Tag Archives: Joy Jar

The 11/14/13 Joy Jar

15 Nov

Most people, no matter their race, creed, religion, or national origin want to live in peace. They want their government to deliver basic services and protect them from aggression by outsiders. There are times of totalitarianism where the government becomes the enemy because the government lives by its own strange brand of truth. Dagmar Hovestädt of CNN reported in the article, Germany’s Stasi past looms over NSA spying furor:

It was the Stasi, the “shield and sword” of the Communist party, that was charged with ensuring the power of the party. And it did that mostly by monitoring of people and their behavior. Because even in a regime as repressive as East Germany, people wanted to express who they really were. Many found the courage to follow their hearts and thus became a danger to the existing power structure. That is why the Stasi became an all-encompassing entity in East Germany. It had to have its eyes and ears everywhere possible to make sure “enemies” of the party were uncovered early and disrupted in their activity. http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/29/opinion/nsa-germany-stasi-shadows/

Today, the U.S. President was trying to walk back campaign rhetoric concerning the healthcare law. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is the truth wherever it can be found.

In a time of universal deceit – telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
George Orwell

We often want one thing and pray for another, not telling the truth even to the gods.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

One must be very particular about telling the truth. Through truth one can realize God.
Ramakrishna

In the last few years, the very idea of telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is dredged up only as a final resort when the alternative options of deception, threat and bribery have all been exhausted.
Michael Musto

There are two ways of lying. One, not telling the truth and the other, making up statistics.
Josefina Vazquez Mota

Telling the truth, and confronting the challenge, is what politics is about.
Johann Lamont

In the process of telling the truth about what you feel or what you see, each of us has to get in touch with himself or herself in a really deep, serious way.
June Jordan

The great advantage about telling the truth is that nobody ever believes it.
Dorothy L. Sayers

“Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world…would do this, it would change the earth.”
William Faulkner

“Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make it logical; don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.”
Franz Kafka

“Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people.”
Spencer Johnson

“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
Theodore Roosevelt

“If we are not ashamed to think it, we should not be ashamed to say it.”
Cicero

“In a room where
people unanimously maintain
a conspiracy of silence,
one word of truth
sounds like a pistol shot.”
Czesław Miłosz

“Honesty is more than not lying. It is truth telling, truth speaking, truth living, and truth loving.”
James E. Faust

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“Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly.”
Mahatma Gandhi

“It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. But a half-wit remains a half-wit, and the emperor remains an emperor.”
Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones

“Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else.”
Theodore Roosevelt

“If an offense come out of the truth, better is it that the offense come than that the truth be concealed.”
Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d’Urbervilles

“The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie. “One word of truth outweighs the world.”
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

“Truth never damages a cause that is just.”
Mahatma Gandhi

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The 11/13/13 Joy Jar

14 Nov

Moi got a new, for her, notebook computer. Yes, a computer and not a tablet. If fits in her purse and she can take it with her. It is totally awesome for writing. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is moi’s notebook computer.

A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
Emo Philips

Computers are like Old Testament gods; lots of rules and no mercy.
Joseph Campbell

I think it’s fair to say that personal computers have become the most empowering tool we’ve ever created. They’re tools of communication, they’re tools of creativity, and they can be shaped by their user.
Bill Gates

Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
Pablo Picasso

I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We’ve created life in our own image.
Stephen Hawking

Treat your password like your toothbrush. Don’t let anybody else use it, and get a new one every six months.
Clifford Stoll

The new information technology… Internet and e-mail… have practically eliminated the physical costs of communications.
Peter Drucker

Computers make it easier to do a lot of things, but most of the things they make it easier to do don’t need to be done.
Andy Rooney

Part of the inhumanity of the computer is that, once it is competently programmed and working smoothly, it is completely honest.
Isaac Asimov

The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men, but that men will begin to think like computers.
Sydney J. Harris

I am thankful the most important key in history was invented. It’s not the key to your house, your car, your boat, your safety deposit box, your bike lock or your private community. It’s the key to order, sanity, and peace of mind. The key is ‘Delete.’
Elayne Boosler

Computers are magnificent tools for the realization of our dreams, but no machine can replace the human spark of spirit, compassion, love, and understanding.
Louis Gerstner

Never trust a computer you can’t throw out a window.
Steve Wozniak

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The 11/12/13 Joy Jar

12 Nov

Because Daylight Savings Time has ended, it is dark earlier. The end of Daylight Savings Time points toward the Winter Solstice. Ann-Marie Imbornoni of Infoplease describes the Winter Solstice:

Winter Solstice
Dec. 21, 2013, 12:11 PM EST (17:11 UT), marks the solstice—the beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and summer in the Southern Hemisphere
by Ann-Marie Imbornoni

The precise moment of the 2013 solstice will be Dec. 21 at 12:11 PM EST (17:11 UT).

In astronomy, the solstice is either of the two times a year when the Sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator, the great circle on the celestial sphere that is on the same plane as the earth’s equator. In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice occurs either December 21 or 22, when the sun shines directly over the tropic of Capricorn; the summer solstice occurs either June 20 or 21, when the sun shines directly over the tropic of Cancer. In the Southern Hemisphere, the winter and summer solstices are reversed.
Read more: Winter Solstice | Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/spot/wintersolstice1.html#ixzz2kVVcNrci

Walking in home in the dark, moi observed the outline of dark clouds in the cold and clear night. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ are the dark evenings which point toward the Winter Solstice and Christmas.

Night time is really the best time to work. All the ideas are there to be yours because everyone else is asleep.
Catherine O’Hara

There they stand, the innumerable stars, shining in order like a living hymn, written in light.
N.P. Willis

I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day.
Vincent Van Gogh

The night walked down the sky with the moon in her hand.
Frederick L. Knowles

Night, the beloved. Night, when words fade and things come alive. When the destructive analysis of day is done, and all that is truly important becomes whole and sound again. When man reassembles his fragmentary self and grows with the calm of a tree.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Moonlight is sculpture.
Nathaniel Hawthorne

If the Stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown! But every night come out these envoys of beauty, and light the universe with their admonishing smile.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

I cannot walk through the suburbs in the solitude of the night without thinking that the night pleases us because it suppresses idle details, just as our memory does.
Jorge Luis Borges

There is something haunting in the light of the moon; it has all the dispassionateness of a disembodied soul, and something of its inconceivable mystery.
Joseph Conrad

The day has eyes; the night has ears.
David Fergusson

Some praise the Lord for Light,
The living spark;
I thank God for the Night
The healing dark.
Robert William Service, “Weary”

A man is a very small thing, and the night is very large and full of wonders.
Edward Plunkett

For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.
Vincent Van Gogh

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The 11/11/13 Joy Jar

10 Nov

Today is Veterans Day. Here is a bit about the History of Veterans Day:

The History of Veterans Day
November 11, or what has come to be known as Veterans Day, was originally set as a U.S. legal holiday to honor Armistice Day – the end of World War I, which officially took place on November 11, 1918. In legislature that was passed in 1938, November 11 was “dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be hereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day.’ As such, this new legal holiday honored World War I veterans.
In 1954, after having been through both World War II and the Korean War, the 83rd U.S. Congress, at the urging of the veterans service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word “Armistice” and inserting the word “Veterans.” With the approval of this legislation on June 1, 1954, November 11 became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.
In 1968, the Uniforms Holiday Bill ensured three-day weekends for Federal employees by celebrating four national holidays on Mondays: Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day. Under this bill, Veterans Day was moved to the last Monday of October. Many states did not agree with this decision and continued to celebrate the holiday on its original date. The first Veterans Day under the new law was observed with much confusion on October 25, 1971.
Finally on September 20, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed a law which returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of November 11, beginning in 1978. Since then, the Veterans Day holiday has been observed on November 11.
Celebrating Veterans Day
If the November 11 holiday falls on a non-workday — Saturday or Sunday — the holiday is observed by the federal government on Monday (if the holiday falls on Sunday) or Friday (if the holiday falls on Saturday). Federal government closings are established by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. State and local government closings are determined locally, and non-government businesses can close or remain open as they see fit, regardless of Federal, state or local government operation determinations.
United States Senate Resolution 143, which was passed on August 4, 2001, designated the week of November 11 through November 17, 2001, as “National Veterans Awareness Week.” The resolution calls for educational efforts directed at elementary and secondary school students concerning the contributions and sacrifices of veterans.
For more information and frequently asked questions, visit the VA website. http://www1.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetday_faq.asp
About Veterans Day
Veterans Day gives Americans the opportunity to celebrate the bravery and sacrifice of all U.S. veterans. However, most Americans confuse this holiday with Memorial Day, reports the Department of Veterans Affairs. It’s imperative that all Americans know the history of Veterans Day so that we can honor our former service members properly…
http://www.military.com/veterans-day/

Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ are those brave men and women who have served our country and who have made many sacrifices so that we can live under the umbrella of the U.S. Constitution.
The AARP has compiled a great group of Veterans Day quotes:
“We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Cynthia Ozick

“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself. ”
Veterans Day Quotes by Joseph Campbell

“The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.”
Veterans Day Quotes by George Patton

“When eating bamboo sprouts, remember the man who planted them.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Chinese Proverb

“It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Dick Cheney

“Nurture your minds with great thoughts, to believe in the heroic makes heroes.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Benjamin Disraeli

“Freedom is never free.”
Veterans Day Quotes

“This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Elmer Davis

“I believe it is the nature of people to be heroes, given the chance.”
Veterans Day Quotes by James A. Autry

“I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, “Mother, what was war?“ ”
Veterans Day Quotes by Eve Merriam

“I think there is one higher office than president and I would call that patriot.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Gary Hart

“When our perils are past, shall our gratitude sleep? ”
Veterans Day Quotes by George Canning

“Heroes take journeys, confront dragons, and discover the treasure of their true selves.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Carol Lynn Pearson

“Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.”
“She mourned with a bleak blank determination, marching straight ahead with a shell-shocked vet’s hollow-eyed thousand-yard stare while doing the next thing and the next.”
Veterans Day Quotes by James A. Hetley

“Without heroes, we are all plain people, and don’t know how far we can go.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Bernard Malamud

“In war, there are no unwounded soldiers.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Jose Narosky

“My heroes are those who risk their lives every day to protect our world and make it a better place–police, firefighters, and members of our armed forces.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Sidney Sheldon

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”
Veterans Day Quotes by John Fitzgerald Kennedy Quotes

“Valor is stability, not of legs and arms, but of courage and the soul.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Michel de Montaigne

“In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Mark Twain

“Lord, bid war’s trumpet cease;
Fold the whole earth in peace.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Oliver Wendell Holmes

“How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes! ”
Veterans Day Quotes by Maya Angelou

“But fame is theirs – and future days; On pillar’d brass shall tell their praise; Shall tell – when cold neglect is dead – “These for their country fought and bled.“”
Veterans Day Quotes by Philip Freneau

“But the freedom that they fought for, and the country grand they wrought for, Is their monument to-day, and for aye.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Thomas Dunn English

“The more we sweat in peace the less we bleed in war.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit

“How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.”
Veterans Day Quotes by William Shakespeare
http://www.altiusdirectory.com/Society/veterans-day-quotes.php

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The 11/10/13 Joy Jar

10 Nov

Today is the 238th Birthday of the U.S. Marines. Here is the Birthday Message from James F. Amos General, U.S. Marine Corps:

The Marines are celebrating their 238th birthday Sunday. To mark the occasion, Commandant of the Marine Corps, released a birthday message:
For 238 years, The United States Marine Corps has proudly served our great Nation with unfailing valor – bolstered by the enduring fortitude of our fellow Marines, our families, and our friends. This is why each year on November 10th, Marines from all generations gather together, in groups large and small, to celebrate the birthday of our Corps and to reflect on the proud legacy and warrior ethos we share. This is what unites us as Marines. From our first battle at New Providence to today in Afghanistan, Marines have always shown that they were made of tougher stuff – that when the enemy’s fire poured in from all angles, and the situation was grim, Marines unequivocally knew that their fellow Marines would stay behind their guns, fight courageously, and drive the enemy from the battlefield. We have always known hardship, fatigue, and pain…but we have never known what it is to lose a battle!
Marine of generations past built our reputation as the most disciplined and honorable warriors to ever set foot on a battlefield, and we have triumphed in every battle because our Corps has always focused on iron discipline and combat excellence. This is who we are…this is what we do! It matters not whether you carried an M-1, and M-14, or an M-16. It matters not whether you fought on a lonely island in the Pacific, assaulted a citadel in the jungle, or marched up to Baghdad. It matters not whether you are a grunt, a pilot or a loggie. What matters most is that, when the chips were down and things got tough, your fellow Marines could count on you to stand and fight…and fight we did!
This year, we celebrate the anniversary of several epic battles in our celebrated history: the 70th anniversary fo the 2nd Marine Division landing on Tarawa, the 45th anniversary of the Battle of Hue City, and the 10th anniversary of the “March Up” to Baghdad. Marines who fought in these legendary battles each made their mark upon the history of our Corps. They have passed a rich and illustrious legacy on to us – a much heralded reputation. It is ours to jealously guard, and it is up to us to make our own marks and thus proudly pass it on to the generations of Marines who will follow.
Sergeant Major Michael Barrett joins me in congratulating each of you. Because of you, your selfless service, and your many sacrifices, our Corps remains strong and ready to respond to any crisis. Throughout history, Marines have faced tough times and there will be tough times ahead, but there is no challenge we cannot overcome if we remain honorable and always faithful to our Nation, our Constitution and each other. Happy Birthday, Marines!
Semper Fidelis
James F. Amos
General, U.S. Marine Corps
Commandant of the Marine Corps

Marines celebrate 238th birthday

Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is the U.S. Marines.

There are only two kinds of people that understand Marines: Marines and the enemy. Everyone else has a second-hand opinion.
Gen. William Thornson, U.S. Army

Freedom is not free, but the U.S. Marine Corps will pay most of your share.
Ned Dolan

A Marine is a Marine. I set that policy two weeks ago – there’s no such thing as a former Marine. You’re a Marine, just in a different uniform and you’re in a different phase of your life. But you’ll always be a Marine because you went to Parris Island, San Diego or the hills of Quantico. There’s no such thing as a former Marine.
General James F. Amos, 35th Commandant of the Marine Corps

The safest place in Korea was right behind a platoon of Marines. Lord, how they could fight!
MGen. Frank E. Lowe, USA; Korea, 26 January 1952

Why in hell can’t the Army do it if the Marines can. They are the same kind of men; why can’t they be like Marines.
Gen. John J. “Black Jack” Pershing, USA; 12 February 1918

For all of those that have son’s or daughter’s at bootcamp let me pass on what I found. Let me give you a little back ground first. When my son left home he had no motivation, he was lazy, slobby, no pride, no self worth. This is the boy that got off the bus March 18th at Parris Island. The man that I met on Thursday for parents day is AWESOME. There is no way I can describe to you all the difference. He looks different, he walks different, he talks different, he has such a sense of bearing and pride all I could do was look at him in awe. Oh yes, the training is hard, what he went through is unimaginable to any one that has not been there. They are definitely taught to be Warriors. Let me tell you the surprise of what else they are taught. My Marine son has better values, better morals, better manners than any one I know. It is so much more than Yes Sir, Yes Mam…so much more. He cares about how he looks, he cares about what he does, and its not a boastful, bad ass thing. He is a true gentleman. I saw patience, and a calmness in him that I have never seen. I could never express my gratitude enough to the Marine Corps for what they have given my son. I know this, I have an 11 year old Devil pup still at home. When the time comes for his turn if I had to I would take him kicking and screaming all the way. Although I’m sure that will not happen. The hero worship I see in my younger sons eyes for his Marine brother tells me I will have two Marines in the family, and I will be one very proud mother.
“Cybil”, Mother of a Marine writing to the myMarine Group

I have just returned from visiting the Marines at the front, and there is not a finer fighting organization in the world!
General of the Armies Douglas MacArthur; Korea, 21 September 1950

The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States Marine Corps!
Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States, 1945

Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don’t have that problem.
Ronald Reagan, President of the United States; 1985

Marines I see as two breeds, Rottweilers or Dobermans, because Marines come in two varieties, big and mean, or skinny and mean. They’re aggressive on the attack and tenacious on defense. They’ve got really short hair and they always go for the throat.
RAdm. “Jay” R. Stark, USN; 10 November 1995

For over 221 years our Corps has done two things for this great Nation. We make Marines, and we win battles.
Gen. Charles C. Krulak, USMC (CMC); 5 May 1997

We are United States Marines, and for two and a quarter centuries we have defined the standards of courage, esprit, and military prowess.
Gen. James L. Jones, USMC (CMC); 10 November 2000

There are only two kinds of people that understand Marines: Marines and the enemy. Everyone else has a second-hand opinion.
Gen. William Thornson, U.S. Army

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The 11/09/13 Joy Jar

10 Nov

Moi has had the great Blessing of attending some of the finest schools in the world. That is a double edged sword. For all those who are impressed, there are just as many who want to make one a target. What moi is most impressed with is the common sense she has developed over the years. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is common sense.

Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.
Albert Einstein

Common sense is not so common.
Voltaire

Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

The three great essentials to achieve anything worth while are: Hard work, Stick-to-itiveness, and Common sense.
Thomas A. Edison

Society is always taken by surprise at any new example of common sense.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.
Franklin D. Roosevelt

Common sense is the genius of humanity.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge

There is nothing more uncommon than common sense.
Frank Lloyd Wright

Common sense is in spite of, not as the result of education.
Victor Hugo

It is a thousand times better to have common sense without education than to have education without common sense.
Robert Green Ingersoll

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The 11/08/13 Joy Jar

8 Nov

As the holiday season begins and Christmas is not that far off, thoughts turn to the future. As long as one is breathing, one has a future. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is hope for the future.

Love God, hope for the future and have faith in yourself and people.
Jonathan Pelaez Yutan

Life is the ability to see what you can become before you realize what you’ve become, it is the hope for the future and the happenings of the past.
Frederica Ehimen

One should not brood on the past, one must hope for the future.
Jean Plaidy

Live for today, love for tomorrow, and laugh at all your yesterdays. Never regret the past, always hope for the future, and cherish every moment you have.
Nishan Panwar

The highest knowledge is to know that we are surrounded by mystery. Neither knowledge nor hope for the future can be the pivot of our life or determine its direction. It is intended to be solely determined by our allowing ourselves to be gripped by the ethical God, who reveals Himself in us, and by our yielding our will to His.
Albert Schweitzer

“The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.”
Abraham Lincoln quotes

Winners learn from the past and enjoy working in the present toward the future.”
Denis Waitley

“Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal. Live this day as if it were your last. The past is over and gone. The future is not guaranteed.”
Wayne Dyer

My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there”
Charles F. Kettering

What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace.
Agnes M Pharo

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The 11/07/13 Joy Jar

8 Nov

Every day aside from the fact that God has given one another day to live, one should be thankful for their Blessings. Every person is Blessed, no matter their material circumstance because each day offers hope of a better day and better tomorrow. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ are the Blessings of each day.

A sunbeam to warm you,
A moonbeam to charm you,
A sheltering angel, so nothing can harm you.
Irish Blessing

May you live as long as you are fit to live, but no longer! or, may you rather die before you cease to be fit to live than after!
Philip Dormer Stanhope, 1749

Our prayers should be for blessings in general, for God knows best what is good for us.
Socrates

Be true to yourself, help others, make each day your masterpiece, make friendship a fine art, drink deeply from good books – especially the Bible, build a shelter against a rainy day, give thanks for your blessings and pray for guidance every day.
John Wooden

Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself, and know that everything in life has purpose. There are no mistakes, no coincidences, all events are blessings given to us to learn from.
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Our real blessings often appear to us in the shape of pains, losses and disappointments; but let us have patience and we soon shall see them in their proper figures.
Joseph Addison

What if you gave someone a gift, and they neglected to thank you for it – would you be likely to give them another? Life is the same way. In order to attract more of the blessings that life has to offer, you must truly appreciate what you already have.
Ralph Marston

The Bible is one of the greatest blessings bestowed by God on the children of men. It has God for its author; salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture for its matter. It is all pure.
John Locke

Envy is the art of counting the other fellow’s blessings instead of your own.
Harold Coffin

Of the blessings set before you make your choice, and be content.
Samuel Johnson

A wise man should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings, and learn how by his own thought to derive benefit from his illnesses.
Hippocrates

On the recollection of so many and great favours and blessings, I now, with a high sense of gratitude, presume to offer up my sincere thanks to the Almighty, the Creator and Preserver.
William Bartram

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The 11/06/13 Joy Jar

8 Nov

The ‘Joy Jar’ is a year-long exercise in finding something to be grateful for every day. It will end on December 25, 2013. During the year, moi has put hundreds of thought nuggets into the ‘Joy Jar.’ The only thing that ties the authors together is their individuality. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is individuality.

Imitation is the highest form of flattery, but clones kind of get it wrong because we are promoting individuality and being proud of being yourself.
Brian Molko

A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns that ‘individuality’ is the key to success.
Robert Orben

Certain defects are necessary for the existence of individuality.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Resistance to the organized mass can be effected only by the man who is as well organized in his individuality as the mass itself.
Carl Jung

All greatness of character is dependent on individuality. The man who has no other existence than that which he partakes in common with all around him, will never have any other than an existence of mediocrity.
James F. Cooper

It is those who concentrates on but one thing at a time who advance in this world. The great man or woman is the one who never steps outside his or her specialty or foolishly dissipates his or her individuality.
Og Mandino

If a man is not faithful to his own individuality, he cannot be loyal to anything.
Claude McKay

Individuality is founded in feeling; and the recesses of feeling, the darker, blinder strata of character, are the only places in the world in which we catch real fact in the making, and directly perceive how events happen, and how work is actually done.
William James

It is a blessed thing that in every age some one has had the individuality enough and courage enough to stand by his own convictions.
Robert Green Ingersoll

You lose your individuality a huge amount when you have no money, and I certainly had that experience.
J. K. Rowling

The reason most people don’t express their individuality and actually deny it, is not fear of what prime ministers think of us or the head of the federal reserve, It’s what their families and their friends down at the bar are going to think of them.
David Icke

In a society that tries to standardize thinking, individuality is not highly prized.
Alex Grey

Whatever crushes individuality is despotism, by whatever name it may be called and whether it professes to be enforcing the will of God or the injunctions of men.
John Stuart Mill

The four cornerstones of character on which the structure of this nation was built are: Initiative, Imagination, Individuality and Independence.
Eddie Rickenbacker

What is genius but the power of expressing a new individuality?
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

No one should part with their individuality and become that of another.
William Ellery Channing

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The 11/05/13 Joy Jar

6 Nov

Today is Election Day in the state of Washington. Moi is always amazed that elections come and go peacefully whether one is involved or interested. There is something to be said for a regular process for making decisions, even if not everyone is not happy with the outcome. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is Election Day.

“The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.
To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it.
To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.”
Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

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“Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half.”
Gore Vidal, Screening History

“A vote is like a rifle: its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.”
Theodore Roosevelt

“Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”
Abraham Lincoln

“When one with honeyed words but evil mind
Persuades the mob, great woes befall the state.”
Euripides, Orestes

“The ballot is stronger than the bullet.”
Abraham Lincoln

“Free election of masters does not abolish the masters or the slaves.”
Herbert Marcuse

Every election is determined by the people who show up.”
Larry J. Sabato, Pendulum Swing

In a society governed passively by free markets and free elections, organized greed always defeats disorganized democracy.”
Matt Taibbi, Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America

“In a democracy, someone who fails to get elected to office can always console himself with the thought that there was something not quite fair about it.”
Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War

To win the people, always cook them some savoury that pleases them.”
Aristophanes, The Knights

“…they say if you don’t vote, you get the government you deserve, and if you do, you never get the results you expected.”
E.A. Bucchianeri, Brushstrokes of a Gadfly

The ruling power is always faced with the question, ‘In such and such circumstances, what would you do?’, whereas the opposition is not obliged to take responsibility or make any real decisions.”
George Orwell

“Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable — the art of the next best”
Otto von Bismarck

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