Quick Inspiration -- Collecting Wise Sayings Is Hobby That Can Be Shared And Still Kept

Many people have hobbies of collecting coins, stamps or various artifacts. They find great satisfaction and fulfillment in these pursuits. One of my hobbies has been collecting poems, stories, jokes, riddles, proverbs and all manner of wise sayings.

It is an exciting hobby, for my collection can be spent, shared or exchanged, delivered or given away and still be my own. Often, it doesn't cost a cent. All I need to do is to remember what I have read or heard.

I do find it necessary to it write down. That's what it costs me. I am not a speed reader. I enjoy absorbing the beauty of language and am intrigued by the manner in which a writer illumines thought with a well-turned phrase. Half the fun of reading is to see the way an idea is expressed.

This past summer brought opportunities to read many books, magazines and newspapers. In all this reading, I was reminded anew how inspiring short statements can be. They are often informative, amusing and thought-provoking. I'd like to share with you some that made me smile or chuckle, reflect or ponder:

-- If you would be pungent, be brief, for it is with words as it is with sunbeams. The more they are condensed, the deeper they will burn. - Robert Southey

-- The value of life is not in length of days but the use we make of them. - Montaigne

-- Civilization begins the day that national leaders attach as much importance to the next generation as they do to the next election. - Norman Cousins

-- He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. - Proverbs 18:13

-- Go out on a limb. That's where the fruit is. - Will Rogers

-- Swift gratitude is the sweetest. - Greek Proverb

-- The central purpose of life is to dilute the misery of the world. - Karl Menninger

Here are some sayings which are not attributed to anyone in particular:

-- We listen more to those who say less.

-- It is better to understand a little than to misunderstand a lot.

-- We can't turn back the clock, but we can wind it up again.

-- Sign on shorefront property for sale in Greenport, N.Y.: "Only fish see more water."

-- A bare assertion is not necessarily the naked truth.

-- Politics is a promising career.

-- If the mind should go blank, don't forget to turn off the sound.

-- Those who take no part in the political process must live with the decisions of those who do.

-- Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong.

-- If it weren't for the last minute, nothing would ever get done.

-- One tree can make a million matches. One match can destroy a million trees.

-- God loves all His creatures, including humans.

-- Exercise kills germs, but I've never been able to get germs to exercise.

-- A courtship begins when a man whispers sweet nothings and ends when he says nothing sweet.

-- Sports telecast: "We interrupt your marriage to bring you the football season."

-- We will believe the world is on the right track when they can take the additives out of our food and put them into our salary.

-- Birds are the only creatures who have nest eggs.

-- With money, you can support those things that are more important than money.

-- The measure of our worth is how much we would be worth if we lost all our money.

-- If you add to the truth, you subtract from it.

-- There is nothing like sealing a letter to inspire a fresh thought.

-- If you want a glorious harvest, bury some hatchets.

-- Better to sleep on what you plan to do than to be kept awake by what you have done.

-- No one is a fool always. Everyone sometimes.

-- The hardest thing to give is in.

-- An apology is a good way to have the last word.

-- The more we know, the more we forgive.

-- Hatred is like acid. It can do more damage to the vessel in which it is stored than to the object on which it is poured.

-- A smile is an inexpensive way to improve our looks.

-- Speaking of unemployment: Every human being has 160 trillion brain cells.

-- Moving fast is not the same as going somewhere.

-- Don't get ahead of your boss on a dusty road.

-- Spend not all you have; believe not all you hear and tell not all you know.

-- If we don't put in our two cents' worth, how can we expect change?

-- One of the hardest jobs for a parent is making a child realize that "no" is a complete sentence.

-- If you are headed in the wrong direction, God allows U-turns.

-- The best way to break a habit is to drop it.

-- When two people meet, each person makes every effort to put his best foot forward. Few realize that it's the other foot that's most important.

-- The only things we really have are what we give away.

-- Here's wishing you all the happiness you can stand and just a touch of sorrow to show you the difference.