Be Kind! Have Compassion for ALL

 

Universal compassion is the only guarantee of morality.
- Arthur Schopenhauer

Compassion is the ultimate value in life.
Service is the ultimate action.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Love is the foundation from which your decisions about
your life should be made.
- Darren L. Johnson

I can do no other than be reverent
before everything that is called life.
I can do no other than to have compassion
for all that is called life.
That is the beginning and the foundation of all ethics.
- Albert Schweitzer

Further reading: Keep the Golden Rule

Feed the Hungry

The Universal Sacrament of Compassion

True Measure of a Successful Life
   

The Nature of Life is Seldom Obvious, Look Deeper

There are trivial truths and there are great truths.
The opposite of a trivial truth is plainly false.
The opposite of a great truth is also true.
- Niels Bohr

Niels Bohr, the great Danish physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922 for his fundamental contributions to the understanding of atomic structure and quantum mechanics, is making a point that is very Zen - or very Taoist if one prefers.

An example of a "great truth" for which the opposite is also true is the statement, "You are not your body; you are not your mind." While it is very true, if one so believes, that the "real you" is neither physical nor mental, it is simultaneously true that your body and your mind are very real, and ignoring their reality is likely to cause great suffering.

Another example of a "great truth" is the Golden Rule. It is true that we should treat others as we wish to be treated in the sense of being kind and compassionate to everyone. Yet the opposite of the Golden Rule is also true in the sense that it is kind and compassionate to recognize that everyone is called to a different life path and to honor those differences.

[As always, the purpose of these daily messages to provide something to think about, rather than to attempt to dictate conclusions.]

No statement should be believed [solely] because it is made by an authority.
- Robert A. Heinlein

Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past,
threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.
- Maya Angelou

The more opinions you have, the less you see.
- Wim Wenders

The words of truth are always paradoxical.
- Lao Tzu

Further reading: What is "The Truth?"

To Keep the Golden Rule

What You're Sure You Know, But Don't

The Golden Rule is Not Always Golden
    

Your Anger Costs You YOUR Joy

 

Anger is a killing thing:
it kills the man who angers,
for each rage leaves him less than he had been before -
it takes something from him.
- Louis L'Amour

Being angry is as close as a human being
can come to experiencing hell on earth.
Pause. Breathe deeply. Step back and look at the issue from a new perspective.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Anger is like a thorn in the heart.
- Yiddish Proverb

When you are offended at any man's fault,
turn to yourself and study your own failings.
Then you will forget your anger.
- Epictetus

There was never an angry man that thought his anger unjust.
- Saint Francis de Sales

Further reading: Stop Anger Before It Stops You

De-Stress Your Life

Anger is a Killing Thing

Never Speak while Angry

Overcoming Anger
     

Appreciate Something Beautiful Today

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful,
for beauty is God's handwriting.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Take time today to appreciate beauty -
natural beauty, art, people.
Slow down, breathe deeply, smile.
It's a beautiful world.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Forests, lakes, and rivers,
clouds and winds, stars and flowers,
stupendous glaciers and crystal snowflakes -
every form of animate or inanimate existence,
leaves its impress upon the soul of man.
- Orison Swett Marden

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.
- John Muir

All are but parts of one stupendous whole,
Whose body Nature is, and God the soul.
- Alexander Pope

Further reading: Healing in Nature

The Melody Within Your Soul

Tending the Garden of Our Lives

The Beat of the Universe
    

Your BEING Makes a Difference to the World

 

YOU make a difference to the world.

Act on your dreams today.

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

It is not the easy or convenient life for which I search,

but life lived to the edge of all that I may be.

- Mary Anne Radmacher

Life is not easy for any of us.

But what of that?

We must have perseverance

and above all confidence in ourselves.

We must believe that we are gifted for something

and that this thing must be attained.

- Marie Curie

Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking.

There is an almost universal quest

for easy answers and half-baked solutions.

Nothing pains some people more than having to think.

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Eternity

I am drawn to the wild edge of the ocean of my being

My curiosity unbound, I test the limits of the limitless and the boundaries of the timeless.

I walk the path - the way - the way of ways - to the end that is not an end.

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading:Your Legacy - Making a Difference

Fulfilling Your Dreams

Follow Your Bliss

Only Today

Nobody Promised That Life Would Be Fair

 

When I hear somebody sigh, "Life is hard,"
I am always tempted to ask, Compared to what?
- Sydney Harris

Adversity can crush our spirit - or strengthen it - it is our choice.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

What if we just acted like everything was easy?
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Whenever you say or even think, "This is hard,"
that task or challenge becomes difficult.
Dread it, and it becomes terrifying.

When you choose to move past fear -
fear of failure, fear of embarrassment, fear of "looking bad," fear of losing respect -
life becomes much lighter, and most any task becomes possible - perhaps even enjoyable.
Most any challenge can become an adventure of discovery.

The secret to a great life is recognizing that life was never intended to be fair.
Life simply isn't "fair," and that's okay.
The joy of life comes from playing the game of life as best we can,
focusing far more on the love and good example we can contribute
to other lives than on demanding money, stuff, love, or appreciation.
Service becomes a source of joy when it is not viewed as a duty.

Life Is Not "Fair," But It Can Still Be Joyful.
Life is as easy or as hard as you think it is.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Do Not Rail Against Life

Strength In Hard Times

Circumstance Reveals What You Are Made Of
      

Unsmiling, Grim, and Humorless is No Way to Live

 

Life is too important to be taken seriously.
- Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde was a writer, playwright, humorist, satirist,
and astute observer of the human condition.
What does he mean by, "Life is too important to be taken seriously?"
Is it just a simple joke?

"Serious" can mean thoughtful, careful and profound,
but it also can mean unsmiling, grim, and humorless.

Life is too important to be spent being unsmiling, grim, and humorless.

Dance lightly with life today and every day.
Life is too short not to be joyful and celebrate each day.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Seriousness is a sickness; your sense of humor
makes you more human, more humble.
The sense of humor - according to me -
is one of the most essential parts of religiousness.
- Osho

Your attitude is like a box of crayons that color your world.
Constantly color your picture gray, and your picture will always be bleak.
Try adding some bright colors to the picture by including humor,
and your picture begins to lighten up.
- Allen Klein

Smile.
Today would be a wonderful day
not to take life so seriously.
Today may end up the way you prefer -
and it may not.
Happiness is not about being a winner -
it's about being gentle with life -
being gentle with yourself.
Let life be a dance,
and choose the kind of
dance you want for today -
perhaps a gentle loving dance.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Humor in the Face of Adversity

As a Child Again

Be Gentle with Yourself

Time to Smell the Flowers