Those who wander...

Not all those who wander are lost. - J.R.R. Tolkien

Goal in life...

I think it's dangerous if your goal in life is to get the other guy, then you're not going to be doing a really quality job yourself. -Katie Couric

Faith is...

Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe. -Saint Augustine

Pessimism...

I don't believe in pessimism. If something doesn't come up the way you want, forge ahead. -Clint Eastwood

People who make me laugh...

I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it's the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It's probably the most important thing in a person. -Audrey Hepburn

What you look like...

What you look like doesn't define who you are.
- Rion Paige, 2013 X-factor contestant. Original author unknown.

Hold onto...

The best thing to hold onto in life is each other. -Audrey Hepburn

Without a sense of humor...

A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs. It's jolted by every pebble on the road. -Henry Ward Beecher

Bad weather...

"There's no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing." - Alfred Wainwright

Heart and mind...

The heart and mind are the true lens of the camera. – Yousuf Karsh

Around the corner...

I'm excited like a kid about what's going to happen next, what's going to happen around the corner. It's my curiosity. - Parker Pfister

Change...

All you can change is yourself, but sometimes that changes everything! – Gary W Goldstein

If you want to leave a legacy...

If you want to leave a legacy... leave it now, every day of your life, not just after you are gone or only as a result of a narrowly defined way of contributing. With every thought, word and deed you leave something behind. You get to choose whether you leave a legacy of impossibility or possibility, of denigration or celebration, of unkindness or kindness, of judgement or acceptance, of struggle or grace, of discouragement or encouragement, of frailty or strength, of tears or laughter, of fear or love. What is in your heart to leave as a legacy, in this moment... and now this one?

- Cathy Drew

Simple...

Nature can be simple. Beauty can be simple. It doesn't have to be complex. - Kelly Shipp

Advice is like snow...

Advice is like snow - the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper in sinks into the mind. - Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Positive...

Positive anything is better than negative nothing. -Elbert Hubbard

If you're grateful...

If you're grateful, you're not fearful. If you're not fearful, you're not violent. - Bro. David Steindl-Rast

The richness of life is...

The richness of life is that we always get another opportunity. Even when we fail, we get another opportunity. - Kelly Shipp, paraphrased from a TED talk by Bro. David Steindl-Rast.

Take time to pause...

Take time to pause. A moment can last a long time if you appreciate it. - Kelly Shipp

Do it now...

Whatever you want to do, do it now. There are only so many tomorrows. – Michael Landon

I always look...

A lot of times people look at the negative side of what they feel they can't do. I always look on the positive side of what I can do. -Chuck Norris

Art...

The art lies in the man, not in the medium. - Rudolf Eickemeyer, Jr.

Imagination...

The man who has no imagination has no wings. - Muhammad Ali

Fast food customers "pay it backward" at Houston Chick-fil-A...

I like hearing stories like this. Why can't we hear 30 minutes of these kinds of stories on the news instead of such negativity & crime? ... Seriously. Think about how many hateful crimes occur just because they want to be on the front page of the news? Imagine all of those people doing *good* to get on the news?...
http://www.click2houston.com/news/fast-food-customers-pay-it-backward/-/1735978/22623004/-/12842on/-/index.html

A bargain...

A bargain is something you don’t need at a price you can’t resist. - Franklin Jones

Retirement...

Retirement at 65 is ridiculous. When I was 65 I still had pimples. -George Burns

Loaf of bread...

The odds of going to the store for a loaf of bread and coming out with only a loaf of bread are three billion to one. -Erma Bombeck

Italian food...

The trouble with eating Italian food is that five or six days later, you’re hungry again. - George Miller

Vegetables...

Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon. - Doug Larson

Improve...

You can't improve what you don't measure. -Fedex motto

Freedom is...

Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you. - Jean-Paul Sartre

History has a habit of repeating itself...

I believe history has a habit of repeating itself, that's for sure, but one of things I'm critical of my country on is that we don't seem to take note of the lessons that history teaches us. My country is pretty prone to everything wanting to be black and white, or red, white and blue. And in my experience of life, nothing was ever that simple. No one was dealing with the grey areas. So I decided to become a filmmaker so I could deal with that.
- Robert Redford

The highest mountain...

Only if you have been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain. — Richard M. Nixon

Dare to experiment...

I would say to any artist: "Don't be repressed in your work, dare to experiment, consider any urge, if in a new direction all the better." - Edward Weston

Doing good...

I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another. -Thomas Jefferson

Fitness payoffs...

Fitness payoffs: lower your risk of heart disease and diabetes by 20% and live longer.

Experience more...

What really moves you? What excites you? Write it down and find ways to experience more of this in your life. - Kelly Shipp

You are...

You are the author of your story.

It's all around us...

Beauty is all around us. If it is not evident to you, search for it and you may be surprised by what you find. - Kelly Shipp

The future...

Predicting the future is easy... it's implementing the future that is hard.

Think outside...

Think outside. No box required.

How much is your art worth?...

You want to know how much your art is worth? Exactly how much you say it is worth. If you don't place value on your work, no one else will either.

Focus and simplicity...

"That's been one of my mantras -- focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains." - Steve Jobs

Internal freedom...

The more internal freedom you achieve, the more you want: it is more fun to be happy than sad, more enjoyable to choose your own emotions than to have them inflicted on you by mechanical glandular processes, more pleasurable to solve your problems than to be stuck with them forever.~ Robert Wilson

Storytellers...

Storytellers can broaden our minds: engage, provoke, inspire, and ultimately, connect us. - Robert Redford

In time...

If you had a time machine, would you prefer to travel into the past or into the future?

Ability is...

Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. -Lou Holtz

Breakthroughs...

Big breakthroughs happen when what is suddenly possible meets what is desperately necessary. - Thomas Friedman

Not intimidated...

The experienced mountain climber is not intimidated by a mountain — he is inspired by it. — William Artur Ward

More than just a photograph...

If I can get just a small percentage of viewers to see more than just a photograph, I feel that I've achieved the goal of sharing more than just a photograph. - Kelly Shipp

Reveals and hides...

A great photograph is one that both reveals and hides something. - Jeff Rosenheim

Tea...

According to a Dartmouth Medical School study, people who drink 2+ cups of green or black tea, are less likely to develop skin cancer than non-tea drinkers.

Value of a man...

The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving. -Albert Einstein

You become things...

You become things, you become an atmosphere, and if you become it, which means you incorporate it within you, you can also give it back. You can put this feeling into a picture. A painter can do it. And a musician can do it and I think a photographer can do that too, and that I would call dreaming with open eyes. ~ Ernst Haas (1921-1986)

The Composer's score...

The negative is comparable to the composer's score and the print to its performance. Each performance differs in subtle ways. -Ansel Adams

Happiness...

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Who make us happy...

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. -Marcel Proust

Imagination...

Imagination is more important than knowledge. - Albert Einstein

Create wonderful things...

There's a renaissance going on that is bringing a new appreciation and prosperity to those who use old-fashioned skill and patience to create wonderful things. -Barbara Winter

Calories...

Calories (kal-uh-rees) n. Tiny creatures that live in your closet and sew your clothes tighter every night.

Prepare...

I will prepare and some day my chance will come. -Abraham Lincoln

Talent...

Talent is a wonderful thing, but it won't carry a quitter. - Stephen King, Duma Key

Focus...

Focus on what you need to make your life better. Do not let wants and desires distract you from what really matters. -Leon Brown

Your problems...

Never let your problems ruin your faith.

Things always have a way...

Don't give up hope. Things always have a way of working out.

Arguments...

Don't attend every argument you're invited to.

Happiness is...

Happiness is easy when we let go of the things that don't matter.

Music...

Music always sounds better on Friday. -Lou Brutus

Familiar...

Familiarity can hamper creativity.

Hope...

Hope is never lost, it is only abandoned.

Nothing but sea...

They are ill discoverers that think there is no land, when they can see nothing but sea. - Sir Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626)

The future...

The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is. -C.S. Lewis

Those of us who do...

People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do. -Isaac Asimov

A nail...

If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail. - Abraham Maslow (1908 - 1970)

Doubt...

Doubt whom you will, but never yourself. -Christian Nestell Bovee

It takes half your life...

It takes half your life before you discover life is a do-it-yourself project. - Napoleon Hill

To search...

To search for the old is to understand the new. - Gichin Funakoshi, founder of the Shotokan Karate Style

Finish each day...

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Be kind...

Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind. -Henry James

Beyond the first layer...

We rarely see beyond the first layer. Nature has a way of showing us objects of nature in layers. We just have to look. -Kelly Shipp

Time is limited...

Your time is limited. Don't waste it living someone else's life. - Steve Jobs

Life...

It is not the length of life, but the depth. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

A source of strength...

“There is a saying in Tibetan, 'Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.' No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that's our real disaster.” -Dalai Lama XIV

Life...

Life has become immeasurably better since I have been forced to stop taking it seriously. -Hunter S. Thompson

Love what you've got...

You've got to take the good with the bad, smile with the sad, love what you've got, and remember what you had. Always forgive, but never forget. Learn from mistakes, but never regret. - Unknown

A better camera...

A better camera won't do anything for you if you don't have anything in your head or in your heart. - Arnold Newman

The artist's world...

The artist's world is limitless. It can be found anywhere, far from where he lives or a few feet away. It is always on his doorstep. ~Paul Strand

If you could say it...

If you could say it in words there would be no reason to paint. - Edward Hopper

If you want to achieve anything...

If you want to achieve anything in this world, you have to get used to the idea that not everyone will like you.
- unknown

Wearing stripes...

"Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy." -Albert Einstein

Heart to help...

He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help. -Abraham Lincoln

Do it now...

One day you will wake up and there won't be any more time to do the things you've always wanted. Do it now. - Paulo Coelho

I'm on my way...

I'm an idealist. I don't know where I'm going, but I'm on my way. -Carl Sandburg

Life's too short...

If you're not having fun - I don't care what you're doing - don't do it. Move on. Find something else, life's too short. -Jerry Doyle

Success...

The best revenge is massive success. -Frank Sinatra

Get anything done...

Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world. -Lucille Ball

Learned the hard way...

One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn't pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself. -Lucille Ball

Hello

It is generally agreed that "Hello" is an appropriate greeting because if you entered a room and said "Goodbye," it could confuse a lot of people. -Dolph Sharp

Simply look...

Simply look with perceptive eyes at the world about you, and trust to your own reactions and convictions. Ask yourself: "Does this subject move me to feel, think and dream?" - Ansel Adams

To invent...

"To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk." -Thomas Edison

Fresh pair of eyes...

There are pros and cons of experience. A con is that you can't look at the business with a fresh pair of eyes and as objectively as if you were a new CEO. Fire yourself on a Friday night and come in on Monday morning as if a search firm put you there as a turn-around leader. Can you be objective and make the bold change?
- Andrea Jung

Happy Days...

Happy Days, which we did for 11 years, we did with three cameras in front of a live audience. Very special. We had a party every Friday night. The boys, Ron, Henry, they grew up on that show.
- Marion Ross

Rings of Saturn...

The scientific theory I like best is that the rings of Saturn are composed entirely of lost airline luggage. - Mark Russell

Noah...

Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes? - Anonymous

Nobody can...

"Nobody can hurt me without my permission." - Mahatma Gandhi

The aim of art...

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. - Aristotle

If it crawls...

If it grows, it sticks; if it crawls, it bites. - Texan saying.

A friend is...

A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.

Stop yourself...

The next time you begin to complain about something, stop yourself and ask if this is life-threatening. If not, this is likely something you have taken for granted. Stop yourself daily and better-appreciate what you have. - Kelly Shipp

Dogs are easily entertained...

I just watched my dog chase his tail for ten minutes, and I thought to myself, Wow, dogs are easily entertained. Then I realized: I just watched my dog chase his tail for ten minutes. - Adam Smargon

More on chocolate benefits...

Forget what you've heard about chocolate causing breakouts. Dark chocolate is actually good for your skin. The type of antioxidants called flavonoids found in dark chocolate offer some protection from UV damage from the sun. And no, that does not mean you can skip the sunscreen!

Source: The Journal of Nutrition

70%

There's a 70% increase in the diabetes risk of men who drink one or more weekly servings of diet soda, compared with the risk of men who rarely drink it. - European Journal of Nutrition

The fun is...

There is no pleasure in having nothing to do. The fun is in having lots to do and not doing it. ~ Mary Little

The journey...

Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey! - Barbara Hoffman

Celebrate...

Celebrate the happiness that friends are always giving, make every day a holiday and celebrate just living! - Amanda Bradley

Celebrate...

Celebrate what you want to see more of. - Thomas Peters

8 hours...

To have your picture taken by the very first camera you would have had to sit still for 8 hours.

There will be days...

"There will be days when I don't know if I can run a marathon. There will be a lifetime knowing that I have." -Unknown

Our ability to control it...

Technology is outrunning our ability to control it. - Tom Brokaw

A good Chocolate excuse...

Men who eat chocolate may be less likely to have a stroke. A study of more than 37,000 Swedish men older than 45 found that those who reported eating the most chocolate - about 1/3 cup of chocolate chips per week - were 17% less likely to have a stroke than those who ate the least. Chocolate contains antioxidants called flavonoids which is likely the source of the health benefit.

Source: Neurology magazine.

Greater and lesser...

If you compare yourself with others you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater & lesser persons than yourself. - Max Ehrmann

Never stop...

Even though you're growing up, you should never stop having fun. -Nina Dobrev

Beast.

61% of car owners name their car, and the most popular name is: Beast.

Taking chances...

Just keep taking chances and having fun. -Garth Brooks

Having Fun...

You can be childlike without being childish. A child always wants to have fun. Ask yourself, 'Am I having fun?' -Christopher Meloni

The feeling you get...

"Remember, the feeling you get from a good run is far better than the feeling you get from sitting around wishing you were running."
- Sarah Condor, Runner/Author

Assumptions...

Assumptions are the termites of relationships. - Henry Winkler

Smaller...

Smaller plate, smaller you. Using a salad plate instead of a dinner one can help cut calorie intake.

Making the right decision...

If you give someone 30 choices of fabric, no matter what they pick, they're going to be dissatisfied with their choice. If you give them 3 choices, they are going to feel like they've made the right decision. - Robert Downey Jr.

Painting...

Painting is more important to me than any performance I've ever given.
- Tony Curtis (1925-2010)

You get to choose...

With everything that has happened to you, you can either feel sorry for yourself or treat what has happened as a gift. Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get to choose. - Dr. Wayne Dyer

Playing...

"Playing" allows the mind to learn unexpected things.

Cards...

In 1961, almost every home in America had a card table.

Coincidence?

Stressed spelled backwards is desserts. Coincidence? I think not! - author unknown

Pursuing it...

There is strength and power in knowing what you want. Finding your vision and pursuing it is a wonderful feeling that gives conviction to your work. - Cole Thompson

You can't go back...

You can't go back to the old habits...because those choices will sabotage you. You can't go back to that old relationship. That old relationship not only held you back, but it got you off track, and dislocated you from yourself. You can't go back to the same old people...because the person they once knew doesn't live here anymore. You can't go back to the old places...because they don't fit into your future.

Look at yourself. Be honest with yourself. Don't look back because in doing so, you will be pulled back in. Keep your eyes looking forward. Work on yourself. Develop yourself. Pursue your dream. Build a new life by attracting new people, and creating a new reality! This is your time! You can't go back...because you've come too far to turn around now. You have something special. You have GREATNESS within you! You deserve!!! ~ Les Brown

Taking the time...

So I said to myself - I'll paint what I see - what the flower is to me but I'll paint it big and they will be surprised into taking the time to look at it. I will make even busy New Yorkers take time to see what I see of flowers. -Georgia O'Keeffe

Noble work...

Every noble work is at first impossible. -Thomas Carlyle

Each day...

Live each day as if your life had just begun. -Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

The things I've done...

"I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done." - Lucille Ball

Attitude...

For success, attitude is equally as important as ability. -Walter Scott

Nurture your mind...

Nurture your mind with great thoughts. To believe in the heroic makes heroes. -Benjamin Disraeli

Develop an attitude...

Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation. -Brian Tracy

Artistic talent...

“Artistic talent is a gift from God and whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste this talent, but must develop it.” -John Paul II

Makes a big difference...

There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative. -W. Clement Stone

Life is...

Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact. -William James

Don't wait...

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. -Orison Swett Marden

It is a concept.

A photograph is not an accident - it is a concept. -Ansel Adams

We're just in the beginning stages...

"The most compelling reason for most people to buy a computer for the home will be to link it to a nationwide communications network. We're just in the beginning stages of what will be a truly remarkable breakthrough for most people – as remarkable as the telephone."
- Steve Jobs, 1985

Talent...

“Talent without enthusiasm is like a Ferrari without fuel.” -Sebastyne Young

Talents you possess...

Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best. -Henry Van Dyke

You can call me that...

“If being an egomaniac means I believe in what I do and in my art or music, then in that respect you can call me that... I believe in what I do, and I'll say it.” - John Lennon

Coconuts...

Coconuts kill more people in the world than sharks do.

Your neighbor...

"Love your neighbor as yourself; but don't take down the fence." -- Carl Sandburg

Our greatness...

"As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world -- but in being able to remake ourselves." - Mahatma Gandhi

Attitude...

A healthy attitude is contagious but don't wait to catch it from others. Be a carrier. -Tom Stoppard

The earth has...

The earth has music for those who listen.

Djeet?

Texan saying: "Djeet" is actually a phrase meaning 'Did you eat?'

Alive...

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. ~Thornton Wilder

Mistakes...

“We don't make mistakes, just happy little accidents.” -Bob Ross

Where does the white go?...

Where does the white go when the snow melts? - Hugh Kieffer

Attitude...

The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude. -Oprah Winfrey

Attitude...

Funny is an attitude. -Flip Wilson

In life...

The only disability in life is a bad attitude. -Scott Hamilton

Technique and inspiration...

“Perfect your technique, and then put yourself at the mercy of inspiration.” - Zen maxim

Snow...

There's one good thing about snow, it makes your lawn look as nice as your neighbor's. - Clyde Moore

Rain...

Some people feel the rain — others just get wet. - Roger Miller

Vanishing...

Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again. ~Henri Cartier-Bresson

Be who you are...

Have the confidence to be who you are. Most people don't.

Crazy...

A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy? -Albert Einstein

Find a path...

“If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.” — Frank A. Clark

Creative works...

The only things in my life that compatibly exist with this grand universe are the creative works of the human spirit. -Ansel Adams

Fear...

Fear is what prevents the flowering of the mind. -J. Krishnamurti, on Education.

If I were...

If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one? -Abraham Lincoln

You can imagine...

"Everything you can imagine is real." -Pablo Picasso

Who they are...

“It's one thing to make a picture of what a person looks like, it’s another thing to make a portrait of who they are.” – Paul Caponigro

A dot...

“A line is a dot that went for a walk.” - Paul Klee

Nature...

You can't be suspicious of a tree, or accuse a bird or a squirrel of subversion or challenge the ideology of a violet.
~Hal Borland, Sundial of the Seasons, 1964

The best camera...

Putting the best camera in your hands only makes you a best-camera owner, not a best-photographer. - unknown

A journey...

Find enjoyment in the day-to-day because fitness is not a destination, but a journey. - IFBB Pro Mark Dugdale

Options...

My advice is to never limit your options. - George Lepp

The world around us...

Understand that the photograph isn’t an end to itself but a means to understand the world around us. - Aldo Pavan, Travel Photographer

The diet.

Equal amounts of dark chocolate and white chocolate, is a balanced diet.

Less time proving...

“I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.” - E.B. White, Letters of E. B. White

Be like a ....

"Be like a postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there." -- Josh Billings

Important stuff in life...

"If we concentrated on the really important stuff in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles".
- Junius P. Long

There are times when...

“And then there are the times when the wolves are silent and the moon is howling.” - George Carlin

Choose what you want to do...

"This life is yours. Take the power to choose what you want to do and do it well. Take the power to love what you want in life and love it honestly. Take the power to walk in the forest and be a part of nature. Take the power to control your own life. No one else can do it for you. Take the power to make your life happy." - Susan Polis Schutz

Optional...

Change is inevitable. Progress is optional. ~ Tony Robbins

Have fun...

People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing. ~ Dale Carnegie

Learned something from yesterday...

Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. - John Wayne

All you have to do is...

"People create their own questions because they are afraid to look straight. All you have to do is look straight and see the road, and when you see it, don’t sit looking at it – walk." — Ayn Rand

Live it.

It's not how you come into this world, it's how you live it.

Think different.

You want a different life? Be different. Act different. Think different. - Kat Cole, President, Cinnabon Inc.

Art...

It's an honor putting art above politics. - Robert Redford

Captain Scott Smiley - an inspirational story

Need some inspiration or motivation? Watch this inspiring story about Captain Scott Smiley -
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6837505n&tag=related;photovideo

Few of us...

Few of us write great novels; all of us live them. ~Mignon McLaughlin

Ourselves...

None but ourselves can free our minds. — Bob Marley

Oreos...

Health food may be good for the conscience but Oreos taste a hell of a lot better.
- Robert Redford

The camera...

You should never think that the camera is the most important thing. You need to simply find a camera that you enjoy using and stick to that. You should just use the camera as a tool. - John Rankin Waddell

Remember...

Don’t stress! Keep a sense of humour, and remember how lucky you are. - David Loftus, Food Photographer

Plan A...

If plan "A" fails — remember you have 25 letters left. – Chris Guillebeau

Great ideas...

Great ideas have something in common with bad ones: early on, they both sound ridiculous.

How to see...

The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera. - Dorothea Lange

Grow.

If you're afraid of failure, you will never grow. -Arnold Schwarzenegger

The life itself...

It is good to get justice, but better to do it; fun to have things but more to make them. The happy man is he who lives the life of love, not for the honors it may bring, but for the life itself. ~ R.J. Baughan

Stop.

Stop putting your self down, stop complaining, and stop making excuses.

Life must have...

Whether you are talking about education, career, or service, you are talking about life. And life must really have joy. It’s supposed to be fun. ~ Barbara Bush

Step away...

It's sometimes important to step away from it and not put so much focus on it. Sometimes it's a better tactic than trying to throw the ball through the tire more times than the next guy. - Mark Harmon, NCIS star and former UCLA quarterback

Just add effort.

Everything you need to succeed is in front of you. Just add effort.

Explore. Dream. Discover...

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

Be crazy...

Live life fully while you’re here. Experience everything. Take care of yourself and your friends. Have fun, be crazy, be weird. Go out and screw up! You’re going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy the process. ~ Anthony Robbins

Unless...

There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate. -Charles Dickens

Be most creative...

People are going to be most creative and productive when they’re doing something they’re really interested in. So having fun isn’t an outrageous idea at all. It’s a very sensible one. ~ John Sculley

613,000 ...

The average person living to age 70 has 613,000 hours of life. This is too long a period not to have fun. ~ Author Unknown

Great care...

In our present generation, everything is disposable, machine-made, faster, cheaper, easier, and definitely not made to last over time. For me, the finer, more cherished things in life take time, attention to detail, and great care. - Tanja Lippert, Photographer

"An 87 Year Old College Student Named Rose"...

The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn’t already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned round to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.

She said, “Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I’m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?” I laughed and enthusiastically responded, “Of course you may!” and she gave me a giant squeeze. “Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?” I asked. She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids…” “No seriously,” I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age. “I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!” she told me. After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake. We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months, we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this “time machine” as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.

Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up. At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I’ll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor. Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, “I’m sorry I’m so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I’ll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know.”

As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, “We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You’ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don’t even know it!There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up.

If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn’t take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets. The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.” She concluded her speech by courageously singing “The Rose.” She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives. At the year’s end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep.

Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it’s never too late to be all you can possibly be .When you finish reading this, please send this peaceful word of advice to your friends and family, they’ll really enjoy it!

These words have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE.
REMEMBER, GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL.

Today is...

For someone, somewhere in the world, today is the most amazing day of their life. Could it be yours?

Mad at weather...

You can't get mad at weather because weather's not about you. Apply that lesson to most other aspects of life. - Doug Coupland

The weather...

Don't knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn't start a conversation if it didn't change once in a while. - Ken Hubbard

I rode it once...

I rode it once, which was up the driveway in the opening credits of the show. I didn't know how to stop it. I actually nearly killed the director of photography, and I smashed into the sound truck.
- Henry Winkler, best known as "Fonzie" on Happy Days.

Moment in time...

There's something magical about a still photograph -- a captured moment in time -- that can simultaneously exist outside the fraction of a second the shutter captures.

To save the environment...

It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment. -Ansel Adams

Make up your mind...

“It's been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.” -L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

Over and over again...

I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. - Michael Jordan

Learn more...

A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer. -Bruce Lee

What is right...

The time is always right to do what is right. -Martin Luther King, Jr.

A great photograph is...

A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed. -Ansel Adams

Works of art...

"Personally, I experience the greatest degree of pleasure in having contact with works of art. They furnish me with happy feelings of an intensity such as I cannot derive from other realms."
~ Albert Einstein

A success to be one...

An artist cannot fail; it is a success to be one. ~Charles Horton Cooley

A friend is...

“A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.” -William Shakespeare

Keep looking until you find it...

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle."
– Steve Jobs, Stanford University commencement speech 2005

Automatic...

Take your camera off automatic. You are the photographer. ~ Steve Coleman

for yourself...

Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self. —Cyril Connolly

With color and shapes...

I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way -- things I had no words for. -Georgia O'Keeffe

9 out of 10...

“Nine out of ten businesses fail; so I came up with a foolproof plan — create ten businesses.” – Robert Kiyosaki

Opportunity...

Your big opportunity may be right where you are now. – Napoleon Hill

Talk slow...

Talk low, talk slow and don't say too much. - John Wayne

Dessert...

Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first. ~Ernestine Ulmer

Do.

"Do or do not. There is no try." – Yoda

Letting go...

It all starts with letting go and seeing what happens. - Ian Plant

A good question...

I'd rather live with a good question than a bad answer. -Aryeh Frimer

Priorities...

If you have any more than three priorities; you have no priorities. – Maggie Fox

Doing something...

The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. - Nolan Bushnell