Words to Live By

Sometimes I have nothing to write about. Nothing to say...to share...to inspire. In those times I turn to my collection of quotes. Ever since I trained and ran my first marathon {now there's a story} I have been a collector of quotes. Everything from books to chinese fortunes to scribblings on scraps of paper...quotes energize, entertain and motivate me.

Several years ago I found this little gem titled "The Third Book of Words to Live By". Found it at a yard sale {Ang, this is one of MY treasures!}It is a spectacular book filled with quotes and short stories from people like Robert Louis Stevenson, Alfred Noyes and Florence Nightengale.Here is a bit of the introduction by William Nichols...

"The Words to Live By page has been a regular feature in This Week for 15 years. A thousand of these brief articles have appeared in This Week, and been read by many among the 14 million families who regularly receive the magazine each Sunday. Inspiration is in danger of becoming a lost art. The national magazines seem to have lost heart. In the headlong pursuit of readership they have bcome self-concious, or cynical, or sophisticated. And in the process I believe they have lost that strong, outflowing force of faith and leadership which once united them so intimately with the American people. Man does not live by bread alone, but by faith, by admiration and by sympathy. It is my greatest hope that, in the shared experiences on the following pages, you will discover something of all three." 

                                                                                        -William Nichols,  Autumn 1961

Love that. Love this little book. Love reading the stories...even though they are dated, they inspire me today. And isn't it neat that Nichols was so concerned with "preserving" inspiration? Very smart man.


Here it is 2010. Inspiration is definately not a "lost art". There are hundreds of thousands of shows, magazines, books and blogs oozing with enough inspiration to last years and years.

I, for one, am so grateful for all that inspiration. I am grateful that Mr. Nichols cared enough about it to compile my book.

I am leaving you with a bit of inspiration today taken from Words to Live By...

"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, assering itself with ever-growing insistency."  -Daniel H. Burnham