Quotes by Topic: Gossip

“If you must speak ill of another, do not speak it, write it in the sand near the water's edge.”

--Napoleon Hill

“What you don't see with your eyes, don't witness with your mouth.”

--Jewish Proverb

“If it's very painful for you to criticize your friends - you're safe in doing it.  But if you take the slightest pleasure in it, that's the time to hold your tongue.”  

--Alice Duer Miller

“Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you.”  

--Spanish Proverb

“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.”

--Eleanor Roosevelt
 

“What is told in the ear of a man is often heard 100 miles away.”

--Chinese Proverb

“Gossip needn't be false to be evil - there's a lot of truth that shouldn't be passed around.”

--Frank A. Clark

Artwork by: Mary Engelbreit
Quote: Although the illustration cites "Julie's Grandma" the actual author is Edward Wallis Hoch

Sportsmanship

When the Great Scorer comes to mark against your name, He writes not that you won or lost, but how you played the Game.

--Grantland Rice, Sportswriter 

I have never met a sports movie I didn’t like. I don’t even LIKE baseball, but I have always been a sucker for baseball movies. I think it’s because the movies - for me - aren’t about the game so much as the Team and the heroic character that is built in individuals as teams work together to overcome obstacles and reach a common goal. I find it so inspirational!

This video is no exception. It has everything I love about sports movies and more because it’s real. The sportsmanship, love, and kindness displayed make me want to be a better person. I hope it will do the same for you. Enjoy!

"Sportsmanship is not just about being nice. It is much more important than that. It's about realizing that you could not compete without an opponent and that she has the same goals as you."

--Stephanie Deibler

"No amount of ability is of the slightest avail without honor."

--Andrew Carnegie

"In the end, it’s extra effort that separates a winner from second place. But winning takes a lot more that that, too. It starts with complete command of the fundamentals. Then it takes desire, determination, discipline, and self sacrifice. And finally, it takes a great deal of love, fairness and respect for your fellow man. Put all these together, and even if you don’t win, how can you lose?"

--Jesse Owens

Lunch with God

I think the following is a really cute little story with a nice message. But I am posting it because it made me wonder: If I could have lunch with God, what would be on the menu? Would I even be able to eat? Would we talk? Or would we sit in silent companionship? Have I ever experienced the Divine within a mortal someone? Has anyone experienced it in me? Hmm. Thought provoking questions...and answers.  Enjoy!

Twinkies and Rootbeer

A little boy wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of Root Beer and he started his journey. 

When he had gone about three blocks, he met an elderly man. The man was sitting in the park just feeding some pigeons.

  

The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the man looked hungry, so he offered him a Twinkie. 

The man gratefully accepted it and smiled at boy. His smile was so pleasant that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered him a root beer. 

Again, the man smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.

As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave, but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the man, and gave him a hug. The man gave him his biggest smile ever. 

When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy? 

"He replied, "I had lunch with God." But before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what? God's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!" 

Meanwhile, the elderly man, also radiant with joy, returned to his home. His son was stunned by the look of peace on his face and he asked," Dad, what did you do today that made you so happy?"

He replied, "I ate Twinkies in the park with God." However, before his son responded, he added," You know, he's much younger than I expected." 

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. Embrace all equally!

~Author Unknown

Beauty and the Beast

"When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure."

--Peter Marshall

Last week, I watched a modern-day re-telling of the old Beauty and the Beast story with my children. They range in age from 8 to 14, so at the conclusion of the movie I thought it was more than appropriate to expect at least a couple of them to have picked up on the message. I was looking for something akin to “External beauty is only skin deep. Real substance is on the inside.” Yeah...was I in for a surprise! It looked promising when my 10 year old son took a moment to ponder. But when he concluded, “Don’t be mean to ugly ladies!” I was sure he had completely missed the  point.

We had a good, hearty laugh followed by an excellent discussion as I took the opportunity to teach the message I expected them to learn. But during the discussion, my son kept reiterating what he had said and insisting it was a better lesson because had the prince been nice to the old witch, the whole affair could have been avoided. And he’s right; it could have been avoided. Had he missed the point, or had I?

Hmm. Thought provoking! Is it better to make excellent choices, or is it better to make mistakes and let Life sort out your faults?

I’ve thought about that a lot through the years. There are things in my past that I’m not proud of--choices I wish I hadn’t made--that led to negative consequences that caused a lot of heartache for myself and others. But now that they are in my past, I have to admit that on some level, I’m glad I experienced it all because, like the prince, the consequences of my mistakes (the Beast) made me a better person. If I hadn’t made the mistakes, would I be who I am today? No.

I think if you asked the prince after the Beast was behind him, he would tell you he was glad the whole thing happened to him, too. He’d probably tell you the same thing I’m about to tell you: Even if I had the option to go back and choose differently to avoid the Beast, I wouldn’t. I’d do it all over again because all that I gained was worth the price I paid.

I have also experienced other unpleasant trials in my life that were completely out of my control that caused heartache as well: death, illness, betrayal, poverty, loss, etc. But while I know many would disagree with me on this point, even these experiences have made me stronger and I wouldn’t change them.

On the other hand, I have always understood the importance of living by a set of noble, moral standards. At times, I know living up to my standards has saved me considerable grief and/or pain. It has certainly given me the peace of a clear conscience. This way of living is epitomized in the character of the Beauty. Her choices were noble and kind. She saw the value of the Beast and overlooked his incongruous outward appearance. She was everything the Beast was not--his antithesis in every way. But did her goodness prevent ALL adversity? No. She was enslaved and treated badly despite her goodness. But it was her determination to make the best of her circumstances and to continue choosing kindness in the face of her hardships that changed everything. It was only then that her goodness inspired the Beast’s change, and his inner nobility born from that change that inspired her love. They were connected and strengthened by the contrary winds of struggle.

Maybe just because their paths to improvement were divergent, it doesn’t have to mean one is “right” and one is “wrong”. The point is that there is no path that saves us from adversity, nor should we expect or desire a life free from it. Sometimes we’re the Beauty and sometimes we’re the Beast. Without the opposing forces, there would be no story. Without free will, struggle, and suffering there would be no value in nobility, no learning, no character development, no purpose…no Beauty in life.

Related  Posts:

Being Wrong
Got Glue?

C.S. Lewis Sunday - Love is More than Kindness

Continuing on the theme of my Calvin and Hobbes cartoon yesterday (here), I am excited to share my #1 most favorite C.S. Lewis quote. I've always thought the prevalent idea of God's supposed "unconditional love" was flawed. This quote points out exactly what is wrong with the idea. God may love us no matter what, but His love is not always what people think of when they say "unconditional." God loves us, so sometimes he WANTS us to suffer so that we can learn. God's Love is more than kindness. 

"There is kindness in Love; but Love and kindness are NOT coterminous, and when kindness is separated from other elements of Love, it involves a certain fundamental indifference to its object, and even something like contempt of it. Kindness consents very readily to the removal of its object—we have all met people whose kindness to animals is constantly leading them to kill animals lest they should suffer. Kindness, merely as such, cares not whether its object becomes good or bad, provided only that it escapes suffering. As Scripture points out, it is bastards who are spoiled: the legitimate sons, who are to carry on the family tradition, are punished (Hebrews 12:8). It is for people whom we care nothing about that we demand happiness on any terms; with our friends, our lovers, our children, we are exacting and would rather see them suffer much than be happy in contemptible and estranging modes. If God is Love, He is, by definition something more than mere kindness. And it appears, from all the records, that though He has often rebuked us and condemned us, He has never regarded us with contempt. He has paid us the intolerable compliment of loving us, in the deepest, most tragic, most inexorable sense." 

--C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain