Words, wonderful words

Here are some of the beautiful words from some of the character-building books I've read this year:

The Phantom Tollbooth--Norton Juster

• "...since you got here by not thinking, it seems reasonable to expect that, in order to get out, you must start thinking."
• "...the way you see things depends a great deal on where you look at them from."
• "...for one of the nicest things about mathematics, or anything else you might care to learn, is that many of the things which can never be, often are."
• "...just because you can never reach it doesn't mean that it's not worth looking for."
• "You must never feel badly about making mistakes," explained Reason quietly, "as long as you take the trouble to learn from them. For you often learn more by being wrong for the right reasons than you do by being right for the wrong reasons...it's not just learning things that's important. It's learning what to do with what you learn and learning why you learn things at all that matters."
• "...many places you would like to see are just off the map and many things you want to know are just out of sight or a little beyond your reach. But someday you'll reach them all, for what you learn today, for no reason at all, will help you discover all the wonderful secrets of tomorrow."
• "...you had the courage to try; and what you can do is often simply a matter of what you will do."
• "...many things are possible just as long as you don't know they're impossible."

Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart--Gordon Livingston M.D.

• "The three components of happiness are something to do, someone to love, and something to look forward to. "
• "When we think about loss of freedom, we seldom focus on the ways in which we voluntarily impose constraints upon our lives."
• "...we often do not do what is necessary to become the people we want to be."
• "People mistake thoughts, wishes and intentions for actual change."
• "The process of building has always been slower and more complicated than that of destruction."
• "Though a straight line appears to be the shortest distance between two points, life has a way of confounding geometry. Often it is the dalliances and the detours that define us."
• "The process of learning consists not so much in accumulating answers as in figuring out how to formulate the right questions."
• "We routinely invoke theories of accident, coincidence and forgetfulness to explain behaviors that we do not wish to examine closely."
• "To imagine that we are solely, or even primarily, responsible for the successes and failure of our children is a narcissistic myth."

The Traveler's Gift--Andy Andrews

• "...we are all in situations of our own choosing. Our thinking creates a pathway to success or failure. By disclaiming responsibility for our present, we crush the prospect of an incredible future that might have been ours. "
• "...outside influences are not responsible for where you are mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally. or financially. You have chosen the pathway to your present destination. The responsibility for your situation is yours. 
• "Until a person takes responsibility for where he is, there is no basis for moving on."
• "The past will never change, but you can change the future by changing your actions today."
• "It is never the duty of a leader to struggle for someone else; a leader must encourage others to struggle and assure them that the struggles are worthwhile."
• "Truth is never dependent upon consensus of opinion."
• "Most people fail at whatever they attempt because of an undecided heart...success requires the emotional balance of a committed heart. When confronted with a challenge, the committed heart will search for a solution. The undecided heart searches for an escape."
• "...life itself is a privilege, but to live life to its fullest--well, that is a choice."
• "You will never please everyone, nor should pleasing everyone be your goal."
• "Sooner or later, every man of character will have his character questioned. Every man of honor and courage will be faced with unjust criticism, but never forget that unjust criticism has no impact whatsoever upon the truth. And the only sure way to avoid criticism is to do nothing and be nothing!"
• "...while public opinion might sway back and forth, right and wrong do not."
• "When I give forgiveness, I free my own spirit to release the anger and hatred harbored in my heart. By granting forgiveness, I free my spirit to pursue my future happily and unencumbered by the anchors of my past. And forgiveness, when granted to others becomes a gift to myself."
• "The only limit to your realization of tomorrow is the doubt to which you hold fast today."
• "Circumstances are rulers of the weak, but they are weapons of the wise."
• "A person who is depressed is spending too much time thinking about the way things are now and not enough time thinking about how he wants things to be."
• "Average people compare themselves with other people. That is why they are average. I compare myself to my potential."

The Noticer--Andy Andrews

• "Think. Learn. Pray. Plan. Dream. For soon...you will become."
• "A grateful perspective brings happiness and abundance into a person's life."
• "It's amazing that a person could lose everything, chasing nothing."
• "Worry...fear...is just a misuse of the creative imagination that has been placed in each of us."
• "The seeds of depression cannot take root in a grateful heart."
• "Many of life's treasures remain hidden from us simply because we never search for them...we are so caught up in fear and regret, that hope seems a foolish endeavor."
• "Most people think it takes a long time to change. It doesn't...It may take a long time to decide to change...but change happens in a heartbeat."
• "There is no difference in the person who intends to do things differently and the one who never thinks about it in the first place. 

The Diary of a Young Girl--Anne Frank

• "I don't want followers, but friends, admirers who fall not for a flattering smile but for what one does and for one's character."
• "...when I lie in bed and end my prayers with the words, 'I thank you, God, for all that is good and dear and beautiful,' I am filled with joy...I don't think then of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains."
• "And whoever is happy will make others happy, too. He who has courage and faith will never perish in misery!
• "I can shake off everything if I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn."
• "If the truth is told, things are just as bad as you yourself care to make them."
• "There's one golden rule to keep before you: laugh about everything and don't bother yourself about the others!"
• "I can't imagine how anyone can say: 'I'm weak' and then remain so. After all, if you know it, why not fight against it, why not try to train your character? The answer was: 'Because it's so much easier not to!"
• "Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.
• "A quiet conscience makes one strong."
• "Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands."