Quote of the day

"Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others."

-Plato

Good actions make us feel strong. Especially when we are rewarded or praised for these good actions. Good actions make us feel like we've done something right, and that we can do anything we can dream up and be on top of the world because we've done that good action. Good things, of course. We can do anything we can dream up, when they're good things. We feel like we are on a good streak of good actions. Also, these good actions inspire others to do good actions as well. If you saw your brother or sister or mother or father or someone you look up to or respect doing something good for someone, you are likely inspired and will go and do a good action for someone else.

Daily Quote

"Art is the only way to run away without leaving home."

-Twyla Tharp

Have you ever wanted to simply escape? ... Without having to go anywhere? Art is one of the only ways to do that. Some pieces of art are so amazing that you can lose yourself in them to the extent that it feels like you are inside the painting. I remember once when I was at a museum or some sort of art gallery, and I saw a painting. I don't remember what it was, but I remember looking at it for a while and feeling like I was a part of it. I entered a daydreaming stance, and, just like a dream you have at night, I felt like I was part of that painting. It was amazing. It was an escape from whatever my life was like back then, and it was an eye opening opportunity to appreciate art. Think of art as a door that connects your life with a dreamscape. The only way to the dreamscape is through that masterpiece of art.

Daily Quote

"Lost time is never found again."

-Benjamin Franklin

Time is something that, once it's gone, we cannot retrieve again. This can be a hard concept to grasp at first. Most things, if we lose them, we can either find them or find a version of them somewhere. Like money-- if you spend it, you can always earn it back in some other way shape or form. It might take time, but you can. Also, food. If you eat an apple, you can always go buy another one. Same for other purchasable things. Even if it is one of a kind, you can get a replica. But time is something that, once it is spent or wasted or lost, you can't ever get back again. This is why it is so crucial to use our time to the absolute best of our abilities.

Quote of the day

Knowledge is power. This is a statement I'm sure you've heard quite a few times. I know I've heard it! Although, I never really sat down to think about what it really means. Finding this quote is what made me stop and think about it. Knowledge is powerful because without it we would need to rely on others to know things for us. If we can't read or write, we would rely on someone who can for many things. In this case, if you were the only person who was literate, you would have people constantly asking for your assistance. Having the knowledge of knowing how to read would give you such power! Knowledge is power in other subjects too. But like all power, it must be handled carefully and not abused. On the other hand, once you learn to not abuse it, you will find that it lets you access the chamber of advancement and to unlock the door of opportunity.

Quote of the day

When you doubt, you are rejecting ideas and thoughts that you force yourself to believe aren't correct. The act of knowing that the idea will fail in itself is doubt. But when you wonder, you are creating more knowledge. You are creating potential questions to research, ideas that spark something in your brain that makes it so much more fun and interesting to learn. When you wonder, you go into greater detail to try to figure it out. Wondering is the root of all knowledge. If nobody ever dreamed or wondered something, nobody would have the encouragement to discover new things and gain knowledge. So don't be ashamed to wonder. Wondering is a great thing to do!

Daily Quote

“… and then I sat and watched the sky blush at the moon, turning all different shades from lemon drop and tangerine to silky blue and powdery purple, and I thought to myself: nature’s beauty amazes me.”

-Anonymous

I loved this quote when I saw it, because I looked out of my own window and saw the same thing. The image above is my view from my window. It's amazing how many colors you can see in this picture. Yellow, a little bit of orange, some pink, purple, blue, and a bunch of colors that are somewhere in between. Nature is so amazing. It's so wonderful and mysterious, filled with new secrets at every corner. It seems that, every time I do a nature quote, I say to go and look at a leaf or flower closely, and what you will see is quite amazing. Seriously, though, the intricate detail of just about everything you find in nature is incredible.  Nature is so amazing. I'm hardly ever disappointed when I look closer at something in search of something so carefully and yet so perplexingly ornate.

Daily Quote

"It'll cost nothing to dream and everything not to."

-Rodney White

Dreaming costs you nothing. You go to bed at night, and, while you are sleeping, you dream. You don't have to pay your brain to give you these dreams, and you don't have to pay time either. You dream naturally while you sleep, so the only time you are paying is what you would pay anyway to sleep. Even though some nights it feels like you haven't dreamt at all, that isn't true. It just means you didn't wake up in the middle of a dream. You probably dreamed 3 or 4 dreams that night, but you can only remember a dream if you wake up during it. I suppose this is why it always feels like a dream is incomplete and that you wake up at the best part of it! Dreams are super important, because sometimes what's in a dream can be a great idea that could ultimately change the world as we know it. But if you don't dream, you will never come up with any creative ideas. Even creating ideas is dreaming, but it is dreaming while awake. If you don't dream, it costs everything! Imagine never having a good idea or any idea in your life! You wouldn't have made it through school or college! You wouldn't have gotten a job, or if you did, you would have been fired. You basically wouldn't be able to think outside of what is already known or taught to you. Besides, what would the world be like if nobody ever dreamt? There are so many things we wouldn't have, because nobody dared to dream them up. Dreaming doesn't cost you anything at all, but not dreaming is extremely expensive. Go dream up some dreams and see where they take you!

Quote of the day

"Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful."

-Annette Funicello

Your life doesn't have to be perfect in every single way to be wonderful. You could have the worst conditions for life, and your life can still be wonderful. If your life isn't wonderful, there is nothing stopping you from making it wonderful! Forget all of the physical items and gadgets and "stuff" for now. Think-- is your life wonderful in terms of your happiness and other things important like that? If not, it isn't too hard to make it wonderful. Find your passion, follow your dreams, and every now and again, allow some of the weight to be lifted off of your shoulders and take a break. I think that, personally, what makes my life so wonderful is my absolutely amazing family, my great friends, and my passion for service and science/engineering. When I do these two things, I am truly happy. I love the feeling of knowing someone will benefit from what you've done, which is why I love service, and I've just always loved science. Even though I have an overloaded work schedule that gives me hardly any extra spare time to do anything, I can find joy in doing those two things. Mix that with my family and friends and all of the things I am fortunate to have and thankful for, and you will see that my life isn't perfect, but it is nonetheless wonderful.

Quote of the day

If you don't work hard, you won't get good results. Sometimes you get lucky and you can coast on your previous hard work in some situations, but in other situations you really do need to work hard. Take school as an example. You didn't just show up to a test without having studied first, did you? No. You study so that you can actually do well on the test. Without that hard work, though, all you get is a weedy grade. Sometimes, even with the hard work, you still get a weedy grade. But if you've actually tried, you will always get some flowers. Even if your flower garden needs to be weeded, as long as there are flowers in the garden you're ok. But that doesn't mean not to try your absolute best! Try hard, give a garden of flowers full of effort. Because without that hard work, nothing grows but weeds.

Daily Story

A boy named Peter was the only son of his parents. He displayed extraordinary artistic talent. He used to draw perfect pictures, make marvellous models and carve realistic images. His father was a bad-tempered drunkard and did not appreciate the boy’s works of art. He used to scold him and beat him for wasting his time and paper for such ‘useless’ works. But his loving mother encouraged him. 

One day, the boy scratched a beautiful picture on the table in the house using the tip of a sharp knife. The father returned from his work in a fully drunk state. He was furious to see the scratched figure on their only table and violently thrashed the boy mercilessly. The mother intervened, but she too got a few blows. The boy ran away from home, crying aloud, unable to bear his father’s cruelty. He was so angry and sad that he did not return to his home. His parents later searched for him everywhere, but could not locate him. They were very sad. The mother could not stop her tears and soon fell ill.

Peter boarded a train and landed in a distant city. After doing some menial jobs with meagre wages, he joined an advertising agency which painted display boards and erected them around the city. His artistic talents made him a success in his new profession and gradually he earned sufficient money to meet his needs. He grew up and became a healthy young man and a good artist.

Peter often thought about his family and felt sorry for deserting his parents in their old age. He wrote several letters addressed to his mother, but could not get any reply. Finally he returned to his native village, repenting for his action and wishing to be reconciled with them. Reaching the spot where they lived, he was surprised to see a new posh house in place of his old hut. The owner of the new house told him that he had bought the land from the Peter’s father when he left the place. He added that Peter’s mother died soon after her son deserted them. The neighbors had no idea about the present whereabouts of Peter’s father.

Unable to bear the sad news of his mother’s untimely death and his role in the tragedy, Peter returned to his work place. Later his firm opened a branch in the city near Peter’s native place. Peter was offered a transfer to the new unit and he readily accepted it. Reaching the new place, he stayed in a rented house. As he had only a little money with him, he decided to buy some cheap furniture for his house. He visited a shop selling used furniture.

While examining the articles, he was surprised to see an old table with a scratched figure on it. He observed carefully and discovered that the figure was the one he scratched on his table when he was a boy. Thus he could easily identify this table. Rushing to the owner of the shop, he asked from where and rom whom he got the used table. The owner thought for a while and recollected his purchase of a few pieces of used furniture from an old drunkard’s hut. He was very poor and sold the furniture as he had no money to buy food. He remembered the hut and gave the directions to Peter to reach the hut.

Peter ran to the hut and met his old father there, who appeared very emaciated after years of illness and poverty. Peter fell upon his father’s feet and sought his pardon for deserting him. He carried the sick father to the hospital and gave the necessary medical care. He carried his father to his house and by his loving tender care the old man became healthy and happy. They lived there peacefully.

Daily Quote

"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked."

-Bernard Meltzer

A true friend knows you have imperfections and flaws, but they don't care and treat you as if you are a smooth, un-cracked egg anyway. They don't throw you away because you're broken. Everyone's broken, and everyone needs a friend to lean on. If you want to stick with the egg comparison, then we could say that even though we're cracked, our friends make sure to keep us in their best egg carton that they have, not caring that we're not perfect. Good friends are ones that think you are a good person, even though they know you're broken inside. If only all people were like this. If we could all just realize that nobody's perfect, yet treat everyone like they are still good people, the world would be such an amazing place.

Quote of the day

"The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse."

-Edmund Burke

If you are given power, you need to be careful. The greater the power is, the more likely it will be abused. For example, if it is only a little bit of power such as being the leader of your elementary school project team, that can't really be abused that much. The most you could do is be incredibly bossy and tell everyone what to do and that they're wrong about everything they're doing. But on a completely contrasting scale, getting the power of becoming king or queen (or, in modern day, the president of your country), there are so many more ways you can abuse that. So many more dangerous ways you can abuse that. If you were a king or queen, you could make up all kinds of rules (assuming the people who monitor these rules allow them to become rules) and potentially get people killed. You could call for war. You could banish people and do all sorts of terrible things. Great power can also be used in good ways, like making the place you are running a better place. But you must be careful. The greater the power you're given, the more dangerous and likely it will be to abuse it.

Quote of the day

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

-Abraham Lincoln

I thought this was pretty interesting because of the quote I did a few days ago about testing a person's character based on how they treat people that aren't equal to them in some way or another. When I saw this quote, it struck me as interesting because it is another version of the one from the other day. So if you are looking for another way to see who people really are, take a look at this quote. Another way to test a man or a woman's character is to give them power. Most people can accept misfortune and such after a while, so if you really desperately want to test someone's character, give them power. This is basically the same thing as the one from the other day. Give them power, and see how they treat people who don't have as much power. Power weakens a person inside, but makes them appear to be stronger on the outside. It's just like bread dough. Give it the energy and heat of the oven, and it will get a harder shell and prettier appearance, but on the inside, it gets tons of holes and air pockets and it is really weak and not very durable. We get less tough on the inside, but we don't feel this. We think that those air bubbles are what's making us better, when really they're weakening us. Power makes a person do crazy things, sometimes.

Daily Quote

"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."

-Albert Einstein

If you can't explain something in even the most simple terms, you probably don't know it well enough. You should be able to explain it to a really little one in vocab words to match. If you can't, and the only thing you can repeat is what you read or learned originally, you probably don't know it well enough. For example, if you were asked to explain Snell's Law, a formula used to calculate angles of refraction, to someone who doesn't know anything about science, you would have to take it slowly. You would first say the formula, n₁sinøi=n₂sinør, and then go into details about the various things inside the formula. The n stands for the index of refraction, which is basically how much the material makes the light bend when light enters it. The index of refraction for air is 1, but the index of refraction for water is 1.33. Sin is for sine, which is a trig function, but with theta i (which is just the angle measurement you are given to work with), you can plug them into the formula to get theta r which is the angle of light that will come out after being refracted. I know this formula and explanation would not be understood by a little kid or someone completely clueless about science, but do you understand what I mean? If you can't explain something easily and in detail, you probably don't understand it well enough.

Daily Quote

"If you want to see the true measure of a man, watch how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."

-J. K. Rowling

If you want to see who a person really is, look at how they treat the people lower than them. That may be socially, that may be financially, that may even be people who are lower in height. You might think that's silly, but it's actually true. I'm not the tallest person of my age, and I hear quite a few comments-- casual and not--about my height. But anyway, if you want to see who someone really is, look at how they treat people who may not be as fortunate as them in any way shape or form. If you see a rich man treating an incredibly poor man as a complete equal with absolutely no differences at all, that really tells you something about that man. Treat everyone as an equal, no matter what their status.

Quote of the day

"When you go in search of honey you must expect to be stung by bees."

-Joseph Joubert

If you go out looking for something sweet, the path to find that sweetness may be a little bit thorny. Life will throw some challenges at you. It will put obstacles in your path to test you and try you until it finally lets you have the prize. In this life, we must work for the things we want or need. We aren't going to simply be handed everything on a silver platter whenever we need it. We have to spend time, effort, resources, and other things along those lines. We may run into obstacles, road blocks, and dead ends. But when we get to the honey at the end, the bee stings don't even hurt that much. Completing a goal and receiving a well-earned award makes the pain of your travels seem to simply disappear.

Story of the day

A king used to travel in disguise to learn directly about the conditions of his countrymen. He was accompanied by a personal guard in disguise. They met three beggars seated by the side of a busy street. Seeing the two strangers, they raised their bowls and begged for alms. The king wanted to test them. He extended his hands to them and said, “We are in a poor, hungry and miserable state. Kindly give us something to sustain our life.”

One of the beggars did not respond to their request. He moved away in search of a wealthy donor. The second beggar gave a handful of rice from his bowl. But the third beggar felt pity and offered them his large bowl with its complete contents – all the grains and coins he could collect during the day.

The king received the two gifts and sent his guard to the treasurer of the palace with a written order to weigh the gifts and send through the guard, gold coins weighing as much as the two gifts. The guard returned with the gold coins which he happily presented to the second and third beggars.

The first beggar was very sorry for refusing a gift. The second beggar was sorry for limiting his gift. The third beggar was overjoyed to receive the unexpected treasure. The king appointed the kind and compassionate beggar as his personal assistant.

Daily Quote

"There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one's self."

-Benjamin Franklin

Most everyone knows that there are some extremely hard substances: steel and diamonds. There are some extremely hard tasks: climbing mount everest, becoming an olympic athlete, and more. There are so many things in this world that are hard. Something else that is incredibly hard is knowing yourself. Being able to be yourself without having to think. You should't have to plan how you are going to be to be yourself. Being unique is a good thing! Everyone is different in their own special way, and we all must accept that. Never compare someone to someone else unless it is a positive thing that will encourage them. Like if someone isn't painting your house in exactly the way your favorite painter does, don't criticize and say that they must be more like the favorite painter. Just accept that everyone is different and the way the other painter paints is fine, too. As long as the quality is still good. Since everyone is different, everything that everyone does is unique, too. Knowing yourself is hard, but not impossible. It's incredibly important, too, because there is only one you and the world needs to see it. Don't deprive the world of its healthy dosage of pure you!

Daily Quote

"Things don't have to change the world to be important."

-Steve Jobs

Sure, there are things that are incredibly important enough to change the world. But something doesn't have to change the world to be important! For example, showing acts of love are important. Giving your mom or dad a hug here and there, giving someone you love a hug here and there. Showing your gratitude, saying thank you and please and saying you are sorry. Words and actions are incredibly important, and they don't have to change the world. Basic necessities are important, and they perhaps don't have to change the world. There is so much more to important things than changing the entire world.

Quote of the day

Do you want to get ahead? Then get started! So many people these days (including myself) procrastinate. Even if we tell ourselves we aren't going to procrastinate this time, we usually end up doing it anyway. But see, the secret is to start it. Even if you tell yourself you don't have to finish, just start, then you will be surprised with your results. Many times, for me at least, I like to finish what I started, so if I start an assignment I have to make sure it is finished all the way before I stop. Even if I leave it for a day, once it is started it is so much easier to come back to and know you don't have to do the whole thing. But if I haven't started something yet, I don't tend to do it until I need to. So while it might sound crazy, the secret to getting ahead of your workload and the secret to not procrastinating  is simply to start your work so you will be motivated to finish it.

Quote of the day

I was actually just thinking about this a little bit earlier today. Whatever it is I can remember in detail is something I must be passionate about. Something I love. Something I actually want to remember. Unfortunately, this is also why I'm so bad at names and why people may have to tell me something a couple times before I actually remember. Only small things, though, like when I'm just making conversation and I ask a question to move things along, but then later (a few days later, at minimum), I ask the question seeking the answer for real, having forgotten that I even asked that before. Things that I understand are because I want to understand, and because I love that feeling when you are hitting a black brick wall in your brain and the information is just not coming through, when suddenly those bricks go flying in all directions letting you pass and suddenly everything seems to click into place and it all makes sense. I love that feeling, and that's why I can understand many things. The things we know and understand best are the things that we want to; because we love.

Daily Quote

Everything in moderation is the best way to go. Too little of something isn't that great, because too little isn't enough to get you by. Too much is also not the best. If you have too much of something, you will feel not so great when you have so much you don't know what to do, or perhaps you will want to use your too much to get more. Both of these far ends of the scale aren't exactly where you want to be. Sometimes, you don't have a choice and are simply put on one end or the other. Don't get me wrong, there's a mark between having what you need whenever you need it in whatever quantity and quality you want it in, and having way too much to handle.

Daily Quote

"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

If you think of your attitude as a box of crayons that color the world you live in, what would you like your world to look like? Stormy dreary foggy cloudy rainy days every day? If so, you might be coloring your picture gray. If you don't want that, and you want to be a happier person, color it with happier and more lively colors. The gray crayon represents a dull mindset. A mindset where you don't really care what's going on around you. But add some colors, and it will be a pretty picture! Add a mix of lots of colors. Just drawing with only one color makes for not a very interesting picture.

Quote of the day

There really is no normal in this world. Everyone is completely different. Totally unique in their own ways. There are no two people alike. Even if they are identical twins, they are still both unique and different in ways that may seem microscopic. Or perhaps the contrast is obvious. But never think you are just another drone in a planet of ordinary robots. You are not! You are unique and special. But then again, don't think that you are the most different person out there and you just wish you could fit in with the normal people. That's not really true. You are different, yes, but so is everyone else. You are just contrasting more with some people than others. Everyone is unique. Everyone is different. Embrace your uniqueness and help others realize that they are unique gifts of God, too!

Quote of the day

"If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present."

-Lao Tzu

If you think about this, you will realize why this is true. See, when you are depressed, you are likely thinking about something that happened in the past. It may have happened just seconds ago, it may have happened years ago. But the point is, you are thinking about the past and are feeling depressed about something you have done. Thinking about the past doesn't always mean you are depressed. But when you are depressed, it is usually because of the past. If you are anxious, you are probably thinking about the future. If you are a student at school, you may be anxious because perhaps you have four tests, three quizzes, two papers and one project due in the next week. That would be quite a few things, and being anxious is understandable. Anxiety, as the dictionary puts it, is "a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome." Like the dictionary says, usually you are anxious because of something that makes you uncomfortable is approaching, or something that you don't quite know what will happen is going to happen. But when you are in a state of perfect peace, you are living in the present. You aren't clinging to the past, you aren't worrying about the future. You are living each moment as it happens, seeing what will happen in those moments. You are letting life take you along in a sweet and gentle river that only flows forward. The river may have some rocks in it, but once you get past them it's once again smooth and quiet. While you are on this river, you focus only on the part of the river you are on at that moment; watching only what's around you to look at. You aren't trying to glimpse ahead to see where the river will take you, and you aren't looking back on the part you've already past. You are living in the present, and you are at peace.

Daily Quote

The more time you take to do something carefully, the better it will be done. Taking too much time on something can be bad, but taking not enough time can be even worse. If you're working on a project, you won't do your best if you wait until last minute and then do it as fast and carelessly as you can. You won't even do it that well if you do it fast the second you get it just so you can get it over with. If you take your time and spread out your time wisely, you will very likely pay closer attention to the details and work hard to make it just right. You will do a whole lot better. This is true for most things in life. Haste makes waste, as you may have heard before.

Daily Quote

Bad weather is often associated with sorrow. In movies, when something sad happens, it starts to rain. But you don't have to act like storms are sad, you can look at them knowing there will be a rainbow in the end. When you are sad, the storms and bad weather will master you and make you even more sad. Knowing storms are often associated with sadness, when you find yourself in a storm and you are sad, you feel the need to be even sadder. But if you forget about all of that and joyously face the storm, you will feel like you are on top of the world. Feeling power over a powerful thing makes you feel absolutely full of positive power. What you do with that positive power is up to you; but hopefully you will do something really good with it!

Quote of the day

What you look at doesn't matter at all. What you see in what you look at is what matters. For example, if you look at someone less fortunate than you, what do you see? A homeless person? Someone who can't do anything in this world? Or perhaps you see them as something wonderful; a gift of God? Looking at them doesn't matter. But what you see in them is what does matter. Another example would be if you looked through a shop window and looked at a mug, what do you see? A cheap cup that's probably mass produced in China? An expensive but factory made set of mugs exclusively for that shop? Or do you notice that it looks hand painted, crafted with love? Whatever you see is fine, but what you do see is what matters. Just remember that what you look at doesn't matter, but the thoughts that go through your head that causes you to want to either look longer or quickly turn away; what you see in what you look at; that's what matters.

Quote of the day

"Measure twice, cut once."

-Proverb

This is a good rule of thumb. In a woodcutter's life, you must measure the wood twice before you cut, because once you cut you can't just click command-z or control-z on your keyboard to undo it. Once it is done, there's no going back. This is important in our everyday lives as well. In conversation, you must really think through what you want to say and make sure it isn't potentially harmful to someone's feelings, because once you say it and it hurts someone, damage is done. Even if they forgive you the damage will still be done permanently somewhere deep down. Also, you can think of anger as a glass. Drop it enough and it will smash into hundreds of tiny pieces. It will never be whole again. There will always be missing fragments. Your damage will be, again, permanent. It's important in life to think through something twice before putting it to action, because in some cases, once you cut once, it can't be fixed.

Daily Quote

"If you don't think every day is a good day, just try missing one."

-Cavett Robert

Be appreciative of every day. Even if you haven't had the best day, at least remember how wonderful it is to be alive. If you aren't thinking every day is a good day, imagine missing one! If you miss a day, you won't be able to live any more days. If you miss a day, you are dead. Then the days aren't looking so bad, are they? Just remember; even when you feel like you are having a bad day, remember how bad it would be if you weren't able to live it. Appreciation and thankfulness are key things in life.