Less (Information) Is More

"Gigerenzer calls such decision making 'satisficing,' as in 'satisfying' enough to 'suffice.' Satisficers don't feel the need to know everything, in contrast to 'maximizers,' who do want to weigh every detail imaginable in making even minor life decisions. Interestingly, studies have found that satisficers are more optimistic about life, have higher self-esteem, and are generally happier than maximizers."

'Trust Your Gut: Less (Information) is More,' Wray Herbert, Newsweek, 11/20/07

How to Live

"My father didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it."

--Clarence B. Kelland

Follow the Grain

"Follow the grain in your own wood."

--Howard Thurman

A Hero

"I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom."

--Bob Dylan

Plans

"Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work."

--Peter Drucker

Think

"It is better to sleep on things beforehand than lie awake about them afterward."

--Baltasar Gracian

Jump!

"Don't be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You can't cross a chasm in two small jumps."

--David Lloyd George

The Center of the Universe

"When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it."

--Bernard Bailey

Destiny

"It's choice - not chance - that determines your destiny."

--Jean Nidetch

Sneaky Time

"Time sneaks up on you like a windshield on a bug."

--John Lithgow

Making Peace With Yourself

"Until you make peace with who you are, you'll never be content with what you have."

--Doris Mortman

Courage is the Ladder

"Courage is the ladder on which all the other virtues mount."

--Clare Booth Luce

The Greatest Distance

"We may go to the moon, but that's not very far. The greatest distance we have to cover still lies within us."

--Charles de Gaulle

Insults

"If someone offers you a gift, and you decline to accept it, the other person still owns that gift. The same is true of insults and verbal attacks."

--Steve Pavlina

The Universe's Reward

"The universe will reward you for taking risks on its behalf."

--Shakti Gawain

The Incomparable You

"Since you are like no other being ever created since the beginning of time, you are incomparable."

--Brenda Ueland

Laughter and Insanity

"If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane."

--Jimmy Buffett

Quoting Myself

"I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation."

--George Bernard Shaw

Building Character

"You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one."

--James A. Froude

Discovery

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."

--Marcel Proust

Holding On

"If my hands are fully occupied in holding on to something, I can neither give nor receive."

--Dorothee Solle

Change

"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered."

--Nelson Mandela

What We Get

"In this life we get only those things for which we hunt, for which we strive, and for which we are willing to sacrifice."

--George Matthew Adams

The Impossible

"Things are only impossible until they're not."

--Jean-Luc Picard

Worrying

"Don't worry about anything. Worrying never solved anything. All it does is distort your mind."

--Milton Garland (at 103, the oldest worker in the U.S.)

Extraordinary

"We all have the extraordinary coded within us, waiting to be released."

--Jean Houston

Hate

"Hate no one; hate their vices, not themselves."

--J. G. C. Brainard

Forgiveness

"Never does the human soul appear so strong and noble as when it foregoes revenge and dares to forgive an injury."

--Edward Chapin

What We Do

"There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do."

--Freya Madeline Stark

What You Are

"What you are is a question only you can answer."

--Lois McMaster Bujold

First Step in Faith

"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step."

--Martin Luther King, Jr.

Stubborn Hope

"Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: You don't give up."

--Anne Lamott

God's Trust

"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much."

--Mother Teresa

A Child's Forgiveness

"No one forgives with more grace and love than a child."

--Real Live Preacher

New Dimensions

"Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions."

--Oliver Wendell Holmes

What We May Be

"We know what we are, but know not what we may be."

--William Shakespeare

Being Too Careful

"Everybody knows if you are too careful you are so occupied in being careful that you are sure to stumble over something."

--Gertrude Stein

The Greatest Risk

"The policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all."

--Jawaharlal Nehru

The Question

"What you are is a question only you can answer."

--Lois McMaster Bujold

Ignorance + Confidence = Success

"All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure."

--Mark Twain

A Sad Soul

"A sad soul can kill you quicker, far quicker, than a germ."

- John Steinbeck

Being Miserable

"Most people would rather be certain they're miserable than risk being happy."

--Robert Anthony

A Quest

"All this will not be finished in the first hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first thousand days, nor in this life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin."

- John F. Kennedy

Saving the World

"You begin saving the world by saving one man at a time; all else is grandiose romanticism or politics."

- Charles Bukowski

Problems

"A problem is a chance for you to do your best."

- Duke Ellington

Consequences and Responsibilities

"It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities."

- Josiah Stamp

Hero

"We are the hero of our own story."

- Mary McCarthy

Changes

"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered."

--Nelson Mandela

When Insults Had Class

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." -- Winston Churchill

"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." -- Clarence Darrow

"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." -- William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." -- Groucho Marx

"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." -- Mark Twain

"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." -- Oscar Wilde

"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend... If you have one." -- George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill... followed by Churchill's response:

"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second, if there is one." -- Winston Churchill

"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here." -- Stephen Bishop

"He is a self-made man and worships his creator." -- John Bright

"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." -- Irvin S. Cobb

"He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others." -- Samuel Johnson

"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." -- Paul Keating

"He had delusions of adequacy." -- Walter Kerr

"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" -- Mark Twain

"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." -- Mae West

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." -- Oscar Wilde

Lady Astor once remarked to Winston Churchill at a Dinner Party, "Winston, if you were my husband, I would poison your coffee!" Winston replied, "Madam if I were your husband I would drink it!"

Wisdom

"The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions."

- Oliver Wendell Holmes

A Little Rain

Love What You Do

"To love what you do and feel that it matters - how could anything be more fun?"

--Katharine Graham

Hated vs. Loved

"It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not."

--Andre Gide

Originality

"You've got to be original, because if you're like someone else, what do they need you for?"

--Bernadette Peters

Real Strength

"Real strength is not just a condition of one's muscle, but a tenderness in one's spirit."

--McCallister Dodds

Laugh

"When a person can no longer laugh at himself, it is time for others to laugh at him."

--Thomas Szasz

Children's Eyes

"Outings are so much more fun when we can savor them through the children's eyes."

--Lawana Blackwell

Oh No!!!

"Sooner or later we all quote our mothers."

--Bern Williams

Doing Right

"Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest."

--Mark Twain

Me!

"If I won't be myself, who will?"

--Alfred Hitchcock

Comfortable

"At the end of the day, whether or not those people are comfortable with how you're living your life doesn't matter. What matters is whether you're comfortable with it."

--Dr. Phil

Amen

"In every real man, a child is hidden that wants to play."

--Friedrich Nietzsche

Be a Good One

"Whatever you are, be a good one."

--Abraham Lincoln

End of Life

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

--Martin Luther King Jr.

What You Are...

"What you are is a question only you can answer."

--Lois McMaster Bujold

Living Each Day

"One should count each day a separate life."

--Seneca

Hope & Action

"Hope doesn't come from calculating whether the good news is winning out over the bad. It's simply a choice to take action."

--Anna Lappe

Dwelling on Dreams

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

--J. K. Rowling

Adult in Disguise

- from Kim and Jason Insider

Length vs. Width & Depth

"You can't do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth."

--Evan Esar

The Right to Choose

"Understand that the right to choose your own path is a sacred privilege. Use it. Dwell in possiblity."

--Oprah Winfrey

Crazy Horoscope

Capricorn - 4/7/07

December 22 - January 19

There is some likelihood of a slight career conflict, dear Capricorn. You may have to deal with a co-worker who treads on your toes or runs roughshod over your gentle nature. Defend yourself with your favorite weapons: silence, laughter, and perspective. Let your adversary get tangled up in desperate justifications for his or her behavior. Your boss will be a wise and discerning judge."

Our Deepest Fear

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

- Marianne Williamson, author of A Return to Love

The above quote is sometimes erroneously attributed to Nelson Mandela

Usefulness

"Our duty is to be useful, not according to our desires but according to our powers."

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Life is a Mirror

"Life is just a mirror, and what you see out there, you must first see inside of you."

--Wally 'Famous' Amos

Each Day

"One should count each day a separate life."

--Seneca

Excellence vs. Perfection

"I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God's business."

--Michael J. Fox

Failure vs. Success

"I'd rather be a failure at something I love than a success at something I hate."

--George Burns

Losing Everything

"To gain that which is worth having, it may be necessary to lose everything else."

--Burnadette Devlin

Liking People

"If you make it plain you like people, it's hard for them to resist liking you back."

--Lois McMaster Bujold

Success

"You don’t need to win every medal to be successful."

--Jason Fried

Life and Death

"Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives."

--A. Sachs

Home

"There's no place like home."

--Dorothy

Trusting Oneself

"A man who doesn't trust himself can never truly trust anyone else."

--Cardinal de Retz

Dreams

"Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born."

--Dale E. Turner

Saying Nice Things

"Why do we have to wait for special moments to say nice things or tell people we care about them?"

--Randy K. Milholland

Soft

"Don't confuse being 'soft' with seeing the other guy's point of view."

--George Bush

Aiming High

"A successful individual typically sets his next goal somewhat but not too much above his last achievement. In this way he steadily raises his level of aspiration."

--Kurt Lewin

Make a Life

"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give."

--Sir Winston Churchill

Taking Chances

"Either you decide to stay in the shallow end of the pool or you go out in the ocean."

--Christopher Reeve

Selfishness

"If you think taking care of yourself is selfish, change your mind. If you don't, you're simply ducking your responsibilities."

--Ann Richards

Happiness

"The secret of happiness in not in what one likes to do, but in what one has to do."

--James M. Barrie

Who We Become

"I know for sure that what we dwell on is who we become."

--Oprah Winfrey

Do Something

"In a world where there is so much to be done. I felt strongly impressed that there must be something for me to do."

--Dorothea Dix

Try

"God doesn't require us to succeed; he only requires that you try."

--Mother Teresa

Being Idle

"Work is not always required... there is such a thing as sacred idleness, the cultivation of which is now fearfully neglected."

--George McDonald

Looking Forward

"When a thing is done, it's done. Don't look back. Look forward to your next objective."

--George C. Marshall

Complaining

"Do not listen to those who weep and complain, for their disease is contagious."

--Og Mandino

Tall Trees

"He that climbs the tall tree has won right to the fruit."

--Sir Walter Scott

Growing Old

"Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened."

--Terry Pratchett

Good vs. Evil

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

--Edmund Burke

Time

"All that really belongs to us is time; even he who has nothing else has that."

--Baltasar Gracian

Hands Full

"If my hands are fully occupied in holding on to something, I can neither give nor receive."

--Dorothee Solle

Worth Trying

"The question should be, is it worth trying to do, not can it be done."

--Allard Lowenstein

Wearing Out

"It is better to wear out than to rust out."

--Bishop Richard Cumberland

Enjoying Life

"Enjoy your own life without comparing it with that of another."

--Marquis de Condorcet

Painting Life

"Life is a great big canvas; throw all the paint on it you can."

--Danny Kaye

Success

"Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it."

--Maya Angelou

Forgiveness

"Forgiveness is almost a selfish act because of its immense benefits to the one who forgives."

--Lawana Blackwel

Lighten the Burden

"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another."

--Charles Dickens

Experience

"Experience teaches slowly and at the cost of mistakes."

--James A. Froude

Losing Self

"We forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to be like other people."

--Arthur Schopenhauer

State of Mind

"Cheerfulness is a matter which depends fully as much on the state of things within, as on the state of things without and around us."

--Charlotte Bronte

Tears

"The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone."

--Harriet Beecher Stowe

What You Can

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

- Theodore Roosevelt

Building Trust

13 Behaviors of High-Trust Leaders:

• Talk straight
• Demonstrate respect
• Create transparency
• Right wrongs
• Show loyalty
• Deliver results
• Confront reality
• Get better
• Clarify expectations
• Practice accountability
• Listen first
• Keep commitments
• Extend trust

- Steven M.R. Covey

I Don't Know How....

"I don't know how to exist in a world where my dad doesn't."

- George on the death of his father, Grey's Anatomy

Hate

"Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn't matter which color does the hating. It's just plain wrong."

- Muhammad Ali

Age

"Age is whatever you think it is. You are as old as you think you are."

- Muhammad Ali

Happiness

"Happiness depends upon ourselves."

- Aristotle