NEW YEAR

You will still be eating last year's harvest;
When you will have to move it out to make room for the New. Leviticus 26:10

Glory to God in highest heaven, Who unto man His Son hath given; While angels sing with tender mirth, A glad New Year to all the earth. …….Martin Luther

Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right. ……Oprah Winfrey

One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this;
To rise above the little things. …….John Burroughs

Every man regards his own life
as the New Year's Eve of time. ……Jean Paul Richter

It wouldn't be New Year's if I didn't have regrets. …….William Thomas

Of all sound of all bells, the most solemn and touching is
the peal which rings out the Old Year. …….Charles Lamb

Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past.
Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go. …….Brooks Atkinson

An Optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in.
A Pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves. ……..Bill Vaughan

A New Year's resolution is something that
goes in one year and out the other. …….Author Unknown

SELF-RESPECT

What good is it for a man to gain the whole world,
and yet lose or forfeit his very self? …….Luke 9:25

Respect yourself and others will respect you. …….Confucius

He that respects himself is safe from others;
He wears a coat of mail that none can pierce. …….Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

They cannot take away our self-respect;
If we do not give it to them. …….Mohandas Gandhi

Self-respect is the cornerstone of all virtue. ……..John Herschel

Self-respect permeates every aspect of your life. …….Joe Clark

A man who doesn't respect himself,
can never really respect anyone else. …….Cardinal De Retz

The willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life
is the source from which self-respect springs. ……..Joan Didion

OPINION

A fool finds no pleasure in understanding;
but delights in airing his own Opinions. …….Proverbs 18:2

Everything we hear is an Opinion, not a fact. ……..Marcus Aurelius

Every new Opinion, at its starting,
is precisely in a minority of one. ……..Thomas Carlyle

False Opinions are like false money, struck first of all by guilty men,
thereafter circulated by honest people who perpetuate the crime,
without knowing what they are doing. ……..Joseph De Maistre

People do not seem to realize that their Opinion of the world,
is also a confession of character. …….Ralph Waldo Emerson

Those who are of the opinion that money will do everything
may reasonably be expected to do everything for money. …….Edward F. Halifax

A study of the history of Opinion is a necessarypreliminary to the emancipation of the mind. …….John Maynard Keynes

Public Opinion is the thermometer
a leader should constantly consult. ……Napoleon Bonaparte

It often takes more courage
to change one's Opinion than to keep it. …….Willy Brandt

CHRISTMAS

You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem,
lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid;
Say to the towns of Judah: "Here is your God! …..Isaiah 40:9
God walked down the stairs of heaven with a Baby in His arms. ……Paul Scherer

There has been only one Christmas;
The rest are anniversaries. …….W.J. Cameron

It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air. ….W. T. Ellis

May your Christmas be as peaceful and as bright as new fallen snow. …..Author Unknown

I will honor Christmas in my heart, and keep it all year. ……Charles Dickens

For the spirit of Christmas fulfils the greatest hunger of mankind. …….Loring A. Schuler

He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree. ……. Roy L. Smith

The message of Christmas is that the visible material world
is bound to the invisible spiritual world. ……Author Unknown

What is Christmas?
It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future.
It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal,
and that every path may lead to peace. …….Agnes M. Pharo

The only blind person at Christmastime is;
he who has not Christmas in his heart. ……Helen Keller

Blessed is the season which engages the whole world,
in a conspiracy of love. …… Hamilton Wright Mabie

Christmas ... is not an eternal event at all,
but a piece of one's home that one carries in one's heart. …….. Freya Stark

Christ was born in the first century, yet he belongs to all centuries.
He was born a Jew, yet He belongs to all races.
He was born in Bethlehem, yet He belongs to all countries. ……..George W. Truett

RESPECT

He who wants a rose must Respect the thorn. ……. Persian Proverb

Respect cannot be learned, purchased or acquired;
It can only be earned. …….Author Unknown

When you are content to be simply yourself, and don’t compare or compete,
Everybody will Respect you. ……Lao Tzu

Respect a man, and he will do all the more. ………John Wooden

Probably no greater honor can come to any man
than the Respect of his colleagues. …….Cary Grant

It is not sufficient to be worthy of Respect,
in order to be Respected. …..Alfred Nobel

Every human being, of whatever origin, of whatever station, deserves Respect.
We must each Respect others even as we Respect ourselves. ……U. Thant

MERCY

Blessed are the Merciful; for they shall obtain Mercy. ……Mathew 5:7

Nothing emboldens sin so much as Mercy. …….William Shakespeare

I have always found that Mercy
bears richer fruits than strict justice. …….Abraham Lincoln

We shall show Mercy, but we shall not ask for it. …….Sir Winston S. Churchill

Mercy require the exertion, never the suppression,
of man's noble rights and powers. …….Gerrit Smith

There are three things in the world that deserve no Mercy,
hypocrisy, fraud, and tyranny. ……..Frederick William Robertson

Underneath the wings of the seraphim are stretched the arms of the divine Mercy;
Ever ready to receive sinners. …….The Talmud

When a man assumes leadership,
he forfeits the right to Mercy. ……..Gennaro Angiulo


How can we pray to God for Mercy
if we ourselves have no Mercy? ……Isaac Bashevis Singer

CONSCIOUSNESS

Consciousness is our only reprieve from Time. ……Mason Cooley

His was a great sin who first invented Consciousness.
Let us lose it for a few hours. ……Author Unknown

There is no life without Consciousness;
There is no Consciousness without life. ……..Annie Besant

The human Consciousness is really homogeneous.
There is no complete forgetting, even in death. …….D. H. Lawrence

The extent of your Consciousness is limited only
by your ability to love and to embrace with
your love, the space around you, and all it contains. ……Napoleon Bonaparte

No problem can be solved from the same level of Consciousness that created it. ………Albert Einstein
An unconscious Consciousness is no more
a contradiction in terms than an unseen case of seeing. ……..Franz Clemens Brentano

The distinguishing characteristics of mind are of a subjective sort;
We know them only from the contents of our own Consciousness. …….. Wilhelm Wundt

JUSTICE

The path of the Just is as the shining light:
that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. ……Proverbs 4:18

Justice renders to every one his due. ……Cicero

Justice delayed, is justice denied. ……William Gladstone*

It is in Justice that the ordering of society is centered. ……Aristotle

Justice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for both …..Eleanor Roosevelt

Justice is the constant and perpetual will to allot to every man his due. …..Domitus Ulpian

Justice is itself the great standing policy of civil society. …….Edmund Burke

It is the spirit and not the form of law that keeps Justice alive. …..Earl Warren

DIGNITY

She is clothed with strength and Dignity;
She can laugh at the days to come. …….Proverbs 31:25

Dignity consists not in possessing honors,
but in the consciousness that we deserve them. …….Aristotle

True Dignity is never gained by place,
and never lost when honors are withdrawn. ……Phillip Massinger

Let not a man guard his Dignity,
but let his dignity guard him. …..Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Dignity of man is an ideal worth fighting for;
-And worth dying for. …….Robert Maynard

Our Dignity is not in what we do,
but what we understand. ………George Santayana

When boasting ends, there Dignity begins. …….Owen D. Young

The only kind of Dignity which is genuine is that which
is not diminished by the indifference of others. ……Dag Hammarskjold

INSTINCT

These are the men who divide you,
who follow mere natural Instincts, and do not have the Spirit. …..Jude 1:19

Instinct is stronger than upbringing. ……Proverb

Man is primarily governed by passion and Instinct. ……Muhammed Iqbal

A good man, through obscurest aspirations,
Has still an Instinct of the one true way. ……Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Instinct is action taken in pursuance of a purpose,
but without conscious perception of what the purpose is. …..Van Hartmann

Follow your Instincts.
That's where true wisdom manifests itself. ……Oprah Winfrey

The very essence of Instinct isthat it is followed,
independently of reason. ..….Charles Darwin

Instinct is untaught ability. ……Alexander Bain

IDEALISM

Man's Ideal state is realized when he has fulfilled the purpose for which he is born. …..Seneca

I am an Idealist; I don't know where I am going but I'm on my way. …..Carl Sandburg

To say that a man is an Idealist is merely to say that he is a man. …..G. K. Chesterton

An Idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage,
concludes that it will also make a better soup. …….H. L. Mencken

Ideas are great arrows, but there has to be a bow.
And politics is the bow of Idealism. ………Bill Moyers

Ideals are like stars; you will not succeed in touching them with your hands,
but like the seafaring man, you choose them as your guides,
and by following them, you will reach your destiny. ……..Carl Shurz

No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant Idealism. …..Sir Winston S. Churchill

DESIRE

Desire is the very essence of man. ……Benedict de Spinoza

Wonder is the Desire for knowledge. …….Saint Thomas Aquinas

A Desire to be observed, considered, esteemed, praised, beloved, and admired
by his fellows, is one of the earliest as well as the keenest dispositions
discovered in the heart of man. ……John Adams

Out of need springs Desire;
and out of desire springs the energy and the will to win. ……Denis Waitley

Desire increases when fulfillment is postponed. …….Pierre Corneille

Man is an animal which, alone among the animals,
refuses to be satisfied by the fulfillment of animal desires. ……Alexander Graham Bell

Desire is the key to motivation;
- that will enable you to attain the success you seek. …….Mario Andretti

The Desire is thy prayers; and if thy desire is without ceasing,
thy prayer will also be without ceasing.
The continuance of your longing is the continuance of your prayer. …..Saint Augustine

HONOR

Honor your father and your mother,
so that you may live long in the land,
the Lord your God is giving you. …..Exodus 20:12

Be Honorable yourself if you wish to associate with honorable people. …..Welsh Proverb

The difference between a Moral man and a Man of Honor
is that the latter regrets a discreditable act;
even when it has worked and he has not been caught. …….H.L. Menken

Be not ashamed of thy virtues;
Honor's a good brooch to wear in a man's hat at all times. ……Ben Johnson

A life spent making mistakes is not only more Honorable,
but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. ………George Bernard Shaw

Honor does not have to be defended. ……Robert J. Sawyer

EVIL

Go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them,
Say to them, 'Why have you repaid good with evil? ……Genesis 44:4

Do as the heavens have done, forget your Evil;With them forgive yourself. …..William Shakespeare

No Evil can happen to a good man, either in life or after death. ……Plato

The function of wisdom is to discriminate between Good and Evil. ……Cicero

The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are Evil,
but because of the people who don't do anything about it. ……Albert Einstein

No man chooses evil because it is Evil;
he only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks. ……Mary Wollstonecraft

The belief in a supernatural source of Evil is not necessary;
Men alone are quite capable of every wickedness. ………Joseph Conrad

Evil when we are in its power is not felt as evil;
but as a necessity, or even a duty. ……Simone Weil

KNOWLEDGE

12/01/08
For in much wisdom is much grief:
and he that increases Knowledge increases sorrow. …….Ecclesiastes 1:18

Knowledge is power. …..Sir Francis Bacon

All men by nature desire Knowledge. ……Aristotle

To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to Knowledge. ……Benjamin Disraeli
It is no good to try to stop knowledge from going forward.
Ignorance is never better than knowledge. …..Enrico Fermi

The beginning of Knowledge,
is the discovery of something we do not understand. …..Frank Herbert

Real Knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance. ……Confucius

Knowledge is, indeed, that which, next to virtue,
truly and essentially raises one man above another. …….Joseph Cotton

Mankind has a great aversion to intellectual labor;
but even supposing Knowledge to be easily attainable,
more people would be content to be ignorant than
would take even a little trouble to acquire it. ……..Samuel Johnson