One's country, Vision, Happiness

My kind of loyalty was loyalty to one's country, not its institutions or its officeholders.
~ Mark Twain

A clear vision is usually assumed and rarely communicated.
~ Unknown

A sound mind in a sound body is a short but full description of a happy state in this world.
~ John Locke

Planning, Winning, Walking

Good plans shape good decisions. That's why good planning helps to make elusive dreams come true.
~ Lester R. Bittel The Nine Master Keys of Management

If it doesn't matter who wins, then how come they keep score?
~ Vincent Lombardi

Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.
~ Steven Wright (1955 - )

Fear, Money, Virtue

Fear is something to be moved through, not something to be turned from.
~ Peter McWilliams

When it is a question of money, everyone is of the same religion.
~ Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire, 18th-century French author, wit and philosopher

Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it.
~ David Starr Jordan

"Civil" wars, Loyalty, rob Peter

All wars are civil wars because all men are brothers... Each one owes infinitely more to the human race than to the particular country in which he was born.
~ Francois de Salignac de La Mothe- Fenelon

An ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness.
~ Elbert Green Hubbard

So long as you rob Peter to pay Paul, you'll have Paul's support.
~ Anonymous

Change, Logic, Respect

In the face of impossible odds, people who love this country can change it.
~ Barack Obama

If the world were a logical place, men would ride side saddle.
~ Rita Mae Brown

I worked in a pet store and people would ask how big I would get.
~ Rodney Dangerfield

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

Gratitude, Obligation

Silent gratitude isn't very much use to anyone.
~ Gertrude Stein

For today and its blessings, I owe the world an attitude of gratitude.
~ Clarence E. Hodges

To oppose corruption in government is the highest obligation of patriotism.
~ G. Edward Griffin

Giving Thanks

The depth and the willingness with which we serve is a direct reflection of our gratitude.
~ Gordon T. Watts

It's a sign of mediocrity when you demonstrate gratitude with moderation.
~ Roberto Benigni

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.
~ William Arthur Ward

Originality, Progress, Presentation

Originality is the fine art of remembering what you hear but forgetting where you heard it.
~ Laurence J. Peter

Lead, follow or get out of the way!
~ George S. Patton

A thing is not necessarily true because badly uttered, nor false because spoken magnificently.
~ Saint Augustine of Hippo

Wisdom, True Patriotism, Approval

Patience is the companion of wisdom.
~ Anonymous

I confidently trust that the American people will prove themselves … too wise not to detect the false pride or the dangerous ambitions or the selfish schemes which so often hide themselves under that deceptive cry of mock patriotism: 'Our country, right or wrong!' They will not fail to recognize that our dignity, our free institutions and the peace and welfare of this and coming generations of Americans will be secure only as we cling to the watchword of true patriotism: 'Our country—when right to be kept right; when wrong to be put right.'
~ Carl Schurz (Speeches, Correspondence And Political Papers Of Carl
Schurz V5: January 30, 1889-December 27, 1898)

If your number one goal is to make sure that everyone likes and approves of you, then you risk sacrificing your uniqueness and, therefore, your excellence.
~ Anonymous

Play, Patriotism, Genius

It is becoming increasingly clear through research on the brain as well as in other areas of study, that childhood needs play. Play acts as a forward feed mechanism into courageous, creative, rigorous thinking in adulthood.
~ Tina Bruce, Professor, London Metropolitan University

You'll never have a quiet world till you knock the patriotism out of the human race.
~ George Bernard Shaw

Talent does what it can; genius does what it must.
~ Robert Bulwer-Lytton

Patriotism, Adjournment, Research

There are two kinds of patriotism - monarchical patriotism and republican patriotism. In the one case the government and the king may rightfully furnish you their notions of patriotism; in the other, neither the government nor the entire nation is privileged to dictate to any individual what the form of his patriotism shall be. The gospel of the monarchical patriotism is: "The King can do no wrong." We have adopted it with all its servility, with an unimportant change in the wording: "Our country, right or wrong!" We have thrown away the most valuable asset we had - the individual's right to oppose both flag and country when he (just he, by himself) believed them to be in the wrong. We have thrown it away; and with it all that was really respectable about that grotesque and laughable word, Patriotism. ~
Mark Twain

F.M. Cornford put it so well: Motions for adjournment, made less than fifteen minutes before tea-time or at any subsequent moment, are always carried.

Copy from one, it's plagiarism; copy from two, it's research. ~ Wilson Mizner

Discontent, Riches, Attention

Restlessness and discontent are the first necessities of progress.
~ Thomas Alva Edison

The quest for riches darkens the sense of right and wrong.
~ Antiphanes, ancient Greek dramatist

If you're not confused, you're not paying attention.
~ Tom Peters

Learning, Moving out, Living today

It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them.
~ Leo Buscaglia

Human beings are the only creatures that allow their children to come back home.
~ Bill William Henry Cosby

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

My country owes me, Required of men, Play to remember

My country owes me nothing. It gave me, as it gives every boy and girl, a chance. It gave me schooling, independence of action, opportunity for service and honor.
~ Herbert Hoover

A civilization is built on what is required of men, not on that which is provided for them.
~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

When kids play, they remember. They may not be aware they are learning, but they sure are aware they are having fun. When you have a good belly laugh with your siblings or parents or friends, that stays with you. And the great thing is that is comes so naturally .. .if we only let it.
~ Rebecca Krook, play facilitator for kids with disabilities

Wonder, Innovation, Happiness

Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
~ Robert Fulghum

The company's most urgent task is to learn to welcome, beg for, demand - innovation from everyone.
~ Tom Peters

The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything.
~ Anonymous