This page is a collection of philosophy, aphorisms, quotations and stories I have collected over the years.

Feel free to send me some stories, quotes or links that suit the flavour of this hub.

"Sayings remain meaningless unless they are embodied in action"

One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group of

business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget. As he stood in front of the group of high powered overachievers he said,

"Okay, time for a quiz." Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide mouth mason jar and set it on the table in front of him.

Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked,

"Is this jar full?"

Everyone in the class said,

"Yes."

Then he said, "Really?"

He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the space between the big rocks.

Then he asked the group once more,

"Is the jar full?" By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them answered.

"Good!" he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question,

"Is this jar full?"

"No!" the class shouted.

Once again he said,

"Good." Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked,

"What is the point of this illustration?"

One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!"

"No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The truth that this illustration teaches us is: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all."

What are the 'big rocks' in your life?

Time with your loved ones? Your faith, your education, your dreams? A worthy cause? Teaching or mentoring others? Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all. So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this question: What are the 'big rocks' in my life? Then, put those in your jar first.

In a university commencement address several years ago, Brian Dyson, CEO of Coca Cola Enterprises, spoke of the relation of work to one’s other commitments:

Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them - work, family, health, friends and spirit - and you’re keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls - family, health, friends, and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same.

You must understand that and strive for balance in your life. How? Don’t undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special. Don’t set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you. Don’t take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as if they were your life, for without them, life is meaningless. Don’t let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future. By living your life one day at a time, you live ALL the days of your life. Don’t give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying. Don’t be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It is this fragile thread that binds us to each together. Don’t be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave. Don’t shut love out of your life by saying it’s impossible to find time. The quickest way to receive love is to give; the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly; and the best way to keep love is to give it wings. Don’t run through life so fast that you forget not only where you’ve been, but also where you are going. Don’t forget, a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated. Don’t be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can always carry easily. Don’t use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved.

Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way. Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery, and Today is a gift: that’s why we call it The Present.

Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!" He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Michael was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Michael and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time.

How do you do it?" Michael replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or ... you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood.

Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or... I can point out the positive side of life.& I choose the positive side of life. "Yeah, right, it's not that easy,"

I protested. "Yes, it is," Michael said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect our mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.

The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life." I reflected on what Michael said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that Michael was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Michael was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw Michael about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied. "If I were any better, I'd be twins.

Wanna see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon to be born daughter," Michael replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or... I could choose to die. I chose to live."

Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.

Michael continued, "...the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read "he's a dead man. I knew I needed to take action."

What did you do?" I asked. "Well, the re was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Michael. "She asked if I was allergic to anything.

"Yes, I replied." The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, "Gravity."

Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead." Michael lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything. "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

There was a cage employing five apes.

Inside the cage at the top of the staircase, a Banana hung on a string. How either the stairs or the banana got there, no one knew for sure. Before long, one of the apes went to the stairs and began to climb toward the Banana. To his astonishment, as soon as he touched the stairs, all of the cage's employees were sprayed with Cold Water, himself included. They didn’t like that. Still, after a while another ape, more confident than the others, made an attempt. He, too, was initiated as once again all the apes were sprayed with Cold Water. They didn’t like it that time, either. Now these apes were certainly not rocket scientists (they were apes, after all), but they were fast learners. They all now knew what not to do.

Time passed, and as fate would have it, the Cold Water line rusted through, and Cold Water could haunt the apes no more. Of course the apes didn’t know that. They were apes, after all, and they had long ago learned not to touch the stairs. In fact, occasionally one of the less important apes would attempt to climb the stairs, but the others wouldn’t allow it.

Eventually, one of the apes left the cage to move onto bigger and better things. Soon after, a New Ape joined the cage to replace the one who left.

The New Ape soon saw the Banana and began to climb the stairs. To his horror, all of the other apes attacked him. Surely, he thought, this is all a simple misunderstanding. So he explained to the others how delicious that Banana would be, and in fact, that he was willing to share it with all of them. After what he felt was a heartwarming conversation, the New Ape tried once again to get that wonderful-looking Banana, but no sooner did he touch the stairs when he was attacked.

I understand now, he thought to himself. I was wrong to climb those stairs, and if I do it again, I will be assaulted.

After a short time, another of the original five apes left the cage, for the outside world offered many exciting opportunities; and like before, another Newcomer came to the cage to replace him.

The Newcomer soon saw the Banana, began to climb the stairs, and was immediately attacked. The first New Ape even took part in the punishment with enthusiasm.

Once again, another of the original five apes left the cage only to be replaced by a New One. The New One made it to the stairs and was attacked as well. Two of the four apes that beat him, of course, had no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs, or why they were participating in the beating of the newest ape. Still, they participated with gusto. They were apes, after all.

Eventually all of the original five apes which had been sprayed with cold water left the cage and were replaced. Nevertheless, no ape ever again approached the stairs. It occurred to the Most Recent Ape to ask Why Not? He had noticed that Banana dangling above the stairs and thought that there might be some opportunity there for all the apes in the cage.

The answer he received was very matter-of-fact and straight to the point.

“Because that has always been our policy. We are apes, after all.”

Once a frog from the ocean came and jumped into a well. He got acquainted with the frog in the well and the well frog asked, ‘From where do you come?’

He said, ‘I have come from the ocean.’

The well frog asked, ‘Is it bigger than this well?’ Of course suspicion was in his eyes, doubt in his mind, ‘How can anything be bigger than this well where I live?’

The ocean frog laughed and said, ‘It is very difficult to say anything because there is no measure.’

The well frog said, ‘Then I will give you some measure so that you can.’

He jumped one quarter of the well, one fourth of the way across, and said, ‘Is it that big?’

The ocean frog laughed and said, ‘No.’

So he jumped half of the well, and said, ‘Is it that big?’

Again the ocean frog laughed and said, ‘No.’

Then he jumped three quarters and said, ‘Is it that big?’

Again the ocean frog said, ‘No.’

Then he jumped the whole well, the whole length, and said, ‘Now – now you cannot say no.’

The ocean frog said, ‘You may feel hurt, and I don’t want to be offensive, but still the answer is no.’

The well frog said, ‘Get out from here, you liar. Nothing can be bigger than this well!’

A very thin wolf was almost dead with hunger when he happened to meet a House-dog who was passing by. “Ah, Cousin,” said the Dog. “I knew how it would be; your irregular life will soon be the ruin of you. Why do you not work steadily as I do, and get your food regularly given to you?”

“I would have no objection,” said the Wolf, “if I could only find a place like yours.”

“I will easily arrange that for you,” said the Dog; “come with me to my master and you shall share my work.”

So the Wolf and the Dog went towards the town together. On the way there the Wolf noticed that the hair on a certain part of the Dog’s neck was very much worn away, so he asked him how that had come about.

“Oh, it is nothing,” said the Dog. “That is the place where the collar is put on at night to keep me chained up; it chafes a bit, but one soon gets used to it.”

“Is that all?” said the Wolf. “Then good-bye to you, House Dog.”

“BETTER TO STARVE AND BE FREE THAN LIVE AS A FAT SLAVE.”