Teach me O Lord

Teach me O Lord,
in the midst of noise,
the bustle of business,
that you are there, near,
close by, even within the creative noise
I sometimes cannot bear:
That I can find quietness
and peace within,
to regain my strength and offer it to you,
for Your glory's sake. Amen. - Roger Bush

No forgotten quotes - too much to try to keep up with these days.

Three for St. Paddy

Grant me a send of humor, Lord,
the saving grace to see a joke,
To win some happiness from life,
And pass it on to other folk.  - Irish prayer


Tis better to spend money like there's no tomorrow than to spend tonight like there's no money! - Irish Proverb

Here’s to a long life and a merry one.
A quick death and an easy one
A pretty girl and an honest one
A cold beer – and another one!  - Irish Toast

Temporary Joy

Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy. - William Butler Yeats


Yesterday's Forgotten Quote
If one could only teach the English how to talk, and the Irish how to listen, society here would be quite civilized. - Oscar Wilde

Swimming against the tide

It is here, my daughters, that love is to be found - not hidden away in corners but in the midst of occasions of sin. And believe me, although we may more often fail and commit small lapses, our gain will be incomparably the greater. - Saint Teresa of Avila


As we approach St. Patrick's Day:
What I say is that, if a fellow really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow. - A. A. Milne

God is crying

If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is "God is crying." And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is "Probably because of something you did." - Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey


Yesterday's Forgotten Quote
Give a man a fish and he has food for a day; teach him how to fish and you can get rid of him for the entire weekend.  - Zenna Scha

Experience

Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him. - Aldous Huxley


Yesterday's Forgotten Quote
No man really becomes a fool until he stops asking questions. - Charles P. Steinmetz

If we falter

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.  - Abraham Lincoln


Yesterday's Forgotten Quote
But men are men; the best sometimes forget. - William Shakespeare

Price & Cost

The price of excellence is discipline. The cost of mediocrity is disappointment. - William Arthur Ward

Vow, Resolve, Determine, Strive & Act

Vow to be valiant;

Resolve to be radiant;

Determine to be dynamic;

Strive to be sincere;

Aspire to be attuned. William Arthur Ward

What kind of trail do you leave?

Every person has the power to make others happy.

Some do it simply by entering a room --

others by leaving the room.

Some individuals leave trails of gloom;

others, trails of joy.

Some leave trails of hate and bitterness;

others, trails of love and harmony.

Some leave trails of cynicism and pessimism;

others trails of faith and optimism.

Some leave trails of criticism and resignation;

others trails of gratitude and hope.

What kind of trails do you leave? - William Arthur Ward

Where is greatness found?

Greatness is not found in possessions, power, position, or prestige. It is discovered in goodness, humility, service, and character. - William Arthur Ward

Serve before you lead

We must be silent before we can listen.

We must listen before we can learn.

We must learn before we can prepare.

We must prepare before we can serve.

We must serve before we can lead. - William Arthur Ward

Bring out the best

When we seek to discover the best in others, we somehow bring out the best in ourselves. William Arthur Ward

The best way to lose yourself

Lose yourself in generous service and every day can be a most unusual day, a triumphant day, an abundantly rewarding day! - William Arthur Ward

Three from Ward

A well-developed sense of humor is the pole that adds balance to your steps as you walk the tightrope of life.


Do more than belong: participate. 
Do more than care: help. 
Do more than believe: practice. 
Do more than be fair: be kind. 
Do more than forgive: forget. 
Do more than dream: work.


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


Before I went fishing on the internet this morning I did not know much about William Arthur Ward. I think I may have encountered some of his stuff earlier in life but did not pay it much heed. Given the amount of quotable material, this may be a William Arthur Ward week of some pithy sayings and thought inviting lists.

Thoughts about aging

Men do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit playing.  ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes


Yesterday's Forgotten Quote
Everyone is the age of their heart.  ~ Guatemalan Proverb

Never thought

When I was having that alphabet soup, I never thought that it would pay off. - Vanna White


Eating some chicken soup tonight, and this was a fun quote to post.

God heals

God heals and the doctor takes the fee. - Benjamin Franklin

You are still you

The secret of learning to be sick is this: Illness doesn't make you less of what you were. You are still you. - Tony Snow
A bit under the weather, but doing well.  


Yesterday's Forgotten Quote
On Monday mornings I am dedicated to the proposition that all men are created jerks. - H. Allen Smith

BOOM! There it is!

The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. - Winston Churchill

5 minutes too much

The best argument against Democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter. - Winston Churchill

Plans vs reality

However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results. - Winston Churchill

Share the misery

Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. - Winston Churchill


The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries. - Winston Churchill

Stumbling over the truth

We occasionally stumble over the truth but most of us pick ourselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened. - Winston Churchill

Worst is better

It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried. - Winston Churchill

Life & Living

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. - Winston Churchill

Churchill Week

I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals. - Winston Churchill



As I was looking back over various authors of quotes I realized I had few Churchill quotes and he has a ton of awesome ones.   This quote seems especially appropriate since I have arrived in New Melle where it is bad luck to be a pig.

Keep at it

Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential. - Winston Churchill

Wise man

He was a wise man who invented beer. - Plato

Waste not the morning

The day shall not be up so soon as I,
To try the fair adventure of tomorrow. - William Shakespeare


Bonus quote (For all those days I forget to post)
The early morning has gold in its mouth. -Benjamin Franklin

The joy of demotivational posters

Minds are like parachutes. Just because you've lost yours doesn't mean you can borrow mine.


Monday's Neglected Quote
Quitters never win, winners never quit, but those who never win AND never quit are idiots.

Whaat?

Better never than late. - George Bernard Shaw

A poke in the eye

“They got what they deserved”, he said.  “They fell into bed with the secular left, and then wondered why they forced them to do what the secular left wants them to do.”  - Rick Santorum


While I try to avoid current quotes from politicians, this one was too good to pass. I think he is correct in his assessment and none of us should be surprised.

Bonus Quote from the Office of Readings

For sin is taken away only by the gift of faith that works through love. - St. Augustine

For those who don't know, as a priest I say daily prayers with and for the Church. As a Diocesan Priest I pray five of the liturgical hours. Office of Readings is the first hour of the day.

Behind the barn

I was so naive as a kid I used to sneak behind the barn and do nothing. - Johnny Carson

What lives within

What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us. - Henry David Thoreau


Yesterday's Forgotten Quote
It's wonderful to climb the liquid mountains of the sky. Behind me and before me is God and I have no fears. - Helen Keller

Forgetful Wandering

I have wandered all my life, and I have also traveled; the difference between the two being this, that we wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment. - Hilaire Belloc


Yesterday's Forgotten Quote:
Nature and books belong to the eyes that see them. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

What's your story?

Your face tells a story and it shouldn't be a story about your drive to the doctor's office. - Julia Roberts

ACT!

Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you. - Thomas Jefferson

Their unity in love

The Christian response is contained in these two fundamental dogmas: that of the Trinity and that of the Incarnation. In the Trinitarian dogma God is one, good, true, and beautiful because He is essentially Love, and Love supposes the one, the other, and their unity. - Hans Urs Von Balthasar

Time to get up

I wake up every morning at nine and grab for the morning paper. Then I look at the obituary page. If my name is not on it, I get up. - Benjamin Franklin

Worthy of leadership

The man who is worthy of being a leader of men will never complain about the stupidity of his helpers, the ingratitude of mankind nor the inappreciation of the public. These are all part of the great game of life. To meet them and overcome them and not go down in disgust, discouragement or defeat - that is the final proof of power. - William J. H. Boetcker

Rain, rain go away

And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow. - Gilbert K. Chesterton

Our vocation

Many people mistake our work for our vocation. Our vocation is the love of Jesus. - Mother Teresa

Your best and more

Be who you are and be that well. - Saint Francis de Sales



BONUS QUOTES:
Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength. - Saint Francis de Sales


We must never undervalue any person. The workman loves not that his work should be despised in his presence. Now God is present everywhere, and every person is His work. - Saint Francis de Sales

With a smile

Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love. - Mother Teresa

Scribbling on walls

A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell. - C. S. Lewis

Bonus quote as we look toward the election

Democracy is also a form of worship. It is the worship of Jackals by Jackasses. - H. L. Mencken

Missed quotes of the last couple of days since I was too busy. . . 
Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing. - Thomas A. Edison

He, who every morning plans the transactions of the day, and follows that plan, carries a thread that will guide him through a labyrinth of the most busy life. - Victor Hugo

Sweet clarity

Snow falling soundlessly in the middle of the night will always fill my heart with sweet clarity. ― Novala Takemoto, Missin' (Novel)

No rush

I love snow for the same reason I love Christmas: It brings people together while time stands still. Cozy couples lazily meandered the streets and children trudged sleds and chased snowballs. No one seemed to be in a rush to experience anything other than the glory of the day, with each other, whenever and however it happened. ― Rachel Cohn, Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

Providential thoughts

The longer I live, the more faith I have in Providence, and the less faith in my interpretation of Providence. - Jeremiah day

I think about the patience required to trust in God's providence, too often haste causes me to presume the wrong reason for it. Given time, the meaning will be revealed.

Yesterday's neglected quote
I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol. - Steven Wright

Does anything happen?

If you are in a spaceship that is traveling at the speed of light, and you turn on the headlights, does anything happen? - Steven Wright

Know for the first time

We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. - T. S. Eliot

Two from Hugo

Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face. - Victor Hugo

Yesterday's Forgotten Quote

Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her, still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings. - Victor Hugo

Plotting to make me happy

I am a kind of paranoid in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy. - J. D. Salinger

Dust & Marble

Write your injuries in dust, your benefits in marble. - Benjamin Franklin

Explore - Dream - Discover

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain

3 blessings for the day

May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back.  May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields.  And until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of his hand.  ~ Irish Blessing


May you always have walls for the winds,
a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,
laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,
and all your heart might desire. ~Irish Blessing


May you always have work for your hands to do.
May your pockets hold always a coin or two.
May the sun shine bright on your windowpane.
May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you. ~Irish Blessing

Bewilderment & exhilaration

Time has been transformed, and we have changed; it has advanced and set us in motion; it has unveiled its face, inspiring us with bewilderment and exhilaration. - Kahlil Gibran

Slipping on by

Time just gets away from us. Mattie Ross- True Grit

We are but subjects

We are time's subjects, and time bids be gone. - William Shakespeare

Really Clear

My favorite things in life don't cost any money. It's really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time. - Steve Jobs

The right stuff

Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of. - Benjamin Franklin

One day at a time

The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time. - Abraham Lincoln

Into the New Year

The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul. – G. K. Chesterton