Rhyme and Verse

At the end of the day, you will meet only two men in your life:  One will make your hands tremble; the other will make them steady.  The first will be your passion of youth, but like the blazing fires of the bush, it will soon die to glowing embers, then cool ashes.  The second will enter your life quietly, like a thief in the night.  he will be like the mighty trees in the forest that we do not see before us, yet they are there, strong and tall; in rain and sun, they dig their roots deep and shade us with their leaves.  It is the second one who you must marry.  He will be a good husband and father to your children. 

  (Zenzele, J. Nozipo Maraire)

If you are the desert, I'll be the sea.

If you ever hunger, hunger for me.

Whatever you ask for, that's what I'll be.

  (Father Figure, George Michaels)

I could take "No" for an answer,

Just to know I heard you speak.

  (Smell the Color Nine, Chris Rice)

We are pressed but not crushed,

Perplexed but don't despair.

We are persecuted but not abandoned.

We are no longer slaves,

We are daughters and sons,

And when we are weak we are very strong.

And neither Death nor Life nor Present nor Future

Nor Depth nor Height can keep us from the love of Christ.

  (The Word, Sara Groves)

I am the flower,

You are the seed.

We walked in the garden,

We planted a seed.

  (All I Wanna Do, Heart)

When you cross deep rivers,

I will be with you,

And you won't drown.

When you walk through fire,

You won't be burned

Or scorched by the flames.

  (Isaiah 43:2)

The single greatest cause of atheism today is Christians - who acknowledge Him with their lips, then go out and deny Him in their lives. This is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.

 (DC Talk Soundbite)

An exclamation point for every question mark.

  (Naive, Chris Rice)

Unless someone like you

Cares a whole awful lot,

Nothing is going to get better.

It's not.

  (The Lorax, Dr. Seuss)

God is God and I am not. I can only see a part of the picture He's painting.

God is God and I am Man, I can never understand it all, for only God is God.

  (Steven Curtis Chapman)

I don't really care if they label me a Jesus Freak; there ain't no disguisin' the truth!

  (Jesus Freak, D.C. Talk)

Obedience is Neat.

  (Big Fish, FFH)

Too proud to bend,

Too poor to break,

I laugh until my stomach ache,

When I think about myself.

  (When I Think About Myself, Maya Angelou)

You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself

Any direction you choose.

You're on your own.

And you know what you know.

And YOU are the guy

Who'll decide where to go.

  (Oh, the Places You'll Go, Dr. Seuss)

How many slams in an old screen door?

Depends how loud you shut it.

How many slices in a bread?

Depends how thin you cut it.

How much good inside a day?

Depends how good you live 'em.

How much love inside a friend?

Depends how much you give 'em.

  (How Many, How Much, Shel Silverstein)

To laugh often and love much;

To win the respect of intelligent people

And the affection of children;

To earn the approbation of honest critics

And endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty;

To find the best in others;

To give one's self;

To leave the world a little better,

Whether by a healthy child,

A garden patch,

Or a redeemed social condition;

To have played and laughed with enthusiasm

And sung with exultation;

To know even one life has breathed easier

Because you have lived...

This is to have succeeded.

  (To Have Succeeded, Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Life is Pain, Highness

Buttercup: You mock my pain!

Dread Pirate Roberts: Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.

The only pain in pleasure is the pleasure of the pain. (Anne Rice)

Whatever brings you the most joy will also probably bring you the most pain. Always a price to pay. (Alice Hoffman)

How delicious is pleasure after torment! (Pierre Corneille)

The first thing we become convinced of is that man is organized so as to be far more sensible of pain than of pleasure. (Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin)

Humor is the instinct for taking pain playfully. (Max Eastman)

It's at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys. (Emil Zatopek)

I think that passion and love and pain are all bearable, and they go to make love beautiful. (Robert Plant)

Many men are deeply moved by the mere semblance of suffering in a woman; they take the look of pain for a sign of constancy or of love. (Honore De Balzac)

The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you're in control of your life. If you don't, life controls you. (Tony Robbins)

After great pain, a formal feeling comes. The Nerves sit ceremonious, like tombs. (Emily Dickinson)

There is a thin line that separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt. (Erma Bombeck)

Torment, for some men, is a need, an appetite, and an accomplishment. (Emile M. Cioran)

There is no coming to consciousness without pain. (Carl Jung)

Given the choice between the experience of pain and nothing, I would choose pain. (William Faulkner)

To truly laugh, you must be able to take your pain, and play with it! (Charlie Chaplin)

I think about the meaning of pain. Pain is personal. It really belongs to the one feeling it. Probably the only thing that is your own. I like mine. (Henry Rollins)

Sensual excess drives out pity in man. (Marquis de Sade)

There is no more lively sensation than that of pain; its impressions are certain and dependable, they never deceive as may those of the pleasure women perpetually feign and almost never experience. (Marquis de Sade)

The great art of life is sensation, to feel that we exist, even in pain. (Lord Byron)

To give and receive love, you have to be in touch with pain, you have to be capable of provoking it and feeling it. (Jeanne Moreau)

The end is the beginning of all things, Suppressed and hidden, Awaiting to be released through the rhythm Of pain and pleasure. (Jiddu Krishnamurti)

Suffering cheerfully endured, ceases to be suffering and is transmuted into an ineffable joy. (Gandhi)

I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love. (Mother Teresa)

My pain may be the reason for somebody's laugh. But my laugh must never be the reason for somebody's pain. (Charlie Chaplin)

Unfortunately, sometimes people don't hear you until you scream. (Stefanie Powers)

The wish to hurt, the momentary intoxication with pain, is the loophole through which the pervert climbs into the minds of ordinary men. (Jacob Bronowski)

A man who has not passed through the inferno of his passions has never overcome them. (Carl Gustav Jung)

Nothing that can be said can begin to take away the anguish and pain of these moments. Grief is the price we pay for love. (Elizabeth II)

Scars have the power to remind us that our past is real. (Cormac McCarthy)

Anger and agony
Are better than misery
Trust me, I've got a plan
When the lights go off, you will understand
Pain, without love
Pain, I can't get enough
Pain, I like it rough
'Cause I'd rather feel pain than nothing at all
  (Pain, Three Days Grace)

On Being Successful

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic, and power in it. Begin it now. (Johann Worfgang von Goethe)

Consider the postage stamp:  its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there. (Josh Billings)

Eighty percent of success is showing up. (Woody Allen)

Every miracle in the Bible starts with a Problem. (Dr. John Maxwell)

Just because others have decided what's best for you doesn't mean you are incapable of deciding for yourself.

Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value. (Albert Einstein)

There is only one success - to be able to spend your life in your own way. (Christopher Morley)

To avoid criticism do nothing, say nothing, be nothing. (Elbert Hubbard)

Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently. (Henry Ford)

The proper response to difficulty is not to retreat, it is to prevail. (President George W. Bush)

You don't drown by falling into the water; you drown by staying there.

By failing to plan, you are planning to fail.

Success is getting what you want;

Happiness is wanting what you get.

(Dale Carnegie)

Minds are like Parachutes... they only function when open.

Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. (Will Rogers)

Experience is not what happens to you, it is what you do with what happens to you. (Aldous Huxley)

Ships are safe in the harbor, but they were never meant to stay there.

It is not whether you get knocked down, it is whether you get up. (Vince Lombardi)

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. (Abraham Lincoln)

One of the biggest troubles with success is that its recipe is often the same as that for a nervous breakdown.

If you can't win the race, make the one ahead of you break the record.

The direction we are facing has a lot to do with our destination.

If you wish to succeed in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius. (Joseph Addison)

Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it. (Henry David Thoreau)

Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm. (Winston Churchill)

The secrets of success are a good wife and a steady job.

If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much. (Donald H. Rumsfeld)

A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do. (Bob Dylan)

The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials. (Chinese Proverb)

A bad attitude is like a flat tire - you'll never go anywhere till you fix it.

Don't let what you can't do interfere with what you can do.

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. (Thomas Edison)

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the Ark. Professionals built the Titanic.

People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don't know when to quit. Most men succeed because they are determined to. (George Allen)

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars. (Les Brown)

Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom. (Gen. George S. Patton)

You can't get a job by reading the want ads; you get the job by going out and applying for the jobs.

Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best. (Henry Van Dyke)

Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it. (Henry David Thoreau)

The difference between a boss and a leader: a boss says, 'Go!' - a leader says, 'Let's go!'. (E. M. Kelly)

Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment. (Rita Mae Brown OR Barry LePatner)

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. (Confucius)

Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure. (Norman Vincent Peale)

We want to be rich, to be admired, to eat like a horse and be skinny as a snake. To have small children ask for our autographs, to be on terrific medications that make us calm and witty and sexy. To sing Irving Berlin and Gershwin and Porter at the Oak Room and be described as 'luminous.' But in the absence of all that, it's enough to be loved. (Garrison Keillor)

A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him. (Sidney Greenberg)

He has achieved success who has worked well, laughed often, and loved much. (Elbert Hubbard)

When it comes to the future, there are three kinds of people: those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened. (John M. Richardson, Jr.)

Sometimes instead of climbing over barricades, you've got to walk around them. (Bono)

The greatestest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do. (Walter Bagehot)

One man that has a mind and knows it can always beat ten men who haven't and don't. (George Bernard Shaw, "The Apple Cart")

Let him who would enjoy a good future waste none of his present. (Roger Babson)

My mother drew a distinction between achievement and success. She said achievement is the knowledge that you have studied and worked hard and done the best that is in you. Success is being praised by others, and that's nice, too, but not as important or satisfying. Always aim for achievement and forget about success. (Helen Hayes)

The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.

It is better to have a little ability and use it well, than to have much ability and use it poorly.

Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done. (louis D. Brandeis)

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing. (Abraham Lincoln)

I takes 20 years to make an overnight success. (Eddie Cantor)

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me." (Erma Bombeck)

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. (Theodore Roosevelt)

To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone. (Reba McEntire)

You cannot be a success in any business without believing that it is the greatest business in the world... You have to put your heart in the business and the business in your heart. (Thomas Watson Snr.)

When you walk up to Opportunity's door, don't knock it. Kick that bitch in, smile, and introduce yourself. (Dwayne Johnson)

As for conceit, what man will do any good who is not conceited? Nobody holds a good opinion of a man who has a low opinion of himself. (Anthony Trollope)

The important thing in life is not the victory but the contest; the essential thing is not to have won but to have fought well. (Baron Pierre de Coubertin)

Work, Jobs, and Earning a Paycheck

Always do more than is required of you. (George S. Patton, Jr.)

If you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm (Sam Levenson)

Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired. (Jules Renard)

Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em "Certainly I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. (Theodore Roosevelt)

I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble. (Helen Keller)

Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching. (Satchel Paige)

I CAN gets more done than IQ.

I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again. (Ettiene De Grellet)

Making an honest living should be easy since there is so little competition.

Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can. (John Wesley)

Meetings:  A place where minutes are kept and hours are lost.

The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary. (Vince Lombardi)

A good rule of thumb is if you've made it to thirty-five and your job still requires you to wear a name tag, you've made a serious vocational error. (Dennis Miller)

Pray as if everything depended upon God and work as if everything depended upon man. (Francis Cardinel Spellman)

Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all. (Sam Ewing)

I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. (Thomas Jefferson)

No one ever drowned in sweat.

Many people miss Opportunity because it is dressed in overalls and looks suspiciously like Work. (Benjamin Franklin)

Work saves us from three great evils: boredom, vice, and need. (Voltaire)

Everybody wants their ship to come in, but not many are willing to swim out and tow it to shore. (Priceless, Dave Ramsey)

When you do the common things of life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world. (George Washington Carver)

God feeds the birds, but He doesn't throw the food into their nests.

If I want my dreams to come true, I musn't oversleep.

Don't let feelings determine your destiny. Most of the work in the world is done by people who don't feel like it. (Andy Horner, founder of Premier Designs)

Work brings profit; talk brings poverty. (Prov 14:23)

Respect doesn't come from the kind of work you do; it comes from the way you do the work. (Kenneth L. Shipley)

In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence. (Laurence Peter)

Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don't interfere. (Ronald Reagan)