In Times of Challenge, Adversity, Controversy and Hardship...

• Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
• The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur. -- Vince Lombardi
• Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. -- Dale Carnegie
• Adversity causes some men to break, others to break records. -- William A. Ward
• Tough times never last, but tough people do. -- Robert H. Schuller

Build a Character you can be proud of

• Remember, always give your best. Never get discouraged. Never be petty. Always remember, others may hate you. But those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself. -- Richard M. Nixon
• The greatness comes not when things go always good for you. But the greatness comes when you're really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes. Because only if you've been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain. -- Richard M. Nixon
• The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. --Martin Luther King, Jr.
• It is never too late to be what you might have been. - George Eliot
• There is a transcendent power in example. We reform others unconsciously when we walk uprightly. - Anne Sophie Swetchine
• Watch your thoughts; they become your words. Watch your words; they become your actions. Watch your actions; they become your habits. Watch your habits; they become your character. Watch your character for it will become your destiny.
• Let us endeavor to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry. -- Mark Twain
• If people talk negatively about you, live so that no one will believe them. -- Source Unknown
• When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you. - Lao-Tzu

Kindness and Love

• I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong. - Leo Rosten
• You never lose by loving. You always lose by holding back. - Unknown
• Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction. -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery
• If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting? - Stephen Levine
• Some people come into our lives and leave quickly, but some stay a while and leave footprints in our souls and we are never, ever the same. - Unknown
• He who receives a benefit should never forget it; he who bestows should never remember it. - Pierre Charron

Believe, Hope, and have Faith

• Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. -- Helen Keller
• Believe it is possible to solve your problem. Tremendous things happen to the believer. So believe the answer will come. It will. -- Norman Vincent Peale
• Doubt sees the obstacles; faith sees the way. Doubt sees the darkest night; faith sees the day. Doubt dreads to take a step; faith soars on high. Doubt questions 'who believes?'; faith answers, 'I.'' -- Source Unknown
• Fear less, hope more;
  Whine less, breathe more;
  Talk less, say more;
  Hate less, love more;
  And all good things are yours.

Leadership - Making a Difference

• A proven way to lead is to step forward - Unknown
• You must be the change you wish to see in the world. - Mahatma Gandhi
• We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. --Martin Luther King Jr.

Living Your Life

• This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good.
• Dream like you'll live forever, Live like you're going to die tomorrow, Love like it's never going to hurt
• Lady Macbeth: Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under 't

Quotes from my Precious Friends

• We gon' show God that "Look, yo! Look, we gots thrown down and beat up, but we still thinkin' you da MAN yo! We still fightin' because we down but we not out yo!" And God's gon' be like "Sheeeit, yo! I made some tough little cookies there! I gon' make them arc angels when they come up here!" - Lisa - who doesn't talk like that but we were just being "ghettoey" ;)