Wise words offer a little something for everyone

With major events happening in the same week—Martin Luther King Day and a presidential inauguration, I plucked my “Wise Words and Quotes” book from the shelf. A good time to see what's in there — with over a hundred subjects from which to choose.

Peace: “All men desire peace, but very few desire those things that make for peace.” Thomas A Kempis

Children: “One of the hardest things to teach a child is that the truth is more important than the consequences.” O. A. Battista

Happiness: “Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length.” Robert Frost

Reputation: “No man is rich enough to buy back his past.” (Maybe not, but God's redeeming grace reaches as far back as we need it).

Flattery: “In the end, people appreciate frankness more than flattery.” Proverbs 28:23

Love: “Don't underestimate love at first sight. Many of us might not pass a second inspection.”

Control: “Those who wish to transform the world must be able to transform themselves.” Konrad Heiden

Optimist: “No one ever injured his eyesight by looking on the bright side of things.”

Direction: “It isn't enough to make sure you're on the right track; you must also make sure you're going in the right direction.”

Politics: “Congress is so strange. A man gets up to speak and says nothing. Nobody listens—and then everybody disagrees.”

Generosity: “Some give their mite, some give with all their might, and some don't give who might.”

Leadership: “It's extremely difficult to lead farther than you have gone yourself.”

Kindness: “Let me be a little kinder, let me be a little blinder to the faults of those around me.” Edgar A. Guest

Yesterday/Today/Tomorrow: “Lament: I'm just catching up with yesterday. By tomorrow, I should be ready for today!”

Courage: “Courage is the quality of mind that makes us forget how afraid we are.”

Winners/losers: “If you cannot win the race, make the one ahead of you break the record.”

Goals: “Choose a goal for which you are willing to exchange a piece of your life.”

Wisdom: “The road to wisdom? Well, it's plain and simple to express: Err and err and err again but less and less and less.”

Seems like there's a little something for everybody in this collection of wise words.