Mark Twain has some great quotable quotes:

Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.

A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.

I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.

Don’t part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.

It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

Mondays often need inspiration, so I’ve been reading some quotes.

Here are a few more from Maya Angelou:

It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.

If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.

If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love. Don’t be surly at home, then go out in the street and start grinning ‘Good morning’ at total strangers.

My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done and try to love somebody and have the courage to accept the love in return.

Of all the needs (there are none imaginary) a lonely child has, the one that must be satisfied, if there is going to be hope and a hope of wholeness, is the unshaken need for an unshakable God.

I know why the caged bird sings.

The need for change bulldozed a road down the center of my mind.”

And, of course, I always love to read the thoughts of Mother Teresa:

Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.

It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.

We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls.”

It inspires me to read the thoughts and writings of people of diverse and unique cultures and times. Their diversity enriches me by opening up the world to me through their experiences. Words and thoughts are powerful tools, and the thoughts of someone who is very different from me can impact me more than those of someone in similar circumstances. Diversity adds to the texture of my life…to everyone’s lives. It’s a beautiful thing.

Peace.