In Repair » Quotes

Attitude Is Everything

Brian — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:29:34 +0000

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home.

“The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our attitudes.” – Charles Swindoll

Michael Jackson Quote Addressing Gay Rumors

Brian — Fri, 28 May 2010 15:40:13 +0000

“I know it’s not true, so it doesn’t bother me. I’m sure we must have plenty of fans who are gay. That doesn’t bother me in the slightest, but I’m not gay.” – Michael Jackson in an interview with Steven Ivory, 1978

*Not that it matters either way, I just find this stuff really interesting. ;)

The Essence of Religion

Brian — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 03:00:33 +0000

“What is the essence of religion? Sigmund Freud said that was the longing for the father. Others have called it the desire of the mother or for transcendence. I fear deeply that all these are idealizations, and I offer the rather melancholy suggestion that they would all vanish from us if we did not know that we must die. Religion rises inevitably from our apprehension of our own death. To give meaning to meaninglessness is the endless quest of all religion. When death becomes the center of our consciousness, then religion authentically begins.” – Literary scholar Harold Bloom

Amazing Quotes By Ernest Hemingway

Brian — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:38:22 +0000

Ever read or see something that makes your diaphragm unexpectedly expand? Perhaps that’s what is meant by the expression “it took my breath away.” Some of these quotes by author Ernest Hemingway do that exactly.

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”

“There is no friend as loyal as a book.”

“Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.”

“All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.”

“After writing a story I was always empty and both sad and happy, as though I had made love.”

“When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.”

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”

“About morals, I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.”

“Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.”

“A cat has absolute emotional honesty: human beings, for one reason or another, may hide their feelings, but a cat does not.”

“All my life I’ve looked at words as though I were seeing them for the first time.”

“In order to write about life first you must live it.”

“A writer should write what he has to say and not speak it.”

“Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.”

“Never to go on trips with anyone you do not love.”

“The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.”

“I love sleep. My life has the tendency to fall apart when I’m awake, you know?”

Source

Telling The Truth

Brian — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:59:05 +0000

“Why not just tell people I’m an alien from Mars. Tell them I eat live chickens and do a voodoo dance at midnight. They’ll believe anything you say, because you’re a reporter. But if I, Michael Jackson, were to say, ‘I’m an alien from Mars and I eat live chickens and do a voodoo dance at midnight,’ people would say, ‘Oh, man, that Michael Jackson is nuts. He’s cracked up. You can’t believe a single word that comes out of his mouth’.” – Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson: 'I Just Wanted To Be Loved'

Brian — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:50:47 +0000

A few years ago, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach spent over 40 hours interviewing Michael Jackson for a book he was planning to write. Those conversations revealed just how lonely Michael had become.

I am going to say something I have never said before and this is the truth. I have no reason to lie to you and God knows I am telling the truth. I think all my success and fame, and I have wanted it, I have wanted it because I wanted to be loved. That’s all. That’s the real truth. I wanted people to love me, truly love me, because I never really felt loved.

I said I know I have an ability. Maybe if I sharpened my craft, maybe people will love me more. I just wanted to be loved because I think it is very important to be loved and to tell people that you love them and to look in their eyes and say it.

Wherever he is now, I hope he is surrounded by the most intense love he has ever experienced.

Source

Picture Board

Brian — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:47:27 +0000

I have a cork board hanging beside my desk at work that is covered with photos of friends, family, places I’ve been on vacation, and my partner. It has pictures of my parents, my sister and I when we were very young children, photos of the children that she went on to have, and even little sayings that have spoken to me over the years.

“An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.” – Ghandi
“The person willing to give up freedom for security deserves neither.” – A modern take on Benjamin Franklin’s quote.
“Where governments fear the people, you have liberty. When the people fear the government, you have tyranny.” – Thomas Jefferson

I also included a lyric from a song by American-Indian artist, Jana, which always reminds me of exactly why I’m at work.

So be aware of all the things you want
Prepare to pay for what you need
Nothing in the world is free to take
That’s the price of life we have to pay.

There’s even a slip of paper that I got out of a fortune cookie that says, “Stop searching forever. Happiness is right next to you.” And, yes, I was sitting right next to Honey when I opened it.

I recently printed the verses from 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13 and posted them on the wall beside the board, as a constant reminder of the importance of love.

I think that’s the main reason I enjoy this picture board so much; when I’m stressed out or just tired and ready to go home, I can glance over to see all the faces and places that represent love to me. And then, in some strange way, I realize that I am already home.

Awesome Quote

Brian — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 02:19:26 +0000

“We just get the one life, you know, just one. We can’t live someone else’s or think it’s more important just because it’s more dramatic. What happens matters. Maybe only to us, but it matters.” – Tea Leoni, Ghost Town

Great movie, by the way.

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Right Here, Right Now

Brian — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 03:26:30 +0000

“I remember one morning getting up at dawn. There was such a sense of possibility. You know that feeling? And I remember thinking to myself: So, this is the beginning of happiness. This is where it starts. And, of course, there will always be more. It never occurred to me it wasn’t the beginning. It was happiness. . . . → Read More: Right Here, Right Now Related posts:

The Purpose Of Art

Brian — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 02:32:51 +0000

“The purpose of art is to comfort the afflicted, and to afflict the comfortable.”

That quote was posted in the comments section over at Fighting Windmills several months ago, and it crossed my mind this evening after watching a foreign film that left me feeling quite uncomfortable.

The Bubble tells the rather tortured love story of two men living in Israel – one Palestinian and one Jewish. The conflict between their two regions threatens to tear them apart at every turn, but they struggle through, determined to have a relationship despite the odds. The shocking ending left me feeling terribly disturbed, sheltered, and thankful to be living in a country where my problems are more like minor inconveniences when compared to other parts of the world.