Nagesh Belludi

Laughter gives us distance. It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it and then move on.
—Bob Newhart (American Comedian)

It happens a little unluckily that the persons who have the most infinite contempt of money are the same that have the strongest appetite for the pleasures it procures.
—William Shenstone (English Poet)

The purpose of life is to discover your gift. The meaning of life is to give your gift away.
—David Viscott (American Psychiatrist)

Research is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought.
—Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

Establish specific objectives, and move steadily toward them. A rudder won’t control a drifting boat; it must be underway. Similarly, you need to be moving forward to gain control of your life.
—Richard G. Scott (American Mormon Religious Leader)

Knowledge is a sacred cow, and my problem will be how we can milk her while keeping clear of her horns.
—Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

The road to happiness lies in two simple principles: find what it is that interests you and that you can do well, and when you find it, put your whole soul into it—every bit of energy and ambition and natural ability you have.
—John D. Rockefeller III (American Philanthropist)

Happiness doesn’t depend on what we have, but it does depend on how we feel towards what we have. We can be happy with little and miserable with much.
—William D. Hoard (American Elected Rep)

The trouble with experience is that by the time you have it you are too old to take advantage of it.
—Jimmy Connors (American Sportsperson)

Life’s under no obligation to give us what we expect.
—Margaret Mitchell (American Author)

Nothing is so common-place as to wish to be remarkable. Fame usually comes to those who are thinking about something else, – very rarely to those who say to themselves, “Go to, now, let us be a celebrated individual!”
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (American Physician)

It has been well said that no man ever sank under the burden of the day. It is when to-morrow’s burden is added to the burden of to-day that the weight is more than a man can bear.
—George MacDonald (Scottish Christian Author)

Some individuals have developed such strong internal standards that they no longer need the opinion of others to judge whether they have performed a task well or not. The ability to give objective feedback to oneself is in fact the mark of the expert.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Persons with weight of character carry, like planets, their atmospheres along with them in their orbits.
—Thomas Hardy (English Novelist, Poet)

Three things in human life are important: The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.
—Henry James (American-born British Novelist)

Our own heart, and not other men’s opinion, forms our true honor.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (English Poet)

There is a genius in every man and woman, waiting to be brought forth.
—Wallace Wattles (American New Thought Author)

What we do best or most perfectly is what we have most thoroughly learned by the longest practice, and at length it falls from us without our notice, as a leaf from a tree.
—Henry David Thoreau (American Philosopher)

Putting off an easy thing makes it hard. Putting off a hard thing makes it impossible.
—George C. Lorimer (American Baptist Clergyman)

I believe in work, hard work, and long hours of work. Men do not breakdown from overwork, but from worry and dissipation.
—Charles Evans Hughes (American Elected Rep)

Truth is the safest lie.
—Yiddish Proverb

The root of all difficulty and conflict lies in the mind; therefore, the solution to all difficulty and conflict lies in changing the mind.
—Kusan Sunim (Korean Buddhist Priest)

After all, our worst misfortunes never happen, and most miseries lie in anticipation.
—Honore de Balzac (French Novelist)

To weep is to make less the depth of grief.
—William Shakespeare (British Playwright)

From the earliest times the old have rubbed it into the young that they are wiser than they, and before the young had discovered what nonsense this was they were old too, and it profited them to carry on the imposture.
—W. Somerset Maugham (French Playwright)

In the same degree that we overrate ourselves, we shall underrate others; for injustice allowed at home is not likely to be correct abroad.
—Washington Allston (American Poet)

Calm self-confidence is as far from conceit as the desire to earn a decent living is remote from greed.
—Channing Pollock

Arrogance is a killer, and wearing ambition on one’s sleeve can have the same effect. There is a fine line between arrogance and self-confidence. Legitimate self-confidence is a winner. The true test of self-confidence is the courage to be open—to welcome change and new ideas regardless of their source. Self-confident people aren’t afraid to have their views challenged. They relish the intellectual combat that enriches ideas.
—Jack Welch (American Businessperson)

The bottom line is that if you become a master at handling problems and overcoming obstacles, what can stop you from success? The answer is nothing! And if nothing can stop you, you become unstoppable!
—T. Harv Eker (American Motivational Speaker)

The most intolerable pain is produced by prolonging the keenest pleasure.
—George Bernard Shaw (Irish Playwright)

I remember hearing in a talk that the more we express our gratitude to God for our blessings, the more he will bring to our mind other blessings. The more we are aware of to be grateful for, the happier we become.
—Ezra Taft Benson (American Mormon Religious Leader)

There is only one time that is important—NOW! It is the most important time because it is the only time that we have any power.
—Leo Tolstoy (Russian Novelist)

There are geniuses in trade as well as in war, or the state, or letters; and the reason why this or that man is fortunate is not to be told. It lies in the man: that is all anybody can tell you about it.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (American Philosopher)

To dare to live alone is the rarest courage; since there are many who had rather meet their bitterest enemy in the field, than their own hearts in their closet.
—Charles Caleb Colton (English Angelic Priest)

To have read the greatest works of any great poet, to have beheld or heard the greatest works of any great painter or musician, is a possession added to the best things in life.
—Algernon Charles Swinburne (English Poet)

It is the easiest thing in the world to obey God when He commands us to do what we like, and to trust Him when the path is all sunshine. The real victory of faith is to trust God in the dark, and through the dark.
—Theodore L. Cuyler (American Presbyterian Clergyman)

The state of your life is nothing more than a reflection of your state of mind.
—Wayne Dyer (American Motivational Writer)

Before you go and criticize the younger generation, just remember who raised them.
—Unknown

Almost always it is the fear of being ourselves that brings us to the mirror.
—Antonio Porchia (Italian Poet)

A criminal becomes a popular figure because he unburdens in no small degree the consciences of his fellow man, for now they know once more where evil is to be found.
—Carl Jung (Swiss Psychologist)

Some men have a den in their home, while others just growl all over the house.
—Unknown

If a person is not of good conduct, his/her beauty is a waste. For a person with bad character, being born in noble family is a waste. If you do not achieve any feat, being educated is a waste. If you do not spend money, having wealth is a waste.
—Chanakya Neeti

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)

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)

It’s the birthday of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, one of the most admired Presidents of the United States. The 32nd President is widely known by his initials, FDR.

Roosevelt led the United States during some of its most challenging times, both domestically and internationally. He is most renowned for his socio-economic policies to resolve the Great Depression, his decision to enter the war after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, and the eventual victory of the Allied forces in World War II. His presidency transformed the President of the United States into the most powerful elected official in the world.

FDR is the longest-serving president of the United States. He died three months into his fourth term in office, just weeks before the surrender of Germany in World War II. Time Magazine named Franklin Roosevelt as a runner-up (along with Mohandas Gandhi) in the Person of the Century recognition.

Roosevelt was known for his warm-heartedness and humility. He triumphed over a physical disability—at age 39, FDR suffered a polio attack that practically paralyzed his legs and confined him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

FDR is also legendary for his collections of stamps, coins, medals, printings, models of various artifacts, walking sticks, paintings and photographs of naval vessels, stuffed animals, etc. He was the first president to set up a Presidential Library. The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum located in his birthplace of Hyde Park, New York, houses his presidential papers and collections.

See also quotes by his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, and by his distant cousin, Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States.

Inspirational Quotations by Franklin D. Roosevelt

The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (American Head of State)

Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (American Head of State)

Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy, forget in time that men have died to win them.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (American Head of State)

If you treat people right they will treat you right—ninety percent of the time.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (American Head of State)

Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (American Head of State)

A great man left a watchword that we can well repeat: There is no indispensable man.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (American Head of State)

Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel in order to be tough.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (American Head of State)

Remember you are just an extra in everyone else’s play.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (American Head of State)

We can’t always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (American Head of State)

We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (American Head of State)

The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much it is whether we provide enough for those who have little.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (American Head of State)

Confidence… thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection and on unselfish performance. Without them it cannot live.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (American Head of State)

Freedom to learn is the first necessity of guaranteeing that man himself shall be self-reliant enough to be free.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (American Head of State)

Peace, like charity, begins at home.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (American Head of State)