Winning

"If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score?" - Vince Lombardi

Rediscover

"A man's work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened." - Albert Camus

Friend, Simply Friend

"The most I can do for my friend is simply be his friend." - Henry David Thoreau

Potlatch

"Hence, the practice of giving gifts, for the acceptance of a gift by a guest was tacit recognition of the new status announced by the host or his spokesman. A potlatch was also an occasion for young people to socialize and an enjoyable opportunity for relatives and friends from different villages to see each other." - Alvin M. Josephy, Jr.,editor, America in 1492:The World of the Indian Peoples Before the Arrival of Columbus.

Success from Failures

"Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success." - Dale Carnegie

Good is Good

"I don't want to be interesting. I want to be good." - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Dreams

"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours." - Henry David Thoreau

Thinking Alike

"If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking." - George S. Patton

Bad Frosty

"Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,
A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;
Blinks but an hour or two; and then,
A blood-red orange, sets again.

Before the stars have left the skies,
At morning in the dark I rise;
And shivering in my nakedness,
By the cold candle, bathe and dress.

Close by the jolly fire I sit
To warm my frozen bones a bit;
Or with a reindeer-sled, explore
The colder countries round the door.

When to go out, my nurse doth wrap
Me in my comforter and cap;
The cold wind burns my face, and blows
Its frosty pepper up my nose.

Black are my steps on silver sod;
Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;
And tree and house, and hill and lake,
Are frosted like a wedding-cake."

- Robert Louis Stevenson

Faith

"Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe." - Saint Augustine

Art is Truth

"The basis of art is truth, both in matter and in mode." - Flannery O'Connor

Winter Again

"Winter again and we want
the same nocturnal rocking,
watching cedar spit
and sketch its leafy flames,
and greasy harvest stew.
Outside frosted windows -
claw marks high on yellow pine"

- Sandra Alcosser, Except by Nature

Life Depends

"Water, soil, and the earth's green mantel of plants make up the world that supports the animal life of the earth. Although modern man seldom remembers the fact, he could not exist without the plants that harness the sun's energy and manufacture the basic foodstuffs he depends upon for life." - Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

Exits and Entrances

"All the world is a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and entrances;
Each man in his time plays many parts."

- William Shakespeare

My Valentine

"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death."

Sonnet 43 - Elizabeth Barrett Brown ( 1806-1861)

Today

"Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today." - Abraham Lincoln

Mistakes are Lessons

"When you make a mistake, don't look back at it long. Take the reason of the thing into your mind and then look forward. Mistakes are lessons of wisdom. The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power." - Hugh White (1773 - 1840)

Wrinkles

"Wrinkles should merely indicate where the smiles have been." - Mark Twain

Live Well

"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well." - Virginia Woolf

Stand Firm

"Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm." - Abraham Lincoln

Inspiration

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." - Jack London

Character

"When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends." - Japanese Proverb

Winning When Losing

"There is no downside to winning. It feels fabulous forever. But there is no teacher more discriminating or transforming than loss. The great secret of athletics is that you learn more from losing than winning." - Pat Conroy, My Losing Season

To Construct

"construct
1. to build or form by putting together parts; frame; devise.
2. Geometry. to draw (a figure) fulfilling certain given conditions.
3. something constructed.
4. an image, idea, or theory, esp. a complex one formed from a number of simpler elements." - Random House Dictionary

Play Funny

"God writes a lot of comedy... the trouble is, he's stuck with so many bad actors who don't know how to play funny." - Garrison Keillor

Make Every Day Count

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." - Abraham Lincoln

Creativity and Inspiration

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift." - Albert Einstein