Pearls of Wisdom....94

1. The difference between the impossible and possible lies in a person's determination.

2. Quarrels would never last long, if there were not faults on both sides.

3. When one wastes time, his heart becomes complacent and lazy.

4. Deceive someone today and you will regret it tomorrow.

5. The roots of happiness grow deepest in the soil of service.

6. Watch the company you keep------If you always live with those who are lame, before you know it you yourself will learn to limp.

7. Those who do not stand for something, shall fall for anything.

8. A conceited person never gets anywhere because he thinks he is already there.

9. Conscience is an inner voice which warns us Somebody is looking.

10. The greatest homage we can pay to truth is to use it.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1055

Ayahs of the Day:
By the clear Book: We have revealed it in a blessed night, for We have been actively warning: in it is distinguished every wise command as a decree from Us: for We have been sending messages, as a mercy from your Lord, the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing, Lord of the skies and the earth and all that is between them, if you know for sure. There is no God but the One, Who gives life and causes death, your Lord and Lord of your ancestors. [44: 2 to 8]

Hadith of the Day:
You should perform the late night prayer for verily it was the custom of the pious people before you. [Tirmidhi]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Knowing the good and evil in the heart is an obligation from which no one is exempt, so whoever does not know the good and evil in his heart is ruined. [Ibn Mas'ud radi Allah anhu]

Guidance of the Day:
Do not worry about finding your teacher. If you are sincere and really want God, your teacher will find you. We cannot plan how we are going to find a teacher. All you need to do is to make the most of whatever knowledge you already have, and sometimes in the strangest and most unlikely way you will be connected with one who can guide you.

Be not anxious about how the teacher will come to you. Simply ask the Lord for guidance, do the best you can with what you know, be open to possibilities, and the teacher will be given. And you will be with the teacher for precisely the right amount of time in precisely the right way for your particular evolution. It is a wonderful and fascinating Plan-------much bigger than we would expect or can understand. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Great souls care only for what is great. Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force; that thoughts rule the world. Nothing can make a man truly great but being truly good. Goodness is not tied to greatness, but greatness to goodness.
Once the ego is overcome peace follows. (Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani)

Pearls of Wisdom....93

1. Faith is not a pill you take, but a muscle you use.

2. The test of good manners is to be able to put up pleasantly with bad ones.

3. Common sense is seeing thing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done.

4. He who forgets the language of gratitude can never be on speaking terms with happiness.

5. Friends of Allah are those who are generous, they do not have grudges in their hearts and they have good opinions of the slaves of Allah.

6. The one who seeks faults in others is faulty himself.

7. Being ignorant is not so much as a shame, as being unwilling to learn,

8. The greatest remedy for anger is delay.

9. The person of few words doesn't have to recall so many.

10. A wise person changes his mind, a fool never does.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1054

Ayahs of the Day:
He alone is God in heaven and God on earth; He is Wise, Aware. Blessed is He Who holds control over heaven and earth, and anything in between them. He has knowledge of the hour and to Him will you be returned. [43: 84,85]

Hadith of the Day:
Do not belittle any good deed, even if it is just greeting your brother with a smiling face. [Muslim]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Real knowledge of what is good implies in dwelling in it, and real knowledge of evil implies departure from it. [Shaykh Abul Hasan al Shadhili]

Guidance of the Day:
It is a very positive sign that we seek guidance, for it indicates that we have a sense of a worthwhile path that we would like to follow, and that it is important to us to make the correct choice. To realize that guidance is available to us from a source within ourself is the most magnificent awakening of all.

All life contains within it the gift of guidance and instruction. As you learn to look into the elements of creation in the correct way, all of the lessons of the universe make themselves known to you. Your only need is to look into things simply. The humor of life is the reaching out that you do. The wisdom that you seek is but an aspect of your own nature. There is no secret to wisdom or guidance. It is as obvious as the new morning. You have not seen it fully because you have complicated it with your concepts. Your heart is your surest source of direction. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Do not wait for ideal circumstances, nor the best opportunities; they will never come. Conditions are never just right. People who delay action until all factors are favorable do nothing. Nothing at all will be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome. The soul of dispatch is decision.

Pearls of Wisdom....92

1. Taking control of the desires is the way to defeat Satan.

2. Never belittle any talk that involves absent people even if there is no harm in it due to the possibility of harm entering into it.

3. Should you resolve to do something then do it immediately before the resolve wanes and also you do not know whether you will be among the living or the dead tomorrow, so you must act now.

4. Treat others just as you would want to be treated and fulfill that which is due to them.

5. If you desire to live such that your religion is safe and your portion is full and your honor is sound, guard your tongue and never mention another's faults remembering that you yourself have faults and others have tongues.

6. Live treating others well and avoid aggression, and should others aggress against you leave them but in the best way.

7. Do good for the remainder of your life and you will be forgiven for what you did in the past. However, if you do evil in what remains of your life, you will be held responsible for what you did in the past and in the future.

8. The standard for happiness for a believer is whether the work he has done will help him achieve his overall goal of pleasing Allah and attaining Allah's forgiveness and mercy.

9. Everyone who claims to love Allah but does not comply with what Allah has ordered, his claim (to love Allah) is false, and everyone who loves but does not fear Allah has been deceived.

10. Sins bring death to the heart; Abandoning sins is the life of the hearts.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1053

Ayahs of the Day:
O My devoted servants! You have nothing to fear that day, and you will not sorrow, having believed in Our signs and acquiesced. Enter the garden, you and your wives, delighted: Dishes and goblets of gold will be passed around to them containing whatever souls desire and eyes find pleasing. And you shall abide there forever, for this is the garden of which you will be made the heirs because of what you used to do. There is much fruit therein for you to eat of it. [43: 68 to 73]

Hadith of the Day:
Keep your evil away from the people and that will be a charitable act from yourself upon yourself. [Muslim]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Just as God Most High made it customary to send winds as an announcement preceding the mercifulness of His cascading rain, so too did He make it customary to send the winds of invocation as an announcement preceding His lofty mercifulness. [Ibn Ata'Allah]

Guidance of the Day:
Nothing is too small to be undeserving of God's help. When we allow ourselves to be open to all avenues of God's guidance, we find Him everywhere. We may consider all people to be our teachers----some teach us what to do and some teach us what not to do-----not so much by their words, but by their actions. Surely this is God's way of guiding us. We can see God's lessons in action in the "little" experiences of everyday life, and He is continually etching His Truth, in the form of love, in our heart.

In order to make ourselves available to receive guidance, we must keep the mind clear and the emotions quiet. We should not ask the still, small voice to have to compete with chattering thoughts and turbulent feelings. When we worry, aggravate ourselves, or get upset, we block the path of our own perfect guidance, which is ready and willing to help us just as soon as we make space for it. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Lord, Save us from hotheads that would lead us to act foolishly, and from cold feet that would keep us from acting at all. Let us be not frightened by the problems that confront us, but rather give You thanks that You have matched us with this hour. May we resolve, God helping us, to be part of the solution, and not part of the problem.

Pearls of Wisdom....91

1. The main reason people get angry is because they are filled with themselves, their egos get in the way.

2. One can control anger by recognizing that nothing takes place without God's leave; there is no power or might except God.

3. If your actions hold you back, your lineage will not speed you up.

4. To speak about death is to speak about the urgency to live a faithful and wholesome life before death over takes.

5. The often remembrance of death gives one energy to achieve good deeds, and engenders seeking repentance right away when one slips or errs.

6. Laughter and amusement at the expense of the dignity of others is wholly inappropriate.

7. Never mock any creature of God, for it might be beloved to He who created it.

8. Those who mock people in this life shall be mocked in the Hereafter, for it is a Divine law that God recompenses people with the like of what they have done.

9. It is easy to say something that brings ruins upon its speaker. Learning how to control the tongue is an enormous discipline.

10. Time is a gift that God has given us, and what we do with it is the most important challenge. Once we realize we are accountable for our time, then every minute becomes vital.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1052

Ayahs of the Day:
Are they waiting for aught but the end of time, lest it come upon them suddenly, without their noticing? On that day, friends will be enemies to one another, except the conscientious. [43: 66,67]

Hadith of the Day:
Fasting is a shield from the Hell fire like one of your shields, shielding you while fighting. [Ahmad]

Wise Quote of the Day:
The sensual ego is blind and deaf to God. When patience and intellect go, your ego incites evil. [Mawlana Rumi]

Guidance of the Day:
Guidance is always available. We need only to ask, listen, and accept. The wisest counselor is your very self. No teacher, therapist, or psychic could ever know more about your path than God will tell you directly. The answers to our questions are waiting within us to be retrieved like precious pearls at the ocean floor. We do not need to seek any further than our own heart.We never really know in what way guidance will come; we just need to know that it will.

Our conscience is the most helpful and loving friend that we have in this life. The still, small voice will always tell us right from wrong. It is dedicated only to our happiness, and no matter what errors we have made, it will continue to guide us, even telling us how to undo the errors that we made in not having hearkened to its original gentle bidding. There is a great resource of inner knowledge that is released within us when we open ourselves to it. Such is the nature of Divine Guide. It happily offers its help to us through any channel that we find comfortable. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
You don't start living until you accept your mortality. As long as you think you have an unlimited time ahead, you don't worry about what you are doing. You act as if you'll have time for everything, but actually, you may find you've missed out on the most important things. There is an old saying about carrying death on your shoulder to remind you to live in the moment.

Pearls of Wisdom....90

1. Pleasure may be derived from sin, while happiness arises from the struggle to overcome sin.

2. A worthy character is acquired the way we acquire anything worthwhile, by diligent effort.

3. Traits of good character are-------humility, responsibility, diligence, patience, moral courage, honesty, and chastity.

4. Each of us has within us the seeds of fine character if we believe in ourselves and work to that end.

5. Traits of good character cannot be achieved without daily prayer. The goal is too high and the forces of evil too strong to gain success without guidance of God.

6. Be content with fewer things, content to use them over and over-------you cannot lose by doing what is right.

7. Inner happiness must be earned by building the character traits. A mark of true character is to smile through adversity.

8. Relationships are not a fifty-fifty proposition but a willingness to give ninety-percent. In giving whole heartedly you receive rich compensation.

9. Be a person worthy of love, turn to God for help, if you put your trust in God and ask for strength, success is assured.

10. Be great in act, as you have been in thought.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1051

Ayahs of the Day:
Whoever shuns remembrance of the Benevolent One, We send him a devil to be his companion. And they block them from the path, yet they think they are guided, until when one of them comes to Us, he says (to his devil), "If only there were a distance between us, as far as the ends of the earth," for it is a wretched companion. And it will not profit you that day, you having done wrong, that you are partners in the punishment. [43: 36 to 39]

Hadith of the Day:
Hurry to perform Hajj, that is, the obligatory one, none of you knows what may happen to him. [Ahmad]

Wise Quote of the Day:
All humans are dead except those who have knowledge, and all those who have knowledge are asleep except those who act according to their knowledge, and all those who act are deceived except those who are sincere, and those who are sincere are always in a state of worry. [Imam Shafi'i]

Guidance of the Day:
As you give ascent to God, your old treasures wither like the leaves of autumn. Fear not, for what is God's shall most certainly be returned to you in great abundance, and what is no longer yours shall bear you no further need or pleasure.

When you are willing to confess that your love for God is greater than that for the world, a helping hand of brilliant light is extended to you. The new life that awaits you is one of splendor and richness. You have consciously renounced your dark dungeon of self. You have released yourself from the prison of self involvement and accepted your freedom. You have assented to your divinity, a happy reunion of all that is beautiful, lovely, and true. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
He lives long that lives well; and time misspent is not lived, but lost. A useless life is only an early death. We are in this life as it were in another man's house. . . . In heaven is our home, in the world is our Inn: Do not so entertain yourself in the Inn of this world for a day as to have your mind withdrawn from longing after your heavenly home.

Pearls of Wisdom....89

1. Our knowledge is wasted by not acting upon it.

2. Our actions are wasted by committing them without sincerity.

3. Our wealth is wasted by spending on that which will not bring us reward,

4. Our hearts are wasted for being empty of the love of Allah Most High, and empty of longing to go to Him, and empty of peace and contentment.

5. Our bodies are wasted for not being used mainly for Ibadah and service of Allah Most High.

6. Our love is wasted for being directed towards something or someone and not towards Allah Most High.

7. Our dhikr (remembrance of Allah Most High) is wasted for it does not affect our hearts and our lives.

8. Our time is wasted for not being used properly--------to compensate for that which has passed, by doing what is righteous to make up for the past deeds.

9. Our intellect is wasted for being used for things that are not beneficial, instead of in contemplation or reflection.

10. Our service is wasted for being at the service of someone who will not bring us close to Allah Most High. [Ibn Qayyim al Jawziya]

LESSON OF THE DAY 1050

Ayahs of the Day:
And were it not that humankind would become a single community, We would have provided those who disbelieve in the Benevolent One with roofs of silver for their houses, and stairs for them to climb, and doors for their houses, and couches for them to recline, and decoration. Yet all of that is but the stuff of the life of the world; while the hereafter, with your Lord, is for the conscientious. [43: 33,34,35]

Hadith of the Day:
The head of the matter is Islam. Its pillar is prayer. And its apex is jihad. [Ahmad & Tirmidhi]

Wise Quote of the Day:
One's life must be lived in constant awareness of God's supervision, and one must tirelessly knock on His door with supplication and contrition. [Fethullah Gulen]

Guidance of the Day:
The source of courage is conviction. Conviction is the powerful inner knowledge that what we are doing is good, an awareness unassailable by any opinion or persuasion. Conviction is crystallized faith, and courageous acts are the natural expression of conviction. To the world, the person of conviction is a fool, a martyr, an ascetic. To the faithful, sacrifice is meaningless; the joy of following the promptings of the soul far outshines the meager loss that the world bemoans.

The world labels the acts of a saint as a sacrifice only because these are threatening to the treasures the world holds dear. You are asked but to let go of a meaningless life, one which always seemed to offer peace, but delivered only emptiness. When you testify to the whisperings of your deepest inclinations, the life of Light is opened before you. This new life, unlike the old, hides not behind the promise of peace, but justifies itself in the constant giving of serenity. There is no power in the universe that can stand between courage and its expression. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Enthusiasm is nothing more or less than faith in action. No one keeps up his enthusiasm automatically. Enthusiasm must be nourished with new actions, new aspirations, new efforts, new vision. Compete with yourself; set your teeth and drive into the job of breaking your own record. It is one's own fault if his enthusiasm is gone; he failed to feed it.

Pearls of Wisdom....88

1. A happy marriage is the foundation of a happy family, and a happy family is the foundation of a stable society.

2. If we are to have peace in the world, we must begin at home.

3. One of the most serious faults is ingratitude. We are corrupted not so much by anything as our inability to appreciate what we are gifted with.

4. Look beneath the surface of most people and you will find things to appreciate.

5. The partnership in marriage can be compared to a lock and a key which join together to form a functioning unit. Each is distinct, yet neither is complete in and of itself.

6. Material things bring convenience, comfort, and pleasure; yet they don't compare to the peace which comes from living within your income.

7. Happiness is the bud, blossom, and the fruit of good actions------it must be earned.

8. Inner-happiness is a happiness of spirit, serenity, tranquility, and peace of soul-------achieved through the obedience to the Creator.

9. Unhappiness arises from weakness of character, sin, failure to fulfill responsibility, or self-centeredness.

10. Happiness is through overcoming our weaknesses, performing our duties, losing our self-centeredness, and putting ourselves in harmony with eternal laws.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1049

Ayah of the Day:
Is it they who distribute the mercy of your Lord? It is We who distribute their livelihood among them in the life of this world, and have elevated some of them to ranks over others, that some may employ others as workers. But the mercy of your Lord is better than what they amass. [43: 32]

Hadith of the Day:
The covenant that is between us and them ( the disbelievers) is the prayer, whoever abandons it has committed an act of unbelief. [Tirmidhi & Ibn Maja]

Wise Quote of the Day:
While you are occupied with looking for the faults of others, how will you be able to taste the joy of the unseen world? [Shaykh Fariduddin Attar]

Guidance of the Day:
If you are struggling with a bad habit, do not be overwhelmed by the enormity of it, for you do not have to conquer all of it yourself. God will help you. All you have to do is your share, which is to make an initial effort. When, with your good intention, you open the door to help, God will pour into you His Will, which can conquer anything. At the point that you take that one step in a new direction, you have mastered the old habit or trait that was retarding your progress.

Having passed your test, you will no longer be faced with that particular trial, except, perhaps, in the form of "fried seeds"-------old desires that occasionally arise but which do not have life in them sufficient to reproduce themselves. These obsolete desires are simply the residue of past thought patterns which can no longer entrap us, but which we must patiently bear, like the ripples of water created by a stone that we have thrown into a pond. You may experience fleeting desires to do an old bad habit, but they are nothing more than old thoughts that will eventually fizzle out. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Help us, O Lord, when we want to do the right thing, but know not what it is. But help us most when we know perfectly well what we ought to do, and do not want to do it.

Pearls of Wisdom....87

1. The greatest dignity to be found in death is the dignity of the life that preceded it.

2. Good health doesn't guarantee anything, the wisest thing to do is to live everyday as though it will be our last.

3. There is always a dignity that proceeds from the life well-lived by preparing for the next world, and from the acceptance of one's own death.

4. Death makes more precious each hour of those we have been given, it demands that life must be useful and rewarding.

5. It is not in the last weeks or days that we compose the message that will be remembered, but in all the decades that preceded them.

6. Unique circumstances of death will be granted to someone with a unique personality.

7. The race of men is like the race of leaves. As one generation flourishes, another decays.

8. Death is easiest for those who during their lives have given it most thought, as though always to be prepared for its imminence.

9. It is possible to die resigned and reconciled, patiently and tranquilly, having experienced life more fully because of the constant awareness that life may soon come to an end.

10. The utility of living consists not in the length of days, but in the use of time, a man may have lived long, and yet lived but little. [How We Die, Dr. Sherman B. Nuland]

LESSON OF THE DAY 1048

Ayahs of the Day:
The One who created all species, and made ships for you, and livestock, which you ride, that you may mount their backs and remember the favor of your Lord as you sit firmly thereupon, and say, "Glory to the One who subordinated these to us, whereas we ourselves could not. And we will surely be returned to our Lord." Yet they concede to some of God's slaves partnership with God; indeed the human being is an open infidel! [43: 13.,14,15]

Hadith of the Day:
I left you on a bright path whose night and day are alike. No one strays from it after me except he is destroyed. [Ahmad & Bayhaqi]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Know that the education and purification of the heart are more important than concern for any other part of your physical being. The heart is like a king whose decision is law. The other parts of your body are like that king's subjects. [Imam Birgivi]

Guidance of the Day:
We can lose our awareness of our inner Light by accepting negative thoughts from the outside world. There is another way that we can lose our center. It is through curiosity. There is a very useful kind of curiosity that prods us on to explore, investigate, and discover, but there is also a wasteful form of curiosity that dissipates our mental energies. Let us concentrate on that which is ours, and leave the rest be. Curiosity simply draws overload of purposeless thoughts into our consciousness.

That which is ours is given to us only when we are willing to claim it. Like positive thinking and appreciation, we must work at remembering and acting on the Truth, and this is what integrity is all about. When we stand for Truth, we are integrated, whole, and firm. When we walk with integrity, we walk with God. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
God's wisdom is manifold because God is inexhaustible in His wonder, and in His mercy. There is a reason for everything, whether we can figure it our or not. Man's way leads to a hopeless end, God's way leads to an endless hope.

Pearls of Wisdom....86

1. The good you find in others, is in you too; and the faults you find in others, are your faults as well.

2. The world around you is a reflection, a mirror showing you the person you are.

3. To change your world, you must change yourself.

4. To blame and complain will only make matters worse.

5.What you see in others, shows you yourself-------See the best in others, and you will be your best.

6. Appreciate beauty, and you will be beautiful; Admire creativity, and you will be creative.

7. Love, and you will be loved. Give to others, and you give to yourself.

8. Seek to understand, and you will be understood.

9. Listen, and your voice will be heard.

10. Show your best face to the mirror, and you will be happy with the face looking back at you.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1047

Ayahs of the Day:
Were you to ask them who created the heavens and the earth, they would surely say the Almighty, the Omniscient created them; the One who made the earth smooth for you, and made roads for you thereupon, that you may find direction; and the One who sends water down from the sky, in due proportion; and We resurrect thereby a dead land, which is how you will be brought forth. [43: 9,10,11]

Hadith of the Day:
Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should speak good or keep silent, should be courteous and generous to his neighbor. [Bukhari & Muslim]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Humbling the ego comes through facing trials; in turn, through humbling yourself comes divine aid to vanquish otherness from the heart. [Ibn Ata'Allah]

Guidance of the Day:
Every day, each one of us is given many little opportunities to choose between peace and turmoil, between clarity and confusion, between love and animosity. I am speaking now about remaining quiet, firm, and loving in the midst of our daily activities, we can bless the world by remaining peaceful in all that we do.

We live is a world of multifarious thoughts--------all around us are thoughts, thoughts, and more thoughts. We must deal not only with our own thoughts, but with those of the people around us. Life in "the marketplace" is largely a matter of maintaining our center------our integrity-----in the midst of chaotic influences. If we are not careful, we can lose touch with our center, and we will have to work to regain it. If we enter activity with a strong and prepared attitude, however, we serve ourselves and all those we meet. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
He that falls into a sin is a man; that grieves at it, is a saint; that boasts of it, is a devil. Sin is to be overcome, not so much by direct opposition to it as by cultivating opposite principles. Would you kill the weeds in your garden, plant it with good seed; if the ground be well occupied there will be less need of the hoe.

Pearls of Wisdom....85

1. It is wrong always, everywhere and for everyone to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.

2. The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.

3. Everyone aught to bear patiently the results of his own conduct.

4. Expectation is the root of all heart ache.

5. For attractive lips--------speak words of kindness.

6. For lovely eyes--------seek out the good in people.

7. For slim figure-------share your food with the hungry.

8. For beautiful hair-------let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.

9. If you need a helping hand-------you will find one at the end of your arm.

10. You have been given two hands------one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1046

Ayahs of the Day:
By the clarifying Book-----We have made it an Arabic Recital that you may understand. And it is in the matrix on scripture, in Our presence, sublime full of wisdom. Should We pass you over with the Reminder, since you are a wasteful people? How many prophets have We sent among the ancients? But they mocked any prophet who came to them. So We destroyed the most ruthless of them, and so transpired the example of the ancients. [43: 2 to 8]

Hadith of the Day:
The true muhajir (the one who emigrates) is the one who avoids what Allah has prohibited. [Bukhari]

Wise Quote of the Day:
One who is granted the sweetness of intimate converse has sleep taken from him. [Shaykh Abu Madyan]

Guidance of the Day:
The path of purposeful action bears a double blessing for those who walk it. Right action is the key to the reestablishment of God consciousness within your world. The world has lost the awareness of God in its actions, and so it is through the action that awareness must be restored. Find for yourself a comfortable balance of stillness and activity, and serve the world from such a point of equilibrium.

Simply love God, hold to your purest intentions, and remain true to your inner Light. The mirror of right action is its willingness to spring forth from good intention. Let your deeds speak your message to the world. Your actions have a power to heal. When you chose the responsibility to heal the world, you instantly allow God to heal the world through you. This is your role as a messenger of Light. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Our greatest illusion is reliance upon the security and permanence of material possessions. The only security that a man can have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability. Security depends not so much upon how much you have, as upon how much you can do without.

Pearls of Wisdom....84

1. Egotism is the source and summary of all faults and miseries.

2. Every man is guilty of all good that he could have done and did not do.

3. Everyone goes astray, but the least imprudent are they who repent without delay.

4. God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well--------by living in accordance to His commands.

5. Is there anyone so wise as to learn by the experience of others?

6. Paradise is made for loving, tender hearts; hell for loveless hearts.

7. Act as if what you do makes a difference------it does.

8. Every body should do at least two things each day that he hates to do, just for practice.

9. Human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.

10. If you want a trait/quality act as if you already have it------fake it till you make it.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1045

Ayahs of the Day:
It is not appropriate for a human being that God speak to him but by inspiration, or from behind the veil, or by sending a messenger to reveal, by divine permission, what is God's will, for God is sublime, supreme wise. And that is how We inspired you spiritually by Our order: you didn't know what scripture was, nor faith, but We made it a light to guide whomever We will among Our servants. So you are certainly showing the way to a straight path, the path of God, to whom belongs what is in the skies and what is on earth; indeed, all matters wind up with God. [42: 51,52,53]

Hadith of the Day:
Part of the perfection of a person's Islam is his leaving that which is no concern of him. [Tirmidhi]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Look upon those who rest in graves, how they amassed wealth, how they built lofty buildings. How high must their hopes be? But in vain. Their wealth has vanished, the buildings are rubble. Why do you not learn from these things? [Imam Ghazali]

Guidance of the Day:
No job is better than another; the important element is the awareness that we keep while doing the job. In fact, practicing in God's presence is our only real job, no matter what job it is. Our only real company is Truth, and it is God Incorporated.

We have all come to earth for a reason--------to learn the lessons that the earth has to teach, and to bless the world through sharing, through our being and our actions, what we have learned. To desist from action is to miss or delay our opportunity to bless, and to go into action with God in mind is to bring God directly into the world to serve it. Real meditation begins when you open your eyes. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Teach me, O Lord, to put into action my better
impulses and make me straightforward and unafraid.
Grant that I may realize that it is the
trifling things of life that create
differences, that in the higher things we are all one.
And, O Lord, God, let me not forget to be kind!

Pearls of Wisdom....83

1. The injuries we do, and those we suffer, are seldom in the same balance.

2. One man with courage is the majority------ask Allah for courage.

3. Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.

4. When angry count to ten before you speak. If very angry count to one hundred.

5. Avoid sarcasm, for it is the language of the Devil.

6. Talk that doesn't end in any kind of action is better suppressed altogether.

7. The courage we desire and prize is not the courage to die decently, but to live manfully-------following the commandments of Allah Most High.

8. Determine never to be idle. No person will complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is amazing how much may be done if we are always doing and not wasting our time.

9. What we hope ever to do with ease, we must learn first to do with diligence.

10. Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation and freedom in all just pursuits.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1044

Ayahs of the Day:
The dominion of the heavens and the earth belongs to God, who creates at will, bestowing daughters on anyone at will, and bestowing sons on anyone at will, or combining sons and daughters for them; and God makes anyone sterile at will; for God is omniscient and all-powerful. [42: 49,50]

Hadith of the Day:
Leave that which makes you doubt for that which does not make you doubt, verily truth is truth is tranquility and falsehood is doubt. [Timidhi]

Wise Quote of the Day:
The realization of La ilaha illallah is one of the states of the heart that can neither be expressed by the tongue nor thought out by the mind. [Ibn Ata'Allah]

Guidance of the Day:
We pretty well know that if we clear our mind, we can bring order to our affairs; when our mind is clear, our room automatically becomes tidy, our car runs efficiently, and our checkbook is balance. What many people are not aware of, however, is that we can use our affairs to clear our mind. If we make the effort to smooth out our bedspread, to sit down and tackle our checkbook until it is balanced, or to clean out the back closet, we will find our mind also organized, almost as if we sat down to meditate.

This is so because in order to bring our affairs into alignment we must mobilize the state of mind to accomplish it. In other words, we are using life's "little" acts as means to bring clarity to us. This places what we do during the day in a whole new light. It means that everything is a way to discover and express God. It means that jobs and relationships are all good, for they are opportunities to practice becoming conscious. And so it doesn't matter so much what we do, then; the crucial issue is the consciousness that we bring to what we do. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Help me, O Lord, put away all pretence,
that I may never be hasty in my judgments,
but generous to all and in all things,
make me grow calm, serene, and gentle.

Pearls of Wisdom....82

1. You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.

2. All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.

3. Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.

4. Peace can never be attained through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.

5. In matters of style swim with the current; in matters of principles, stand like a rock.

6. It is our lives not our words through which our religion must be read.

7..Never spend your money before you have earned it.

8. Nothing gives a person more leisure time than being punctual.

9. To understand life, look backward; to live it, look forward.

10. The ultimate measure of character is found not in comfort but in challenge.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1043

Ayahs of the Day:
Hearken to your Lord before there comes a day from God that cannot be avoided; you will have no refuge on that day, and you will have no way of denial. So if they turn away, We have not sent you as a guard over them: your obligation is communication. Whenever We let man taste mercy from Us, he rejoices in it, but when ill befalls him because of what he himself has brought about, then man is a faithless ingrate indeed. [42: 47,48]

Hadith of the Day:
Your Lord is Magnificent and Generous, and is ashamed to turn away the hands of His servant when he raises them to Him. [Ahmad & Tirmidhi]

Wise Quote of the Day:
A heart open to good nature is like a very broad space to bury one's anger and rage. [Fethullah Gulen]

Guidance of the Day:
The aim of meditation practice is to learn to be able to meditate all the time--------not just when sitting with eyes closed, but right in the mainstream of life: in the family, in the office, and at the supermarket. God is to be found in silence, but He is also knowable while taking kids to school, negotiating for a higher salary, and cleaning the bathtub. The idea is to remember who we are------wherever we are.

Out best opportunities to practice the presence of God are in the situations in which we don't think He is. Real learning consists of remaining calm, peaceful, and aware of God in situations which once made us nervous, upset, or afraid. Through practice, we learn to remember our inner peace----meditate-----in the midst of a "threatening" situation. This is exactly the awareness that we came into the world to develop: to know, through experience, that we need not lose our peace in any situation, and that when we find God within our own heart, we find Him everywhere. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Keep me, O Lord, from all pettiness.
Let me be large at thought and word and deed.
Let me leave off self-seeking and have done with fault-finding.

Pearls of Wisdom....81

1. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.

2. We need to live according to what the Almighty commands and not by what the majority demands.

3. No great man lives in vain. The history of the world is but the biography of great men. Don't just live, try to live for something great.

4. Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.

5. Enthusiasm is the mother of effort, and without it nothing great was ever achieved.

6. Not what we have, but what we do is our kingdom.

7. Of all acts of man repentance is the most divine. The greatest of all faults is to be conscious of none.

8. Knowledge when applied makes one wise.

9. Can anything be so elegant as to have few wants, and to serve them one's self?

10. To believe in something and not to live it is dishonest.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1042

Ayahs of the Day:
While the requital for an affliction is a like affliction, yet whoever forgives and reconciles has a reward due from God; for God does not love oppressors. But there is a cause against those who defend after being oppressed. There is cause against those who oppress people and wreak injustice in the land, without right; for them there is a painful penalty. Yes if anyone is patient and forgives, that would truly be an act of bold will. [40 to 43]

Hadith of the Day:
Do not laugh much for laughing too much deadens the heart. [Timidhi & Ahmad]

Wise Quote of the Day:
You possess only whatever will not be lost in a shipwreck. [Imam Ghazali]

Guidance of the Day:
The awareness of God is useless unless it is put into action in the affairs of daily life. Life is about harmonizing our human relationships, conducting business with integrity, and loving. Meditation, prayer, and spiritual discipline are worthwhile only if our overall life gets better. If it doesn't, we are not praying or meditating properly. There must be consistency between meditation and action. To love God in prayer and then to criticize our neighbor is not consistent.

To the enlightened, or God-realized person, all of life is an opportunity to see God and to put God into action. There are no ups and downs, no comings and goings. We do not need to go off to a cave and renounce the world as a recluse, although there may be a time for retreating to do inner work. We do not need to sit for hours in lotus position. Before embarking on important undertakings, sit quietly, calm your senses and thoughts, and meditate deeply. You will then be guided by the Great Creative Power. After that you should utilize all necessary material means to achieve your goal. Pray as if it all depends on God, but work as if it all depends on you. Pray with your feet moving. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
One should seek for others the happiness one desires for one's self. What you would not wish done to yourself do not do unto others. The law imprinted on the hearts of all men is to love the members of society as themselves. Good actions are the invisible hinges on the doors of heaven.

Pearls of Wisdom....80

1. Words that enlighten the soul are precious than jewels.

2. Faith is not something to grasp, it is something to grow into.

3. Only he can take great resolves who has indomitable faith in God and has fear of God.

4. Prayer is a confession of one's own unworthiness and weakness; properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action.

5. Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.

6. The main purpose of life is to live rightly, think rightly, and act rightly.

7. It is better to suffer a wrong than to do it.

8. To keep your secret is wisdom, but to expect others to keep it is folly.

9. Write it on your heart that everyday is the best day in the year----------and make the most of it.

10. Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1041

Ayahs of the Day:
Whatever you are given is but provision for life in this world; what is with God is better, and more lasting, for those who believe and trust in their Lord. And those who avoid major sins and abominations and who forgive when they are angered; and those who hearken to their Lord, and practice regular prayer, and conduct their business by mutual consultation, and give of what We have provided them; and those who defend themselves when oppression afflicts them. [42: 36 to 39]

Hadith of the Day:
Be happy with what Allah has given you and you will be the richest of the people. [Tirmidhi]

Wise Quote of the Day:
One who adorns himself with the ephemeral is misled. [Shaykh Abu Madyan]

Guidance of the Day:
Grace is given you in the hour of trial. Those who understand the opportunity in adversity have discovered a secret that greatly hastens your homeward journey. Go further, in your understanding of life's hardships, until you find the jewel. Be not hasty to judge or flee from that which troubles you.

The situation has been given to you for your education. Would you flee from a lesson in a class that you requested for your improvement? Accept what is given in the spirit that it is offered, and your learning shall proceed well. You attract to you the events, persons, and experiences required for your growth. Blame not God, the world, or your brother for your predicament. These circumstances are for your betterment. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
God has two dwellings: one is Heaven, and the other in a meek and thankful heart. Every man is received in Heaven who receives heaven in himself while in the world, and he is excluded who does not. Entrance into Heaven is not at the hour of death, but at the moment of conversion.

Pearls of Wisdom....79

1. Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is.

2. It is unwise to be too sure of one's wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.

3. Let everyone try to find that as a result of daily prayer he adds something new to his life, something with which nothing can be compared.

4. In the matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.

5. It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.

6. Not being faultless ourselves, we shouldn't presume to probe into the faults of others.

7. If cooperation is a duty, then non-cooperation also under certain conditons is equally a duty.

8. As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world--------as in being able to remake ourselves.

9. Confession of errors is like a broom which sweeps away the dirt and leaves the surface brighter and clearer.

10. Constant development is the law of life. Be the change that you want to see in the world.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1040

Ayahs of the Day:
And among the signs of God are the ships running on the sea, like mountains: God could still the wind at will, and they would become immobile on the surface; surely there are signs in that for everyone with patience and gratitude. Or God could ruin them for what they have earned, and yet pardons much. And let those who dispute Our signs know there is no escape for them. [42: 32 to 35]

Hadith of the Day:
Protect yourself from the forbidden acts and you will be the most worshipping of the people. [Tirmidhi & Ahmad]

Wise Quote of the Day:
The sign of the righteous person, whose heart contains the fear and love of Allah, is being distant from what the Lord forbids and intent on what the Lord commands. [Imam Birgivi]

Guidance of the Day:
We must evaluate our experiences in a totally new way; We must refuse to see our sorrows, hurts, and conflicts only at the surface level. We must look deeper. There is no wasted time or purposeless experience. We must take the challenges that now face us and re-work them in our minds until we see them in a positive light. Until they come into that light, they are begging for our awareness, and as soon as we give it to them, they become golden.

This process of development is one of revising your understanding. It is you who must bring your understanding of your experiences into clarity. Holding your life in the Light shall bring you the peace for which you yearn. You must master the art of perspective. A slight shift in perspective is all that is necessary to see the wholeness of your training. Were you to see all of your experiences in the Love that they are given, you would cherish every moment of your life, for every moment is one of great opportunity. Be grateful. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess. We receive but what we give. The happy life is a life of continual generosity in which we go out to meet and acclaim the world.

Pearls of Wisdom....78

1. To understand is to pardon. Ask yourself "Will this matter a year from now." The weak can never forgive, forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

2. That man is rich whose pleasures are the cheapest.

3. The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.

4. Conscience is the inner voice that warns us that Someone is looking.

5. Errors no matter how popular, carry the seeds of their own destruction.

6. Be careless in your dress if you will, but keep a tidy soul.

7. Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.

8. Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it.You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.

9. A man is but the product of his thoughts--------Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.

10. There is a sufficience in the world for man's needs, but not for man's greed.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1039

Ayahs of the Day:
And whatever misfortune befalls you, it is because of what your hands have earned; and God pardons much. And you are not the ones to interfere on earth; and you have no protector and no savior but God. [42: 30,31]

Hadith of the Day:
The faith of a person will not be straight and sound until his heart is straight and sound, and his heart will not be sound and straight until his tongue is made straight and sound. [Ahmad]

Wise Quote of the Day:
The sign of commitment (tafweed) to God is the lack of distress when distasteful things befall. [Shaykh Abul Hasan Shadhili]

Guidance of the Day:
Sharpening of skills is the real value of competition. Many have lost sight of the purpose of healthy competition, which helps us to draw forth inner strength and encourages us to transcend our ideas of personal limitation. The real competition, however, is within the person, and not between people. We must each compete with-----strive to conquer----our notions of how much we can do.

When pushed to our limit, we usually find that we can do more than we thought we could. Our opponents in sports are actually performing a loving favor: they are working with us to support us in overcoming our weakness. In essence competition is cooperation. Looking at adversity in this way, we really can love our enemies. They serve us hard shots until we learn God's way of returning them. So mastered, we move on to a more formidable challenger until there are none that can defeat us. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls, and looks like work. We must look for the opportunity in every difficulty instead of being paralyzed at the thought of the difficulty in every opportunity. Times of stress and difficulty are seasons of opportunity when the seeds of progress are sown.

Pearls of Wisdom....77

1. Success does not consist in never making mistakes, but in never making the same one a second time.

2. The possibilities are numerous once we decide to act and not react.

3. The best of a person's breeding is how they behave in a quarrel.

4. We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future---------our Akhira.

4. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.

5. It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is-----------what are we busy about?

6. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.

7. Keep on doing good for goodness is the only investment that never fails.

8. When death comes it is never our tenderness we repent from, but from our severity.

9. When it comes to life the critical thing is whether we take things for granted or take them with gratitude.

10. Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1038

Ayahs of the Day:
If God expanded provisions for mortals, they would surely act unjustly on earth; but God sends down what God wills in a measured way. For God is aware of all mortals and sees them. And it is God who sends down the rain after they have despaired, scattering divine mercy; for God is the Protector, the Praiseworthy. And among the signs of God is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the creatures propagated between them. And God can gather them all at will. [42: 27,28,29]

Hadith of the Day:
Allah has more right than one to be shy before Him than the people do. [Bukhari]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Remembrance (dhikr) is the sign of the thankful believer. In this world the invokers face and heart are covered with beauty and happiness; and in the Hereafter his face is whiter and more luminous than the moon. [Ibn Ata'Allah]

Guidance of the Day:
God takes no joy in seeing His children suffer. We need to change the way we look at, or understand, adversity when it comes. Life takes on a new meaning when we see that it is not "out to get us," and that God is not our enemy, but our best------and only-----friend. Life's trials are the universe's way of lovingly teaching us valuable lessons that we need to learn--------the very reasons we have come to earth.

And so it is with the inner game of life. We want to grow; we want to improve our skills in life. To drift through life without challenges would be useless and boring. We would be like stagnant algae on a motionless lake. If you have mastered any art, sport, or field endeavor, you know the value of challenge, adversity, and discipline. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
The mind is its own place and in itself can make heaven of hell or a hell of heaven. You cannot control anything but your thoughts. So why not let go of trying to control what isn't yours to control to begin with.

Pearls of Wisdom....76

1. The one who is content and rejoices in his portion is truly rich.

2. The one who learns from everything and everyone is truly wise.

3. The one who governs his passions is truly powerful.

4. Be charitable in your thoughts, in your speech, and in your actions.

5. You can bear your own faults, why not a fault in others.

6. Your net worth to the world is determined by what remains after your bad habits are subtracted from your good ones.

7. Beware of false knowledge, it is more dangerous than ignorance.

8. Fashions are the only epidemics, proving that epidemics can be induced by tradesmen.

9. Hatred is the coward's revenge for being intimidated.

10. It is a grand mistake to think of being great without goodness. It is certain that there was never a truly great man that was at the same time truly virtuous.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1037

Ayahs of the Day:
And it is God who accepts repentance from servants and pardons sins; and God knows whatever you do. And God responds to those who believe and do good deeds, enhancing them from divine bounty. But there is agony for unbelievers. [42: 25,26]

Hadith of the Day:
Lewdness does not appear in anything except that it blemishes it, and modesty does not appear in anything except that it beautifies it. [Ahmad & Tirmidhi]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Do not sit idle, for indeed death is seeking you. [Hasan al Basri]

Guidance of the Day:
Adversity is our dear friend. It is the driving force that pushes us out of our comfortable nest and forces us to learn to fly on our own. We can really welcome adversity as a gift. Without it our growth is very slow. With it, we are transformed from fledglings into masters.

Every great person has a history of adversity. No one has ever made a contribution to humanity without first undergoing a certain amount of trials. Adversity can forge an immature soul into a powerhouse of strength. Every one of the saints came to be what they were through conquering challenges. It was not by chance that these great ones faced tremendous adversity------they were, in fact, made great by it. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
There are only two kinds of men: the righteous who believe themselves sinners; the rest, sinners, who believe themselves righteous. Other men's sins are before our eyes; our own behind our backs. We are all sinful. Therefore whatever we blame in another we shall find in our own bosoms.

Pearls of Wisdom....75

1. It is much easier to suppress a first desire than to satisfy those that follow.

2. Leisure is the time for doing something useful.

3. The great end of life is not knowledge but action.

4. Learn to be patient, for whoever is out of patience, is out of possession of their soul.

5. Peace and justice are the two sides of the same coin; if we do not maintain justice, justice will not maintain us.

6. In taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy; but in passing it over, he is superior.

7. The doors of wisdom are never shut, the doorstep to the temple of wisdom is the knowledge of our own ignorance.

8. There is a difference between happiness and wisdom, he who thinks himself the happiest man is really so; but he who things himself the wisest is generally the greatest fool.

9. Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.

10. Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools, who don't have brains enough to be honest.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1036

Ayahs of the Day:
You will see the wrongdoers in fear on account of what they have earned, which is falling upon them. But those who believe and do good works they will have what they wish in the presence of their Lord. That is the great blessing. That is the glad news God gives to faithful servants who do good works. Say, "I do not ask you any compensation for this, except affection among near of kin." And for anyone who brings about good, We will add goodness to it, for God is forgiving, appreciative. [42: 22,23]

Hadith of the Day:
The greatness of reward goes with the greatness of the trial. Verily, if Allah loves a people, He tries them. Whoever is pleased, shall have Allah's pleasure. And whoever is angered, shall have Allah's anger. [Tirmidhi]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Do not fix your hopes on your health, and do not laugh away life. Remember how they walked and now their joints lie separated and the tongue with which they talked is eaten away by the worms. [Imam Ghazali]

Guidance of the Day:
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. All of life's experiences are to be either enjoyed or learned from. This is a different perspective than we usually hold; we have been conditioned to believe that life is a combination of good and bad, and that the price we pay for the good is the bad. Yet there is another way of looking at our experiences.

The hurts and sorrows that we feel in life are not punishments from God; they are messages given to us by a loving God who is showing us exactly where we need to change in order to grow into serenity that is our nature. Understanding this truth entirely changes the way we look at our difficulties. Seen in this light, troubles turn into lessons, and grudges into Grace. Simply, it makes all of life good. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit. Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting.

Pearls of Wisdom....73

1. The one who overcomes his desires is braver than him who conquers his enemies, for the hardest victory is self.

2. You will find rest from vain fancies if you do every act in life as though it were your last.

3. Never take anything for granted, but rather take everything with gratitude.

4. Next to knowing when to seize an opportunity, the most important thing in life is to know when to forgo an advantage.

5. Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it is.

6. He that can have patience can have what he wills.

7. He that composes himself is wiser than he that composes a book.

8. He that is of the opinion "money will do anything" may well be suspected of doing anything for money.

9. He that won't be counseled can't be helped.

10. If passion drives you, let reason hold your reign.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1035

Ayahs of the Day:
God is kind to mortals, providing at will for anyone; being the Almighty, the All-capable. Whoever desires the fruit of the Hereafter, We increase his fruit for him; and whoever desires the fruit of this world, We give him some, but he has no share of the Hereafter. [42: 19,20]

Hadith of the Day:
The one who is happy to have Allah respond to him during hardships and difficulties should increase his supplications during times of ease. [Tirmidhi]

Wise Quote of the Day:
A man while he is alive, needs a decent house to live in respectfully. If he has such a house, he should be grateful and endeavor for a house in the next world. [Imam Abu Hanifa]

Guidance of the Day:
Seek not to become good through future actions, for this would create an evil of the old, a creation of fantasy, and not of fact. Work, rather, to transmute, or refine your understanding of your work. In so doing, you raise your deeds to the highest, a position which they have always merited, but which you have not always accepted.

It is of the utmost importance to relieve yourself of the judgment of the activities of your sisters and brothers. In so doing, you free yourself as well as them. We do not judge any soul, for we lose not sight of Divinity. It is very difficult for you to know the purpose of another's work. The mind must be made to function for you as an instrument of blessing. All that you see is a matter of interpretation. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
People are lucky and unlucky.....according to the ratio between what they get and what they have been led to expect. Happy the man who early learns the wide chasm that lies between his wishes and his powers. We must like what we have when we don't have what we like.

Pearls of Wisdom....72

1. Each of us fails from time to time. If we are wise, we accept these failures as a necessary part of learning.

2. Experience is the name given to our mistakes and failures. It's all right to make a mistake so long as we erase them and try again.

3. Don't worry about failure. Worry about the chances you miss when you don't even try.

4. Teaching kids to count is fine, but teaching them what counts is best.

5. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

6. Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends with them?

7. In the end it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years that really counts.

8. We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it.

9. Anger and grudge dwell in the chests of fools.

10. A penny saved is a penny earned. Beware of little expenses, a small leak can sink a great ship.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1034

Ayahs of the Day:
And as for those who dispute about God after God has been accepted, their argument is invalid with their Lord; and they are deserving of wrath, and there is intense agony in store for them. God is the one who sent down the Book in truth, and the balance. And what will make you understand the end of time may be near? [42: 16,17]

Hadith of the Day:
Everything has a reality to it. The servant does not reach the reality of faith until he knows that what reached him was not going to miss him and what missed him was not going to reach him. [Ahmad]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Take revenge on your greed with contentment, just as you take revenge on your enemy with retribution. [Ibrahim al Maristani]

Guidance of the Day:
Our lives are transformed not through becoming Divine, but through realizing that all of our experiences have served a Godly purpose. We cannot deny any element of our personal history, for each experience has played a vital role in our training as master souls. The world is more of a school than a playground.

We must learn to walk before we can run. We would certainly not return to grade school now, but neither would we throw away what we learned, for it has brought us to where we are now. The flower does not find itself unworthy because it was once a seed, nor does it judge other flowers in seed form. Are we not all flowers in various stages of opening? [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Lord, grant that I may seek rather
To comfort----than to be comforted;
To understand----than to be understood;
To love----than to be loved;
For it is by giving that one receives;
It is by self-forgetting that one finds;
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven;
It is by dying that one awakens to
eternal life.

Pearls of Wisdom....71

1. The one who does not read good books has no advantage over the one who cannot read them.

2. Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame.

3. The shortest distance between a problem and its solution is the distance between your knees and the floor. The one who kneels to Allah can stand up to anything.

4. The road to knowledge begins with the turn of a page.

5. Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.

6. The steps we take today create the path we'll use tomorrow.

7. If you dream long enough-----and work hard enough-----the good Lord will help your dream come true.

8. Knowledge is learning something everyday. Wisdom is letting go of something everyday.

9. The great thing in this life is not so much where we are, but in what direction we are moving.

10. We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1033

Ayah of the Day:
So then give the call, and be upright as you have been commanded, not following their wishes. And say, "I believe in any scripture that God has revealed. And I have been commanded to treat you all fairly. God is our Lord and your Lord too. We are responsible for our acts, and you are responsible for your acts. Let there be no argument between us, and the journey is to God." [41: 15]

Hadith of the Day:
No one guards his ablution except the true believer. [Ahmad]

Wise Quote of the Day:
The life of this world is ephemeral, and its gains will not last. Good deeds are the best of possessions in Allah's sight. [Abdullah Yusuf Ali]

Guidance of the Day:
Our hidden goodness and talents are released when we are willing to play the game of owning them, even if we are not fully convinced that they are ours. Our strength lie within us, it is only our permission that can activate their expression. Our problem is not that we are weak, but that we do not believe that we are strong. Although love is the only thing that is real, we have believed in negation for so long that we thought it to be genuine, when it is but an offshoot of a mistaken thought.

You have been conditioned to accept an identity which is not true. To supercede that conditioning, you must accept a new image of yourself--------one of Godliness and Beauty. You prove that image by your purposeful action. Use your "ordinary" actions to release into expression your purest thoughts, that the world may be uplifted. Renounce the patterns of a painful past, and come of age as a being of Golden Light. Know that you are supported in your efforts. Every act of harmony with your good nature brings you closer to your goal of true self expression. Be not confused by the ways of the world. They are the ways of ignorance. The ways of Spirit are those of joy and bounty. They lead to life and happiness. Choose the force with which you would align yourself. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
It is not an accident that the word compassion is 70 percent compass. When we let compassion be our guide, we will be serving ourselves as well as those who need to be served. Let compassion direct you. It will also direct others to you when you encounter a time of need. If that doesn't work try complaining all the time. It's only 40 percent compass, but it's your choice.

Pearls of Wisdom....70

1. Live simply, so that others may simply live.

2. He who loses money loses much. He who loses a friend loses much more. He who loses faith loses all.

3. Whoever does not endure a difficult beginning, does not have a bright ending. Without a struggle, there can be no progress.

4. People who know little are usually great talkers, while men who know much say little.

5. Don't limit a challenge, challenge a limit. Without faith nothing is possible, with it nothing is impossible.

6. Patience is not passive; on the contrary, it is active; it is concentrated strength.

7. No legacy is so rich as honesty. If once you forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizen, you can never regain their respect and esteem.

8. Those who are full of themselves, are likely to be quite empty. The greatest truths are the simplest; and so are the greatest people.

9. Love is patient; Love is kind. It does not envy; it does not boast. It is not proud, it is not rude. It is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered.

10. Love is giving freely, expecting nothing in return. It keeps no record of wrongs, It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1032

Ayah of the Day:
God has prescribed for you what God enjoined on Noah, by which We inspired you, and what We enjoined on Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, that you be steadfast in faith and not be disunited in it. What you call them to is too much for idolaters. God chooses for God whomever God wants, and guides to the divine whoever turns to God. [42: 13]

Hadith of the Day:
Allah gives respite to one who commits dhulm, but when He seizes him, He never releases him. [Bukhari]

Wise Quote of the Day:
The one who knows reaches the level of the service of God, which is the highest level to which anyone can aspire in this world or the Hereafter. To teach is better than praying. Knowledge brings people together. Action depends on knowledge. Those who are blessed are inspired by it. Those who disobey God are punished by the lack of it. [Imam Birgivi]

Guidance of the Day:
To wear a "magic mask" of loving words and deeds is to act in accord with our real nature. Once we begin to reap the benefits of our given love, we discover that it is our goodness that was real all along, and negation an imposter. We are like an actor who has played his role for so long that he forgot who he was before he began to play. Before we got used to the world's norm of defensiveness, it was very natural for us to be innocent and happy. As children,we lived in a blissful state, shining our light and love on all, regardless of their age, sex, or color. This is why even the hardest person melts in the presence of an innocent child, for children awaken our memory of the purity within ourselves which we long to once again express.

By God's loving Grace, the purity was never lost------it just became veiled by a smoggy layer of erroneous beliefs that we could be something less than divine. Our happy surprise is that all of the ideals that we cherish-----love, wisdom, kindness, compassion, and beauty------we already are; we seek after them only because they are the original aspects of ourselves that we came into life to express. Our purposeful positivity is the key to that expression. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
There is no situation that is not transformable. There is no person who is hopeless. There is no set of circumstances that cannot be turned about by ordinary human beings and their natural capacity for love of the deepest sort.

Pearls of Wisdom....69

1. Do a good deed, throw it into the sea; If the fish don't know. The Creator does.

2. Man's way leads to a hopeless end; Allah's way leads to an endless hope.

3. The one who correctly praises you is your friend. The one who criticizes you is your teacher. The one who flatters you is your enemy.

4. To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting.

5. Treat your friends and relatives as you do with your pictures------place them in their best light.

6. People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

7. Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid of standing still.

8. As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death.

9. There is nothing that impairs one's religion, diminishes one's respectability, ends one's happiness or preoccupies one's heart like arguing.

10. Learn; for man is not born knowledgeable and know that the one who possesses knowledge resembles not the ignorant; since he practices what he learns.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1031

Ayahs of the Day:
Whatever it is you differ on, it is God to judge; that is God, my Lord, in whom I trust, and to whom I turn; creator of the heavens and the earth, God has made for you mates from yourselves, and pairs of pasturing animals, creating you in this way. There is nothing like God, the Hearing, the Seeing; the keys to heavens and earth are God's, who expands the provision of anyone at will, and sets limits; for God knows every thing. [42: 10,11,12]

Hadith of the Day:
All humans are sinners, and the best of sinners are those who repent much. [Tirmidhi & Abu Dawud]

Wise Quote of the Day:
The duration of life is one breath. Take care that you master it and that it does not master you. [Shaykh Abu Madyan]

Guidance of the Day:
When we summon the courage to have a clear look at our hidden selves, we see how flimsily they were constructed, and we can enjoy the best kind of laugh as we watch them disintegrate. Real growth comes only through self-acceptance. As long as we deny any aspect of our being, we make believe that something could be outside of God. Approval by others is a limited acceptance; it is not self-acceptance. Approval by others may bring encouragement, but acceptance by my self brings freedom. In the long run, acceptance by others does not solve the problem of leaning outward for validation.

If we allowed social approval to make us happy, we are making ourselves vulnerable to social rejection making us unhappy. In other words, we are giving the power of our happiness to other people, which is never a wise investment. We need to clear ourselves with God, which is the only clearing that is really valuable. God's love is the surest thing in the universe. We cannot fool God; we can only try to fool our little selves. There is no reason to hide and no place to run. When we offer our lives to Him, He assumes full responsibility for our well-being. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Acts of kindness positively affect not only the immune system of the recipient but, almost unbelievably, that of the doer as well! When you are kind, you become stronger and healthier. People who are kind and compassionate tend to sleep better and have pleasant dreams, love themselves and are loved by others, and feel peaceful most of the time. It shows that kindness is one of our most natural states and a trait we were born to express.

Pearls of Wisdom....68

1. Success is a state of mind; when you believe you can-----you can.

2. Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or the faster man; but sooner or later the man who wins is the man who thinks he can.

3. Fortunate is the one who has developed self-control to steer a straight course toward one's objective in life, without being swayed by commendation or condemnation.

4. Whatever life may take from you, it will never be able to deplete the good and valuable things you have to give.

5. What you have lost you can afford to lose. What you have gained is something you cannot do without------be grateful.

6. The secret of abundance is to stop focussing on what you do not have, and shift your consciousness to an appreciation to all that you are and all that you have.

7. When the mind is ready, the teacher appears. Knowledge is the beginning of practice, doing is the completion of knowing.

8. In nine out of ten, the slanderous tongue belongs to a disappointed person.

9. Success in marriage does not come merely through finding the right mate, but through being the right mate.

10. You can't always have everything, but you can make the best of what you have.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1030

Ayahs of the Day:
And if God willed, God would have made them one people; but God admits to Divine mercy whomsoever God will; and the unjust have no protector and savior. Have they adopted protectors other than God? But it is God who is the protector, who gives life to the dead, and who has power over all things. [42: 8,9]

Hadith of the Day:
Allah's hand is full. (It's fullness) is not affected by continuous spending. [Bukhari & Muslim]

Wise Quote of the Day:
The thing that will aid one in learning fiqh (Divine Law) is peace of mind, which is acquired by reducing the attachments by taking what is essential and leaving what is not. [Imam Abu Hanifa]

Guidance of the Day:
Behind the outer masks of suits, make-up, smiles, and properness, we have all done rather sordid things, and behind all of our seemingly evil selves, we are wonderful, loving, and loveable people. After all the results are in, we are all pretty much equally horrible in the realm of horror, and equally loveable in the realm of love, which is the only realm that really counts, anyway. It is necessary to realize our errors. As soon as we realize or admit to ourselves that we have made a mistake, however, we decide not to repeat it, we have experienced an awakening, which is a cause for joy.

If we think about it clearly, it makes all the sense in the world for us to be useful and beautiful. Every element and every living thing has a meaning and a purpose. Every human being is unique and special. Surely we come into this world for a special function------one that each of us, as an individual, can fulfill. The fulfillment is made easy by our willingness to forgive ourselves. How much time we waste on holding ourselves to blame for past mistakes! The purpose of life is education--------not punishment. Once the lesson is learned, further education is no longer necessary. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
To have grown wise and kind is real success. If you wish to succeed in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius. They never fail who die in a great cause.

Pearls of Wisdom....67

1. Bitterness and grudge are heavy burden; Forgiveness and mercy are double blessed---------they bless the one who receives and the one who gives.

2. Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.

3. Ethics are simple matters of right and wrong. It is only the practice of ethics that is difficult.

4. The decision to do right lives fresh and fragrant in our memory. It is a story we will be proud to tell our friends and grandchildren.

5. Pain and suffering is inevitable, being miserable is optional. Patience is a bitter plant, but it has sweet fruit.

6. Family means sharing inadequacies, imperfections and feelings with each other and still loving each other.

7. When you are not perfect, forgiveness for yourself and others becomes important.

8. Kind words do not cost much--------yet they accomplish much.

9. You have to have faith that there is a reason you go through certain things. In the middle of every difficulty lies an opportunity.

10. Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world, indeed it's the only thing that ever has.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1029

Ayahs of the Day:
Even those who adopt other protectors, God is watching over them, and you are not in charge of them. And so We have inspired you, with an Arabic Recital, that you may warn the Mother of cities and those around her, and that you may warn of the day of assembly, in which there is no doubt; some will be in the garden, and some in the inferno. [42: 6,7]

Hadith of the Day:
Remorse is (the main part of ) repentance. [Ahmad]

Wise Quote of the Day:
God formally appeals to man in the revelation in three different ways-----threat, promise and the gentleness of Divine Love. Man's response to God's call is also of three kinds-------through hope, fear, and Love. [John Ahmad Herlihy]

Guidance of the Day:
The miracle of life is that the instant we realize that we can choose self-worth, purposefulness, and appreciation, the power of our love begins to shine a light of forgiveness on us that dissolves all of our hurts and make us whole as ever we were. We begin to see through unworthiness as if it were an amateur magician.

We can refuse to be abducted down the dark alley of negative thinking; we have walked down that path, and we know it leads to nowhere. Instead, we begin to acknowledge the deep compassion of the God within us, a sweet and merciful kindness that lies patiently awaiting its full expression through the door of an open heart. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
It is only possible to live happily-ever-after on a day-to-day basis. Happiness is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur everyday. The best way to secure future happiness is to be as happy as is rightfully possible today.

Pearls of Wisdom....66

1. Experience is not what happens to man. It is what a man does with that what happens to him.

2. Sometimes the battle is fought with fists and guns, but more often the most effective weapon is a simple act of love and courage.

3. Love is a wonderful thing. You never have to take it away from one person to give it to another. There's always more than enough to go around.

4. What you keep for yourself, you lose; what you give away, you keep for ever. The capacity to care is the thing that gives life its deepest meaning and significance.

5. The test of courage comes when we are in minority. You never really lose until you quit trying.

6. You have not lived a perfect day, even though you have earned your money, unless you have done something for someone who will never be able to repay you.

7. It is more blessed to give than to receive. Men are rich only as they give. He who gives great services gets great returns.

8. It is one of the beautiful compensations of this life that no one can sincerely try to help one another without helping oneself.

9. Blessed are those that can give without remembering and take without forgetting.

10. Great people will share, they will tell you their secrets. Look for them, call them on the phone or buy their books. Go where they are, get around them talk to them. It is easy to be great when you are around great people.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1028

Ayahs of the Day:
Thus does God inspire you, and those before you, God the Mighty, the Wise; to whom belongs what is in the heavens and what is in the earth, and who is the Exalted and Sublime. The heavens are nearly cleft from above, and the angels praise their Lord, and ask forgiveness for those on earth. God is indeed the Forgiving, the Merciful.[42: 3,4,5]

Hadith of the Day:
By Allah it is not poverty that I fear for you. But I fear that the world will be spread out before you as it was for the people before you. Then you shall compete in it as the people before you competed in it, and it shall destroy you as it destroyed them. [Bukhari & Muslim]

Wise Quote of the Day:
The devil does not come near to one whose heart is humble. [Sahl bin Abdullah]

Guidance of the Day:
There is a story of a woman who sold fish all her life and knew little else. One spring she was invited to the king's palace for a royal festival. When she was shown to her room, she found it filled with colorful flowers and sweet incense. She was repulsed. "How disgusting!" she complained; "please let me go back to sleep near my pile of fish." She chose the foulness of her fish, solely out of familiarity.

We, too, cling to our hurts, our grudges, our illnesses, our sorrows, and our angers as if they offered us comfort or serenity. In truth, all they offer us is the solace of familiarity and the surety of a self-image that we can hold onto in the face of the insincerity of a changing world. We accept the meager rewards of sympathy, agreement, self-righteousness, and attention, which are not really rewards, but snares. The clear price we pay is that of inner tranquility, joy, and freedom. The tragedy of life is that we do not believe that we have a choice. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Live in the moment and love with every breath. Your life will have meaning, and you'll help lead the way for others. So become a luminary and light the way. There are no limits to the effects your enlightened behavior will have. By shining your light you can help others to heal as individuals and as inhabitants of this planet.

Pearls of Wisdom....65

1. Good temper, like a sunny day, sheds a ray of brightness over everything.

2. We cannot control the tongues of others, but a good life enables us to disregard them.

3. Your own soul is nourished when you are kind; it is destroyed when you are cruel.

4. Our wisdom usually comes from our experience, and our experience largely from our foolishness.

5. One reason experience is such a good teacher is that it doesn't allow any dropouts.

6. We can trust that when things don't work out the way we want, God has something better planned.

7. A fool does in the end what a wise person does in the beginning. Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can do.

8. Wise people think without talking; fools talk without thinking.

9. Wealth from gambling quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows. Ill-gotten gain brings no lasting happiness; right living does.

10. When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1027

Ayahs of the Day:
We will show them Our signs throughout the regions of the earth and in themselves, until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth. Is it not enough that your Lord is witness to all things? They are indeed in doubt about the meeting with their Lord, Who nevertheless does in fact encompass everything. [41: 53,54]

Hadith of the Day:
A person's feet will not move away on the Day of Judgment until he is asked about his life and how he spent it, about his knowledge and how he acted upon it, and his wealth and how he earned and spend it, and about his body and how he used it. [Tirmidhi]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Practice patience; it is the essence of praise.
Have patience, for that is true worship.
No other worship is worth as much,
Have patience; patience is the key to all relief. [Mawlana Rumi]

Guidance of the Day:
It is time for you to understand the purpose of your life. You are a chalice for God's love and a vehicle for Him to bless the world. Realize your Divine purpose and your will is aligned with His. Goodness is the theme of all life. See the perfection in your life. As you give up patterns of evaluation and cynicism, you accept the benevolence of God. Pain is born of resistance, and joy is a function of the acceptance of God's whole and Holy Love for you.

As you release your fears, you are free to embrace the whole of the cosmos. If there is any reason for sadness, it is the erroneous thought that the Father would work against the needs of His children. This idea is inconceivable to God and to those who know Him. If a man's son asks for a loaf of bread, would he give him a stone? [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
If you think of fulfillment as coming from impressing others, making money, seeing your name in the papers, or showing your parents that you are not a failure, you will be disappointed because it will not bring you happiness. Self-admiration and glory-seeking serve as signs that you are not truly enlightened.

Pearls of Wisdom....64

1. When you are down to nothing---------Allah is up to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible, and receives the impossible.

2. There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situation.We cannot hold a torch for another person's path without brightening our own.

3. If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can't buy.

4. True love is that which can give the most without asking or demanding anything in return.

5. Three things in life are important------the first thing is to be kind, the second thing is to be kind, and the third thing is to be kind.

6. Wise sayings often fall on a barren ground, but a kind word is never thrown away.

7. Laziness may look attractive, but work gives satisfaction.

8. Time is a miracle and the right to live is a gift. Celebrate being alive by doing the best for every moment which is granted.

9. One who is too deeply in love with oneself ought to get a divorce.

10. We should speak only after our words have managed to pass through four gates: at the first gate we should ask ourselves, "are these words true?" At the second gate we ask, "are they necessary?" At the third gate we ask, "are they beneficial?" And at the fourth gate we ask, "Are they kind?" If the answer to any of these is no, then what we are about to say should be left unsaid.

LESSON OF THE DAY 1026

Ayahs of the Day:
Whenever We provide comfort for man, he turns away and withdraws in his own partiality; and calamity befalls him, then he becomes prayerful. Say, "Do you see if it is from God, and then reject it? Who is more astray than he who remains cut off, alienated?" [41: 51,52]

Hadith of the Day:
You are not better than people (of other races) unless you excel in piety (taqwa). [Tirmidhi]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Moral character consists of thinking little of whatever comes from you to God and regarding great whatever comes to you from Him. [Abdullah bin Muhammad al Razi]

Guidance of the Day:
As we begin to see that God is really working for us, we see that His only purpose is our happiness. His commitment to our well-being is so unconditional that if we veer from that purpose and step out of the flow, He is right there to guide us back into it. We must know that for every brake about to wear out, it is God's will to flash that little red light. But it is we who must mobilize our will to follow up the guidance with action. We must "pray with our feet moving." This is the alignment of the Will of God and the will of man. This is when my will becomes Thy will, and the two are one

Life is easy. Love is easy. God is easy. It is we who make them complicated. When our intentions are attuned with the Will of God, we experience life as smooth sailing. Somehow our ship is guided around the reefs, and our course is straight for the port. When our seeing is out of focus with God's vision of Perfection, we experience conflict and turbulent waters. We cannot buck God. We can try, but as the popular play affirms, "Your arms are too short to box with God." Actually, if we really knew that God is always working for our happiness and peace, why would we want to box with Him in the first place? If we quit trying to grab His arms, we might just find Him hugging us. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Charity is never lost: it may meet with ingratitude, or be of no service to those on whom it was bestowed, yet it ever does a work of beauty and grace upon the heart of the giver. True charity is the desire to be useful to others without thought of recompense.
If you desire light, be ready to receive light. Nurture vainglory and become separated from light. If you long for a way out of this prison, bow down in worship and draw near. [Mawlana Rumi]

Pearls of Wisdom....63

1. If anyone speaks badly about you; live so none will believe it.

2. Live your life so that there will be those who will thank God that you lived.

3. Form good habits; they are just as hard to break as bad ones.

4. The real measure of your wealth is what you have invested in eternity.

5. It is in giving, not in seeking gifts, the heart is blessed.

6. He dies not who gives life to learning.

7. Who are learned? They who practice what they know.

8. Anger is a condition in which the tongue works faster than the mind.

9. Freedom is not the right to do as you please, but the liberty to do as you should.

10. Do not be sad about the things you want and you don't get. Think of the things you don't want and you don't get.