Vision

No one can hurt you without your consent. On the first day, as President Abraham Lincoln entered to give his inaugural address, just in the middle, one man stood up. He was a rich aristocrat. He said, “Mr. Lincoln, you should not forget that your father used to make shoes for my family.” And the whole Senate laughed; they thought they had made a fool of Abraham Lincoln. But Lincoln --- and that type of people are made of a totally different mettle. Lincoln looked at the man and said, “Sir I know that my father used to make shoes in your house for your family, and there will be many others here…. Because the way he made shoes; nobody else can. He was a creator. His shoes were not just shoes; he poured his whole soul in it. I want to ask you, have you any complaint? Because I know how to make shoes myself. If you have any complaint I can make another pair of shoes. But as far as I know, nobody has ever complained about my father’s shoe

“Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I can’t do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end up really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi  What I believe for myself is true for me. It doesn’t matter if it is positive or negative. What my belief is, so my persona is. Here is a wonderful poem about self-belief. It says that success lies in the quality of a will and the state of mind. If I think repeatedly that I am a loser; surely I will lose. If I think I am a winner; surely I will win.  If I want to rise in life, I must elevate my attitude. I must make sure of myself to win a prize. If I have weak beliefs; the result will be feeble. If I have strong beliefs; the result will be powerful. It is not true that stronger and faster always wins. Sooner or later he wins who thi

Long ago an eastern monarch, plagued by many worries, harassed on every side, called his wise men together. He asked them to invent a motto, a few magic words that would help him in time of trial or distress. It must be brief enough to be engraved on a ring, he said, so that he could have it always before his eyes. It must be appropriate to every situation, as useful in prosperity as in adversity. It must be a motto wise and true and endlessly enduring, words by which a man could be guided all his life, in every circumstance, no matter what happened. The wise men thought and thought, and finally came to the monarch with their magic words. They were words for every change or chance of fortune, declared the wise men… words to fit every situation, good or bad… words to ease the heart and mind in every circumstance. And the words they gave the monarch to engrave on his ring were : This, too, shall pass away. The words are wise and true and endlessly enduring. They have giv

The sun cut sharply across one corner of the room. The young man on the cot gazed at the brightness for a moment, then turned and faced the wall. He had been in the Edinburgh Infirmary nearly two years now, while Dr. Lister tried desperately to save his remaining foot. He had been subjected to so many operations he had lost count, twenty at least, in the last twenty months! But he was not beaten yet. He turned and faced the sun again, and smiled. Words rang through his mind, sang through his mind: “In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud.” The man on the cot was William Ernest Henley. Few in this world are called upon to endure all he had in his brief twenty-five years. He had suffered since childhood from an agonizing tubercular infection of the bones, for which the usual victorian remedy was amputation. One foot had already been removed, and the other was threatened. It was in the hope of avoiding a second amputation that he had submitted to this lo

“My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.” - Abraham Lincoln Failure can either break us or make us. Those broken by failure are haunted by unpleasant memories. These memories are like shadows that lurk in front, behind, beside, beneath and above. It is also a cage that traps the mind, preventing it to entertain possibilities of freedom and success. They are convinced that they cannot do it; therefore, they will not try. For those that failure could not break are those who became made “men.” Failure to them is not a ghost, but a friend who taught them well. It is also a stepping stone to wisdom. These men and women are convinced that true failure only happens when one gives up. History has been kind to President Abraham Lincoln. He has been painted as probably the greatest president of the United States of America. It is the good thing that history also recorded his failures. It reflected his frail humanity but also showed hi

I asked for strength and God gave me difficulties to make me strong. I asked for wisdom and God gave me problems to solve. I asked for prosperity and God gave me brawn and brains to work. I asked for courage and God gave me dangers to overcome. I asked for patience and God placed me in situations where I was forced to wait. I asked for love and God gave me troubled people to help. I asked for favors and God gave me opportunities. I received nothing I wanted I received everything I needed. My prayers have all been answered. Author unknown

A German once visited a temple under construction, where he saw a sculptor making an idol of God. Suddenly he noticed a similar idol lying nearby. Surprised, he asked the sculptor,"Do you need two statues of the same idol?" "No," said the sculptor without looking up, "We need only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage." The gentleman examined the idol and found no apparent damage. "Where is the damage?" he asked. "There is a scratch on the nose of the idol." said the sculptor, still busy with his work. "Where are you going to install the idol?" The sculptor replied that it would be installed on a pillar twenty feet high. The gentleman asked, " If the idol is that far, who is going to know that there is a scratch on the nose?" The sculptor stopped his work, looked up at the gentleman, smiled and said,"I will know it." The desire to excel is exclusive of the fact whethe