WITandWISDOM™ - E-zine

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WITandWISDOM(tm) – November 29, 2007
ISSN 1538-8794

~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS:

"Those blessed with the most talent don't necessarily outperform everyone else. It's the people with follow-through who excel." - Mary Kay Ash: Founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics

Source: Molly's Quotes of the Day,
mailto:molly.rhea@gmail.com?subject=Subscribe_Quotes_of_the_Day

~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS:

According to legend, a young man while roaming the desert came across a spring of delicious crystal-clear water. The water was so sweet he filled his leather canteen so he could bring some back to a tribal elder who had been his teacher. After a four-day journey he presented the water to the old man who took a deep drink, smiled warmly and thanked his student lavishly for the sweet water. The young man returned to his village with a happy heart.

Later, the teacher let another student taste the water. He spat it out, saying it was awful. It apparently had become stale because of the old leather container. The student challenged his teacher: "Master, the water was foul. Why did you pretend to like it?"

The teacher replied, "You only tasted the water. I tasted the gift. The water was simply the container for an act of loving-kindness and nothing could be sweeter. Heartfelt gifts deserve the return gift of gratitude."

I think we understand this lesson best when we receive innocent gifts of love from young children. Whether it's a ceramic tray or a macaroni bracelet, the natural and proper response is appreciation and expressed thankfulness because we love the idea within the gift.

Gratitude doesn't always come naturally. Unfortunately, most children and many adults value only the thing given rather than the feeling embodied in it. We should remind ourselves and teach our children about the beauty and purity of feelings and expressions of gratitude. After all, gifts from the heart are really gifts of the heart.

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.

© 2007 Josephson Institute of Ethics; reprinted with permission. Michael Josephson, one of the nation's leading ethicists, is the founder of the Josephson Institute of Ethics and the premier youth character education program, CHARACTER COUNTS! For further information visit http://www.charactercounts.org

Submitted by Dan Griffiths

~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT:

Quotes of the Day

Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch. - Orson Welles

Elections are won by men and women chiefly because most people vote against somebody rather than for somebody. - Franklin P. Adams, Nods and Becks, 1944

I am a deeply superficial person. - Andy Warhol

Source: Quotes of the Day, http://www.quotationspage.com/qotd.html

~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING:

How do Minnesotans decide where to retire?

They tie a snow shovel to the back of their RV, drive south, and when people start asking "What's that thing?" they know they've gone far enough!

Submitted by Lorraine

~~~~~~~ TRIVIA:

Contractors working at the Susan B. Anthony House this month found an unopened letter addressed to the famed suffragist.

The letter was dated April 2, 1901 and included a $41.06 check for Anthony's monthly salary as clerk of the National Woman's Suffrage Association. In the friendly note, association treasurer Harriet Taylor Upton tells Anthony about her recent election to her local school board.

Regarding the men on the board, Upton wrote, "They've been a splendid lot of fellows and they've treated us just as if we were men."

Upton was also president of the Ohio Woman's Suffrage Association, said Ellen Wheeler, the Rochester museum's spokeswoman.

The Susan B. Anthony House was the activist's home and the site of her 1872 arrest for illegally voting in the presidential election. Staff and volunteers there think the letter was dropped and fell between the cracks in a stairway.

© 2007 The Associated Press

Source: Chapnotes, mailto:xanmansa@chapnotes.org?Subject=Subscribe


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