“It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.” — John Stuart Mill
“We must, therefore, pursue the things that make for happiness, seeing that when happiness is present, we have everything; but when it is absent, we do everything to possess it.” ― Epicurus
"If thou wilt make a man happy, add not unto his riches but take away from his desires." — Epicurus
"Harvest the good." — Paul Martinelli
“Doesn’t matter what it’s like outside, it can be a beautiful day, inside." — Mr. Rogers
“Before you speak, listen. Before you write, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you invest, investigate. Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try. Before you retire, save. Before you die, give.” — William Arthur Ward
"You can throw in the towel, or you can use it to wipe the sweat off your face."
“The remedy is not to suppress negative experiences. Rather, it is to foster positive experiences, and in particular, to take them in so they become a permanent part of you.” — Rick Hanson
“Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will.” — James Stephens
"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind." — Rudyard Kiplin
"You can't be brave if you've only had wonderful things happen to you." — Mary Tyler Moore
“Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are our own fears.” — Rudyard Kipling
"Emotions are information, not directives." — Cynthia Barbadette
"Be self-full. You have to have in order to give."
"We cannot change our past. We can not change the fact that people act in a certain way. We can not change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude." — Charles Swindoll
“After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.” — Will Rogers
"Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did." — Newt Gingrich
"Anybody can play. The note is only 20 percent. The attitude of the motherfucker who plays it is 80 percent." — Miles Davis
"Fair is what you pay for a bus ride."
"When we make the intolerable tolerable, we sow the seeds of our own future disaster." — Said by a Major in the Israeli army, as retold by Paul Martinelli in an email March 6, 2020
"My life is not full in spite of the disappointments. It's full because of them."
“Creativity is curiosity plus anticipation. When all I have is a 7-inch frying pan you’ll always have to throw the big fish away. Don’t throw back the big fish. Throw away the frying pan and get a bigger one.”
“The real art of conducting consists in transitions.” — Gustav Mahler
“It is when we are in transition that we are most completely alive.” — William Bridges
“Those times of transitions are great opportunities to look for recurring patterns in your life and make adjustments to build on the good and reduce the bad.” — Dan Miller
“Transitions in life can offer opportunities for discovery.” — Robbie Shell
"The definition of an optimist is someone how believes the future is uncertain. A pessimist is always right, but they derive no pleasure from it." — Robert Downey Jr.
"Once you learn to read, you will forever be free." — Fredrick Douglass
"Religion is not about accepting twenty impossible propositions before breakfast, but about doing things that change you. It is a moral aesthetic, an ethical alchemy. If you behave in a certain way, you will be transformed." — Karen Armstrong
“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” — Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
“No matter how much falls on us, we keep plowing ahead. That's the only way to keep the roads clear.” ― Greg Kincaid
“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” ― Joseph Campbell
“I think that life is difficult. People have challenges. Family members get sick, people get older, you don't always get the job or the promotion that you want. You have conflicts in your life. And really, life is about your resilience and your ability to go through your life and all of the ups and downs with a positive attitude.” — Jennifer Hyman
“The moment we believe that success is determined by an ingrained level of ability as opposed to resilience and hard work, we will be brittle in the face of adversity.” — Joshua Waitzkin
“Resilience isn't a single skill. It's a variety of skills and coping mechanisms. To bounce back from bumps in the road as well as failures, you should focus on emphasizing the positive.” — Jean Chatzky
“Experience is not the best teacher; evaluated experience is the best teacher. Reflective thinking is needed to turn experience into insight.” — John Maxwell
“Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.” — Peter Drucker
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less.” — Rick Warren
“I believe that the greatest gift you can give your family and the world is a healthy you.” — Joyce Meyer
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” — Charles Darwin
“It's choice, not chance, that determines your destiny.” — Jean Nidetch
“The world arose through the random combination of atoms, and both tragedies and comedies consist of the same atoms.” — Aristotle, (384 BC – 322 BC). On Generation and Corruption
“Whatever the ultimate nature of reality may turn out to be, it's completely different from how it seems.” — Max Tegmark
"Remove the branches of a thorn bush today and you'll avoid a scrape this year. But next year, you'll face the same problem again. Remove the root of the bush today, and the entire plant will die. Are you solving problems at the branch level or the root level?" — James Clear
“Man was made for conflict, not for rest. In action is his power; not in his goals but in his transitions man is great.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Whatever people in general do not understand, they are always prepared to dislike; the incomprehensible is always the obnoxious." — Letitia Landon
"The world is a tragedy for those who think. And tragedy for those who feel." — Horace Walpole
"You still wanna take me to prison just because I won't trade humanity for patriotism." — Immortal Technique
"What's meant to break you makes you brave."
“Everything that has a front, has a back.”
"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly." — Proverb
“At your highest moment, be careful... That's when the devil comes for you!" — Denzel Washington
“All stories are made of both truths and lies, [...] What matters is the way that we believe in them.” ― Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart)
“No weapon formed against you shall prosper.” — Isaiah 54:17
“7 Habits of Genuine People: 1) They speak their mind. 2) They respond to internal expectations, not just external ones. 3) They forge their now paths. 4) They view failure as an integral part of their journey. 5) They can admit their faults. 6) They are not judgemental of others. 7) They have solid self-esteem.” — Psychology Today
“Your confidence will follow your focus. Don’t reach into tomorrow to borrow worry. Reach into your past to borrow faith.” — Steve Furtick
“The encounter with something truly admirable produces the instinct of awe…it’s a marker that you’re in the presence of something greater than yourself.” — Jordan Peterson
"A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory." — Deep Thoughts
“If you’re suffering you just have to learn how to suffer best.” — Ricky Haro
“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes ‘Awww!’” — Jack Kerouac (On The Road) NOTE: This piece inspired Katie Perry's song "Firework"
“We must, therefore, pursue the things that make for happiness, seeing that when happiness is present, we have everything; but when it is absent, we do everything to possess it.” ― Epicurus
"If thou wilt make a man happy, add not unto his riches but take away from his desires." — Epicurus
"Harvest the good." — Paul Martinelli
“Doesn’t matter what it’s like outside, it can be a beautiful day, inside." — Mr. Rogers
“Before you speak, listen. Before you write, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you invest, investigate. Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try. Before you retire, save. Before you die, give.” — William Arthur Ward
"You can throw in the towel, or you can use it to wipe the sweat off your face."
“The remedy is not to suppress negative experiences. Rather, it is to foster positive experiences, and in particular, to take them in so they become a permanent part of you.” — Rick Hanson
“Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will.” — James Stephens
"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind." — Rudyard Kiplin
"You can't be brave if you've only had wonderful things happen to you." — Mary Tyler Moore
“Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are our own fears.” — Rudyard Kipling
"Emotions are information, not directives." — Cynthia Barbadette
"Be self-full. You have to have in order to give."
"We cannot change our past. We can not change the fact that people act in a certain way. We can not change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude." — Charles Swindoll
“After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.” — Will Rogers
"Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did." — Newt Gingrich
"Anybody can play. The note is only 20 percent. The attitude of the motherfucker who plays it is 80 percent." — Miles Davis
"Fair is what you pay for a bus ride."
"When we make the intolerable tolerable, we sow the seeds of our own future disaster." — Said by a Major in the Israeli army, as retold by Paul Martinelli in an email March 6, 2020
"My life is not full in spite of the disappointments. It's full because of them."
“Creativity is curiosity plus anticipation. When all I have is a 7-inch frying pan you’ll always have to throw the big fish away. Don’t throw back the big fish. Throw away the frying pan and get a bigger one.”
“The real art of conducting consists in transitions.” — Gustav Mahler
“It is when we are in transition that we are most completely alive.” — William Bridges
“Those times of transitions are great opportunities to look for recurring patterns in your life and make adjustments to build on the good and reduce the bad.” — Dan Miller
“Transitions in life can offer opportunities for discovery.” — Robbie Shell
"The definition of an optimist is someone how believes the future is uncertain. A pessimist is always right, but they derive no pleasure from it." — Robert Downey Jr.
"Once you learn to read, you will forever be free." — Fredrick Douglass
"Religion is not about accepting twenty impossible propositions before breakfast, but about doing things that change you. It is a moral aesthetic, an ethical alchemy. If you behave in a certain way, you will be transformed." — Karen Armstrong
“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” — Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
“No matter how much falls on us, we keep plowing ahead. That's the only way to keep the roads clear.” ― Greg Kincaid
“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” ― Joseph Campbell
“I think that life is difficult. People have challenges. Family members get sick, people get older, you don't always get the job or the promotion that you want. You have conflicts in your life. And really, life is about your resilience and your ability to go through your life and all of the ups and downs with a positive attitude.” — Jennifer Hyman
“The moment we believe that success is determined by an ingrained level of ability as opposed to resilience and hard work, we will be brittle in the face of adversity.” — Joshua Waitzkin
“Resilience isn't a single skill. It's a variety of skills and coping mechanisms. To bounce back from bumps in the road as well as failures, you should focus on emphasizing the positive.” — Jean Chatzky
“Experience is not the best teacher; evaluated experience is the best teacher. Reflective thinking is needed to turn experience into insight.” — John Maxwell
“Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.” — Peter Drucker
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less.” — Rick Warren
“I believe that the greatest gift you can give your family and the world is a healthy you.” — Joyce Meyer
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” — Charles Darwin
“It's choice, not chance, that determines your destiny.” — Jean Nidetch
“The world arose through the random combination of atoms, and both tragedies and comedies consist of the same atoms.” — Aristotle, (384 BC – 322 BC). On Generation and Corruption
“Whatever the ultimate nature of reality may turn out to be, it's completely different from how it seems.” — Max Tegmark
"Remove the branches of a thorn bush today and you'll avoid a scrape this year. But next year, you'll face the same problem again. Remove the root of the bush today, and the entire plant will die. Are you solving problems at the branch level or the root level?" — James Clear
“Man was made for conflict, not for rest. In action is his power; not in his goals but in his transitions man is great.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Whatever people in general do not understand, they are always prepared to dislike; the incomprehensible is always the obnoxious." — Letitia Landon
"The world is a tragedy for those who think. And tragedy for those who feel." — Horace Walpole
"You still wanna take me to prison just because I won't trade humanity for patriotism." — Immortal Technique
"What's meant to break you makes you brave."
“Everything that has a front, has a back.”
"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly." — Proverb
“At your highest moment, be careful... That's when the devil comes for you!" — Denzel Washington
“All stories are made of both truths and lies, [...] What matters is the way that we believe in them.” ― Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart)
“No weapon formed against you shall prosper.” — Isaiah 54:17
“7 Habits of Genuine People: 1) They speak their mind. 2) They respond to internal expectations, not just external ones. 3) They forge their now paths. 4) They view failure as an integral part of their journey. 5) They can admit their faults. 6) They are not judgemental of others. 7) They have solid self-esteem.” — Psychology Today
“Your confidence will follow your focus. Don’t reach into tomorrow to borrow worry. Reach into your past to borrow faith.” — Steve Furtick
“The encounter with something truly admirable produces the instinct of awe…it’s a marker that you’re in the presence of something greater than yourself.” — Jordan Peterson
"A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory." — Deep Thoughts
“If you’re suffering you just have to learn how to suffer best.” — Ricky Haro
“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes ‘Awww!’” — Jack Kerouac (On The Road) NOTE: This piece inspired Katie Perry's song "Firework"