On self confidence

"Many great ideas have been lost because the people who had them could not stand being laughed at."
Source unknown

Your turn: Do you ever keep things to yourself out of fear of ridicule? What things?

On ordinary greatness

"The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest."
Sir Thomas More

Your turn: An ordinary act that was anything but ordinary. Please discuss.

On attitude

This quote sticks with me, because I've always believed it isn't what happens to you that matters, but how you choose to respond to it. Ms. Knowlton says it so much more eloquently than I ever could:

"I discovered I always have choices and sometimes it's only a choice of attitude."
Judith M. Knowlton

Your turn: How do you keep your attitude properly focused when the world deems otherwise?

On the absence of kindness

This quote resonates with me for a whole lot of reasons. I suspect it may resonate with you, too:

"The end never really justifies the meanness."

E. Duane Hulse

On being alive

"Don't worry about what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs are people who have come alive."
Howard Thurman

QOTD #28 - On supporting our troops

"People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
George Orwell

QOTD #27 - On the power of attitude

You'd swear the Apocalypse is upon our nation now that the election night hangover is beginning to give way to a more sober assessment of what the next four-ish years might look like in Canadastan.

I question all politicians' motives equally - my journalist's DNA, I think - so I don't share the alarmist view. We'd be equally and alternately screwed or advantaged no matter who won, who lost and what political stripes they wore. In the receding shadows of the night before, it is what it is. And as I posted this morning, how we choose to navigate this period is entirely up to us. Looks like a certain playwright from long ago came to a similar conclusion:

"There is no good or bad, only thinking makes it so."
William Shakespeare

QOTD #26 - On darkness and light

This one struck me for a whole lot of reasons, not the least because a week of widespread loss across much of the U.S. ends with that same country just a few days shy of sending a small team of heroes off the face of the planet. Tragedy followed by triumph: It's comforting that life always seems to find a way to prevail. Go Endeavour: you carry so much more than mere cargo.

"I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars."
Og Mandino

(And what of Will and Kate's Excellent Royal Wedding Adventure? Dispense with the royal over-the-top-ness - commemorative his-and-hers tea-stirrers, anyone? - and you have a young couple starting their life together. At the end of the day, that's the only thing that matters. Much happiness to them both.)

QOTD #25 - On the future

"The future arrives too soon and in the wrong order."

Alvin Toffler

QOTD #24 - On motivation and physics

"Nothing changes until something moves."
Albert Einstein

With all this largely unfounded talk about the Large Hadron Collider possibly finding the vaunted God Particle - or, if you're a Big Bang Theorista, the Higgs Boson - I thought a brief perspective from the man who rewrote the study of modern physics might be in order.

He was always my favorite physicist.

QOTD #23 - On adversity

"Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records."
William A. Ward

QOTD #22 - On Leonardo (not the turtle)

"Art is never finished, only abandoned."
Leonardo Da Vinci

Your turn: How do you define "art"?

QOTD #21 - On the miracle of today

"You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. Each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. It's just a matter of paying attention to this miracle."

Paulo Coelho

Your turn: What miracle will cross your path today?

QOTD #20 - On heroes

If everyone was satisfied with himself, there would be no heroes.
Mark Twain

Your turn: Who's your hero? Why?

QOTD #19 - On voters

It's election time here in Canada as we get set to go to the polls on May 2nd. The federal party leaders - most of them, anyway - duked it out last night in the English-language debate. They're going at it again in French tonight, which is notable given that it was originally scheduled for tomorrow night. But after some hockey-loving citizens noticed it conflicted with, gasp, a Montreal Canadiens playoff game, the event was quickly bumped up a night.

Hockey over politics. Makes sense to me. It made this quote seem a little more...real:

"The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter."

Winston Churchill

Your turn: So did Sir Winston get it right? Are voters really too dumb for their own good?

QOTD #18 - On space

Today's one of those memorable days in history, space or otherwise.

50 years ago today, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, as his Vostok 1 capsule orbited the planet once before landing safely. 30 years ago today, John Young and Robert Crippen took Space Shuttle Columbia into orbit. Mission STS-1 marked the first time in history a spacecraft's maiden flight was manned.

It's hard to look back at both of these achievements without considering the courage it took these men to take the step and make the leap. It's hard to look back at both of these achievements and wonder what regular folks like us can learn from them. We may not be astronauts, but I believe we can indeed learn. Lots.

With this in mind, I thought this quote was somewhat appropriate:

"There has never been a statue erected to the memory of someone who let well enough alone."

Julles Ellinger

Your turn: What can we learn from those who choose to never leave well enough alone?

QOTD #17 - On inner beauty

"We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out."
Ray Bradbury

Your turn: A new week beckons us all. In the days to come, how are you going to let the proverbial beautiful stuff out?

QOTD #16 - On crocodiles

"Don't think there are no crocodiles because the water is calm."
Malayan Proverb

Ominous-sounding, isn't it? How do you find, and avoid, the proverbial crocodiles?

QOTD #15 - On laughter

"I have seen what a laugh can do. It can transform almost unbearable tears into something bearable, even hopeful. ”
Bob Hope

I always liked Bob Hope. His humor had a certain gentleness to it that somehow managed to touch me from my earliest years. Now that I'm well removed from those early years, looking at perspectives like these gives me even more insight into why he was special.

Your turn: What makes a person - comedian or otherwise - special?

QOTD #14 - On beginnings and endings

"All endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time."
Mitch Albom

Mr. Albom is one of my favorite writers, a deft observer of humanity whose work never fails to move me. Every time I think about loss, I'm reminded of this quote. It may be hard to see the truth of it when you're floating through the foggy middle of life-chaos, but his words ring true when viewed through the broader perspective of history.

Your turn: How does time teach?