Stories and Wisdom from a Life Fully Lived

Category: Quotes I Like

  • Do It Now

    The Important Stuff Anyway

    Only put off until tomorrow what you’re willing to die having left undone.

    Pablo Picasso

  • If I Am

    If I am, then death is not. If death is, then I am not. Why should I fear that which can only exist when I do not?

    Epicurus

  • Cows do NOT Give Milk

    COWS DON’T GIVE MILK

    A father used to say to his children when they were young: — When you all reach the age of 12 I will tell you the secret of life. One day, when the oldest turned 12, he anxiously asked his father what was the secret of life. The father replied that he was going to tell him, but that he should not reveal it to his brothers.

    —The secret of life is this: The cow does not give milk. “What are you saying?” Asked the boy incredulously. — As you hear it, son: The cow does not give milk, you have to milk it. You have to get up at 4 in the morning, go to the field, walk through the corral full of manure, tie the tail, hobble the legs of the cow, sit on the stool, place the bucket and do the work yourself.

    That is the secret of life. The cow does not give milk. You milk her or you don’t get milk. There is this generation that thinks that cows GIVE milk. That things are automatic and free: their mentality is that if “I wish, I ask….. I obtain.”

    “They have been accustomed to get whatever they want the easy way…But no, life is not a matter of wishing, asking and obtaining. The things that one receives are the effort of what one does. Happiness is the result of effort. Lack of effort creates frustration.”

    So, share with your children from a young age the secret of life, so they don’t grow up with the mentality that the government, their parents, or their cute little faces are going to give them everything they need in life.

    Remember 👇👇

    “Cows don’t give milk; you have to work for it.”

    ~Author Unknown

  • Mental Garden

    From As a Man Thinketh by James Allen

    Man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild.

    James Allen

    Act is the blossom of thought; and joy and suffering are its fruits; thus does a man garner in the sweet and bitter fruitage of his own husbandry.

    James Allen

    Self-control is strength; Right Thought is mastery; Calmness is power. Say unto your heart, “Peace. Be still!”

    James Allen

  • Words That Matter

    and The Wright Right Correct Words Really Matter

    Any word that’s really important is also confusing. Words like trust, love, friend, fair, honest, lead, connect, authentic, justice, dignity–they have dozens of different meanings.

    Perhaps that’s because they’re important.

    It’s worth spending a moment to understand what we mean when we say something that might mean something else. Because the wright right, correct word really matters.

  • Learning

    Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.

    Henry Ford

    If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.

    Zig Ziglar

    If the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just gets us to the wrong place faster.

    Stephen Covey

    My works are like water. The works of the great masters are like wine. But everyone drinks water.

    Mark Twain

    To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination

    Albert Einstein

    You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.

    Mark Twain

    Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.

    Albert Einstein

    Happiness does not lead to gratitude. Gratitude leads to happiness.

    David Steindl-Rast

    Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.

    Oprah Winfrey

    One Big Thing

    You can never go wrong with an attitude of gratitude.

    Each one of us is born creative. And then one day, we went to school.

    Our formal education began with formally muzzling our creativity. By the time we completed our education, the process of ‘de-creativization’ was complete. The whole process is so effective that whenever we come across creative people, we consider them as gifted individuals. The reality is that all of us were as gifted as the creative ones. The only difference is, somehow, they managed to survive the ‘de-creativizing’ effect of formal education.

    Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.

    Pablo Picasso

    For those who expect everything, there are many curses. For those who appreciate everything, there are many blessings.

    James Clear

  • Living Life Backwards

    Author Shakti Gawain on living authentically:

    “Often people attempt to live their lives backwards: they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want so that they will be happier. 

    The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do in order to have what you want.”

    Source: Creative Visualization​

  • The Right Word

    The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter–’tis the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning.

    Mark Twain

    Mark Twain is one of my all-time favorite writers.

  • The Map is Not The Territory

    The map is not the territory.

    Alfred Korzybski

    The journey is not the adventure.

    The goal/plan is not the accomplishment.

    The menu is not the meal.

    These and many other things are merely ingredients, beliefs, thoughts, feelings, dreams, and fantasies that make up our life’s experiences.

    Conceptions/ mis-conceptions

    Understanding/ mis-understanding

    Failures/ learnings

    Our models of situations are not the real thing—actual stuff of life — but we often confuse the map and the model with reality and then forget they’re not the same. But why does it matter?

    Something to Think About

    Our life stories are just a map (our interpretation of circumstances or situations) that we, and others with whom we communicate, use, to arrive at conclusions that may or may not be the real whole truth.

    We’ve all grown up with maps. Those maps have contributed to our own internal maps. Our parents, culture, school, religion, society at large raised us, believing in the maps they found most useful and passed them on to us. They’re in our DNA. We identify with them, i.e. Liberal, Conservative, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Atheist, LGBTQ, etc.. Often we’re unaware of them. And especially our self-identity with them.

    Sometimes (often) they cause conflict when our maps are not in agreement with the maps of other groups or individuals.

    When you think about it, it’s no different from how so many of us anticipate the future. Some look with fear and others with eagerness or a hundred other emotions. Some see loving humans occupying the planet and others see scary people out to hurt them. But in the end, the stories we anticipate are just map filters we use consistently/routinely to view the world. In the end, those maps may or may not be the reality we will actually experience. Remember that a map is not the territory, any more than shadows on a cave wall are reality.

  • You Can’t Wait

    “You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore, before you decide to be happy.”

    Jane Marczewski

    As I opened my email this morning, the following from Stephen Guise reached out and touched me. So I’m sharing it with you as he shared it with me.

    Before yesterday, I didn’t know who Nightbirde (Jane Marczewski) was. She is best known for being a singer who performed on America’s Got Talent, where she got the coveted “Golden Buzzer” from Simon Cowell. Jane tragically passed away from cancer at only 31 years old on Feb 19, 2022. After seeing Terry Crews post about her on Facebook, I looked her up. I was blown away by what I found. First of all, Jane had an amazing voice (link below). But she also had a gift with words and wisdom beyond her years. I think every human being can connect with something profound she said after her performance on America’s Got Talent. Here’s the context for her quote: Jane was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017. It went into remission but came back in 2021, the year she debuted on America’s Got Talent. Jane, as you can see in her performance, was incredibly talented, but that’s not even what makes this story special. What makes this special is who Jane decided to be, which was revealed when she said one of the best quotes I’ve ever heard. After her performance on AGT, there was a moment of silence from a stunned crowd. When the judges began to speak of her performance, there was praise all around for her talent and how she turned her pain into art. When Simon Cowell began to speak about the positivity and authenticity she showed after what she’d been through, he got choked up and had to pause for a moment. And in that moment, she said this: “You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore, before you decide to be happy.”~ Jane Marczewski This quote hit me like a freight train, as the last few months have been among the hardest in my life. It’s incredible wisdom, isn’t it? You get the impression that she discovered this truth in a dark place, and that she changed the moment she realized it. Life is hard for most people most of the time. Don’t wait for life to get easy before you decide to enjoy it. Jane didn’t wait, and not only did she make the best of a very difficult hand dealt to her, her choice has already inspired millions of people as a result. I wanted to share this quote with you, and also inform you about the life of this incredible person who deserves to be remembered. I’m thankful I came across Terry Crews’ post, and so I wanted to pass this along. I will always remember you and what you said, Jane Marczewski, or NightBirde. My sincerest condolences to Jane’s family and friends.Watch Jane’s performance on America’s Got Talent here on YouTube. 

    Cheers,

    Stephen Guise