Story

ETHICS AND MORALITY

If you don’t want it in the paper then don’t do it. If you don’t want to be quoted, if you don’t want it repeated, don’t say it. And we might add also, if you don’t want it on your conscience, don’t do it. If you don’t want it in your life at all, then don’t do it. We live in a world of causes and consequences. Our record is always with us. If you don’t want it printed or repeated or to become a permanent part of the record of your life—don’t do it, don’t say it. Richard L. Evans

Our parish priest was asked to spend the day on the golf course with two friends. Although he said his game was terrible, he went along anyway. At the first tee, another golfer joined them to make a foursome. So as not to make the stranger nervous, the priest insisted they introduce him as “Ron.” On the fourth hole, the other golfer turned to Ron and asked him what he did for a living. Confronted, Ron admitted that he was a Catholic priest. “I knew it!” the stranger exclaimed. “The way you play golf and don’t swear, you’d have to be a priest.”

ETHICS AND MORALITY

When the First World War ended, the King and Queen of Belgium wanted to honor President Herbert Hoover for the aid they had received during the war from the United States. After considering the various available honors, the monarch offered Hoover his choice of three decorations. he rejected them all stated:
You have stood at the gateway of civilization and held back the tide of aggression, while we have only shared with you what we had to give. For that one does not ask for honors.
The King and Queen responded, "He is our very great friend." Desiring to adequately express their appreciation for his efforts, they created a new order to which Hoover alone belonged, "Friend of the Belgian people."

ETHICS AND MORALITY

“Nothing is more important to recovery than honesty and the whole truth. The nature of our disease is to deny and delude ourselves. We cannot face reality, so we construct a complex web of rationalizations, excuses, alibis and outright deceptions to hide the plain truth of our illness. Everything in recovery is to bring the full display of truth and honesty to bear on us. What we fear is not the truth but rejection. We fear the emptiness of abandonment. We are terrified that if we are discovered we will be deserted.” A. Philip Parham

ETHICS AND MORALITY

Coming from a big city, David wasn’t’ prepared for the approach rural Main businessmen take toward their customers. He needed to rent a rototiller. Store own showed him how to work it and explained the charge was based not on how many hours he had it out, but on how many hours he actually used it.
Looking over the tiller for some kind of meter, David asked, “How will you know how long I’ve used it?”
Puzzled, the owner simply said, “You’ll tell me.

ETHICS AND MORALITY

A steak fanatic, my father always picks out cuts that include a bone because he loves to nibble on it. One night Father and I were finishing our dinners at a steakhouse, and I could tell he wanted to start gnawing on the bone. But he couldn’t bear to do so in public. “Excuse me,” he said, calling the waitress over, “would you please wrap this bone up for my dog?”
Father has never owned a dog in his life, but the white lie seemed a tactful solution to his dilemma. A few minutes later the waitress returned to our table.
“Here’s your bone, sir,” she said, handing over a large package. “And while I was in the kitchen, I grabbed a few more out of the scrap bucket.”

ETHICS AND MORALITY

There were two boys who were taking Chemistry at Duke and who did pretty well on all of the quizzes and the mid-terms and labs, etc. such that going into the final they both had solid A’s. These friends were so confident going into the final that the weekend before finals week they decided to go to University of Virginia for a party.
They had a great time, but with their hang-overs, they overslept and didn’t make it back to Duke until early Monday morning. Rather than taking the final then, they asked if they could take it another time and explained why they missed it.
They told him that they went to UVA for the weekend, and had planned to come back in time to study, but that they had a flat tire on the way back and didn’t have a spare and couldn’t get help for a long time and so were late getting back to campus.
Professor Bonk thought this over and then agreed they could make up the final on the following day. The two guys were elated, relieved and very proud of their story.
So, they studied that night and went in the next day at the time they were told. The Professor put them in separate rooms and handed each of them a test booklet and told them to begin. They looked at the first problem, which was something simple about morality and solutions and was worth 5 points. “Cool” they thought, “this is going to be easy.” After finishing that problem they turned the page. The next question, for 95 points read, “Which tire?”

ETHICS AND MORALITY

A lady is having a bad day at the roulette tables in Las Vegas. She's down to her last $50. Exasperated, he exclaims, "What rotten luck! What in the world should I do now?" A man standing next to her, trying to calm her down, suggests, "I don't know... Why don't you play your age?"
He walks away. Moments later, his attention is grabbed by a great commotion at the roulette table. Maybe, she won! He rushes back to the table and pushes his way through the crowd. The lady is lying limp on the floor, with the table operator kneeling over her.
The man is stunned. He asks, "What happened? Is she all right?"
The operator replies, "I don't know. She put all her money on 29. When 36 came up, then she just fainted!"

ETHICS AND MORALITY

The minister said that next week he would deliver a sermon on the sin of lying. To help you understand what I’m talking about, I want you all to read Mark, Chapter 17.
The following Sunday the minister went to the pulpit and asked how many had read Mark, Chapter 17.
Every hand went up.
“Mark has only 16 chapters,” he said with a sly grin. “I will now proceed with the sermon on lying.

ETHICS AND MORALITY

Be straightforward and honest. This refreshingly frank notice, put in a Rhode Island paper by a 15 year old boy, drew an immediate response from many quarters:
"FOR SALE, a leaky boat, a worn outboard motor, rusty tongs all for $50."
"I was swamped with calls and I sold the gear," the boy elatedly told his friends.
By being true to God, self and neighbor, you can do your part to restore honesty to the marketplace. ("Let us walk honestly as in the day." Romans 13;13)

A little girl got her scripture mixed when she quoted, "A lie is an abomination unto the Lord and a very present help in time of trouble." Mark Twain advised, "Always speak the truth--then you'll remember what you said."

ETHICS AND MORALITY

A fisherman returned from a fishing trip empty-handed. He stopped at the local fish market on the way home. To the dealer he said, “Throw me five of the biggest trout you’ve got!” “Throw them?” asked the puzzled attendant. “What for?” “So I can tell my wife I caught them,” the fisherman said. “I may be a terrible fisherman, but I’m not a liar.”
Well not much! Anyone can see the deception. We use countless ways like the fisherman’s to avoid the full truth.

ETHICS AND MORALITY

As a gift, I received a dozen golf balls, each imprinted with my name—Tony Palmigiano. One day, while playing on a public course in Queens, N.Y., I decided to use one of the balls. One of my drives off the tee sliced into the adjacent fairway. As I approached the spot, I saw a woman pick up my ball, look at it and slip it into her golf bag.
When I politely informed her that the ball she had picked up belonged to me, she immediately pulled it out and said, “Oh, no! You see, I always play a Tony Palmigiano ball!” Feeling like a pro, I waked away with a big smile on my face.

ETHICS AND MORALITY

Since I am a police officer and my wife is a court reporter, our paths often cross in the courtroom. Once, while she was the assigned reporter, I was testifying in court as the investigating officer of a burglary case. After I was sworn in and had begun my testimony, the judge handed my wife a note, which caused her to smile. Later, that evening, I asked her about the note. It read: “Is there anything you want to ask your husband while he’s under oath?”
Since I am a police officer and my wife is a court reporter, our paths often cross in the courtroom. Once, while she was the assigned reporter, I was testifying in court as the investigating officer of a burglary case. After I was sworn in and had begun my testimony, the judge handed my wife a note, which caused her to smile. Later, that evening, I asked her about the note. It read: “Is there anything you want to ask your husband while he’s under oath?”

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final
word in reality. - Martin Luther King, Jr.
From Barbara Clevenger

Subject: Don't Lie To Mom

John invited his mother over for dinner. During the course of the meal, his mother couldn't help but noticing how beautiful John's roommate was. She had long been suspicious of a relationship between John and his roommate and this had only made her more curious. Over the course of the evening, while watching the two react, she started to wonder if there was more between John and his roommate than met the eye. Reading his mother's thoughts, John volunteered, "I know what you be thinking but I assure you Julie and I are just roommates". About a week later, Julie came to John saying, "ever since your Mother came to dinner, I've been unable to find the beautiful silver gravy ladle. You don't suppose that your mother took it do you?". John said, "Well I doubt it, but I'll send her a letter just to be sure." So he sat down and wrote:

Dear Mother,
I'm not saying that you 'did' take the gravy ladle from my house. I'm not saying that you 'did not' take the gravy ladle. But the fact remains that it has been missing ever since you were here for dinner."

Several days later, John received a letter from his mother which

Dear Son,
I'm not saying that you 'do' sleep with Julie, and I'm not saying that you 'do not' sleep with Julie. But the fact remains that if she were sleeping in her own bed, she would have found the gravy ladle by now...
Love,
Mom

“My friend isn’t back from the battlefield, sir. Request permission to go out and get him.”

“Permission refused,” said the officer. “I don’t want you to risk your life for a man who is probably dead.”

The soldier went, all the same, and, an hour later, came back mortally wounded, carrying the corpse of his friend.

The officer was furious. “I told you he was dead. Now I’ve lost both of you. Tell me, was it worth going out there to bring in a corpse?”

The dying man replied, “Oh, it was, sir. When I got to him, he was still alive. And he said to me, ‘Jack, I was sure you’d come.”

I dreamed I had an interview with God.

"Come in," God said. "So, you would like to interview Me?"

"If you have the time," I said.

God smiled and said: "My time is eternity and is enough to do everything; what questions do you have in mind to ask me?"

"What surprises you most about mankind?"

God answered: "That they get bored of being children, are in a rush to grow up, and then long to be children again. That they lose their health to make money and then lose their money to restore their health. That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that they live neither for the present nor the future. That they live as if they will never die, and they die as if they had never lived..."

God's hands took mine and we were silent for awhile and then I asked...
"As a parent, what are some of life's lessons you want your children to learn?"

God replied with a smile: "To learn that they cannot make anyone love them. What they can do is to let themselves be loved. To learn that it takes years to build trust, and a few seconds to destroy it. To learn that what is most valuable is not what they have in their lives, but who they have in their lives. To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others. All will be judged individually on their own merits, not as a group on a comparison basis! To learn that a rich person is not the one who has the most, but is one who needs the least.

To learn that it only takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in persons we love, and that it takes many years to heal them. To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness. To learn that there are persons that love them dearly, but simply do not know how to express or show their feelings. To learn that money can buy everything but happiness. To learn that two people can look at the same thing and see it totally different. To learn that a true friend in someone who knows everything about them...and likes them anyway. That they be forgiven by others, but that they have to forgive themselves."

I sat there for awhile enjoying the moment. I thanked Him for His time and for all that He has done for me and my family, and He replied,

"Anytime. I'm here 24 hours a day. All you have to do is ask for me, and I'll answer."

There’s a roadside sign on I-95 as you approach De Land, Florida. The yellow diamond-shaped sign warns travelers: NARCOTICS INSPECTION AHEAD. There is no inspection. But drivers who see the sign panic and make an immediate illegal U-Turn. They are stopped and searched. The American Civil Liberties Union is objecting.

Our USA Article

    I grew up in rural America in the '50's and '60's. On any given day, you could walk through the high school parking lot and observe that half the vehicles parked there were trucks with windows rolled down and doors unlocked. Most of them carried, as standard equipment, an FFA sticker  (Future Farmers of America for you city folks) and a gun rack with at least one gun, usually loaded. You could make the same observation at any of the four high school campuses in our county. Amazingly, I do not ever recall reading or hearing about mass shootings in any of those high schools.  What has changed in America is not the accessibility of guns, but the character of man.

    On the wall in my parents' home is a plaque awarded to my father in recognition of service for 27 years on the local school board. He told me that for years, a standard requirement on every teacher's contract was membership in a local church. I remember starting every school day with the pledge and a prayer.

    I remember when girls who got pregnant in high school were ashamed, when abortions were illegal, when the divorce rate was not 50% because couples stayed together for the kid's sake, when there were no X-rated movies, when milk cartons didn't have missing kid's faces on them and I didn't know anyone personally who used drugs. I remember when kids were taught respect for authority and accountability to God. I hear people say that the good old days weren't always so good but please don't tell me you think these are better. Last night I attended a high school football game that was covered by local and national news. The news coverage was not about the football teams, but about the defiance of a court order by
one brave little Texas town to preserve the right to pray before a football game. The more this country struggles to free itself from religion, the more we become entangled in the consequences.

    If people are taught that they came from slime, the obvious questions and consequences must follow; What is the purpose of my existence [hopelessness], who made you the boss of me [lawlessness], why are your rules good and mine bad [relativism], what does it matter how I live if I came from slime and return to slime [immorality and inhumanity]? I realize that in any given poll, the vast majority of Americans claim to believe in God. I claim to believe that running is good for me but that does not make me a runner. Putting on my running shoes and running makes me a runner.  The climbing abortion rate, murder rate, divorce rate, alcoholism and drug abuse rate, child and spousal abuse rate contradict that claim and prove that actions speak louder than words.

It is an observable truth that the best time you will ever make on any American City freeway is on Sunday morning because there are no traffic jams getting to church. For those who believe that separation of church and state is not enough, that the world would be better off with no church at all, ask yourself this question: "How many hospitals, universities, orphanages, homeless and abuse shelters have been founded by the ACLU or American Atheist Society?" It is the inclusion of the word Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterian, Christian, etc., in the name of so many of these institutions that proves by actions,
not just words, who really cares for the suffering of mankind and desires to make the world better.

    The question that people should be asking is not "Why does God allow tragedies?" but "When will we realize that no nation, in the history of the world, has ever separated itself from God and evolved to a better society?" Of course, to answer, you would have to know history.  Most people, it would seem, prefer People magazine.

Joyce Minor
Asst. Director of Development and Alumni Relations
University of Alabama

We all fall prey to temptation.   We have all been enticed to take the
easy way or step outside our integrity.  Any time the words, "No one
will know," come to mind, you are facing temptation.  You have the
opportunity to answer back:  "The most important person in the world
will know.  And that person is me."

--Mary Manin Morrissey

Alex Thein of the Milwaukee Sentinel tells our For What It’s Worth Department…

Fred was a great practical joker.  When his three closest friends got married he played wedding night tricks on each.

Now Fred was getting married and he was quietly terrified of what THEY might do to HIM.

But nobody interrupted the minister.  Nobody sent naughty telegrams.  Nobody hid their suitcases or stole their champagne.  Not even a cake fight at the wedding reception.

When the honeymoon began, Fred’s car started readily.  No flat tires.  Nothing strange in the trunk.  Not even any tin cans tied to the rear bumper.

Fred and his bride, relieved at their friends’ restraint, left for their hotel.

THE NEXT MORNING…

Fred picked up the bedroom phone and dialed for room service and ordered breakfast for two.

From the CLOSET . . . came a voice:
”Hey Fred, make that breakfast for FIVE.  OKAY?”      

Our For What Its Worth Department hears from Kilgore, Texas…

About a local high school boy who had something of a reputation for…

Well, every girl in the school had experienced or heard of his approaches…

So his reputation had preceded him when this new girl in school dated him for the first time.

And, sure enough, on a lonely road, he announced that his car had run out of gas.

And he moved closer.

And she removed from her handbag a gin bottle.

FULL OF GASOLINE

Our For What It’s Worth Department understands that Police Chief Clifton Sullivan – Russell Springs, Kentucky – got a call from a lady who wanted her bachelor neighbor arrested for indecent exposure.

The Chief went to her house and witnessed for himself… The fact that the man next door was in his bathroom shaving.
But, the Chief said, “With the bottom part of the man’s bathroom window covered as it is, I cannot tell whether the bottom part of the man is wearing anything or not.”

But the woman said, “Well…you just stand on this chair and stand on your tiptoes and you’ll see.”  

04/05/01

A Prayer For Our Times

 Now I sit me down in school

Where praying is against the rule.

For this great nation under God

Finds mention of Him very odd.

If Scripture now the class recites,

It violates the Bill of Rights.

And anytime my head I bow

Becomes a federal matter now.

Our hair can be purple or orange or green,

That's no offense, it's the freedom scene.

The law is specific, the law is precise,

Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.

For praying in a public hall

Might offend someone with no faith at all.

In silence alone we must meditate.

God's name is prohibited by the State.

We're allowed to cuss & dress like freaks,

And pierce our noses, tongues & cheeks.

They've outlawed guns; but FIRST the Bible.

To quote the Good Book makes me liable.

We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,

And the unwed daddy, our Senior King.

It's" inappropriate" to teach right from wrong,

We're taught that such "judgments" do not belong.

We can get our condoms, & birth controls,

Study witchcraft, vampires & totem poles.

But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,

No Word of God must reach this crowd.

It's scary here I must confess,

When chaos reigns the school's a mess.

So, Lord, this silent plea I make:

Should I be shot, my soul please take.

05/02/01

Years ago my dad and his younger brother, Bill, skipped school on the opening day of rabbit season to hunt with grandpa. Grandpa gave his approval on the condition that the boys would not lie when asked the reason for their absence. They took the deal and skipped school to hunt rabbits. Evening came quickly and after a nice dinner with fresh meat the boys tumbled into bed, but they would face the judgment at school the next day. 

They weren't alone. The boys were called upon to account for their absence the following day. They joined a long line of boys at the principal's office. Most of the other boys claimed they were sick (they were sick of having to go to school on opening day of rabbit season). My father and uncle, true to their word, told the truth. "We were rabbit hunting with our dad," they said. "Are you sure you weren't feeling just a little under the weather, boys?" the principal asked. "No, sir, we were feeling fine, and we were rabbit hunting with our dad." 

For punishment they were made to stay after school one hour each night until they had made up the time they had missed. On the final day of my dad's punishment, the teacher, out of sympathy, walked back to the aisle where he was sitting and gave him a little gift. It was a tiny start of a pine tree in a cut-off milk carton. It didn't seem like much compensation for the suffering he endured, but he carried it home. That night, he and grandpa set it out in the back yard of their home on Bowers Avenue in Newark, Ohio. 

A few years later, my father was serving in the Navy in Korea, and my Uncle Bill was married and gone. My grandfather had also realized a life long dream when he and grandma were able to buy a small farm north of town. It was nestled in the hills where he had grown up. Along with their other belongings, grandpa took the time to dig up the little pine tree and bring it to his new farm. He set it out at the base of the hill by the spring run. 

05/02/01

Over 200 million children are believed to be employed as child laborers around the world. Most work in sweatshops under difficult or inhumane children. Many are abused, and all are overworked. Although most of these children are just part of a nameless, faceless mass, one child's name became forever linked with the crime of child labor.

Iqbal Masih was just four years old when his poor parents sent him to work in a carpet factory in Pakistan. He was forced to work seven days a week for twelve or more hours a day. The people who ran the factory did not provide any form of education for the child workers, and they rarely fed them enough. For all his labors, Iqbal earned less than a dollar a month.

At the age of ten, Iqbal was saved from the sweatshop where he worked. He became an international symbol of the horrors of child labor. He brought great publicity to the cause of eliminating child labor around the world. It looked like Iqbal might finally have a chance for a normal childhood.  But then, two years later, Iqbal Masih was murdered; some believe that sweatshop owners or others who support child labor had Iqbal killed.

In a Toronto suburb one day, twelve-year-old Craig Kielburger read of the murder of Iqbal Masih, and he decided that someone had to do something about it. Craig decided to travel to the Far East to learn more about child labor. He began selling off his toys to raise money for the trip. When Craig's parents and relatives saw how serious he was, they helped him raise the money for his trip. For seven weeks, Craig Kielburger traveled throughout Asia, videotaping and documenting the horrors of child labor. Human-rights activists went with him into some of the worst sweatshops and factories.

When Craig learned that Canada's prime minister was also touring Asia, he tried to get a meeting with him. The prime minister wasn't interested until the Canadian news agencies began publicizing Craig's story. Canadian citizens rose up in support for Craig, and the prime minister found it in his best interests to meet with the twelve-year-old.

05/22/01

05/22/01

10/30/01

Judith Martin is known to millions of people all over the U.S. through her alter ego, the etiquette guru Miss Manners.

In her column from October 31, 1999, Miss Manners offers a thought-provoking lesson on the necessity for a poor memory.

As she says, "There are an awful lot of things that a polite person is obliged to forget" in order to not offend those around her.

What are some things Miss Manners suggests we forget?

-The childhood nicknames of people you meet again as adults.

-Minor grievances committed more than a year ago.

-Anything unflattering about someone whose wedding or funeral you are attending. . .

-That you made a total fool of yourself, unless you have repackaged it into a funny story and are no longer haunted by it in the middle of the night.

11/26/02

A child in Arizona wrote the attached NEW School prayer.

Now I sit me down in school  

Where praying is against the rule 

For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd. 

If Scripture now the class recites, 

It violates the Bill of Rights. 

And anytime my head I bow  

Becomes a Federal matter now.
 
Our hair can be purple, orange or green,  

That's no offense; it's a freedom scene.
The law is specific, the law is precise.  

Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.
 
For praying in a public hall  

Might offend someone with no faith at all.
In silence alone we must meditate,  

God's name is prohibited by the state.
We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks, 

And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks.  

They've outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.
 
We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,  

And the 'unwed daddy,' our Senior King.
It's "inappropriate" to teach right from wrong, 

We're taught that such "judgments" do not belong.   

We can get our condoms and birth controls,  

Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.  

But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.    

It's scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school's a mess.  

So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot; My soul please take!     Amen

11/26/02

LIFE'S LITTLE REMINDERS

1. An apology is a good way to have the last word.

2. Pick your friends, but not to pieces.

3. Life is like a mirror; we get the best results when  we smile at it.

4. Usually people are as happy as they make their  minds up to be.

5. You cannot leave footprints in the sands of time  while sitting down.

6. You will never offend a person by returning a smile.

7. Gentle words fall lightly, but have great weight.

11/26/02

GOSSIP

"People who never get angry suffer a wide range of mental and physical ailments, from suicidal depression to, to colitis, to crippling arthritis," says psychiatrist Dr. William Chapman. "Anger is a basic human emotion-probably our least understood feeling." Dr. Chapman, who believes you should express your anger before you reach the boiling point, offers these tips on how to use your anger constructively:
1.Accept the fact that it's perfectly normal to get angry, especially at people closest to you.
2.Learn to recognize your own external anger signals.
3.Express your anger at the real target whenever possible.
4.When you can't express your anger publicly-for example, when you're at work- find another way to release it.

Columnist Sydney J. Harris and a friend stopped at a newsstand to purchase a paper. The friend thanked the vendor politely, but the vendor remained coldly silent. "A sullen fellow, isn't he?" remarked Harris as they moved along. "Oh, he's that way every night," said the friend. "Then why do you continue to be so polite to him?" asked Harris. Replied the friend, "Why should I let him decide how I'm going to act?"

A blonde was settling into a first class seat for a flight to LA when the attendant asked to see her ticket. “Ma’am, you can’t sit here,” the attendant explained. “You have a coach ticket.” “I’m blond, I’m beautiful and I’m going to LA first class.” The bond passenger declared. So the flight attendant went to get her supervisor, who explained, “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to move to coach because you don’t have a first class ticket.” “I’m blond, I’m beautiful and I’m going to LA first-class,” repeated the gorgeous young blonde. The two attendants went to the cockpit and told the captain. He came back and whispered something to the blonde. She jumped up and quickly took a seat in the coach section. Astounded, the flight attendants asked the captain what he had said. “I told her that first class wasn’t going to LA,” he replied.

PEOPLE, HUMAN NATURE

A father took his son into a toy shop. he boy found a statue of a man made out of balloons. The boy looked at it for a minute, and then drew back his fist and hit the balloon man just as hard as he could. The man fell over, and then popped right back up. The confused boy backed off and looked at him again. Then he hit him again, as hard as he could. Again the man fell over, and again hi popped right back up. The boy’s father walked around the corner and saw his son hit that balloon man. The father asked, “Why do you think he comes back up when you hit him down?” The boy thought for a moment. “I don’t know. I guess it’s because he’s standing up inside.”

Here is a description of "modern youth." Our youths love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt of authority; they show disrespect for their elders, and love to chatter in the place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. they no longer rise when their elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up their food, and tyrannize their teachers. Just right for the twentieth century, isn't it? Well it was written by Plato, the great Greek philosopher, in 400 B.C.

Wisdom teaches us that we don’t have to say everything we think, or even everything we think others need to hear. Wisdom is teaching us to listen more than we speak and then to weigh what we do speak.

The honeybee needs community. She will go about for food ... and do her work, but however abundant the food or favorable the temperature, she will die in a few days not of hunger or cold, but of loneliness. This is a way of saying you cannot keep a bee, you can only keep bees.

A drunk was staggering across a bridge one night when he ran into a friend. The two of them leaned over the bridge and began chatting for a while.
“What’s that down there?” asked the drunk suddenly.
“That’s the moon,” said his friend.
The drunk looked again, shook his head in disbelief and said, “Okay, okay. But how the hell did I get way up here?”

PEOPLE, HUMAN NATURE

An amusing story is told of a migrant worker who appealed to a farmer for a job. The farmer gave the man a job--a simple one. The man was to sort the farmer's potatoes separating the large ones from the small ones and putting them into different bins. Two hours later the worker reported back to the farmer with the word that he was quitting. "I thought you said you were badly in need of work," the farmer commented. "I did say that, and I do need work, but I can't stand this job." The farmer could see that the worker was obviously distressed. "But there is nothing hard about this job," the farmer said in shock. "I know," the worker replied. "It's not the hardness of the work that wears me out. It's the decisions I have to make!"

PEOPLE, HUMAN NATURE

Once upon a time there lived a very wise king who had a son. The king feared that his son would be spoiled by the adulation of the courtiers and servants of the court, so he sent the prince to a peasant couple to be brought up as their own son. The child knew nothing of his royal birth, of his father's riches and power. He worked and studied and played like any other peasant child. It was not until he had grown into a strong, self-reliant young man that the king sent for him, and revealed his heritage and true position.
This is the plot that has been used for many famous tales. But it is one that carries an important message with it, because most f us are like this child. Brought up in ignorance of our relationship with God we think that we are poor and powerless.
There is no such thing as a human nobody. Like the poster says, "I know I'm somebody; cause God don't make no junk!"

PEOPLE, HUMAN NATURE

There was a time when all men were gods, but they so abused their divinity that Brahma, the chief god, decided to take it away from men and hide it where they would never again find it. Where to hide it became the big question.
When the lesser gods were called in counsel to consider this question, they said, "We will bury man's divinity deep in the earth." But Brahma said, "No, that will not do, for man will dig deep down into the earth and find it." Then they said, "Well, we will sink his divinity into the deepest ocean." But again Brahma replied, "No, no there, for man will learn to dive into the deepest waters, will search out the ocean bed, and will find it."
Then the lesser gods said, "We will take it to the top of the highest mountain and there hide it." But again Brahma replied, "No, for man will eventually climb every high mountain on earth. He will be sure some day to find it and take it up again for himself." Then the lesser gods gave up and concluded, "We do not know where to hide it, for it seems there is no place on earth or in the sea that man will not eventually reach."
Then Brahma said, "Here is what we will do with man's divinity. We will hide it deep down in man himself, for he will never think to look for it there." Ever since then, the legend concludes, man has been going up and down the earth, climbing, digging, diving, exploring, searching for something that is already in himself.

Michelangelo felt that there was an angel trapped and waiting inside every block of marble he carved. There's an angel trapped in each of us too. All we have to do is set it free.

The Sufis have a story about the beggar who bursts in on the king's birthday party and insists he is above everybody. A courtier bristles that over all is the king, and over him God, and over God, nobody. "See I told you," says the Sufi beggar. "That's me, nobody."

PEOPLE, HUMAN NATURE

A true story is related about Mendelssohn. He always was eager to play the ancient organs of the great cathedrals of Germany. He had not had opportunity, however, to play the organ of the cathedral at Freiburg.
With the simplicity of great men he wandered incognito into this beautiful cathedral in order to touch the keyboard of the cathedral organ.
Without revealing his identity, he approached the caretaker of the cathedral announcing that he was a musician and asking if he might have the privilege of playing the organ. It happened that on this particular day there was nothing in his dress or in his approach to suggest his true greatness. With severe abruptness the caretaker, therefore, refused him. When the unknown stranger pressed the caretaker for an opportunity to play just one tune, the caretaker protested that this organ was so priceless that no one but master musicians were allowed to lay a hand upon its console. It was, therefore, unthinkable that this wandering musician should be granted such a right.
With a polite patience, however, Mendelssohn persisted in his request until he had overcome the resistance of the caretaker and won him at least to a reluctant permission. "Very well then, you may play just one small tune on the organ and no more." To enforce his limited permission the caretaker went up and stood beside the stranger as he played.
Mendelssohn began moving his long slender hands upon the keyboard slowly and mildly, feeling out the quality of the notes on the great organ, until he himself was overcome with its richness and let himself go in a burst of glorious symphony. The old caretaker stood aghast and lifted up his eyes to the arches resounding with the cadences of heavenly music; he could hear the whir of angel's wings and the whirling seraphim. The pillars and foundations of the cathedral shook with the thunders of the diapason.
Tears began to trickle down the cheeks of the old caretaker. He laid a hand upon the shoulder of the stranger as Mendelssohn finished playing. He turned his tearstained face to Mendelssohn and pleased, "Sir,tell me your name."
"My name," modestly answered the master musician, "is Felix Mendelssohn."
Trembling and faint, the caretaker said, "Ah, sir, how can you forgive me? Only to think that I refused you, the greatest musician of Germany the right to play on this organ. I never dreamed it was such a wonderful organ until I heard you play. Sir, you have brought music out of this instrument that no one has ever dreamed was here before."
So it is with the divinity within us. There is silent music which has never been released or brought into expression in the souls of every one of us and never will be until we recognize our true nature.

Theories of dreams are age old, Freud implied that all dreams related to the day before the dream and that they held wish fulfillments, and we dream in symbols. Most authorities today feel that dreaming helps us to sort out those problems we did not adequately face during the day. We dream approximately two hours each night. If you live to be seventy, you will have spent approximately 6 years dreaming.

Often we have no time for our friends but all the time in the world for our enemies.

During a very desperate situation in the Civil War, Lincoln called a meeting of some Generals. One of these was exceedingly talkative and would not be quiet. He had coal black hair and a gray beard. One of the General's sitting beside Lincoln asked why this man had a gray beard and black hair. Lincoln replied, "Because he works his jaw more than his head."

PEOPLE, HUMAN NATURE

Fred Inman walks with a cane because of a .32-caliber slug he took in his left leg when two men tried to rob him a few years ago. A leg muscle was severed, and now his foot swivels sideways.
That wasn't the first time he had run into trouble. Once, he rushed to the aid of a girl fighting off two would-be rapists on a Washington, D.C., playground. One assailant yelled, "Get back, old man. This is none of your business."
Fred made it his business, grabbed one of the men and freed the girl. Then he found himself staring down the barrel of a sawed-off shotgun. When Fred reached for the gun, the assailant fired.
Rubbing a bald spot on the top of his head where several shotgun pellets are still lodged, Fred says, "I'm not scared of no shotgun. Let 'em shoot. I may give out, but I'll never give up."
As a mechanic operating from his own back yard, Fred tries to mind his own business. But at the sounds of people in distress, he becomes a crime fighter extraordinaire.
At 64, he is the personification of the area's Neighborhood Crime Watch program, and he has seven bullet wounds to prove that he does more than watch. A 14-inch vertical stitch from his chest to his waistline came after doctors removed two of four .38-caliber slugs that were fired into his stomach during an attempted robbery of a grocery store. The other two slugs lodged so close to his spine that they could not be removed.
What makes a man risk his life for neighbors and strangers alike is easy for Fred to explain: "Something inside me just clicks and says, 'Do something, 'so I do." He adds, "People must get involved, do what they can, stand up and be a witness-or else it will be dangerous for everybody."

PEOPLE, HUMAN NATURE

1. Speak to people. There is nothing as nice as a cheerful word of greeting.
2. Smile at people. It takes 72 muscles to frown; 14 to smile.
3. Call people by name. The sweetest music is sound of his own name.
4. Be friendly and helpful.
5. Be cordial. Speak and act as if everything you do is a genuine pleasure.
6. Be genuinely interested in people. You can like everybody if you try.
7. Be generous with praise; cautious with criticism.
8. Be considerate of the feelings of others. It will be appreciated.
9. Be thoughtful of the opinions of others. There are three sides to a controversy: yours, the other person's, and the right one.
10. Be alert to give service. What counts most in life is what we do for others.

A fisherman friend told me that one doesn't need a top for a crab basket. If one of the crabs starts to climb up the side of the basket, the other crabs will reach up and pull it back down. Some people are a lot like crabs.

Will Rogers once said, when asked, "If you had twenty four hours to live, how would you spend them? He replied, "One at a time." Everyone has time to do that which they want to. "A man has to live with himself; therefore, he should see to it that he always has good company," said    C. E. Hughes.

We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.

Love is not measured by how many times you touch each other but by how many times you reach each other.

William James was much impressed by the man who washed windows at the Philosophy Hall at Harvard. James was discussing men with him one day when the window washer remarked, "There is not much difference between one man and another, but what there is makes a lot of difference."

PEOPLE, HUMAN NATURE

Rabbi Zusya, a pious and revered sage, was lying on his deathbed, weeping. His students stood by him, perplexed. "Rabbi, why do you weep?" one of them ventured to ask. "Surely, if anyone is assured a place in the kingdom of heaven, it is you." The sage turned his head toward his beloved students and began to speak softly. "If, my children, when I stand before the heavenly court, I am asked, 'Zusya, why were you not a Moses?' I shall have no hesitation in affirming, 'I was not born a Moses.' If they ask me, 'Why then, were you not an Elijah?' I shall speak with confidence, 'Neither am I Elijah.' I weep friends, because there is only one question that I fear to be asked, 'Why were you not a Zusya?'

PEOPLE, HUMAN NATURE

Within my earthly temple there's a crowd;
There's one of us that's humble, one that's proud,
There's one that's broken hearted for his sins,
And one that unrepentant sits and grins;
There's one that loves his neighbor as himself,
And one that cares for naught but fame and self,

From much corroding care I should be free
If I could once determine which is me!"

PEOPLE, HUMAN NATURE

In Budapest, a man goes to the rabbi and complains, "Life is unbearable. There are nine of us living in one room. What can I do?" The rabbi answers, "Take your goat into the room with you." The man is incredulous, but the rabbi insists. "Do as I say and come back in a week." A week later the man comes back looking more distraught than before. "We cannot stand it," he tells the rabbi. "The goat is filthy." The rabbi then tells him, "Go home and let the goat out. And come back in a week."  A radiant man returns to the rabbi a week later, exclaiming, "Life is beautiful. We enjoy every minute of it now that there is no goat only the nine of us."

PEOPLE, HUMAN NATURE

One day, an African tribesman was sitting on a rock by a stream, eating an artichoke and enjoying the dance of the sunlight through the green leaves of the forest. Suddenly, as if a flash of lightning burst forth in his brain, he saw the truth, the wonder, and the glory of creation. He realized that he was born of God; he saw the marvelous perfection of the great plan of the universe; and he was filled with a sense of peace that made him complete right down to his toes.
He returned to the village to tell of his wondrous insight, and before long, crowds of his fellow tribesman began to gather around him. They realized that he knew something great