Leaving a Legacy by Tyrone Hayes

"Growing up, my parents always said, "You will leave this world the same way you came into it; with nothing." It made me realize that the only things we do in this world that count are those things that make the world a better place for those who will come behind us."

Mahatma Gandi

A news report once asked Mahatma Gandhi, "What do you think of western democracy?" Gandhi replied,"I believe it's a very good idea."

Listening

I always tell my students, "You were born with two ears and one mouth for a reason. You should listen twice as much as you talk."

Thomas Merton from New Seeds of Contemplation

“The more a tree is like itself, the more it is like Him. If it tried to be like something else, which it was never intended to be, it would be less like God and therefore it would give Him less glory. This particular tree will give glory to God by spreading out its roots in the earth and raising its branches into the air in the light in a way that no other tree before or after it ever did or will do. For me to be a saint means to be myself. Therefore the problem of sanctity and salvation is in fact the problem of finding out who I am and of discovering my true self. Trees have no problem. God makes them what they are without consulting them and they are perfectly satisfied. With us it is different. God leaves us free to be whatever we like. We can be ourselves or not, as we please. We are at liberty to be real, or to be unreal. We may be true or false, the choice is ours. We may wear one mask and then another, and never, if we so desire, appear with our own face. If we have chosen the way of falsity we must not be surprised that true eludes us when we finally come to need it! The secret of my full identity is hidden in Him. He alone can make me who I am, or rather who I will be when at last I fully begin to be. But unless I desire this identity and work to find it with Him and in Him, the work will never be done. The way of doing it is in secret I can learn from no one else but Him. There is no way of attaining to the secret without faith. Therefore there is only one problem on which all my existence, my peace and happiness depends; to discover myself in discovering God. If I find Him I will find myself and if I find my true self I will find Him.”

Life is very Short by Bill Bryson

"The bad news is that atoms are fickle and their time of devotion is fleeting. Even a long human life adds up to only about 650,000 hours. And when that modest milestone flashes past, or at some other point thereabouts, for reasons unknown your atoms will shut you down, silently disassemble, and go off to be other things. And that's it for you."

Quality in Education By Willa A. Foster

"Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intension, sincere effort, intelligent direction, and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives."

Arete

"Arete (Greek: ἀρετή, pronounced in English [ˈærəteɪ] or "ar-uh-tay") in its basic sense means "goodness" or "excellence" of any kind. In its earliest appearance in Greek this notion of excellence was bound up with the notion of the fulfillment of purpose or function; the act of living up to one's full potential. It is essentially being and doing one's absolute best - becoming the best person one can be. The moral excellence or arete of a person or thing was then ηθικη, αρετη or virtue. Alexander the Great was said to exemplify arete in his steadfast pursuit of excellence[citation needed].
"The root of the word is the same as 'aristos', the word which shows superlative ability and superiority, and 'aristos' was constantly used in the plural to denote the nobility." [1] (see Aristocracy) The Ancient Greeks applied the term to anything: for example, the excellence of a chimney, the excellence of a bull to be bred, and the excellence of a man. The meaning of the word changes depending on what it describes, since everything has its own particular excellence; the arete of a man is different from the arete of a horse. This way of thinking first comes from Plato, and can be seen in Plato's Allegory of the Cave. This can be read at the following link.[2].
By the fourth and fifth centuries B.C.E., arete as applied to men had developed to include quieter virtues, such as dikaiosyne (justice) and sophrosyne (self-restraint). Plato attempted to produce a moral philosophy that incorporated this new usage (and in doing so developed ideas that played a central part in later Christian thought), but it was in the work of Aristotle that the doctrine of arete found its fullest flowering. Arisotle's "Doctrine of the Mean" (not to be confused with Confucious's Doctrine of the Mean) and "The Four Causes" are good examples of Aristotle's thinking." From Wikipedia

Freakonomics and hard work

Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dunbar

I found this to be very interesting!

"We’ve written before on what is generally called “talent,” which most people seem to define as some sort of innate skill that, if properly trained, can result in excellence. But in our article, which relied heavily on the research of Anders Ericsson, we presented a slightly different definition of talent. Here’s one key paragraph:

“I think the most general claim here,” Ericsson says of his work, “is that a lot of people believe there are some inherent limits they were born with. But there is surprisingly little hard evidence that anyone could attain any kind of exceptional performance without spending a lot of time perfecting it.” This is not to say that all people have equal potential. Michael Jordan, even if he hadn’t spent countless hours in the gym, would still have been a better basketball player than most of us. But without those hours in the gym, he would never have become the player he was.

The main idea of our column is that “talent” is overrated; that practice really does make perfect; and that it’s a good idea to do what you truly love in life, because if you don’t, you probably won’t work hard enough at it to get really good."

Dan Gable (one of my heros)

"Most men stop when they begin to tire. Good men go until they think they are going to collapse. BUT, the VERY BEST know the mind tires before the body and push themselves further and further beyond all limits. Only when all these limits are shattered can the unattainable be reached."

Eleanor Roosevelt's Poem

Footprints In Your Heart

Many people will walk in and out of your life,
But only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.

To handle yourself, use your head;
To handle others, use your heart.

Anger is only one letter short of danger.

If someone betrays you once, it is his fault;
If he betrays you twice, it is your fault.

Great minds discuss ideas,
Average minds discuss events,
Small minds discuss people.

He who loses money, loses much;
He who loses a friend, loses much more;
He who loses faith, loses all.

Beautiful young people are accidents of nature,
But beautiful old people are works of art.

Learn from the mistakes of others.
You can't live long enough to make them all yourself.

Friends, you and me.
You brought another friend,
And then there were three.

We started our group,
Our circle of friends,
And like that circle -
There is no beginning or end.

Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is mystery.
Today is a gift.

That's why it's called the present.*

Eleanor Roosevelt

The Beatitudes

Matthew Chapter 5

Christ's sermon upon the mount. The eight beatitudes.

5:3. Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Beati pauperes spiritu quoniam ipsorum est regnum caelorum
The poor in spirit... That is, the humble; and they whose spirit is not set upon riches.

5:4. Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the land.
Beati mites quoniam ipsi possidebunt terram

5:5. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Beati qui lugent quoniam ipsi consolabuntur

5:6. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.
Beati qui esuriunt et sitiunt iustitiam quoniam ipsi saturabuntur

5:7. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Beati misericordes quia ipsi misericordiam consequentur

5:8. Blessed are the clean of heart: they shall see God.
Beati mundo corde quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt

5:9. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Beati pacifici quoniam filii Dei vocabuntur

5:10. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Beati qui persecutionem patiuntur propter iustitiam quoniam ipsorum est regnum caelorum

5:11. Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake:
Beati estis cum maledixerint vobis et persecuti vos fuerint et dixerint omne malum adversum vos mentientes propter me

What is success?

Poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson (This is from memory. It's not complete)

To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better;
To know that ONE life has breathed easier because YOU have lived;
THIS IS TO HAVE SUCCEEDED!

My advice to YOU (more favorite quotations)

The most important exercise we will ever do is reaching down and lifting someone up.

Eliminate all ANGER in your life. Anger management is something we all must continually work to eliminate. The major cause of all personal relationships that fail is the inability to manage anger. Never choose a relationship with a person with an anger management problem.

The man who gives his best EFFORT is sure of success, while the man who gives less than his best is always a failure.

Nothing worthwhile can be achieved in a short time period; It takes TIME and EFFORT to produce anything of quality and value.

Success seems to be a matter of hanging on after others have let go.

Togetherness is critical; we can live together as a family and win, or live separately as fools and lose. Where there is unity there is great power and strength. You can’t be successful if you stand-alone.

Nothing is as good or as bad as it seems, in reality everything is somewhere in between good and bad.

The first law of living is giving unselfishly, abundantly and with no strings attached.

The more we reach out to others, the stronger and richer, in every sense of the words, our lives become.

When you find something you absolutely love doing, something you could do all day and have more energy when you finished than when you started…you will discover what you were meant to do.

Don’t worry about anything, it never helps you, but it will harm you greatly.

As I see it, the last thing you want to do is very often the first thing you need to do.

It’s your responsibility to get the best education possible. It’s not the school or the teachers. You can control your own education and learning rate.

Some words of wisdom (some favorite quotations)

You achieve in life what you EMPHASIZE, nothing more and nothing less.

We must improve spiritually, mentally and physically to become whole. Life is trinitarian. One legged or two legged chairs will not stand.

Attitude, effort perseverance and togetherness, these are the four essential characteristics needed for success. This is the very foundation in which everything is built upon.

Always preach the Gospel and sometimes use words.

Prayer is essential, not optional.

The meaning of life is to live a meaningful life.

Nothing can stop a man with the right mental attitude, and nothing can help a man with the wrong attitude. Attitude is everything!

Look at the positive “sunny side” of everything you encounter. See the bright side, not the dark side.

Have a cheerful spirit and give every living creature you meet a big smile. Be positive, happy and strong for everyone that comes into contact with you.

Promise yourself right now that you will be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. You must be so strong that nothing will ever disturb you. Only weak people are disturbed. Be strong, be very strong! Be too happy to permit the presence of any disturbances in your life.