Quotes On Achievement 7 Posted: 24 Nov 2010 12:15 AM PST  "For we must consider that we shall be a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us, so that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword through the world."
John Winthrop
"In Hollywood a girl's virtue is much less important than her hairdo. You're judged by how you look, not by what you are. Hollywood's a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for kiss, and fifty cents for your soul. I know, because I turned down the first offer often enough and held out for the fifty."
Marilyn Monroe
"One of the secrets of getting more done is to make a TO DO List every day, keep it visible, and use it as a guide to action as you go through the day."
Alan Lakein
"Big goals get big results. No goals get no results or somebody else's results."
Mark Victor Hansen
"You get whatever accomplishment you are willing to declare."
Mal Pancoast
"Nothing is as difficult as to achieve results in this world if one is filled full of great tolerance and the milk of human kindness. The person who achieves must generally be a one-idea individual, concentrated entirely on that one idea, and ruthless in his aspect toward other men and other ideas."
Corinne Roosevelt Robinson
"The three great essentials to achieve anything worth while are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense."
Thomas Edison
"What would a smarter person than me do? Then do it!"
Danny Devito
"The value of achievement lies in the achieving."
Albert Einstein
"A man has to work so hard so that something of his personality stays alive. A tomcat has it so easy, he has only to spray and his presence is there for years on rainy days."
Albert Einstein
 When you are together with that special someone When you are together with that special someone, you pretend to ignore
that person. But when that special someone is not around, you might look around
to find them.
At that moment, you are in love.
Although there is someone else who always makes you laugh,
your eyes and attention might go only to that special someone.
Then, you are in love.
Although that special someone was supposed to have called you long back,
to let you know of their safe arrival,
your phone is quiet.
You are desperately waiting for the call!
At that moment, you are in love.
If you are much more excited for one short e-mail from
that special someone than other many long e-mails,
you are in love.
When you find yourself as one who cannot erase all the
emails or SMS messages in your phone because of one message
from that special someone, you are in love.
When you get a couple of free movie tickets, you would
not hesitate to think of that special someone.
Then, you are in love.
You keep telling yourself, “that special someone is just a friend”,but
you realize that you can not avoid that person’s special attraction. At that
moment, you are in love.
While you are reading this post, if someone
appears in your mind,
then you are in love with that person.. Damn Sure!!!
Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You
I have read a legend about three fair maids who lived in a royal palace. One morning they were strolling in the gardens among the beautiful red roses and the trees loaded with luscious fruits. One of the maids raised the question as to which of them had the most beautiful hands. Eleanor was gathering the fleshy ripe strawberries and her hands were stained with the crimson juice of her berries. She thought her hands the most beautiful. Antoinette thought her were the most beautiful as the fragrance of the roses lingered on her hands. Joan seated beside the stream had dipped her hands in cool crystal waters. Looking at the clear sparkling drops on her dainty fingers, she thought her hands the most beautiful.
A beggar happened to be passing by seeing the maidens; she stopped and asked for alms. The royal maidens swished their flowing skirts and turned away from the beggar in ragged cloths. The beggar girl moved on with a forlorn face. In front of a nearby cottage sat an old woman with a sub-burned face and toil-stained hands. Filled with compassion on seeing the beggar girl she gave her some bread. The legend says that the beggar was immediately transformed into an angel and appeared at the garden gate, saying to the palace maids, the most beautiful hands are those which are found ready to bless and help their fellowmen.
Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You
 A little girl went into her bedroom and pulled a glass jelly jar from its hiding place in the closet. She poured the change out on the floor and counted it carefully. Three times, even.. The total had to be exactly perfect.. No chance here for mistakes. Carefully placing the coins back in the jar and twisting on the cap, she slipped out the back door and made her way 6 blocks to Rexall’s Drug Store with the big red Indian Chief sign above the door. She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention, but he was too busy at this moment. Tess twisted her feet to make a scuffing noise. Nothing. She cleared her throat with the most disgusting sound she could muster. No good. Finally she took a quarter from her jar and banged it on the glass counter. That did it! ‘And what do you want?’ the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of voice.. I’m talking to my brother whom I haven’t seen in ages,’ he said without waiting for a reply to his question. ‘Well, I want to talk to you about my brother,’ Tess answered back in the same tone. ‘He’s really, really sick….and I want to buy him a miracle.’ ‘I beg your pardon?’ said the pharmacist. ‘His name is Andrew and he has something bad growing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle cost?’
‘We don’t sell miracles here, little girl. I’m sorry but I can’t help you,’ the pharmacist said, softening his tone a little. ‘Listen, I have the money to pay for it. If it isn’t enough, I will get the rest. Just tell me how much it costs.’ The pharmacist’s brother was a well dressed man. He stooped down and asked the little girl, ‘What kind of miracle does your brother need?’ ‘I don’t know,’ Tess replied with her eyes welling up. I just know he’s really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation. But my Daddy can’t pay for it, so I want to use my money..’
‘How much do you have?’ asked the man from Chicago. ‘One dollar and eleven cents,’ Tess answered barely audible. ‘And it’s all the money I have, but I can get some more if I need to.’ ‘Well, what a coincidence,’ smiled the man. ‘A dollar and eleven cents-the exact price of a miracle for little brothers.’ He took her money in one hand and with the other hand he grasped her mitten and said, ‘Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let’s see if we have the miracle you need.’
That well dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon, specializing in neuro-surgery. The operation was completed free of charge and it wasn’t long until Andrew was home again and doing well.
Mom and Dad were happily talking about the chain of events that led them to this place. ‘That surgery,’ her mom whispered, ‘was a real miracle. I wonder how much it would have cost?’ Tess smiled.
She knew exactly how much a miracle cost….One dollar and eleven cents….plus the faith of a little child. In our lives, we never know how many miracles we will need. A miracle is not in the suspension of natural law, but the operation of a higher law.
Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You
There was a family that was experiencing a small tragedy. One of their two sons had acquired an illness that required a marrow transplant. Of course, the medical personell had all the family members tested to see who had the proper type of blood. It turned out the older brother of the sick boy was the perfect match. So the father sat the older brother down and told what they needed to do in simplest terms for the young boy. The father told him that his little brother was very very sick and that he needed to show his little brother how much he loved him by having surgery. The doctors need to take a little piece of him and put it in his little brother’s body so that he doesn’t die. The young boy thought about it for a couple seconds, and then he said he would do it.
So the older brother went through surgery. it was a success, and his little brother was recovering quickly. After the relief and joy passed over and the family was just sitting around relaxing, the father noticed his older son looking a little down and depressed. He took his son aside and asked him why he wasn’t happy- his brother was getting better. His son said that he was very glad that his brother was getting better. So the father asked again, why are you so sad? The boy said, “When is it time for me to die?”
That’s when the father realized what the boy actually had on his mind. His older son believed in his heart of hearts that he had to give up his own life so that his little brother who he loved could live.
Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You
 The Cab Ride I arrived at the address and honked the horn.
After waiting a few minutes, I walked to the door and knocked...
'Just a minute', answered a frail, elderly voice.
I could hear something being dragged across the floor.
After a long pause, the door opened.
A small woman in her 90's stood before me.
She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it,
like somebody out of a 1940's movie.
By her side was a small nylon suitcase.
The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years.
All the furniture was covered with sheets.
There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters.
In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.
'Would you carry my bag out to the car?' she said.
I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman.
She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.
She kept thanking me for my kindness.
'It's nothing', I told her..
'I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated'.
'Oh, you're such a good boy', she said.
When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked,
'Could you drive through downtown?'
'It's not the shortest way,' I answered quickly..
'Oh, I don't mind,' she said.
'I'm in no hurry.
I'm on my way to a hospice'.
I looked in the rear-view mirror.
Her eyes were glistening.
'I don't have any family left,' she continued in a soft voice..
'The doctor says I don't have very long.
' I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.
'What route would you like me to take?' I asked.
For the next two hours, we drove through the city.
She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator.
We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived
when they were newlyweds.
She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once
been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.
Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner
and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.
As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said,
'I'm tired. Let's go now'.
We drove in silence to the address she had given me.
It was a low building, like a small convalescent home,
with a driveway that passed under a portico.
Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up.
They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move.
They must have been expecting her.
I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door.
The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.
'How much do I owe you?'
she asked, reaching into her purse.
'Nothing,'
I said
'You have to make a living,' she answered.
'There are other passengers,' I responded.
Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug.
She held onto me tightly.
'You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,' she said.
'Thank you.'
I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light..
Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life..
I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift.
I drove aimlessly lost in thought.
For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk.
What if that woman had gotten an angry driver,
or one who was impatient to end his shift?
What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once,
then driven away?
On a quick review,
I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life.
We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments.
But great moments often catch us unaware - beautifully
wrapped in what others may consider a small one.
People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.
You won't get any big surprise
in 10 days if you send this to ten people. But,
you might help make the world a little kinder
and more compassionate by sending.
it on and reminding us that often it is the random acts of
kindness that most benefit all of
us.
Thank you, my
friend...
Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You
 Tegh Bahadur, the ninth of the ten Sikh gurus, was beheaded by the Moghuls in 1675. The bodies of those so executed were usually quartered and exposed to public view, but Tegh Bahadur's followers managed to steal the body under cover of darkness, cremate the limbs in Delhi, and bring the severed head to Tegh Bahadur's son Gobind, who performed the last rites for his father.
This example of Sikh poster art shows Tegh Bahadur in the center, surrounded by scenes from his life: his validation as the true Sikh Guru (among many claimants) by reading the mind of a prominent devotee (upper left), his execution (lower right), the delivery of his head to his young son Gobind (upper right), and at the lower left a picture of Gurudwara Sisganj, the Sikh house of worship built at the site of his martyrdom in Delhi.
True realisation of the actual nature of this material world, its perishable, transitory and illusory aspects best dawns on a person in suffering.
*
He who trusts in God and makes an honest living to share with others and injures no one, nor harbours ill will against another need perform on other rituals.
*
O mother, I have been blessed with the wealth of God's name. My mind is free from wandering and is established in peace. Avarice and worldly love dare not touch me and pure divine knowledge fills me. Greed and desire cannot affect me. I am totally immersed in Lord's devotion. Fear of transmigration deserts when blessed with the jewel of Lord's name. My mind is free of all desire and I am totally absorbed in bliss. He to whom God - the Ocean of Grace - shows mercy sings the praise of the Lord of the world.
Today is the martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib
Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You
"For we must consider that we shall be a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us, so that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword through the world."
John Winthrop
"In Hollywood a girl's virtue is much less important than her hairdo. You're judged by how you look, not by what you are. Hollywood's a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for kiss, and fifty cents for your soul. I know, because I turned down the first offer often enough and held out for the fifty."
Marilyn Monroe
"One of the secrets of getting more done is to make a TO DO List every day, keep it visible, and use it as a guide to action as you go through the day."
Alan Lakein
"Big goals get big results. No goals get no results or somebody else's results."
Mark Victor Hansen
"You get whatever accomplishment you are willing to declare."
Mal Pancoast
"Nothing is as difficult as to achieve results in this world if one is filled full of great tolerance and the milk of human kindness. The person who achieves must generally be a one-idea individual, concentrated entirely on that one idea, and ruthless in his aspect toward other men and other ideas."
Corinne Roosevelt Robinson
"The three great essentials to achieve anything worth while are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense."
Thomas Edison
"What would a smarter person than me do? Then do it!"
Danny Devito
"The value of achievement lies in the achieving."
Albert Einstein
"A man has to work so hard so that something of his personality stays alive. A tomcat has it so easy, he has only to spray and his presence is there for years on rainy days."
Albert Einstein
"The whole point of getting things done is knowing what to leave undone."
Lady Stella Reading
"Man can climb to the highest summits, but he cannot dwell there long."
George Bernard Shaw
"If life were measured by accomplishments, most of us would die in infancy."
A. P. Gouthey
"What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality."
Otto Rank
"Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that."
Norman Vincent Peale
"Death comes to all But great achievements build a monument which shall endure until the sun grows cold."
George Fabricius
"My illusions didn't have anything to do with being a fine actress. I knew how third rate I was. I could actually feel my lack of talent, as if it were cheap clothes I was wearing inside. But, my God, how I wanted to learn, to change, to improve!"
Marilyn Monroe
"The starting point of all achievement is desire. Weak desire brings weak results."
Napoleon Hill
"Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's when you've had everything to do, and you've done it."
Margaret Thatcher
"Man is always more than he can know of himself; consequently, his accomplishments, time and again, will come as a surprise to him."
Golo Mann
"Every great achievement is the victory of a flaming heart."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"You will soon break the bow if you keep it always stretched."
Phaedrus
"It's your aptitude, not just your attitude that determines your ultimate altitude."
Zig Ziglar
"The man who is dissatisfied with himself, what can he do?"
Henry David Thoreau
"I hope that my achievements in life shall be these -- that I will have fought for what was right and fair, that I will have risked for that which mattered, and that I will have given help to those who were in need that I will have left the earth a better place for what I've done and who I've been."
C. Hoppe
"Said will be a little ahead, but done should follow at his heel."
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The successful person makes a habit of doing what the failing person doesn't like to do."
Thomas Edison
"The truth of the matter is that there's nothing you can't accomplish if: (1) You clearly decide what it is that you're absolutely committed to achieving, (2) You're willing to take massive action, (3) You notice what's working or not, and (4) You continue to change your approach until you achieve what you want, using whatever life gives you along the way."
Anthony Robbins
"We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit."
E. E. Cummings
"I was the kind nobody thought could make it. I had a funny Boston accent. I couldn't pronounce my R's. I wasn't a beauty."
Barbara Walters
"The greatest things are accomplished by individual people, not by committees or companies."
Alfred A. Montapert
"When science, art, literature, and philosophy are simply the manifestation of personality they are on a level where glorious and dazzling achievements are possible, which can make a man's name live for thousands of years. But above this level, far above,"
Simone Weil
"Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement."
Charles F. Kettering
"The best job goes to the person who can get it done without passing the buck or coming back with excuses."
Napoleon Hill
"Success is not measured by what you accomplish, but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds."
Orison Swett Marden
"Not the maker of plans and promises, but rather the one who offers faithful service in small matters. This is the person who is most likely to achieve what is good and lasting."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"Where I was born and where and how I have lived is unimportant. It is what I have done with where I have been that should be of interest."
Georgia O'Keeffe
"The average estimate themselves by what they do, the above average by what they are."
Johann Friedrich Von Schiller
"The measure of a man is the way he bears up under misfortune."
Plutarch
"We will either find a way, or make one."
Hannibal
"The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence."
Eddie Robinson
"My mother drew a distinction between achievement and success. She said that achievement is the knowledge that you have studied and worked hard and done the best that is in you. Success is being praised by others. That is nice but not as important or satisfying. Always aim for achievement and forget about success."
Helen Hayes
"Dedicate yourself to the good you deserve and desire for yourself. Give yourself peace of mind. You deserve to be happy. You deserve delight."
Mark Victor Hansen
"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Our achievements speak for themselves. What we have to keep track of are our failures, discouragements and doubts. We tend to forget the past difficulties, the many false starts, and the painful groping. We see our past achievements as the end results of"
Eric Hoffer
"I want to put a ding in the universe."
Steve Jobs
"We always take credit for the good and attribute the bad to fortune."
Jean De La Fontaine
"Out of the strain of doing and into the peace of the done."
Julia Woodruff
"Be not afraid of flying. Angels live in the clouds and the devil on the earth."
Greg Evans
"Somehow I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four C s. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable."
Walt Disney
"Life affords no higher pleasure than that of surmounting difficulties, passing from one step of success to another, forming new wishes and seeing them gratified."
Samuel Johnson
"Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome."
Samuel Johnson
"To spend life for something which outlasts it."
William James
"One who has done nothing, is not known until they have done something."
Allie Ross
"A man may fulfill the object of his existence by asking a question he cannot answer, and attempting a task he cannot achieve."
Oliver Wendell Holmes
"It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get."
Morarji Desai
"''Where there is a will there is a way.'' is an old true saying. He who resolves upon doing a thing, by that very resolution often scales the barriers to it, and secures its achievement. To think we are able, is almost to be so -- to determine upon attainment is frequently attainment itself."
Samuel Smiles
"There is a woman at the beginning of all great things."
Alphonse De Lamartine
"We live in deeds, not years: In thoughts not breaths; In feelings, not in figures on a dial. We should count time by heart throbs. He most lives Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best."
David Bailey
"If Columbus had turned back, no one would have blamed him. Of course, no one would have remembered him either."
"The journey is the reward."
Chinese Proverbs
"For what is the best choice, for each individual is the highest it is possible for him to achieve."
Aristotle
""No matter who you are it's the simple things in life that lead you to believe that you can achieve anything." "
Ronaldo(Ronaldinho) Assis Moreira
"Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together."
Vincent van Gogh
"Do not be desirous of having things done quickly. Do not look at small advantages. Desire to have things done quickly prevents their being done thoroughly. Looking at small advantages prevents great affairs from being accomplished."
Confucius
"The fellow who does things that count, doesn't usually stop to count them."
"The mode in which the inevitable comes to pass is through effort."
Oliver Wendell Holmes
"Accomplishment is easiest when we work the hardest, and it is hardest when we work the easiest."
| Quotes From Khalil Gibran Posted: 22 Nov 2010 02:19 AM PST Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.
Advance, and never halt, for advancing is perfection. Advance and do not fear the thorns in the path, for they draw only corrupt blood. All that spirits desire, spirits attain.
An eye for an eye, and the whole world would be blind.
If the other person injures you, you may forget the injury; but if you injure him you will always remember.
Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.
I wash my hands of those who imagine chattering to be knowledge, silence to be ignorance, and affection to be art.
And ever has it been known that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.
If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if they don't, they never were.
If you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work.
If you reveal your secrets to the wind, you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees.
If your heart is a volcano, how shall you expect flowers to bloom?
Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.
Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof. Faith is an oasis in the heart which will never be reached by the caravan of thinking.
Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is its twin brother.
 “A river never passes the same place twice,” says a philosopher. “Life is like a river,” says another philosopher, and we draw the conclusion that this is the metaphor that comes closest to the meaning of life. Consequently, it is always good to remember during all the year to come:
We are always doing things for the first time. While we move between our source (birth) to our destination (death), the landscape will always be new. We should face these novelties with joy, not with fear – because it is useless to fear what cannot be avoided. A river never stops running.
In a valley we walk slower. When everything around us becomes easier, the waters grow calm, we become more open, fuller and more generous.
Our banks are always fertile. Vegetation only grows where there is water. Whoever comes into contact with us needs to understand that we are there to give the thirsty something to drink.
Stones should be avoided. It is obvious that water is stronger than granite, but it takes time for this to happen. It is no good letting yourself be overcome by stronger obstacles, or trying to fight against them – that is a useless waste of energy. It is best to understand where the way out is, and then move forward.
Hollows call for patience. All of a sudden the river enters a sort of hole and stops running as joyfully as before. At such moments the only way out is to count on the help of time. When the right moment comes the hollow fills up and the water can flow ahead. In the place of the ugly, lifeless hole there now stands a lake that others can contemplate with joy.
We are one. We were born in a place that was meant for us, which will always keep us supplied with enough water so that when confronted with obstacles or depression we have the necessary patience or strength to move forward. We begin our course in a soft and fragile manner, where even a simple leaf can stop us. Nevertheless, as we respect the mystery of the source that gave us life, and trust in His eternal wisdom, little by little we gain all that we need to pursue our path.
Although we are one, soon we shall be many. As we travel on, the waters of other springs come closer, because that is the best path to follow. Then we are no longer just one, but many – and there comes a moment when we feel lost. However, as the Bible says, “all rivers flow to the sea.” It is impossible to remain in our solitude, no matter how romantic that may seem. When we accept the inevitable encounter with other springs, we eventually understand that this makes us much stronger, we get around obstacles or fill in the hollows in far less time and with greater ease.
We are a means of transportation. Of leaves, boats, ideas. May our waters always be generous, may be always be able to carry ahead everything or everyone that needs our help.
We are a source of inspiration. And so, let us leave the final words to the Brazilian poet, Manuel Bandeira:
“To be like a river that flows silent through the night,
not fearing the darkness and reflecting any stars high in the sky.
And if the sky is filled with clouds, the clouds are water like the river, so
without remorse reflect them too”
Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You
 The yogi Raman was a true master of the art of archery. One morning, he invited his favourite disciple to watch a display of his skill. The disciple had seen this more than a hundred times before, but he nevertheless obeyed his teacher. They went into the wood beside the monastery and when they reached a magnificent oak tree, Raman took a flower which he had tucked in his collar and placed it on one of the branches.
He then opened his bag and took out three objects: his splendid bow made of precious wood, an arrow and a white handkerchief embroidered with lilacs.
The yogi positioned himself one hundred paces from the spot where he had placed the flower. Facing his target, he asked his disciple to blindfold him with the embroidered handkerchief.
The disciple did as his teacher requested.
‘How often have you seen me practise the noble and ancient sport of archery?’ Raman asked him.
‘Every day,’ replied his disciple. ‘And you have always managed to hit the rose from three hundred paces away.’
With his eyes covered by the handkerchief, the yogi Raman placed his feet firmly on the ground, drew back the bowstring with all his might – aiming at the rose placed on one of the branches of the oak tree – and then released the arrow.
The arrow whistled through the air, but it did not even hit the tree, missing the target by an embarrassingly wide margin.
‘Did I hit it?’ said Raman, removing the handkerchief from his eyes.
‘No, you missed completely,’ replied the disciple. ‘I thought you were going to demonstrate to me the power of thought and your ability to perform magic.’
‘I have just taught you the most important lesson about the power of thought,’ replied Raman. ‘When you want something, concentrate only on that: no one will ever hit a target they cannot see.’
Lovely Thoughts For Lovely people Just Like You
 A young man said to the abbot from the monastery of Melk:
– I’d actually like to be a monk, but I haven’t learned anything in life. All my father taught me was to play chess, which does not lead to enlightenment. Apart from that, I learned that all games are a sin.
– They may be a sin but they can also be a diversion, and who knows, this monastery needs a little of both – was the reply.
The abbot asked for a chess board, sent for a monk and told him to play the young man.
But before the game began, he added:
- Although we need diversion, we cannot allow everyone to play chess the whole time. So, we only have the best players here; if our monk loses, he will leave the monastery and his place will be yours.
The abbot was serious. The young man knew he was playing for his life, and broke into a cold sweat; the chess board became the center of the world.
The monk began badly. The young man attacked, but then saw the saintly look on the other man’s face; at that moment, he began playing badly on purpose.
After all, he would rather lose, a monk is far more useful to the world.
Suddenly, the abbot threw the chess board to the floor.
- You have learned far more than was taught you – he said. – You concentrated yourself enough to win, were capable of fighting for that which you desire.
“Then, you had compassion, and were willing to make a sacrifice in the name of a noble cause. Welcome, because the secret of life is to know how to balance discipline with compassion.”
Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You
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