POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, stout drink in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

-- Credit to Edi Giguere

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.

-- Alexander Pope (1688-1744) English Poet

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Class is an aura of confidence that is being sure without being cocky. Class has nothing to do with money. Class never runs scared. It is self-discipline and self-knowledge. It's the sure footedness that comes with having proved you can meet life.

-- Ann Landers, born 1918

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Judgment comes from experience, and great judgment comes from bad experience.

-- Robert Packwood

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

The beauty of the soul shines out when a man bears with composure one heavy mischance after another, not because he does not feel them, but because he is a man of high and heroic temper.

-- Aristotle

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

The important thing is this: to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.

-- Charles Du Bos

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

We cheerfully assume that in some mystic way love conquers all, that good outweighs evil in the just balances of the universe and that at the eleventh hour something gloriously triumphant will prevent the worst before it happens.

-- Brooks Atkinson

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

The world of achievement has always belonged to the optimist.

-- J. Harold Wilkins

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

In the face of adversity, don’t complain. Just work harder. Your patience will eventually be rewarded.

-- Randy Pausch

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

If you have not often felt the joy of doing a kind act, you have neglected much, and most of all yourself.

-- A. Neilen

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

To live in the presence of great truths and eternal laws, to be led by permanent ideals - that is what keeps a man patient when the world ignores him, and calm and unspoiled when the world praises him.

-- Honore De Balzac (1799-1850) French Novelist

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

He who reigns within himself and rules his passions, desires, and fears is more than a king.

-- John Milton (1608-1674) English Poet

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

I find that it is not the circumstances in which we are placed, but the spirit in which we face them, that constitutes our comfort.

-- Elizabeth T. King

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Faith that the thing can be done is essential to any great achievement.

-- Thomas N. Carruther

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Pa, he always said a man had to look spry for himself, because nobody else would do it for him; your opportunities didn't come knocking around, you had to hunt them up and hog-tie them.

-- Louis L'Amour, author

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

One day in retrospect the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.

-- Sigmund Freud

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

The most important thing I have learned over the years is the difference between taking one's work seriously and taking one's self seriously. The first is imperative, and the second disastrous.

-- Margaret Fontey

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

The world is moved not only by the mighty shoves of the heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.

-- Helen Keller (1880-1968) American Writer

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

I'm very sorry. A "Trojan Horse" of negativity has found its way into my life, which has gotten in the way of my posting for these past few days. I'll get back on it. Thank you for understanding.

Sincerely,
José Angel Santana

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

The height of your accomplishments will equal the depth of your convictions.

-- William F. Scolavino

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Slight not what is near though aiming at what is far.

-- Euripides (480-406 BC) Greek Playwright

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

-----------------------------

-

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has been owing more to patient attention than to any other talent.

-- Isaac Newton (1642-1727) English Scientist

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

People call me an optimist, but I'm really an appreciator....When I was six years old and had scarlet fever, the first of the miracle drugs, sulfanilamide, saved my life. I'm grateful for computers and photocopiers...I appreciate where we've come from.

-- Julian Simon (1933-1998) American Academic

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

To be alive, to be able to see, to walk,...it's all a miracle.

-- Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982) Polish Pianist

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Many of our fears are tissue paper thin, and a single courageous step would carry us clear through them.

-- Brendan Francis [Behan] (1923-1964) Irish Author

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Anyone can sympathize with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathize with a friend's success.

-- Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish Dramatist and Poet

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

The real measure of your wealth is how much you'd be worth if you lost all your money.

-- Bernard Meltzer (1914-) American Law Professor

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

We have a finite amount of time. Whether short or long, it doesn’t matter. Life is to be lived.

-- Randy Pausch

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

...the hill has not yet lifted its face to heaven that perseverance will not gain the summit of at last.

-- Charles Dickens (1812-1870) English Novelist

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

All I would tell people is to hold onto what was individual about themselves, not to allow their ambition for success to cause them to try to imitate the success of others. You've got to find it on your own terms.

-- Harrison Ford (1942-) American Actor

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

In the face of adversity, don’t complain. Just work harder. Your patience will eventually be rewarded.

-- Randy Pausch

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

The self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates.

-- Thomas Szasz (1920-) American Psychiatrist

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

I searched through rebellion, drugs, diets, mysticism, religions, intellectualism and much more, only to begin to find...that truth is basically simple - and feels good, clean and right.

-- Chick Corea (1941-) American Jazz Musician

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Rely on the ordinary virtues that intelligent, balanced human beings have relied on for centuries: common sense, thrift, realistic expectations, patience, and perseverance.

-- John C. Bogle (1929-) American Investor

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

It is better by noble boldness to run the risk of being subject to half the evils we anticipate than to remain in cowardly listlessness for fear of what might happen.

-- Herodotus (485 - 425BC) Greek Historian

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

The three great essentials to achieving anything worthwhile are; first, hard work, second, stick-to-it-iveness, and third, common sense.

-- Thomas A. Edison (1847-1931) American Inventor

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Attitude determines altitude.

-- Unknown

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

All high achievers plan their work and work their plan, for they are keenly aware that "luck" is most often being prepared to take advantage of a situation.

-- Unknown

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

The artist is a receptacle for the emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web.

-- Pablo Picasso

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see the beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they lead.

-- Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) American Writer

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

The shortest and surest way to live with honor in the world is to be in reality what we would appear to be.

-- Socrates (469-399 BC) Greek Philosopher

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Originality and the feeling of one's own dignity are achieved only through work and struggle.

-- Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) Russian Novelist

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

We have worked at full speed since May. And that is I'm persuaded the root and source and origin of all health and happiness, provided of course that one rides work as a man rides a great horse, in a spirited and independent way; not a drudge, but a man with spurs to his heels. (Writing in her journal about her life as a publisher and writer.)

-- Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) English Writer

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

The world is good-natured to people who are good natured.

-- William Makepeace Thackeray

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

There is only one success - to be able to spend your life in your own way.

-- Christopher Darlington Morley (1890-1957)

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if they are to be ultimately at peace with themselves. What one can be, one must be.

-- Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) American Psychologist

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Being with someone who does not treat you well, who is hyper-critical of you, and who makes you feel bad about yourself is unacceptable. -- Bruce A. Grossman J.D., Employment Law Professor

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

No man or woman of the humblest sort can really be strong, gentle and good, without the world being better for it, without somebody being helped and comforted by the very existence of that goodness.

-- Phillips Brooks (1835-1893) American Bishop

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

I run great risk of failing. It may be that I shall encounter ruin where I look for reputation and a career of honor. The chances are perhaps more in favour of ruin than of success. But, whatever may be the chances, I shall go on as long as any means of carrying on the fight are at my disposal.

-- Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) English Novelist

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

What ought one to say then as each hardship comes? I was practicing for this, I was training for this.

-- Epictetus (55-135 AD) Greek Philosopher

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Where nature is concerned, familiarity breeds love and knowledge, not

contempt.

-- Stewart L. Udall (1920- ) American Politician

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

I think laughter may be a form of courage. As humans we sometimes stand tall and look into the sun and laugh, and I think we are never more brave than when we do that.

-- Linda Ellerbee (1944- ) American Journalist

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Desire is the key to motivation, but it's the determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek.

--Mario Andretti

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Instead of always harping on a person's faults, tell them of their virtues. Try to pull them out of their rut of bad habits. Hold up to them their better self, their real self that can dare and do and win out.

-- Eleanor Porter (1868-1920) American Novelist

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.

-- Helen Keller (1880-1968) American Writer

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Good friendships are fragile things and require as much care as any other fragile and precious thing.

-- Randolph S. Bourne (1886-1918) American Writer

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Mama exhorted her children at every opportunity to "jump at the Sun." We might not land on the sun, but at least we would get off the ground.

-- Zora Neale Hurston (1903-1960) American Writer

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

If you have made mistakes...there is always another chance for you...you may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call "failure" is not the falling down, but the staying

down.

-- Mary Pickford (1893-1979) Canadian Actress

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.

-Mark Twain (b: Samuel Langhorne Clemens) (1835-1910) American Author and Humorist

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Money is a “way of keeping score in life,” says T. Boone Pickens. But that is just for those who like playing the game. The real goal is to live with grace and dignity. You can do that with a small amount of money...or not do it with a fortune.

-- Bill Bonner, financial journalist

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Whether you be man or woman you will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.

-- James Lane Allen (1849-1925) American Author

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.

--Charlotte Bronte

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

When nothing is sure, everything is possible.

-- Margaret Drabble (1939-) English Novelist

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Let no man turn aside, ever so slightly, from the broad path of honour, on the plausible pretence that he is justified by the goodness of his end. All good ends can be worked out by good means.

-- Charles Dickens (1812-1870) English Novelist

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

To be able to practice five things everywhere under heaven constitutes perfect virtue... gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness.

-- Confucius (551-479 BC) Chinese Philosopher

Smile

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self.

-- Aldous Huxley (1864-1963) English Novelist

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

To say yes, you have to sweat and roll up your sleeves and plunge

both hands into life up to the elbows.

-- Jean Anouilh

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

I had rather do and not promise than promise and not do.

-- Arthur Warwick

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see the beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they lead.

-- Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) American Writer

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine.

-- Lord Byron (1788-1824) English Poet

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

It is never too late to be what you might have been.

-- George Eliot (1819-1880) English Novelist

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man's life.

-- T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American Poet

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

We are happy only when we find work worth doing -- and doing it well.

-- E. Merrill Root (1895-1973) American Writer

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

There is nothing so comfortable as money, - but nothing so defiling if it be come by unworthily; nothing so comfortable, but nothing so noxious if the mind be allowed to dwell upon it constantly. If a man have enough, let him spend it freely. If he wants it, let him earn it honestly.

-- Anonymous

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

If you’re gonna go down, go down In flames.

-- David Guc

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

The greatest pleasure I know is to do a good action by stealth, and to have it found out by accident.

-- Charles Lamb (1775-1834) British Essayist

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy.

-- Howard W. Newton

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life.

-- Sophia Loren (1934- ) Italian Actress

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.

-- Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774) Irish Writer

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

To get your ideas across use small words, big ideas, and short sentences.

-- John Henry Patterson

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Where nature is concerned, familiarity breeds love and knowledge, not contempt.

-- Stewart L. Udall (1920- ) American Politician

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Patience is passion tamed.

-- Lyman Abbott

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

The vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal that you enthrone in your heart - this you will build your life by, and this you will become.

-- James Lane Allen (1849-1925) American Author

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age, but they die young.

-- A.W. Pinero

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Right actions for the future are the best apologies for wrong ones in the past.

- Tyron Edwards

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

There is no sensual pleasure in the world comparable to the delight and satisfaction that a good person takes in doing good.

-- Tillotson

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

We can be stimulated to show off our good qualities to the leader who seems to think we have good qualities.

-- John Richelsen

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

The manner in which it is given is worth more than the gift.

-- Pierre Corneille (1606-1684) French Playwright

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

No pleasure philosophy, no sensuality, no place nor power, no material success can for a moment give such inner satisfaction as the sense of living for good purposes, for maintenance of integrity, for the preservation of self-approval.

-- Minot Simons

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

It is wonderful to be in on the creation of something, see it used, and then walk away and smile at it.

--Lady Bird Johnson (1912- ) American First Lady

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

The life that conquers is the life that moves with a steady resolution and persistence toward a predetermined goal. Those who succeed are those who have thoroughly learned the immense importance of plan in life, and the tragic brevity of time.

-- W.J. Davison

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

We are so made that whenever anything fires our souls, impossibilities vanish.

-- Jean de la Fontaine

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Let everyone sweep in front of his own door and the whole world will be clean.

-- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

I have found that the greatest help in meeting any problem with decency and self-respect and whatever courage is demanded, is to know where you yourself stand. That is, to have in words what you believe and are acting from.

-- William Faulkner (1897-1962) American Writer

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

The people with whom you work reflect your own attitude. If you are suspicious, unfriendly and condescending, you will find these unlovely traits echoed all about you. But if you are on your best behavior, you will bring out the best in the persons with whom you are going to spend most of your waking hours.

-- Beatrice Vincent

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

The smallest good deed is better than the grandest good intention.

-- Duguet

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

There is nothing noble in being superior to some other person. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self.

-- Hindu proverb

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.

-- John Andrew Holmes

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

I am convinced that the world is not a mere bog in which men and women trample themselves and die. Something magnificent is taking place here amidst the cruelties and tragedies, and the supreme challenge to intelligence is that of making the noblest and best in our curious heritage prevail.

-- C.A. Beard

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

One's life is like a game with dice; if you don’t get the throw you want, you must show your skill in making the best of the throw you get.

-- Terence

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Unswerving loyalty to duty, constant devotion to truth, and a clear conscience will overcome every discouragement and surely lead the wayto usefulness and high achievement.

-- Grover Cleveland

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you will help them become what they are capable of becoming.

-- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

No obstacles fell in his way that seemed to him insurmountable. He might be defeated, as he sometimes was, but he shrank from no hardship through impatience, he fled from no danger through cowardice.

-- J. P. Morgan writing about Napoleon Bonaparte

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.

-- Robert Brault

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

It is a fine thing to have ability, but the ability to discover ability in others is the true test.

-- Elbert Hubbard

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Beauty, truth, friendship, love, creation – these are the great values of life. We can’t prove them, or explain them, yet they are the most stable things in our lives.

-- Jesse Herman Holmes

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

It is good to dream, but it is better to dream and work. Faith is mighty, but action with faith is mightier.

-- Thomas Robert Gaines

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

[One's] greatest actions are performed in minor struggles. Life, misfortune, isolation, abandonment and poverty are battlefields which have their heroes - obscure heroes who are at times greater than illustrious heroes.

-- Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French Writer

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.

-- General George S. Patton

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

For me it is sufficient to have a corner by my hearth, a book and a friend, and a nap undisturbed by creditors or grief.

-- Fernandez de Andrada

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Maturity is achieved when a person postpones immediate pleasures for long-term values.

-- Joshua L. Liebman

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore you must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if you feel you should not follow it, you must not stay with it under any conditions. To have such clarity you must lead a disciplined life. Only then will you know that any path is only a path, and there is not affront, to oneself or to others, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you to do. But your decision to keep on the path or to leave it must be free of fear or ambition.

I warn you. Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary. Then ask yourself, and yourself alone, one question. This question is one that only a very old person asks. My benefactor told me about it once when I was young, and my blood was too vigorous for me to understand it. Now I do understand it.

I will tell you what it is: Does this path have a heart?

All paths are the same, they lead nowhere. They are paths going through the bush, or into the bush. In my own life I could say I have traversed long, long paths, but I am not anywhere. My benefactor's question has meaning now. "Does this path have a heart?" One makes you strong; the other weakens you.

The trouble is nobody asks the question: and when a person finally realizes that they have taken a path without heart, the path is ready to kill them. At that point very few people stop to deliberate and leave the path.

A path without a heart is never enjoyable. You have to work hard even to take it. On the other hand, a path with heart is easy; it does not make you work at liking it.

For my part there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart. There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length.

And there I travel looking, looking, breathlessly.

- Don Juan

from: The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge by Carlos Casteneda

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

A friend is one who sees through you and still enjoys the view.

-- Wilma Askinas (1926- ) American Author

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who can do nothing for them or to them.

-- Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990) American Publisher

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

The nobler sort of person emphasizes the good qualities in others, and does not accentuate the bad. The inferior does the reverse.

-- Confucius (551-479 BC) Chinese Philosopher

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

What is now proved was once only imagined.

-- William Blake (1757-1827) English Poet

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

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

-- Norman MacFinan

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Everyone who has ever taken a shower has had an idea. It's the person who gets out of the shower, dries off, and does something about it that makes a difference.

-- Nolan Bushnell

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

52. Upon all occasions we ought to have these maxims ready at hand:

"Conduct me, Jove, and you, 0 Destiny, Wherever your decrees have fixed my station."
(Cleanthes)

"I follow cheerfully; and, did I not, Wicked and wretched, I must follow still Whoever yields properly to Fate, is deemed Wise . . . , and knows the laws of heaven." (Euripides, Frag. 965)

And this third:

"0 Crito, if it thus pleases the gods, thus let it be. Anytus and Melitus may kill me indeed, but hurt me they cannot." (Plato's Crito and Apology)

THE END

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge that you'll never walk alone.

-- Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993) British Actress

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

51. The first and most necessary topic in philosophy is that of the use of moral theorems, such as, "We ought not to lie;" the second is that of demonstrations, such as, "What is the origin of our obligation not to lie;" the third gives strength and articulation to the other two, such as, "What is the origin of this is a demonstration." For what is demonstration? What is consequence? What contradiction? What truth? What falsehood? The third topic, then, is necessary on the account of the second, and the second on the account of the first. But the most necessary, and that whereon we ought to rest, is the first. But we act just on the contrary. For we spend all our time on the third topic, and employ all our diligence about that, and entirely neglect the first. Therefore, at the same time that we lie, we are immediately prepared to show how it is demonstrated that lying is not right.

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Yesterday is history, Tomorrow's a mystery. Today is a gift; that's why they call it "the present".

-- Unknown

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

50. Whatever moral rules you have deliberately proposed to yourself. abide by them as they were laws, and as if you would be guilty of impiety by violating any of them. Don't regard what anyone says of you, for this, after all, is no concern of yours. How long, then, will you put off thinking yourself worthy of the highest improvements and follow the distinctions of reason? You have received the philosophical theorems, with which you ought to be familiar, and you have been familiar with them. What other master, then, do you wait for, to throw upon that the delay of reforming yourself? You are no longer a boy, but a grown man. If, therefore, you will be negligent and slothful, and always add procrastination to procrastination, purpose to purpose, and fix day after day in which you will attend to yourself, you will insensibly continue without proficiency, and, living and dying, persevere in being one of the vulgar. This instant, then, think yourself worthy of living as a man grown up, and a proficient. Let whatever appears to be the best be to you an inviolable law. And if any instance of pain or pleasure, or glory or disgrace, is set before you, remember that now is the combat, now the Olympiad comes on, nor can it be put off. By once being defeated and giving way, proficiency is lost, or by the contrary preserved. Thus Socrates became perfect, improving himself by everything. attending to nothing but reason. And though you are not yet a Socrates, you ought, however, to live as one desirous
of becoming a Socrates.

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.

-- Anonymous

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

49. When anyone shows himself overly confident in ability to understand and interpret the works of Chrysippus, say to yourself, " Unless Chrysippus had written obscurely, this person would have had no subject for his vanity. But what do I desire? To understand nature and follow her. I ask, then, who interprets her, and, finding Chrysippus does, I have recourse to him. I don't understand his writings. I seek, therefore, one to interpret them." So far there is nothing to value myself upon. And when I find an interpreter, what remains is to make use of his instructions. This alone is the valuable thing. But, if I admire nothing but merely the interpretation, what do I become more than a grammarian instead of a philosopher? Except, indeed, that instead of Homer I interpret Chrysippus. When anyone, therefore, desires me to read Chrysippus to him, I rather blush when I cannot show my actions agreeable and consonant to his discourse.

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

To think bad thoughts is really the easiest thing in the world. If you leave your mind to itself it will spiral down into ever increasing unhappiness. To think good thoughts, however, requires effort. This is one of the things that discipline - training - is about.

-- James Clavell, in his novel "Shogun"

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

48. The condition and characteristic of a vulgar person, is, that he never expects either benefit or hurt from himself, but from externals. The condition and characteristic of a philosopher is, that he expects all hurt and benefit from himself. The marks of a proficient are, that he censures no one, praises no one, blames no one, accuses no one, says nothing concerning himself as being anybody, or knowing anything: when he is, in any instance, hindered or restrained, he accuses himself; and, if he is praised, he secretly laughs at the person who praises him; and, if he is censured, he makes no defense. But he goes about with the caution of sick or injured people, dreading to move anything that is set right, before it is perfectly fixed. He suppresses all desire in himself; he transfers his aversion to those things only which thwart the proper use of our own faculty of choice; the exertion of his active powers towards anything is very gentle; if he appears stupid or ignorant, he does not care, and, in a word, he watches himself as an enemy, and one in ambush.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

I dream my painting, and then I paint my dream.

-- Vincent Van Gogh

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Tracy Press/ Wednesday, 25 April 2007

A letter from Ryan Stevens

EDITOR,

It’s hard to watch or read the news. It seems the whole world is aflame in bombings, massacres, shootings and unavoidable global tension. Even locally, it is impossible to escape the news of possible or impending calamity when we hear about local schools being locked down as a reaction to violent threats. I thought about why all of this is a reality while walking around town Friday, and I noticed how some people avert their glances away from anyone in an attempt to avoid exchanging a simple hello with a passerby.

All of this got me thinking. We’re all so horribly disconnected from each other. We’re all so fragmented. We divide ourselves along lines of faith, politics, geography and social class, and these lines seem to grow deeper and with more breadth, becoming increasingly more violent and full of invective as the days go by. And instead of celebrating and embracing our differences, we accentuate them and denounce others in an attempt to make ourselves look better by approximation.

Why can’t we all see that we can be united in our differences. When you think of it, we are all similar in the fact that we are all flawed, we all have dreams and we all want to be happy.

Our flaws are forever confronting us. That’s life. Some people react to this by acknowledging their flaws and trying to better themselves. Others try to obscure their flaws by drawing attention to the flaws of others, cutting someone else down in an attempt to make one’s self appear taller. For far too long, we have been cutting each other down, leaving all of us stunted in the process.

It is time to end the fragmentation. It is time that we, as a community — whether it be a community in the sense of a city or a nation, a church or simply as human beings en masse — join to form a bond.

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

47. When you have brought yourself to supply the necessities of your body at a small price, don't pique yourself upon it; nor, if you drink water, be saying upon every occasion, "I drink water." But first consider how much more sparing and patient of hardship the poor are than we. But if at any time you would inure yourself by exercise to labor, and bearing hard trials, do it for your own sake, and not for the world; don't grasp statues, but, when you are violently thirsty, take a little cold water in your mouth, and spurt it out and tell nobody.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

When we are mindful of every nuance of our natural world, we finally get the picture: that we are only given one dazzling moment of life here on Earth, and we must stand before that reality both humbled and elevated, subject to every law of our universe and grateful for ourbrief but intrinsic participation with it. (From her biography ofnaturalist Eustace Conway.)

-- Elizabeth Gilbert

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

46. Never call yourself a philosopher, nor talk a great deal among the unlearned about theorems, but act conformably to them. Thus, at an entertainment, don't talk how persons ought to eat, but eat as you ought. For remember that in this manner Socrates also universally avoided all ostentation. And when persons came to him and desired to be recommended by him to philosophers, he took and- recommended them, so well did he bear being overlooked. So that if ever any talk should happen among the unlearned concerning philosophic theorems, be you, for the most part, silent. For there is great danger in immediately throwing out what you have not digested. And, if anyone tells you that you know nothing, and you are not nettled at it, then you may be sure that you have begun your business. For sheep don't throw up the grass to show the shepherds how much they have eaten; but, inwardly digesting their food, they outwardly produce wool and milk. Thus, therefore, do you likewise not show theorems to the unlearned, but the actions produced by them after they have been digested.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

"Don't chicken out." -- Carolyn Eide

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

43. Everything has two handles, the one by which it may be carried, the other by which it cannot. If your brother acts unjustly, don't lay hold on the action by the handle of his injustice, for by that it cannot be carried; but by the opposite, that he is your brother, that he was brought up with you; and thus you will lay hold on it, as it is to be carried.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Courage does not always roar. Sometimes, it is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow".

-- Anonymous

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

42. When any person harms you, or speaks badly of you, remember that he acts or speaks from a supposition of its being his duty. Now, it is not possible that he should follow what appears right to you, but what appears so to himself. Therefore, if he judges from a wrong appearance, he is the person hurt, since he too is the person deceived. For if anyone should suppose a true proposition to be false, the proposition is not hurt, but he who is deceived about it. Setting out, then, from these principles, you will meekly bear a person who reviles you, for you will say upon every occasion, "It seemed so to him.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

We all get report cards in many different ways, but the real excitement of what you're doing is in the doing of it. It's not what you're gonna get in the end - it's not the final curtain - it's really in the doing it, and loving what I'm doing.

-- Designer Ralph Lauren

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

41. It is a mark of want of genius to spend much time in things relating to the body, as to be long in our exercises, in eating and drinking, and in the discharge of other animal functions. These should be done incidentally and slightly, and our whole attention be engaged in the care of the understanding.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Fear is the opportunity for courage, not proof of cowardice.

-- John McCain

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

40. Women from fourteen years old are flattered with the title of "mistresses" by the men. Therefore, perceiving that they are regarded only as qualified to give the men pleasure, they begin to adorn themselves, and in that to place ill their hopes. We should, therefore, fix our attention on making them sensible that they are valued for the appearance of decent, modest and discreet behavior.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

You are not happy because you are well. You are well because you are happy. You are not depressed because trouble has come to you, but trouble has come to you because you are depressed. You can change your thoughts and feelings, and then the outer things will come to correspond, and indeed there is no other way of working.

-- Emmet Fox

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

39. The body is to everyone the measure of the possessions proper for it, just as the foot is of the shoe. If, therefore, you stop at this, you will keep the measure; but if you move beyond it, you must necessarily be carried forward, as down a cliff; as in the case of a shoe, if you go beyond its fitness to the foot, it comes first to be gilded, then purple, and then studded with jewels. For to that which once exceeds a due measure, there is no bound.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Waste your money and you're only out of money, but waste your time and you've lost part of your life.

-- Michael Leboeuf

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

38. When walking, you are careful not to step on a nail or turn your foot; so likewise be careful not to hurt the ruling faculty of your mind. And, if we were to guard against this in every action, we should undertake the action with the greater safety.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Aim at the sun and you may not reach it; but your arrow will fly far higher than if you had aimed at an object on a level with yourself.

-- F. Hawes

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

37. If you have assumed any character above your strength, you have both made an ill figure in that and quitted one which you might have supported.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

It's time to start living the life you've imagined.

-- Henry James

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

36. As the proposition, "Either it is day or it is night," is extremely proper for a disjunctive argument, but quite improper in a conjunctive one, so, at a feast, to thoose the largest share is very suitable to the bodily appetite, but utterly inconsistent with the social spirit of an entertainment. When you eat with another, then, remember not only the value of those things which are set before you to the body, but the value of that behavior which ought to be observed towards the person who gives the entertainment.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

There is much satisfaction in work well done, but there can be no happiness equal to the joy of finding a heart that understands.

-- Victor Robinsoll

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

35. When you do anything from a clear judgment that it ought to be done, never shun the being seen to do it, even though the world should make a wrong supposition about it; for, if you don't act right, shun the action itself; but, if you do, why are you afraid of those who censure you wrongly?

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Some day, in years to come, you will be wrestling with the great temptation, or trembling under the great sorrow of your life. But thereal struggle is here, now, in these quiet weeks. Now it is being decided whether, in the day of your supreme sorrow or temptation, you shall miserably fail or gloriously conquer. Character cannot be made except by a steady, long continued process.

-- Phillips Brooks (1835-1893) American Bishop

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

34. If you are struck by the appearance of any promised pleasure, guard yourself against being hurried away by it; but let the affair wait your leisure, and procure yourself some delay. Then bring to your mind both points of time: that in which you will enjoy the pleasure, and that in which you will repent and reproach yourself after you have enjoyed it; and set before you, in opposition to these, how you will be glad and applaud yourself if you abstain. And even though it should appear to you a seasonable gratification, take heed that its enticing, and agreeable and attractive force may not subdue you; but set in opposition to this how much better it is to be conscious of having gained so great a victory.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Make yourself an honest person, and then you may be sure that there is one less scoundrel in the world.

-- Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish Writer

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

33. Immediately prescribe some character and form of conduce to yourself, which you may keep both alone and in company. Be for the most part silent, or speak merely what is necessary, and in few words. We may, however, enter, though sparingly, into discourse sometimes when occasion calls for it, but not on any of the common subjects, of gladiators, or horse races, or athletic champions, or feasts, the vulgar topics of conversation; but principally not of men, so as either to blame, or praise, or make comparisons. If you are able, then, by your own conversation bring over that of your company to proper subjects; but, if you happen to be taken among strangers, be silent. Don't allow your laughter be much, nor on many occasions, nor profuse. Avoid swearing, if possible, altogether; if not, as far as you areable. Avoid public and vulgar entertainments; but, if ever an occasion calls you to them, keep your attention upon the stretch, that you may not imperceptibly slide into vulgar manners. For be assured that if aperson be ever so sound himself, yet, if his companion be infected,he who converses with him will be infected likewise. Provide things relating to the body no further than mere use; as meat, drink, clothing, house, family. But strike off and reject everything relating to show and delicacy. As far as possible, before marriage, keep yourself pure from familiaritieswith women, and, if you indulge them, let it be lawfully." But don't therefore be troublesome and full of reproofs to those who use these liberties, nor frequently boast that you yourself don't. If anyone tells you that such a person speaks ill of you, don't make excuses about what is said of you, but answer: " He does not know my other faults, else he would not have mentioned only these." It is not necessary for you to appear often at public spectacles; but if ever there is a proper occasion for you to be there, don't appear more solicitous for anyone than for yourself; that is, wish things to be only just as they are, and him only to conquer who is the conqueror, for thus you will meet with no hindrance. But abstain entirely from declamations and derision and violent emotions. And when you come away, don't discourse a great deal on what has passed, and what does not contribute to your own amendment. For it would appearby such discourse that you were immoderately struck with the show. Go not [of your own accord] to the rehearsals of any (authors) , nor appear [at them] readily. But, if you do appear, keep your gravity and sedateness, and at the same time avoid being morose. When you are going to confer with anyone, and particularly of thosein a superior station, represent to yourself how Socrates or Zeno would behave in such a case, and you will not be at a loss to makea proper use of whatever may occur. When you are going to any of the people in power, represent to yourself that you will not find him at home; that you will not be admitted;that the doors will not be opened to you; that he will take no noticeof you. If, with all this, it is your duty to go, bear what happens, and never say [to yourself], " It was not worth so much." For this is vulgar, and like a man dazed by external things. In parties of conversation, avoid a frequent and excessive mentionof your own actions and dangers. For, however agreeable it may beto yourself to mention the risks you have run, it is not equally agreeableto others to hear your adventures. Avoid, likewise, an endeavor to excite laughter. For this is a slippery point, which may throw youinto vulgar manners, and, besides, may be apt to lessen you in the esteem of your acquaintance. Approaches to indecent discourse are likewise dangerous. Whenever, therefore, anything of this sort happens, if there be a proper opportunity, rebuke him who makes advances that way; or, at least, by silence and blushing and a forbidding look, show yourself to be displeased by such talk.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

If I had my life to live over again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once a week.

-- Charles Darwin

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

32. When you have recourse to divination, remember that you know not what the event will be, and you come to learn it of the diviner; but of what nature it is you know before you come, at least if you are a philosopher. For if it is among the things not in our own control, it can by no means be either good or evil. Don't, therefore, bring either desire or aversion with you to the diviner (else you will approach him trembling), but first acquire a distinct knowledge that every event is indifferent and nothing to you., of whatever sort it may be, for it will be in your power to make a right use of it, and this no one can hinder; then come with confidence to the gods, as your counselors, and afterwards, when any counsel is given you, remember what counselors you have assumed, and whose advice you will neglect if you disobey. Come to divination, as Socrates prescribed, in cases of which the whole consideration relates to the event, and in which no opportunities are afforded by reason, or any other art, to discover the thing proposed to be learned. When, therefore, it is our duty to share the danger of a friend or of our country, we ought not to consult the oracle whether we will share it with them or not. For, though the diviner should forewarn you that the victims are unfavorable, this means no more than that either death or mutilation or exile is portended. But we have reason within us, and it directs, even with these hazards, to the greater diviner, the Pythian god, who cast out of the temple the person who gave no assistance to his friend while another was murdering him.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Every person's work, whether it be literature or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of themselves.

-- Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English Writer

and . . . Keith Haring - HAD THE RIGHT IDEA

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

31. Be assured that the essential property of piety towards the gods is to form right opinions concerning them, as existing "I and as governing the universe with goodness and justice. And fix yourself in this resolution, to obey them, and yield to them, and willingly follow them in all events, as produced by the most perfect understanding. For thus you will never find fault with the gods, nor accuse them as neglecting you. And it is not possible for this to be effected any other way than by withdrawing yourself from things not in our own control, and placing good or evil in those only which are. For if you suppose any of the things not in our own control to be either good or evil, when you are disappointed of what you wish, or incur what you would avoid, you must necessarily find fault with and blame the authors. For every animal is naturally formed to fly and abhor things that appear hurtful, and the causes of them; and to pursue and admire those which appear beneficial, and the causes of them. It is impractical, then, that one who supposes himself to be hurt should be happy about the person who, he thinks, hurts him, just as it is impossible to be happy about the hurt itself. Hence, also, a father is reviled by a son, when he does not impart to him the things which he takes to be good; and the supposing empire to be a good made Polynices and Eteocles mutually enemies. On this account the husbandman, the sailor, the merchant, on this account those who lose wives and children, revile the gods. For where interest is, there too is piety placed. So that, whoever is careful to regulate his desires and aversions as he ought, is, by the very same means, careful of piety likewise. But it is also incumbent on everyone to offer libations and sacrifices and first fruits, conformably to the customs of his country, with purity, and not in a slovenly manner, nor negligently, nor sparingly, nor beyond his ability.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

30. Duties are universally measured by relations. Is anyone a father? If so, it is implied that the children should take care of him, submit to him in everything, patiently listen to his reproaches, his correction. But he is a bad father. Is you naturally entitled, then, to a good father? No, only to a father. Is a brother unjust? Well, keep your own situation towards him. Consider not what he does, but what you are to do to keep your own faculty of choice in a state conformable to nature. For another will not hurt you unless you please. You will then be hurt when you think you are hurt. In this manner, therefore, you will find, from the idea of a neighbor, a citizen, a general, the corresponding duties if you accustom yourself to contemplate the several relations.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

It is better to say, "This one thing I do" than to say, "These forty things I dabble in."

-- Washington Gladden

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

This mutual understanding is a universal bond, which could not be removed without the community falling to pieces; it is force of cohesion permeating the structure of society, so that if this force were to cease to act, the whole mass would crumble into dust. We therefore place this Need of a Mutual Understanding among the principal springs of human action.

from “The Elements of Morality, Including Polity” (1864) by William Whewell

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

29. In every affair consider what precedes and follows, and then undertake it. Otherwise you will begin with spirit; but not having thought of the consequences,when some of them appear you will shamefully desist. "I would conquer at the Olympic games." But consider what precedes and follows, and then, if it is for your advantage, engage in the affair. You must conform to rules, submit to a diet, refrain from dainties; exercise your body, whether you choose it or not, at a stated hour, in heat and cold; you must drink no cold water, nor sometimes even wine. In a word, you must give yourself up to your master, as to a physician. Then, in the combat, you may be thrown into a ditch, dislocate your arm, turn your ankle, swallow dust, be whipped, and, after all, lose the victory. When you have evaluated all this, if your inclination still holds, then go to war. Otherwise, take notice, you will behave like children who sometimes play like wrestlers, sometimes gladiators, sometimes blow a trumpet, and sometimes act a tragedy when they have seen and admired these shows. Thus you too will be at one time a wrestler, at another a gladiator, now a philosopher, then an orator; but with your whole soul, nothing at all. Like an
ape, you mimic all you see, and one thing after another is sure to please you, but is out of favor as soon as it becomes familiar. For you have never entered upon anything considerately, nor after having viewed the whole matter on all sides, or made any scrutiny into it, but rashly, and with a cold inclination. Thus some, when they have seen a philosopher and heard a man speaking like Euphrates (though, indeed, who can speak like him?), have a mind to be philosophers too. Consider first, man, what the matter is, and what your own nature is able to bear. If you would be a wrestler, consider your shoulders, your back, your thighs; for different persons are made for different things. Do you think that you can act as you do, and be a philosopher?
That you can eat and drink, and be angry and discontented as you are now? You must watch, you must labor, you must get the better of certain appetites, must quit your acquaintance, be despised by your servant, be laughed at by those you meet; come off worse than others in everything, in magistracies, in honors, in courts of judicature. When you have considered all these things round, approach, if you please; if, by parting with them, you have a mind to purchase apathy, freedom, and tranquillity. If not, don't come here; don't, like children, be one while a philosopher, then a publican, then an orator, and then one of Caesar's officers. These things are not consistent. You must be one man, either good or bad. You must cultivate either your own ruling faculty or externals, and apply yourself either to things within or without you; that is, be either a philosopher, or one of the vulgar.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------
Positive News

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

28. If a person gave your body to any stranger he met on his way, you would certainly be angry. And do you feel no shame in handing over your own mind to be confused and mystified by anyone who happens to verbally attack you?

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Nothing will sustain you more potently than the power to recognize in your humdrum routine, as perhaps it may be thought, the true poetryof life.

-- Sir William Osler (1849-1919) Canadian Physician

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

27. As a mark is not set up for the sake of missing the aim, so neither does the nature of evil exist in the world.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Children need models rather than critics.

-- Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French Philosopher

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

26. The will of nature may be learned from those things in which we don't distinguish from each other. For example, when our neighbor's boy breaks a cup, or the like, we are presently ready to say, "These things will happen." Be assured, then, that when your own cup likewise is broken, you ought to be affected just as when another's cup was broken. Apply this in like manner to greater things. Is the child or wife of another dead? There is no one who would not say, "This is a human accident." but if anyone's own child happens to die, it is presently, "Alas I how wretched am I!" But it should be remembered how we are affected in hearing the same thing concerning others.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

The first virtue of all really great persons is that they are sincere. They eradicate hypocrisy from their hearts.

-- Anatole France

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

25. Is anyone preferred before you at an entertainment, or in a compliment, or in being admitted to a consultation? If these things are good, you ought to be glad that he has gotten them; and if they are evil, don't be grieved that you have not gotten them. And remember that you cannot, without using the same means [which others do] to acquire things not in our own control, expect to be thought worthy of an equal share of them. For how can he who does not frequent the door of any [great] man, does not attend him, does not praise him, have an equal share with him who does? You are unjust, then, and insatiable, if you are unwilling to pay the price for which these things are sold, and would have them for nothing. For how much is lettuce sold? Fifty cents, for instance. If another, then, paying fifty cents, takes the lettuce, and you, not paying it, go without them, don't imagine that he has gained any advantage over you. For as he has the lettuce, so you have the fifty cents which you did not give. So, in the present case, you have not been invited to such a person's entertainment, because you have not paid him the price for which a supper is sold. It is sold for praise; it is sold for attendance. Give him then the value, if it is for your advantage. But if you would, at the same time, not pay the one and yet receive the other, you are insatiable, and a blockhead. Have you nothing, then, instead of the supper? Yes, indeed, you have: the not praising him, whom you don't like to praise; the not bearing with his behavior at coming in.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

It is usually more or less easy to analyze others and classify them according to personality . it is often more difficult to turn the searchlight on one's self in strict honesty, but that is what you must do in order to find out what improvement or change is necessary. One purpose in discovering your own personality is to know how you affect others. Consciously or unconsciously , people feel your personality , and their reaction is a clue.

-- Sri Sri Paramahansa Yoganada

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

24. Don't allow such considerations as these distress you. "I will live in dishonor, and be nobody anywhere." For, if dishonor is an evil, you can no more be involved in any evil by the means of another, than be engaged in anything base. Is it any business of yours, then, to get power, or to be admitted to an entertainment? By no means. How, then, after all, is this a dishonor? And how is it true that you will be nobody anywhere, when you ought to be somebody in those things only which are in your own control, in which you may be of the greatest consequence? "But my friends will be unassisted." -- What do you mean by unassisted? They will not have money from you, nor will you make them Roman citizens. Who told you, then, that these are among the things in our own control, and not the affair of others? And who can give to another the things which he has not himself? "Well, but get them, then, that we too may have a share." If I can get them with the preservation of my own honor and fidelity and greatness of mind, show me the way and I will get them; but if you require me to lose my own proper good that you may gain what is not good, consider how inequitable and foolish you are. Besides, which would you rather have, a sum of money, or a friend of fidelity and honor? Rather assist me, then, to gain this character than require me to do those things by which I may lose it. Well, but my country, say you, as far as depends on me, will be unassisted. Here again, what assistance is this you mean? "It will not have porticoes nor baths of your providing." And what signifies that? Why, neither does a smith provide it with shoes, or a shoemaker with arms. It is enough if everyone fully performs his own proper business. And were you to supply it with another citizen of honor and fidelity, would not he be of use to it? Yes. Therefore neither are you yourself useless to it. "What place, then, say you, will I hold in the state?" Whatever you can hold with the preservation
of your fidelity and honor. But if, by desiring to be useful to that, you lose these, of what use can you be to your country when you are become faithless and void of shame.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

The sages do not consider that making no mistakes is a blessing. They believe, rather, that the great virtue of a person lies in their ability to correct their mistakes and continually make a new person of themselves.

-- Wang Yang-Ming (1472-1529) Chinese Philosopher

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

23. If you ever happen to turn your attention to externals, so as to wish to please anyone, be assured that you have ruined your scheme of life. Be contented, then, in everything with being a philosopher; and, if you wish to be thought so likewise by anyone, appear so to yourself, and it will suffice you.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

A life without purpose is a languid, drifting thing; Every day we ought to review our purpose, saying to ourselves: This day let me make a sound beginning, for what we have hitherto done is naught!

-- Thomas A. Kempis

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

22. If you have an earnest desire of attaining to philosophy, prepare yourself from the very first to be laughed at, to be sneered by the multitude, to hear them say,." He is returned to us a philosopher all at once," and " Whence this supercilious look?" Now, for your part, don't have a supercilious look indeed; but keep steadily to those things which appear best to you as one appointed by God to this station. For remember that, if you adhere to the same point, those very persons who at first ridiculed will afterwards admire you. But if you are conquered by them, you will incur a double ridicule.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

The one resolution, which was in my mind long before it took the form of a resolution, is the key-note of my life. It is this, always to regard as mere impertinences of fate the handicaps which were placed upon my life almost at the beginning. I resolved that they should not crush or dwarf my soul, but rather be made to blossom, like Aaron's rod, with flowers.

-- Helen Keller (1880-1968) American Writer

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

21. Let death and exile, and all other things which appear terrible be daily before your eyes, but chiefly death, and you will never entertain any abject thought, nor too eagerly covet anything.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Principle -- particularly moral principle -- can never be a weathervane, spinning around this way and that with the shifting winds of expediency. Moral principle is a compass forever fixed and forever true.

-- Edward R. Lyman

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

20. Remember, that not he who gives ill language or a blow insults, but the principle which represents these things as insulting. When, therefore, anyone provokes you, be assured that it is your own opinion which provokes you. Try, therefore, in the first place, not to be hurried away with the appearance. For if you once gain time and respite, you will more easily command yourself.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

One day in retrospect the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.

-- Sigmund Freud

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

19. You may be unconquerable, if you enter into no combat in which it is not in your own control to conquer. When, therefore, you see anyone eminent in honors, or power, or in high esteem on any other account, take heed not to be hurried away with the appearance, and to pronounce him happy; for, if the essence of good consists in things in our own control, there will be no room for envy or emulation. But, for your part, don't wish to be a general, or a senator, or a consul, but to be free; and the only way to this is a contempt of things not in our own control.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

The proper function of [a person] is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.

-- Jack London

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

18. When a raven happens to croak unluckily, don't allow the appearance hurry you away with it, but immediately make the distinction to yourself, and say, "None of these things are foretold to me; but either to my paltry body, or property, or reputation, or children, or wife. But to me all omens are lucky, if I will. For whichever of these things happens, it is in my control to derive advantage from it."

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

In every person who comes near you look for what is good and strong; honor that; try to imitate it, and your faults will drop off like dead leaves when their time comes.

-- John Ruskin (1819-1900) English Art Critic

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

17. Remember that you are an actor in a drama, of such a kind as the author pleases to make it. If short, of a short one; if long, of a long one. If it is his pleasure you should act a poor man, a cripple,
a governor, or a private person, see that you act it naturally. For this is your business, to act well the character assigned you; to choose it is another's.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

16. When you see anyone weeping in grief because his son has gone abroad, or is dead, or because he has suffered in his affairs, be careful that the appearance may not misdirect you. Instead, distinguish within your own mind, and be prepared to say, "It's not the accident that distresses this person., because it doesn't distress another person; it is the judgment which he makes about it." As far as words go, however, don't reduce yourself to his level, and certainly do not moan with him. Do not moan inwardly either.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

I believe with all my heart that civilization has produced nothing finer than a man or woman who thinks and practices true tolerance.

-- Frank Knox

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

15. Remember that you must behave in life as at a dinner party. Is anything brought around to you? Put out your hand and take your share with moderation. Does it pass by you? Don't stop it. Is it not yet come? Don't stretch your desire towards it, but wait till it reaches you. Do this with regard to children, to a wife, to public posts, to riches, and you will eventually be a worthy partner of the feasts of the gods. And if you don't even take the things which are set before you, but are able even to reject them, then you will not only be a partner at the feasts of the gods, but also of their empire. For, by doing this, Diogenes, Heraclitus and others like them, deservedly became, and were called, divine.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Employment gives health, sobriety, and morals. Constant employment and well-paid labor produce general prosperity, content, andcheerfulness.

-- Daniel Webster

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

14. If you wish your children, and your wife, and your friends to live for ever, you are stupid; for you wish to be in control of things which you cannot, you wish for things that belong to others to be your own. So likewise, if you wish your servant to be without fault, you are a fool; for you wish vice not to be vice," but something else. But, if you wish to have your desires undisappointed, this is in your own control. Exercise, therefore, what is in your control. He is the master of every other person who is able to confer or remove whatever that person wishes either to have or to avoid. Whoever, then, would be free, let him wish nothing, let him decline nothing, which depends on others else he must necessarily be a slave.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

Not the owner of many possessions will you be right to call happy: he more rightly deserves the name of happy who knows how to use the Gods' gifts wisely and to put up with rough poverty, and who fearsdishonor more than death.

-- Horace (65-8 BC) Roman Poet

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

13. If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid with regard to external things. Don't wish to be thought to know anything; and even if you appear to be somebody important to others, distrust yourself. For, it is difficult to both keep your faculty of choice in a state conformable to nature, and at the same time acquire external things. But while you are careful about the one, you must of necessity neglect the other.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.

-- Donald A. Adams

POSITIVE VIBE OF THE DAY

------------------------------

12. If you want to improve, reject such reasonings as these: "If I neglect my affairs, I'll have no income; if I don't correct my servant, he will be bad." For it is better to die with hunger, exempt from grief and fear, than to live in affluence with perturbation; and it is better your servant should be bad, than you unhappy.

Begin therefore from little things. Is a little oil spilt? A little wine stolen? Say to yourself, "This is the price paid for apathy, for tranquillity, and nothing is to be had for nothing." When you call your servant, it is possible that he may not come; or, if he does, he may not do what you want. But he is by no means of such importance that it should be in his power to give you any disturbance.

The Enchiridion
By Epictetus
Translated by Elizabeth Carter