Deep Thoughts

My Aunt Jane & Uncle Hub gave me a book 25 years ago, May 1980. I don't remember the occassion-- could've been graduation from elementary school, could have been my confirmation. Anyway, I probably said "Thank you", and shrugged because it was just a book-- as I always did when I was a kid and received books or clothes as a present. If it wasn't a toy or cash, I wasn't interested. But this particular present found it's way into my life. The title of the book is "You Can See Forever". It's full of poems, inspirational thoughts and quotes from famous people . Looking at it tonight, I realize that sometimes we give gifts and we feel that we aren't thanked enough-- sometimes we feel like the gift wasn't appreciated because we don't see it when we visit the homes of the receivers. But we're often wrong-- sometimes the gifts are treasured too much to leave out for others to see. That's the case with this book. I was 14 years old when I got it, and I've kept it all these years. When I'm down, I open the book and read a few pages and I feel better. Thanks Aunt Jane and Uncle Hub-- I might've blown it off 25 years ago, but the little book you gave me has turned into one of my prize possesions:

• "You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one"~ James A. Frudge
• "It ain't no disgrace for a man to fall, but to lay there and grunt is"~Josh Billing
• "You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you"~ James Allen
• "Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly"~St. Francis De Sales
• "If we are not responsible for the thoughts that pass our doors, we at least are responsible for those which we admit and entertain"~Charles B. Newcomb
• "What happens to a man is less significant that what happens within him"~Louis L. Mann
• "Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing; 'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands; But he that fliches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him and makes me poor indeed."~ William Shakespeare
• "Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens"~ Epictetus
• "The mind is everything. What we think, we become"~Buddha
• "The best time to hold your tongue is the time you feel you must say something or bust"~Josh Billings
• "You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do"~ Olin Miller
• "Whether four years of strenuos attention to football and fraternities is the best preparation for professional work has never been seriously investigated"~ Robert M. Hutchins
• "You have not converted a man because you have silenced him"~ John Morley