Inspirations for Tuesday, May 10, 2011

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This month, all manner of graduation speeches will be shared, from the short and to the point, to the long and sometimes boring.  Please listen above to "Ready for Takeoff," the 5 minute signature speech that helped to launch a speaking career.

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I have learned this at least by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours.

Henry David Thoreau
1817-1862, Writer and Poet

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Stand up for what's right, in small matters and large ones, and always do what you promise.

Reuben Mark

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Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, be fortified by it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it.

Hermann Hesse Siddhartha

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Inspirations for Mon., May 9, 2011

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A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.

Charles Gordy

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Be careful what you spend your day touching because it will shape your mind, your body, and your heart.

Sam Keen
Speaker and Author

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Nothing in the competitive world of business is easy, but accomplishment usually results from knowing what you want to achieve and not giving up when inevitable obstacles get in the way.

James M. Zimmerman

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Inspirations for Fri., May 6, 2011

Basheer Jones Speech to Young Ladies

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Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you will help them become what they are capable of becoming.

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

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Most great men and women are not perfectly rounded in their personalities, but are instead people whose one driving enthusiasm is so great it makes their faults seem insignificant.

Charles A. Cerami
Author

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To be human is to be creative. You don't have to go outside yourself to find creativity--You already have it. It lives in your heart and mind in every moment of every day.

Sandra Magasamen

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He who smiles rather than rages is always the stronger.

Japanese proverb

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Inspirations for Thur., May 5, 2011

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It is good to dream, but it is better to dream and work. Faith is mighty, but action with faith is mightier.

Thomas Robert Gaines

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Everyone wants to be appreciated, so if you appreciate someone, don't keep it a secret.

Mary Kay Ash
1915-2001, Founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics

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Believe in people. The further one goes in life, the more his/her accomplishments depend on other people. Create an environment in which everyone can contribute and where diversity in all its dimensions prospers.

George M. C. Fisher

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Inspirations for Wed., May 4, 2011

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When we play to the demands of others, we are putting through our heads what we think they want and we are using our energies to do that. When we are freed from that, we are free to move on to the job of defining ourselves.

Camille Cosby

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Have the courage and the wisdom and the vision to raise a definite standard that will appeal to the best that is in man, and then strive mightily toward that goal.

Harold E. Stassen

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I live by this credo: Have a little laugh at life and look around you for happiness instead of sadness. Laughter has always brought me out of unhappy situations. Even in your darkest moment, you usually can find something to laugh about if you try hard enough.

Red Skelton
1913-1997, Comedian

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Inspirations for Tue., May 3, 2011

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You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call 'failure' is not the falling down, but the staying down.

Mary Pickford
1893-1979, Actress and Producer

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Don't just dream about grandiose acts of doing good. Every day do small ones, that add up over time to positive patterns.

Marian Wright Edelman

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Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon them and to let them know that you trust them.

Booker T. Washington
1856-1915, Educator and Writer

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Inspirations for Monday, May 2, 2011

Inspirations for Monday, May 2, 2011

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ABOVE: See brief comments from President Obama at the White House Correspondents Dinner.

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The May-June, 2011 issue of VISIONS Newsletter is available at http://visions.successisyou.org/PDF/Visions_May_2011.pdf.
  
Please use some or all of the many inspirational stories in this issue as today's INSPIRATIONS.

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