Bernard Bailey quote

"When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it."

Denzel Washington quote

"I say luck is when an opportunity comes along, and you're prepared for it."

Character

char‧ac‧ter [kar-ik-ter] - the actions/decision you make when nobody is watching

The Big Lie

The Big Lie, first coined by Adolf Hitler in his 1925 autobiography Mein Kampf,was made famous by Joseph Goebbels, propaganda minister for the Third Reich. The idea was simple enough: Tell a whopper (the larger the better) often enough and most people will come to accept it as the truth. During World War II, the predecessor of the CIA, the Office of Strategic Services, described how the Germans used the Big Lie: "[They] never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it."

From the following article:
Oliver Stone, 9/11, and the Big Lie By Ruth Rosen

Quote from Thich Nhat Hanh

Life can be found only in the present moment. The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch with life.

Quote

Remain steady and allow the world to shape itself.

i ching

Milton Berle quote

"Laughter is an instant vacation."

Quotes from "Saving Democracy," by Bill Moyer

As great wealth has accumulated at the top, the rest of society has not been benefiting proportionally. In 1960 the gap between the top 20% and the bottom 20% was thirtyfold. Now it is seventy-five fold. Thirty years ago the average annual compensation of the top 100 chief executives in the country was 30 times the pay of the average worker. Today it is 1000 times the pay of the average worker. A recent article in The Financial Times reports on a study by the American economist Robert J. Gordon, who finds “little long-term change in workers’ share of U.S. income over the past half century.” Middle-ranking Americans are being squeezed, he says, because the top ten percent of earners have captured almost half the total income gains in the past four decades and the top one percent have gained the most of all – “more in fact, than all the bottom 50 percent.”
In the words of Louis Brandeis, one of the greatest of our Supreme Court justices: “You can have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, or democracy, but you cannot have both.”

The comfort zone - author unknown

I used to have a comfort zone
Where I knew I couldn’t fail.
The same four walls of busy work,
Were really like a jail.

I longed so much to do the things,
I’d never done before,
But I stayed inside my comfort zone,
And paced the same old floor.

I claimed to be so busy,
With the things inside my zone.
But deep inside I longed for
Something special of my own.

I couldn’t let my life go by,
Just watching others win.
I held my breath and stepped outside
To let the change begin.

I took a step and with new strength
I’d never felt before,
I kissed my comfort zone goodbye
And closed and locked the door.

If you are in a comfort zone,
Afraid to venture out,
Remember that all winners were
At one time filled with doubt.

A step or two, and words of praise,
Can make your dreams come true.
Greet your future with a smile,
Success is there for you!

Big Dog

 

Zen Rock Garden in Kyoto, Japan

 

Sam's is growing up - Feb 2006

 

Bizrate - a cool way to shop online

This is the coolest online service. It is created by combining customer feedback with price comparisons online. So it allows you to see who has the lowest price on what you want and if they are a merchant to be trusted (see all of their pros and cons).

Quote from Paul Tagliable on his decision to retire

"Uncertainty is the enemy of growth and the enemy of successful operations. Put it the other way around: Uncertainty and speculation runs the risk of paralysis in a good organization."

Good books

Diet for a New America: How Your Food Choices Affect Your Health, Happiness and the Future of Life on Earth
John Robbins used for $6.25
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0915811812

This is a serious read for someone who has an interest in Zen Buddhism, otherwise I would not recommend:
Nine-Headed Dragon River : Zen Journals 1969-1982 Peter Matthiessen $6 used on Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1570623678

A favorite story

This is from John Robbins and is one of my favorite stories:
http://www.foodrevolution.org/pig_farmer.htm
Enjoy.

Gandhi quote

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

Don Wright quote

"Everything we want in life is just outside our comfort zone."

Grand Ole Opera

 

Quote

"Things that you do for yourself you take with you to your grave, things that you do for other live beyond your grave."