“If you can’t be positive, then at least be quiet.” [Joel Osteen]

From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst:

May 14

'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 that day.'

- Abraham Lincoln

‘All human wisdom is summed up in two words – “wait” and “hope.”’

- Alexandre Dumas

"At my age 'getting lucky' means finding my car in the parking lot." [Anonymous]

"At my age 'getting lucky' means finding my car in the parking lot." [Anonymous]From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst:

May 13

'I am a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn't have the heart to let him down.'

- Abraham Lincoln

‘An honest man is always a child.’

- Socrates

“The opposite of depression is not happiness but vitality.” [Andrew Solomon]

“The opposite of depression is not happiness but vitality.” [Andrew Solomon]

From “The Human Condition: A User’s Manual” by Arnold Kunst

The loser goes at life like someone poking the thing with a stick to see if it’s really alive.

The winner goes at life like there’s no tomorrow.

You and I should get aq eulogy like this when WE die!

From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst:

May 12

Horace Greeley, the editor of the New York Tribune, had on many occasions attacked the Lincoln administration for any number of reasons. But on Lincoln's death he wrote arguably the most prescient obituary of Abraham Lincoln ever penned, one that any of us might justifiably long for: 'He was not a born king of men but a child of the common people who made himself a great persuader, therefore a leader, by dint of firm resolve, patient effort, and dogged perseverance. He slowly won his way to eminence and fame by doing the work that lay next to him - doing it with all his growing might - doing it as well as he could, and learning by his failure, when failure was encountered, how to do it better. He was open to all impressions and influences and gladly profited by the teaching of events and circumstances, no matter how adverse or unwelcome. There was probably no year of his life when he was not a wiser, cooler, and better man than he had been the year proceeding.'

'You have been called to greatness. Honoring the dictates of that greatness will require years of dedication, long hard work, probably jealousy and misunderstanding, maybe even active hostility. But that's what you were built for. You can, of course, turn your back on that same destiny, but be warned: you do so at your own peril.'

- Arnold Kunst

“A society that has more justice is a society that needs less charity.” [Ralph Nader]

From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst:

May 11

In January 1835 Lincoln’s business partner died 'on short notice' leaving him responsible for their joint obligations to a total of $1,100, an enormous sum for those days. Lincoln called it the National Debt, and rather than declare bankruptcy he took 10 years to clear that debt.

'One acid, infallible test of your maturity is your ability to hold necessary tension until the circumstances are ripe for the release of that tension.'

- Arnold Kunst

“Your character is who you are; your reputation is who people think you are.” [Anonymous]

From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst:
May 10
'We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it.' 
- Abraham Lincoln

'Anger is rage gone wrong. Rage gone right is the building block of all individual and social accomplishment. It is the dynamo at the very core of civilization.' 
- Arnold Kunst

“The final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.” [Anne Frank]

From “The Human Condition: A User’s Manual” by Arnold Kunst

I don’t begin life as a man of convictions. I begin like a frisky puppy bumping into a series of hunches which I play with, which I try on for size. Some get discarded rather early. [No, I’m NOT going to become an astronaut – what’s next?] After I’ve worn one or another of the hunches long enough, they become habits. And when life requires, as life invariably will, I will choose to pay the price for a select few of them, maybe even a terrible price. And in the process I will become a man of convictions.