If minds are truly alive they will seek out books, for books are the human race recounting its memorable experiences, confronting its problems, searching for solutions, drawing the blueprints of it futures.
Harry A. Overstreet

"They say the best things in life are free. But then they also say that everything has its price. Come to think of it, they also say a watched pot never boils. And that is patently untrue. We have to be careful about listening to what 'they' say. 'They' will say almost anything if they think it sounds good. As always, the truth lies somewhere in between the two extremes. Some of the best things in life are free. Some cost a fortune."
Jonathan Cainer

We think too small. Like the frog at the bottom of the well. He thinks the sky is only as big as the top of the well. If he surfaced, he would have an entirely different view. -
Mao Tse-Tung

"Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact."
William James

"Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones." -- Winston Churchill

When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced... Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.
Cherokee saying

Excellence is never an accident
Failure is success if we learn from it.
Malcom S. Forbes

How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.
Marcus Aurelius

You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometime you just might find, you get what you need. - The Rolling Stones

Contributed by NJC although not sure as to who the original author is<
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend by the name of Common Sense who has been with us for many years.

No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such value lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm and that life isn't always fair.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies
(don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies
(adults, not kids, are in charge).

His health began to rapidly deteriorate when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place.

Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer aspirin to a student; but, could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Finally, Common sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense finally gave up the ghost after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot, she spilled a bit in her lap, and was awarded a huge settlement

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust, his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason.

He is survived by two stepbrothers; My Rights and Ima Whiner.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still know him pass this on, if not join the majority and do nothing

"And our doubts are traitors, 
And make us loose what we oft might win, 
By fearing to attempt." 
- William Shakespeare, Macbeth

"One should not always confuse preoccupation with indifference, as it is not always the case" fsm
"There are no abosultes,except that there are no absolutes." khk

Illusion is the first of all pleasures.
Voltaire

"Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring
back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country." Anais Nin

"Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts."
Charles Dickens

"There is  nothing to frighten you, if you refuse to be afraid
Mahatma Gandhi

"Listen or your tongue will keep you deaf."
Native American Indian Proverb

What we see depends mainly on what we look for.
- John Lubbock

Seven Ages Of Man
by William Shakespeare.
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players,
They have their exits and entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.
At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
Then, the whiling schoolboy with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Madew to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden, and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then, the justice
In fair round belly, with good capon lin'd,
With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws, and modern instances,
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side,
His youthful hose well sav'd, a world too wide,
Fir his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again towards childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything,

Curiosity is the beginning of non-surrender
Vladimir Nabokov

I've found that luck is quite predictable. If you want more luck, take more chances. Be more active. Show up more often.  -- (Brian Tracy

The smart ones ask when they don't know. And, sometimes when they do.
Malcolm Forbes

After a storm the birds sing, so why can't we? 
Rose Kennedy
Note: Sent by Lynda Goldman

"A friend is a gift you give yourself."
R. L. Stevenson

Don't ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up.
Robert Frost

You are never given a wish
without also being given the power to make it come true.

The achievement of your goal is assured
the moment you commit yourself to it.
If you have the desire, you have the power to attain it.

You can have anything you want in life
if you're willing to make sacrifices to get it.

Your dreams can come true if you pursue them.
Where there's a will, there's always a way.

"There's a common misunderstanding among all the human beings who have ever
been born on the earth that the best way to live is to try to avoid pain and
just try to get comfortable.  A much more interesting, kind, adventurous and
joyful approach to life is to begin to develop our curiosity, not caring
whether the object of our inquisitiveness is bitter or sweet
Pema Chodron from her book "The Wisdom of No Escape
Note: Sent by Bonnie Gorbaty

Let the refining and improving of your own life keep you so busy that you have little time to criticize others.
H. Jackson Brown