Marlene Dietrich: It's the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter

It's the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter.
- Marlene Dietrich

When you can call them at 4 AM they have become family - real family - perhaps even more real family than your blood relatives. Honor them, and give thanks for them.

Buddha: What we think, we become. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.

What we think, we become. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.
- the Buddha

INTENT - the Buddha is describing what we call Intent or Intention. We hold the power to make things happen through our intent - to the extent that we use our intention with compassion and without ego.

Dalai Lama: The purpose of our lives is to be happy

The purpose of our lives is to be happy.
- Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

Choosing to live a happy life is not only our greatest gift to ourselves, it is also the greatest gift we can give to those around us. When we are happy, we radiate happiness, and that is infectious. Consider giving the gift of happiness to yourself as being your gift to all humanity.

Osho: The moment you start seeing life as non-serious, a playfulness, all the burden on your heart disappears

The moment you start seeing life as non-serious, a playfulness, all the burden on your heart disappears. All the fear of death, of life, of love - everything disappears.
- Osho

Corporate financiers die just as dead as bag ladies, and sometimes they have twice the worries and half the fun. Life is a game - a game you can never win. You already know the final score: Life 1, You 0. When the game ends, you will be dead.

The great news is that the game can be wonderful fun while it lasts as long as you remember that it is a game and keep it light and playful. Tease life, taunt life, never attack life head-on.

Lao Tzu: He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened.

He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened.
- Lao Tzu

It's a cozy little luncheon with the girls, or a "no holds barred" time with the guys. Everyone tells their story and complains a little. "My marriage is getting worse," "My boss doesn't appreciate me," "I don't know what to do next." Amazingly, everyone at that table knows just how to fix everyone's problems - except their own. Why?

We are so close to our own issues that we see impossibility in each proposed solution. I couldn't just leave my abusive spouse, I need the money and the house, I couldn't survive on my own. Really? We can tell a friend how to leave an unworkable job, marriage, or friendship, and a moment later recoil in horror when a similar suggestion is offered for our dilemma.

Take a deep breath. Step back from the situation to gain a clear perspective. Be courageous and bold. Consider carefully what advice you would give to a good friend who was in the same circumstances that trouble you, and then accept that advice and put it into action - today.

John Lennon: Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
- John Lennon

Stop wishing and fearing the future long enough to be fully present in TODAY. Some great things are happening today that bear no resemblance to what you planned.

Buddha: You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger

You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger.
- the Buddha

Feel angry and the quality of living shrivels and dies. An angry person has all the juice and joy of last year's prune.

Read my articles on dealing with anger:

Stop Anger Before It Stops You - 7 Secrets

Regrets, Resentments and the Path to Forgiveness - Stop Anger & Live Happy With Conscious Awareness

Less Stress - More Joy - Making Healthy Choices

You can't make life "fair"

Lao Tzu: Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
- Lao Tzu

Hurrying - urgency - robs life of its quality. Patience is more than a virtue, patience is a joyful way of living. Don't accomplish less, but focus on the most important things, and proceed at a natural comfortable pace. The soft water of the river cuts through the hardest rock - in its own time.

Bono Quotes - the Wisdom of Bono

Bono (Paul David Hewson): (1960-):

Distance does not decide who is your brother and who is not.

We thought that we had the answers, it was the questions we had wrong.

Religion often gets in the way of God.

Objectivity is the cure for depression.

Inspire people to do things for themselves. Inspire people to think for themselves.

To carry each other is not a burden at all but a kind of privilege.

I come from Ireland and I've seen the damage of religious warfare. I am a believer. I don't wear the badge on the outside but it is on the inside.

I am still amazed at how big, how enormous a love and mystery God is -- and how small are the minds that attempt to corral this life force into rules and taboos, cults and sects.

There are righteous people working in a whole rainbow of belief systems--from Hasidic Jews to right-wing Bible Belters to charismatic Catholics.

I'm actually starting to like more and more people who have convictions that are unpopular.

God's Spirit moves through us and the world at a pace that can never be constricted by any one religious paradigm. I love that.

Winston Churchill quote: You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.
- Winston Churchill

Mother Teresa: If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.
- Mother Teresa

Thich Nhat Hanh : Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.
- Thich Nhat Hanh

Mahatma Gandhi: Nobody can hurt me without my permission

Nobody can hurt me without my permission.
- Mahatma Gandhi

Leonardo da Vinci: Where there is shouting, there is no true knowledge

Where there is shouting, there is no true knowledge.
- Leonardo da Vinci

Thoughtful people seldom share exactly the same opinion - the same point-of-view. The wise ones understand that they know nothing - for virtually none of our experience is truly factual - and they graciously honor all other opinions.

Arguing is merely defending one's opinion by labeling it, "Fact" or "The Truth."

Leo Tolstoy: If you want to be happy, be

If you want to be happy, be.
- Leo Tolstoy

Happiness is a choice - independent of circumstances.

Friedrich Nietzsche: There are no facts, only interpretations

There are no facts, only interpretations.
- Friedrich Nietzsche

What we see depends more on ourselves than on what is "out there." We see what we assume (believe) will be there. We see what we expect (demand) to be there. We see what we fear will be there. And we see what we wish will be there. Then we label what we "see" as facts.

Wherever there are disagreements and confrontations, there are at least two perfectly valid interpretations that are vehemently labeled as "fact." Everyone considers "I'm right, you're wrong," to be a fact - the only difference is to whom "I" and "you" refer.

Aristotle: Happiness depends upon ourselves

Happiness depends upon ourselves
- Aristotle

If you don't take full responsibility for your own happiness, who do you suppose will? Your happiness is a one person job - it begins and ends with you.

Consider the people in your life: which of them brighten your days? Chances are that the people that you most enjoy are the people who have made their own choice to be happy in the face of their circumstances.

Beyond being the greatest gift that you can give yourself, your choice to be happy is a magnificent present to your family, friends, and everyone you meet.

Rabindranath Tagore: Trees are the earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven.

Trees are the earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore: Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.

Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore: Those who own much have much to fear.

Those who own much have much to fear.
- Rabindranath Tagore

The danger in wealth is not the wealth itself, but the attachment to that wealth.