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