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Archives for February 2011

Inspirational Writings of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (#365)

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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It’s the birthday of one of the best known American poets, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807—1882.) Longfellow is best remembered for poems such as “The Song of Hiawatha” (1855,) “Paul Revere’s Ride” (1861), long narrative poems such as “Evangeline” (1847) and “The Courtship of Miles Standish” (1858,) and his translation of Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy.” Some of his poems such as “There was a little girl” remain familiar to this day as rhymes and melodies.

For more details on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, see bio on the Poetry Foundation’s website. I also suggest collections of his poems and writings on Amazon, or these free downloads on the Internet Archive.

Inspirational Writings of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Thy fate is the common fate of all,|Into each life some rain must fall,|Some days must be dark and dreary.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

The bravest are the tenderest. The loving are the daring.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

Let nothing disturb thee, Let nothing affright thee, All things are passing, God changeth never.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

All things come round to him who will but wait.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

Tomorrow is the mysterious, unknown guest.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

Some must follow and some command, though all are born of clay.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

Hope has as many lives as a cat or a king.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

Look not mournfully into the Past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the Present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy Future, without fear, and with a manly heart.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

Let us then be what we are, and speak what we think, and in all things keep ourselves loyal to truth.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

Let us then be up and doing,|With a heart for any fate,|Still achieving, still pursuing,|Learn to labor and to wait.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

Lives of great men all remind us|We can make our lives sublime,|And, departing, leave behind us|Footprints on the sands of time.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

The talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do well, and doing well whatever you do without thought of fame. If it comes at all it will come because it is deserved, not because it is sought after.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

Love gives itself; it is not bought.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

Sometimes we may learn more from a man’s errors than from his virtues.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

Kind hearts are the gardens,|Kind thoughts are the roots,|Kind words are the flowers,|Kind deeds are the fruits.||Take care of your garden|And keep out the weeds,|Fill it with sunshine|Kind words and kind deeds.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

The greatest grace of a gift, perhaps, is that it anticipates and admits of no return.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

He spake well who said that graves are the footprints of angels.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

The life of a man consists not in seeing visions and in dreaming dreams, but in active charity and in willing service.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

Inspirational Quotations #364

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We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers. They see things in the soft haze of a spring day or in the red fire of a long winter’s evening. Some of us let these dreams die, but others nourish and protect them; nurse them through bad days till they bring them to the sunshine and light which comes always to those who hope that their dreams will come true.
—Woodrow Wilson (American Head of State)

Genius is eternal patience.
—Michelangelo (Italian Painter)

Ours is a culture based on excess, on overproduction; the result is a steady loss of sharpness in our sensory experience. All the conditions of modern life—its material plenitude, its sheer crowdedness—conjoin to dull our sensory faculties.
—Susan Sontag (American Writer, Philosopher)

Humility is often only a feigned submission, of which we make use to render others submissive. It is an artifice of pride which abases in order to exalt itself.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld

O Lord, you know what is best for me. Let this or that be done, as you please. Give what you will, how much you will, and when you will.
—Thomas A Kempis

You are at the top when you’ve made friends with the past, are focused on the present, and optimistic about your future. … .
—Zig Ziglar (American Author)

Even if a farmer intends to loaf, he gets up in time to get an early start.
—E. W. Howe (American Novelist)

A bodily disease, which we look upon as whole and entire within itself, may, after all, be but a symptom of some ailment in the spiritual part.
—Nathaniel Hawthorne (American Novelist)

No enterprise can exist for itself alone. It ministers to some great need, it performs some great service, not for itself, but for others; or failing therein, it ceases to be profitable and ceases to exist.
—Calvin Coolidge (American Head of State)

When the joy of the job’s gone, when it’s no fun trying anymore, quit before you’re fired.
—Malcolm Forbes (American Publisher)

I have found some of the best reasons I ever had for remaining at the bottom simply by looking at the men at the top.
—Frank Moore Colby (American Educator)

Inspirational Quotations by Abraham Lincoln (#363)

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Lincoln Memorial in Washington D. C.

It’s the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, one of the world’s most recognized political leaders of all time. The 16th President of the United States was born in Hodgenville, Kentucky in 1809.

Not much is known about Lincoln’s early life. He was born in a log cabin in a poor family, lost his mother at nine, completed just a year of traditional schooling, and spent his youth in Indiana. He did manual labor until he was 21.

Lincoln pursued self-education by reading books on grammar and rhetoric and joined a debate society. After years of private study of law, he obtained a licensed to practice law at age 27 and, in time, became one of Illinois ablest lawyers. Concurrently, Lincoln worked his way through the Illinois state legislature and got elected to the United States House of Representatives. He gained popularity for his down-to-earth wit, integrity, and opposition to the institution of slavery.

Abraham Lincoln’s Presidency

Abraham Lincoln Lincoln’s political and military leadership during the Civil War held the country together through the worst crisis in its history and made him one of the most admired presidents of the United States. John Wilkes Booth, an actor who attended Lincoln’s second inauguration, fatally wounded Abraham Lincoln just six weeks later at Ford’s Theater in Washington D.C.

During his time, Lincoln was known for his compassionate nature, gentle spirit, and great oratory. Some of his speeches, most prominently, the Gettysburg Address of 1863, and writings are still widely quoted. Unlike most presidents, Abraham Lincoln never wrote his memoirs.

I recommend the following books for on the audacity of Lincoln in the face of widespread criticism his administration and his personal character and a discussion of his presidency.

Quotations by Abraham Lincoln

Be sure your feet are in the right place. Then stand firm.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

The trouble with too many people is they believe the realm of truth always lies within their vision.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

He has the right to criticize who has the heart to help.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

If I care to listen to every criticism, let alone act on them, then this shop may as well be closed for all other businesses. I have learned to do my best, and if the end result is good then I do not care for any criticism, but if the end result is not good, then even the praise of ten angels would not make the difference.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot lift the wage-earner by pulling down the wage-payer. You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot establish security on borrowed money. You cannot build character and courage by taking away men’s initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

Few can be induced to labor exclusively for posterity. Posterity has done nothing for us.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

When I am getting ready to reason with a man, I spend one-third of my time thinking about myself and what I am going to say and two-thirds about him and what he is going to say.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition… I have no other so great as that of being truely esteemed of my fellow men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

My old father used to have a saying: If you make a bad bargain, hug it all the tighter.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his true friend. Therein is a drop of honey that catches his heart, which, say what he will, is the greatest highroad to his reason, and which when once gained, you will find but little trouble in convincing his judgment of the justice of your cause, if, indeed, that cause be really a just one. On the contrary, assume to dictate to his judgment, or to command his action, or to make him as one to be shunned or despised, and he will retreat within himself, close all the avenues to his head and heart; and though your cause be naked truth itself, transformed to the heaviest lance, harder than steel and sharper than steel can be made, and though you throw it with more than Herculean force and precision, you shall be no more able to pierce him than to penetrate the hard shell of a tortoise with a rye straw.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

The probability that we may fall in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just; it shall not deter me.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

In this and like communities public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed; consequently he who moulds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes and decisions. He makes statutes and decisions possible or impossible to be executed.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

The strongest bond of human sympathy, outside of the family relation, should be one uniting all working people, of all nations, and tongues, and kindreds. Nor should this lead us to a war upon property, or the owners of property. Property is the fruit of labor; property is desirable; is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich and, hence, is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus, by example, assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

If you intend to go to work, there is no better place than right where you are; if you do not intend to go to work, you cannot get along anywhere. Squirming and crawling about from place to place can do no good.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

Let no feeling of discouragement prey upon you, and in the end you are sure to succeed.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

The Best of the Chinese Proverbs (Inspirational Quotations #362)

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Chinese New Year, the Spring Festival

The Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival, is the most important festival on the Chinese calendar. The festivities traditionally begin on the first day of the first month of the Chinese calendar and end with the Lantern Festival celebrated on the 15th day of the New Year.

The Chinese festival year follows a lunar calendar and consists of twelve moons; each moon lasts about 29 1/2 days. The Chinese calendar follows a 12-year cycle and each year relates to an animal in the Chinese zodiac. Year 4708, the year beginning February 3, 2011, is the Year of the Rabbit.

Festivities and Traditions

For the Chinese, the New Year is a time of great renewal. They devote the last few days of the old year to intense preparation. They clean their homes in a belief that, along with the dirt and debris around their homes, they can sweep away the mistakes and misfortunes of the past. They hang protective ornaments in their homes to welcome the good fortunes that the New Year brings.

The Chinese New Year is also a period of reunion. Scores of migrants return home to share the festivities with their families. The Chinese celebrate by partaking in divinatory readings at temples, sharing gifts, and bonding over elaborate family dinner parties. Children receive “lucky money” in red envelopes as part of the New Year’s gift-giving.

Outside of the Far East, ethnic Chinese celebrate the New Year in Chinatowns around the world with community parades and extravaganzas featuring fireworks, lion and dragon dance-shows, acrobatics, lanterns, and illuminated floats.

Chinese Proverbs

Patience is power; with time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown.
—Chinese Proverb

Gold cannot be pure, and people cannot be perfect.
—Chinese Proverb

If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.
—Chinese Proverb

Man who waits for roast duck to fly into mouth must wait very, very long time.
—Chinese Proverb

Slander cannot destroy the man … when the flood recedes, the rock is there.
—Chinese Proverb

I dreamed a thousand new paths… I woke and walked my old one.
—Chinese Proverb

If you must play, decide upon three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time.
—Chinese Proverb

What you cannot avoid, welcome.
—Chinese Proverb

Man fools himself. He prays for a long life, and he fears an old age.
—Chinese Proverb

Never try to catch two frogs with one hand.
—Chinese Proverb

Flowers leave their fragrance on the hand that bestows them.
—Chinese Proverb

If you want your dinner, don’t offend the cook.
—Chinese Proverb

Talk doesn’t cook rice.
—Chinese Proverb

A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows the public opinion.
—Chinese Proverb

Not the fastest horse can catch a word spoken in anger.
—Chinese Proverb

Spring is sooner recognized by plants than by men.
—Chinese Proverb

The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. But the second best time is today.
—Chinese Proverb

Wondering what to read next?

  1. Inspirational Epigrams by Oscar Wilde (#346)
  2. The Wit & Wisdom of Benjamin Franklin: The Best 100 Maxims from “Poor Richard’s Almanack”
  3. Dueling Maxims, Adages, and Proverbs
  4. Confucius on Dealing with People