Welcome to the Bits & Pieces Sampler. These are a few highlights from our recent issues that are sure to have a positive impact on your day. If you like what you read, subscribe now to keep more of this wisdom coming your way throughout the year.
Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.
Martin Luther King JR.
Many of us have created lives that give very little support for experimentation. We believe that answers already exist out there, independent of us. What if we invested more time and attention to our own experimentation? We could focus our efforts on discovering solutions that work uniquely for us.
Margaret Wheately
THOUGHTS FROM PRESIDENTS
One great object of the Constitution was to restrain majorities from oppressing minorities or encroaching upon their just rights. James Polk Those who trust to chance must abide by the results of chance. Calvin Coolidge Piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose. Jimmy Carter One cool…
THINKING OF YOU
It’s a word I have used throughout most of my life without really giving it much thought. It’s a word we are all familiar with, and most of us use it on a daily basis. I’m talking about “thanks.” We know how to use it, and we know the good that comes from it, but…
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For more than 55 years, Bits & Pieces has motivated readers with a unique combination of wisdom and inspiration. Each issue is filled with quotes, anecdotes, and common sense advice to help you face your daily challenges with a renewed energy.
JUST HELP
Thomas Cannon’s life may have seemed unremarkable. He had a wife, two sons, and a job as a postal clerk. He didn’t own a fancy house or drive a swanky car. But he had one interesting habit: He liked to give away money. People often wondered how he could afford to be so generous. Cannon’s…
I hope they’re still making women like my momma. She always told me to do the right thing. She always told me to have pride in myself; she said a good name is better than money.
JOE LOUIS (1914–1981)
Heavyweight champion
Whatever the ups and downs of detail within our limited experience, the larger whole is primarily beautiful.
GREGORY BATESON
People meet you where you are. If you’re open, they tend to be open. If you’re closed, they tend to be closed. If you’re vulnerable, they tend to be vulnerable. And people are often a little insecure and afraid of themselves. They’re afraid to tip their hand. It’s just human nature, self-preservation. People will generally only tip their hand when they see you tip your hand.
JOHN HOPE BRYANT
HOW TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
A student who revered his work once approached author Robert Heinlen. She said, “Your books have done so much for me. I want to give something back.” Heinlen shook his head and corrected her, “You don’t give back, you give forward.” In our efforts to show kindness, gratitude, and charity we should find ways that…
We live very close together. So, our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.
THE DALAI LAMA
Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.
W. T. PURKISER
The greatest events occur without intention playing any part in them; chance makes good mistakes and undoes the most carefully planned undertaking. The world’s greatest events are not produced, they happen.
G. C. LICHTENBERG
The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.
Leo Tolstoy
THE SCENT OF HAPPINESS
Long ago a miserly baker lived next to a poor, kind soul. Every morning, the smell of cinnamon buns and sweet rolls wafted from the bakery, and the neighbor would enjoy the aroma as he ate his breakfast of oatmeal. The baker watched and thought to himself, “The smell of my rolls and bread make…