"How few there are who have courage enough to own their faults, or resolution enough to mend them." ~ Benjamin Franklin Of all the words that come to mind in relation to personal faults, I can't imagine that "ownership" would top the list in the minds of most people. The majority, I imagine, would claim …
Tag: courage
Throwing Away Our Happiness V
Continuing our consideration of happiness, we come the the point where you begin to realize how often and how easily you let happiness slip through your fingers. It is epidemic, but fortunately not contagious. In the heat of any moment you have a choice as to whether or not you will give your authority away …
Facing the Mistakes of Life VI
"Musing over the dreams of youth, the golden hopes that have not blossomed into deeds, is a dangerous mental dissipation. In very small doses it may stimulate; in large ones it weakens effort. It over-emphasizes the past at the expense of the present; it adds weights, not wings, to purpose. “It might have been” is …
Facing the Mistakes of Life V
"Omnipotence cannot change the past, so why should we try? Our duty is to compel that past to vitalize our future with new courage and purpose, making it a larger, greater future than would have been possible without the past that has so grieved us. If we can get real, fine, appetizing dividends from our …
The Decision to Act
"The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward." ~ Amelia Earhart What, if anything, do you fear? Change? …
Inner Strength and The Spirit of Victory
"You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength." ~ Marcus Aurelius My eighteen year old cousin, Savannah Leigh Burns, was recently diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). Its onset was rather sudden and took Savannah and her family completely by surprise. The first two weeks in …
Masterful Living
"The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators." ~ Edward Gibbon Wise is the man who uses every type of circumstance to greatest possible advantage. When others complain, he handles the discomfort quietly while looking for the openings. When others curse he gives thanks, no matter how grim the outlook. …
Quiet Courage
"Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage." ~ Maya Angelou My father is a man of quiet courage. I've always admired his graciousness and desire to help others, his love of family …
What Makes Life Worth Living?
One of the most exciting academic advances of our current era comes to us from the field of psychology. I was reading the monthly magazine published by the College of Literature, Science and the Arts of my alma mater, the University of Michigan, and I was surprised to see an article entitled "The Science of …
Life is not a dream so dark
Life by Charlotte Bronte Life, believe, is not a dream So dark as sages say; Oft a little morning rain Foretells a pleasant day. Sometimes there are clouds of gloom, But these are transient all; If the shower will make the roses bloom, O why lament its fall? Rapidly, merrily, Life's sunny hours flit by, …
Gregory Hake 