THE GIFT OF WORDS: 80+ Best Quotes on Happiness, Love and Motivation AND 10 True Inspirational Stories -Compiled

By Surabhi Surendra www.womanatics.com

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PART I Introduction
Lives of great men all remind us we can make our lives sublime. And, departing, leave behind us footprints on the sands of time Henry Wadsworth

We often draw inspiration from people who have impacted our lives in some manner, big or small. We look up to them who influenced us to become who we are today. Their words are the aphorisms that have become Gospel for millions of us. The real greatness of these aphorisms is that no matter when or how you read them, they always resonate with utter wisdom. In this ebook, I have carefully picked up the sayings and quotes of the legends that have given me the strength, courage and optimism whenever I needed it. These words have been my guiding light since the time I started maintaining a diary which dates back to sometime around the summer of 1994. I hope you too enjoy reading these pearls of wisdom. Read them out loud anytime you think it is getting dark and gloomy inside. For more such goodness, please visit www.womanatics.com and follow me @womanatics. To drop a line about this compilation or simply to say hello, please shoot me an email at my email id - surabhi at womanatics.com.
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Happiness

Happiness is the very essence of our living. People are either happy or not. There is no state in between. Our every action is our endeavour to seek happiness. Yet, to some, happiness usually eludes. May be because they dont know what makes them happy. I always believe happiness lies in the small, little things that one finds along the road side of the journey of life. Happiness is not a destination. It is the journey itself. It is the state. If I do not want anything to change about my today, it means I am content with it. I am happy. Happiness is the flower that blooms at the very first ray of the dawn. It withers away with time but reappears again next morning. It is the innocuous laugh of an infant that keeps constantly converting into crying and screaming. It lies in the surprise gift! It can be found in an envelope that reaches you after a fortnight and shows the petite, curvy hand writing of your old mother. It can be experienced in the thud of the claps you get as you step onto the stage or in the shine of the eyes of your boss when he pats you saying, congratulations, you did it! Happiness is finally your state of mind. How you feel at a moment defines your happiness.
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Best Quotes
Angels can fly because they take themselves so lightly. - G.K. Chesterton If you think sunshine brings you happiness, then you haven't danced in the rain. Anonymous Enjoy your own life without comparing it with that of another. - Marquis De Condorce A clear conscience is the softest pillow in the world. NRN Murthy Dance as though no one is watching you. Love as though you have never been hurt before. Sing as though no one can hear you. Live as though heaven is on earth. - Souza Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. Nathaniel Hawthorne The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up. - Mark Twain Be glad of life, because it gives you the chance to love and to work and play and to look up at the stars. Henry Van Dyke Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. - Nathaniel Hawthorne We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have. - Frederick Keonig Eden is that old-fashioned house we dwell in every day Without suspecting our abode until we drive away. -Emily Dickinson Happiness always looks small while you hold it in your hands, but let it go, and you learn at once how big and precious it is. - Maxim Gorky Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself. - Ralph Waldo Emerson Happiness isn't something you experience; it's something you remember. - Oscar Levant Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony. Thomas Merton

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Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, youll get to enjoy it second time H. Jackson Brown Jr Never harbour grudges; they sour your stomach and do no harm to anyone else. Robertson Davies Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed. Storm Jameson I keep telling people, smile, you will look young; it is an exercise! If you dont smile, you face will look dull Asha Bhosle Everyone should wake up in the morning and say a big thank you to the man up there for giving us another 24 hours to enjoy our gift. J.J. Valaya If you want to be happy, be. Leo Tolstoy The pleasantest things in the world are pleasant thoughts: and the great art of life is to have as many of them as possible. - Montaigne We need both happiness and sorrows to lead a colourful life. After all, a rainbow is formed only when there is sunshine and rain. Anonymous Happiness grows at our own firesides and is not to be picked in strangers gardens. Douglas Jerrold Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy. Thich Nhat Hanh If you can not be the poet, be the poem. David Carradine If you want others to be happy, practise compassion. If you want to be happy, practise compassion. Dalai Lama

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LOVE

I Love You. This is probably the most magical phrase in the world. This one statement can actually change the course of life. Such is the power of love. If it was not love, we would not have had many great poets, artists, film makers and writers. Every human has a basic need the need to be loved. An infant is born with this need and if he is deprived of it, he grows up to possess a hard view of the world. Love is not just about romance or the attraction between two genders. It is a soft feeling that one living being carries for the other. It is a bond that binds two beings together while it the same feeling that separates few relationships from others. What separates a mother from other relations? Love. What binds two siblings together for life? Love. What makes two people ready to die for each other or to sacrifice anything without any regrets? Love. But this is the beauty of true love. It does not ask for sacrifices. It lets you be you. It lets you grow.
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Best Quotes
I am nothing special; just a common man with common thoughts, and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten. But in one respect I have succeeded as gloriously as anyone who's ever lived: I've loved another with all my heart and soul; and to me, this has always been enough. The Notebook (movie) One does not fall in or out of love. One grows in love. Leo Buscaglia The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. Helen Keller At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet. - Plato If you want to be loved, be lovable Ovid Let us always meet with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love Mother Teressa Immature love says: 'I love you because I need you.' Mature love says 'I need you because I love you. - Erich Fromm The ultimate test of a relationship is to disagree but to hold hands. - Quoted by Alexandra Penney in Self A bell is no bell 'til you ring it, A song is no song 'til you sing it, And love in your heart Wasnt put there to stay Love isnt love 'Til you give it away. -Oscar Hammerstein, Sound of Music. Love means not ever having to say you're sorry. - Erich Segal You know you're in love when you don't want to fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams. - Dr. Seuss Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye. - H. Jackson Brown, Jr. 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. - Samuel Butler

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Man always wants to be a womans first love, woman likes to be a mans last love. Oscar Wilde Set your love free, if it comes back its yours; if not, it never was. Richard Bach Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it. Buddha People love others not for who they are but for how they make them feel. Irwin Federman You know it's love when all you want is that person to be happy, even if you're not part of their happiness. Julia Roberts Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. - Jalal ad din Rumi Developing the mind is important, but developing a conscience is the most precious gift parents can give to their children. John Gray You know you are in love when you dont want to fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams. Dr. Seuss Love is missing someone whenever you are apart, but somehow feeling warm inside because you are close in heart. Kay Knudsen

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MOTIVATION

Motivation is doing. It is the action. The intent of an act may be different but the force is always the motivation. No act can be performed without a motive though the reasons and the factors of the motivation can be varied. Motivation can come from fear. It can be born of a challenge, a question or simply a lure. Only a person really knows what truly inspires him. What is a source of motivation for one person can be sheerly demotivating for another. But whatever the source may be, motivation begins from within. We chase things to bring them to us, to get us what we have dreamt of and wished for and needed. It is we who find out what we love or what makes us happy and then we get up to get it. Your love for happiness will prompt you to sail through unknown waters and that is motivation.
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Best Quotes
Dreams come true; without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them John Updike Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase. Martin Luther King, Jr. Once in a while it really hits people that they dont have to experience the world in the way they have been told to. Alan Keighley The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. Eleanor Roosevelt Dream as if you'll live forever... live as if you'll die today. James Dean Dream your dreams with open eyes and make them come true. T. E. Lawrence Aim High, Aim far. If you miss the moon, you will fall among the stars. Les Brown This world we are living in is mighty hard to beat, we get a thorn with every rose but arent the roses sweet? Anonymous All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them. Walt Disney Others can stop you temporarily; you are the only one who can do it permanently Zig Ziglar There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. Albert Einstein And in the end, its not the years in your life that count. Its the life in your years. Abraham Lincoln When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us. Alexander Graham Bell Your time is limited, so dont waste it living someone elses life. Dont be trapped by dogma which is living with the results of other peoples thinking. Dont let the noise of others opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. Steve Jobs
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Take care of your body. Its the only place you have to live. Jim Rohn One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon-instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today. Dale Carnegie It is never too late to be what you might have been. George Eliot Dont ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who are alive. Howard Thurman The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going. Ralph Waldo Emerson You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People cant do something themselves, they wanna tell you you cant do it. If you want something, go get it. Period. Pursuit of Happyness (Movie) 20 years from now you will be disappointed by the things you didnt do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. Mark Twain Your worth consists in what you are and not in what you have. Thomas Edison We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all of the power we need inside ourselves already. J.K. Rowling We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. Aristotle When you move beyond your fear, you feel free. Spencer Johnson The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if youre willing to work. Oprah Winfrey Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. Dale Carnegie If you run you stand a chance of losing, but if you dont run youve already lost. Barack Obama Ive missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. Ive lost almost 300 games. 26 times Ive been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. Ive failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. Michael Jordan
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When it is dark enough, you can see the stars. Ralph Waldo Emerson A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Lao Tzu If you think you have it tough, read history books. Bill Maher Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other. Abraham Lincoln Meditate. Live purely. Be quiet. Do your work with mastery. Like the moon, come out behind the clouds! Shine. Buddha You must be the change you wish to see in the world. Mahatma Gandhi Your talent is Gods gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God. Anonymous I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. Nelson Mandela When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream. Paulo Coelho If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them. Henry David Thoreau Some men see things as they are and say 'why'? Others dream things that never were and say 'why not? George Bernard Shaw

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PART II

TRUE INSPIRATIONAL STORIES Of Failure and Success

(They have inspired generations and still continue to do so.)

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Mahatma Gandhi

A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes. Known as the father of the nation, this world hero had inferiority complex about himself. He was a mediocre student. After successfully passing the law examination, he found it difficult to speak to even a small group and thus practising law was a distant dream. He got his barrister degree from England and realized that in Rajkot (his hometown) lawyers knew more about Indian laws so he headed to Mumbai to learn about Indian laws. During his first cross examination in court room, he failed to recollect his thoughts and collapsed in his chair. He was even rejected for a part time teaching position in a high school in Mumbai. He, ironically, discovered his flair for writing memorials and petitions. He returned to Rajkot and started working by writing petitions. That is when he got a job offer from South Africa and he headed there. That event changed his life along with millions of others.

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Oprah Winfrey

As you become more clear about who you really are, you'll be better able to decide what is best for you - the first time around. One of Americas most powerful women, Oprah Winfrey, definitely had a very traumatic start. She was molested by many of her relatives and men at a tender age of nine. In her own words, she was sexually promiscuous as a teenager and gave birth to a baby boy who died in infancy. But with her grit, determination and talent, she moved on to win numerous prizes in dramatics and oration competitions. She started working while in college and continued working as an anchor. Soon she joined WJZ-TV News as a co-anchor. 8 years later she joined another network in Chicago and hosted a half an hour morning show that became an instant hit. Realizing its popularity it became a one hour program and thats how The Oprah Winfrey Show was born. There has been no looking back for her since then.

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Amitabh Bachchan

No one can go through life without their share of knocks. I am no different from any other. The legendary Indian Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan was rejected several times before being offered a role in movies. When he reached Mumbai to give wings to his dreams of acting, he approached many film directors but was rejected by all because of his height. He was 63 and the directors thought he was too tall for an Indian film lead actor role. Dejected, he decided to try elsewhere and approached All India Radio for the position of a news anchor. There too he was rejected as the producers thought his baritone voice was not suitable for news anchoring. But the actor did not give up. He was offered the lead role in the movie Saat Hindustani for which he even bagged an award for best male debut but his problems did not ease. His multiple films came and flopped. Finally it was his 13th film that made him the superstar and today he rules the Indian film industry.

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Steven Spielberg

I never felt comfortable with myself, because I was never part of the majority. I always felt awkward and shy and on the outside of the momentum of my friends' lives. The name which is now synonymous with many highly successful and record making, acclaimed movies had his share of troubles too. Apart from the fact that he was embarrassed of publicly confessing his religious practice he even got bloody nose twice, after being knocked down in school. For his graduation studies, he applied to University of Southern California School of Theatre, Film and Television twice but was rejected. He anyways continued his studies at California State University, Long Beach. After he became famous, USC awarded him an honorary degree in 1994 and in 2002, thirty five years after starting college, Spielberg finished his degree via independent projects at CSULB, and was awarded his B.A.

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Michael Jordan

If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. The most notable and revered Basketball player of all times, Jordan was rejected in Varsity basketball team as the organizers thought that at 511 he was too short to play at that level. At this, the player apparently locked himself in a room and cried his heart out. To prove his worth, Jordan became the star of Junior Varsity team. In the coming summer he grew 10 cms taller and trained rigorously. He averaged around 20 points per game and finally got a position in McDonalds All American team and then began his journey to ultimate success.

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Walt Disney

All the adversity I've had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles have strengthened me... You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you. The animation industry Czar had gone bankrupt! After starting The Alice Comedies series, Walt ran out of money and his company Laugh O - Grams went bankrupt. But undeterred, Walt moved to California and again re-launched the series. In his early years, Walt had worked on the rail roads selling newspapers, sodas and popcorns to the travellers. Later he joined Red Cross and went to France where he drove Ambulance and chauffeured Red Cross Officials. Though interestingly, his ambulance was covered with Disney Cartoons.

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Soichiro Honda

Success represents the 1% of your work which results from the 99% that is called failure. The master mind of Honda Motor Company was rejected by Toyota for his designs! The self made engineer designed pistons and went to sell them to Toyota only to have them rejected. He then worked on them hard and after redesigning them, he won the contract with Toyota and established a company to build pistons for them. His company was later destroyed in an earthquake. Also, to redesign his rejected pistons he had to pawn his wifes jewellery. The determined man had ambitions and will power to accomplish so undeterred he focussed on making bicycles with small engines and established the worlds largest motor bike selling company.

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Jack London

I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The author of the cult book Call of the Wild was born in grim poverty. He had very less formal education and was even a local urchin. It was his deep interest in reading books that motivated him to finish his education formally. He received around 600 rejection slips for his first story. His novel Martin Eden is a story of his own adventures in getting his stories published. His story The Law of Life (now touted as a masterpiece) was rejected by Atlantic editors along with several other written pieces. On visiting his house in California, which is now a memorial named House of Happy Walls, one can see the 600 rejection slips that he received from various publishers.

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Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen

Most fears cannot withstand the test of careful scrutiny and analysis. When we expose our fears to the light of thoughtful examination they usually just evaporate. The authors of arguably the best non-fiction, self help book series were rejected more than a hundred times by the publishers. The book that now has 65 titles to its credit and that has sold over 80 million copies world wide was rejected 140 times by the publishers on account of being overly positive. This book is none other than the famous Chicken Soup For The Soul. Their agent returned their manuscript back to them saying it would never be published. The authors took the manuscript to American Book Sellers Association Convention where there were around 4000 publishers with booths and walked from booth to booth for three days. Finally, on third day a small publisher from Florida decided to have a look at it. When the publisher decided to publish it, the authors did not even get an advance. The book was not on the best selling list for about 14 months but when it finally came on the list, it stayed there for consecutive three years!
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Rabindra Nath Tagore

The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence. Asias first Nobel Laureate and the genius who gave the name Mahatma to M.K. Gandhi never had a formal education. And he went on to win the most coveted Nobel Prize of Literature for his master piece Gitanjali. He never approved of the formal education system in schools calling them boring. He rather insisted on a dynamic model of education which he created in his Shantiniketan. He went to several schools only to dislike them and drop out of them. He even went to University College, London to study Law but came back without completing his studies as he did not like the weather! He also received knighthood in 1915 but he surrendered it in 1919 as a protest against the Jalianwala Bagh Massacre (a tragic even during Indias struggle for Independence where British troops killed 400 innocent Indian demonstrators). He later wrote Gitanjali: offering of songs, that tried to find inner calm and seeked divine and human love, and won the most sought after Nobel Prize of Literature.
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AFTERWORD
A book is a gift you can open again and again. Garrison Keillor There are happy times and then there are the dark days. This inevitable cycle recurs in everyones life. What is ignored and snubbed in lighter days becomes significantly inciting in bleak times. That is when wisdom plays an important role. It tells you nothing is permanent; that life is how one decides to build it. So many times, we know the truth but fail to understand it. We all know I can if I think I can but forget to put it in action. It is all just a game of what comes to mind. Think about sorrows and you will have problems dancing in your eyes. Imagine solutions and there will surely be a path in front. Lessons given by eminent leaders, people who ventured out in to the untamed worlds, are the roots of this wisdom. Time and again, there is a need to come back and read these valuable teachings to focus on the important things; to shrug off the unnecessary and do the necessary. This ebook is one such endeavour. It is compiled with the aim of giving you companionship whenever you need someone to tell you things that you may already know but still want to be told. If you have found it useful or you think it can be of help to anyone, please dont hesitate in spreading the word around. Once you have your copy, please feel free to share it with others. Knowledge after all increases with sharing. I am also eagerly looking forward to hear an honest feedback of this ebook. Please let me know your views at womanatics. I earnestly hope the following quote holds true for this ebook as well. You know you have read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend. Paul Sweeney

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