Quotes

1.  Experience is a brutal teacher, but we learn.  My God do we learn. 

~C. S. Lewis

2. Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you.  You just gotta find the ones worth suffering for.

~Bob Marley

3. Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.

~Kurt Cobain

4. “Listen. I don't like to preach, but here's some advice. You'll meet a lot of jerks in life. If they hurt you, remember it's because they're stupid. Don't react to their cruelty. There's nothing worse than bitterness and revenge. Keep your dignity and be true to yourself.”

― Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

5. Thomas, listen. Listen. There are times when life calls out for a change. A transition. Like the seasons. Our spring was wonderful, but summer is over now and we missed out on autumn. And now all of a sudden, it's cold, so cold that everything is freezing over. Our love fell asleep, and the snow took it by surprise. But if you fall asleep in the snow, you don't feel death coming. Take care

~Paris, Je'Taime

6. The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.

7. Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself.

8. I am invisible to understand, simply because people refuse to see me.

9. People often say that motivation doesn't last.  Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily.

~Zig Ziglar

10. Remind yourself that it's okay not to be perfect.

11. If you're always thinking about winning and crossing the line first, you're distracted from the actual process.

~Apolo Ohno

12. In life you can't put a ceiling over head.  The only ceiling you have is in your house.  That's it.

13. Fear kills your potential to be who you are and who you can become.

14. It breaks your heart when people you know become people you knew, when you can walk right past someone as if they were never a huge part of your life.  You used to be able to talk for hours on the phone and how you can't even look each other in the damn eye.  It completely breaks your heart to know good things change; and there's nothing that you can do.

15. You know a dream is like a river, ever changing as it flows.  And a dreamer's just a vessel that must follow where it goes.  Trying to learn from what's behind you and never knowing what's in store makes each day a constant battle just to stay between the shores.  And I will sail my vessel 'til the river runs dry.  Like a bird upon the wind, these waters are my sky.  I'll never reach my destination if I never try. So I will sail my vessel 'til the river runs dry.  Too many times we stand aside and let the water slip away.  To what we put off 'til tomorrow has now become today.  So don't you sit upon the shore and say you're satisfied.  Choose to chance the rapids and dare to dance the tides.

~Garth Brooks - The River

16. I know not what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.

~Anonymous

17. Dear Lord, be good to me; the sea is so wide and my boat is so small.

~Irish Fisherman's Prayer

18. The richest person in the world is not the one who still has the first dollar they ever earned.  It's the person who still has their first friend.

~Martha Mason

19. If all of my friends were to jump off a bridge, I would be the one at the bottom to catch them.

20. At last Jonathan said to David, Cheer up, for we have entrusted each other and each other's children into God's hands forever.  So they parted, David going away and Jonathan returning to the city.

~1 Samuel 20:42

21. Some people come into our lives and quickly go; others stay awhile and leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never ever the same.

22. It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

23. Treasure each other in the recognition that we do not know how long we shall have each other.

~Joshua Loth Liebman

24. Every person you meet knows something you don't.  Learn from them.

~H. Jackson Brown

25. It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.

~Rene Descartes

26. Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can do! And with your wisdom, develop common sense and good judgment.

~Proverbs 4:7

27. In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration.

~Ansel Adams

28. God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

~Reinhold Niebuhr

29. The important thing is not to stop questioning.

~Albert Einstein

30. Oh, the thinks you can think, if only you try!

~Dr. Seuss

31. Dear Lord, give me wisdom as I go out into the world and deal with the changes life throws my way.  I will have to make many important decisions and must lean on You for guidance when things get confusing and I don't know which direction to take.  Help me never to stop searching for answers or asking questions.

32. Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow that talent where it leads.

~Erica Jong

33. God is our refuge and strength, a tested help in times of trouble.  And so we need not fear even if the world blows up, and the mountains crumble into the sea.

~Psalm 46:1-2

34. If Columbus had turned back, no one would have blamed him.  Of course, no would have remembered him either.

35. Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.

~Henry Van Dyke

36. Do not wait for great strength before setting out, for immobility will weaken you further. Do not wait to see very clearly before starting: One has to walk toward the light. Have you strength enough to take this first step? Courage enough to accomplish this small act... The necessity of which is apparent to you? Take this step! Perform this act! You will be astonished to feel that the effort accomplished, Instead of having exhausted your strength, has doubled it. And that you already see more clearly what you have to do next.  - Phillipe Vernier (French Protestant Minister)

37. Doubt sees the obstacles,

Faith sees the way,

Doubt seek the darkest nigh,

Faith sees the day;

Doubt dreads to take a step,

Faith soars on high;

Doubt questions, Who believes?

Faith answers, I.

38. You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.

39. A ship in harbor is safe, but that's not what ships are built for.

~John A. Shedd

40. Dear Lord, hold my hand when fear threatens to overwhelm and disable me.  When I feel inadequate, insignificant, or discouraged, give me the strength to keep going, the courage to stand up for what I believe in, and a desire to give You nothing less than my very best.  Give me faith that conquers fear.

41. How simple it is to see that all the worry in the world cannot control the future.  How simple it is to see that we can only be happy now.  And that there will never be a time when it is not now.

~Gerald Jampolsky

42. Do you want to be truly rich?  You already are if you are happy.

~1 Timothy 6:6

43. Did you ever see an unhappy horse?  Did you ever see a bird that had the blues?  One reason why birds and horses are not unhappy is because they are not trying to impress other birds and horses.

~Dale Carnegie

44. When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.

~Helen Keller

45. Happiness is not in the destination, it's in the journey.

~Dan Clark

46. In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success.

~Proverbs 3:6

47. If you want happiness for an hour - take a nap.  If you want happiness for a day - go fishing.  If you want happiness for a month - get married.  If you want happiness for a year - inherit a fortune.  If you want happiness for a lifetime - help someone else.

~Chinese Proverb

48. Life is like a baseball game.  You do not have to succeed seven out of ten times, and you can still make the all-star team.

49. Dear Lord, I know that life is not always going to be a bed of roses and that sometimes I will experience pain, sadness, loneliness, and fear.  Help me not to dwell on these things and allow them to destroy me, but to trust in You for peace and happiness.  Give me the ability to be thankful for the little things in life and for joy that withstands and storm.

50. Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

~Robert Frost

51. If you want to be important that's wonderful.  If you want to be great—wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness. [And] the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve…You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. And you can be that servant.

~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

52. I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

~Michael Jordan

53. Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions.  Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.

~Mark Twain

54. Dear Lord, in my quest for success and accomplishment, help me to remember that to truly be successful, I need to develop the ability to learn from my mistakes, be a servant to others, and put my best efforts into whatever I do.  True success is discovering what You want me to do and doing it willingly and wholeheartedly.

55. When you come to the edge of all the light you know and are about to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things will happen.  There will be solid ground to stand on, or you will be taught to fly.

56. I am still not all I should be, but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.

~Philippians 3:13

57. The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

~Eleanor Roosevelt

58. Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.

~Confucius

59. Dear Lord, my future at this point in my life is very uncertain.  I don't know where I'll be in a year or in ten years.  Continue to remind me that You hold my future in Your hands and that You have a plan for my life that exceeds all of my feeble expectations.  I am willing and ready to do what You ask and to become what You want me to be.

60. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

~Psalm 23

61. Dear Lord,  Be with my friends as we part ways and move on to a new chapter in our lives.  May we always remember the good times that bonded us and the bad times that allowed us to grow stronger.  Bless the friends that I am leaving, hold them safely in Your hand, and thank You for the new friends that I will meet along the way.