These pages are full of quotations and biographical information
on the people who have shared their wisdom with us.
Up until now we haven't indexed them, but since the number
of pages is growing so high, we feel it's about time!

  
Alan Watts Albert Einstein Albert Schweitzer Andy Rooney Anne Frank Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Anne Wilson Schaef Annie Dillard Anthony Robbins Ari Kiev Artur Rubenstein Barbara Johnson
Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Hoff Bernie Siegel Bertrand Russell Betty Eadie
Booker T. Washington Carl Jung Charlotte Davis Kasl Cheryl Richardson Cristina Feldman C.S. Lewis
the Dalai Lama Dale Carnegie Deepak Chopra Desmond Tutu Don Miguel Ruiz Earl Nightingale
Elaine St. James Eleanor Roosevelt Elisabeth Kuebler-Ross Ralph Waldo Emerson Emmet Fox Fred Rogers
Frederick Buechner George Bernard Shaw George Santayana George Washington Carver Gerald Jampolsky Harold Kushner
Harry Emerson Fosdick Helen Keller   Henry David Thoreau Henry James Henry Van Dyke
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Ward Beecher Hugh Prather Immanuel Kant   Iyanla Vanzant
Jack Canfield James Allen   Jim Rohn Joan Borysenko Joan Chittister
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe John Izzo John Marks Templeton John Ruskin Joni Eareckson Tada Joseph M. Marshall III
Julia Cameron Kent Nerburn Khalil Gibran Lao Tzu (Laozi) Leo Buscaglia Leonard Jacobson
Leslie Levine Lucinda Bassett Lydia Maria Child Lynn Grabhorn Marcus Aurelius Marianne Williamson
Martin Luther King, Jr. Maya Angelou Melody Beattie Michael Goddart   Mitch Albom
Mohandas Gandhi Morrie Schwartz Mother Teresa M. Scott Peck Nathaniel Branden Neale Donald Walsch
Nikos Kazantzakis Norman Cousins Norman Vincent Peale Og Mandino Oprah Winfrey Oriah
Orison Swett Marden Parker J. Palmer Pau Casals Paulo Coelho   Peace Pilgrim
Phillips Brooks   Rabindranath Tagore   Rachel Carson Rachel Naomi Remen
Rainer Maria Rilke Ralph Waldo Trine   Rhonda Byrne   Richard Bach
Richard Carlson Robert Frost Robert Fulghum Robert Louis Stevenson Russell Baker Sarah Ban Breathnach
Shakti Gawain Soren Kierkegaard Stephen Covey Stephen C. Paul Sue Patton Thoele Susan L. Taylor
Sylvia Boorstein Thich Nhat Hanh Thomas Carlyle Thomas Kinkade Thomas Merton Tom Walsh
Victor Cherbuliez Wayne Dyer Wilferd A. Peterson Willa Cather William James William Wordsworth
Zig Ziglar          
   

I do not believe that sheer suffering teaches. If suffering alone
taught, all the world would be wise, since everyone suffers.
To suffering must be added mourning, understanding, patience,
love, openness and the willingness to remain vulnerable.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

      
Listen to your beliefs, think about how you learned them, and realize that they are not genetic, nor are they the "only way." You are free to acquire new perspectives, to absorb new ideas, and to question everything you were taught to believe. As your mind opens to exploration and change, you'll feel a new lightness and more joy.

Charlotte Davis Kasl
  
We are so well trained that we are our own domesticator. We are an
autodomesticated animal. We can now domesticate ourselves according
to the same belief system we were given, and using the same system of
punishment and reward. We punish ourselves when we don't follow the
rules according to our belief system; we reward ourselves when we are
the "good boy" or "good girl."

Don Miguel Ruiz
   

Each of us must live off the fruit of his or her thoughts in the future,
because what you think today and tomorrow, next month and next
year, you will mold your life and determine your future. You are
guided by your mind.

Earl Nightingale

     

You take a firm grip on positive attitudes of thought.
You hold right thoughts in your mind just as your hand grips a golf club.
You keep both feet on the ground. You stand for the highest and the best
and strive to fill your life with the goodness of God.

Wilferd A. Peterson

   

  

The balance and peace we seek for ourselves and our society
won’t be achieved through mental effort alone.  Mind and spirit
are meant to travel together, with spirit leading the way.  Until we
make a conscious commitment to understand and embrace our
spiritual nature, we will endure the ache of living without the
awareness and guidance of the most essential part of ourselves.

Susan L. Taylor

   

I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is
more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts.
That hope always triumphs over experience. That laughter is the only
cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death.

Robert Fulghum

   

Hope is important because it can make the present moment less
difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better,
we can bear a hardship today.

Thich Nhat Hanh

   

    

Love cannot remain by itself--it has no meaning.
Love has to be put into action and that action is service.
Whatever form we are, able or disabled, rich or poor,
it is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing;
a lifelong sharing of love with others.

Mother Teresa

  

    

We have some inspiring and motivational books that may interest you.  Our main way of supporting this site is through the sale of books, either physical copies or digital copies for your Amazon Kindle (including the online reader).  All of the money that we earn through them comes back to the site in one way or another.  Just click on the picture to the left to visit our page of books, both fiction and non-fiction!

  

        
    

Yes, life can be mysterious and confusing--but there's much of life that's actually rather dependable and reliable.  Some principles apply to life in so many different contexts that they can truly be called universal--and learning what they are and how to approach them and use them can teach us some of the most important lessons that we've ever learned.
My doctorate is in Teaching and Learning.  I use it a lot when I teach at school, but I also do my best to apply what I've learned to the life I'm living, and to observe how others live their lives.  What makes them happy or unhappy, stressed or peaceful, selfish or generous, compassionate or arrogant?  In this book, I've done my best to pass on to you what I've learned from people in my life, writers whose works I've read, and stories that I've heard.  Perhaps these principles can be a positive part of your life, too!
Universal Principles of Living Life Fully.  Awareness of these principles can explain a lot and take much of the frustration out of the lives we lead.