"The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!" 


- Henry Ward Beecher

"When a person doesn't have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity. A person can almost be defined by his or her attitude toward gratitude." 
- Elie Wiesel

"In our daily lives, we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but the gratefulness that makes us happy."
- Albert Clarke

"The great man is he who does not lose his child's heart."

-- Mencius (371-291 B.C.)

"The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery." 
- Mark Van Doren

"The supreme art of the teacher is to awaken joy."


- Albert Einstein

"Nothing is more endangered in the modern world than the powerful combination of hard work toward meaningful goals joined with an exuberant embrace of the present moment."

-- Tom Morris

"There is no substitute for attentive repetition."
Daniel Coyle

"Fear is the opportunity for courage, not proof of cowardice."

-- John McCain

"Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals."

-- Samuel Ullman

"Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die."
-- Carrie Fisher

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect, has intended us to forego their use."

Galileo

"I have always had a curious nature; I enjoy learning, but I dislike being taught."


~ Winston Churchill

"If success is not on your own terms - if it looks good to the world but does not feel good in your own heart - it is no success at all."

-- Anna Quindlen

"We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly, and without hesitation; for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the fingers." 
~ Seneca

"Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Louis Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein."
-- H. Jackson Brown Jr.

"It's not shameful not to know, but it's shameful not to ask."

~Azerbaijani Proverb

"With mirth and laughter, let old wrinkles come."
-- Shakespeare  

"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive."
 - Dalal Lama    

"The most common way people give up their power is thinking they don't have any."
- Alice Walker      

"It is no measure of good health to be well adjusted to a sick society."
 - Krishnamurti 

"Three things cannot be hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth."
- Buddha

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."
- Voltaire

"Knowledge speaks but wisdom listens."
- Jimi Hendrix    

"You measure democracy by the freedom it gives its dissidents, not the freedom it gives its assimilated conformists."
- Abbie Hoffman      

"The Devil can site scripture for his own purposes."
~William Shakespeare

"You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get the people to stop reading."

~ Ray Bradbury

We Are More
by Shane Koyczan
When defining Canada
you might list some statistics
you might mention our tallest building
or biggest lake
you might shake a tree in the fall
and call a red leaf Canada
you might rattle off some celebrities
might mention Buffy Sainte-Marie
might even mention the fact that we've got a few
Barenaked Ladies
or that we made these crazy things
like zippers
electric cars
and washing machines
when defining Canada
it seems the world's anthem has been
"been there done that"
and maybe that's where we used to be at
it's true
we've done and we've been
we've seen
all the great themes get swallowed up by the machine
and turned into theme parks
but when defining Canada
don't forget to mention that we have set sparks

we are not just fishing stories
about the one that got away
we do more than sit around and say "eh?"
and yes

we are the home of the Rocket and the Great One
who inspired little number nines
and little number ninety-nines
but we're more than just hockey and fishing lines
off of the rocky coast of the Maritimes
and some say what defines us
is something as simple as please and thank you
and as for you're welcome
well we say that too
but we are more
than genteel or civilized
we are an idea in the process
of being realized
we are young
we are cultures strung together
then woven into a tapestry
and the design
is what makes us more
than the sum total of our history
we are an experiment going right for a change
with influences that range from a to zed
and yes we say zed instead of zee
we are the colours of Chinatown and the coffee of Little Italy
we dream so big that there are those
who would call our ambition an industry
because we are more than sticky maple syrup and clean snow
we do more than grow wheat and brew beer
we are vineyards of good year after good year
we reforest what we clear
because we believe in generations beyond our own
knowing now that so many of us
have grown past what used to be
we can stand here today

filled with all the hope people have
when they say things like "someday"

someday we'll be great
someday we'll be this
or that
someday we'll be at a point
when someday was yesterday
and all of our aspirations will pay the way
for those who on that day
look towards tomorrow
and still they say someday

we will reach the goals we set
and we will get interest on our inspiration
because we are more than a nation of whale watchers and lumberjacks
more than backpacks and hiking trails
we are hammers and nails building bridges
towards those who are willing to walk across
we are the lost-and-found for all those who might find themselves at a loss
we are not the see-through gloss or glamour
of those who clamour for the failings of others
we are fathers brothers sisters and mothers
uncles and nephews aunts and nieces
we are cousins
we are found missing puzzle pieces
we are families with room at the table for newcomers
we are more than summers and winters
more than on and off seasons
we are the reasons people have for wanting to stay
because we are more than what we say or do
we live to get past what we go through

and learn who we are
we are students
students who study the studiousness of studying
so we know what as well as why
we don't have all the answers
but we try
and the effort is what makes us more
we don't all know what it is in life we're looking for
so keep exploring
go far and wide
or go inside but go deep
go deep
as if James Cameron was filming a sequel to The Abyss
and suddenly there was this location scout
trying to figure some way out
to get inside you
because you've been through hell and high water
and you went deep
keep exploring
because we are more
than a laundry list of things to do and places to see
we are more than hills to ski
or countryside ponds to skate
we are the abandoned hesitation of all those who can't wait
we are first-rate greasy-spoon diners and healthy-living cafes
a country that is all the ways you choose to live
a land that can give you variety
because we are choices
we are millions upon millions of voices shouting
"keep exploring... we are more"
we are the surprise the world has in store for you
it's true

Canada is the "what" in "what's new?"
so don't say "been there done that"
unless you've sat on the sidewalk
while chalk artists draw still lifes
on the concrete of a kid in the street
beatboxing to Neil Young for fun
don't say you've been there done that
unless you've been here doing it
let this country be your first-aid kit
for all the times you get sick of the same old same old
let us be the story told to your friends
and when that story ends
leave chapters for the next time you'll come back
next time pack for all the things
you didn't pack for the first time
but don't let your luggage define your travels
each life unravels differently
and experiences are what make up
the colours of our tapestry
we are the true north
strong and free
and what's more
is that we didn't just say it
we made it be.
-Shane Koyczan

In what other climate does the Queen of Silence
Show us more splendor?
I love, Oh Canada, night, the vast plain
Shining with whiteness!
Francois-Xavier Garnot, [French translation]


I came to Canada as a refugee.
Forty-five years later, for me, Canada is a refuge still.
Joe Schlesinger
Testimonial at Pier 21 Museum, Halifax


The beauty of the trees, the softness of the air
The fragrance of the grass, speaks to me…
And my heart soars
Chief Dan George




 I would walk to the end of the street and over the prairie with the clickety grasshoppers bunging in arcs ahead of me, and I could hear the hum and twang of wind in the great prairie harp of telephone wires…Standing there with the total thrust of prairie sun on my vulnerable head, I guess I learned – at a very young age – that I was mortal.
W.O. Mitchell


“A Lifetime is not enough to explore this country, A man is too small to feel it’s size. The poet has not been born to sing its song, nor the painter picture it.”
George Vancouver 

"The work will wait while you show the child the rainbow, but the rainbow won't wait while you finish the work."

-- Pat Clifford

"If a man be gracious to strangers, it shows that he is a citizen of the world, and his heart is no island, cut off from other islands, but a continent that joins them."
-- Francis Bacon

"Meditate. Live purely. Be quiet. Do your work with mastery. Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds! Shine." 
(Buddha) 

The God Who Only Knows Four Words 


Every child has known God.  
Not the God of names.  
Not the God of don't.  
Not the God who ever does anything weird.  
But the God who only knows four words.  
And keeps repeating them, saying: 'Come dance with me.'  
Come 
Dance. 


~Hafiz (16th century Sufi poet)

"Becoming is superior to being." 
~ Paul Klee

"Where there is love and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance."

----- Saint Francis

"Let the good in me connect with the good in others,

until all the world is transformed through the compelling power of love."

----- Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

"Spread love everywhere you go.

Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier."

----- Mother Teresa

“The heart is not simply suspended in a body but in a culture, a place, a time.”
~ Mimi Guarneri

"If successful people have one common trait, it's an utter lack of cynicism. The world owes them nothing. They go out and find what they need without asking for permission; they're driven, talented, and work through negatives by focusing on the positives."

-- Mike Zimmerman

"The one resolution, which was in my mind long before it took the form of a resolution, is the key-note of my life.  It is this, always to regard as mere impertinences of fate the handicaps which were placed upon my life almost at the beginning.  I resolved that they should not crush or dwarf my soul, but rather be made to  blossom, like Aaron's rod,  with flowers.

- Helen Keller (1880-1968)

"Trees have a secret life that is only revealed to those who are willing to claim them."

~ Reinaldo Arenas

"To get something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done."

"The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems."

-- Mahatma Gandhi

 “There is no tomorrow. There is only today, and living for today. Because we just don’t know what can happen tomorrow.”


~ Cristobal, Haitian Staff (driver), for Doctors Without Borders/ Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

"People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the seas, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and yet they pass by themselves without wondering."

----- Saint Augustine

"Even if it's a little thing, do something for those who need help, something for which you get no pay but the privilege of doing it."

-- Albert Schweitzer

 "In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists." 


Eric Hoffer

"Don't wish for things you can't do, just do what you can."

"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today to make a new ending.”

"There is more in us than we know. If we can be made to see it, perhaps, for the rest of our lives, we will be unwilling to settle for less."

-- Kurt Hahn

"I don't sing because I'm happy; I'm happy because I sing."
~ William James

"Let there be spaces in your togetherness.."

(Kahlil Gibran)

"Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children and the younger generation. For they are us, our bodies are only wilted leaves on the tree of life."

~Albert Einstein

"Let the beauty of what you love be what you do."

~Rumi

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”.

~ Universal Declaration of Human Rights

"People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel. Remember what you do echoes in eternity."

"The winner's edge is not in a gifted birth, a high IQ, or in talent. The winner's edge is all in the attitude."

~ Denis Waitley

"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored"

Aldous Huxley

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul."

~John Muir

"The man who arrives at the doors of artistic creation with none of the madness of the muses would be convinced that technical ability alone was enough to make an artist. What that man creates by means of reason will pale before the art of inspired beings."

(Plato)

"Come to the woods, for here is rest. There is no repose like that of the green deep woods."

(John Muir)

"The burned hand teaches best."

J. R. R. Tolkien

"I run great risk of failing. It may be that I shall encounter ruin
where I look for reputation and a career of honor. The chances are
perhaps more in favour of ruin than of success. But, whatever may be
the chances, I shall go on as long as any means of carrying on the
fight are at my disposal."

-- Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) English Novelist

"A man should never be ashamed to own that he has been in the wrong, which is but saying that he is wiser today than he was yesterday."

-- Alexander Pope (1688-1744) English Poet

"Intelligence is like a river, the deeper it is the less noise it makes."

-Voltaire

"The secret of joy in work is contained in one word: excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it."

(Pearl S. Buck)

"There is in every true woman's heart a spark of heavenly fire,
which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity; but which
kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity."

-Washington Irving

"There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self."

-- Aldous Huxley (1864-1963)

"I like a person who knows his own mind and sticks to it; who sees at once what, in given circumstances, is to be done, and does it."

-- William Hazlitt (1778-1830) English Essayist

"Drawing is not the same as form."

(Edgar Degas)

"A person is only as big as the dream they dare to live."

~Unknown

"Something we were withholding made us weak until we found it was ourselves."

(Robert Frost)

Buckminster Fuller, on "what one person can do":

"Something hit me very hard once, thinking about what one little man could do. Think of the Queen Mary -- the whole ship goes by and then comes the rudder. And there's a tiny thing at the edge of the rudder called a trim tab.

It's a miniature rudder. Just moving the little trim tab builds a low pressure that pulls the rudder around. Takes almost no effort at all. So I said that the little individual can be a trim tab. Society thinks it's going right by you, that it's left you altogether. But if you're doing dynamic things mentally, the fact is that you can just put your foot out like that and the whole big ship of state is going to go.

So I said, call me Trim Tab."

"When I am working on a problem I never think about beauty. I only think about how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong."

~ Buckminster Fuller

"The vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal that you enthrone in your heart - this you will build your life by, and this you will become."

-- James Lane Allen (1849-1925)

Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.

-- J. Andrews

"There is no sensual pleasure in the world comparable to the delight
and satisfaction that a good man takes in doing good."

-- Tillotson

"Genius is more often found in a cracked pot than in a whole one."

~ E. B. White

"Your ability to discipline yourself to set clear goals, and then to work toward them everyday, will do more to guarantee your success than any other single factor."

Brian Tracy in The Power of Discipline

"Your work is to discover your work - and then with all your heart to give yourself to it."

(Buddha)

"The life that conquers is the life that moves with a steady
resolution and persistence toward a predetermined goal. Those who
succeed are those who have thoroughly learned the immense importance
of plan in life, and the tragic brevity of time. "

-- W.J. Davison

"See the job. Do the job. Stay out of misery."

~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

“The greatest part of our happiness depends on our dispositions not our circumstances”.

- Martha Washington

"There is only one real failure in life that is possible, and that is, not to be true to the best one knows."

-- John Farrar (1945-) Australian Composer

We have an infinite number of reasons to be happy, and a serious responsibility not to be serious."

(Maharishi Mahesh Yogi)

"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh."

~Voltaire

"I am convinced that the world is not a mere bog in which men and women trample themselves and die. Something magnificent is taking place here amidst the cruelties and tragedies, and the supreme challenge to intelligence is that of making the noblest and best in our curious heritage prevail."

-- C.A. Beard

"An inconvenience is an unrecognized opportunity."

~ Confucius

"Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule."

- Buddha

“If you understand,
things are just as
they are. If you
do not understand,
things are just as
they are.”

~ Zen saying

“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”

~ Carl Sagan

"Man's greatest actions are performed in minor struggles. Life, misfortune, isolation, abandonment and poverty are battlefields which have their heroes - obscure heroes who are at times greater than illustrious heroes."

-- Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

"When you cannot make up your mind which of two evenly balanced courses of action you should take - choose the bolder."

-- W.J. Slim

"Things won are done, joy's soul lies in the doing."

(William Shakespeare)

"In order to win, we pay with energy and effort and discipline. If we lose, we pay in disappointment, discontent, and lack of fulfillment."

(Maya Angelou)

"Power is the ability to do good things for others."

-- Brooke Astor

"Think of mean people like sand paper. They may scratch you and hurt you, but at the end, you come out smooth and polished and the mean person is just worn and ugly."

"Maturity is achieved when a person postpones immediate pleasures for long-term values."

-- Joshua L. Liebman

“Life loves to taken by the lapel and told: I am with you kid. Let’s go.”

~Maya Angelou

"Little progress can be made by merely attempting to repress what is evil; our great hope lies in developing what is good. "

-- Calvin Coolidge