We have thousands of opportunities every day to be grateful: for having good weather, to be able to sit in such a beautiful room on such comfortable furniture, to have slept well last night, to be able to get up, to be healthy, to have enough to eat. ... There's opportunity upon opportunity to be grateful; that's what life is. --Brother David Steindl-Rast (in A Retired Teacher's Letters of Gratitude)

All those details, meetings, appointments, tasks, and obligations can be recognized as the colorful paper, wrappings, and trappings that surround subtler gifts. Understood in this way, each busy life can provide a steady supply of hidden presents. --Richard Powell (in The Joy of Less)

Life's most urgent question is: What are you doing for others? --Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (in Trickle-down Eggersnomics)

When I look back, I am so impressed again with the life-giving power of literature. If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of myself in the world, I would do that again by reading, just as I did when I was young. --Maya Angelou (in Why Fiction Can Be Good For You)

That best portion of a good man's life; His little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love. --William Wordsworth (in How To Do A Million Good Deeds)

The technologies which have had the most profound effects on human life are usually simple. --Freeman Dyson (in When A Phone Is Not Just A Phone)

Shall we make a new rule of life from tonight: always try to be a little kinder than is necessary. --Sir James M. Barrie (in Kind Acts on Sticky Notes)

Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging. --Joseph Campbell (in They Call Him Crutch)

Life is a celebration of awakenings, of new beginnings, and wonderful surprises that enlighten the soul. --Cielo (in The 'Putpocketers' of London)

To appreciate beauty; to give of one's self, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived -- that is to have succeeded. --Ralph Waldo Emerson (in A Snowballing of Generosity)

Each of us has a spark of life inside us, and our highest aspiration ought to be to set off that spark in one another. --Mark Albion (in True to Yourself)

The most satisfying thing in life is to have been able to give a large part of oneself to others. --Pierre Teilhard De Chardin (in Giving Anonymously)

You can't always be happy, but you can almost always be profoundly aware and curious, and reap the psychological and physical benefits. Thankfully, curiosity is not a fixed characteristic. It's a strength we can develop and wield on the path to a more fulfilling life. --Todd Kashdan (in Wired To Wonder)

There are some truths about life that can be expressed only as stories, or songs, or images. Art delights, instructs, consoles. It educates our emotions. --Dana Gioia (in Arts And Smarts)

Don't be content in your life just to do no wrong. Be prepared every day to try and do some good. --Sir Nicolas Winton (in Holocaust 'Children' Meet Their 100-Year-Old Hero)

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. --Winston Churchill (in The Philanthropist Autorickshaw-driver)

All of life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied to a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. --Martin Luther King Jr. (in A Lighthouse Keeper's Message In A Bottle)

One of the sanest, surest, and most generous joys of life comes from being happy over the good fortune of others. --Robert A. Heinlein (in The Landlord Who Would Not Evict)

One must be fond of people and trust them if one is not to make a mess of life. --E.M. Forster (in An Experiment In Trust)

Taking in the good is not about putting a happy shiny face on everything, nor is it about turning away from the hard things in life. It's about nourishing inner well-being, contentment, and peace -- refuges to which you can always return. --Rick Hanson (in Taking In The Good)

Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity. --Buddha (in Nanny & CNN Hero: Marie da Silva)

Happiness is not so much in having as sharing. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. --Norman MacEwan (in Cleaning Shoes, Making A Difference)

If nothing else, my life has taught me one thing: The mind and body that I have are the only mind and body that I have. They deserve my attention. And when I give it, I receive so much more in return. --Matthew Sanford (in The Power of the Mind Body Connection)

Do not stop thinking of life as an adventure. You have no security unless you can live bravely, excitingly, imaginatively, unless you can choose a challenge instead of a competence. --Eleanor Roosevelt (in A 90,000 Mile Motorcycle Journey)

What do we live for if not to make life less difficult for each other? --George Eliot (in Food Bank Robbery Triggers Generosity)

Counsel woven into the fabric of real life is wisdom. --Walter Benjamin (in The Elder Wisdom Circle)

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. --Leo Buscaglia (in The Power of An Open Heart)

Believe, when you are most unhappy, that there is something for you to do in the world. So long as you can sweeten another's pain, life is not in vain. --Helen Keller (in Flying On One Engine)

Believe with all your heart that how you live your life makes a difference. --Colin Beavan (in 10 Ways To Make a Difference)

Life is a gift of nature; but beautiful living is the gift of wisdom. --Greek Adage (in 70 Words of Wisdom for 2010)

Don't be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin. --Grace Hansen (in Life With A Little More Music)

When making your choice in life, do not neglect to live. --Samuel Johnson (in Fortune That Made Him Miserable)

To know the brain is equivalent to ascertaining the material course of thought and will, to discovering the intimate history of life in its perpetual duel with external forces. --Santiago Ramón y Cajal (in iBrain: Mobile Communication Device in Your Head)

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. --Leo Buscaglia (in What Makes Couples Happy?)

Art is a kind of innate drive that seizes a human being and makes him its instrument. To perform this difficult office it is sometimes necessary for him to sacrifice happiness and everything that makes life worth living for the ordinary human being. --Carl Jung (in Art from Ashes)

If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask. --Albert Einstein (in Asking Better Questions)

I have a personal philosophy in life: kindness begets kindness. --Drew Johnson (in 48 States in 48 Weeks)

Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one. --Stella Adler (in The Man Who Carved Statues)

To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong. --Joseph Chilton Pierce (in How Innovation Happens)

Retire from work, but not from life. --M.K. Soni (in The Encore Generation)

Experiment with this mental model: It is my duty and privilege to be of service. I will do whatever I can to make life easier for all people who cross my path. --Srikumar Rao (in Happiness At Work)

There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart. Pursue those. --Michael Nolan (in Best Career Advice: Take Poetry)

The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it --Marcus Aurelius (in The Sound of One Hand Clapping)

We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us. --Joseph Campbell (in An Artist's Life)

The best portion of a good man's life is his little, nameless unremembered acts of kindness and of love. --William Wordsworth (in The Little Things)

You must trust and believe in people, or life becomes impossible. --Anton Chekhov (in Pay What You Want)

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. --Winston Churchill (in Operation Smile!)

The quality of your life is the quality of your relationships. --Anthony Robbins (in Longevity in Relationships: 10 Tips)

Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity. --Buddha (in Sixth-Grade Philanthropists)

The word 'energy' incidentally equates with the Greek word for 'challenge.' I think there is much to learn in thinking of our federal energy problem in that light. Further, it is important for us to think of energy in terms of a gift of life. --Thomas Carr (in Save Energy by Breathing)