Drugs - Quotes

Drug misuse is not a disease, it is a decision, like the decision to step out in front of a moving car. You would call that not a disease but an error of judgment. - Philip K. Dick

No drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the sources of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power. - P. J. O’Rourke

The human mind is capable of excitement without the application of gross and violent stimulants; and he must have a very faint perception of its beauty and dignity, who does not know this. - William Wordsworth

Quote Worthy

We all admire the wisdom of people who come to us for advice. - Arthur Helps 

Curses are like young chickens, they always come home to roost. - John Babsone Soule 

A person wrapped up in himself makes a small package. - Harry Emerson Fosdick 

Vessels large may venture more, But little boats should keep near shore. - Benjamin Franklin 

Happy is he who learns to bear what he cannot change. - Johann Friedrich Von Schiller 

For the resolute and determined there is time and opportunity. - Ralph Waldo Emerson 

There is nothing that fear and hope does not permit men to do. - Marquis De Vauvenargues 

What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure. - Samuel Johnson 

A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds. - James Howell 

You can make yourself happy or miserable – it's the same amount of effort. - Ray Bradbury 

Duty - Quotes

Duties are not performed for duty's sake, but because their neglect would make the man uncomfortable. A man performs but one duty – the duty of contenting his spirit, the duty of making himself agreeable to himself. - Mark Twain

Duty doesn't need to call; it only needs to whisper. And if you heed the call, no matter what happens, you have no need for regret. - Dean Koontz

Duty is the sublimest word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never do less. - Robert E. Lee

Even the wild beasts have a duty to perform, for duty is the handmaiden of life. All things that have life have a duty, for life itself is duty. When a man has no obligations, he is dead. - Janice Manning & Marshall Masters

Every duty is great; great, because it tries our principle; great, because for the time being it tries our loyalty to conscience, and our energy and will. - E. H. Chapin

Honour is no phantom. Duty doesn't melt away, no matter how much we might wish it to. - Claudia J. Edwards

If there is to be no satisfaction in pleasure, none in wisdom, none in ambition, none in the golden mean, what then? Ah, where then? In duty. In doing right because it is right. - Lyman Abbott

In doing what we ought, we deserve no praise, because it is our duty. - Joseph Addison

No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks. - James Allen

No more duty can be urged upon those who are entering the great theatre of life than simple loyalty to their best convictions. - Edwin Hubbel Chapin

Obedience and resignation are our personal offerings upon the altar of duty. - Hosea Ballou

One painful duty fulfilled makes the next plainer and easier. - Helen Keller

Our duty is wakefulness, the fundamental condition of life itself. The unseen, the unheard, the untouchable is what weaves the fabric of our see-able universe together. - Robin Craig Clark

The brave man inattentive to his duty, is worth little more to his country, than the coward who deserts her in the hour of danger. - Andrew Jackson

The brave man wants no charms to encourage him to his duty, and the good man scorns all warnings that would deter him from fulfilling it. - Edward Bulwer-Lytton

The daily life is so wearisome; yet duty lies that way. - C. W. Leadbeater

The first duty of a man is to think for himself. - José Martí

The journey of life is plain and straight enough if people were trained to make principle their watchword and duty their rule. - James Platt

The superior man is the man who fulfils his duty. - Eugene Ionesco

The want of reward is no warrant for us to dispense with our duty. - Samuel Richardson

There are not good things enough in life to indemnify us for the neglect of a single duty. - Madame Swetchine

Until our duty becomes to us common as breathing, we are poor creatures. - George MacDonald

We need to restore the full meaning of that old word, duty. It is the other side of rights. - Pearl Buck

We never fail when we try to do our duty – we always fail when we neglect to do it. - Lord Baden-Powell

What chastity is to woman, duty is to man, the willingly assumed burden of their kind. - Janice Manning & Marshall Masters

When the destinies of the world are at stake, there comes a point at which private esteem and admiration must give way to the sense of public duty. - William Archer

Bodhidharma On Looking for the Buddha

Bodhidharma was a Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th/6th century and is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Zen to China.

To find a Buddha all you have to do is see your nature. Your nature is the Buddha. And the Buddha is the person who's free: free of plans, free of cares. If you don't see your nature and run around all day looking somewhere else, you'll never find a Buddha. The truth is, there's nothing to find. But to reach such an understanding you need a teacher and you need to struggle to make yourself understand. . . . If you don't find a teacher soon, you'll live this life in vain. It's true, you have the Buddha-nature. But without the help of a teacher you'll never know it. Only one person in a million becomes enlightened without a teacher's help. If, though, by the conjunction of conditions, someone understands what the Buddha meant, that person doesn't need a teacher. Such a person has a natural awareness superior to anything taught. But unless you're so blessed, study hard, and by means of instruction you'll understand. - Bodhidharma

Source: The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma

Food For Thought

One of the most difficult things everyone has to learn is that for your entire life you must keep fighting and adjusting if you hope to survive. No matter who you are or what your position is, you must keep fighting for whatever it is you desire to achieve. -  George Allen 

Try to make at least one person happy every day. If you cannot do a kind deed, speak a kind word. If you cannot speak a kind word, think a kind thought. Count up, if you can, the treasure of happiness that you would dispense in a week, in a year, in a lifetime! -  Lawrence G. Lovasik

Look at the stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two and I know it was not the last blow that did it but all that had gone before. -  Jacob August Riis

The Mafia’s Bookkeeper

              A Mafia Godfather finds out that his bookkeeper has cheated him out of ten million bucks. His bookkeeper is deaf.

              That was the reason he got the job in the first place. It was assumed that a deaf bookkeeper would not hear anything that he might have to testify about in court.

              When the Godfather goes to confront the bookkeeper about his missing $10 million, he brings along his attorney, who knows sign language.

              The Godfather tells the lawyer, “Ask him where the 10 million bucks he embezzled from me is.”

              The attorney, using sign language, asks the bookkeeper where the money is.

              The attorney tells the Godfather: “He says he doesn’t know what you’re talking about.”

              The Godfather pulls out a pistol, puts it to the bookkeeper’s temple and says, “Ask him  again!”

              The attorney signs to the bookkeeper: “He’ll kill you if you don’t tell him!”

              The bookkeeper signs back: “OK! You win! The money is in a brown briefcase, buried behind the shed in my cousin Enzo’s backyard in Queens!”

              The Godfather asks the attorney: “Well, what’d he say?”

              The attorney replies: “He says you don’t have the balls to pull the trigger.”

The Optimist Creed

Originally published in 1912 in a book titled Your Forces and How to Use Them, this famous creed by Christian D. Larson is worth reading every morning and evening.

PROMISE YOURSELF …

To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.

To think only of the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are bout your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature you meet.

To give so much time to improving yourself that  you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud word, but in great deeds.

To live in the faith that the whole world is on your side, so long as you are true to the best that is in you.

Calmness - Quotes

Looking for a quote on a particular subject? I have categorized the quotes to make the search easier. This 'label' - ZQuotesC - has all the quotes on subjects beginning with the Alphabet C. You might want to search the labels on the right hand side of the page too.

Calmness

Calmness comes from within. It is the peace and restfulness of the depths of our nature. The fury of storm and of wind agitate only the surface of the sea; they penetrate only two or three hundred feet; below that is the calm, unruffled deep. To be ready for the great crises of life we must learn serenity in our daily living. Calmness is the crown of self-control. - William Jordan

Calmness is not weakness. A calm attitude at all times shows a man of culture. It is not too hard for a man to be calm when things are favourable, but to be composed when things are wrong is hard indeed, and it is this difficult quality that is worth achieving; for by such calm and control he builds up strength of character. - Unknown 

Calmness is the cradle of power. - Josiah Gilbert Holland

Calmness is the rarest quality in human life. It is the poise of a great nature, in harmony with itself and its ideals. It is the moral atmosphere of a life self-centered, self-reliant, and self-controlled. Calmness is singleness of purpose, absolute confidence, and conscious power, ready to be focused in an instant to meet any crises. - William Jordan

Calmness is not weakness. A calm attitude at all times shows a man of culture. It is not too hard for man to be calm when things are favourable, but to be composed when things are wrong is hard indeed, and it is this difficult quality that is worth achieving; for by such calm and control he builds up strength of character. -  K. Sri Dhammananda

Remaining calm in the midst of the storm can help you through the tempest. - Sherri Bishop

The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. - James Allen

Quote Worthy

Expect the best, prepare for the worst and don't be surprised when you get what you deserve. -  Lionel Goulet  

There is a difference between imitating a good man and counterfeiting him. -  Benjamin Franklin  

Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school. - Albert Einstein  

Experience is how life catches up with us and teaches us to love and forgive each other. -  Judy Collins  

I have made mistakes but I have never made the mistake of claiming that I have never made one. -  James Gordon Bennett  

Resentment is one burden that is incompatible with your success. Always be the first to forgive; and forgive yourself first – always. -  Dan Zadra   

I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do. -  Robert Heinlein  

People learn something every day, and a lot of times it’s that what they learned the day before was wrong. -  Bill Vaughan  

Bodhidharma On Worshipping The Buddha

Bodhidharma was a Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th/6th century and is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Zen to China.

Bodhidharma: Even if a buddha or bodhisattva should suddenly appear before you, there's no need for reverence. This mind of ours is empty and contains no such form. Those who hold onto appearances are devils. They fall from the Path. Why worship illusions born of the mind? . . . The basic nature of a buddha has no such form. Keep this in mind, even if something unusual should appear. Don't embrace it, and don't fear it, and don't doubt that your mind is basically pure. . . . Also at the appearance of spirits, demons, or divine beings, conceive neither respect nor fear. Your mind is basically empty. All appearances are illusions. Don't hold on to appearances. If you envision a buddha, a dharma, or a bodhisattva and conceive respect for them, you relegate yourself to the realm of mortals. If you seek direct understanding, don't hold on to any appearance whatsoever, and you'll succeed. . . . The sutras say, "That which is free of all form is the buddha."

Disciple: But why shouldn't we worship buddhas and bodhisattvas? Bodhidharma: Devils and demons possess the power of manifestation. They can create the appearance of bodhisattvas in all sorts of guises. But they're false. None of them are buddhas. The buddha is your own mind. Don't misdirect your worship.

Disciple: But the Bathhouse Sutra says, "By contributing to the bathing of monks, people receive limitless blessings." This would appear to be an instance of external practice achieving merit. How does this relate to beholding the mind?

Bodhidharma: . . . Our true buddha-nature has no shape. And the dust of affliction has no form. How can people use ordinary water to wash an intangible body? It won't work. . . . To clean such a body you have to behold it. Once impurities and filth arise from desire, they multiply until they cover you inside and out. But if you try to wash this body of yours, you'll have to scrub until it's nearly gone before it's clean.

Source: The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma