More "Little Gems" Quotes

"Little Gems" is the title I gave to a pocket journal. I jotted down quotes I liked from all kinds of sources.

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From Dr. King:

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

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Nothing pains some people more than having to think.

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From Abe Lincoln:

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?

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I don't think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.

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The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.

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From Vince Lombardi:

The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.

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The harder you work the harder it is to surrender.

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It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up.

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The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.

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Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.

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In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.

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You cannot shake hands with a clinched fist.

--Golda Meir

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If everyone is thinking alike then somebody isn't thinking.

--George Patton

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From Franklin D. Rosevelt:

Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

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The truth is found when men are free to pursue it.

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The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.

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Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.

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Remember, remember always, that all of us... are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.

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I think there is only one quality worse than hardness of heart and that is softness of head.

by Teddy Roosevelt

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Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't.

--Margaret Thatcher

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We must build a new world, a far better world-- on in which the eternal dignity of man is respected.

--Harry S, Truman

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From Booker T. Washington:

Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way.

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One problem thoroughly mastered is of more value than many poorly mastered.

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There are two ways of exerting one's strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.

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If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led like sheep to the slaughter.

--George Washington

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From John Wooden:

Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.

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Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.

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Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.

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Sports do not build character. They reveal it.

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Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation. Your chacter is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

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If you can imagine it you can achieve it. If you can dream it you can become it. William A. Ward

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The great thing in this world is not so much where we are, but in what direction we are moving.

--Oliver Wendell Holmes

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Success... it is focusing the full power of all you are on what you have a burning desire to achieve.

--Wilfred A. Peterson

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Never give up for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.

--Hariet Beecher Stowe

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No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

--Eleanor Roosevelt

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The fault-finder will find fault even in paradise.

--Thoreau

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Write on your heart that everyday is the best day of the year.

--Emerson

I'd like to share some little meditations from one of my journals

I hope these meditations offer you comfort. I wrote them about 14 years ago. I read them onto an audio tape and listened to them in my car when I needed encouragement and hope.
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I set you free.

The bars will melt away to mist

when yo let go of the beliefs you allow to imprison you.

Let go of them.

They are only as solid and real as you allow them to be.

Anything is possible!

Dip into the well and drink.

Breathe deeply the fresh breeze of freedom

and let it wash through your soul.

Let it blow away the chains and burdens you have carried

as the family hero.

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You are free to look for truth and light wherever you choose.

Treasure the truth and light you find

and discard the false.

Help yourself to the treasures, the joys, the possibilities.

Visualize your dreams becoming reality.

Believe in your right to have everything you want.

You deserve to live out your dreams.

You are precious.

Your needs are important.

You have the right to look for ways to meet your needs.

"No one has the right to abuse you.

Christ invites us out of abusive relationships

into the fullness of life."*

*(from Stan Thornburg, my pastor's sermon.)

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**Set limits for verbal abusers.

Learn to say things like "I don't allow people to talk to me that way."

"I care about you and this relationship,

but I won't take this. You'll have to stop or I'll have to leave."

"This feels abusive; I'm going to end this conversation now."

"Lower your voice. If you can't talk to me decently, I won't talk to you at all."

Yes, it is scary.

Standing up to your abuser will require a strong sense of self esteem

and a clear understanding of personal boundaries.

Remember: doing nothing tells the other person you'll take whatever they give you and not stand up for yourself.

You earn respect by showing that you value yourself.

You deserve to be treated well.**

**(My apologies if any of the above words were taken from one of the many self help books I read.

There is no intention to take credit here for someone else's words.

I did not note any source in this journal.)

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Use things and love people.

At the end of your life you will treasure the relationships

not the accumulation of possessions.

Do not trade people for things.

Your true wealth lies in who you love and who loves you.

The rest is minor--dust in the wind.

Never take your eyes off of the really important things in life:

being loved and loving,

being good and doing good,

learning and growing,

teaching and mentoring,

giving and receiving,

enjoying the moment and keeping things in perspective,

nurturing and healing others,

being able to accept nurturing and healing from others,

celebrating and grieving.

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You are a free being

Others are free beings.

Never possess people

nor allow them to possess you.

No one owns anyone else.

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Allow yourself the time to heal.

There is no hurry.

Forgive yourself

for your weakness and your lack of trust in God,

yourself and others.

Sometimes, the pain will be so great we can not see the benefit of working on our healing.

Trust the process.

This too shall pass.

You will rise

like a phoenix after being destroyed by the fire--

reborn into a new life.

Endure.

Let go.

Feel you feelings.

Let your pain and dispair wash over you and go on.

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Accept that there are mysteries.

There are questions you will never know the answers to.

You can ask any question you want to.

There are no stupid questions.

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Value your feelings.

Trust your inner voice when you discern that it speaks your truth

and not just old tapes that are attempting to imprison you.

***Remember always that underneath all the coping mechanisms

and drowned out by all the noise of the chatterbox is your magical child

waiting to show you the journey as dance.

She dances the dance of her life uninhibited,

spontaneously,

full of life and wonder,

creativity and adventure!

She is happy to be dancing right here in this moment--having

no grasp on the past or the future to weary her.

She breathes in joy and breathes out love.***

***I believe these words are mine but my apologies

if I took them from one of the books I was reading back then.

I did not note any source in this journal.

It is not my intention to take credit for someone else's words.

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I'll continue tomorrow.