inner peace, no matter how comfortable your life is materially, you may still be worried, disturbed, or unhappy because of circumstances.” –Dalai Lama

“One of the most difficult things is not to change society – but to change yourself.” –Nelson Mandela

“You are here to enable the divine purpose of the universe to unfold. That is how important you are!” –Eckhart Tolle

“Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.” –Martin Luther King, Jr.

“The highest level of creativity consists in being, not doing. When the being is intense enough, when the words are spoken enough, when the thoughts are thought enough, the doing will automatically follow.” –Marianne Williamson

“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.” –Rumi

“The most exquisite paradox… as soon as you give it all up, you can have it all. As long as you want power, you can’t have it. The minute you don’t want power, you’ll have more than you ever dreamed possible..” –Ram Dass

“We must be prepared to make the same heroic sacrifices for the cause of peace that we make ungrudgingly for the cause of war.” –Albert Einstein

“Through difficult experiences, life sometimes becomes more meaningful.” –Dalai Lama

“You begin to understand that there’s no such thing as death. Only the body dies. The soul and personality live on.” –Doreen Virtue

“Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.” –Khalil Gibran

“The problem is that we have allowed our egos, the part of us which believes that we are separate from God and separate from each other, to dominate our lives.” –Wayne Dyer

“Immature love says: “I love you because I need you.” Mature love says: “I need you because I love you.” –Mahatma Gandhi

“Doing nothing is better than being busy doing nothing.” –Lao Tzu

“There is nothing more marvelous than doing something you love to do and getting paid for it. It ceases to become work, money, and effort; and it becomes fun, your expression of the joy of life.” –Stuart Wilde

“Each of us is the next step in evolution along the lineage created by our two parents. Our higher purpose on earth can be found by recognizing what our parents accomplished and where they left off. By reconciling what they gave us with what they left us to resolve, we can get a clear picture of who we are and what we are meant to do.” –James Redfield

“You and I are essentially infinite choice-makers. In every moment of our existence, we are in that field of all possibilities where we have access to an infinity of choices.” –Deepak Chopra

“The purpose of the heart is to know yourself to be yourself and yet one with God.” –Edgar Cayce

“One of the great cosmic laws, I think, is that whatever we hold in our thought will come true in our experience.” –Richard Bach

“My imperfections and failures are as much a blessing from God as my successes and my talents and I lay them both at his feet.” –Mohandas Gandhi

“Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it. . . .” –Buddha

“Look at every path closely and deliberately, then ask ourselves this crucial question: Does this path have a heart? If it does, then the path is good. If it doesn’t, it is of no use.”  –Carlos Castenada

“Follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.” –Joseph Campbell

“Be at peace and see a clear pattern and plan running through all your lives. Nothing is by chance.” –Eileen Caddy

“For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don’t believe, no proof is possible.” –John & Lyn St. Clair-Thomas & Steve Shackel

“. . . The moment you accept yourself as you are, all burdens, all mountainous burdens simply disappear. Then life is a sheer joy, a festival of lights.” –Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

“Expect your every need to be met, expect the answer to every problem, expect abundance on every level, expect to grow spiritually.” –Eileen Caddy

“The more you depend on forces outside yourself, the more you are dominated by them.” –Harold Sherman

“Your questions indicate the depth of your belief. Look at the depth of your questions.” –John & Lyn St. Clair-Thomas & Steve Shackel

“One cannot discover new oceans until he [she] has courage to lose sight of the shore.” –Unknown

“Cease trying to work everything out with your minds. It will get you nowhere. Live by intuition and inspiration and let your whole life be a Revelation.” –Eileen Caddy

“It is good to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” –Ursula Le Guin

“Life teaches us to be less harsh with ourselves and with others.” –Goethe

“Compassion for myself is the most powerful healer of them all.” –Theodore Isaac Rubin, M.D.

“I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure which is: Try to please everybody.” –H. B. Swope

“Death is no more than passing from one room into another. But there’s a difference for me, you know. Because in that other room I shall be able to see.” –Helen Keller

“It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.” –Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Every good thought you think contributes to the value and results of your life.” –E. Talbert

“To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.” –Oscar Wilde

“We should never let our fears hold us back from pursuing hopes.” –John F. Kennedy

“What is the use of living if not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone.” –Winston Churchill

“The ideals that have lighted my way and , time after time, have given me new courage to face life cheerfully have been Kindness, Beauty and Truth..” –Albert Einstein

“A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile person lives in a hostile world. Everyone you meet is your mirror.” –Ken Keyes

“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” –Eleanor Roosevelt

“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you..” –Dale Carnegie

“. . . It takes courage for a person to listen to his [or her] own goodness and to act on it.” –Pablo Casals

“Each time a [person] stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope. . . those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance..” –Robert F. Kennedy

“Every individual human being born on this earth has the capacity to become a unique and special person, unlike any who has ever existed before or will ever exist again.” –Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

“Don’t compromise yourself. You’re all you’ve got.” –Janis Joplin

“The will is everything.” –Italian Proverb

“Chance never helps those who do not help themselves.” –Sophocles

“Be what nature intended you for and you will succeed..” –Sydney Smith

“It is in the shelter of each other that the people live.” –Irish Proverb

“. . . There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love..” –Mother Teresa

“The best way out is always through..” –Robert Frost

“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tunes without the words and never stops at all. . . ..” –Emily Dickinson

“I don’t think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains.” –Anne Frank

“A [person] should never be afraid to say that [he or she] was in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that [he or she] is wiser today than yesterday.” –Jonathon Swift

“A stumble may prevent a fall..” –Thomas Fuller

“A person’s main task in life is to give birth to oneself.” –Eric Fromm

“Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom.” –Thomas Jefferson

“I prefer the errors of enthusiasm to the indifference of wisdom.” –Anatole France

“Gentleness is a divine trait. There is nothing stronger than gentleness. And there is nothing more gentle than real strength..” –Kabir

“The same defenses that we think are protecting us are actually killing us. . . .The real epidemic in our culture is emotional and spiritual heart disease.” –Dean Ornish, M.D.

“Part of the problem in medicine’s loss of soul is that death is seen as unnatural, as the enemy. . . .We need to put the soul back in medicine.” –Joan Borysenko

“More than a philosophy, spiritual living involves daily actions that express holiness in every moment.” –Gabriel Cousens

“Victimhood gives you an excuse not to forgive, and to pass the violence along to those you interact with. In each moment, we can choose not to say an unkind thing. We can choose to stop. . . and change ourselves.” –Fred Luskin

“Tragedies, particularly ones that are close to home, give us the fire, the passion, to find our purpose, and to seek a fair and just world.” –John Gray

“Power over others is weakness disguised as strength. . . .” –Gary Zukav

“If you do not express your own original ideas, if you do not listen to your own being, you will have betrayed yourself.” –Rollo May

“Waiting is not mere empty hoping. It has the inner certainty of reaching the goal.” –I Ching

“Be not afraid of growing slowly. Be afraid only of standing still.” –Chinese Proverb

“Yesterday is ashes and tomorrow wood. Only today does the fire burn brightly.” –Old Eskimo Proverb

“All of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.” –Dale Carnegie

“What our deepest self craves is not mere enjoyment, but some supreme purpose that will enlist all our powers and give unity and direction to our life.” –Henry J. Golding

“Be a life long or short, its completeness depends on what it was lived for. –David Starr Jordan

“Different people have different duties assigned to them by Nature; each bird must sing with his or her own throat.” –Anonymous

“Do not wish to be anything but what you are.” –Saint Francis de Sales

“Events, circumstances, etc., have their origin in ourselves. They spring from seeds which we have sown.” –Henry David Thoreau

“I’ll walk where my own nature would be leading; it vexes me to choose another guide.” –Emily Bronte

“If you want your children to improve, let them overhear the nice things you say about them to others.” –Haim Ginott

“However much we guard against it, we tend to shape ourselves in the image others have of us.” –Eric Hoffer

“The greatest mistake you can make is to be continually fearing you will make one.” –Elbert Hubbard

“We run all the time to avoid coming face to face with ourselves.” –Anonymous

“Success based on anything but internal fulfillment is bound to be empty.” –Dr. M. Friedman

“You don’t get to choose how you’re going to die or when. You can only decide how you’re going to live.” –Joan Baez

“Pure logic is the ruin of the spirit.” –Antoine de Saint-Exupery

“It is never too late to be what you might’ve been.” –George Eliot

“If you want to be respected by others, the great thing is to respect yourself.” –Dostoyevsky

“The fundamental problem most patients have is an inability to love themselves, having been unloved by others during some crucial part of their lives.” –Bernie S. Siegel, M.D.

“You grow up every day you have your first real laugh at yourself.” –Ethel Barrymore

“Take the time to come home to yourself every day.” –Robin Casarjean

“Opportunities multiply as they are seized; they die when neglected. Life is a long line of opportunities.” –John Wicker

“We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once.” –Friedrich Nietzsche

“Awe is what moves us forward.” –Joseph Campbell

“The whole of life of a person is the slow trek to recover the two or three simple images in whose presence his heart first moved.” –Albert Camus

“If you do not know the deeper mythic resonances that make up your life, they will simply rise up and take you over. . . . the myth will live you.” –Joseph Campbell

“”Know thyself.” –The Oracle at Delphi

“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” –Joseph Campbell

“. . . The only thing gurus, priests, rabbis, and elders can do for us is point us back in the direction of home, and home is, of course, within.” –Darren John Main

“. . . If you have wonder in your mind, you will see wonder in your life. . . .” –Ron Rathbun

“No one can tell whether they are rich or poor by turning to their ledger. It is the heart that makes a person rich. One is rich according to what one is, not according to what one has.” –Henry Ward Beecher

“It’s amazing how people will worry all day about their next meal, and yet not care about what someone will eat 100 years from now. The elk that graze in my meadow go from one patch to another, never eating ALL the seeds. They don’t wear watches either.” –Will Arntz

“The higher order of logic and understanding that is capable of reflecting the soul comes from the heart.” –Gary Zukav

“Be strong and put on the armor of light.” –Hildegard of Bingen

“By coming and going the bird weaves its nest.” –African proverb (Ashanti)

“The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own.” –Benjamin Disraeli

“The Universal form can show you whatever you now desire to see and whatever you may want to see in the future. Everything–moving and nonmoving–is here completely, in one place.” –Bhagavad-Gita

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of [others].” –Proverbs 31:8-9 (NIV).

“The river will swell with the contribution of small streams.” –African proverb (Bateke)

“By the constant fall of waterdrops, a pitcher is filled; likewise the wise person, accumulating merit little by little, becomes full of merit.” –Dhammapada, Canto IX

“The answer to conflict is the Give-Away. Whenever one gives from his heart, he also receives.” –Hyemeyohsts Storm

“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” –Acts 20:35 (NAB)

O”Above all, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” –Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)

“You are gifted for something and that thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.” –Marie Curie

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” –Albert Einstein

“Your real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscape, but in having new eyes.” –Marcel Proust

“You must make the effort. The Buddha can only point the way.” –Dhammapada, Canto XX

“Life is what you make it. Always has been, always will be.” –Grandma Moses

“Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment. Full effort is full victory.” –Mahatma Gandhi

“The worst thing you can do is nothing.” –Theodore Roosevelt

“Everything that irritates you about others can lead you to an understanding of yourself.” –Carl Jung

“Endure every difficulty and hardship with a dilated heart, attracted spirit, and eloquest tongue, in remembrance of the Merciful.” –‘Abdu’l-Baha’

“When you truly know that your life has a grand and heroic mission, you’ll realign yourself as a spiritual being.” –Wayne Dyer

“Be humble, for you are made of earth. Be noble, for you are made of stars.” –Serbian Proverb

“Love doesn’t just sit there like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; re-made all the time, made new.” –A. Ross

J”You are encircled by the embraces of the divine mysteries.” –Hildegard of Bingen

“Don’t be in denial. Acknowledge the truth of what you feel. That’s an unbelievably important step. But it’s a worthless step if you don’t take the second step saying to yourself: Given that I am in despair, how do I now move on with love?” –D. H. Mandel

“Love is not enough. Listening skills are the key to healthy, successful relationships. Listening and acknowledging, sharing and communicating are tools that allow love to be cultured. I can love a lot of people in an abstract way, but when I’m right in there with someone and it gets tough, the skill to staying in intimacy is the ability to listen.” –Terra Rafael

“[Experiences] do not come to us by chance, they are sent to us by Divine Mercy for our own perfecting.” –‘Abdu’l Baha’i

“And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.” –Erica Jong

“The new worldview is emerging all over the planet. . . it can be seen in the growing interest in bringing spirituality into business and leadership.” –Carol Adrienne

“The answer to conflict is the Give-Away. Whenever one gives from his heart, he also receives.” –Hyemeyohsts Storm

“What does the body really stand for? It houses our ability to experience happiness, and is a vehicle to take us towards fulfillment in life on all levels–emotional, mental and spiritual. Just as we care for our vehicles so that they will get us where we’re going, so must we attend to our bodies.” –Helena Meyer

“If you insist on too much clarity you will lose contact with what is real and alive.” –Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

“As water reflects on a face, so [your] heart reflects [you].” –Proverbs 27:19 (NIV).

“Keep on asking and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking and you will find. Keep on knocking and the door will be opened.” –Matthew 7:7 (NLT)

“[An] honest disagreement [can be] a good sign of progress.” –Mahatma Gandhi

“With everything that has happened to you, you can either feel sorry for yourself or treat what has happened as a gift. Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get to choose.” –Wayne Dyer

“The door of opportunity won’t open unless you do some pushing.” –Anonymous

“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.” –Beverly Sills

“If you find yourself being treated in a way you resent or that turns you into a victim, ask yourself this question: ‘What have I done to teach this person that this behavior is something I’m willing to tolerate?'” –Wayne Dyer

“To be ambitious for wealth, and yet always expecting to be poor; to be always doubting your ability to get what you long for, is like trying to reach east by traveling west. There is no philosophy which will help a person to succeed when he is always doubting the ability to do so, and thus attracting failure. No matter how hard you work for success, if your thought is saturated with the fear of failure, it will kill your efforts, neutralize your endeavors and make success impossible.” –Charles Baudouin

“It doesn’t hurt to be optimistic. You can always cry later.” –Lucimar Santos de Lima

“I finally figured out the only reason to be alive is to enjoy it.” –Rita Mae Brown

“The best mirror is an old friend.” –Anonymous

“Your attitude determines whether you’re living life or life’s living you–whether you’re on the way or in the way.” –Keith Harrell

“You have to risk some feelings of insecurity if you’re ever going to learn to walk a tightrope, water-ski, become a writer, start a new business, try out a new recipe, or do anything that requires learning.” –Wayne Dyer

“We will discover the nature of our particular genius when we stop trying to conform to our own or to other people’s models, when we learn to be ourselves, and to allow our natural channel to open.” –Shakti Gawain

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