Great Throughts Treasury

This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.

Noah benShea

Canadian-born American Bakery Executive, Author, Poet-Philosopher, Public Speaker, Political and Corporate Adviser and Lecturer

"A man who is alone with himself is not without company."

"Life is not always wonderful, but it is an experience filled with wonder."

"A giant... is anybody who remembers we are all sitting on someone else's shoulders."

"A friend is someone who allows you distance, but is never far away."

"Most of us wear masks not so we won't be seen but so we won't be recognized."

"Strength is not the absence of weaknesses but how we wrestle with our weaknesses."

"It is wiser to be kind than to be wise."

"A relationship is not a way for us to exhibit our strengths but to find our balance."

"Our path in life is often not our decision abut how we decide to live with decisions we have already made."

"We usually fall asleep in our relationships... not because we are tired of love but so we can dream of new relationships. Life, however, is a work in progress, and love's challenge is not to see people as they once were but as they might be. People who grow old can also grow love."

"Strength of character is not measured by who we support but by knowing we all lean on one another."

"We are nothing... and we become something more only by knowing this."

"All work is holy."

"Every life is an impression... We are God's fingerprints."

"Fear makes us not only less than we might be but less than we think we are. Faith reminds us we should doubt our fears."

"Is it wise to love without reason? The world... was not created as an act of reason but as an act of love. And the reason for love is not reason."

"The shortest distance between two points is knowing that we spend most of our lives going in circles."

"The way to discuss what is the value in life is by taking the time to treasure the moments."

"There is only work and love in life, thought Jacob. If we are fortunate, we love our work. If we are wise, we are willing to work at love."

"Vision... is seeing where we are not looking."

"Though our mind knows a path, our heart is the way. If you miss me, then draw near to me by loving God... by loving those around you."

"Wisdom arrives when we are willing to journey to our ignorance."

"When we treat time as a limit... then time becomes a wall, a barrier we will die climbing. If we see our days as a river, Jacob motioned to the waters in front of them, then we know time as a vehicle and realize we have all be born as passengers."

"The world can be seen in a single blade of grass... but you must take the time to look."

"Wisdom surrounds us. It is seldom hidden but often overlooked. When we shut our eyes, the truth does not go into hiding. Every time a door is shut, somewhere another door opened."

"My heart knows what my mind only think it knows."

"A miracle is often the willingness to see the common in an uncommon way."

"Wisdom does not make me full. It fills me with hunger."

"I don't pray because it makes sense to pray. I pray because my life doesn't make sense without prayer."

"The fears we cannot climb become our walls."

"Either the key to a man's wallet is in his heart, or the key to a man's heart is in his wallet. So, unless you express your charity, you are locked inside your greed."

"Prayer is a path where there is none."

"An eternity is any moment opened with patience."

"Being broke is not the same as being broken, losing money is not the same as being lost, and finding your balance is not something you can do on a balance sheet."

"Having Less Doesn’t Mean You Are Less. Don’t confuse having less with being less, having more with being more, or what you have with who you are."

"Savor Life and Slow Down. When you’re in a hurry, go slowly. The faster you go in life the sooner it is a blur."

"Prayer creates a path where there is none and turns your stumbling blocks into building blocks."

"Put your faith, and not your fears, in charge. Courage isn’t the absence of fears but how you wrestle with them."

"Change Is the Only Constant. This too shall pass. Change is the only constant. In order to take a breath, you must release your breath."

"Make a Difference. Do what you can, but never forget that letting go is very different from giving up. Of all the things you can make in life, remember you make all the difference in your life."

"Tough times don’t require you to be tough on yourself. Find the courage to embrace happiness."

"Do not kiss your children so they will kiss you back but so they will kiss their children, and their children’s children."

"Sometimes we grow so comfortable with our blindness the thought of seeing scares us."

"Too many of us can’t decide if want to be free or free from deciding."

"Too many of us care more about being right than doing right. "

"Too often what’s free we feel free to disregard. "

"We receive much when we pause to say thanks for what we already have."

"Life is a gift. Prayer is a thank you note. "

"Anger locks us in our own house and then burns down the house."

"Few are as empty as those filled with themselves."