Inspiration

Most of us appreciate someone or something which inspires us in some way. It might be inspiration to begin or complete a task, to make an effort to exercise or improve our health, to tidy up our houses or enrich our lives in some other way. Often inspiration comes in the form of motivation, an exterior force which compels results.

Inspiration is where we find it.

Recently I was pondering what it is that inspires/motivates us and happened upon some interesting remarks on the subject. There was a surprising amount of discussion on the subject from minds far wiser than mine. Apparently I wasn't the first person to examine the subject of inspiration.

The following includes a sampling of the wisdom I discovered. Some of these observations are truly inspirational:

"Do one thing every day that scares you." - Eleanor Roosevelt

"The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of all." - Walt Disney

"The unexamined life is not worth living." - Socrates

"It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it." - Lou Holtz

"If you're reading this…Congratulations. You're alive. If that's not something to smile about, then I don't know what is." - Chad Suggs

"Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you." - Thomas Jefferson

"To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer." - Mahatma Gandhi

"One must maintain a little bittle of summer, even in the middle of winter." - Henry David Thoreau

"When all is said and done, more is said than done." - Lou Holtz

"It's hard to beat a person who never gives us." - Babe Ruth

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." - Jack London

"Risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing." - Leo Buscaglia

"Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while your climbing it." - Andy Rooney

"Take it easy, but take it." - Woody Guthrie

"When you're at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on." - Theodore Roosevelt

"Ideas come from everything." - Alfred Hitchcock

"Talent is a wonderful thing, but it won't carry a quitter." - Stephen King

"We are wiser than we know." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

And, my personal favorite:

"The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did

at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life." - Muhammed Ali