Sylvester, who cleans/leaves his furballs all over my house
“Cats are the ultimate narcissists.
You can tell this because of all the time
they spend on personal grooming.
Dogs aren’t like this. A dog’s idea
of personal grooming is to roll on a dead fish.”
James Gorman
Elk River Falls, NC
“Self-sacrifice is the real miracle
out of which all the reported miracles grew.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882
“In the name of the best within you,
do not sacrifice this world to those who are its worst.
In the name of the values that keep you alive,
do not let your vision of man be distorted by the ugly,
the cowardly, the mindless…
…Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark,
in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite,
the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish,
in lonely frustration for the life you deserved,
but have never been able to reach.”
Ayn Rand, 1905-1982
Russian-born American Writer and Novelist
Sycamore Shoals, Elizabethton, TN
“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”
Shakespeare, 1564-1616
English poet and playwright
Fishery Park, Erwin, TN
“While life may not always be fair, you must never allow
the pains, hurdles, and handicaps of the moment
to poison your attitude and plans for yourself and your future.
You can never win when you wear the ugly cloak of self-pity,
and the sour sound of whining will certainly
frighten away any opportunity for success.
Never again. There is a better way.”
Og Mandino, 1923-1996
Essayist and Psychologist
Rich Mountain, Madison County, NC
“For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882
Big Creek, Yancey County, NC
“Any man can work when every stroke of his hands
brings down the fruit rattling from the tree…
but to labor in season and out of season,
under every discouragement…that requires
a heroism which is transcendent.”
Henry Ward Beecher, 1813-1887
Prominent clergyman, social reformer, abolitionist
“If ambition doesn’t hurt you, you haven’t got it.”
Kathleen Norris, b. 1947
Best-selling author of The Cloister Walk,
Dakota, and Amazing Grace
Rock Creek Road, Erwin, TN
“Never hope harder than you work.”
Rita Mae Brown, b. 1944
Mystery writer
Bays Mountain Park, Kingsport
“Winter is the season in which people try to
keep the house as warm as it was in the summer,
when they complained about the heat.”
Author Unknown
Hydrangea blossom hit by winter cold
“Another belief of mine:
that everyone else my age is an adult,
whereas I am merely in disguise.”
Margaret Atwood, b. 1939
Canadian writer
“Certain flaws are necessary for the whole.
It would seem strange if old friends lacked certain quirks.”
Johann von Goethe, 1749-1832
One of the key figures of German literature
Canada Geese and a Greater White-Fronted Goose at Fishery Park, Erwin, TN
“This is true joy of life — being used for a purpose
that is recognized by yourself as a mighty one…
instead of being a feverish, selfish little blod of ailments and grievances,
complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.”
George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950
Irish Playwright and Essayist
1925 Nobel Prize in Literature
View of Rocky Fork from I-26 Overlook near Erwin, TN
“The only true happiness comes from
squandering ourselves for a purpose.”
John Mason Brown, 1900-1969
American drama critic and author
“I’m learning that very few people actually live from their heart.
Very few live connected with their soul.
And those few who do the difficult work,
who stare their junk in the face, who get counsel,
who let Jesus into all of the rooms in their soul that no one ever goes in,
they make a difference. They are so different,
they’re coming from such a different place
that their voices inevitably get heard above the others.
They are pursuing wholeness and shalom, and it’s contagious.
They inspire me to keep going.”
Rob Bell, b. 1970
“Velvet Elvis”
Price Lake, Blue Ridge Parkway near Grandfather Mountain
“You gain strength, courage and confidence by
every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face….
You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884-1962
American political leader, Civil Rights advocate,
and First Lady from 1933-1945
Big Bald near Wolf Laurel, NC
“Providence has hidden a charm in difficult undertakings,
which is appreciated only by those who dare to grapple with them.”
Anne-Sophie Swetchine, 1782-1857
Russian author
Cascade Falls, m. 272 on Blue Ridge Parkway near Boone, NC
“The measure of a life, after all,
is not its duration, but its donation.”
Corrie Ten Boom, 1892-1983
Dutch Christian Holocaust survivor
author of “The Hiding Place”
“Advice is what we ask for
when we already know the answer
but wish we didn’t.”
Erica Jong, b. 1942
Author and teacher
“Hold on; hold fast; hold out.
Patience is genius.”
Georges de Buffon, 1707-1788
French naturalist, biologist, author
“If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it.
The more things you do, the more you can do.”
Lucille Ball, 1911-1989
Comedienne and actress
Doe River Gorge near Pardee Point
“To be interested in the changing seasons
is a happier state of mind
than to be hopelessly in love with spring.”
George Santayana, 1863-1952
Spanish philosopher, poet, novelist
“Believe there is a great power
silently working all things for good,
behave yourself and never mind the rest.”
Beatrix Potter, 1866-1943
English author of children’s books, conservationist
Laurel Fork Creek
“Human behavior flows from three main sources:
desire, emotion, and knowledge.”
Plato, 427-347 BCE
