Michael Josephson Commentary

There is a stigma attached to being in crisis. But I say let’s admit that none of us have it together.
– Ronit Herzfeld, therapist, social activist
We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fishes but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers.
– Martin Luther King, Jr., civil-rights activist, minister (1929-1968)
It is not in the still calm of life or the repose of a pacific station that great characters are formed. Great necessities call out great virtues.
– Abigail Adams, second First Lady (1744-1818)
Look at the weaknesses of others with compassion, not accusation. It’s not what they’re not doing or should be doing that’s the issue. The issue is your response to the situation and what you should be doing.
– Stephen R. Covey, author, speaker
Every day, ordinary people prove that cynicism is a deplorable lie. Stories of courage, heroism, self-sacrifice, and compassion inspire and elevate us because they confirm our extraordinary capacity for nobility.
– Michael Josephson

Michael Josephson Commentary

There is nothing noble in being superior to somebody else. The only real nobility is in being superior to your former self.
– Whitney Young, civil-rights leader (1921-1971)
They are never alone that are accompanied with noble thoughts.
– Sir Philip Sidney, British poet (1554-1586)
While slight attention to the soul can go a long way, it isn’t enough to maintain the active life and give the soul mere morsels.
– Thomas Moore, Irish poet, entertainer (1779-1852)
When I dig another out of trouble, the hole from which I lift him is the place where I bury my own.
– Norman Vincent Peale, preacher, author (1898-1993)
We are battered regularly by so many reminders of the selfish, corrupt, and even cruel side of human nature that we begin to measure humanity by its weaknesses rather than its strengths.
– Michael Josephson

Michael Josephson Commentary

The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.
– Abraham Lincoln, 16th President (1809-1865)
Whatever disgrace we may have deserved, it is almost always in our power to re-establish our character.
– Francois de La Rochefoucauld, French author (1613-1680)
Outside show is a poor substitute for inner worth.
– Aesop, Greek slave (620-560 BC)
A great many virtues are hen-like. They are virtue, to be sure, but everybody in the neighborhood has to know about them.
– Henry Ward Beecher, clergyman, social reformer (1813-1887)
Success can produce pleasure, but only significance can generate fulfillment.
– Michael Josephson

Michael Josephson Commentary

There is no odor so bad as that which arises from goodness tainted.
– Henry David Thoreau, author, naturalist (1817-1862)
The generous who is always just, and the just who is always generous, may, unannounced, approach the throne of heaven.
– Johann Kaspar Lavater, Swiss poet (1741-1801)
Fraud and falsehood dread examination. Truth invites it.
– Thomas Cooper, political philosopher (1759-1851)
Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.
– Frederick Douglass, statesman, reformer (1818-1895)
There’s no such thing as being nonjudgmental. Refusing to judge is itself a judgment that values don’t matter. It prevents us from appreciating the moral distinction between Mother Teresa and Saddam Hussein.
– Michael Josephson

Michael Josephson Commentary

A Flower unblown,
A Book unread,
A Tree with fruit unharvested
A Path untrod,
A House whose rooms lack yet the heart’s divine perfumes.
This is the Year that for you waits
Beyond tomorrow’s mystic gates.
– Horatio Nelson Powers, poet (1826-1890)

May all your troubles last as long as your New Year’s resolutions.
– Joey Adams, comedian (1911-1999)

Never tell your resolution beforehand or it’s twice as onerous a duty.
– John Selden, British jurist (1584-1654)

Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.
– Mark Twain, author, humorist (1835-1910)

Come, woo me, woo me; for now I am in holiday humor and like enough to consent.
– William Shakespeare, British poet, playwright (1564-1616)

Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.
– Oprah Winfrey, media mogul, philanthropist

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better man.
– Benjamin Franklin, Founding Father (1706-1790)

The key to a better life: Complain less, appreciate more. Whine less, laugh more. Talk less, listen more. Want less, give more. Hate less, love more. Scold less, praise more. Fear less, hope more.
– Michael Josephson