It is better to believe that people possess good qualities than to assert that they do not.

True goodness springs from a man's own heart. All men are born good.

Good is all that serves life, evil is all that serves death. Good is reverence for life .. and all that enhances life. Evil is all that stifles life, narrows it down, cuts it to pieces.

There is nothing truly good and beneficial unto man, but what makes him just, temperate, courageous, liberal.

What belongs by nature to the superior man are benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and knowledge.

Humility, liberality, chastity, meekness, temperance, brotherly love, and diligence.

Prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance.

Wisdom, compassion, and courage.

No one can be redeemed by another. No saint is able to shield a man from the consequences of his evil doings. Every one of us must become our own redeemer.

The sad truth is that the most evil is done by people who have never made up their minds to be either good or evil.

The evil life is really the thoughtless life.

Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good.

Pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy and sloth are the seven capital sins.

Five great enemies to peace inhabit within us: avarice, ambition, envy, anger, and pride.

Despair, resisting the known truth, envy of another's spiritual good.

Power corrupts the few, but weakness corrupts the many.

If a person asks something that is evil, do not tell him. If he wants to tell something evil, do not ask. If he speaks about evil, do not listen. If he wishes to quarrel, do not have discourse with him.

Are we doing God a favour by our belief. It is only through our actions, thoughts and attitude to others that we can hope to please God.

There is a nice story I heard about the Prophet Abraham on this. One day Abraham was sitting outside his house when he saw a very old man, walking with the aid of a stick, passing by. Good as he was, Abraham went to that man and said, "Come in and and accept my hospitality for today. Have a wash and some food, take rest for the night and go in the morning". The man said that he would be fine under the nearby tree. However, Abraham persuaded him to come along and accept his hospitality. After they had food and it was time for prayers, the old man sat apart in a corner and did not show any interest. Abraham felt very bad and asked the old man to join him. The old man refused and said, "I do not believe in God".

Abraham got very angry and threw him out of the house. After his prayers Abraham went to sleep. At night God asked Abraham, "Where is that old man I sent to you to be looked after?" Abraham replied, "My Lord, that man neither believes in you nor says any prayers. Therefore I gave him a good thrashing and turned him out of the house".

God said , "Abraham! I know he does not believe in Me, But I have looked after him for the past 98 years and you could not look after him for one night? " Abraham begged pardon of God and fetched the old man back.

Once upon a time a very strong woodcutter asked for a job with a timber merchant, and he got it. His salary was really good and so were the working conditions. For that reason, the woodcutter was determined to do his best.

His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was supposed to fell the trees. The first day, the woodcutter brought down 15 trees.

"Congratulations," the boss said. "Carry on with your work!"

Highly motivated by the words of his boss, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he only could bring 10 trees down. The third day he tried even harder, but he was only able to bring down 7 trees.

Day after day he was bringing lesser number of trees down.

"I must be losing my strength", the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.

"When was the last time you sharpened your axe?" the boss asked.

"Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees..."

That's right. Most of us NEVER update our skills. We think that whatever we have learned is very much enough. But good is not good when better is expected. Sharpening our skills from time to time is the key to success.

A woman came out of her house and saw 3 old men with long white beards sitting in her front yard. She did not recognize them. She said "I don't think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have something to eat."

"Is the man of the house home?", they asked. "No", she said. "He's out." "Then we cannot come in", they replied.

In the evening when her husband came home, she told him what had happened. "Go tell them I am home and invite them in!" The woman went out and invited the men in. "We do not go into a House together," they replied. "Why is that?" she wanted to know.

One of the old men explained: "His name is Wealth," he said pointing to one of his friends, and said pointing to another one, "He is Success, and I am Love." Then he added, "Now go in and discuss with your husband which one of us you want in your home."

The woman went in and told her husband what was said. Her husband was overjoyed. "How nice!!", he said. "Since that is the case, let us invite Wealth. Let him come and fill our home with wealth!"

His wife disagreed. "My dear, why don't we invite Success?" Their daughter-in-law was listening from the other corner of the house. She jumped in with her own suggestion: "Would it not be better to invite Love? Our home will then be filled with love!"

"Let us heed our daughter-in-law's advice," said the husband to his wife. "Go out and invite Love to be our guest."

The woman went out and asked the 3 old men, "Which one of you is Love? Please come in and be our guest."

Love got up and started walking toward the house. The other 2 also got up and followed him. Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success: "I only invited Love, Why are you coming in?"

The old men replied together: "If you had invited Wealth or Success, the other two of us would've stayed out, but since you invited Love, Wherever He goes, we go with him. Wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success!!!!!!"

OUR WISH FOR YOU...

Where there is pain, we wish you peace and mercy.
Where there is self-doubting, we wish you a renewed confidence in your ability to work through them.
Where there is tiredness, or exhaustion, we wish you understanding, patience, and renewed strength.
Where there is fear, we wish you love, and courage. Peace to you

Ever heard the story of the giant ship engine that failed?

The ship's owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure but how to fix the engine. Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a youngster. He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom. Two of the ship's owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed! A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars.

" What!" the owners exclaimed. "He hardly did anything!" So they wrote the old man a note saying, "Please send us an itemized bill."

The man sent a bill that read:
Tapping with a hammer ........................ $ 2 .00
Knowing where to tap ......................... $ 9998.00

Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort in your life makes all the difference.

Once an old man with only little strength left in his body realises that he has done nothing to benefit the society or for that matter has not been of help or use to any one in his life. So he approaches a saint and asks, "how can I serve humanity, as it is too late"? The saint replies, " The rest of your life, you indulge in sowing the seeds of fruit plants till your energy drains out. Your labour will be �fruitful� to you and to others even after your death."

A group of graduates, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment (variety) of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the simple and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups... Then you began eyeing each other's cups. Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of Life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us. Enjoy your coffee!."

The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything."