Making A Difference
Every morning an old man walked
down the beach picking up starfish
that had been washed up in the night.
Slowly, carefully, one by one,
he threw them back into the ocean
beyond the breakers.

One day a young man walked up to him
and asked,
"Old man, why do you throw these starfish
back day after day?
There are thousands of them
and you'll never make a difference."

The old man picked up a starfish,
threw it back into the ocean and said,
"It makes a difference to this one."

Unknown


To laugh often and much,
to win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children,
to earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends,
to appreciate beauty,
to find the best in others,
to leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child, a garden patch,
or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed easier
because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded!

Ralph Waldo Emerson
Home
To know I have helped someone a little
or made a day brighter
will make my own work easier
and cause the sun to shine on dark days,
for we all have them.

Laura Ingalls Wilder
Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.
Maori Proverb
I believe in the sun even when it does not shine.
I believe in love even when I do not feel it.
I believe in God even when He is silent.

Inscription on the walls of a cellar in Cologne, Germany,
where the Jews hid from the Nazis during WWII
Stop telling God how big your storm is
and start telling your storm how big your God is.
Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others
cannot keep it from themselves.
Sir James Barrie
I'm not afraid of storms,
for I am learning how to sail my ship.
Louisa May Alcott
What lies behind us and what lies before us
are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears.
I wanted a perfect ending... Now I've learned,
the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme,
and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment
and making the best of it,
without knowing what's going to happen next.
Gilda Radner
All we have is to decide what to do with the time
that is given to us.
J.R.R. Tolkien
There will come a time when you believe everything is finished.
That will be the beginning.
Angela Lansbury
Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans.
John Lennon
I can't change the direction of the wind,
but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.
James Dean