Solo Living, Travel, Mom: Inspiration

We regularly add inspirational, insightful, witty and wise statements, lists, anecdotes and quotations -- from Jessica Simpson to George Washington, from Dr. Phil to Dr. Seuss -- selected with solo women in mind. You can share your own wisdom, stories, experiences, thoughts or quotes in a blog, or use our message board

Often the best way to win is to forget to keep score. – Marianne Espinosa Murphy

No pleasure is worth giving up for the sake of two more years in a geriatric home. -- Kingsley Amis

Pablo Casals was a past master of the cello. He was the virtuoso in the 20th century. He was in his 90s and he was still practicing three hours a day, and one of his friends said to him, "Senor Casals, you are such a past master, a virtuoso of this instrument, everyone knows it and acknowledges it. Why do you practice three hours a day?" and he said, "Well, I'm beginning to notice some improvement." -- George Carlin

It's better to have your enemies in your tent pissing out than outside your tent, pissing in. -- Lyndon Baines Johnson

The richest person is not the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least.

Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in. -- Napoleon Bonaparte

I was surprised enough to get married at 66. At 74, I'm ok. -- Gloria Steinhem, when asked if she would marry again

The Barbara Walters List for Success
1. Work harder than anyone else.
2. Accept most every assignment.
3. Do your homework.
4. Keep your complaints to yourself.
5. Finish the job.
6. Move on.

People think if you're single, you are incomplete. No. The thing is, I don't want to be in a relationship that makes me incomplete. I'm not going to bring some idiot into my world, and if I'm not sure about him, I'm cautious... My list is all about balance. You can have smart but not funny. You can have funny but not very smart. You can have intellectual but not social. But... I want it all! I love big brains. I love to eat. I love to be outdoors. I love to have conversations! I love to make love. I live like arrrgh! I don't do anything half-assed, and I want somebody who can keep up with all that. And I want someone who can show me something, you know?" -- Cameron Diaz
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If they are good workmen, they may be from Asia, Africa or Europe; they may be Mahometans, Jews, Christians of any sect, or they may be Atheists....-- George Washington, to Tench Tighman, March 24, 1784, when asked what type of workman to get for Mount Vernon

All truth passes through three stages: First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. -- Gandhi

Man, woman. Like to touch each other.... I always knew that I didn't want to get married. I've always known that I'd be a mom from the time I was a little girl. -- Charlize Theron

Forgo your anger for a moment and save yourself a hundred days of trouble. -- Chinese proverb

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or find it not. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Screwing things up is a virtue. Being correct is never the point. I have an almost fanatically correct assistant, and by the time she re-spells my words and corrects my punctuation, I can’t read what I wrote. Being right can stop all the momentum of a very interesting idea. -- Robert Rauschenberg

A woman is like a teabag. Put her in hot water and see how strong she becomes. -- Eleanor Roosevelt

I always avoided marriage in the past and was always very wary of it. I felt like it was potentially a trap. People sometimes want the party, the gifts and the public celebration of this big love - they're excited about that rather than about the lifetime commitment. So I always steered clear of it. -- Cynthia Nixon

Love the people who treat you right. Love the ones who don't, just because you can.

Five things will make you happy if you have them in your home: flowers, a lovely place to eat a meal, a chilled bottle of white wine, Goldfish crackers and a cat.

If you must leave a party and you don't have a good excuse, spill something on yourself.

The proper way to end a conversation is "I'm sorry to let you go." -- Ana Marie Cox

The thing we call failure is not the falling down, but the staying down. -- Mary Pickford

You don't want to get into a wrestling party with a pig. You both get dirty, and the pig likes it. -- Bob Dole

To remain silent and indifferent is the greatest sin of all. -- Elie Weisel

However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results. -- Sir Winston Churchill

The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been. -- Madeleine L'Engle

Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash. -- George S. Patton

Even if it is true that it is possible to have it all, that still doesn't mean that you get to have it all at once. -- Erma Bombeck

We cannot change the cards we're dealt, just how we play the hand. -- Anonymous

Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.-- Ernest Hemingway

For everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. -- Ecclesiates 3.1

Choose your friends by their character and your socks by their color. Choosing your socks by their character makes no sense, and choosing you friends by their color is unthinkable. -- Anonymous

His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog.

There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.

The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved.

'I want to repay you,' said the nobleman. 'You saved my son's life.'

'No, I can't accept payment for what I did,' the Scottish farmer replied waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel.

'Is that your son?' the nobleman asked.

'Yes,' the farmer replied proudly.

'I'll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the level of education my own son will enjoy. If the lad is anything like his father, he'll no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of.' And that he did.

Farmer Fleming's son attended the very best schools and in time, graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.

Years afterward, the same nobleman's son who was saved from the bog was stricken with pneumonia.

What saved his life this time? Penicillin.

The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill.

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Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching. Sing like nobody's listening ... Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

May you have warmth in your igloo, oil in your lamp, and peace in your heart. -- Inuit proverb

The problem is that men don't hear a word women say and women hear every word a man says. -- Larry Miller

The great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving. -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall. – Confucius

The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs. -- Charles de Gaulle

A mistress perceives that love is not calibrated in length of days but in height and depth. A love affair is constantly subject to two threats: a foreseeable end and a fragmentary present, which ought to destroy it but they don't. A love affair does not ask security against the world's fate; it shares that fate and knows it only too poignantly, which gives it great vitality for its season.--Tango

In nature, the lure of the unknown, the intuitive, even the invisible reminds me that the land, the ocean, and the sky above will never vanish. They are longer than our idea of forever. -- Diane Keaton

As hard as it may be to let go of that bird in the hand, sometimes you have to pitch the pigeon to make room for the canary. -- Unknown

When I was little, I used to believe in the concept of one best friend, and then I started to become a woman.

One friend is needed when you're going through things with your man.

Another friend is needed when you're going through things with your mom.

Another will sit beside you in the bleachers as you delight in your children and their activities.

Another when you want to shop, share, heal, hurt, joke, or just be.

One friend will say, "Let's cry together,"

another, "Let's fight together,"

another, "Let's walk away together."

One friend will meet your spiritual need,

another your shoe fetish, another your love for movies, another will be with you in your season of confusion, another will be your clarifier,

another the wind beneath your wings.

But whatever their assignment in your life,

on whatever the occasion,

on whatever the day,

or wherever you need them to meet you with their gym shoes on and hair pulled back,

or to hold you back from making a complete fool of yourself ...

those are your best friends.

It may all be wrapped up in one woman,

but for many, it's wrapped up in several..

one from 7th grade,

one from high school,

several from the college years,

a couple from old jobs,

on some days your mother,

on some days your neighbor,

on others, your sisters,

and on some days, your daughters. They are all your friends. Honor them. Love them.

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A Traditional Taoist Tale

Once upon a time a wise old farmer who lived on the steppes awoke to find that his prize mare had broken out of the corral and run off. The neighbors cried, "Oh, what bad luck your best horse ran away!" The farmer, however, replied, "Who knows?" A few days later the mare returned and brought back with it a magnificent mustang stallion. The neighbors cried, "Oh, what good luck!" Again the farmer replied, "Who knows?" Then the farmer's son tried to ride the wild horse and was thrown and broke his leg.

The neighbors shouted, "Oh, what bad luck!" and the farmer said, as always, "Who knows?" Then the local warlord raced into the village conscripting all the able-bodied young men into battle. When he came upon the farmer's son and his broken leg he let him stay. His neighbors cheered, "Oh, what good luck that your son was spared!" The farmer could only answer what he had before. "Who knows?"

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. -- Albert Schweitzer

There is no remedy for death -- or birth. Live loud. Live wide. Live tall. -- Jim Crace

Falling in love consists merely in uncorking the imagination and bottling the common sense.-- Helen Rowland

I wanted to be in a good relationship. But those good relationships that are strong and substantive never happened to me. I was always just a little afraid of men. Oh no, am I going to be myself or am I going to constantly be saying 'Your jokes are so funny.' Maybe that was my generation. or maybe I didn't feel comfortable with men to go, 'Hey, I don't agree with you on that.' I was inclined to be somebody who went along. Not a good thing. They're not getting the real you. I'd get lost in that, and when the real me came out, it was less than flattering. -- Diane Keaton

The happiest people don't need the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.

The following is the philosophy of Charles Schultz, the creator of the 'Peanuts' comic strip. You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just read straight through and you'll get the point.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America.

4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winner for best actor and actress.

6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners .

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with .

Easier?

The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care .

1.) "Fine" : The word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.

2.) "Five minutes" : If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour.Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

3.) "Nothing" : This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in "fine."

4.) "Go ahead" : This is a dare, not permission. Don't do it!

5.) Loud sigh : This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to #3 for the meaning of nothing.)

6.) "That's okay" : This is one of the most dangerous statements a woman can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

7.) " Thanks" : If a woman is thanking you, do not question, or faint. Just say "You're welcome."

8.) "Whatever" : Women's way of saying "f-ck you"!

9.) " Don't worry about it, I got it": Another dangerous statement, meaning: This is something a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing herself. This will later result in a man asking 'What's wrong?' For the woman's response, refer to #3.

Advice is one of those things it is far more blessed to give than to receive. -- Carolyn Wells

The more one worries, the older one gets; the more one laughs, the younger one feels. -- Chinese proverb

Talking without thinking is like shooting without aiming. -- 18th-century French proverb

A group of alumni got together for a visit with their old university professor. The conversation soon turned to complaints about the endless stress of work, and life in general.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went into the kitchen and soon returned with a large pot and an eclectic assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal - some plain, some expensive, some quite exquisite. Quietly he told them to help themselves.

When each of his former students had a cup of coffee in hand, the old professor cleared his throat and addressed the small gathering... "You may have noticed that all of the nicer looking cups were taken up first, leaving behind the plainer and cheaper ones.

"While it is only natural for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is actually the source of much of your stress-related problems."

He continued."Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In fact, the cup merely disguises or dresses up what we drink.What each of you really wanted was coffee, not a cup, but you instinctively went for the best cups, then you began eying each other’s cups...."

"Now consider this: Life is coffee. Jobs, money, and position in society are merely cups. They are just tools to shape and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not truly define nor change the quality of the Life we live. Often, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee provided us. Enjoy your coffee!"

The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything. So: Live simply. Love generously. Care Deeply. Speak Kindly.

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I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no 'brief candle' to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.-- George Bernard Shaw

If you want to understand commitment, think of bacon and eggs. The chicken was involved; the pig was committed! -- Thomas Keller

Young love is about wanting to be happy. Old love is about wanting somebody else to be happy. -- Mary Pipher

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay them.

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts,
gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the
devil's workshop.' And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love , whether it's family,pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country, but not to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

When a soldier comes home, he finds it hard....to listen to his son whine about being bored. .to be tolerant of people who complain about the hassle of getting ready for work...to be understanding when a co-worker complains about a bad night's sleep....to be silent when people pray to God for a new car...to control his panic when his wife tells him he needs to drive slower. ...to be compassionate when a businessman expresses a fear of flying....to keep from laughing when anxious parents say they're afraid to send their kids off to summer camp....to keep from ridiculing someone who complains about hot weather. ...to control his frustration when a colleague gripes about his coffee being cold../.to remain calm when his daughter complains about having to walk the dog...to be civil to people who complain about their jobs ...to just walk away when someone says they only get two weeks of vacation a year. The only thing harder than being a soldier...is loving one.

Twenty years ago, I drove a cab. When I arrived at 2:30a.m., the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window. Under these circumstances, many drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a minute, and then drive away. But I had seen too many impoverished people who depended on taxis as their only means of transportation. Unless a situation smelled of danger, I always went to the door. This passenger might be someone who needs my assistance, I reasoned to myself.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 80's stood before me. By her side was a small nylon suitcase.

She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness. "It's nothing," I told her. "I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother
treated".

When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, and then asked, "Could you drive through downtown?" "It's not the shortest way," I answered. "Oh, I don't mind," she said. "I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice".

I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. "I don't have any family left," she continued.

I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, "I'm tired. Let's go now"

We drove in silence to the address she had given me. Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair. "How much do I owe you?" she asked, reaching into her purse.

"There are other passengers," I responded. Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.

"You gave an old woman a little moment of joy."

I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light. I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?

I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life.We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware, beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one. People may not remember what you said, but they will remember how you made them feel.

I found in my solitude a species of freedom that was to my liking ... -- from Exit Ghost by Philip Roth

A caterpillar thinks its world is ending -- and then it becomes a butterfly.

There’s no such thing as a saint without a past and a sinner without a future. -- Christopher Dodd

Jodie Foster: Never. I hope. It’s got to be boring — having to share a bathroom with someone.

To be rich in admiration and free from envy, to rejoice greatly in the good of others, to love with such generosity of heart that your love is still a dear possession in absence or unkindness -- these are the gifts which money cannot buy. -- Robert Louis Stevenson

You may be on the right track, but if you just sit there you'll get run over. -- Will Rogers

If you have a foot on yesterday and a foot on tomorrow, you're peeing on today. -- Michael J. Fox

Age is an issue of mind over matter; if you don't mind, it doesn't matter. -- Mark Twain

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed

I would have sat on the lawn with my grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television, and more while watching life.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner." There would have been more "I love you's" More "I'm sorry's."

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute...look at it and really see it .. . live it and never give it back. -- Erma Bombeck

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The roller coaster sells amusement park tickets, not the merry-go-round.-- Chris Newlin

Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt, and dance like you do when nobody's watching.

Focus on the front windshield and not the rearview mirror of life. – General Colin Powell

We don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.-- George Bernard Shaw

It is ... better to have no ideas than false ones; to believe nothing, than to believe what is wrong. -- Thomas Jefferson

First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win. -- Mahatma Gandhi

Happiness: Learn the truth and live within it. -- theme of Anton Chekhov's play, The Seagull

May the road rise up to meet you, May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, And the rain fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand -- An Irish wish

To think creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what we normally take for granted. -- George Kneller

Friendship is the only cure for hatred, the only guarantee of peace. -- Buddha

We are told that people stay in love because of chemistry, or because they remain intrigued with each other, because of many kindnesses, because of luck. But part of it has got to be forgiveness and gratefulness. -- Ellen Goodman

If you put a spoonful of wine in a barrel full of sewage, you get sewage. If you put a spoonful of sewage in a barrel full of wine, you get sewage. -- Schopenhauer's Law of Entropy

Don't be sad it ended; be happy it happened. -- words of the day from a Peter Deillmann river cruise pamphlet

I think it would be a good idea. -- Gandhi, when asked what he thought of Western Civilization

A Woman Should Have ... a set of screw drivers, a cordless drill and a black lace bra; one friend who makes her laugh; one who lets her cry; a good piece of furniture not previously owned; eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a recipe that will make her guests feel honored; a feeling of control over her destiny.

A Woman Should Know ... how to quit a job; break up with a lover and confront a friend without ruining the friendship; when to try harder, and when to walk away; that she can't change the length of her calves, the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents; that her children may not have been perfect, but it's over; what she would or wouldn't do for love or more; how to live alone; whom she can trust, whom she can't and why she shouldn't take it personally; where to go, be it her kitchen table, or an inn in the woods when her soul needs soothing; what she can accomplish, in a day, a month, a year.

Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness. -- James Thurber

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If life kicks you, make sure it kicks you forward. -- Kay Yow, North Carolina State women’s basketball coach

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Life is a great big canvas; throw all the paint on it you can. -- Danny Kaye

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Prejudice tolerated is intolerance encouraged. -- Harvey Fierstein

When I'm single, I don't try to find someone. I focus on a guy if he's a boyfriend, but I don't focus on finding a boyfriend. Anyway, they're never around when you want them! -- Scarlett Johansson

True equality will only be achieved when we have mediocre women in high positions - Unknown

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more; love more -- and all good things will be yours.--Swedish proverb

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined. --Thoreau

The butterfly counts not months but moments -- and has time enough. -- Rabindranath Tagore (Indian poet, playwright, essayist)

If most of us are ashamed of shabby clothes and shoddy furniture, let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies.... It would be a sad situation if the wrapper were better than the meat wrapped inside it.-- Albert Einstein

Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habits. Watch your habits, they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny. -- Frank Outlaw

The world is round, and the place which may seem like the end may also be the beginning. -- Ivy Baker

Wonderful is sound~Wonderful is wisdom~Wonderful is life~Wonderful its distinctions~Wonderful is praise~Wonderful is eulogy~Wonderful the Presence~One sees in the present~O wonder-struck am I to see wonder upon wonder.-- Sikh Holy Book

I viewed divorce as a death of all things you planned together. But I've been through the hills and valleys and at this point in my life, I feel settled. -- Vanessa Williams

I am not interested in dating. I have a chosen family of friends. They include old lovers, who turn into friends. It’s so wonderful. All the brain cells that were dedicated to sex, they’re free for other things now. -Gloria Steinem

Love is like a butterfly. The more you chase it, the more it will elude you. But if you sit quietly, it will come and sit gently upon your shoulder.

Do stuff. Be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration’s shove or society’s kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It’s all about paying attention. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager. -- Susan Sontag

I would rather be shut up in a very modest cottage with my books, my family, and a few old friends, dining on simple bacon, and letting the world roll on as it liked, than to occupy the most splendid post, which any human power can give. -- Thomas Jefferson

If we are bound to forgive an enemy, we are not bound to trust him. -- Thomas Fuller

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By the time you~Swear you're his,~Shivery and sighing,~And he vows his passion is~Infinite, undying ---~Lady, make a note of this:~One of you is lying. -- Dorothy Parker

Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least. -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. -- Mark Twain

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

-- A smile from you can bring a smile to someone else (even if they don't like you that much!).
-- You probably mean the world to someone.
-- If not for you, someone may not be living.
-- You are special and unique.
-- When you think you have no chance of getting what you want, you probably won't get it.
-- When you make a big mistake, something good can still come from it.
-- When you think the world has turned its back, you most likely turned your back on the world.
-- Someone who you don't know exists may someday love you.
-- Remember the compliments. Forget the disses.
-- Tell someone when you feel good about them; you'll both be happier.
-- If you have a great friend, take the time to let her know she's great.

You know how someone's appearance can change the longer you know them? How a really attractive person, if you don't like them, can become more and more ugly; whereas someone you might not have even have noticed ... that you wouldn't look at more than once, if you love them, can become the most beautiful thing you've ever seen. All you want to do is be near them. -- movie, The Truth About Cats and Dogs

You must be the change you wish to see in the world. -- Mohandas K. (Mahatma) Gandhi

If you're worried about your memory, it's probably not that serious. But if your friends and relatives are worried about it, then it may be.

If you want to sacrifice the admiration of many men for the criticism of one, go ahead, get married. -- Katherine Hepburn

In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on. – Robert Frost

Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. -- Carl Jung

A Vixen...appreciates what she has, yet always strives for more. Flaunts her brain, not just her body. Learns from her mistakes but doesn't agonize over the past. Will shamelessly rock out to Kelly Clarkson. Never apologizes for cleaning her plate. -- Vixen magazine

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather skidding in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "Woo Hoo, what a ride!"

10 Wise Thoughts You Can Learn From Noah

Don't miss the boat.
Remember that we are all in the same boat.
Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.
Stay fit. When you're 60 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.
Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.
Build your future on high ground.
For safety's sake, travel in pairs. (But only for safety's sake!)
Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.
When you're stressed, float awhile.
Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
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It's that feeling on the inside that shows on the outside. You can't borrow it. You can't fake it. You can't hide it, lose it, lend it, break it, shake it or teach it a thing or two. You can't forget it or forego it, open it or close it. It won't be ignored. And you definitely can't take it for granted. And when you've got it inside, you know it. -- ad

Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get. -- Dave Gardner

One evening an old Cherokee told his granddaughter about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My dear, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The granddaughter thought about it for a minute and then asked her grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out. -- Vaclav Havel

Money and time are the heaviest burdens of life, and ... the unhappiest of all mortals are those who have more of either than they know how to use. -- Samuel Johnson

Is there anything better than to be longing for something when you know it is within reach? -- Greta Garbo

Love many. Trust few. Always paddle your own canoe. -- sign in a South Indiana canoe rental outfitter

I never wanted to be alone, but now I crave being alone .... I feel alive. I feel free. I feel like I can do anything and there's no one to answer to but myself ... It's, like, girltime -- a healing within in a lot of ways ....When you walk away from something and there's no gravitational pull, then you know you're doing the right thing. -- Jessica Simpson, singer-actress

Life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning the instrument as one goes on. -- Samuel Butler

You know what's nice? To look at yourself and see yourself -- not what you don't have anymore. -- Catherine Deneuve, actress

Your left hand says you're taken. Your right hand says you can take over. Your left hand celebrates the day you were married. Your right hand celebrates the day you were born ...Your left hand dreams of love. Your right hand makes dreams come true. Your left hand lives happily ever after. Your right hand lives happily here and now. Women of the world, raise your right hand.-- ad

Instead of loving your enemies, treat your friends a little better. -- Edgar Watson Howe

Some people are interested in the experience of being disappointed. -- Tina, a long-time waitress

Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction. -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

We make more enemies by what we say than friends by what we do. -- John Collins

Each of us has been given a life, and each day is a gift. Those days are flowers we can plant along the way for our children to see. If we do this, then some day, some blessed day, this world of ours will be a garden. Let us make it so, for that is why we were born. -- Chaim Stern

You should be kissed, and often, by someone who knows how. -- Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind

Don't worry too much about the future. It's already tomorrow in Australia. -- contributed by Lynn Fullman.
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Got no check books, got no banks. Still I'd like to express my thanks. I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night. -- Irving Berlin

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Life happens. Distance separates. Children grow. Colleagues cheat. Careers end. Love wanes. Hearts break. Parents die. But ... girlfriends are there, no matter how many miles between you. A girlfriend is never farther away than needing her can reach. -- contributed by Merle Frank

I don't know the secret of success, but the secret of failure is to try to please everyone. -- Bill Cosby

The world is full of abundance and opportunity, but far too many people come to the fountain of life with a sieve instead of a tank car, a teaspoon instead of a steam shovel. They expect little, and as a result they get little. -- Ben Sweetland

It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop. --Confucius

Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. -- John Wooden, They Call Me Coach
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Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise, risking more than others think is safe, dreaming more than others think is practical, and expecting more than others think is possible.

Faith sees the invisible, feels the intangible and achieves the impossible. -- contributed by Mary Cahill

Keep away from small people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that. But the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.-- Mark Twain
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Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for. It is a thing to be achieved. -- William Jennings Bryan

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. -- Aristotle

The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure, and the intelligent are full of doubt. -- Bertrand Russell

You have brains in your head ... feet in your shoes .... You can steer yourself any direction you choose. -- Dr. Seuss

The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but to reveal to him his own. -- Benjamin Disraeli

Do not protect yourself by a fence, but rather by your friends. -- Czech proverb

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©2008 www.sololady.com

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HOME | PRIVACY POLICY | ABOUT US | CONTACT US ©2008 www.sololady.com

HOME | PRIVACY POLICY | ABOUT US | CONTACT US

©2008 www.sololady.com