Work, Excuses, Patriotism

Measure not the work until the day's out and the labor done.
~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861)

It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.
~ George Washington (1732 - 1799), letter to his niece Harriet Washington

The greatest patriotism is to tell your country when it is behaving dishonorably, foolishly, viciously.
~ Julian Barnes (Flaubert's Parrot)

fear, parental warnings, enthusiasm

Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed.
~ Michael Pritchard

We are the people our parents warned us about.
~ Jimmy Buffett

Play keeps us vital and alive. It gives us an enthusiasm for life that is irreplaceable. Without it, life just doesn't taste good.
~ Lucia Capocchione, art therapist, author

What's so great about Christmas!

I remember when people used to say things like 'Merry Christmas' to
each other. Everybody said 'Merry Christmas, hey, Merry Christmas to
you, Mr. Lowenstein.' You know why? Cuz it wasn't about a religion, it
was about something as a culture that we thought was so valuable, that
we would all do it together, even if I disagreed with the religion
behind it, because it was good for ALL of us instead of just ME.
~Brad Stine

Talent, Goals, Needs

If you have a talent, use it in every which way possible. Don't hoard it. Don't dole it out like a miser. Spend it lavishly like a millionaire intent on going broke.
~ Brendan Francis

How often I found where I should be going only by setting out for somewhere else.
~ R. Buckminster Fuller

Displayed in the Lobby of the Shreveport, LA Veterans Hospital:
I asked God for strength, that I might achieve.
I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health, that I might do great things.
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.
I asked for riches, that I might be happy.
I was given poverty, that I might become wise.
I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men.
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need for God.
I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life.
I was given Life, that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for, but everything I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers and true needs were fulfilled.
I am, among all men, most richly blessed.
~ Unknown Civil War Veteran

Difficulties, Truth, Money

Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict.
~ William Ellery Channing

Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening.
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

The hand that gives is among the hand that takes. Money has no fatherland, financiers are without patriotism and without decency, their sole object is gain.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte