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:
March 15, 2010

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: 

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Current Riding Conditions: Blue Ridge & Smoky Mountains

Riding (motorcycles) on Insulin

Your Contributions:


  POSTED: March 15, 2010

“Happiness is not a station you arrive at...but a manner of traveling."
from Josef Giger

  POSTED: March 1, 2010

“When in doubt, I go and look at the stone cutter, hammering away at his rock.
Perhaps a hundred times without so much as a crack showing in it.
Then, at the hundred-first blow, it will split in two.
And I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had been done before. ”
Jacob Riis
from Caleb Sanders

  POSTED: October 19, 2009

“Beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy”

Benjamin Franklin


  POSTED September 9, 2008

“Fall down six times stand up seven”


POSTED December 4, 2007

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”

Muriel Strode


 POSTED February 16, 2007

“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 September 24, 2005

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 March 28, 2005

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

Manyof 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 March 25, 2005

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,
Every ones 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 June 8, 2004

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 March 14, 2004

The summit of happiness is reached when aperson is ready to be what he is. Desiderius Erasmus, scholar

Youcan live a lifetime and, at the end of it, know more about other people thanyou know about yourself. Beryl Markham, aviator
two above from Lew Walters

POSTED January 6, 2004

I glad my past was a springboard…..not a hammock.
from Dean W.

POSTED September 8, 2003

Opportunity is missed by most people because it's dressed in overalls and looks like work. ThomasEdison.

POSTED August 1, 2003

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'sthe problem .....
It's where you're at about where you're at!
fromMike 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 intothe 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 wearout.....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 other sand...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 December 10, 2002

Information isabundant....
wisdom is scarce  

The druids from Harry Goebel

POSTED November 20, 2002

To be without some of thethings you want is an indispensable part of happiness.  Bertrand Russell

POSTED October 5, 2002

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 September 16, 2002

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 your self.
Life is about creating yourself.

two above from Rodney Smith

POSTED September 8, 2002

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 July 25, 2002

"Some people confuse breathing....with living.
from Wayne Archer

POSTED July 17, 2002

Yesterday is a cancelled check,
Tomorrow a promissory note,
Today is cash!

from Russell Ray

POSTED July 14, 2002

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 April 30, 2002

Never argue with an idiot.  
They drag you down to their level,
then beat you with experience.

from Quentin Neill

POSTED April 16, 2002

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 isnot 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.....sentby 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 theother 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 isfor 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
Stan

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

"AMAN'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 noexpectations, 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 ofit".
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 cando 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: NOFEAR = 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 inbeing 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! DavyCrockett

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 erraticflight

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 your self 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 any thing, 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, slowdown. 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 along 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; heal lots 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
April 28, 1997

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 April 7,1997

"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 Clark

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

Eaglescoach, Buddy Ryan

If you don't know where you're going, any path will take you there. --

TheodoreLevitt

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