Choose To Live By Choice

Be strong enough to stand alone.
Be yourself enough to stand apart.
But be wise enough to stand together when the time comes.

Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.
( Camille Pissarro )

I love when you look at someone with a smile on your face, and they break into a smile back at you, not because they know why you are smiling, but because you are happy, and that’s enough to make them happy.

The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it.
You either have to laugh or cry.
I prefer to laugh.
Crying gives me a headache.
( Marjorie Pay Hinckley )

Until we give up the idea that happiness is somewhere else It will never be where we are.

I grow more confused every day.

One of the most courageous decisions you will ever make is to finally let go of what is hurting your heart and soul.
( Brigitte Nicole )

The less you respond to rude, critical, argumentative people, the more peaceful your life will become.

As you get older you realise how much time you have wasted on nonsense and crap.

Half of seeming clever is keeping your mouth shut at the right times.
( Patrick Rothfuss )

The most dangerous liars are those who think they are telling the truth.

Wisdom is having things right in your life and knowing why.
( William Edgar Stafford )

Freedom is being you without anyone’s permission.

Motivation gets you started.
Your heart keeps you going.

Nothing will stop you from being creative so effectively as the fear of making a mistake.
( John Cleese )

Fools take a knife and stab people in the back.
The wise take a knife, cut the cord, and free themselves from the fools.

Expectations make people miserable, so whatever yours are, lower them.
You’ll definitely be happier.
( Simone Elkeles )

Smile.. It’s the key that fits the locks on everyone’s heart.

Don’t pretend you’re fine just to make someone feel comfortable.

Behind my smile is a hurting heart.
Behind my laugh, I am falling apart.

There is a wisdom of the head, and there is a wisdom of the heart.
( Charles Dickens )

What screws us up most in life is the picture in our head of how it is supposed to be.

We live on a wonderful life-sustaining planet that circles around a ball of fire, next to a moon that moves the sea, and you don’t believe in miracles?

The wisest are the most annoyed at the loss of time.
( Dante Alighieri )

I choose to live by choice, not by chance.
I choose to listen to my inner voice, not the random opinions of others.

People who know little are usually great talkers, while men who know much say little.
( Jean-Jacques Rousseau )

When politicians or so-called intelligent people say, “Think outside the box”, they have no idea what’s inside the box.

Many of our government and council ‘Public Servants’ are arrogant individuals who mistake power for material indulgences.

All the war propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.
( George Orwell )

If you think someone is giving you a fake telephone number, read it back to them incorrectly.
If they correct you, it’s the right number.

The Internet didn’t create legions of racists and homophobes.
It just turned over the rock and gave them a massively horrific voice.
( James Bridle )

One of the greatest gifts you can bestow upon another is kindness.
True kindness lies within the act of giving without the expectation of something in return.

The truth isn’t always beauty, but the hunger for it is.
( Nadine Gordimer )

Kindness makes you the most beautiful person in the world, no matter what you look like.

We must especially beware of that small group of selfish men who would clip the wings of the American Eagle in order to feather their own nests.
( Franklin D. Roosevelt )

No matter how dirty your past is, your future can still be spotless.

Art is the great democrat, calling forth creative genius from every sector of society, disregarding race or religion or wealth or colour.
( John F. Kennedy )

They rattled my cage to see if I would bite.
When they released me, they would see that the answer was yes.

Someone who hates you normally hates you for one of three reasons.
They either see you as a threat.
They hate themselves.
Or they want to be you.

You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, and there’s still going to be somebody who hates peaches.

Sometimes I’m terrified of my heart.
Of it’s constant hunger for whatever it is it wants.
The way it stops and starts.
( Edgar Allan Poe )

Cherish those people who have the ability to touch you and still be thousands of miles from your presence.

I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you are wonderful.
And don’t forget to make some art, write or draw, or build or sing.
Or live as only you can.
( Neil Garman )

Because of the ignorance and the greed of the people who rule our planet, we are about to witness climate change and global disasters never seen before and on a scale beyond our imagination.

Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.
( C.S. Lewis )

Never follow or support a leader who is more in love with power than people.

We must fight as a race for everything that makes for a better country and a better world.
We are dreaming idiots and trusting fools to do anything less.
( Ralph Bunche )

Live without pretending.
Love without depending.
Listen without defending.
Speak without offending.

Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children.
( Sitting Bull )

If someone asks for your opinion about something, you can always say that you don’t know enough about that subject to have an opinion.

Just remember.
Silence is better than nonsense and bull-shit.
( R S Hutchison )

Patience is when you’re supposed to be mad but you choose to understand.

Night is a wonderful opportunity to take rest, to dream.
And to get ready for the battles you may face tomorrow.
( Florence Emily Hookins, 1896 – 1962 )

Human ignorance makes me weep.
If they soon don’t learn of their mistake.
More innocent lives they will take.

Do not despise your own place and hour.
Every place is under the stars, every place is the centre of the world.
( John Burroughs ) 

Life wears out the beauty of our body but our inner beauty remains forever.

Choose friends who you are proud to know.
People you admire, who love and respect you.
Surround yourself with people who reflect the person you want to be.

My life didn’t please me, so I created my life.
( Coco Chanel )

We sometimes meet someone who we feel really comfortable with.
And we don’t have to pretend to be anyone or anything.

If we don’t love and respect all of creation, then we will not love or respect any of it.

Growing up is losing some illusions, in order to acquire others.
( Virginia Woolf )

The strongest people are not those who show strength in front of us, but those who win battles we know nothing about.

That’s what I do, I read books, I study information, I search the internet, I drink coffee, and I know things.

The human race will eventually die of civilisation.
( Ralph Waldo Emerson )

Our job is not to judge.
Our job is not to figure out if someone deserves something.
Our job is to lift the fallen, to restore the broken, and to heal the hurting.

There comes a time when you have to choose between turning the page and closing the book.

If you don’t want your tax dollars to help the poor, then stop saying that you want a country based on Christian values, because you don’t.
( Jimmy Carter )

Be careful with your words.
Once they are said, they can be only forgiven, not forgotten.

It’s better to look back and say, “I can’t believe I did that”.
Rather than say, “I wish I did that”.

There are two kinds of people in the world – Givers and Takers.
The takers may eat better, but the givers sleep better.
( Marlo Thomas )