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“We often speak as though a lack of ‘will power’ was the only reason we fail to accomplish our goals. The more important, and often overlooked element, is the ’want power’. Nothing trumps persistence fueled by a very strong desire. As Nietzsche noted: “If a person has a strong enough ‘why’, they can endure almost any ‘how’. If you are failing to obtain your aims in life, perhaps you don’t ‘really’ want them that badly after all. Maybe you think you should want them or that others think you...

Reinforcement can be either good or bad. It all depends on what we are reinforcing. If we are reinforcing good habits which improve our lives, then Hey!, that's great. If on the other hand, we are reinforcing bad habits which are eroding our lives, then Hey!, that's not so great.

“In the real world ‘permanence’ is quite unnatural. Change is what is natural. Therefore, to expect anything or anyone to remain the same is to ignore what nature has to teach us on the subject.”

“To predict the behavior of ordinary people in advance, you only have to assume that they will always try to escape a disagreeable situation with the smallest possible expenditure of intelligence.”

Friedrich Nietzsche

“I do the best I know how, the very best I can, and I mean to keep on doing it to the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me will not amount to anything. If the end brings me out all wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.”

Abraham Lincoln

“One of the things I have made it a habit to do, is to extend a kindness to at least one person every day. This morning I had breakfast at the ‘Golden Arches’. I saw a Hispanic man with his son (perhaps seven) sitting at a table nearby. The father took the son’s hand, and the son said a short prayer of thanksgiving. I approached them and told the father that if there were more fathers like him, the country would be a much better place. I told the son that he was a very lucky young man. Both...

“I find it fascinating how many adults are of the opinion that love is a feeling or emotion. Nothing could be further from the truth. ‘True’ love is a choice based upon our values. Feeling or emotions are fickle at best.”

“I think one of the primary reasons people fail to come up with fresh ideas is because they don’t take the time to sit quietly somewhere, observe their surroundings and then think about what they have observed.”

“Guilt is not without its usefulness, if only we know how to use it. Like all emotions, it is intended to call our attention to something which needs addressing. To wallow in it is worse than useless. Ask yourself: ‘Why am I feeling guilty? Is the feeling justified? What should I do in response?”

“I feel sorry for people who feel pilloried (look it up) to their jobs. I never experienced that. I feel very fortunate. I have managed somehow to drive my own bus and not simply be a passenger.”

“I think we do ourselves and others a great disservice when we refrain from talking to strangers.”

“I would rather feel lonely alone than in the company of others.”

“I was studying a river recently (the Pigeon Forge River in Tennessee to be precise) and realized for the very first time that the beautiful sounds the river was making were the result of obstructions (mostly rocks but occasionally logs) in the river’s flow. Thus, no obstructions, no beautiful music. I then began to wonder if it is possible for you and I to make beautiful music without our own obstructions (problems, setbacks, disappointments and tragedies). Somehow, I don’t think so.”

“Good character is more to be praised than outstanding talent. Most talents are, to some extent, a gift. Good character, by contrast, is not given to us. We have to build it piece by piece – by thought, choice, courage and determination.”

John Luther

“It is difficult if not impossible to satisfactorily demean a person with a well-developed sense of self-deprecation.”

“That so few dare to be eccentric, marks the chief danger of our time.”

J. S. Mill

“He is a man of sense who does not grieve for what he has not but rejoices in what he has.”

Epictetus

“The question: ‘Why is there poverty?’ is not a very good one. Two better questions are: ‘Why are some people affluent?’ and ‘Why are some people still poor while others have managed to escape poverty?’”

“The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Think only on those things in line with your principles and that can bear the light of day. The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you do is who you become. Your integrity is your destiny – it is the light that guides your way.”

Heraclitus

“Pleasure, like many other things is a wonderful slave and a terrible master.”