Thoughts and Stories that have survived human history!
Luciano Pavarotti:
You never know what little bundle of encouragements artists carry around with them, what
little pats on the back from what hands, what newspaper clipping, what word of hope from what
teacher. I suppose that the so-called faith in ourselves is the foundation of our talent, but
I am sure these encouragements are the mortar that holds it together.
--Quoted by Candido Bonvicini in My Friend Pavarotti
Gautama Buddha:
There are three kinds of people in the world. The first are like letters carved in a rock:
they easily give way to anger and retain their angry thoughts for a long time. The second are
like letters written in the sand: they give way to anger also, but their angry thoughts quietly
pass away. The third are like letters written in running water: they do not retain their passing
thoughts; they let abuse and uncomfortable gossip pass by unnoticed; their minds are always pure
and undisturbed.
--The Teaching of Buddha
Destination Unknown
At a railway station, a traveler noticed a dog tied to a post on the platform. He said to a
porter standing by "That dog looks very miserable. Where is he going?"
The man replied, "That's just the trouble. I don't know, and the dog doesn't know. He's
chewed his label."
The bishop of London once wrote, "Thousands of people are on their journey through life
today, having surrounded themselves with all the supposed prerequisites for their physical
comfort. But they make no attempt to discover the destination to which they are travelling."
--The Upper Room
Crowd Following
The story is told of three monkeys on a seesaw. Overhead was an arbor with some
luscious grapes. The monkeys all rushed to the high end of the board to reach the grapes,
whereupon the seesaw tilted down again. They then rushed back to the other end with the
same results.
After a while, one monkey paused to do a bit of thinking- why coudn't he sit on one
end of the seesaw and wait for the other two to raise him? Sure enough, he reached the grapes
by doing the opposite of what the crowd was doing!
--United Business Service--
Silence
Starr Daily, a man who knows much about the art of spiritual healing, said, "To my knowledge, no man or woman of my acquaintance who knows how to practice silence and does it, has ever been sick."
Surely, the practice of silence is more soothing and healing than most medicines. Pascal, the great scientist, said, "After observing humankind over a long period of years, I came to the conclusion that one of man's great troubles is his inability to be still."
--Charles L. Allen--
