“Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.”
Unknown
Health
Eric Sevareid: Crime or suicide
No man was ever more than about nine meals away from crime or suicide.
–Eric Sevareid, journalist (1912-1992)
Johanna Olson: Running
Truly, I love running. It’s who I am. It’s a part of me. Even if I can only run for 10 minutes, I feel whole and happy. And if everything else is falling to pieces, I go for a run, and I feel like things are going to be okay.
Johanna Olson, Olympic Marathon Trials runner who died of brain cancer at the age of 33
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Cicero: Black at heart
“The man who backbites an absent friend, nay, who does not stand up for him when another blames him, the man who angles for bursts of laughter and for the repute of a wit, who can invent what he never saw, who cannot keep a secret – that man is black at heart: mark and avoid him.”
Anatole France: Naive hearts
“It is well for the heart to be naive and the mind not to be.”
– Anatole France
Emily Dickinson: Heartbreak

English: A cabinet card copy of a daguerreotype of Emily Dickinson (unauthenticated) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain. ”
—Emily Dickinson
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Milan Kundera: Vertigo
“Anyone whose goal is ‘something higher’ must expect someday to suffer vertigo. What is vertigo Fear of falling No, Vertigo is something other than fear of falling. It is the voice of the emptiness below us which tempts and lures us, it is the desire to fall, against which, terrified, we defend ourselves.”
—Milan Kundera
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Zoe Koplowitz: Have a dream
Have a dream, make a plan, go for it. You’ll get there, I promise.
Zoe Koplowitz, marathon runner who is afflicted with multiple sclerosis and diabetes
Colin Powell: Advice to aides
How To Survive as My Aide—Or What Not To Do
—Don’t ever hesitate to ask me what to do if uncertain.
—Don’t ever sign my name.
—Never use your money on my behalf.
—Avoid “The General Wants” syndrome—unless I really do.
—Provide feedback but be tactful to those who ask—talks between you and me are private and confidential. Alma (my wife) has nothing to do with the office.
—Never keep anybody waiting on the phone. Call back.
—I like meetings generally uninterrupted. I ask a lot of questions. I like questions and challenges.
—I like to remain enormously accessible. I like to do things with people.
—I will develop ways of getting to know what’s happening.
—Don’t accept speaking engagements without my knowledge.
—Keep track of whom I have seen.
—I tend to get moody, preoccupied. I will snap but that clears the air.
—Be punctual, don’t waste my time.
—I prefer written information rather than oral.Writing tends to discipline.
—I like to do paperwork—and I do a lot.
—NEVER, NEVER permit illegal or stupid actions.
—No surprises.Bad news doesn’t get any better with time.
—If there is a problem brewing, I want to know of it early—heads up as soon as possible—I don’t like to be blindsided.
—Speak precisely—I often fudge for a purpose. Don’t over-interpret what I say.
—Don’t rush into decisions—make them timely and correct.
—I like excellent correspondence—no split infinitives.
-Excerpted from Soldier: The Life of Colin Powell by Karen DeYoung
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Christy Turlington Burns: Running
Christy Turlington is an American model of Salvadoran ancestry, best known for representing Calvin Klein from 1987 to 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“Running is a lot like meditation. You get a sense of seeing your life and putting some order to it.”
~Christy Turlington Burns, Supermodel and founder, Every Mother Counts.
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Technology and technique
Technology over technique produces emotionless design.
– Daniel Mall
Colour-blind

Español: Dibujo de Albert Schweitzer realizado por Arthur William Heintzelman. English: Albert Schweitzer, Etching by Arthur William Heintzelman. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
An optimist is a person who sees a green light everywhere, while the pessimist sees only the red spotlight… The truly wise person is colour-blind.
—Albert Schweitzer
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Resistance
“The path of least resistance is the path of the loser. ”
H G Wells
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Man and woman
Man cannot degrade woman without himself falling into degradation; he cannot elevate her without at the same time elevating himself. ”
—Alexander Walker
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Preparedness

Ovid by Anton von Werner. "Bibliothek des allgemeinen und praktischen Wissens. Bd. 5" (1905), Abriß der Weltliteratur, Seite 51 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“He who is not prepared today will be less so tomorrow.”
—Ovid
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Edward B Butler: Enthusiasm
“One man has enthusiasm for 30 minutes, another for 30 days, but it is the man who has it for 30 years who makes a success of his life. ”
—Edward B Butler.
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Each man, his own
“Each man must reach his own verdict, by weighing all the relevant evidence. ”
Leonard Peikoff
Albert Schweitzer: Inner Fire
“In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” –Albert Schweitzer, philosopher, physician, musician, Nobel laureate (1875-1965).
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Allergy to consciousness
“I used to wake up at 4 A.M. and start sneezing, sometimes for five hours. I tried to find out what sort of allergy I had but finally came to the conclusion that it must be an allergy to consciousness. ”
—James Thurber
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Poppycock
“I’m not going to let anybody come down at night like Nicodemus and whisper something in my ear that no one else can hear. That is not executive privilege it is poppycock.”
—Sam James Ervin Jr.
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Jose Ortega y Gasset: Living
Jose Ortega y Gasset. Numerary professor of Psychology, Logic and Ethics at the Escuela Superior del Magisterio de Madrid (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“We cannot put off living until we are ready. ”
Jose Ortega y Gasset.
Henry Bolingbroke: Pride
“Pride defeats its own end, by bringing the man who seeks esteem and reverence into contempt. ”
—Henry Bolingbroke.
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Michel de Montaigne: 'cos it was me, 'im meself

Painting by Thomas de Leu (Franco-Flemish painter and engraver, 1560–1612, active 1580-1610). An engraving of this painting was published in the first edition of Montaigne’s Essais, 1617. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“If a man urge me to tell wherefore I loved him, I feel it cannot be expressed but by answering: Because it was he, because it was myself. ”
—Michel de Montaigne.
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Martha Graham: Misery
“Misery is a communicable disease. ”
—Martha Graham.
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Robert Southey: Words
It is with words as with sunbeams. The more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.
—Robert Southey.
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Lou Holtz: Something worthwhile
Show me someone who has done something worthwhile, and I’ll show you someone who has overcome adversity.
– Lou Holtz
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Unknown: Thinking by the inch
“He who thinks by the inch and talks by the yard deserves to be kicked by the foot.”
—Unknown
Georges Bernanos: Loneliness
“No one ever discovers the depths of his own loneliness. ”
—Georges Bernanos.
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