I Believe

A mother cannot unlock all of life’s doors for her children, but she can help them find the keys. A smile is an inexpensive way to improve one’s looks. A train is free to travel only when it remains on the tracks. An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

Be the change you want to see in the world. Believing in life after death makes a big difference on how one views dying. Convert challenging situations into character-building opportunities. Delight in the success of others as much as you do in your own. Every right implies responsibility, every opportunity an obligation, and every possession a duty. Freedom is never license to do as we please, but only to do as we ought. Give the world the best we have. We could get hurt, but give it anyway.

Life can be hard by the yard, but by the inch, life is a cinch! Life is a coin that we can spend any way we wish, but we can only spend it once. Love helps us mind and makes us kind to others every day. Manners can vex, soothe, corrupt, purify, exalt, debase, barbarize, or refine us.

Most of us are better talkers than listeners. Never grow so old that you cannot change your mind. No matter how many new translations of the Bible come out, we still sin in the same way. Of all the things we wear, our expression makes the greatest impact.

Perseverance can tip the scales from failure to success. Remember mistakes just long enough to profit by them. Speak gently because people have enough they must endure without the addition of unkind words. Success in marriage does not come merely through finding the right mate, but by being the right mate.

The most important thing that a father can do for his children is to love their mother. The wisest individuals are generally those who see themselves as the least so. There is no success without hardship. There is nothing permanent except change. Time is the most valuable gift one can give. Truth and oil always rise to the surface. We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience. Young children should have no authority over their parents.

Self-reflection is always a good exercise. What I believe is a work in progress, not limited to these statements and subject to change. What do YOU believe?