David Steindl-Rast: Want to be happy? Be grateful

Inspirational Quotes and Inspiring Quotes

A life without purpose is a languid, drifting thing; Every day we ought to review our purpose, saying to ourselves: This day let me make a sound beginning, for what we have hitherto done is naught!
-- Thomas A. Kempis

A man's character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation.
-- Mark Twain

Aerodynamically the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn't know that so it goes on flying anyway.
-- Mary Kay Ash

All misfortune is but a stepping stone to fortune.
-- Henry David Thoreau

Anyone can sympathize with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathize with a friend's success.
-- Oscar Wilde

As long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you otherwise might.
- Marian Anderson

Beauty, truth, friendship, love, creation – these are the great values of life. We can't prove them, or explain them, yet they are the most stable things in our lives.
-- Jesse Herman Holmes

Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones.
-- Phillips Brooks

Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.
-- Mary Kay Ash

Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born.
-- Dr. Dale Turner

Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her: but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game.
-- Voltaire

Enthusiasm is the best protection in any situation. Wholeheartedness is contagious. Give yourself, if you wish to get others.
-- David Seabury

Everyone who has ever taken a shower has had an idea. It's the person who gets out of the shower, dries off, and does something about it that makes a difference.
-- Nolan Bushnell

Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see the beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they lead.
-- Louisa May Alcott

Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
-- Will Rogers

Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling.
-- Margaret B. Runbeck

Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.
-- Leon J. Suenes

I can honestly say that I was never affected by the question of the success of an undertaking. If I felt it was the right thing to do, I was for it regardless of the possible outcome.
-- Golda Meir

I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.
-- Agatha Christie

I think the key is for women not to set any limits.
-- Martina Navratilova

I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning to sail my ship.
-- Louisa May Alcott

I've learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances.
-- Martha Washington

If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it.
-- Margaret Fuller

If you have made mistakes...there is always another chance for you...you may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call "failure" is not the falling down, but the staying down.
-- Mary Pickford

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears.
-- Glenn Clark


If your ship doesn't come in, swim out to it.
-- Jonathan Winters

In every person who comes near you look for what is good and strong; honor that; try to imitate it, and your faults will drop off like dead leaves when their time comes.
-- John Ruskin


Instruction does not prevent wasted time or mistakes; and mistakes themselves are often the best teachers of all.
-- James Anthony Froude


It is more important to know where you are going than to get there quickly.
- Mabel Newcomber

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.
-- Seneca

It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, "Always do what you are afraid to do.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.
-- George Bernard Shaw

Live your life each day as you would climb a mountain. An occasional glance towards the summit keeps the goal in mind, but many beautiful scenes are to be observed from each new vantage point.
-- Harold B. Melchart


Many of our fears are tissue paper thin, and a single courageous step would carry us clear through them.
- Brendan Francis

No pleasure philosophy, no sensuality, no place nor power, no material success can for a moment give such inner satisfaction as the sense of living for good purposes, for maintenance of integrity, for the preservation of self-approval.
-- Minot Simons


Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose -- a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.
-- Mary Shelley

Nothing is predestined: The obstacles of your past can become the gateways that lead to new beginnings.
-- Ralph Blum


Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.
-- Oscar Wilde

Perseverance is failing nineteen times and succeeding the twentieth.
-- Julie Andrews

Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody.
-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many—not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.
-- Charles Dickens

Success is the good fortune that comes from aspiration, desperation, perspiration and inspiration.
-- Evan Esar

The abundant life does not come to those who have had a lot of obstacles removed from their path by others. It develops from within and is rooted in strong mental and moral fiber.
-- William Mather Lewis

The beauty of the soul shines out when a man bears with composure one heavy mischance after another, not because he does not feel them, but because he is a man of high and heroic temper.
-- Aristotle

The best portion of a good man's life is the little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.
-- William Wordsworth

The best way to prepare for life is to begin to live.
-- Elbert Hubbard

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.
- Mark Twain

The three great essentials to achieving anything worthwhile are; first, hard work, second, stick-to-it-iveness, and third, common sense.
-- Thomas Edison


We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson


You don't get to choose how you're going to die, or when. You can only decide how you're going to live now.
-- Joan Baez

You must learn day by day, year by year, to broaden your horizon. The more things you love, the more you are interested in, the more you enjoy, the more you are indignant about, the more you have left when anything happens.
-- Ethel Barrymore

The Making of a Memory by Kathleene S. Baker

One can't predict when or where they will come from, those memories that stay with us a lifetime and never fail to bring us warm, fuzzy feelings.
My husband had just finished loading his car. He made one final lap back through the house and then bounded into the kitchen. "All I have left to do is fill my thermos and I'm off." Down the drain went the hot water that had been warming his thermos. With a nostalgic look on his face he spoke softly, "When I filled this earlier, I thought of your mom."
"Honey, that's sweet. And, I bet she's watching right now with a big smile." Tears brimmed my eyelids.
"You know, I never fill my thermos that I don't think of her, and I always smile, too." Melancholy resonated in his voice, for Mother's recent death was still a fresh wound for both of us.
Year ago we had traveled to spend several days with my parents. The morning we were packing to head home, Mother glanced into the kitchen as Jerry was about to fill his thermos. Never one to interfere, she nonchalantly offered up a tidbit of advice, "Jerry, if you would fill that with hot water and let it sit a while, your coffee would stay hot longer on your drive."
The look on his face was priceless as her simple suggestion sunk in. Well of course it would! It only makes all the sense in the world! Who wouldn't know that? He ran the tap until it was piping hot and filled his thermos to the brim. Anxious to discuss this unique new idea, Jerry poured a fresh cup of coffee and sat down to enjoy a few more minutes with Mom.
Words of wisdom from a loving Mother-in-law made an impact that will never be forgotten. When spoken that morning, Jerry didn't realize her words would forever ring in his ears, or that they would bring a smile to his face time and time again. Moreover, Mother would never have dreamt that her words would become a treasured and everlasting memory in the heart of her son-in-law.
The "fondest, lasting memories" don't necessarily come from "major moments" in life... the making of a memory simply happens...

What My Father Left Behind

At 13 years of age, my parents and I visited an ophthalmologist. As I sat in the examining chair, my face firmly on the chin rest and pupils dilated, the doctor looked into my eyes, shining a bright light.
"She did inherit it," he said with coldness. "You need to be prepared. There is no cure for this retinal disease."
My father carried the Retinitis Pigmentosa gene causing a deterioration of the retina which, in most cases, results in blindness. Although my brother's retinas seemed to be fine, I'd inherited the gene.
Fifteen years after my initial diagnosis, my father began to lose his eyesight and so did I. He was 55 years old, but I was only 28. In a matter of two years, we had both lost our sight completely.
I focused on the effects of my own darkness. My world crumbled as the black curtain fell, destroying the dreams my husband and I had for us and for our three little boys. But when I turned to God for hope and strength, He responded by opening my eyes to a new revelation.
My father had given me not just the RP gene, but the example of determination and tenacity as well. We were all living in Bolivia in 1964 when he defied the family's opposition to move to America. He and Mom worked tirelessly to satisfy the requirements imposed by the U.S. Immigration Department to enter the country and establish residency.
Once in the states, he overcame humiliation, intense loneliness, helplessness and uncertainty. He endured ridicule due to his lack of fluency in English, but he pressed on. And he managed to gather enough money for the basics - rent a small apartment, buy modest furniture from thrift stores and put a down payment on a car. Nine months later, he sent airline tickets for my mom, my brother and me.
Decades later, as an American citizen, I look back at what he'd shown me. He taught me the determination to move forward when facing adversity. He set an example proving that humility is crucial to success. He demonstrated the commitment to family and the importance of setting priorities.
His journey taught me valuable lessons for my own path in the darkness. Much like a baby takes its first steps holding tight to his father's hand, my dad held onto God as he stepped from the comfort of our hometown in Bolivia to the unknown in a foreign land.
I did the same as I stepped into the unfamiliarity of a sightless world. Holding onto God's hand, I gained confidence and learned the language of gratitude. With profound appreciation for my father's example, I learned how he had applied a powerful blend of faith and tenacity; the same blend I used to fulfill my own role as a wife, mom, Sunday school teacher, Spanish court interpreter, inspirational speaker and writer.
What I inherited from my father helped me to see my life with a more radiant and meaningful glow.
Reprinted with permission from author

About the Author

Janet Perez Eckles, feature in The New York Times is an inspirational national speaker, freelance writer, and contributor to seven books including Chicken Soup for the Soul. 

Why Not for Man?

 
Where we live, on the Eastern shore of Maryland, the gentle waters run in and out like fingers slimming at the tips. They curl into the smaller creeks and coves like tender palms.
The Canada geese know this place, as do the white swans and the ducks who ride an inch above the waves of Chesapeake Bay as they skim their way into harbor. In the autumn, by the thousands, they come home for the winter. The swans move toward the shores in a stately glide, their tall heads proud and unafraid. They lower their long necks deep into the water, where their strong beaks dig through the river bottoms for food. And there is, between the arrogant swans and the prolific geese, an indifference, almost a disdain.
Once or twice each year, snow and sleet move into the area. When this happens, if the river is at its narrowest, or the creek shallow, there is a freeze which hardens the water to ice.
It was on such a ! morning near Oxford, Maryland, that a friend of mine set the breakfast table beside the huge window, which overlooked the Tred Avon River. Across the river, beyond the dock, the snow laced the rim of the shore in white. For a moment she stood quietly, looking at what the night's storm had painted. Suddenly she leaned forward and peered close to the frosted window.
"It really is," she cried out loud, "there is a goose out there."
She reached to the bookcase and pulled out a pair of binoculars. Into their sights came the figure of a large Canada goose, very still, its wings folded tight to its sides, its feet frozen to the ice.
Then from the dark skies, she saw a line of swans. They moved in their own singular formation, graceful, intrepid, and free. They crossed from the west of the broad creek high above the house, moving steadily to the east.
As my friend watched, the leader swung to the right, then the white string of birds became a white circle. It floated from the top of the sky downward. At last, as easy as feathers coming to earth, the circle landed on the ice. My friend was on her feet now, with one unbelieving hand against her mouth. As the swans surrounded the frozen goose, she feared what life he still had might be pecked out by those great swan bills.
Instead, amazingly instead, those bills began to work on the ice. The long necks were lifted and curved down, again and again. It went on for a long time. At last, the goose was rimmed by a narrow margin of ice instead of the entire creek. The swans rose again, following the leader, and hovered in that circle, awaiting the results of their labors.
The goose's head lifted. Its body pulled. Then the goose was free and standing on the ice. He was moving his big webbed feet slowly. And the swans stood in the air watching. Then, as if he had cried, "I cannot fly," four of the swans came down around him. Their powerful beaks scraped the goose's wings from top to bottom, scuttled under its wings and rode up its body, chipping off and melting the ice held in the feathers. Slowly, as if testing, the goose spread its wings as far as they would go, brought them together, accordion-like, and spread again.
When at last the wings reached their fullest, the four swans took off and joined the hovering group. They resumed their eastward journey, in perfect formation, to their secret destination.
Behind them, rising with incredible speed and joy, the goose moved into the sky. He followed them, flapping double time, until he caught up, until he joined the last end of the line, like a small child at the end of a crack-the-whip of older boys.
My friend watched them until they disappeared over the tips of the farthest trees. Only then, in the dusk, which was suddenly deep, did she realize that tears were running down her cheeks and had been - for how long she didn't know.
This is a true story. It happened. I do not try to interpret it. I just think of it in the bad moments, and from it comes only one hopeful question: "If so for birds, why not for man?

The Teacup

 
There was a couple who used to go to England to shop in the beautiful stores. This was their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. They both liked antiques and pottery and especially teacups.
One day in this beautiful shop they saw a beautiful teacup. They said "May we see that? We've never seen one quite so beautiful." As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke.
"You don't understand," it said. "I haven't always been a teacup.
There was a time when I was red and I was clay. My master took me and rolled me and patted me over and over and I yelled out, let me alone,' but he only smiled, 'Not yet'.
"Then I was placed on a spinning wheel," the teacup said, "and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. 'Stop it! I'm getting dizzy!' I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, 'Not yet.'
Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I wondered why he wanted to burn me, and I yelled, and I knocked at the door. I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head, 'Not yet.'
"Finally the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. 'There, that's better,' I said. And he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. 'Stop it, stop it!' I cried. He only nodded, 'Not yet.'
"Then suddenly he put me back into the oven, not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening nodding his head, saying, 'Not yet.'
"Then I knew there wasn't any hope. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf. One hour later he handed me a mirror and said, 'Look at yourself.' And I did. I said, 'That's not me; that couldn't be me. It's beautiful. I'm beautiful.'
'I want you to remember, then,' he said, 'I know it hurt to be rolled and patted, but if I just left you, you'd have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened. You would not have had any color in your life, and if I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't survive for very long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you.'

The Trouble Tree

 
The carpenter I hired to help me restore an old farmhouse had just finished a rough first day on the job. A flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit, and now his ancient pickup truck refused to start. While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence.
On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands. When opening the door he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.
Afterward he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.
"Oh, that's my trouble tree," he replied." I know I can't help having troubles on the job, but one thing's for sure, troubles don't belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again."
He paused. "Funny thing is," he smiled, "when I come out in the morning to pick 'em up, there ain't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before."