Humanities & Culture
Quotes and InsightsBy Jonathan
6 weeks ago
I take rejection as someone blowing a bugle in my ear to wake me up and get going, rather than retreat. - Sylvester Stallone
To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can perform. - Theodore H. White
Not everyone is always going to like what you do. Your job application, your book proposal, your offer of marriage is going to get rejected sometimes - perhaps often. Your boss, your spouse, even the person behind you in the supermarket checkout line is occasionally going to think that you are doing it all wrong. Don't take it personally.
Cope with rejection by...
1. Asking yourself, objectively, if there is something to be learned about yourself from the experience.
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Humanities & CultureQuotes and InsightsBy Jonathan
6 weeks ago
 See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil.
- Japanese pictorial maxim (the Three Wise Monkeys)
The message behind this famous image has been debated, so I'll just say what it means to me...
1. Mind your own business. What your neighbor does (within the law) is none of your concern. Accept that behavior is not evil simply because it is different.
2. Don't listen to gossip. Don't even listen when people speak badly of others.
3. Never gossip or speak unkindly of others.
This does NOT condone being an unconcerned citizen. This does NOT mean to look the other way if your co-worker is pilfering the cash drawer or you witness a crime on the street.
*** Read about my book 100 Secrets for Living a Life You Love |
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Humanities & CultureQuotes and InsightsBy Jonathan
3 months ago
The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.
- Mark Twain
Life's burdens are lighter when I laugh at myself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
Laugh when you can,
apologize when you should,
and let go of what you can't change.
Life's too short to be anything... but happy.
- Anonymous
These are the keys to a great life... taking oneself lightly, forgiveness, and acceptance.
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Humanities & CultureQuotes and InsightsBy Jonathan
4 months ago
 Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.
- Mark Twain
I have been very blessed in having been able to get a tiny peek into the nature of life in a few places around the world. Nothing else has ever brought me so face-to-face with the rigidity of my own thinking as an hour on a street in Cairo or Beijing or a walk through the countryside of Mexico or Peru. Travel opens my mind and my heart more than years of study and contemplation ever could.
We are all one whether we dine on corned beef in New York City, black-eyed peas and cornbread in rural Louisiana, or roast guinea pig in Peru.
Please consider joining me on my next adventure. March 3-15, 2010 I am traveling to Israel and Jordan with my good friend and excellent trip leader Sheri Rosenthal. You can read about our Israel trip and the other wonderful trips Sheri leads at www.JourneysOfTheSpirit.com
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Humanities & CultureQuotes and InsightsBy Jonathan
5 months ago
Love your Neighbor; yet don't pull down your Hedge.
- Benjamin Franklin
Like all of life, it's a balance. Yes, having universal compassion, acceptance, and kindness toward one's neighbor is central to being a noble person. And that applies equally whether the neighbor lives across the street or around the world.
At the same time, as Robert Frost says, "Good fences make good neighbors." Honoring other people's life choices and behaving kindly toward them is very different from enjoying their presence. Further, most of us would probably be happier if we spent more time quietly enjoying our own company and a good book.
In particular, be compassionate toward people who are continually unhappy and constantly complain or gossip, but avoid their company except when you are on a specific errand of mercy toward them.
*** Book of the day: May You Be Blessed (with FREE DVD)
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