Attitude Adjusters
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Attitude adjusters are short quotes that cause the reader to stop and reflect for a moment and maybe even see things just a bit differently from then on.
I thought it might be a good idea to
gather a bunch of these in one place. We all have a few and it would be nice to
know where to find some more when ever we felt the need. If you would be
generous enough to submit your favorites. I will do my best to organize them in
a useful fashion on this page.
Send Yours:
smma@mindspring.com
THANKS!
Erection
begun: December 12, 1996
Last Update: December 4, 2007
Here are a few on my favorites:
Some folks are forever telling
us the glass is half full.
Others that it is half empty.
Did it ever occur to any of these folks that
maybe the glass is too big?
George Carlin
We're so engaged in doing
things to achieve purposes of outer value that we forget that the inner value,
the rapture that is associated with being alive, is what it's all about.
Joseph Campbell
He who knows he has enough....is rich. Lao Tzu
There is more to life than increasing it's speed. Gandhi
What the caterpillar calls the end of the world...the master calls a butterfly. Bach
The ego climber is like a
instrument that's out of adjustment...he moves too fast or too slow for
conditions and when he talks, his talk is forever about somewhere else,
something else. He is here, but not here. He rejects the here, is unhappy with
it, wants to be farther up the trail, but when he gets there he will be just as
unhappy, because it will be here. What he wants is all around him, but he
doesn't want that because it is all around him. Every step is an effort, both
physically and spiritually because he imagines his goal to be external and
distant.
Robert Pirsig from "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle
Maintenance"
What good
can I do today?
Benjamin Franklin's question to himself every morning
If you have any "Attitude Adjusters" that
tickle you, please share them with the rest of us. When I post it, I will
gladly give you credit, if you would like.
Send your favorite Attitude Adjusters to Gary at: smma@mindspring.com
Links to my other Pages:
Smoky Mountain Motorcycle Adventure Maps
Current Riding Conditions: Blue Ridge & Smoky
Mountains
Riding (motorcycles) on Insulin
Your Contributions:
POSTED
“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”
Muriel Strode
POSTED
“No pessimist ever
discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted island, or
opened a new heaven to the human spirit.”
Helen Keller
POSTED January 2, 2006
My philosophy on riding.
"Riding
a motorcycle is not about speed.
It's all about seat time.
The faster I ride, the less seat time I have...I like seat time."
from Phillip Poplin
POSTED
A wise man makes new mistakes every day.
from Bill Young
POSTED June 27, 2005
Dream Like you will live Forever;
Live like you will die tomorrow!
from Kevin Luthenauer
POSTED
Those
who stand for nothing, fall for anything.
Alexander
Hamilton
We
cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are.
Max
DuPree
Go
as far as you can see; when you get there, you'll be able to see farther.
Thomas Carlyle
Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the
song still in them.
Henry David Thoreau
Many
of us spend half our time wishing for things we could have if we didn’t
spend half our time wishing.
Alexander
Woollcott
“We don’t see
things as they are, we see them as we are.
Anais
Nin
above from David Swanson
POSTED
Things
aren't necessarily right or wrong... its' just that some stuff isn't a
good idea! Fred Casey RIP 2002.
More is better... but the thought of
More is even Better !
Rider advice:
How are they gonna kill me at this intersection?
I have always approached intersections with this in mind and ,believe me, it has saved me time and again!
Happy Riding. Above from Dave D.
POSTED September 21,
2004
Blessed are the flexible for they will never be bent out of shape.
from Cindy O'Neal
Love while you're here,
Time passes on,
At the drop of a tear,
Everyones gone.
from David Whitney
People are constantly striving for balance in their lives. I for one
welcome being pushed off of my center on occasion. Because if we are always in
balance then we aren't moving. Real growth only occurs when we are off balance
and must respond.
from Tom Scalora
POSTED
One
doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore
for a very long time. Andre Gide
from Bob Ducey
POSTED April 4, 2004
Do
what you can, with what you have, where you are. Teddy Roosevelt
The
end result of protecting fools from the results of their folly is to populate
the earth with fools. Herbert Spencer
two above from Franklyn Neely
POSTED
The summit of happiness is reached when a
person is ready to be what he is. Desiderius Erasmus, scholar
You
can live a lifetime and, at the end of it, know more about other people than
you know about yourself. Beryl Markham, aviator
two above from Lew Walters
POSTED
I glad my past was a springboard…..
not a hammock.
from Dean W.
POSTED
Opportunity is missed by most people because it's dressed in overalls and looks like work. Thomas Edison.
POSTED
Don't be humble; you're not that great. Golda Meier
Live each day as if it were
your last 'cause, one of these days, you're gonna be right. Ray Charles
from John Zillman
POSTED May 24, 2003
It's not where you're at that's
the problem .....
It's where you're at about where you're at!
from
Mike Elia
POSTED APRIL 2, 2003
I don't want to hurry it. That itself is a poisonous twentieth-century attitude. When you want to hurry something, that means you no longer care about it and want to get on to other things. Robert Pirsig
POSTED February 25, 2003
If life was logical....men
would be riding women's bikes!
from Dick Hughes
POSTED February 17, 2003
The man who trades freedom for
security does not deserve,
nor will he receive, either one.
Benjamin Franklin
spotted in an editorial by Dave Searle of Motorcycle Consumer News
Every morning as I look into
the mirror,
I think that there is the only person who can make a difference today.
Submitted by: Lyle R. McKean
POSTED February 8, 2003
It is better to wear
out.....Than to rust out!!
from Jim Houston
POSTED January 25, 2003
Instructions for Life
Take into account that great love
and great achievements involve great risk.
When you lose...don't lose the lesson.
Follow the three R's....respect for self...respect for others
and...responsibility for all your actions.
Remember that getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
Don't let a little dispute injure a great relationship.
When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
Spend some time alone every day.
Open arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
Remember silence is sometimes the best answer.
Live a good and honorable life. You'll be able to enjoy it a second
time when you think back.
A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation of your life.
In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't
bring up the past.
Share knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
Be gentle with the earth.
Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
The best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your
need for each other.
Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.
from K. A. M.
POSTED
Information is
abundant....
wisdom is scarce
The druids from Harry Goebel
POSTED
To be without some of the
things you want is an indispensable part of happiness. Bertrand Russell
POSTED
Life is never
what it's cut out to be. It's a whole lot more!!! Anonymous
If you put 100% into life, you will get back 100%. If you give any less,
then it's your own fault when life passes you by.
Jim Edwards
POSTED
Like it or not, at this moment
you are where you want to be.
The evidence indicates that you would rather be in this situation than pay the
price to change. from Charlie
Cartmell
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
Life isn't about finding
yourself.
Life is about creating yourself.
two above from Rodney Smith
POSTED
When you realize that you are
not being listened too. Shut up.
No one can drive you
crazy....if you don't get into the car.
from Aaron Mannheim
POSTED
"Some people confuse
breathing....with living.
from Wayne Archer
POSTED
Yesterday is a cancelled check,
Tomorrow a promissory note,
Today is cash!
from Russell Ray
POSTED
Sign at car dealership:
Why is there
time to do a job over,
But never enough time to do it right the first time.
and,
my dad's favorite:
If bullshit was gold, we would all be millionaires!
from Bob Natter
POSTED
Never argue with an
idiot.
They drag you down to their level,
then beat you with experience.
from Quentin Neill
POSTED
It's no good to know more,
unless you do more with what you already know!
Phebe Hershelman
POSTED March 10, 2002
Life On earth
Is a market trip
Whether We Fill our baskets
Or not.
When Our time Is Up
We Go Home
Sing as
though no one is listening
Dance as though no one is watching
Work like you don't need the money
POSTED February 26, 2002
I'm lost on this road again
Find myself without a friend
High in my lonely sky
I find that I have flown too high to land
....Too high to land
How do you get this HIGH?
.....I REMEMBER!
Jesse Colin Young
POSTED January 19, 2002
Happiness is
not a destination....but a mode of travel.
from Dr. George Parsons
POSTED January 12, 2002
If your not
living on the edge....your taking up too much room.
from Dave Grimm
POSTED December 18, 2001
Outside of a dog, a book is man's
best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
Glen
It isn't the
mountain ahead that wears you out....it's the grain of sand in your shoe.
Robert Service
If you want
something that you've never had before, you've got to do something you've never
done before.
POSTED August 26, 2001
Everyone wants a piece of the
pie.
No one wants to help build the stove.
--Wide Bill Jincks
from Patrick Narcisi
POSTED August 2, 2001
Sometimes I find you have to work
real hard to enjoy riding in the rain.
slow talking Harley rider from Missouri.....sent
by Gary Ewen
Life is too short?....It's the
longest thing you'll ever do. Stan Reese
POSTED May 28, 2001
Age comes with wisdom not the
other way around.
from Donald J. Smith
Age without
wisdom.....it happens.
POSTED May 5, 2001
When your
views on the world and your intellect are being challenged and you
begin to feel uncomfortable because of a contradiction you've detected that
is threatening you current model of the world or some aspect of it, pay
attention. You are about to learn something.
Unknown source.
The real
cycle your working on is a cycle called yourself.
From Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig.
The only
thing, I thought, was to lead, as best one could, the life one thought was
right, and let others decide whether it answered their needs also.
From Riding High by Ted Simon.
All goes
onward and upward . . .
and nothing collapses
and to die is different from what
anyone supposed, and luckier.
From Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman.
Four above from Matthew Lane
POSTED April 2, 2001
Reality is
for those with no imagination.
from Crol
POSTED March 25, 2001
Any Coward
can sit in his home and criticize a pilot for flying into a mountain in fog.
But I would rather, by far, die on a mountainside than in bed….
What kind of a man would live where there is no daring?
And is life so dear that we should blame men for dying in adventure?
Is there a better way to die?
Charles Lindbergh, from
POSTED February 8, 2001
Not knowing
how far the truth is....we seek it far away.
Zen Master Hakuin
POSTED November 4, 2000
When driving on four wheels you
are a spectator of the world around you,
when riding on two you are a participant.
POSTED September 26, 2000
"Never
argue with an idiot. People might not be able to tell the difference"
"God will not look you over for medals, degrees, or diplomas, but for
scars"
from F.M.Carroll
POSTED September 15, 2000
Growing old is inevitable; growing up is optional.
Not all who wander are lost.
submitted by Claudia R.M. Christensen
POSTED September 14, 2000
Life is 10%
what you make it and 90% how you take it.--Ira Gershwin
from Lu Steger
"A
MAN'S CHARACTER IS HIS FATE"....CONFUCIOUS
It does not
require many words to speak the truth. Chief Joseph, Nez Pierce
You become
what you think about. -- The Greatest Secret
2 above from Michael Benson click Memoranda.
for more
POSTED July 29, 2000
Instructions for Life:
1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three Rs:
Respect for self
Respect for others
Responsibility for all your actions
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of
luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll
be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation.
Don't bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love
for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.
POSTED July 4, 2000
"We're
not commissioned to change the world.
However, we are expected to change the world around us."
Gary Dean Rollins
POSTED June20, 2000
"Its
never too late to have a happy childhood."
Marc B. Lipton, Ph.D., M.P.A.
Clinical Psychologist
POSTED April 2, 2000
People will forget what you
said.
People will forget what you did, but
People will never forget how you made them feel.
Interview with God.... "What surprises you most about mankind?"
God answered: "That they
get bored of being children, are in a rush to grow up, and then long to be
children again. That they lose their health to make money and then lose their
money to restore their health. That by thinking anxiously about the future they
forget the present, such that they live neither for the present or the future.
That they live as if they will never die, and they die as if they had never
lived."
God's hands took mine, we were silent
for while, and then I asked... "As a parent, what are some of life's
lessons you want your children to learn?" God replied with a smile:
To learn - that they cannot make anyone love them. What they can do is to
let themselves be loved.
To learn - that what is most valuable is not what they have in their lives, but
whom they have in their lives.
To learn - that it is not good to compare themselves to others. All will be
judged individually on their own merits, not as a group on a comparison basis!
To learn - that a rich person is not the one who has the most, but is one who
needs the least.
To learn - that it only takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in persons
we love, and that it takes many years to heal them.
To learn - that there are persons who love them dearly, but simply do not know
how to express or show their feelings.
To learn - that money can buy everything but happiness.
To learn - that two people can look at the same thing... And see it totally
differently.
To learn - that a true friend is someone who knows everything about him or
her...and likes them anyway.
To learn - to forgive by practicing forgiveness, and that it is not always
enough that they be forgiven by others, but that they have to forgive
themselves.
POSTED March 20, 2000
Imagine there is a bank that credits your
Account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day.
Every evening deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the
day. What would you do? Draw out ALL OF IT, of course!!!!
Each of us has such a bank. It's name is TIME.
Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off,
as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries
over no balance. It allows no overdraft. Each day it opens a new account for
you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day's
deposits, the loss is yours.
There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow."
You must live in the present on today's Deposits. Invest it so as to get from
it the utmost in health, happiness, and success!
The clock is running. Make the most of today.
POSTED March 7, 2000
"In the opinion that there
is a God, there are difficulties;
but in the contrary opinion there are absurdities."
Voltaire
POSTED February 25, 2000
In One Minute
I Can Change My Attitude
And In That Minute
I Can Change My
Entire Day!
POSTED February 19, 2000
Blessed are those with no
expectations, for they shall not be disappointed.
Life is good.
Life is hard.
Life goes on.
Expect nothing.
Blame no one.
Do something. Trust God.
Three above from Shery Stewart
POSTED February 12, 2000
"In any moment of decision
the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong
thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing".
Theodore Roosevelt
"Preach
the gospel at all times, and when necessary use words".
St. Francis
"Injustice
anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere".
Martin Luther King, JR.
"I'm a
great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of
it".
Thomas Jefferson
"If
passion drives you, let reason hold the reins." Ben Franklin
"There
is no God higher than truth." Mahatma Gandhi
"Everything
should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler".
Albert Einstein
"The
most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious, it is the source of
all true art and science". Albert Einstein
"We can
do no great things----only small things with great love". Mother
Teresa
"Grief
can take care of itself; but to get the full value of joy you must have
somebody to divide it with". Mark Twain
"Religion
consists in a set of things which the average man thinks he believes, and
wishes he was certain." Mark Twain
"In a
time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
George Orwell
Seen on bumper stickers, worthy of remembering:
"The
truly educated never graduate"
"Question
assumptions"
"You
nonconformists are all alike."
All quotes posted 2/12/2000 from Ron Levitan
POSTED January 31, 1999
If you aren't happy with what
you have,
you probably won't be happy with what you get.
If you want to be happy for a year, win the lottery.
If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, enjoy your work.
POSTED January 19, 2000
"Don't let yesterday use
up to much of today."
Cherokee proverb from Wiloni White Feather
POSTED January 18, 2000
"Some men see things as
they are and say, 'why?'
I dream things that never were and say, 'why not?"
Robert F. Kennedy from Ron Levitan
POSTED December 31, 1999
"Hope is a memory of the future." Gabriel Marcel
POSTED December 24, 1999
"Its never as bad as it
seems, or as good."
A bumper sticker I have always wanted to see: NO FEAR = NO BRAINS
Food for thought, especially for parents: When Mark Twain was 14 years old he was convinced that his parents were stupid. When he turned 21 he was amazed at how much they had learned in just 7 years.
"EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED"
4 above from Stan the Radian Man
"Life is what happens
while you're busy making other plans." John Lennon
POSTED October 7, 1999
I am he as you are he as you
are me and we are all together.
"I Am The Walrus" The Beatles
When I look back on all these
worries,
I remember the story of the old man who said, on his deathbed,
that he had had a lot of trouble his life
....most of which had never happened.
Winston Churchill
The world we have created today
has problems which cannot be solved by thinking the way we thought when we
created them.
Albert Einstein
We always did feel the same; we
just saw it from a different point of view.
"Tangled Up in Blue" Bob Dylan
Four above from Scott Holmes
POSTED October 3, 1999
"What do you call a biker
with 'No Fear'.... An ambulance."
from
Laura Parker
POSTED October 2, 1999
"There is no future in
being right when the boss is wrong"
don't
know who said this, but it is food for thought. Larry Shoebridge
POSTED September 7, 1999
A lack of planning on your part does not necessarily constitute an emergency on my part. (Source unknown.)
Know you're right, then do it! Davy Crockett
from
Steve Zweigart
POSTED August 6, 1999
It is better to try and fail....than to fail to try.
from
Michael Pascua
POSTED July 29, 1999
Don't Ruin Today, by worrying about Tomorrow. from Bob Donaldson
POSTED July 2, 1999
In Life as in motorcycling, a turn
in the road is not the end of the road....
unless you fail to make the turn. Jeff B.
POSTED June 26,1999
Many of us are more capable than some of us.......
but none of us is as capable as
all of us!! "Ziggy"
POSTED June 11, 1999
SLOW DANCE
Have you ever watched kids
on a merry-go-round
Or listened to the rain
slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last
Do you run through each day
on the fly
When you ask "How are you?"
do you hear the reply?
When the day is done,
do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
running through your head?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last
Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow
And in your haste,
not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
'Cause you never had time
to call and say "Hi"?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last
When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift... thrown away...
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.
"While you shouldn't
consider yourself better than anyone else,
you should consider yourself
second to none."
Both above from Len Cotton
POSTED May 31, 1999
"A Panicky present is the
product of a PLANLESS Past!!!!"
J.K. EPP/LITITZ, PA
POSTED May 9, 1999
"Married men live longer than single men...
but married men are more
willing to die!"
from Jeffrey S.
Pritchett
POSTED April 30, 1999
"One is not lost until one comes to believe, as many do, that corruption is normality instead of abnormality."
-
Madame Chiang Kai-Shek - wife of former leader of the Kuomintang Party of
pre-Revolutionary China (before Mao Tse Tung) and afterward of Taiwan.
Here's another somewhat longer one from Madame Chiang Kai-Shek:
"If the past has taught us
anything, it is that every cause brings its effect, every action has a
consequence. This thought, in my opinion, is the moral foundation of the
universe; it applies equally in this world and the next.
Too often it seems that the
wicked wax and prosper. But we can say with certainty that with the individual
as with the nation, the flourishing of the wicked is an illusion for,
increasingly, life keeps books on us all.
In the end, we are all the sum
total of our actions. Character cannot be counterfeited, nor can it be put on
and cast off as if it were a garment to meet the whim of the moment. Like the
markings on wood which are ingrained in the very heart of the tree, character
requires time and nurture for growth and development.
Thus also, day by day, we write
our own destiny; for inexorably we become what we do. This, I believe, is the
supreme logic and law of life."
Submitted by The Road Ranger, Len
Cotton, Ottawa, Canada
POSTED April 3, 1999
Of all sad words of tongue and
pen, the saddest are these: it might have been.
John Greenleaf Whittier
POSTED April 2, 1999
Character is what you are in the dark. E. McRauch
.....'Cause being exactly what
you want, and winning are just the same......Paradise- Five Stones
POSTED November 16, 1998
Life is much more manageable
when thought of as a scavenger hunt as opposed to a surprise party. Jimmy Buffett
POSTED March 2, 1999
I once had no shoes and complained....
until I met a man with no feet.
sort of a timeless thought!
POSTED November 22, 1998
"Mountains should be
climbed with as little effort as possible and without desire. The reality of your own nature should
determine the speed. If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow
down. You climb the mountain in an equilibrium between restlessness and
exhaustion. Then, when you're no longer thinking ahead, each footstep isn't
just a means to an end but a unique event in itself. This leaf has jagged
edges. This rock looks loose. From this place the snow is less visible, even
though closer. These are things you should notice anyway. To live only for some
future goal is shallow. It's the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not
the top. Here's where things grow. But of course, without the top you can't
have any sides. It's the top that defines the sides. So on we go...we have a
long way...no hurry...just one step after the next..."
from
the book "Zen And The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert Pirsig
POSTED August 29, 1998
Ride fast if you must-but don't ride in a hurry!
POSTED August 14, 1998
There's enough WAYS for
everybody to have one.........Tim Perry
If You don't like where Your
going...You won't like where You end up.... unknown
POSTED August 3, 1998
The squeaking wheel may get to grease,
but it is the quacking duck
that gets shot.
origin unknown
POSTED July 9, 1998
Security is mostly a
superstition.
It does not exist in nature,
nor do children of men as a whole experience it.
Avoiding danger is no safer in
the long run than outright exposure.
Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.
To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits
in the presence of fate is
strength undefeatable.
Helen Keller 1940
POSTED June 25, 1998
Engraved on a tombstone: "Given enough
time, I can do anything"
--Jim Stover
POSTED May 21, 1998
"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts."---Earl Weaver
POSTED May 3, 1998
"Yesterday is history,
tomorrow yet a mystery, today is the gift.
That is why we call it the "present"."
"Life is a garden always
in bloom. Always in harvest, in every moment.
Take some, take none or take
all. The choice is in every row and room."
POSTED April 21, 1998
"The flowers and the trees
grow on the sides of the mountain - not the top!"
Robert Persig - "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance."
POSTED April 12, 1998
Ask for the ancient paths where the good way is;
and walk in it and find rest
for your souls.
Jeremiah 6:16
The Obstacle in Our Path
In ancient times, a king had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid
himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the
king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it.
Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did
anything about getting the big stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along
carrying a load of vegetables. On approaching the boulder, the peasant laid
down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much
pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. As the peasant picked up his load
of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been.
The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that
the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The
peasant learned what many others never understand.
"Every
obstacle presents an opportunity to improve one's condition."
POSTED March 27, 1998
When we build, let us think
that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use
alone. Let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for; and let us
think, as we lay stone on stone, that a time is to come when those stones will
be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say, as
they look upon the labor and wrought substance of them ,"see! This our
father did for us." John
Ruskin
This is the meaning of life. Donald Cave
POSTED March 22, 1998
"Better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool
than to open it and remove all
doubt." Abe Lincoln
POSTED February 17, 1998
"Be
careful of the words you speak, keep them soft and sweet, you never know from
day to day which ones you'll have to eat"
From memories of my Aunt Helen
POSTED January 31, 1998
"Early bird gets the worm..... but it's the
second mouse that gets the cheese."
"Presumption is our natural and original disease. The most wretched and
frail of all creatures is man, and withal the proudest. He feels and sees
himself lodged here in the dirt and filth of the world, nailed and riveted to
the worst and deadest part of the universe, in the lowest story of the house,
trapped worse than bird or fish, and yet in his imagination he places himself
above the circle of the moon, bringing heaven under his feet. By the vanity of
the same imagination he equals himself to God, attributes to himself divine
faculties, and withdraws and separates himself from all other creatures; he
allots to these, his fellows and companions, the portion of faculties and power
which he himself thinks fit. How does he know, by the strength of his
understanding, the secret and internal motions of animals, and from what
comparison between them and us does he conclude the stupidity he attributes to
them?"
-Montainge, "The Defense of Raymond Sebond"
POSTED January 21, 1998
"Pleasant
memories are arranged for, in advance."
POSTED December 15, 1997
Man's
chief difference from the brutes lies in the exuberant excess of his subjective
propensities. His preeminence over them lies simply and solely in the number
and in the fantastic and unnecessary character of his wants, physical, moral,
aesthetic and intellectual. Had his whole life not been a quest for the
superfluous, he would never have established himself so inexpugnably in the
necessary. And from the consciousness of this, he should draw the lesson that
his wants are to be trusted, that even when their gratification seems furthest
off, the uneasiness they occasion is still the best guide of his life, and will
lead him to issues entirely beyond his present powers of reckoning. Prune down
his extravagances, sober him, and you undo him.
William James
POSTED October 17, 1997
The untrue
never is,
the True never isn't.
Krishna
POSTED September 29, 1997
The longer
I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is
more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education,
than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, giftedness or
skill. It will make or break a company....a church....or a home. The remarkable
thing is that we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace
for that day. We cannot change our past....we cannot change the fact that
people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only
thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our
attitude....I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I
interpret and react to it.
Chuck Swindol
Good friend of mine found this quote with the letter his mother had written him
from what turned out to be her death bed.
POSTED August 13, 1997
Life shrinks
or expands in proportion to one's courage. - A. Nin
You can measure
a man by the opposition it takes to discourage him. -R. Savage
POSTED August 9, 1997
For sleep,
riches and health to be truly enjoyed.....they must be interrupted.
J. P. Richter
POSTED July 28, 1997
Experience
is what you get when you don't get what you want!
POSTED July 16, 1997
"As you
look back on your life, you will find that you seldom experience regret for
anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you.
The message, therefore, is clear. Do it! Develop an appreciation for the
present moment. Seize every second of your life and savor it. Value your
present moments. Using them up in self-defeating ways means you've lost them
forever."
Dr. Wayne Dyer
POSTED July 1, 1997
Experience
is learning to make new kinds of mistakes .
Hemant Sawant
POSTED June 22, 1997
If Harley Davidson built
airplanes....would you fly in one?
Over heard around the fire at a 'motorcycle only' campground
POSTED June 9, 1997
variation to the old question, "If a tree falls in the woods and no one is
there to hear it, does it make a sound?"......
. "If a
man speaks in the woods and no woman is there to hear him.... is he still
wrong?"
Jeff P.
POSTED June 4, 1997
The biggest
mistake is the fear that you will make one.
POSTED May 21, 1997
The school
systems in America should get back to "basics". Forget the
three R's. Try the three C's....Courage... Creativity... Community.
from the Commencement speech given by folk singer John
McClutchin at Warren Wilson College on May 17, 1997
Larry's favorites:
If you are so busy doing nothing, how
will you know when you are finished?
If you do not reward your children when you say you will or keep your word to
punish when you say you will, then why should your child believe you are
telling the truth when you finally say "I love you"?
Remember when people are talking about the grass being greener on the other
side, to them you are on the other side.
People forget your deeds as new ones are done, but a child will remember you
all his/her life for the good that is learned from you.
I do so love to ride my bike on the Parkway and then return home
to park on the driveway.
POSTED May 12, 1997
Success is a
Marathon, not a sprint.
source unknown
POSTED
If one advances confidently in the
direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined,
he will meet with success unexpected in the common hours.
Henry David Thoreau
Time spent
riding a motorcycle is NOT subtracted from one's life span.
Unknown author.
Posted April 12, 1997
I found these two especially interesting because they arrived within a few days
of one another.
A man
without a plan is like a ship without a rudder.
Do you know how to make God laugh? Make a plan .
Some of Jeff's favorites: Posted
"One
of the greatest labor saving inventions of today.... is tomorrow" -
Vincent Foss
"The only place where success comes before work is in a dictionary" -
Vidal Sassoon
"The trouble with life in the fast lane is that you always get to the other
end in an awful hurry" - John Jensen
"Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time" - Steven Wright
Posted March 18, 1997
Be careful
of what you want.... You just might get it.
Don't take yourself too seriously. The cemetery is full of people who thought
the world couldn't get along without them.
Origin unknown other than hearing it from a wise farmer.
Posted March 3, 1997
Never ride faster than your angel can fly.
Received February 25, 1997
"To
Venture is to risk one's life. Not to venture is to lose one's life." Source unknown
"Create
in me a clean heart daily, renew a right spirit in me always."
adapted from a bible verse
Received February 17, 1997
"Each
one of us is setting an example for some one else, and each one of us has a
responsibility to shape the future as we wish it to be."
Gandhi
Received January 15, 1997
Don't know
where I'm going....but I'm sure not lost.
Received January18, 1997
Risk more
than others think is safe.
Care more than others think is wise.
Dream more than others think is practical.
Expect more than others think is possible.
Author unknown
Received December 19, 1996:
Dream
big....Dare to fail. What Norman Bond (age 88) had to say upon reaching
the summit of a mountain in Antarctica
Posted December 31, 1996
We are not
here for a long time.....We are here for a GOOD time.
Received January 5, 1997
Far better
is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered
with failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much
nor suffer much, because they live in that gray twilight that knows not victory
nor defeat.
T. Roosevelt
Send your favorite Attitude Adjusters to Gary at: smma@mindspring.com
Some of Paul Tempke's favorites.
There's
nothing that can help you understand your beliefs more than trying to explain them to an inquisitive child. -- Frank A
A consultant is a man who knows how to make love in 200 ways. But he
doesn't
know any women. -- Unknown
An
expert is a man who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field. -- Niels Bohr
An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more
than
he knows. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Ballance's Law: How long a minute is depends on which side of the bathroom door you're on.
Consistency
is the last refuge of the unimaginative. -- Oscar Wilde
Don't worry about people stealing an idea. If it's original, you will have
to
ram it down their throats. -- Howard Aiken
Drama
is life with all the dull bits left out. -- Alfred Hitchcock
Earl plans ahead; that way he doesn't do anything right now. -- from the
movie,
"Tremors"
Education
is that which remains when one has forgotten everything learned in school. -- Albert Einstein
Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your
temper
or your self-confidence. -- Robert Frost
Everyone
is born a genius but the process of living de-geniuses them. -- R. Buckminster Fuller
Example
is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing. -- Albert Schweitzer
Experience is a hard teacher because she gives you the test first, the
lesson
afterward. -- (Pitcher) Vernon Law
Falling hurts least those who fly low. -- Chinese Proverb
Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad
judgment. -- Barry LePatmer
Half the confusion in the world comes from not knowing how little we
need. -- Admiral Richard E.
Byrd
He who is afraid of asking is ashamed of learning. -- Danish Proverb
He who laughs, lasts. -- Mary Pettebone Poole
Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of
nothing.
-- Redd Foxx
Hlade's
Law: If you have a difficult task give it to a lazy man -- he will
find
an easier way to do it.
Honor is like a rugged island without a shore; once you have left it, you
cannot
return. -- Nicolas Poileau
I am not young enough to know everything. -- Oscar Wilde
I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please
everybody.
-- Bill Cosby
I use not only all the brains I have, but all I can borrow. -- Woodrow
Wilson
I've never been drunk, but often I've been over-served. -- George Gobel
If I had known I was going to live this long I would have taken better care
of
myself. -- Unknown
If
the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail. -- Abraham Maslow.
If you ain't the lead dog, the scenery never changes. -- Philadelphia
Eagles coach, Buddy Ryan
If you don't know where you're going, any path will take you there. --
Theodore Levitt
If
you live to the age of a hundred you have it made because very few people die past the age of a hundred. -- George Burns
Imagine the Creator as a low comedian, and at once the world becomes
explicable.
-- H.L. Mencken
In matters of principle, stand like a rock, in matters of taste, swim with
the
current. -- Thomas Jefferson
In times like these, it helps to recall that there have always been times
like
these. -- Paul Harvey
It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in an argument. -- William G.
McAdoo
It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day-to-day basis. --
Margaret Bonnano
Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers. -- Voltaire
Kindness in words creates confidence, kindness in thinking creates
profoundness,
kindness in giving creates love. -- Lao-Tzu
Life is like playing a violin in public and learning the instrument as one
goes
on. -- Samuel Butler
Life is to be enjoyed and if it is not, it makes people ill in one way or
another.
-- Louise Bogan
Man is a dog's idea of what God should be. -- Holbrook Jackson
Men who never get carried away should be. -- Malcolm Forbes
Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do on a rainy Sunday
afternoon
-- Susan Ertz
Nothing is ever accomplished by a reasonable man. -- Bucy's Law
One
doesn't have a sense of humor. It has you. -- Larry Gelbart
One nice thing about egotists: they don't talk about other people. -- S.
Harper
One of the greatest victories you can gain over a man is to beat him at
politeness.
-- Josh Billings
One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do
and
always a clever thing to say. -- Will Durant
Ours
is a world where people don't know what they want and are willing to go through hell to get it. -- Don Marquis
Psychotherapy: The transformation of hysterical misery into common
unhappiness.
-- Spalding Gray
Segal's Law: A man with one watch knows what time it is. A man with two
watches
is never sure.
The Cardinal Conundrum: An optimist believes we live in the best of all
possible
worlds. A pessimist fears this is true.
The most dangerous thing in the world is to leap a chasm in two steps. --
David Lloyd George
The real great man is the one who makes every man feel great. -- G.K.
Chesterton
The
world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning. -- Ivy Baker Priest
There are several good protections against temptations but the surest is
cowardice.
-- Mark Twain
Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once. --
Unknown
To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of
happiness.
-- Bertrand Russell
Wise sayings sometimes fall on barren ground; but a kind word is never
thrown
away. -- Sir Arthur Aelps
Worry is interest paid on trouble before
it falls due. -- W.R. Inge