Human Spirit

There is no more searching test of the human spirit than the way it behaves when fortune is adverse and it has to pass through a prolonged period of disappointing failures. Then comes the real proof of the man. Achievement, if a man has the ability, is a joy; but to take hard knocks and come up smiling, to have your mainsail blown away and then rig a sheet on the bowsprit and sail on -- this is perhaps the deepest test of character.
(Henry Ward Beecher, Life Thoughts, found Flowers Along The Path by Esther Carls Dodgen, p. 211)
17 December 2015

Success

In reality ..., you cannot achieve success in anything without failures along the way.
(David Jeremiah, Journey, 29 September)
23 November 2014

I Yam, What I Yam!

That child who is eternally present in our thoughts and dreams may be full of weakness and faults, but that is who we are. We are who we are as much because of our gaps and failures as because of our strengths.
(Thomas Moore, Care Of The Sould, p. 51)
4 May 2014)

The Reality Of The Present

A society that has lost its soul looks for security in the future and is willing to deny the reality of the present. But a society can't move ahead if its values and ideals are jammed behind failures and mistakes. It has to own up to its neglect and its atrocity, while at the same time proclaiming its highest values. It is possible for a society to deal with the moral pollution of its history. Gestures, language, acts of compensation, and rites of forgiveness can all be effective. But they have to be done sincerely, without guile and without mere formalism. (Thomas Moore, Dark Nights Of The Soul, p. 64)
24 February 2013

Spiritual Principles

To lament endlessly over past failures prevents us from making the most of the present. (Karen Casey, Keepers of the Wisdom, 20 April)

We need to say no to people, places, and events that weaken our connection with ... [Spiritual] Principles, even when saying yes might seem fun, enjoyable, exciting or comforting. (Craig Nakken, Finding Your Moral Compass, p. 87)

Without labor there is no rest; without struggle there is no victory. (Thomas 'A Kempis, The Imitation Of Christ, Book 3, Chapter 19, p. 107)

I must pay more attention to the messages I receive from my life. (Iyanla Vanzant, Until Today! 2 April)
8 May 2012

Past Failures

Do not mis-spend time over past failures. (Twenty-Four Hours a Day, 13 October) 20/Oct/2010 8:44