Great Throughts Treasury

"You may not get what you paid for, but you will pay for what you get."

"To live is not just to survive, but to thrive with passion, compassion, some humor and style."

"People whose history and future were threatened each day by extinction considered that it was only by divine intervention that they were able to live at all. I find it interesting that the meanest life, the poorest existence, is attributed to God’s will, but as human beings become more affluent, as their living standard and style begin to ascend the material scale, God descends the scale of responsibility at a commensurate speed."

"Each of us has a responsibility for being alive: one responsibility to creation, of which we are a part, another to the creator - a debt we repay by trying to extend our areas of comprehension."

"Alone, all alone Nobody, but nobody Can make it out here alone"

"To be human is to be challenged to be more divine. Not even to try to meet such a challenge is the biggest defeat imaginable."

"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song."

"Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it."

"If I am not good to myself, how can I expect anyone else to be good to me?"

"Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without it we can't practice any other virtue with consistency."

"Nothing will work unless you do."

"If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded."

"One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest."

"The honorary duty of a human being is to love."

"The most called-upon prerequisite of a friend is an accessible ear."

"The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination, as are intelligence and necessity when unblunted by formal education."

"There's nothing more tragic than a young cynic because then the person has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing."

"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have."

"You don’t have to think about doing the right thing. If you’re for the right thing, then you do it without thinking."

"There's a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure truth."

"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain."

"The first time someone shows you who they are, believe them."

"I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life. I've learned that making a "living" is not the same thing as making a "life." I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back. I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one. I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I've learned that I still have a lot to learn. I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

"I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way (s)he handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights."

"I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it."

"Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it."

"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty."

"Be a rainbow in someone else's cloud."

"The needs of society determine its ethics."

"You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off of you."

"When you know better you do better."

"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style."

"I do not trust people who don't love themselves and yet tell me, 'I love you.' There is an African saying which is: Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt."

"Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him."

"Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances."

"You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!"

"Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option."

"Life is pure adventure, and the sooner we realize that, the quicker we will be able to treat life as art."

"Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope."

"When you learn, teach, when you get, give."

"Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time."

"Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean."

"You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it. "

"The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise."

"Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between."

"We need much less than we think we need."

"Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet."