Happiness
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Are you seeking for greatness, O brother of mine,
As the full, fleeting seasons and years glide away?
If seeking directly and for self alone,
The true and abiding you never can stay.
But all self forgetting, know well the law,
It's the hero, and not the self-seeker, who's crowned.
Then go lose your life in the service of others,
And, lo! with rare greatness and glory 'twill abound.
You would not exist if you did not have something to bring to the table of life. ~ Herbie Hancock
So plant your own gardens and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers. ~ Jorge Luis Borges
Who dares nothing, need hope for nothing. ~ Friedrich Schiller
A great man is hard on himself; a small man is hard on others. Confucius
The idea that the harder you work, the better you’re going to be is just garbage. The greatest improvement is made by the man or woman who works most intelligently. ~ Bob Bowerman
It Might Have Been
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
We will be what we could be. Do not say,
"It might have been, had not or that, or this."
No fate can keep us from the chosen way;
He only might who is.
We will do what we could do. Do not dream
Chance leaves a hero, all uncrowned to grieve.
I hold, all men are greatly what they seem;
He does who could achieve.
We will climb where we could climb. Tell me not
Of adverse storms that kept thee from the height.
What eagle ever missed the peak he sought?
He always climbs who might.
I do not like the phrase, "It might have been!"
It lacks all force, and life's best truths perverts:
For I believe we have, and reach, and win,
Whatever our deserts.
