Quotes - beware the cynisim

[JoiceJoker]

1. A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.

2. A lifetime of happiness! No man alive could bear it; it would be hell on earth.

3. A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.

4. Criminals do not die by the hands of the law. They die by the hands of other men.

5. Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.

6. Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.

7. Reading made Don Quixote a gentleman. Believing what he read made him mad.

8. Self-sacrifice enables us to sacrifice other people without blushing.

9. The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one.

10. I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation.

(George Bernard Shaw)


No. 2 has what's written all over me! Which one do you like? Your own quote?

[tnebergall]

1. Your task is not to seek love, but merely to seek & find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. - Rumi

2. I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself. - Maya Angelou

3. As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. - John F. Kennedy

4. If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. - Maya Angelou

5. Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it. - Ella Williams

6. Argue for your limitations, sure enough, they're yours. - Richard Bach

7. When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us. - Helen Keller

8. To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right. Kung Fu Tse (a.k.a. Confucius)

9. If you think you can, you can. And if you think you can't, you're right. Mary Kay Ash

10. If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right. - Ethel Smith

[JoiceJoker]

I like 10. pretty good quotes. Thanks for posting.

[tnebergall]

LOL, funny you should pick that one... Ethel Smith is my grandmother

[JoiceJoker]

I once saw an engraving on a tumbstone. (I love graveyards)
It said: "Do Good - you'll receive unthankfulness - Regardless"

It felt like that engraving described the person laying there and I wished I had known her. What your grandmother quoted was something very similar. There is so much power in just a few words spoken. They can define the core of an individual.

[tnebergall]

Indeed my grandmother is an incredible person, she's 92 and walks like 3 miles a day and takes Tai Chi classes. LOL I don't talk to her near enough, but she's so busy it's hard to get hold of her!
Make it a great day Joice

[JoiceJoker]

Thanks! Same to you.

[wight13]

tnebergall,

Qoutes 1,4 and 8, oddly enough, are my favorites. Odd because of the numbering and they happen to be the ones that are most Zen in nature. The idea behind quote 1, I have been teaching for years... I love hearing a quote that embodies it. I've been saying words to the effect of quote 4 for years. And number 8 is just a great piece of universal wisdom or what I like to call un-common knowledge.

[tnebergall]

Hey wight,
although the original topic of the discussion included cynicism I tried not to be too cynical when posting these quotes.
My own personal favorites are 5, 6 and 10; perhaps because they embody the spirit that is within me. I have a hard time accepting limitations and I truly do believe that we can have fun no matter what we're doing.
I'm glad that you liked these...

[wight13]

Well, they are all good quotes in spite of the lack of cynicism.

I'm very much into Zen and Taoist philosophy so 1,4 and 8... esp. 1 and 4 were most noteworthy since I have been teaching those principals without benefit of a good quote.

But 5, 6 and 10 appeal to me for much the same reasons you mentioned. There's a great set of books on Taoism by Benjamin Hoff he describes different personalities of people by using the characters from Winne the Pooh. Quotes 5, 6 and 10 are very tiggerish... perhaps you are a tigger too?

[tnebergall]

I read the Tao of Pooh many years ago and for many years described myself as a Taoist. I still see myself that way, but my self portrait has changed quite a bit in the last 10 months (since my conversion).
I'll probably always subscribe at least somewhat to the teachings of Lao Tse.

[wight13]

I don't really see a conflict.... for me Taoism is a philosophy, not a religion. But equally hard to continually live up to the principals. I don't see them as two different paths but the same path seen through different eyes.

[tnebergall]

I do not necessarily see a conflict per se, although the basic premise that everyone has their own path is not quite reflected in the teachings of the Church. Since I am still a very new member (just baptized 9 weeks ago) I am still learning more and more every day what stance the Church has on certain things...

[dadood]

Wight, have you ever read or heard any of Alan Watts' books or lectures? He's excellent in the philosophy and psychology of religion. Extremely brilliant and entertaining writer and speaker. Definitely my fave writer and speaker on Eastern philosophy so far.

[wight13]

Yes, Alan Watts is highly regarded. I have, so far, only one of his books which is out on loan to a friend I'm introducing to Taoism. I'm surprised he's on your reading list tho...

So I take it we're going to let by-gones be by-gones then iggyrood?

[dadood]

Wight, I don't even remember what I slapped you around silly and called you Susan

[wight13]

I'm sure it doesn't happen often, but for once I think you are making an honest statement.

[Cyrano]

"Never trust anything that bleeds for five days and doesn't die." -Mark Twain on women

One of my all time favorites.

[JoiceJoker]

Oh... come on now......where's the trust??
(Don't trust me, it's not safe) :-)

[Cyrano]

See, now you've got me all twisted around. Do I trust your word not to trust you, or do I not trust your word to not trust you, and thus trust trust your word, which would mean not...Maybe if I think about that long and hard enough, I'll develop psychic powers.

[JoiceJoker]

Cyrano,
I'm glad I could be of service........lol


And Wight,
you have me entirely mixed up with your last comment. I can't help it but to drag everyone else around into confusion. Don't you feel guilty? ;-)

[naulite]

One of my personal favorites.

"If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking." ~ General George S. Patton

[JoiceJoker]

No, it means that nobody thinks!
So, what's with the non-thinking quote? Are you one of those non-thinkers?

[naulite]

It's actually a "Non-Conformist" quote. Don't be a lemming.

"Great thoughts reduced to practice become great acts." ~ William Hazlitt

"It is fine to stand upon some lofty mountain thought, and feel the spirit stretch into view." ~ Phillip James Bailey

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." ~ Dr. Seuss

[JoiceJoker]

Now those are quotes which don't get you shredded....so far. :-)

[naulite]

I'm sorry that your attempt at striking witticism failed, but you will have to try harder (a lot harder) if you wish to make me feel burnt.

May I suggest that you look for a deeper meaning to the comment given to see if there may be hidden subtext or content that a simple surface glance would not reveal.

[JoiceJoker]

If I would dig deeper you would be in deep crap!
So no, I keep it light for now.

[naulite]

There will always be someone better than you. There will always be someone stronger, faster, smarter, wiser, kinder, gentler, ...etc. than you are. It's what we do when we meet these people that will really help define who we are and the journey we are on.

So, if you are going to make threats and snappy retorts, please do so intelligently. I might learn something from you I didn't already know, or vice versa, and then we may both be blessed from the exchange. Or at the very lease have a new perspective by which to further review our own preconceptions.

[JoiceJoker]

Of course there's always someone better at something. And yes, the people we meet can help you to define yourself in whatever way.

Internet communication is one of the hardest ways to communicate. Take into consideration, that I'm not snappy nor threatening towards you nor were I.
My posts are meant light hearted and humorous with an edge to it.

Unless the topic covers serious issues where jokes and such are just not the place to post them. And if I disregard the rule I designate my trespass as such to prevent misunderstandings (i.e. smilies or *comments*).

*:-)*
*just a friendly smile*

[naulite]

See... that is where I keep messing up. I forget to add smilies.

Seriously though, don't just threaten to shred me and bury me in deep crap, do it. If you have a contradictory view or reasoning, by all means share it. Don't just tell me you can stuff me, do it.

You tease me with the possibility of greater mental simulation and then send me off alone forced to pleasure myself. That's just mean.

That's as bad as a girl in high school I knew. She threatened to slap me, so I took off my glasses and told her to do it. She did. I excitedly said, "YES!" Then turned the other cheek and asked her to do it again. She did. I excitedly yelled, "YES!!" Then got down on my knees, grabbed her by the hips, and shook and begged her to do it again. To which point she adamantly refused. - True Story, I really did this. No one ever threatened to slap me again though.

Moral of the story, don't tease me if you are not going to follow through with it.

[JoiceJoker]

hehe.

maybe later.....*grin*