Points to Ponder Quotes

A little philosophy may lead to atheism, but depth in philosophy brings men’s minds to God and religion.

The Assumption That Life Owes Us Nothing Psychologists explain that people born in the 1950s aren’t just resilient – they’re the last generation raised with the assumption that life owes them nothing, which created a baseline expectation of hardship that inoculated them against the entitlement that erodes persistence. They grew up during the war. They raised families on very little. And when things went wrong, which they frequently did, they just got on with it. Not because they were superhuman. Because they genuinely did not expect anyone to show up and fix things for them. That expectation, or rather the absence of it, turns out to be more important than most of us realize. Because, according to psychologists, the generation born in the 1950s may have been the last to be raised with a particular assumption that quietly shaped everything: the assumption that life owed them nothing. And that assumption, uncomfortable as it sounds, may have been the very thing that made them so persistent. Children in the 1950s experienced that link constantly. If you didn’t do the work, you saw the consequences. If you did, you saw the reward. There was no app to optimize the process, no parent emailing the teacher, no safety net that arrived before you even hit the ground. The result was a generation that internalized, often without realizing it, the belief that what they did actually mattered. The opposite of resilience isn’t fragility. It’s entitlement. Problems become things that happen to you. Setbacks become evidence that the system failed. And persistence, which requires the belief that your continued effort will eventually change your situation, gets quietly eroded. Persistence is built through repeated experience of manageable difficulty. It’s eroded by comfort, rescue, and the belief that struggle is someone else’s fault.

If your words aren’t truthful, the finest optically letter-spaced typography won’t help.

There are only two industries that call their customers “users”: illegal drugs and software.

The more equally attractive two alternatives seem, the harder it can be to choose between them – no matter that, to the same degree, the choice can only matter less.

EXPERT: A person who learns more and more about less and less until s/he knows everything about nothing. Converse: A person who learns less and less about more and more until s/he knows nothing about everything.

RELATIVITY: Some Sobering Thoughts: If the sun was hollow, it could contain more than one million worlds the size of our earth. There are stars in space so large that they could easily hold 500 million suns the size of ours. There are about 100 billions stars in the average galaxy — and at least 100 million galaxies in known space.

What is music? This question occupied my mind for hours last night before I fell asleep. The very existence of music is wonderful, I might even say miraculous. Its domain is between though and phenomena. Like a twilight mediator, it hovers between spirit and matter, related to both, yet differing from each. It is spirit, but it is spirit subject to the measurement of time. It is matter, but it is matter that can dispense with space.

We tire of things quickly, for example: 1st man on moon – everybody was involved in watching, most remember what the first man on the moon said: “A small step … (complete for yourself) 2nd man on moon – watched if you happened to be home 3rd man on moon – had to hit a golf ball to get any attention Yes, we get tired of things accomplished by humankind quickly. But, how quickly do we get tired of: – a beautiful sunset – babbling brook – cry of a newborn baby We never get tired of the things God has made. We were made to live forever, to fully explore God’s creations.

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common that unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistenceand dedication alone are omnipotent.

The Earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the Earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

The child is constantly confronted with the nagging question: “What are you going to be?” Courageous would be the youngster who could look the adult squarely in the face and say, “I’m not going to BE anything; I already am.” We adults would be shocked by such an insolent remark, for we have forgotten, if indeed we ever knew, that a child is an active, participating and contributing member of society from birth. Childhood isn’t a time when he is molded into a human who will then live life; he is a human who is living life. No child will miss the zest and joy of living unless these are denied him by adults who have convinced themselves that childhood is a period of preparation.

?? If Jack’s in love, he’s no judge of Jill’s beauty ?? Too much of the world is run on the theory that you don’t need road manners if you are a five-ton truck ?? It is difficult to see the picture when you are inside the frame ?? When it comes to helping you, some people stop at nothing ?? One of these days is None of these days

?? If you hit every time the target’s too near ?? Never learn details before deciding on a first approach ?? Never state a problem to yourself in the same terms as it was brought to you

To be considered an “EXPERT”, one needs a large amount of knowledge of only a relatively few variety. In contrast, an ordinary person’s “common sense” involves a much larger variety of different types of knowledge – and this requires more complicated management systems. It is easier to acquire specialized knowledge than common sense knowledge.

It’s been said that there are only two differences between the competition that led to the building of the Titanic, from the pages of modern history, and the Ark, from the pages of the Old Testament. We all know the first and obvious difference: the Titanic sank and the losses in human life were enormous. By contrast, the Ark saved human kind and all the animal kingdom. The second difference is less well known. The Titanic was built by professionals, driven by a spirit of overarching greed. The Ark, on the other hand, was built by Noah and his family of amateurs and was driven by a spirit born out of respect for all life on earth.

Some are born with knowledge, some derive it from study, and some acquire it only after a painful realization of their ignorance. But the knowledge being possessed, it comes to the same thing. Some study with a natural ease, some from a desire for advantages, and some by strenuous effort. But the achievement being made, it comes to the same thing.

We put thirty spokes to make a wheel: But it is the hole in the center upon which the use of the cart hinges. We make a vessel from a lump of clay; But it is the empty space within the vessel that makes it useful. We make doors and windows for a room; But it is the empty spaces that make the room livable. Thus, while existence has advantages, It is the emptiness that makes it useful.

A small newspaper clipping was found in a Bible over one hundred years old. There was no author or source of information named, just these few lines that, over the years, have even taken on more meaning and that make this point: “At ten years of age a boy thinks his father knows a great deal, at fifteen he knows as much as his father, at twenty he knows twice as much, at thirty he is willing to take his advice, at forty he begins to think his father knows something after all, at fifty he begins to seek his advice and at sixty – after his father is dead – he thinks his father was the smartest man that ever lived.”

Are you feeling old? If not, consider this: The people who are in their twenties were born in the 1980s, therefore: They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan era. They were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged. Black Monday 1987 is as significant to them as the Great Depression. Their lifetime has always included AIDS. Atari predates them, as do vinyl albums. The expression “you sound like a broken record” means nothing to them. They may have heard of an 8-track, but chances are they probably have never actually seen or heard one. The digital Disc was introduced when they were babies. As far as they know, stamps have always cost over 30 cents. They have always had an answering machine. Most have never seen a TV set with only 13 channels. They were born the year that Walkmen were introduced by Sony. They have no idea when or why Jordache jeans were cool. They never took a swim and thought about Jaws. They don’t know who Mork was or where he was from. They never heard the term “Where’s the beef? Aspire to Inspire before you Expire.

Who is it that says what ‘they say’? Who is the responsible subject of that social saying, the impersonal subject of ‘they say’?

WHEN I ASKED GOD I asked for strength and God gave me difficulties to make me strong. I asked for wisdom and God gave me problems to solve. I asked for prosperity and God gave me brawn and brain to work. I asked for courage and God gave dangers to overcome. I asked for love and God gave me troubled people to help. I asked for favors and God gave me opportunities. I received nothing I wanted. I received everything I needed. My prayer has been answered.

Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here, And you must treat it as a powerful stranger, Must ask permission to know it and be known. The forest breathes. Listen. It answers, I have made this place around you, If you leave it you may come back again, saying Here. No two trees are the same to Raven. No two branches are the same to Wren. If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you, You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows Where you are. You must let it find you.

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance Accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

Youth is a quality, not a matter of circumstances.

Your children need your presence more than your presents.

You will not be punished FOR your anger. You will be punished BY your anger.

You probably wouldn’t worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do.

You REAP what You SOW: Life is like a boomerang. Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later, with astounding accuracy.

You stand in your own light.