Things I Learned: Self Improvement

Beauty is only skin deep.

Courage is the capacity to confront what can be imagined.

We don't stop having fun when we're old; we're old when we stop having fun.

The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.

Fear is just excitement in need of an attitude adjustment.

If you smile when no one else is around, you really mean it.

Wit consists in knowing the resemblance of things that differ and the difference of things that are alike.

Beyond talent lies all the usual words: discipline, love, luck - but most of all, endurance.

Let a joy keep you. Reach out your hands and take it when it runs by.

Truth is stranger than fiction, but that may well be because we have made fiction to suit ourselves.

It's strange how much you have to know before you realize how little you know. (Applies to computers especially)

The heart has its own reason which reason does not know.

Positive anything is better than negative nothing.

Ideas are funny little things, they don't work unless you do them.

One who has never made a mistake is one who has never done anything.

True wisdom lies in gathering the precious things out of each day as it goes by.

Life is like a piano, what you get out of it depends on how you play it.

Self-pity is self-defeating.

To be somebody you must believe in yourself.

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.

There is no greater evidence of superior intelligence than to be surprised at nothing.

We can be knowledgeable with other peoples knowledge, but we cannot be wise with other people's wisdom.

Read the best books first, or you may not have the chance to read them at all.

If you want to test your memory, try to remember what you were worrying about one year ago today.

Knowledge is gained by learning; trust by doubt; skill by practice; and love by love.

Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.

Work sometimes comes from inspiration, but more often inspiration comes from work.

We would all need introductions if we could see ourselves as others see us.

Life is like film - it will develop only if you take your best shot.

You will never be the person you can be if pressure, tension and discipline are taken out of you life.

People seldom improve when they have no other model but themselves to copy after.

Please grant me patience . . . and I want it right now.

Always do right. This will gratify some people and amaze others.

Happiness is not something you experience, it is something you remember.

The secret to a rich life is to have more beginnings than endings.

Books may well be the only true magic.

A person's true wealth is the good they do in this world.

Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

Responsibility walks hand in had with capacity and power.

Every man carries with him the world in which he must live.

There is no dependence that can be sure but a dependence upon one's self.

Time stays long enough for anyone who will use it.

An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.

The habit of persistence is the habit of victory.

Spoon-feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon.

When in doubt, duck.

Failure is not falling down; it is remaining there when you have fallen.

Nothing is stronger than habit.

You can pretend to be serious; you can't pretend to be witty.

The shortest answer sometimes is to do it.

To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.

The most thoroughly wasted of all days is that in which one has not laughed.

If it weren't for obstacles, I'd never know whether I really wanted something or merely think I do.

If your don't learn from your mistakes, there's no sense making them.

Truth isn't always beauty, but the hunger for it is.

Often the best way to win is to forget to keep score.

The person who hesitates is last.

Problems are only opportunities in work clothes.

Praise, like gold and diamonds, owes its value to its scarcity.

When people cease to reflect, they become idealists.

It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.

Be brave enough to live life with joy.

Taking a moment to take it easy is being a friend to yourself.

You are only what you are when no one is looking.

There is nothing in which people more betray their character than in what they laugh at.

Think big thoughts but relish small pleasures.

The luck of having talent isn't enough; you must also have a talent for luck.

It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end.

A clear conscience us usually the sign of a bad memory.

You are as young as you feel, but seldom as important.

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.

It is better to do good than just talk about it.

Outside show is a poor substitute for inner worth.

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.

Learn from the mistakes of others. You can never live long enough to make them all yourself.

Fear can keep us up all night long, but faith makes one fine pillow.

If you have but one wish, let it be for an idea.

Living in the past has only one thing in its favor - it's cheaper.

When you don't know what you want, you often end up where you don't want to be.

No one is too old to learn, and that may be why so many people put it off.

Start every day off with a smile.

Learn to enjoy the little things - there are so many of them.

You can think better if you close your eyes - and your mouth.

The brain is like a muscle. When it is in use we feel very good.

Lack of willpower has caused more failure than lack of intelligence or ability.

It is right to be content with what we have, never with what we are.

Undertake in something that is difficult; it will do you good.

Work your way up or rust your way out.

Patronage is made up of many who are looking for jobs, but few who are looking for work.

Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important.

There is no security quite as comfortable and undemanding as the kind you feel among old friends

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

He who laughs . . . lasts.

The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night's sleep.

The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for.

"Someday" is not a day of the week.

It is not enough to have a good mind. The main thing is to use it well.

The best bridge between dispair and hope is a good night's sleep.

Invest yourself in everything you do. There's fun in being serious.

Before you can win, you have to believe you are worthy.

Some will say you are going the wrong way when it is merely a way of your own.

The less of routine, the more of life.

Sooner or later every person opens his mouth and puts his foot in, but only a baby is admired for it.

The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it.

Everywhere in life the true question is, not what we have gained, but what we do.

Freedom is the one thing you cannot have unless you are willing to give it to others.

Love is how we feel toward those who show us that which is lovable about ourselves.

Patience is a good quality to have.

All the world's a stage and most of us need more rehearsals.

It's always helpful to learn from your mistakes because then your mistakes seem worthwhile.

The great advantage of telling the truth is that you're so much more likely to sound convincing.

Euthusiasm moves the world.

Worrying doesn't empty tomorrow of it's troubles, it empties today of its strengths.

Power is the ability to do good things for others.

Any day is lovely when we are doing what we love.

Try not to become a person of success but rather a person of value.

Denial of what happens slows down the process of self-discovery.

In plants, as in people, the strongest candidate for survival is often the "volunteer".

Don't be afraid to take big steps. You can't cross a chasm in two small jumps.

Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt & dance like no one's watching.

Have the courage to want the very best for yourself.

Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.

In a conversation, keep in mind that you're more interested in what you have to say than anyone else is.

Whatever you give will find countless ways back to you.

Our life is what our thoughts make it.

If we could see ourselves as other see us, few mirrors would be sold.

Laugh at lot. A good sense of humor cures almost all of life's ills.

Get away form the crowd when you can. Keep yourself to yourself, if only for a few hours daily.

The best gifts are tied with heartstrings.

Carrying a grudge is like a run in a stocking-it can only get worse. Forgiveness is the answer

Footprints on the sands of time are not made by sitting down.