Sometimes another person has put into words exactly what I am feeling; chances are they have said it far better than I could. I have always loved words and for years I have been collecting my favourite quotes; the beautiful and poetic, the crisp and witty, the inspiring and insightful. The thoughts of those that have gone before me - have often come to the rescue when my own words have failed.
Children Quotes from the ABC of Wishes, Hopes & Dreams
These quotes are from my childrens’ christening book of Wishes, Hopes & Dreams. I created the book to bestow (like the good fairy) 26 lovely blessings on young children.
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing
—Helen Keller
I am not afraid of storms for I am learning to sail my ship
—Louisa May Alcott
Curiousity is the key to creativity
—Akio Morita
The only difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man’s determination
—Tommy Lasorda
You can do anything if you have enthusiasm
—Henry Ford
Life is nothing without friendship
—Cicero
You get what you give
—The Golden Rule
Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live
—Jim Rohn
Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the whole world
—Albert Einstein
Joy is not in things; it is in us
—Richard Wagner
Your own soul is nourished when you are kind
—Proverbs 11:17
The only thing I know about love is that love is all there is
—Emily Dickinson
Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without
—Confucius
He who plants a garden plants happiness
—Chinese proverb
Miracles happen to those who believe in them
—Bernard Berenson
Who looks outside dreams; who looks inside wakes
—Carl Jung
Learn to be silent. Let your quiet mind listen and absorb
—Pythagorus
Be more aware of your responsibilities than your rights
—Unknown
Most powerful is he who has control over himself
—Seneca
If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything
—Mark Twain
Seek first to understand, then to be understood
—Unknown
Thank you for the world so sweet, thank you for the food we eat.
Thank you for the birds that sing, thank you God, for everything!
—E. Rutter Leatham
There are two ways to live your life.
One is as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is as though everything is a miracle.
—Albert Einstein
Seize the day…make your life extraordinary
—John Keating, Dead Poets’ Society
Be yourself. Nobody is better qualified
—Anon
Be outrageous! People who achieve mastery have the ability to be outrageous.
—Gita Bellin
You Are A Marvel
Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again. And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France.
When will we also teach them what they are?
We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, and the way you move.
You may become a Shakespeare, a Michaelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel?
You must work - we must all work - to make the world worthy of its children.
—Pablo Casals
Desiderata
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble, it’s a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantement, it is as perrenial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
—Written in 1927 by Max Ehrmann
General Childrens’ Quotes
Adding a well-chosen quote to a child’s birthday card is a simple way to give your sentiments more depth and meaning – and maybe impart some wisdom or inspiration. Don’t be afraid to use a part of a quote, trim of any excess that doesn’t apply, and always credit the original author. Here are some of my favourites:
If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life.
—Rachel Carson
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.
—Dr. Seuss
It’s a troublesome world. All the people who’re in it
are troubled with troubles almost every minute.
You ought to be thankful a whole heaping lot,
for the places and people you’re lucky you’re not!
—Dr. Seuss
Take Time...
To think - it is the source of power
To Work - it is the price of success
To Play - it is the secret of youth
To Dream - it is the highway to the stars
To Laugh - it is the music of the soul
To be friendly - it is the road to happiness
To Read - it is the foundation of wisdom
To Look Around - it is the shortcut to unselfishness
To Relax - it is the key to long life
To Pray - it is the way to Heaven
—David Gunston
I think I can—I think I can—I think I can,....
—From The Little Engine That Could, by Watty Piper
In short, the habits we form from childhood make no small difference, but rather they make all the difference.
—Aristotle
May you be blessed with
The spirit of the season, which is peace,
The gladness of the season, which is hope,
And the heart of the season, which is love.
—Old Irish Blessing
Here ís the test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished:
if you’re alive, it isn’t.
—Richard Bach
Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.
—Louisa May Alcott
Even the smallest person can change the course of the future
—Galladrial, Lord of the Rings, by Tolkein
Bring kindness to every encounter, regardless of whether you are the recipient of kindness; give away what you have inside and it would be returned to you. It’s the Law of Attraction, and it never sleeps or even takes a temporary holiday.
You cannot find happiness by bringing unhappiness to your classes at school, or to your homework, or to your friendships. You must decide to be filled with joy, and this is what you will bring to every encounter—this is what you will give away. And guess what? This is what you will see returning to you as well. But if you bring your own sadness to what you think of as a sad or unhappy occasion, you will simply be doubling the amount of negativity, and then blaming the person or the nature of the event for your own discontent.
This lesson, once mastered, is a major key to a lifetime of success and inner peace.
—Wayne Dyer
A boy is truth with dirt on its face, beauty with a cut on its finger, wisdom with bubble gum in its hair and the hope of the future with a frog in its pocket.
—Alan Marshall Beck
It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are
—e.e. Cummings
The Rules For Being Human
1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period of this time around.
2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called Life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.
3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial and error: Experimentation. The ‘failed’ experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately ‘works.’
4. A lesson is repeated until learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can then go on to the next lesson.
5. Learning lessons does not end. There is no part of life that does not contain its lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.
6. There is no better than here. When your there has become a here, you will simply obtain another there that will again look better than here.
7. Others are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself.
8. What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.
9. Your answers lie inside you. The answers to Life’s questions lie inside you. All you need to do is look, listen and trust.
10. You will forget all of this.
—Cherie Carter-Scott
Because time itself is like a spiral, something special happens on your birthday each year: The same energy that God invested in you at birth is present once again.
—Menachem Mendel Schneerson
The Paradoxical Commandments
This is the Mother Teresa version, it was found written on the wall in her home for children in Calcutta [the original version is by Dr. Kent M. Keith]:
People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.
Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.
Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten.
Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.
Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.
When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies.
—Sir James Barrie [author of Peter Pan]
May flowers always line your path and sunshine light your day.
May songbirds serenade you every step along the way.
May a rainbow run beside you in a sky that's always blue.
And may happiness fill your heart each day your whole life through.
—Irish Blessing
On Parenting – For Parents & Grandparents
For when you need a little inspiration and perspective yourself - these lovely quotes are for parents and grand-parents.
Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts, for they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you, For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
—Kahlil Gibran
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that
His arrows might go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
—Kahlil Gibran
Children Learn What They live
If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to be shy.
If children live with jealousy, they learn what envy is.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with tolerance, they learn to be patient.
If children live with encouragement, they learn to be confident.
If children live with praise, they learn to appreciate.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to find love in the world.
If children live with recognition, they learn to have a goal.
If children live with sharing, they learn to be generous.
If children live with honesty and fairness, they learn what truth and justice are.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those around them.
If children live with friendliness, they learn that the world is a nice place in which to live.
If children live with serenity, they learn to have peace of mind.
With what are your children living?
—Dorothy L. Nolte
Grandmas hold our tiny hands for just a little while, but our hearts forever.
—Unknown
Most grandmas have a touch of the scallywag.
—Helen Thomson
It is as grandmothers that our mothers come into the fullness of their grace.
—Christopher Morley
Our grandchildren accept us for ourselves, without rebuke or effort to change us, as no one in our entire lives has ever done, not our parents, siblings, spouses, friends—and hardly ever our own grown children.
—Ruth Goode
