Class is an aura of confidence that is being sure without being cocky. Class has nothing to do with money. Class never runs scared.
It is self-discipline and self-knowledge. It's the sure footedness that comes with having proved you can meet life.
-- Ann Landers, born 1918
I found this fascinating quote today:
My friend pointed out that this was due to a very important element of the Yoruba traditional religious system, something that Yoruba people have managed to carry on to when they adopted Christianity and Islam. In the Yoruba traditional religious system, one could have each member of the same family worshipping a different god, without any person persecuting, or even trying to convert another. That, my friend said, was a great indication of tolerance. It, my friend continued, informed why the man we met at the bank still gave presents to the members of his family who were still Muslims, during an Islamic ceremony.column.loomnie.com, Anthropologically Speaking, Oct 2009
You should read the whole article.
(I'm not the original author, received via email from a friend)
MÚRA SÍ ISÉ RE ÒRÉÈ MI....Work hard, my friend
ISÉ NI A FI Í DI ENI GIGA....work is used to elevate one in respect and importance (Aspiring to higher heights is fully dependent on hard work)
BÍ A KÒ BÁ RÉNI FÈYÌN TÌ, BÍ ÒLE LÀ Á RÍ....if we do not have anyone to lean on, we appear indolent
BÍ A KO RÉNI GBÉKÈLÉ, À A TERA MÓ ISÉ ENI....if we do not have anyone to trust (we can depend on...), we simply work harder
ÌYÁ RE LÈ LÓWÓ LÓWÓ, BÀBÁ SÌ LÈ LÉSIN LÉÈKÀN....your mother may be wealthy, your father may have a ranch full of horses
BÍ O BÁ GBÓJÚ LÉ WON, O TÉ TÁN NI MO SO FÚN O....if you depend on their riches alone, you may end up in disgrace, I tell you
OHUN TÍ A KÒ BA JÌYÀ FÚN, KÌ Í LÈ TÓJÓ....whatever gain one does not work hard to earn usually does not last
OHUN TÍ A BÁ FARA SISÉ FÚN, NÍ Í PÉ LÓWÓ ENI....whatever gain one works hard to earn is the one that lasts in one's hands (while in ones possession)
APÁ LARÁ, ÌGÙNPÁ NÌYEKAN....the arm is a relative, the elbow is a sibling
BÍ AYÉ N FÉ O LÓNÌÍ. BÍ O BÁ LÓWÓ LÓWÓ NI WON Á MÁA FÉ O LÓLA....you may be loved by all today. it is when you have money that they will love you tomorrow
TÀBÍ TÍ O BÁ WÀ NÍ IPÒ , AYÉ Á YÉ O SÍ TÈRÍN-TÈRÍN....or when you are in a high position, all will honor you with cheers and smiles
JÉ KÍ O DI ENI N RÁÁGÓ KÍ O RÍ BÁYÉ TI Í SÍMÚ SÍ O....wait till you become poor or are struggling to get by and you will see how all grimace at you as they pass you by
ÈKÓ SÌ TÚN N SONI Í DÒGÁ; MÚRA KÍ O KÓ O DÁRADÁRA....education also elevates one in position; work hard to acquire good education
BÍ O SÌ RÍ ÒPÒ ÈNÌYÀN TÍ WÓN N FI ÈKÓ SE ÈRÍN RÍN, DÁKUN MÁ SE FARA WÉ WON - ÌYÀ N BÒ FÓMO TÍ KÒ GBÓN....and if you see a lot of people making education a laughing stock, please do not emulate or keep their company - suffering is lying in wait for an unserious kid
EKÚN N BE FÓMO TÓ N SÁ KIR....sorrow is in the reserve for a truant kid
MÁ FÒWÚRÒ SERÉ, ÒRÉÈ MI, MÚRA SÍSÉ, OJÓ N LO....do not play with your early years, my friend, work harder, time and tide wait for no one
"Courage is the greatest of all the virtues. Because if you haven't courage, you may not have an opportunity to use any of the others." -- Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English Author
"The cynics will tell you that the good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. I'm telling you, do it anyway." -- Roberto C. Goizueta
"You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips." -- Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774) Irish Writer
I am thankful...
Source: Anonymous J
The law is not the private property of lawyers, nor is justice the exclusive province of judges and juries. In the final analysis, true justice is not a matter of courts and law books, but of a commitment in each of us to liberty and mutual respect. -- culled from a legal publication.
Good character is more to be praised than outstanding talent. Most talents are, to some extent, a gift. Good character by contrast is not given to us. We have to build it piece by piece – by thought, choice, courage, and determination. -- H. Jackson Brown
Self-respect is the root of discipline: The sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself. -- Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907 - 1972)
Any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him. -- Epictetus (55-135 AD) Greek Philosopher
I've learned that we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.
I've learned that no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.
I've learned that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.
I've learned that you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.
I've learned that it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.
I've learned that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.
I've learned that you can keep going long after you can't.
I've learned that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.
I've learned that either you control your attitude or it controls you.
I've learned that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.
I've learned that heroes are people who do what has to be done, regardless of the consequences.
I've learned that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down, will be the ones to help you get back up.
I've learned that sometimes when I'm angry, I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.
I've learned that just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love with all they have.
I've learned that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them, and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.
I've learned that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.
I've learned that no matter how bad your heart is broken, the world doesn't stop for your grief.
I've learned that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.
I've learned that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because they don't argue, doesn't mean they do.
I've learned that you should not be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.
I've learned that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.
I've learned that your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.
I've learned that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.
I've learned that the people you care about the most in life are usually taken from you too soon.
Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.
-- Aristotle
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.
This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
This is the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
-- Culled from President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address on Tuesday, January 20, 2009
