Complaint Against Life Fixes Nothing

Some things you can change, others you need to work with.
But the worst choice is to pretend that things aren't the way they really are.
Begin with the facts, then make your choices.

Do not rail against life. [Do not complain about life.]
Make positive contributions where you can.
Practice gracious acceptance elsewhere.
And express daily gratitude for all of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

If you want reality to be different than it is,
you might as well try to teach a cat to bark.
- Byron Katie

He who avoids complaint invites happiness.
- Abu Bakr

How is it that one rails against that
which is nearly a certainty?
- Mary Anne Radmacher

To deny the facts would be illogical.
- the character Spock in the television series Star Trek

Further reading: Do What You Can; Trust God With The Rest

Don't Resist Life

I Will Fear No Evil

Serenity rather than Fear
      

Always Seek the Truth

 

Keep the company of those who seek the truth;
run from those who have found it.
- Václav Havel

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion,
but not their own facts.
- Daniel Patrick Moynihan

When we blindly adopt a religion,
a political system, a literary dogma,
we become automatons. We cease to grow.
- Anais Nin

If you would be a real seeker after truth,
it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt,
as far as possible, all things.
- Rene Descartes

Believe those who are seeking the truth.
Doubt those who find it.
- Andre Gide

Facts Don't Change With One's Opinions Or Beliefs.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The presence of those seeking the truth
is infinitely to be preferred
to the presence of those who think they've found it.
- Terry Pratchett

Everyone has an opinion on many subjects
and is ready to share those opinions -
labeling them as "truth."
Sometimes it is relatively easy
to filter out these opinions.
Upon hearing an ad for the latest
weight-loss powder on late-night TV,
our skepticism leaps to our defense.
However, if we have heard the same opinion for years
from our parents, friends,
government officials, or religious leaders,
we are more likely to believe without questioning
than to raise our filter of skepticism
and ask the hard questions.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Be a Seeker

The Illusion of Knowledge

Truth Does Not Convert
   

The Illusion of Knowledge is a Trap

 

Beware of false knowledge;
it is more dangerous than ignorance.
- George Bernard Shaw

The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance -
it is the illusion of knowledge.
- Daniel J. Boorstin

When you have a very strong FEELING that something is true, often it isn't.
WANTING something to be true doesn't make it true.
Likewise, being AFRAID that something is true doesn't make it true either.

Truth is not defined by
how many people believe something.
Ask. Question. Think.
Decide - for yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

We want the facts to fit the preconceptions.
When they don't, it is easier to ignore the facts
than to change the preconceptions.
- Jessamyn West

Further reading: Perspective on Tradition: An Open Mind

The Danger of Assumptions

Truth isn't True. Reality isn't Real
      

You Stop Growing When You Stop Learning

 

Education is not the filling of a pail,
but the lighting of a fire.
- William Butler Yeats

Intellectual growth should commence at birth
and cease only at death.
- Albert Einstein

We are not afraid to follow truth
wherever it may lead,
nor to tolerate any error
so long as reason is left free to combat it.
- Thomas Jefferson

The mind is not a vessel to be filled,
but a fire to be kindled.
- Plutarch

Develop a passion for learning.
If you do, you will never cease to grow.
- Anthony J. D'Angelo

Further reading: Lifelong Learning

Knowledge is Soon Changed

Open Minds

Reason
    

Don't Just Assume - Find the Facts

 

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
- Aldous Huxley

Everyone has a right to his own opinion, but no one has a right to be wrong in his facts.
- Bernard M. Baruch

Approach each new problem not with a view of finding what you hope will be there,
but to get the truth, the realities that must be grappled with.
You may not like what you find. In that case you are entitled to try to change it.
But do not deceive yourself as to what you do find to be the facts of the situation.
- Bernard M. Baruch

We want the facts to fit the preconceptions.
When they don't, it is easier to ignore the facts
than to change the preconceptions.
- Jessamyn West

Get the facts first.
You can distort them later.
- Mark Twain

Further reading: Begin with the FACTS

The Fun-House Mirrors Of Our Own Point Of View

Re-examine all that you have been told

Never Stop Learning
        

Do Not be Seduced by the Illusion of Knowledge

To know yet to think that one does not know is best;
Not to know yet to think that one knows
will lead to difficulty.
- Lao Tzu

The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance -
it is the illusion of knowledge.
- Daniel J. Boorstin

Beware of false knowledge;
it is more dangerous than ignorance.
- George Bernard Shaw

We want the facts to fit the preconceptions.
When they don't, it is easier to ignore the facts
than to change the preconceptions.
- Jessamyn West

Truth is not defined by
how many people believe something.
Ask. Question. Think.
Decide - for yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When you have a very strong FEELING that something is true, often it isn't.
WANTING something to be true doesn't make it true.
Likewise, being AFRAID that something is true doesn't make it true either.

Further reading: Truth isn't True. Reality isn't Real.

The Danger of Assumptions

Perspective on Tradition: An Open Mind
    

Don't Confuse Opinion with Truth

 

The antiquity and general acceptance of an opinion
is not assurance of its truth.
- Pierre Bayle

There is no truth.
There is only perception.
- Gustave Flaubert

If you wish to see the truth,
then hold no opinion for or against.
- Osho

Having a personal opinion is great.
Believing that one's personal opinion is absolute truth
leads to most of the world's troubles.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Even the truth, when believed, is a lie.
You must experience the truth, not believe it.
- Werner Erhard

Further reading: What is "The Truth?"

Not As It Appears

The Work - Four Questions

Art of Seeing
     

Consider the world from the perspective of others

Unhappiness is generally a result of spending too much time
regretting and resenting the past or worrying about the future.
The key to happiness and success is focusing,
with awareness, on the present moment.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie  

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
- Aldous Huxley

The ability to be in the present moment
is a major component of mental wellness.
- Abraham Maslow 

Dwell in stillness.
Observe without reacting and without judging.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn

Life is simple.
Everything happens for you, not to you.
Everything happens at exactly the right moment, neither too soon nor too late.
You don't have to like it... it's just easier if you do.
- Byron Katie

 Be still and know who you are.
- Kirtana

Give yourself permission to allow this moment to be exactly as it is,
and allow yourself to be exactly as you are.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn

You're either attaching to your thoughts or you're inquiring. There is no other choice.
- Byron Katie

What is necessary to change a person is
to change his awareness of himself.
- Abraham Maslow

When we stop opposing reality, action becomes simple, fluid, kind, and fearless.
- Byron Katie

Have you ever arrived at work after your morning commute, and noticed that you didn't remember a single thing you saw during your drive? Let today be a day of awareness. Consciously pay attention to what is going on around you as drive, walk, do your business, or relax. Consider the world from the perspective of those you pass - the small child, the elderly lady trying to cross the street, the homeless person, the truck driver, the policeman, the executive in the big limo. 

First accept reality, only then choose how to react to it.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Cherish This Moment Question Your Questions

Byron Katie - No one can give you freedom but you 

Truth isn't True. Reality isn't Real.

Cultivate Awareness Consciousness

Live in the Present

Cease Striving 

VISION - the fifth Point of Simply An Inspired Life

Breath by Breath        

Don't Complain

Some things you can change, others you need to work with.
But the worst choice is to pretend that things aren't the way they really are.
Begin with the facts, then make your choices.

Do not rail against life. [Do not complain about life.]
Make positive contributions where you can.
Practice gracious acceptance elsewhere.
And express daily gratitude for all of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

If you want reality to be different than it is,
you might as well try to teach a cat to bark.
- Byron Katie

He who avoids complaint invites happiness.
- Abu Bakr

How is it that one rails against that
which is nearly a certainty?
- Mary Anne Radmacher

To deny the facts would be illogical.
- the character Spock in the television series Star Trek

Further reading: Do What You Can; Trust God With The Rest

Don't Resist Life

I Will Fear No Evil

Serenity rather than Fear
      

Continue to Seek the Truth

 

Keep the company of those who seek the truth;
run from those who have found it.
- Václav Havel

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion,
but not their own facts.
- Daniel Patrick Moynihan

When we blindly adopt a religion,
a political system, a literary dogma,
we become automatons. We cease to grow.
- Anais Nin

If you would be a real seeker after truth,
it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt,
as far as possible, all things.
- Rene Descartes

Believe those who are seeking the truth.
Doubt those who find it.
- Andre Gide

Facts Don't Change With One's Opinions Or Beliefs.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The presence of those seeking the truth
is infinitely to be preferred
to the presence of those who think they've found it.
- Terry Pratchett

Everyone has an opinion on many subjects
and is ready to share those opinions -
labeling them as "truth."
Sometimes it is relatively easy
to filter out these opinions.
Upon hearing an ad for the latest
weight-loss powder on late-night TV,
our skepticism leaps to our defense.
However, if we have heard the same opinion for years
from our parents, friends,
government officials, or religious leaders,
we are more likely to believe without questioning
than to raise our filter of skepticism
and ask the hard questions.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Be a Seeker

The Illusion of Knowledge

Truth Does Not Convert
   

Beware of the Illusion of Knowledge

Beware of false knowledge;
it is more dangerous than ignorance.
- George Bernard Shaw

The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance -
it is the illusion of knowledge.
- Daniel J. Boorstin

When you have a very strong FEELING that something is true, often it isn't.
WANTING something to be true doesn't make it true.
Likewise, being AFRAID that something is true doesn't make it true either.

Truth is not defined by
how many people believe something.
Ask. Question. Think.
Decide - for yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

We want the facts to fit the preconceptions.
When they don't, it is easier to ignore the facts
than to change the preconceptions.
- Jessamyn West

Further reading: Perspective on Tradition: An Open Mind

The Danger of Assumptions

Truth isn't True. Reality isn't Real.
    

 

Learning Leads To Growth

 

Education is not the filling of a pail,
but the lighting of a fire.
- William Butler Yeats

Intellectual growth should commence at birth
and cease only at death.
- Albert Einstein

We are not afraid to follow truth
wherever it may lead,
nor to tolerate any error
so long as reason is left free to combat it.
- Thomas Jefferson

The mind is not a vessel to be filled,
but a fire to be kindled.
- Plutarch

Develop a passion for learning.
If you do, you will never cease to grow.
- Anthony J. D'Angelo

Further reading: Lifelong Learning

Knowledge is Soon Changed

Open Minds

Reason
    

Begin with the FACTS

 

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
- Aldous Huxley

Everyone has a right to his own opinion, but no one has a right to be wrong in his facts.
- Bernard M. Baruch

Approach each new problem not with a view of finding what you hope will be there,
but to get the truth, the realities that must be grappled with.
You may not like what you find. In that case you are entitled to try to change it.
But do not deceive yourself as to what you do find to be the facts of the situation.
- Bernard M. Baruch

We want the facts to fit the preconceptions.
When they don't, it is easier to ignore the facts
than to change the preconceptions.
- Jessamyn West

Get the facts first.
You can distort them later.
- Mark Twain

Further reading: Begin with the FACTS

The Fun-House Mirrors Of Our Own Point Of View

Re-examine all that you have been told

Never Stop Learning
        

Beware the Illusion of Knowledge

 

To know yet to think that one does not know is best;
Not to know yet to think that one knows
will lead to difficulty.
- Lao Tzu

The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance -
it is the illusion of knowledge.
- Daniel J. Boorstin

Beware of false knowledge;
it is more dangerous than ignorance.
- George Bernard Shaw

We want the facts to fit the preconceptions.
When they don't, it is easier to ignore the facts
than to change the preconceptions.
- Jessamyn West

Truth is not defined by
how many people believe something.
Ask. Question. Think.
Decide - for yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When you have a very strong FEELING that something is true, often it isn't.
WANTING something to be true doesn't make it true.
Likewise, being AFRAID that something is true doesn't make it true either.

Further reading: Truth isn't True. Reality isn't Real.

The Danger of Assumptions

Perspective on Tradition: An Open Mind
    

Opinions are Not Truth

 

The antiquity and general acceptance of an opinion
is not assurance of its truth.
- Pierre Bayle

There is no truth.
There is only perception.
- Gustave Flaubert

If you wish to see the truth,
then hold no opinion for or against.
- Osho

Having a personal opinion is great.
Believing that one's personal opinion is absolute truth
leads to most of the world's troubles.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Even the truth, when believed, is a lie.
You must experience the truth, not believe it.
- Werner Erhard

Further reading: What is "The Truth?"

Not As It Appears

The Work - Four Questions

Art of Seeing
     

Change Your Awareness

 

Unhappiness is generally a result of spending too much time
regretting and resenting the past or worrying about the future.
The key to happiness and success is focusing,
with awareness, on the present moment.

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie 

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
- Aldous Huxley

The ability to be in the present moment
is a major component of mental wellness.

- Abraham Maslow

Dwell in stillness.
Observe without reacting and without judging.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn

Life is simple.
Everything happens for you, not to you.
Everything happens at exactly the right moment, neither too soon nor too late.
You don't have to like it... it's just easier if you do.
- Byron Katie

 Be still and know who you are.
- Kirtana

Give yourself permission to allow this moment to be exactly as it is,
and allow yourself to be exactly as you are.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn

You're either attaching to your thoughts or you're inquiring. There is no other choice.
- Byron Katie

What is necessary to change a person is
to change his awareness of himself.
- Abraham Maslow

When we stop opposing reality, action becomes simple, fluid, kind, and fearless.
- Byron Katie

Have you ever arrived at work after your morning commute, and noticed that you didn't remember a single thing you saw during your drive?

Let today be a day of awareness. Consciously pay attention to what is going on around you as drive, walk, do your business, or relax. Consider the world from the perspective of those you pass - the small child, the elderly lady trying to cross the street, the homeless person, the truck driver, the policeman, the executive in the big limo.

First accept reality, only then choose how to react to it.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Cherish This Moment

Question Your Questions

Byron Katie - No one can give you freedom but you

Truth isn't True. Reality isn't Real.

Cultivate Awareness

Consciousness

Live in the Present

Cease Striving

VISION - the fifth Point of Simply An Inspired Life

Breath by Breath 

      

To deny the facts would be illogical

 

Some things you can change, others you need to work with.
But the worst choice is to pretend that things aren't the way they really are.
Begin with the facts, then make your choices.

Do not rail against life. [Do not complain about life.]
Make positive contributions where you can.
Practice gracious acceptance elsewhere.
And express daily gratitude for all of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

If you want reality to be different than it is,
you might as well try to teach a cat to bark.
- Byron Katie

He who avoids complaint invites happiness.
- Abu Bakr

How is it that one rails against that
which is nearly a certainty?
- Mary Anne Radmacher

To deny the facts would be illogical.
- the character Spock in the television series Star Trek

Further reading: Do What You Can; Trust God With The Rest

Don't Resist Life

I Will Fear No Evil

Serenity rather than Fear
      

Seek to Understand - Deeply

Keep the company of those who seek the truth;
run from those who have found it.
- Václav Havel

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion,
but not their own facts.
- Daniel Patrick Moynihan

When we blindly adopt a religion,
a political system, a literary dogma,
we become automatons. We cease to grow.
- Anais Nin

If you would be a real seeker after truth,
it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt,
as far as possible, all things.
- Rene Descartes

Believe those who are seeking the truth.
Doubt those who find it.
- Andre Gide

Facts Don't Change With One's Opinions Or Beliefs.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The presence of those seeking the truth
is infinitely to be preferred
to the presence of those who think they've found it.
- Terry Pratchett

Everyone has an opinion on many subjects
and is ready to share those opinions -
labeling them as "truth."
Sometimes it is relatively easy
to filter out these opinions.
Upon hearing an ad for the latest
weight-loss powder on late-night TV,
our skepticism leaps to our defense.
However, if we have heard the same opinion for years
from our parents, friends,
government officials, or religious leaders,
we are more likely to believe without questioning
than to raise our filter of skepticism
and ask the hard questions.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Be a Seeker

The Illusion of Knowledge

Truth Does Not Convert
   

Never Succumb to the Illusion of Knowledge

Beware of false knowledge;
it is more dangerous than ignorance.
- George Bernard Shaw

The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance -
it is the illusion of knowledge.
- Daniel J. Boorstin

When you have a very strong FEELING that something is true, often it isn't.
WANTING something to be true doesn't make it true.
Likewise, being AFRAID that something is true doesn't make it true either.

Truth is not defined by
how many people believe something.
Ask. Question. Think.
Decide - for yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

We want the facts to fit the preconceptions.
When they don't, it is easier to ignore the facts
than to change the preconceptions.
- Jessamyn West

Further reading: Perspective on Tradition: An Open Mind

The Danger of Assumptions

Truth isn't True. Reality isn't Real.
    

Learning is Growth

Education is not the filling of a pail,
but the lighting of a fire.
- William Butler Yeats

Intellectual growth should commence at birth
and cease only at death.
- Albert Einstein

We are not afraid to follow truth
wherever it may lead,
nor to tolerate any error
so long as reason is left free to combat it.
- Thomas Jefferson

The mind is not a vessel to be filled,
but a fire to be kindled.
- Plutarch

Develop a passion for learning.
If you do, you will never cease to grow.
- Anthony J. D'Angelo

Further reading: Lifelong Learning

Knowledge is Soon Changed

Open Minds

Reason