A 92-year old, petite, well poised and proud man – who is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind – moved to a nursing home today. His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.  After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly [...]

I know a man who, if he happens to forget something in the morning and is obliged to run back for it and perhaps is late at his office, will fret and stew, curse and swear, not realizing that he is poisoning his mind, getting himself out of time, and totally unfitting himself for the day’s work. If your mental attitude is right, if you face life in the right way, if the right spirit is in you, [...]

Many people are disappointed because they have so little love in their lives.  I have heard one woman say that she does not believe there is any such thing as real unselfish love.  She has found that what she thought was love in some of her so-called friends was only self-interest, for when she was unfortunate and was not able to pay what she owed them they turned against her. Without knowing it, [...]

An eastern legend tells of a wonderful vase–known as the vase of life–which was full of a mysterious liquid.  No one could tell what this liquid was.  No chemist could analyze it or tell what entered into its composition.  The marvelous thing about it was that whatever one dropped into it would overflow and run down the sides of the vase.  That is, the original liquid would not run [...]

Some of us think the best way to break a bad habit is to taper it off.  Our mistaken idea is not to subject ourselves to the shock and strain of breaking off a habit sharply.  We think we can do better by letting go gradually.  But the real fact is that to taper off means merely to stall around with the habit until we get to going on it strong again.  Tapering off is a poor method.  It usually [...]

Truly there is no more demoralizing thing than the habit of berating one’s self.  How very often we find people who do this.  They seem to derive the very keenest delight in telling how trivial is their worth in comparison to others. This habit of self-depreciation is demoralizing to one’s character, because it has a very tendency to destroy self-confidence, and once one’s self-c0nfidence [...]

We ourselves are the builders of our habits, and therefore we are the creators of ourselves in that sense.  This quotation is frequently given:  “We sow a thought and reap an act, we sow an act and reap a habit, we sow a habit and reap a character, we sow a character and reap a destiny.”  I believe that’s true and I believe that we should always be conscious of that.  Coupled [...]

One big weakness in too many of us is that we do not have our hearts set on some worthy objective.  We have no hope to be deferred.  Tragic is this condition for any life.  Everyone should have his or her heart set on a few really worthy goals.  …  When worthy desires are realized, life takes on new and richer meaning.  The efforts which one puts forth in order to realize his dreams are [...]

When we sincerely like people and try to get their point of view, we create a mental attitude that actually releases from within ourselves “that something” which others sense and to which they naturally respond. …  Sincerely serve people and try to get their point of view. …  People will reflect it in their attitudes towards you. Life is, indeed, a mirror, and this world [...]

The more heated our reactions to a problem or subject the more, I think, we should suspect our motives and judgment.  If we are unable to give a respectful hearing and consideration to the opposite point of view we should begin to doubt the soundness of our position. This does not mean that we should be listless about our beliefs, nor does this imply that we must never feel certain on the rightness [...]