Quotes to Live by

Through the years many people have looked for answers or ways to justify their reason for living or just words to live by. Sometimes we get depressed or feel unwanted and don't know what to do. Men and Women throughout history have provided us with great quotes and sayings on reasons we should live our lives for the better. It is quite amazing what you can learn from a single quote. One saying can make you rethink your life and examine yourself.

Quotes make us realize what we may be doing wrong or what we can change about ourselves to help our overall life experience. Happiness does not lie in money or as most think, people that are around you. It has been noted by many psychiatrists and doctors that self sufficiency is the key to happiness. If we are not happy with ourselves then how can we ever expect anyone else to be happy with us. So it's not the fact that someone tells you that you are smart, attractive or successful, but what we think in our own minds, that leads us to true happiness. To quote one of my favorite writers, Joseph Addison -" True happiness arises, in the first place, from the enjoyment of one's self, and in the next, from the friendship and conversation of a few select companions. "I have compiled a vast list of quotes by scholars and famous minds throughout history that have helped me tune my way of living to help make myself a better person. I hope these will open your mind to thoughts of applying at least one of them to your life today.

 Always remember to appreciate each day and never look back. We are not guaranteed a tomorrow, so what is the use dwelling or worrying over it. Instead, take today and make the best out of it that you can. If you do this each day, you will have no reason to worry about the morrow or the past, because each day will have been well spent. A great quote pertaining to this method was written by Alice Morse Earle, in "Time Waits for no Man" - "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why they call it the present." I believe this to be one of the greatest quotes of all time. Nobody could ever put it better.

I see so many go through life care free, wasting their time on sinful activities. People blessed with great health, doing drugs, drinking alcohol in excess and punishing their bodies. Then I see others that have been cursed with sickness and disease. People who would give anything to have the health of others. People who would never harm their bodies if they only had one more chance at life. It is very important to realize what a gift life is. Most people feel like they are unfortunate because they are not blessed with money or riches. I'm here to tell you that money will never make you happy for the long term. I knew a man that was afflicted with many ailments and had very little money through his lifetime, but I rarely saw him from, because he appreciated being live. The following quotes put life into perspective of how we should really look at it.

"Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you only spend it once."
- Lillian Dickson

"The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water, but to walk on the earth."
- Old Chinese Proverb

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.
- Mother Teresa

"That it will never come again Is what makes life so sweet."
- Emily Dickinson

Many of us have been hurt in life. Actually most of us have been hurt in life, but we can not allow ourselves to dwell too long on the past. It is hard to forget things, especially if they meant a lot to you, but if you consult wise men and women, they can prove to you that light is around the corner, no matter how dark it may seem. History holds true that things usually get worse before they get better. We just have to keep on trucking through life's storms. All storms come to an end, no matter how devastating they may seem. Some quotes that have helped me with troubles in the past are these.

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; But often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us."
- Helen Keller

"If you are going through hell, keep going."
- Winston Churchill

"A beautiful flower begins its life in the dirt."
- Author Unknown

But this one is probably my favorite. It is hard to believe who quoted it, but they did a fine job indeed.

"Everything happens for a reason, people change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so you can appreciate them when they're right, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can come together."
- Marilyn Monroe

It is easy to see that there are more bad things in life than there are good, but the same holds true to everything. We all remember bad things more than we do the good, because bad things upset us. This is why it is important to not take the perks of life for granted. You will have your bad times. That is a given. To make up for those bad times, you must take advantage of the good times. If you have a good friend, always cherish them as if you will never have another. If you have someone that loves you, love them back, because you will never be able to make someone love you, but you can train your heart t love others.

"Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and richness to life that nothing else can bring."
- Oscar Wilde

"The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family."
- Thomas Jefferson

"The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved -- loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves."
- Victor Hugo

"Life is nothing without friendship."
- Marcus Tullius Cicero

Far too often, life gets too serious. There are a lot of times that we must be serious, but we often get so caught up in every day life that we forget to take time to enjoy the humor of life. I sometimes think that God must be up there laughing sometimes. I have caught myself many times so frustrated with something, then look back on it and realize how ignorant it was to be upset over that particular thing. Life can get far too stressful without humor. Everyone needs to learn to live stress free.

"Personally, I don't think there's intelligent life on other planets. Why should other planets be any different from this one?"
- Bob Monkhouse

After one look at this planet any visitor from outer space would say "I WANT TO SEE THE MANAGER."
- Willliam S. Burroughs

When life gives you lemons, cut them in half and squirt life in the eye!

"The supreme irony of life is that hardly anyone gets out of it alive."
- Robert Heinlein

"Never take life too seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway."
- Author Unknown

 There are far too many authors to name. I have listed a few below, but I couldn't say who my favorite is.

Charles Dickens Quotes to live by

A day wasted on others is not wasted on one's self.

Although a skillful flatterer is a most delightful companion if you have him all to yourself, his taste becomes very doubtful when he takes to complimenting other people.

Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.

I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time.

It opens the lungs, washes the countenance, exercises the eyes, and softens down the temper; so cry away.

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it to anyone else.

Reflect upon your present blessings of which every man has many - not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.

The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again.

Joseph Addison Quotes to live by

What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but, scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.

A contented mind is the greatest blessing a man can enjoy in this world.

A man should always consider how much he has more than he wants.

Cheerfulness is the best promoter of health and is as friendly to the mind as to the body.

If you wish to succeed in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius.

Men may change their climate, but they cannot change their nature. A man that goes out a fool cannot ride or sail himself into common sense.

One should take good care not to grow too wise for so great a pleasure of life as laughter.

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.

Suspicion is not less an enemy to virtue than to happiness; he that is already corrupt is naturally suspicious, and he that becomes suspicious will quickly be corrupt.

The greatest sweetener of human life is Friendship. To raise this to the highest pitch of enjoyment, is a secret which but few discover.

The utmost extent of man's knowledge, is to know that he knows nothing.

Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.

To be an atheist requires an indefinitely greater measure of faith than to recieve all the great truths which atheism would deny.

William Shakespeare Quotes to live by

A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.

Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.

Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.

Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.

Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.

Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.

Presidential Quotes to live by

There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect. - Ronald Reagan

To sit back hoping that someday, some way, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last - but eat you he will. - Ronald Reagan

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. - F.D.R.

It isn't sufficient just to want - you've got to ask yourself what you are going to do to get the things you want. - F.D.R.

Physical strength can never permanently withstand the impact of spiritual force. - F.D.R.

Whoever seeks to set one religion against another seeks to destroy all religion. - F.D.R.

Believe you can and you're halfway there. - Teddy Roosevelt

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.- Teddy Roosevelt

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat. - Teddy Roosevelt

Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care. - Teddy Roosevelt