Truth

Truth

Emmitsburg, MD

We make ourselves real by telling the truth. Man can hardly forget that he needs to know the truth, for the instinct to know is too strong in us to be destroyed. But he can forget how badly he also needs to tell the truth. We cannot know truth unless we ourselves are conformed to it.

We must be true inside, true to ourselves, before we can know a truth that is outside us. But we make ourselves true inside by manifesting the truth as we see it.

(Thomas Merton, No Man Is An Island, Chapter 10, Sincerity, p. 188)

Dick Henthorn

21 Jun 2017

Sincerity and Truth

Sincerity and truth are extremely valuable because they are so rare.
(The One Year Book Of Bible Readings, 4 October)

... the "image" of our senators and presidents is as important to society, if not more so, than their achievements.
(Thomas Moore, Care Of The Soul, p. 38)
26 February 2015

Wishing

There's nothing odd about wanting our beliefs to be supported by facts. Yet we must recognize that wishing does not make something so and that we cannot invent the truth to please ourselves. Be willing to think clearly and judge rationally - and to accept the truth, like it or not.
(The Christophers, Three Minutes A Day, Vol. 41, 16 January)
6 May 2014

Truth

Truths about this or that are a dime a dozen, including religious truths. The truth is what Pilate was after: the truth about who we are and who God is, if there is a God, the truth about life, the truth about death, the truth about truth itself. That is the truth we are all of us after.
(Frederick Buechner, Listening To Your Life, p. 307)
5 April 2014

Truth

What do you dislike about many politicians, bureaucrats, big-business or big-labor executives, fast-talking salesmen and so on? The fact that they appear to be dishonest, and that truth is so very unimportant to them in their regular dealings with the public. When an institution comes to the point where all truth has been abandoned, then chaos is the inevitable result. Our social structure, as well as our individuals, need truth in order to survive.
(Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, The Sky's The Limit, p. 309)
30 December 2013

Live From Your Soul

You can live from your soul rather than your self. This means to be less in control, less certain of the truth of things but more in touch with your intuitions and emotions. It means to be less focused on the self and more identified with others.  It means to understand that you are part of nature and that your soul, which is the source of your identity is a piece of the world's soul. Your roots reach downward, not into the brain, but into the soul.
(Thomas Moore, Dark Nights Of The Soul, p. 294)
18 November 2013

Truth

Photo: Cana Lilies are blooming in the front yard

Opinion is a flitting thing,

But Truth outlasts the Sun --

If then we cannot own them both --

Possess the oldest one --.

(Emily Dickinson, The Little Book Of Virtues, May 20)

29 July 2013

Take Ownership

Rather than change ourselves, we want to change the world and other people. (For The Love Of God, p. 46)

What we think about ourselves is clearly and unequivocally reflected in everything we say or do - in our work, our surroundings, our family life, and our service to others. (Laurie Beth Jones, The Path, p. 27)

But some people are deeply in denial and defensiveness, and they don't respond favorably to situations designed to work with the truth. (Cloud and Townsend, Boundaries Face To Face, p. 187)

Progress begins when we stop trying to control the uncontrollable, and when we go on to correct what we have the right to change. (One Day At A Time In Al-Anon, 26 March)

We would all do well to take ownership of our faults, work through the things that cause us to distort our view of people and situations, deal with our fears and problems, and seek healing. (Cloud and Townsend, Boundaries Face To Face, p. 188)

Perfection is a long way off, but improvement can be made to happen every day. (One Day At A Time In Al-Anon, 18 June)

20 June 2013

People

(Photo: Mr. Dickie)

Do not seek love in other people, and do not complain about the absence of their love for you. Some people love wrong, not right; therefore, try to please God, rather than people. (Leo Tolsoy, A Calendar Of Wisdom, 20 November)

There are always enemy forces who will work against you when you attempt to change the status quo. ... It is important to ferret out the motives of people who accuse you. What is their stake in your failure? What do they have to lose if you succeed? (Laurie Beth Jones, The Path, P. 118-19)

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. (Mark Twain, 1835-1910, American Writer, Pocket Positives, no page numbering)

Stop being surprised that ... [a resistant person] does not welcome the truth. (Cloud / Townsend, Boundaries Face To Face, p. 151)

Sooner or later, we'll be disappointed by every friend on earth; none are perfect. (David Jeremiah, Journey, 22 February)

24 April 2013

Log-Jammed

Never is there a single instance when a lie can be justified. (Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar Of Wisdom, 29 November)

Only misconceptions need to be supported by elaborate arguments. Truth can always stand alone. (Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar Of Wisdom, 15 December)

Life is not a search for happiness. Happiness is a by-product of living the right kind of life, of doing the right thing. Do not search for happiness, search for right living and happiness will be your reward. (Twenty-Four Hours A Day, 16 December)

Position and power never shape true character; they only reveal what is already woven in the fabric of ones being. (Les Dahl, The Upper Room Disciplines - 2003, 22 September)

Oliver Ellsworth [Constitutional Convention delegate], warned, "We grow more and more skeptical as we proceed. If we do not decide soon, we shall be unable to come to any decision." (David Jeremiah, Journey, 8 February)

"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God, and the Bible." George Washington.
(David Jeremiah, Journey, 8 February)

[Often] ... world rulers and others in authority try to hide their true identity - their true motives and the nature of their intent. (David Jeremiah, Journey, 5 March)

A society ... needs catharsis. It can become log-jammed with ideas that have lost their liveliness. Ideas turn into prejudices, slogans, party lines, and mere opinions. People become conservative in a negative sense: self-protective, deadened and unthinking. (Thomas Moore, Dark Nights Of The Soul, p. 63)
5 March 2013

The Truth

There are some people to whom we cannot tell the truth because they cannot hear the truth. (Lewis B. Smedes, A Pretty Good Person, p. 81) 1 March 2013

Cognitive Dissonance

The self-deceit practiced by nations is written on a larger scale [than our tendency to personally corrupt our own consciousness] but it is no different from the lies we tell ourselves. We do not want to know things that could threaten our investments, subvert our priorities, challenge our principles, and in general put too much stress on us. So, in the blink of an eye, we close our minds to reality we do not want to be real. ...

Psychologists call this cognitive dissonance: the experience of having reality we do not want to know bang up against our minds while we deny its existence, "Don't upset me with the truth I do not want to know."
(Lewis B. Smedes, A Pretty Good Person, p. 73-4) 27 February 2013

You've Got To Be Kidding Me

Do not be afraid of the way your intellect calls into question old stories and legends. The pure intellect cannot destroy anything without replacing it with the truth: this is one of its essential qualities. (Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar Of Wisdom, 5 December) 18 January 2013

******

Yesterday former Library of Congress colleague Dave Naylor and I went to lunch in Bowie, MD and then attended the Bowie Seniors Computer Club (BSCC) meeting where the guest speaker was Stephen Deming of Microsoft.  Mr. Deming talked to the club twice before so I knew what to expect.  He is very knowledgeable and creates a good bond with his audience.  He discussed and demonstrated, Windows 8, the Surface tablet and the latest version of MS Office.

Mr. Dickie

18 January 2013

Consequences

Outer consequences are not in our power to control; it is only possible to make an effort, and inner consequences always follow from our effort. (Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar Of Wisdom, 11 November) 30 November 2012

Truth

Once you know the truth, you cannot go back to not knowing.
Living the truth that you know is the greatest service you can offer the world.
(Iyanla Vanzant, Until Today! 1 November)
16 November 2012

Life Tasks

The purpose of your life is not to do as the majority does, but to live according to the inner law which you understand in yourself. Do not act against your conscience or against truth. Live like this, and you will fulfill the task of your life. (Marcus Aurelius in A Calendar Of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy, 23 October) 4 November 2012

To Tell You The Truth

To tell you the truth,
     I'm more interested in telling it,
          than listening to it myself.
(Richard E. Henthorn after Iyanla Vanzant, Until Today! 27 August)
5 September 2012

Game Of Life

"You're playing on the court of life.  Hopefully you have come to win!" 
(From a sermon by Dr. Barbara King of Hillsdale Chapel in Atlanta, Georgia.)

The rules of the game of life are quite simple.

• Always tell the truth.
• Never live in fear of anything or anyone.
• Be conscious of what you are thinking so that you can always think positively.
• Do everything that you do for the love of doing it.

(All of the above from Iyanla Vanzant, Until Today! 12 August)
12 August 2012

Is It True?

... no matter what the occasion or event, do not believe everything you hear. (Thomas 'A Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Book 3, Chapter 38, p. 130) 6 June 2012

Truth

Just for today, make a commitment to yourself
     to tell the truth,
          the whole truth,
               and nothing but the truth
                    to yourself,
                         about yourself,
                              and to others.
(Iyanla Vanzant, Until Today! 15 April)
11 May 2012