Circumstance does not make the man: it reveals him to himself. ...
by James Allen

Circumstance does not make the man: it reveals him to himself.
- James Allen

Related topics: Wisdom Positive Live-By

Change your thoughts, change your life.
- James Allen

No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.
- James Allen

You will never do anything in this world without courage.
It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.
- James Allen

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Thank you for joining me on this journey we call life,
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

He who would accomplish much must sacrifice much.
- James Allen

You will become as small as your controlling desire;
as great as your dominant aspiration.
- James Allen

You are today where your thoughts have brought.
- James Allen

Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared
believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance.
- Bruce Barton

In all my ways of seeing - may I use new glasses,
a telescope and a microscope.
And may I always allow myself to see a circumstance
through the tender hearts of my friends.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

We have a choice of how we view the obstacles on our life path.
One choice makes us slaves to circumstance,
while the other empowers us, and motivates us
to follow our dreams - and our happiness.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

I am determined to be cheerful and happy
in whatever situation I may find myself.
For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness
is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition.
- Martha Washington

What are the proper grounds for joy?
Is it circumstance which will
determine the stature of my spirit?
Ah, no. It is choice. It is always a choice -
in the face of any event - for joy.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

We are strange beings, we seem
to go free, but we go in chains -
chains of training, custom, convention,
association, environment -
in a word, Circumstance -
and against these bonds
the strongest of us struggle in vain.
- Mark Twain

I like to talk about a thing I call a "practiced pause."
Just a few moments of pausing allows me
to consider a circumstance and take stock
of what the best direction might be.
Reactions tend to rise from habit and unconsidered action.
A Response is considered and thoughtful.
My actions are my own and I am, singularly,
responsible for what I see, say, feel and exert.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Do not blame the thistle that you see no beauty.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

You do not need anyone's permission to be your true self.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The true meaning of life is to plant trees,
under whose shade you do not expect to sit.
- Nelson Henderson

Everything has beauty,
but not everyone sees it.
- Confucius

Riches do not exhilarate us so much with their possession
as they torment us with their loss.
- Epicurus

Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing,
of just going along,
listening to all the things you can't hear,
and not bothering.
- A. A. Milne (Winnie-The-Pooh)

A bird does not sing because it has an answer.
It sings because it has a song.
- Chinese Proverb

Love one another but make not a bond of love.
Let it rather be a moving sea
between the shores of your souls.
- Khalil Gibran

Lord, grant that I might not so much
seek to be loved as to love.
- St. Francis of Assisi

The mind is not a vessel to be filled
but a fire to be kindled.
- Plutarch

Love does not claim possession, but gives freedom.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
- Lao Tzu

The world is perfect. It's a mess.
It has always been a mess.
We are not going to change it.
Our job is to straighten out our own lives.
- Joseph Campbell

To the people who love you,
you are beautiful already.
This is not because they're
blind to your shortcomings
but because they so clearly see your soul.
- Victoria Moran

I am not afraid of storms
for I am learning how to sail my ship.
- Louisa May Alcott

Life is not supposed to be fair.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Adventure is not outside man; it is within.
- George Eliot

A good traveler has no fixed plans,
and is not intent on arriving.
- Lao Tzu

One does not discover new lands without consenting
to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.
- Andre Gide

It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.
- Edmund Hillary

A ship in harbor is safe -
but that is not what ships are for.
- John A. Shedd

Love means not ever having to say you're sorry.
- Erich Segal

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us.
- Marianne Williamson

The question is not what you look at, but what you see.
- Henry David Thoreau

The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Stand Tall, Stand Proud.
Know that you are unique and magnificent.
You do not need the approval of others.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

To know yet to think that one does not know is best;
Not to know yet to think that one knows
will lead to difficulty.
- Lao Tzu

We are not held back by the love we didn't receive in the past,
but by the love we're not extending in the present.
- Marianne Williamson

"Just living is not enough," said the butterfly,
"one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower."
- Hans Christian Andersen

When dealing with people, remember you are
not dealing with creatures of logic,
but creatures of emotion.
- Dale Carnegie

One can not reflect in streaming water.
Only those who know internal peace can give it to others.
- Lao Tzu

Am I not destroying my enemies
when I make friends of them?
- Abraham Lincoln

The essence of life is not in
the great victories and grand failures,
but in the simple joys.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Every child comes with the message
that God is not yet discouraged of man.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle,
and the life of the candle will not be shortened.
Happiness never decreases by being shared.
- The Buddha

Do not let Sunday be taken from you.
If your soul has no Sunday, it becomes an orphan.
- Albert Schweitzer

Sometimes we need the fog to remind ourselves
that all of life is not black and white.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Let parents bequeath to their children
not riches, but the spirit of reverence.
- Plato

Self-respect is not a function of size, age, or wealth.
Breathe deep, sing loud and sweet,
"I am me, I am unique, I am magnificent."
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek,
but a means by which we arrive at that goal.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

I am not a slave to my thoughts or emotions.
- Richard Carlson

The ache for home lives in all of us,
the safe place where we can
go as we are and not be questioned.
- Maya Angelou

I do not need anyone's permission to be my true self.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant.
If we did not sometimes taste of adversity,
prosperity would not be so welcome.
- Anne Bradstreet

Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations.
I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty,
believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.
- Louisa May Alcott

Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition,
is not only a waste of energy
but the worst habit you could possibly have.
- Dale Carnegie

Treat those who are good with goodness,
and also treat those who are not good with goodness.
Thus goodness is attained.
Be honest to those who are honest,
and be also honest to those who are not honest.
Thus honesty is attained.
- Lao Tzu

The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.
- Oscar Wilde

You will not be punished for your anger,
you will be punished by your anger.
- The Buddha

The possession of knowledge does not
kill the sense of wonder and mystery.
There is always more mystery.
- Anais Nin

The beauty does not live out there;
the beauty's in my eyes.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Increase of material comforts,
it may be generally laid down,
does not in any way whatsoever
conduce to moral growth.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

It is better to conquer yourself
than to win a thousand battles.
Then the victory is yours.
It cannot be taken from you,
not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.
- The Buddha

Maturity is the ability to do a job
whether or not you are supervised,
to carry money without spending it,
and to bear an injustice without wanting to get even.
- Ann Landers

It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants.
The question is: What are we busy about?
- Henry David Thoreau

Love is the ultimate meaning of everything around us.
Love is not a mere sentiment.
Love is the ultimate truth at the heart of creation.
- Rabindranath Tagore

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May the world be kind to you, and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie