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Clean Up Your Own Mess.
-Robert Fulghum
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Clean Up Your Own

Robert Fulghum
Clean Up Your Own Mess.
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Topic
Cleaning
Clean
Mess
More From Robert Fulghum
Imagination Is More Important Than Information. Einstein Said That, And He Should Know. And They Come. And They Look. And We Push. And They Fly. We To Stay And Die On Our Beds. They To Go And Die Howsoever, Yet Inspiring Those Who Come After Them To Find Their Own Edge. And Fly.
Imagination
Important
Bed
I Love This Child. Red-haired - Patient And Gentle Like Her Mother - Fey And Funny Like Her Father. When She Giggles I Can Hear Him When He And I Were Young. I Am Part Of This Child. It May Be Only Because We Share Genes And That Therefore Smell Familiar To Each Other.... It May Be That A Part Of Me Lives In Her In Some Important Way.... But For Now, It's Jelly Beans And 'old Macdonald' That Unite Us.
Mother
Children
Father
An Artists Job Is To See. And To Go Out In The World And See It Firsthand, Just As It Is; To Report With Line And Words What Is Seen. To Be In The World, Not Just Study About The World, That Is The Artists Task
Jobs
Artist
Tasks
Dreams Are More Powerful Than Facts.
Hope
Dream
Powerful
I Talk About Very Serious Human Affairs But With A Lightness Of Heart.
Heart
Serious
Affair
Arguing Whether Or Not A God Exists Is Like Fleas Arguing Whether Or Not The Dog Exists. Arguing Over The Correct Name For God Is Like Fleas Arguing Over The Name Of The Dog. And Arguing Over Whose Notion Of God Is Correct Is Like Fleas Arguing Over Who Owns The Dog.
Dog
Names
Fleas
There Is Nothing In Your Budget For Joy. No Books, No Flowers, No Music, Not Even A Cold Beer. And There Is Nothing In Your Budget To Give Away To Someone Else. We Don’t Help People Who Don’t Have Better Values Than You Do.
Flower
Book
Beer
But Love May Have To Be Left Off The Exam. Most Of Us Will Never Learn.
May
Exam
Left
The Gift Was Not Large As Money Goes, And My Need Was Not Great, But The Spirit Of The Gift Is Beyond Price And Leaves Me Blessed And In Debt.
Blessed
Debt
Needs
All I Ever Needed To Know I Learned In Kindergarten. Share Everything ... Don't Hit People ... Clean Up Your Own Mess.
Education
People
Kindergarten
Clean Up Your Own Mess.
Cleaning
Clean
Mess
The Winding Down Of Summer Puts Me In A Heavy Philosophical Mood.
Summer
Philosophical
Mood
Everything We Can Imagine Becomes Real.
Real
Imagination
Imagine
Play Fair. Don't Hit People. Say You're Sorry When You Hurt Somebody.
Im Sorry
Appreciation
Hurt
When My Father Finally Got Around To Teaching Me To Drive, He Was Impressed At My "natural" Talent For Driving, Not Knowing That I Had Already Been Secretly Driving My Mother's Car Around The Neighborhood. When I Took The Test And Got My License And My Father Gave Me My Own Set Of Keys To The Car One Night At Dinner, It Was A Major Rite Of Passage For Him And My Mother. Their Perception Of Me Had Changed And Was Formally Acknowledged. For Me The Occasion Meant A Private Sanction To Do In Public What I Had Already Been Doing In Secret.
Mother
Father
Teaching
Remember The Little Seed In The Styrofoam Cup. The Roots Go Down And The Plant Goes Up And Nobody Really Knows How Or Why, But We Are All Like That.
Roots
Growth
Styrofoam
Think What A Better World It Would Be If We All - The Whole World - Had Cookies And Milk About Three O'clock Every Afternoon And Then Lay Down With Our Blankies For A Nap. Or If All Governments Had As A Basic Policy To Always Put Things Back Where They Found Them And To Clean Up Their Own Mess. And It Is Still True, No Matter How Old You Are - When You Go Out Into The World, It Is Best To Hold Hands And Stick Together.
Thinking
Government
Naps
I Believe That Imagination Is Stronger Than Knowledge. That Myth Is More Potent Than History. That Dreams Are More Powerful Than Facts. That Hope Always Triumphs Over Experience. That Laughter Is The Only Cure For Grief. And I Believe That Love Is Stronger Than Death.
Love
Life
Death
I'm Good At Doing The Laundry. At Least That. And It's A Religious Experience...water, Earth, Fire-polarities Of Wet And Dry, Hot And Cold, Dirty And Clean. The Great Cycles-round And Round-beginning And End-alpha And Omega, Amen.
Religious
Work
Dirty
It’s The Spirit Here That Counts. The Time May Be Long, The Vehicle May Be Strange Or Unexpected. But If The Dream Is Held Close To The Heart, And Imagination Is Applied To What There Is Close At Hand, Everything Is Still Possible.
Dream
Heart
Hands
Even The Finest Workman Needs To Inspect His Work Critically.
Needs
Finest
Workmen
We’re All A Little Weird. And Life Is A Little Weird. And When We Find Someone Whose Weirdness Is Compatible With Ours, We Join Up With Them And Fall Into Mutually Satisfying Weirdness — And Call It Love — True Love.
Love
Funny
Life
My Goal Now Is To Dance All The Dances As Long As I Can, And Then To Sit Down Contented After The Last Elegant Tango Some Sweet Night And Pass On Because There Wasn't Another Dance Left In Me.
Dance
Sweet
Night
As One Old Gentleman Put It, " Son, I Don't Care If You're Stark Nekkid And Wear A Bone In Your Nose. If You Kin Fiddle, You're All Right With Me. It's The Music We Make That Counts.
Son
Gentleman
Noses
The Name Is Not Important Anymore - It's The Tone That Counts. I Feel Like An Old Dog I Know. He Will Come To Any Name You Call Him, Just So Long As Your Demeanor Carries With It The Promise Of Affection And Food
Dog
Names
Long
Don't Worry That Children Never Listen To You; Worry That They Are Always Watching You.
Marriage
Mother
Children
Sometimes During The Day, I Consciously Focus On Some Ordinary Object And Allow Myself A Momentary "paying-attention." This Paying-attention Gives Meaning To My Life. I Don't Know Who It Was, But Someone Said That Careful Attention Paid To Anything Is A Window Into The Universe. Pausing To Think This Way, Even For A Brief Moment, Is Very Important. It Gives Quality To My Day.
Thinking
Giving
Perspective
The Heart Will Turn To A Prune If Love Is Always By The Numbers. How Will You Know If Someone Really Loves You If They Only Meet Your Expectations And Not Your Needs?
Love You
Heart
Love Is
I'd Like To Speak A Foreign Language Well Enough To Get The Jokes. I'd Like To Talk With Socrates, And Watch Michelangelo Sculpt David. I'd Like To See The World As It Was A Million Years Ago And A Million Years Hence.
Time
Years
Watches
Sticks And Stones Will Break Our Bones, But Words Will Break Our Hearts.
Heart
Stones
Sticks
If You Do Not Join The Dancing You Will Feel Foolish. So Why Not Dance? And I Will Tell You A Secret: If You Do Not Join The Dance, We Will Know You Are A Fool. But If You Dance, We Will Think Well Of You For Trying. If You Dance Badly To Begin And We Laugh, What Is The Sin In That? We Will Begin There.
Thinking
Dancing
Laughing
If Dandelions Were Rare And Fragile, People Would Knock Themselves Out To Pay $14.95 A Plant, Raise Them By Hand In Greenhouses, And Form Dandelion Societies And All That. But, They Are Everywhere And Don't Need Us And Kind Of Do What They Please. So We Call Them Weeds And Murder Them At Every Opportunity
Weed
Opportunity
Garden
If You Tell People You Talk To God, They'll Think You're Religious, But If You Say God Talks To You, It's Ten To One They'll Think You're Crazy.
Religious
Crazy
Thinking
I Am A Fragment Of A Mirror Whose Whole Design And Shape I Do Not Know. Nevertheless, With What I Have - I Can Reflect Light Into The Dark Places Of This World - Into The Black Places In The Hearts Of Men - And Change Somethings In Some People. Perhaps Others May See And Do Likewise. This Is What I Am About. This Is The Meaning Of My Life.
Heart
Dark
Men
I Believe That Imagination Is Stronger Than Knowledge.
Hope
Laughter
Grief
Why Is Love Easy? I Don’t Know. And The Raccoons Don’t Say.
Easy
Raccoons
Knows
Only Now Have I Finally Realized That My Life Has Been An Unending Field Trip. And I Have Tried Hard Not To Be A Tourist. But To Be An Adventurer, A Traveler, An Explorer, A Learner, And A Pilgrim.
Tourists
Fields
Unending
If Someone Were To Ask Me Whether I Believed In God, Or Saw God, Or Had A Particular Relationship With God, I Would Reply That I Don't Separate God From My World In My Thinking. I Feel That God Is Everywhere. That's Why I Never Feel Separated From God Or Feel I Must Seek God, Any More Than A Fish In The Ocean Feels It Must Seek Water. In A Sense, God Is The "ocean" In Which We Live.
God
Ocean
Thinking
About Winning And Losing: It Isn't Important, What Really Counts Is How You Play The Game. About Playing The Game: Play To Win!
Winning
Games
Play
Any Fool Can Make Enough Money To Survive. It's Another Thing To Keep Yourself Consistently Entertained. It's A Lot Of Work, And A Lot Of Fun, To Make A Life.
Fun
Fool
Enough
The Grass Is Not Always Greener On The Other Side Of The Fence. The Grass Is Greenest Where It Is Watered.
Grass Is Greener On The Other Side
Sides
Fence
So You Drive As Far As You Can, Even When You Can Clearly Read The Sign. You Want To Think You Are Exempt, That It Doesn’t Apply To You. But It Does. Life Is Still A Dead End. And We Still Have A Hard Time Believing It
Believe
Hard Times
Thinking
You Can't Always Explain Everything You Do To Everybody, You Know.
Explanation
Knows
Even If Your Watch Is Full Of Diamonds The Hour Is Still 60 Minutes
Wisdom
Watches
Hours
And I’m Not Confused About The Lack Of, Or The Need For, Imagination In Low Or High Places. We Could Do Better We Must Do Better. There Are Far Worse Things To Drop On People Than Crayolas.
Confused
People
Imagination
Be Aware Of Wonder. Live A Balanced Life - Learn Some And Think Some And Draw And Paint And Sing And Dance And Play And Work Every Day Some.
Life
Dance
Thinking
If I Don't Have Time To Live My Life Well The First Time, When Am I Going To Find The Time To Go Back And Live It Over?
Firsts
Living My Life
First Time
When My Neighbor Walks The Dogs, He Performs A Ritual Act Of Sacer Simplicitas, To Use The Church Latin: "sacred Simplicity." Walking The Dog Is In Truth A Ritual Of Renewal And Revival On An Intimate Scale - A Small Rebirth Of Well-being On A Daily Basis.
Dog
Latin
Journey
The Kindergarten Children Are Confident In Spirit, Infinite In Resources, And Eager To Learn. Everything Is Still Possible.
Children
Spirit
Kindergarten
Life Is. I Am. Anything Might Happen. And I Believe I May Invest My Life With Meaning. The Uncertainty Is A Blessing In Disguise. If I Were Absolutely Certain About All Things, I Would Spend My Life In Anxious Misery, Fearful Of Losing My Way. But Since Everything And Anything Are Always Possible, The Miraculous Is Always Nearby And Wonders Shall Never, Ever Cease.
Life
Believe
Blessing
Weddings Seem To Be Magnets For Mishap And For Whatever Craziness Lurks In Family Closets. In More Ways Than One, Weddings Bring Out The Ding-dong On Everybody Involved.
Way
Craziness
Mishaps
The Examined Life Is No Picnic.
Picnics
Life Is
Examined Life
It Is The Chair In Honor Of All Those Who, However Competently, Embrace The Impossible. Sit In That Chair Someday.
Honor
Impossible
Someday
We Are The Only Creatures That Both Laugh And Weep. I Think It's Because We Are The Only Creatures That See The Difference Between The Way Things Are And The Way They Might Be.
Thinking
Differences
Laughing
To Ponder Is Not To Brood Or Grieve Or Even Meditate. It Is To Wonder At A Deep Level.
Grieving
Levels
Wonder
Above All, If What You've Done Is Stupid, But It Works, It Ain't Stupid.
Stupid
Done
Working It
Share Everything. Don't Take Things That Aren't Yours. Put Things Back Where You Found Them.
Advice
Share
Found
It's Just This: That There Are Places We All Come From-deep-rooty-common Places- That Makes Us Who We Are. And We Disdain Them Or Treat Them Lightly At Our Peril. We Turn Our Backs On Them At The Risk Of Self-contempt. There Is A Sense In Which We Need To Go Home Again-and Can Go Home Again. Not To Recover Home, No. But To Sanctify Memory.
Memories
Home
Self
But It Does No Good--solves Nothing--to Distance Myself From The Front Lines Of Human Need By Using The Mail As A Safe Shelter. I Believe That Serving The Best Ends Of Humanity Means Getting Out In The Middle Of It Just As It Is, Not Staying Home Writing Checks And Thinking Hopeful Thoughts. The World Does Not Need Tourists Who Ride By In A Bus Clucking Their Tongues. The World As It Is Needs Those Who Will Love It Enough To Change It, With What They Have, Where They Are. And You're Damned Right That's Idealistic. No Apology. When Idealism Goes Into The Trash As Junk Mail, We're Finished.
Distance
Believe
Mean
I Think My Writing Is Part Of My Ministry.
Writing
Thinking
Ministry
The Sikh Gave Him The Money. When Menon Asked For His Address So That He Could Repay The Man, The Sikh Said That Menon Owed The Debt To Any Stranger Who Came To Him In Need, As Long As He Lived. The Help Came From A Stranger And Was To Be Repaid To A Stranger.
Inspirational
Men
Long
One Of Life's Best Coping Mechanisms Is To Know The Difference Between An Inconvenience And A Problem. If You Break Your Neck, If You Have Nothing To Eat, If Your House Is On Fire, Then You’ve Got A Problem. Everything Else Is An Inconvenience. Life Is Inconvenient. Life Is Lumpy. A Lump In The Oatmeal, A Lump In The Throat And A Lump In The Breast Are Not The Same Kind Of Lump. One Needs To Learn The Difference.
Differences
Coping Mechanisms
Oatmeal
Water Is Everywhere And In All Living Things; We Cannot Be Seperated From Water. No Water, No Life. Period. Water Comes In Many Forms - Liquid, Vapor, Ice, Snow, Fog, Rain, Hail. But No Matter The Form, It's Still Water.
Rain
Fog
Ice
Maybe We Should Develop A Crayola Bomb As Our Next Secret Weapon. A Happiness Weapon. A Beauty Bomb. And Every Time A Crisis Developed, We Would Launch One. And People Would Smile And Get A Little Funny Look On Their Faces And Cover The World With Imagination.
People
Imagination
Secret
I Do Not Want To Know What You Will Hope For. I Want To Know What You Will Work For. I Do Not Want Your Sympathy For The Needs Of Humanity. I Want Your Muscle. As The Wagon Driver Said When They Came To A Long, Hard Hill: ‘them That’s Going On With Us, Get Out And Push. Them That Ain’t, Get Out Of The Way’.
Long
Humanity
Needs
It Will Be A Great Day When Our Schools Have All The Money They Need, And Our Air Force Has To Have A Bake-sale To Buy A Bomber.
Funny
Military
School
Doing A Straight-forward, Clear-cut Task That Has A Beginning And An End Balances Out The Complexity-without-end That Often Vexes The Rest Of My Life. Sacred Simplicity.
Life
Work
Cutting
Now Everybody Has Some Secret Goals In Life.
Goal
Secret
Life Goal
Anything Not Worth Doing Is Worth Not Doing Well.
Wells
We Could Learn A Lot From Crayons; Some Are Sharp, Some Are Pretty, Some Are Dull, While Others Bright, Some Have Weird Names, But They All Have Learned To Live Together In The Same Box.
Names
Together
Dull
It’s Harder To Talk About, But What I Really, Really, Really Want For Christmas Is Just This: I Want To Be 5 Years Old Again For An Hour. I Want To Laugh A Lot And Cry A Lot. I Want To Be Picked Or Rocked To Sleep In Someone’s Arms, And Carried Up To Be Just One More Time. I Know What I Really Want For Christmas: I Want My Childhood Back. People Who Think Good Thoughts Give Good Gifts.
Sleep
Thinking
Years
I Wanted To Be A Citizen Of The World But Not In A Superficial Way.
World
Way
Citizens
If We Could Just Figure Out How To Have More Fun At It, Maybe More Of Us Would Join The Ranks Of Those Who Seek After Justice And Mercy.
Fun
Justice
Mercy
The Best Feelings In Your Life Come When You Start Feeling Good After You've Been Feeling Just Awful
Feel Good
Feelings
Awful
I've Always Made A Clear Distinction Between Making A Life And Making A Living.
Distinction
Made
Clear
Then He Read The Words Of The Scroll Slowly, First In Japanese And Then Carefully Translated Into English: 'there Is Really Nothing You Must Be. And There Is Nothing You Must Do. There Is Really Nothing You Must Have. And There Is Nothing You Must Know. There Is Really Nothing You Must Become. However. It Helps To Understand That Fire Burns, And When It Rains, The Earth Gets Wet. . . .' 'whatever, There Are Consequences. Nobody Is Exempt,' Said The Master.
Rain
Fire
Earth
Living Things Have Been Doing Just That For A Long, Long Time. Through Every Kind Of Disaster And Setback And Catastrophe. We Are Survivors.
Long
Survivor
Kind
We Even Make Ourselves Up, Fusing What We Are With What We Wish Into What We Must Become. I'm Not Sure Why It Must Be So, But It Is.
Wish
Not Sure
I Fear The Boredom That Comes With Not Learning And Not Taking Chances.
Blessing
Boredom
Take A Chance
Peace Is Not Something You Wish For, � It Is Something You Make, Something You Are, Something You Do,�and Something You Give Away.
Motivational
Forgiveness
Peace
Just When You Thought That You Already Learned The Way How To Live, Life Changes - And You're Left The Same As You Begun.
Life Changing
Live Life
Way
You Will Continue To Read Stories Of Crookedness And Corruption - Of Policemen Who Lie And Steal, Doctors Who Reap Where They Do Not Sew, Politicians On The Take. Don't Be Misled. They Are News Because They Are The Exceptions.
Lying
Doctors
News
Liberation, I Guess, Is Everybody Getting What They Think They Want, Without Knowing The Whole Truth. Or In Other Words, Liberation Finally Amounts To Being Free From Things We Don't Like In Order To Be Enslaved By Things We Approve Of. Here's To The Eternal Tandem.
Thinking
Order
Knowing
I And You-we Are Infinate, Rich, Large, Contradictory, Living, Breathing Miracles-free Human Beings, Children Of God And The Everlasting Universe. That's What We Do.
Children
Breathing
Miracle
Wisdom Was Not At The Top Of The Graduate-school Mountain, But There At The Sandpile At Sunday School.
Wisdom
School
Sunday
I Often Say That I Don't Worry About The Meaning Of Life-i Can't Handle That Big Stuff. What Concerns Me Is The Meaning In Life-day By Day, Hour By Hour, While I'm Doing Whatever It Is I Do. What Counts Is Not What I Do, But How I Think About Myself While I'm Doing It.
Thinking
Worry
Meaning Of Life
Peace Is Not Something You Wish For, It's Something You Make
Peace
Coping Mechanisms
Wish
One Of Life's Best Coping Mechanisms Is To Know The Difference Between An Inconvenience And A Problem.
Differences
Coping Mechanisms
Problem
I Don't Think There Is A Hidden Purpose To The Universe That You Have To Puzzle Out.
Thinking
Purpose
Puzzles
The Myth Of The Impossible Dream Is More Powerful Than All The Facts Of History.
Dream
Powerful
Facts
To Be Human Is To Keep Rattling The Bars Of The Cage Of Existence, Hollering, 'what's It For?'
Humanity
Cages
Bars
Wherever And However Any One Of Us May Be Conceived, It Is The Same. We Come Into Being In The Arms Of God.
May
Arms
I Once Listed All The Good Things I Did Over The Past Year, And Then Turned Them Into Resolution Form And Backdated Them. That Was A Good Feeling
Past
Years
Feelings
These Are The Things I Learned: Share Everything, Play Fair. Don't Hit People. Put Things Back Where You Found Them. Clean Up Your Own Mess. Don't Take Things That Aren't Yours. Say You're Sorry When You Hurt Somebody. Wash Your Hands Before You Eat. Warm Cookies And Cold Milk Are Good For You. Live A Balanced Life. Learn Some And Think Some And Draw Some And Paint And Sing And Dance And Play And Work Some Every Day. Take A Nap Every Afternoon, And, When You Go Out Into The World, Watch For Traffic, Hold Hands, And Stick Together.
Hurt
Sorry
Thinking
Now Everybody Has Some Secret Goals In Life...sometimes You Can Get What You Want And What You Need At The Sames Time.
Goal
Secret
Needs
The Grass Is Not, In Fact, Always Greener On The Other Side Of The Fence. No, Not At All. Fences Have Nothing To Do With It. The Grass Is Greenest Where It Is Watered. When Crossing Over Fences, Carry Water With You And Tend The Grass Wherever You May Be.
Water
Care
Grass Is Greener On The Other Side
Life Is. I Am. Anything Might Happen.
Might
Life Is
Happens
If Only The Scientific Experts Could Come Up With Something To Get It Out Of Our Minds. One Cup Of Fixit Fizzle That Will Lift The Dirt From Our Lives, Soften Our Hardness, Protect Our Inner Parts, Improve Our Processing, Reduce Our Yellowing And Wrinkling, Improve Our Natural Color, And Make Us Sweet And Good.
Sweet
Color
Mind
I Know What I Really Want For Christmas. I Want My Childhood Back. Nobody Is Going To Give Me That. I Might Give At Least The Memory Of It To Myself If I Try. I Know It Doesn't Make Sense, But Since When Is Christmas About Sense, Anyway? It Is About A Child, Of Long Ago And Far Away, And It Is About The Child Of Now. In You And Me. Waiting Behind The Door Of Or Hearts For Something Wonderful To Happen. A Child Who Is Impractical, Unrealistic, Simpleminded And Terribly Vulnerable To Joy.
Christmas
Children
Memories
Sirius, The Brightest Star In The Heavens.... My Grandfather Would Say We're Part Of Something Incredibly Wonderful - More Marvelous Than We Imagine. My Grandfather Would Say We Ought To Go Out And Look At It Once In A While So We Don't Lose Our Place In It.
Stars
Space
Heaven
Desire Is The Intangible Quality That Has More Impact On Success Than Talent, Education, Or Iq. You Can't See Desire, But You Can Feel Its Presence, And See Its Results In The Lives Of Successful People.
Successful
Impact
Intangible Quality
I Believe In Dancing.
Believe
Dancing
I Believe
Making A Living And Having A Life Are Not The Same Thing. Making A Living And Making A Life That's Worthwhile Are Not The Same Thing. Living The Good Life And Living A Good Life Are Not The Same Thing. A Job Title Doesn't Even Come Close To Answering The Question. "what Do You Do?".
Life
Jobs
Titles
Never, Ever Regret Or Apologize For Believing That When One Man Or One Woman Decides To Risk Addressing The World With Truth, The World May Stop What It Is Doing And Hear. There Is Too Much Evidence To The Contrary.
Truth
Regret
Believe
I Believe It Is In My Nature To Dance By Virtue Of The Beat Of My Heart, The Pulse Of My Blood And The Music In My Mind.
Inspirational
Dance
Believe
If You Want An Interesting Party Sometime, Combine Cocktails And A Fresh Box Of Crayons For Everyone.
New Year
Party
Color
The Point Is That Getting Married For Lust Or Money Or Social Status Or Even Love Is Usually Trouble. The Point Is That Marriage Is A Maze Into Which We Wander - A Maze That Is Best Got Through With A Great Companion.
Friends
Marriage
Love Is
Public Lives Are Lived Out On The Job And In The Marketplace, Where Certain Rules, Conventions, Laws, And Social Customs Keep Most Of Us In Line. Private Lives Are Lived Out In The Presence Of Family, Friends, And Neighbors Who Must Be Considered And Respected Even Though The Rules And Proscriptions Are Looser Than What's Allowed In Public. But In Our Secret Lives, Inside Our Own Heads, Almost Anything Goes.
Jobs
Law
Secret
Speed And Efficiency Do Not Always Increase The Quality Of Life.
Quality
Speed
Efficiency
It Doesn’t Matter What You Say You Believe - It Only Matters What You Do.
Believe
Matter
For All My Good Intentions, There Are Days When Things Go Wrong Or I Fall Into Old Habits. When Things Are Not Going Well, When I'm Grumpy Or Mad, I'll Realize That I've Not Been Paying Attention To My Soul And I've Not Been Following My Best Routine.
Fall
Old Habits
Mad
If You Break Your Neck, If You Have Nothing To Eat, If Your House Is On Fire, Then You Got A Problem. Everything Else Is Inconvenience.
Life
Positive
Encouraging
Every Person Passing Through This Life Will Unknowingly Leave Something And Take Something Away. Most Of This “something” Cannot Be Seen Or Heard Or Numbered Or Scientifically Detected Or Counted. It’s What We Leave In The Minds Of Other People And What They Leave In Ours. Memory. The Census Doesn’t Count It. Nothing Counts Without It.
Memories
People
Mind
What I Notice Is That Every Adult Or Child I Give A New Set Of Crayolas To Goes A Little Funny. The Kids Smile, Get A Glazed Look On Their Faces, Pour The Crayons Out, And Just Look At Them For A While....the Adults Always Get The Most Wonderful Kind Of Sheepish Smile On Their Faces--a Mixture Of Delight And Nostalgia And Silliness. And They Immediately Start Telling You About All Their Experiences With Crayolas.
Children
Kids
Giving
All I Really Need To Know About How To Live And What To Do And How To Be, I Learned In Kindergarten. Wisdom Was Not At The Top Of The Graduate-school Mountain, But There In The Sand Pile At Sunday School.
School
Sunday
Mountain
Remember, Most Of Us Got Something For Nothing The First Time Just By Showing Up Here At Birth. Now We Have To Qualify.
Showing Up
Firsts
Birth
The Older I Get, The More I Realize The Importance Of Exercising The Various Dimensions Of My Body, Soul, Mind, And Heart. Taken Together, These Aspects Give Me A Sense Of Wholeness. I Want To Be A Whole Human Being Rather Than One Who Limps On One Leg Because I Don't Know How To Use All Of My Parts. Intellectual, Emotional, And Physical Activity Are Not Separate Entities. Rather, They Are Dimensions Of The Same Human Being.
Taken
Heart
Exercise
For Thirty Years Now, In Times Of Stress And Strain, When Something Has Me Backed Against The Wall And I'm Ready To Do Something Really Stupid With My Anger, A Sorrowful Face Appears In My Mind And Asks... "problem Or Inconvenience?" I Think Of This As The Wollman Test Of Reality. Life Is Lumpy. And A Lump In The Oatmeal, A Lump In The Throat, And A Lump In The Breast Are Not The Same Lump. One Should Learn The Difference.
Wall
Stress
Stupid
To Insist On One's Place In The Scheme Of Things And To Live Up To That Place.to Empower Others In Their Reaching For Some Place In The Scheme Of Things.to Do These Things Is To Make Fairy Tales Come True.
Empowering
Fairy Tale
Reaching
Once You Know Where The Roller Coaster Is Going, Are You In For The Ride?
Roller Coaster
Coasters
Knows
Infinite Possibility In All Things Is A Certainty. That Pretty Much Covers Theology And Philosophy For Me.
Philosophy
Infinite
Possibility
It Wasn’t In Books. It Wasn’t In A Church. What I Needed To Know Was Out There In The World.
Book
Church
World
Only An Open Mind Still Has Room For New Knowledge. What Is Outgrown And Used Up Must Be Discarded To Make Room For What Is Yet To Be Learned. And Much Of The Best Thinking Is Done Alone-in Deserts, On Beaches, In Bed, Behind Closed Doors. It Is Why We Say We Need To Get Away-to Escape From Clutter And Busyness-to Hear Ourselves Think.
Beach
Learning
Thinking
And Good Neighbors Make A Huge Difference In The Quality Of Life. I Agree.
Differences
Quality
Neighbor
This Is An Exercise In Power - The Power Of Mind Over Matter. If You Don't Mind Being Inadequate, It Doesn't Matter.
Exercise
Power
Mind
Children Are Sent To School To Be Civilized, To Learn To Be Part Of The Social Enterprise.
Children
School
Social
Anything Can Happen. The Great Banana Peel Of Existence Is Always On The Floor Somewhere.
Bananas
Existence
Anything Can Happen
Goldfish And Hamsters And White Mice And Even The Little Seed In The Styrofoam Cup-they All Die. So Do We.
Death
White
Styrofoam
Instructions For Wayfarers They Will Declare: Every Journey Has Been Taken. You Shall Respond: I Have Not Been To See Myself. They Will Insist: Everything Has Been Spoken. You Shall Reply: I Have Not Had My Say. They Will Tell You: Everything Has Been Done. You Shall Reply: My Way Is Not Complete. You Are Warned: Any Way Is Long, Any Way Is Hard. Fear Not. You Are The Gate - You, The Gatekeeper. And You Shall Go Through And On . . . —alexandros Evangelou Xenopouloudakis, Third Wish
Taken
Journey
Long
Love Is A Fabric Which Never Fades, No Matter How Often It Is Washed In The Water Of Adversity And Grief.
Love
Grief
Adversity
Do You Ever Go Off With A Long Grocery List And Come Home From The Store With A Bunch Of Different Stuff? And Somebody In The Family Unsacks The Groceries And Wants To Know Why You Got This And Didn't Get That And Just Where Is The Whatever? And You Want To Say, 'well, Just Be Glad I Came Back, Okay?' And The Unpacker Says, 'well, Next Time Bring What's On The List.'
Home
Long
Want
To Understand Our Love They'd Have To Turn The World Upside Down
World
Our Love
Upside Down
But Since Everything And Anything Are Always Possible, The Miraculous Is Always Nearby, And Wonders Shall Never, Ever Cease.
Wonder
Miraculous
Cease
Life-and-death. Lifedeath. One Event. One Short Event. Don't Forget.
Life
Events
Forget
Life Is Lumpy. And A Lump In The Oatmeal, A Lump In The Throat, And A Lump In A Breast Are Not The Same Lump. One Should Learn The Difference.
Differences
Oatmeal
Life Is
My Own Movement Of Thought Is Not Meant To Be A Straight Point-to-point, Linear Line Of March, But Horizontal Exploration From One Area Of Interest To Another. There Is No Ultimate Destination - No Finish Line To Cross, No Final Conclusion To Be Reached. It's The Way I Feel About Dancing - You Move Around A Lot, Not To Get Somewhere, But To Be Somewhere In Time.
Moving
Dancing
Finals
Love Is The Grand Prize And The Garbage Heap. Love Is A Spiritual Root Canal And The Only Thing That Makes Life Worth Living. Love Is A Little Taste Of Always And A Big Bite Of Nothing. And Love Is Everything In Between These Extremes.
Spiritual
Love Is
Roots
Manuals Have Their Uses ... But They Are Not To Be Confused With Living.
Confused
Use
Manuals
Almost Anything Can Be Dealt With If People Are Of Good Will And Light Hearts And Strong Values.
Strong
Heart
Adversity
The Indian Danced On Alone. The Crowd Clapped Up The Beat. The Indian Danced With A Chair. The Crowd Went Crazy. The Band Faded. The Crowd Cheered. The Indian Held Up His Hands For Silence As If To Make A Speech. Looking At The Band And Then The Crowd, The Indian Said, "well, What're You Waiting For? Let's Dance.
Crazy
Hands
Waiting
To Look This Way Is To See. To See Is To Have Vision. To Have Vision Is To Understand. To Understand Is To Know. To Know Is To Become. To Become Is To Live Fully. To Live Fully Is To Matter. And To Matter Is To Become Light. And To Become Light Is To Be Loved. And To Be Loved Is To Burn. And To Burn Is To Exist. Off And On.
Love
Light
Understanding
I Get Tired Of Hearing It's A Crummy World And That People Are No Damned Good. What Kind Of Talk Is That? I Know A Place In Payette, Idaho, Where A Cook And A Waitress And A Manager Put Everything They've Got Into Laying A Chicken-fried Steak On You.
Tired
Idaho
People
My Secret Agenda Is To Convey My Values To My Kids.
Kids
Secret
Agendas
You Feel Like An Ant Contemplating Chicago.
Ants
Chicago
Feels
Love The Battle Between Chaos And Imagination. Remember: Acting Is Living Truthfully In Imaginary Circumstances. Remember: Acting Is The Way To Live The Greatest Number Of Lives. Remember: Acting Is The Same As Real Life, Lived Intentionally. Never Forget: The Fruit Is Out On The End Of The Limb. Go There.
Life
Real
Numbers
One Of The Very Few Reasons I Had Any Respect For My Mother When I Was Thirteen Was Because She Would Reach Into The Sink With Her Bare Hands - Bare Hands - And Pick Up That Lethal Gunk And Drop It Into The Garbage. To Top That, I Saw Her Reach Into The Wet Garbage Bag And Fish Around In There Looking For A Lost Teaspoon. Bare Hands - A Kind Of Mad Courage.
Family
Mother
Hands
A Giraffe Has A Black Tongue Twenty-seven Inches Long And No Vocal Cords. A Giraffe Has Nothing To Say. He Just Goes On Giraffing.
Long
Black
Twenties
Never Forget That Music Is Too Important To Be Left Entirely In The Hands Of Professionals.
Hands
Important
Never Forget
Is It Always To Be A Winners-losers World, Or Can We Keep Everyone In The Game? Do We Still Have What It Takes To Find A Better Way?
Games
World
Way
Always Trust Your Fellow Man. And Always Cut The Cards. Always Trust God. And Always Build Your House On High Ground. Always Love Thy Neighbor. And Always Pick A Good Neighborhood To Live In.
Cutting
Men
House
And Sure, I Know If You Eat This Way You'll Die. So? If You Don't Eat This Way You're Still Going To Die. Why Not Die Happy?
Why Not
Way
Stills
You May Never Have Proof Of Your Importance But You Are More Important Than You Think. There Are Always Those Who Couldn’t Do Without You. The Rub Is That You Don’t Always Know Who.
Thinking
Important
May
Sometimes History Knocks At The Most Ordinary Door To See If Anyone Is Home. Sometimes Someone Is.
Home
Doors
Historical
All I Really Need To Know... I Learned In Kindergarten.
Teaching
Learning
Needs
All Of These Are Names Given Me By Other People, But Not Names I Would Have Given Myself. My Name Is Not Mine, It's Theirs. It's A Series Of Costumes Put On My Life By Other People.
Names
People
Costumes
Ignorance And Power And Pride Are A Deadly Mixture, You Know.
Ignorance
Pride
Mixtures
I've Always Thought Anyone Can Make Money. Making A Life Worth Living, That's The Real Test.
Money
Real
Tests
It's Not That I'm Not Grateful For All This Attention. It's Just That Fame And Fortune Ought To Add Up To More Than Fame And Fortune.
Success
Grateful
Add
The World Does Not Need Tourists Who Ride By In A Bus Clucking Their Tongues. The World As It Is Needs Those Who Will Love It Enough To Change It, With What They Have, Where They Are.
Love
Tongue
Tourists
The Leaves Let Go, The Seeds Let Go, And I Must Let Go Sometimes, Too, And Cast My Lot With Another Of Nature’s Imperfect But Tenacious Survivors.
Letting Go
Survivor
Imperfect
Sometimes, When Asked The What-do-you-do Question, It Occurs To Me To Say That I Work For The Government. I Have A Government Job, Essential To National Security. I Am A Citizen. Like The Supreme Court Judges, My Job Is For Life, And The Well-being Of My Country Depends On Me. It Seems Fair To Think That I Should Be Held Accountable For My Record In The Same Way I Expect Accountability From Those Who Seek Elected Office. I Would Like To Be Able To Say That I Can Stand On My Record And Am Proud Of It.
Country
Jobs
Thinking
If You Can't Find The Exact Quote You Want, Make It Up.
Want
Ifs
Everyone Has Doors In The Living Room Of Their Lives That They Assume Are Locked. Doors That Lead To Artistic Expression. People Say "i Have No Talent -- I Can't Dance Or Sing Or Paint Or Write Poetry Or Play An Instrument." More Often Than Not The Doors Are Not Locked, Just Closed. One May Turn The Handle, Open The Door And Pass Through Into A Larger Life Space.
Art
Writing
Doors
And It Is Still True, No Matter How Old You Are, When You Go Out Into The World It Is Best To Hold Hands And Stick Together.
Hands
Together
World
Hide-and-seek, Grown-up Style. Wanting To Hide. Needing To Be Sought. Confused About Being Found.
Confused
Style
Found
If You Notice Phrases, Ideas, And Anecdotes That Closely Resemble Those That Appear Elsewhere In My Writing, It's Not A Matter Of Sloppy Editing. I'm Repeating Myself. I'm Reshuffling Words In The Hope That Just Once I Might Say Something Exactly Right. And I'm Still Wrestling With Dilemmas That Are Not Easily Resolved Or Easily Dismissed. I Run At Them Again And Again Because I Am Not Finished With Them. Any May Never Be. Work-in- Progress On A Life-in-progress Is What My Writing Is About. And Some Progress In The Work Is Enough To Keep It Going On.
Life
Running
Hope
Understanding Quotes: Their Essence and Application

Quotes, or quotations, are powerful tools in communication, encapsulating ideas, emotions, and wisdom in concise expressions. They serve various purposes across different contexts, from academic writing to everyday conversation.

1. Defining Quotes

A quote is a repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts. It can be a direct replication of words spoken or written by another individual, often used to support arguments, provide evidence, or convey profound insights.


2. The Importance of Quotes

2.1. Enhancing Credibility

Incorporating quotes from authoritative sources can bolster the credibility of your work. By referencing experts or primary sources, you demonstrate thorough research and a solid foundation for your arguments.


2.2. Providing Evidence

Quotes serve as concrete evidence to support claims. In academic and professional writing, they validate points made, offering readers a basis to trust the information presented.


2.3. Conveying Emotions and Perspectives

Quotes can encapsulate emotions and perspectives succinctly. They allow writers to express complex feelings or viewpoints through the words of others, often more eloquently than paraphrasing.


3. Types of Quotes

3.1. Direct Quotes

Direct quotes involve copying the exact words from a source, enclosed in quotation marks. They are used when the original wording is significant or particularly well-expressed.


3.2. Indirect Quotes (Paraphrasing)

Indirect quotes restate the original message in your own words. While not enclosed in quotation marks, they still require proper attribution to the original source.


3.3. Block Quotes

Block quotes are lengthy direct quotations, formatted as a separate block of text. They are typically used for quotes exceeding a certain length, varying by citation style. For instance, in APA style, quotes longer than 40 words are formatted as block quotes.



4. Proper Usage of Quotes


4.1. Contextual Relevance

Ensure that the quote you choose is relevant to the topic and adds value to your content. Avoid inserting quotes solely for decorative purposes.


4.2. Integration into Your Writing

Seamlessly integrate quotes into your writing. Introduce them appropriately and follow up with analysis or commentary to connect them to your main points.


4.3. Attribution and Citation

Always attribute quotes to their original authors and provide proper citations according to the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).


5. Common Mistakes to Avoid


5.1. Overusing Quotes

Relying too heavily on quotes can overshadow your voice. Use them sparingly to support your arguments, not replace them.


5.2. Lack of Analysis

Presenting a quote without analysis or explanation can leave readers questioning its relevance. Always follow up with your interpretation or discussion.


5.3. Misquoting or Taking Out of Context

Ensure that quotes are accurate and not taken out of context, as this can mislead readers and undermine your credibility.



6. Quotes in Different Contexts


6.1. Academic Writing

In academic writing, quotes are used to support arguments, provide evidence, and engage with existing literature. Proper citation is crucial to avoid plagiarism.


6.2. Journalism

Journalists use quotes to provide firsthand accounts, add authenticity, and present multiple perspectives within a story.


6.3. Literature and Creative Writing

In literature, quotes can be used to convey character voices, themes, and stylistic elements. They enrich narratives and provide depth to storytelling.



7. Punctuation and Formatting


Understanding the correct punctuation and formatting of quotes is essential:


Quotation Marks: Always enclose direct quotes within quotation marks.


Punctuation Placement: In American English, periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks, while colons and semicolons are placed outside.


Block Quotes: For longer quotes, format them as block quotes without quotation marks, and indent the entire block.



8. Ethical Considerations


Ethical use of quotes involves accurate representation, proper attribution, and respect for intellectual property. Misuse can lead to plagiarism, which carries serious academic and professional consequences.

9. Tools for Managing Quotes


Utilize tools like citation generators and plagiarism checkers to manage quotes effectively. These tools help ensure proper formatting and originality in your writing.



Conclusion


Quotes are invaluable in enriching content, providing evidence, and conveying complex ideas succinctly. When used appropriately, they enhance the quality and credibility of your writing. Always ensure relevance, proper integration, and ethical usage to maximize their impact.


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