Author: Aron Wallad.

These quotes are by the players themselves. See what these stars had to say. I find this stuff fascinating.

Christy Mathewson
“You can learn little from victory. You can learn everything from defeat.”
“Many baseball fans look upon an umpire as a sort of necessary evil to the luxury of baseball, like the odor that follows an automobile.”

Mickey Mantle
“If I knew I was going to live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself.”
“Somebody once asked me if I ever went up to the plate trying to hit a home run. I said, ‘Sure, every time.’”
“As far as I’m concerned, Aaron is the best ball player of my era. He is to baseball of the last fifteen years what Joe DiMaggio was before him. He’s never received the credit he’s due.”

Joe DiMaggio
“I’d like to thank the good Lord for making me a Yankee.”
“I’m just a ballplayer with one ambition, and that is to give all I’ve got to help my ball club win. I’ve never played any other way.”
“There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first or last time, I owe him my best.”
“Now I’ve had everything except for the thrill of watching Babe Ruth play.”

Ted Williams
“If you don’t think too good, don’t think too much”
“There’s only one way to become a hitter. Go up to the plate and get mad. Get mad at yourself and mad at the pitcher.”
“If I was being paid thirty-thousand dollars a year, the very least I could do was hit .400.”
“DiMaggio was the greatest all-around player I ever saw. His career cannot be summed up in numbers and awards. It might sound corny, but he had a profound and lasting impact on the country.”
“If there was ever a man born to be a hitter it was me.”
Free to pass this article on to anyone you think would enjoy reading it.

About the Author:
Aron Wallad has been a baseball lover for over 45 years. You will love his honesty and his passion.. You will be touched by the heartwarming stories. The unusual statistics will amaze you and the quotes will make you laugh…Sometimes

Go here right now to join his ezine
http://www.baseballsprideandjoy.com

Author: Akrista Devkota.

The desire for change is a paradox. We know that it is important to accept ourselves and not be so self-critical, and yet at the same time we may have less-than-desirable habits we’d like to replace, traits we want to enhance, or skills we’d like to develop.

Change happens unceasingly around us and we are called upon constantly to adapt and grow, or wither. Carl Rogers believed that all living organisms have a tendency toward growth, and that as people we strive to actualize our inherent potential.

Then what makes change so challenging? A situation that frequently comes up in coaching is the client who feels he truly wants to change but is baffled by his inability to do all the action steps that he has agreed to do. He started with the best of intentions – what’s going on?

Think for a moment about a successful change that you have made. For example, if you are in recovery from an addiction you know that the change didn’t happen all at once. It probably took quite a while to work through the denial, the attempts to control, the realization that something had to be done but not knowing exactly what, the knowledge that you weren’t sure you really wanted to stop, the decision to stop, the actual stopping, and the integration of new habits and behaviors.

Other changes, too, unfold through a series of steps. Psychologist James Prochaska and his colleagues studied people who made successful changes and identified these stages:
• Precontemplation – the person denies having a problem and has no intention of changing their behavior. They might be demoralized and resist talking about their problem because there doesn’t seem to be a solution.
• Contemplation – “I want to stop feeling so stuck.” The person acknowledges their problem and struggles to understand the causes and wonder about solutions. They may be far from making a commitment to action, however.
• Preparation – the person is planning to take action within the next month. They are making final adjustments, and have made their intention to change public. They may have instituted a small number of changes already, but they have not necessarily resolved their ambivalence.
• Action – this is the most obviously busy period. The changes are more visible to others and receive the most recognition.
• Maintenance – change never ends with action. This is the period where the changes are incorporated and the time to be alert to the risk of relapse.
• Termination – the former problem no longer presents a temptation or threat, and the cycle of change is exited. (We know in the case of some changes, like addiction, that there is no “cure” however.)
You can be at different stages with different issues in your life. Also, the stages are not linear; you can – and probably will - spiral back to previous stages, such as contemplation and preparation, before you are actually able to proceed with effective change.
This is what is so important to realize: spiraling back to previous stages and being ambivalent are all part of change. This does not constitute failure.

So what does that client, whom I mentioned above, need to do?

1. Suspend judgment. It’s important that he recognize the stages of change so that he doesn’t judge himself a failure. This is not the time for self-criticism.
2. Recognize what he has already accomplished. Behaviors “travel in packs” and nourish each other. He might be altering other behaviors or attitudes that will have an influence on the main thing he wants to change.
3. Not give up. It’s good for him to sit with those feelings of ambivalence instead of running away from them because they’re uncomfortable. Being present with the ambivalent feelings is a step toward change, while putting off change isn’t.

A lot of coaching happens in the contemplation and preparation stages. Just because someone has hired a coach does not mean they will be able to immediately take all their desired action steps. But even people who are not ready to act can set the change process in motion.
Think about something you have been meaning to change, or are actually trying to change right now. What stage are you in?

About the Author:

Author: Jennifer Burns.

Teachers love assigning essay writings. The funny thing is that they admit it easily. Moreover, they prepare you to be ready all the time, for it can pop up any minute. With at long list of requirements, or without any requirements and guidelines at all. And try as you might, you can not understand what the reasons for treating you so unfairly are?
From their side, teachers say that just one look at students that are unsatisfied with the assignment makes them feel grumpy. Come to think about it, teachers are not monsters at all. They (at least, most of them) admit that they try to understand students. Coming home after spending five hours at school just to give up three more hours on homework is not what they want you to do. You’ve got to give time to personal interests, and try to develop as an individual, and it’s perfectly understandable. But there are important reasons why essay writing is as important, as any of your hobbies.
First of all, a teacher has to know how the material he gave you is understood. Very often essays are assigned after the lecturing is given. It is for your own benefit, actually, for you get a chance to go over your notes again. It means that the information will be repeated, and next time you will have fewer problems in class. If you have any questions, you will either look online to see how they can be answered, or call a friend and exchange notes. Probably, you will want to go to a teacher and ask him directly. Whichever way you prefer, you will only broaden your horizons and obtain some extra information that will be useful.
Another reason for giving an essay paper on materials used in class is for the teacher to receive proper feedback. When he reads essays, he realizes what can be improved in his manner of reading lectures, and what has to be repeated. It’s his way to look at your understanding of the topic, some kind of a survey, if you wish. And it is definitely aimed at making your studying easier.
Apart from an opportunity of making a revision, essay papers are a great way for you to develop the ability to write. A lot of creative and talented people have a so-called writing block. The only way to manage with it is to write as much as you can. Sometimes teachers see the talent. But they notice confusion, too. The more essay writings they give you, the faster you get used to writing. With time you will forget about the problem you once had, and will enjoy the wonderful world that essay writing opens for you.
And how about creative and critical thinking skills? Nothing will teach you better, than essay papers. Each of them is a little challenge for you. Will you be able to generate some new ideas this time? How will you evaluate your work? Will you be able to catch your teacher’s attention and earn one more A+? It is the very essence of life – staying in good shape all the time. And tutors only provide you with opportunities to prove it to yourself and to the people around you.
They also give you a chance to conduct personal researches and become an expert in different fields of knowledge. Regular researches develop the ability to judge the information critically, make your own conclusions, and double-check the facts. These skills are important not only in writing, but in an everyday life, as well. And when the paper comes back to you from revision, you are able to look at it analytically to see what can be improved next time.
As you can see, there are many reasons for giving you the essay writing assignment. This list can be continued, but is it necessary? The most important thing is that you learn not only to fulfill requirements properly. You need to understand that this is what you need. These skills will do you good in future, and the best thing you can do is to accept them.

About the Author:
Jennifer Burns is the head of customer care center at Custom-Writing.org, online essay writing. Having completed a number of academic assignments himself, Jennifer uses her knowledge to provide individualized customer support to students, who order dissertation writing and essay edit

Author: Jennifer Burns.

Persuasiveness is one of the means by which people rich success in life. You do not have such a skill or so-called talent? Do not worry - it is all a matter of time and practice. Once you master the necessary skills, you have luck stuck to you.
Persuasive writing plays an important role in your life. It is very important to understand what persuasive writing is. While using persuasive writing, make sure you fully rely on facts, not opinions of yours.
This kind of writing is not something that cannot be taught easily. There are no specific rules on how to learn to convince people. This skill is somewhere deep inside of you. Every person is able to persuade anyone. All you have to do is to pull yourself together and make something good out of your desire. Make sure you have strong arguments. Avoid extra pointless issues. Everything has to as specific as possible. Write, as if you are betting million dollars a person will be persuaded.
Before writing, define the main arguments which are to be discussed in your essay. Point out the main ideas and divide the entire issue into structural analysis. Once you have estimated the proof-points, start writing your essay convincingly. State the arguments gradually. Try to avoid overloaded sentences. Your arguments have to be entirely clear to appeal to your reader. Support your arguments with examples and statistics, if needed. Each new point is to be written from the new paragraph.
Once you get people convinced in your point of view, you have reached the goal you were heading to.

About the Author:
Jennifer Burns is the head of customer care center at Custom-Writing.org, online essay writing. Having completed a number of academic assignments himself, Jennifer uses her knowledge to provide individualized customer support to students, who order dissertation writing and essay edit

Author: Prof.dr. Ibrahim Khalil.

According to the Bible, King David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Job, Micah, the Philistines and, the daughter of Zion said, all of them said: Woe is me or Woe unto me.
King David said: Woe is me! Because I dwell in the tents of Kedar! – Isaiah said: Woe is me! Because I am a man of unclean lips and mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts – Jeremiah said: 1) Woe unto us! For we are spoiled, 2) Woe is me because I am borne a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! Every one curses me, 3) Woe unto us! For the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out, 4) Woe unto us that we have sinned! - The Philistines said; God is come into the camp. Woe unto us, who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? And the daughter of Zion: Woe is me now! For my soul is wearied because of murderers.
On the other hand, the Quran says that when an unbeliever sees his book that recorded his deed he will say: ‘Woe to me would that my book had not been given to me! And the Unbelievers will say: 1) Woe for us! ‘Who has roused us from our graves? This is what Allah promised; the messengers have spoken the truth! ‘, 2) Woe to us! This is the Day of Judgment! , 3) Woe to us! We did wrong indeed!” and 4) ‘woe to us, truly we were insolent
——-
Before dealing with the topic of “Woe” in Quran versus Bible versus sciences, it is compulsory to remember that the total words in the Bible are 788,280 while the total words in the Quran are 77,473. It follows that, the Bible is more than 10 times the Quran word-wise. “Woe” is mentioned 104 times in the Bible and 34 times in the Quran, i.e. the Bible mentions “Woe” more than three times as does the Quran. In other words, the Bible has the potential of more than 10 times (word-wise) and seven times (subject-wise) than the Quran to talk about “Woe”. The subject of “Woe” is too big, that it why it will be classified into parts, this is the first pat, “Who said Woe unto me?”
——-

Who said Woe unto me? In the Bible

King David: Woe is me! Because I dwell in the tents of Kedar! (Kedar is the son of Ishmael).
Psalm 120:5
Woe is me that I sojourn in Mesech that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!

Isaiah: Woe is me! Because I am a man of unclean lips and mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
Isaiah 6:5
Then said I, Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

Isaiah: woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously
Isaiah 24:16
From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous? But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.

Jeremiah: Woe unto us! for we are spoiled
Jeremiah 4:13
Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.

Jeremiah: Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous
Jeremiah 10:19
Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous; but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it.

Jeremiah: Woe is me because I am borne a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! Every one curses me
Jeremiah 15:10
Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.

Jeremiah: Woe is me now! for the Lord has added grief to my sorrow
Jeremiah 45:3
Thou didst say, Woe is me now! for the Lord hath added grief to my sorrow; I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest.

Micah: Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits
Micah 7:1
Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the first ripe fruit.

The Philistines said; God is come into the camp. Woe unto us, who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods?
1 Samuel 4:7
And the Philistines were afraid, for they said; God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore.
1 Samuel 4:8
Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.

The daughter of Zion: Woe is me now! For my soul is wearied because of murderers.
Jeremiah 4:31
For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.

Jeremiah: (Prepare ye war against her) Woe unto us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.
Jeremiah 6:4
Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.

Jeremiah: woe unto us, that we have sinned!
Lamentations 5:16
The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned!

Job: If I be wicked, woe unto me
Job 10:15
If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction;
——-

Who said Woe unto me? In the Quran

‘They will say:’ Woe for us! ‘Who has roused us from our graves? This is what Allah promised; the messengers have spoken the truth! ‘

Surah: 36, Verse: 51-54
[51] And the horn is blown, and, from the graves they rush forth to their lord.
[52] ‘Woe for us! ‘They will say. ‘Who has roused us from our sleeping place? This is what the merciful promised; the messengers have spoken the truth! ‘
[53] It will be no more than a single blast, when lo! They will all be brought up before us!
[54] Today, no soul shall be wronged a thing. you shall not be recompensed except according to your deeds.

When the unbeliever sees his book that recorded his deed he will say: ‘Woe to me would that my book had not been given to me!

Surah: 69, Verse: 25
But, he who is given his book in his left hand will say: ‘Woe to me, would that my book had not been given to me!

Woe to us! This is the day of judgment!”

Surah: 37, Verse: 16-21
[16] What, when we are dead and become dust and bones, shall we then certainly be raised and resurrected?
[17] What, and our forefathers, the ancients! ‘
[18] Say thou: “yea, and ye shall then be humiliated (on account of your evil).”
[19] It will be but one shout, then see, they are watching
[20] They will say, “Ah! Woe to us! This is the day of judgment!”
[21] (A voice will say,) “this is the day of sorting out (judgment, separation), which you belied.

They will say, “Woe to us! We did wrong indeed!”

Surah: 21, Verse: 46-47
[46] If but a breath of the wrath of thy lord do touch them, they will then say, “Woe to us! We did wrong indeed!”
[47] we shall set up scales of justice for the day of judgment, so that not a soul will be dealt with unjustly in the least, and if there be (no more than) the weight of a mustard seed, we will bring it (to account): and enough are we to take account.

They said ‘woe to us, truly we were insolent

Surah: 68, Verse: 31
They said ‘woe to us, truly we were insolent! (we have indeed transgressed!- we were outrageous , we were inordinate) ‘

Back to the main topic of my series of articles (1- 79); this is my question to you smart readers: “Is the Quran quoted from the Bible “?

About the Author:
Professor Dr. Ibrahim Khalil
Prof. of Clinical and Chemical Pathology,
Head of Clinical Microbiology and Infection Control Unit,
Ain-Shams University. Cairo, Egypt.
And,
President of the Egyptian Society of Inventors.
Member of the Egyptian union of Writers

Author: Hemant Pandey.

1. Controlled madness is genius.

2. World’s greatest music is often made in great silence.

3. Money is the most hand some guy in the world.

4. The seeds of love doesn’t arise in extreme enthusiasm.They have their roots in some great hidden pain.

5. Hatred not love is the best inspiration to have.

6. Don’t see what you get,get what you see.

7.Unlike others a scientist is not moved by the successes, he is moved by the failures.

8.Death relates us to philoshophy.

9. A mistake is anyhow a ‘miss’!

10.God is a help less guy.

11. I don’t speak a lie,I speak a collection of them.

12. People often love who don’t want them and more often don’t want those who love them.

13. I don’t believe in religion,I believe in reason.

14. I am a out standing student and hence always standing out of the class!

15. Men buys all the expensive clothes for women to see them naked!

About the Author:
• Mathematics teaching, writing and problem solving. Worked as lecturer of mathematics in various prestigious institutes.
• Currently working as a faculty for IIT JEE for T.I.M.E(Triumphant Institute of management education) (www.time4education.com) Number 1 institute in entrance exam training for CAT at national level(Estd. 1992), with 170 centers in India ,45,000 plus students and a turnover of100 plus crores and with CMS as a writer at ad-hoc Contract) basis.
• Presently working with Amelox College Tutor (www.amelox.com) USA California, pioneer institute in online tutoring in USA and worldwide (Estd. 1993) on a text book of grade 12 of students of California USA.
• Earlier worked with trivaag, a pioneer institute for engineering entrance preparation in
North India (Estd. 1995) with a strength of over 3000 student and net profit of 5 crores plus. Worked as a faculty and writer for a textbook of solutions of IIT JEE paper 2006. Also
prepared animations for presentation work in class room.
• Worked for prestigious City Montessori School [CMS], number 1 school in world (Guineas book record holder) ) in any one city having strength of 35,000 plus students with a turnover of100 plus crores(Estd.1959), as a faculty and content developer. Also prepared notes on all possible types of questions for grade 12 (Mathematics). Sample attached
• Had an accepted paper for publication in Applied Mathematics and Computation, an Elsevier (Number 1 scientific publisher) journal. Please cite this article in press as :H.Pandey, P Vs NP …are they same?,Appl.Math.Comput.(2006),doi.1016/j.amc.2006.10.042 (www.elsevier.com/locate/amc)
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
• Research and further studies: Pursuing research work in topology of higher manifolds (Poincare’s Conjecture in n- dimensional manifolds), P Vs NP problem of computational complexity, in theory of optimization. Presently have one submission under review in the journal of structural and computational optimization( https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/smo) , Springer (www.springer.com). Presently pursuing online PhD from Belford University, likely to finish next year.
Hemant Pandey
Mobile # 9336291008
16/732, Indira Nagar,
Lucknow -22601616 (U.P.) India
hemant.ajay.pandey@gmail.com
ajay_fermat@rediffmail.com
ajay_gauss@rediffmail.com
ajay_euler@rediffmail.com

Author: Nganku Junior.

1. Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.

2. No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

3. If you can imagine it, you can create it. If you can dream it, you can become it.

4. Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.

5. If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way; if you don’t, you’ll find an excuse

6. Courage is doing or saying what you think is right, not what others want you to do or say

7. If you are going to wait for someone to encourage you to do something, you might as well just give it up

8. Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ‘em “Certainly I can!” and get busy and find out how to do it.

9. Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.

10. I am not awesome. I just go out there and give it a 100% every time and good things happen

11. Find a path or make one

12. You only live once, so make the most of it.

13. I do it . . . because I can

14. If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always gotten

15. Courage is the most beautiful kind of madness

16. Becoming number one is easier than remaining number one.

17. Always assume that no one will keep your secret.

18. Don’t settle for the one you can live with, wait for the one you can’t live without

19. You have a new chance to impress the World every 24 hours. Use it wisely

20. Somewhere, there is someone who dreams of your smile and finds in your presence that life is worthwhile. So when you are lonely, remember it’s true; somebody, somewhere is thinking of you

21. To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.

22. Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday

23. If you want to be heard, speak up. If you want to be seen, stand up. If you want to be appreciated, shut up.

24. He who has nothing to die for, has nothing to live for.

25. The road is always shorter when two people walk it.

26. Life is easier than you think. All you have to do is: accept the impossible, do without the indispensable, bear the intolerable, and be able to smile at everything!

27. If you fill your heart with regrets of yesterday and the worries of tomorrow, you have no today for which you can be thankful.

28. The most beautiful things in life are not seen or heard. They are felt with the heart.

29. Circumstances do not make the man, they reveal him.

30. I always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific

31. Life is like a buffet… eat all you can

32. It’s not the pace of life that concerns me, it’s the sudden stop at the end.

33. People say you only fall in love once, but when I hear your voice I fall in love all over again!

34. Just because someone doesn’t love you the way that you want them to, doesn’t mean that they don’t love you with all they’ve got.

35. If you love someone put their name in a circle not a heart, because a heart can be broken, a circle goes on forever.

36. Don’t frown, because you never know when someone is falling in love with your smile

37. Integrity - When you do the right thing even though no one is watching

38. Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud.

39. It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve them.

40. Stand up for what is right, even if you are standing alone!

41. Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.

42. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.

43. I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.

44. I don’t measure a man’s success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom.

45. Worry more about your character than your reputation. Character is what you are, reputation merely what others think you are.

46. Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great ones make you feel that you too, can become great.

47. I can accept failure, but I can’t accept not trying.

48. A true friend stabs you in the front.

49. There is only one way to succeed in anything, and that is to give it everything.

50. I’ve always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come. I don’t do things half-heartedly. Because I know if I do, then I can expect half-hearted results.

51. Never, never, never, never give up.

52. Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

53. How lucky I am to have known someone who was so hard to say goodbye to.

54. if all my friends were to jump off a bridge, i wouldn’t jump with them i’d be at the bottom to catch them

55. Every shot not taken is a goal not scored.

56. A true friend is an angel, who picks you up off of your feet, when your wings don’t remember how to fly.

57. Opportunities multiply as they are seized.

58. Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.

59. Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get - only with what you are expecting to give - which is everything.

60. Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.

61. Worrying is like being in a rocking chair, It gives you something to do but does not get you anywhere.

62. Yes, madam, I am drunk. But in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly.

63. Destiny is simply having the vision to realize your dreams and the perseverance to keep working towards them

64. Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.

65. Act as if it were impossible to fail.

66. Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. Was it worth it?

67. To alcohol, the nights that you’ll never remember, with the friends you’ll never forget.

68. It was a woman who drove me to drink and I never got the chance to thank her.

69. Failure is not fatal. Only failure to get back up is.

70. Everyone hears what you say. Friends listen to what you say. Best friends listen to what you don’t say.

71. Everyone wants to ride with you in the limo, but what you need is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.

72. If it kills me, I’ll never do it again.

73. While it takes a minute to have a crush on someone, an hour to like someone and a day to love someone, it takes a lifetime to forget someone.

74. If you should die before me, ask if you could bring a friend.

75. You can’t let one bad moment spoil a bunch of good ones.

76. I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.

77. Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street.

78. Redefine the word ‘fail.’ There is no failure in life other than not trying. If you want something badly enough, make an attempt. If you want to paint, get a brush and do it. If you want to sing, sing. A lot of people get scared. They’re afraid to fail. Take that word out of your vocabulary. You don’t ‘fail.’ You’ve ‘tried your best.’

79. Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.

80. The things you refuse to meet today always come back at you later on, usually under circumstances which make the decision twice as difficult as it originally was

81. Just keep going. Everybody gets better if they keep at it.

82. I’ll give up … tomorrow.

83. It is wise to forgive your enemies, but wiser to remember their names.

About the Author:

Author: Philip Yaffe.

by Philip Yaffe

When I am introduced at social gatherings, the host or hostess usually says: “Hi, I want you to meet Philip Yaffe. He is a professional writer.” I almost always get the same response: “Oh, really. What type of novels do you write?” In other words, people automatically associate the term “writer” with “literature”; as if fiction were the only type of writing. It isn’t. And for most ordinary people, such as myself, it is the least important, yet it always seems to take pride of place.

Scholastic snobbery has a lot to do with this.

Virtually every secondary school and many universities require students to take courses in literature. However, virtually no one who takes such courses will ever write a novel, a stage play, a film script; or any other form of fiction. On the other hand, few schools and universities require students to take courses in writing non-fiction. Yet virtually everyone needs these skills to produce reports, memos, letters, marketing plans, company newspapers, and all the other types of non-fiction texts essential for getting on in life.

Internet searches for quotations about writing almost invariable turn of the thoughts of novelists, poets, playwrights, etc., again as if fiction were the only category of writing of any consequence.

I made such a search in order to put together this article. At first I was disappointed by the lopsided results, but on further reflection they turned out to be quite fortuitous.

I normally make a strong distinction between “creative writing” (fiction) and “expository writing” (non-fiction). In fact, this difference is the foundation of a book I recently wrote on the subject, where I explained how and why they are truly very different genres. Nevertheless, when reviewing the quotations, it became apparent that the feelings and emotions of good writers in both genres are remarkably similar.

Thus, whether we are creative writers (the tiny minority of us) or expository writers (the vast majority us), we can all learn something from these renowned writing practitioners.

For convenience, I have tried to categorize their insightful quotations. However, creative writing and expository writing are both highly unified activities. Their fundamental features are so intimately interwoven that any attempt to separate them must necessarily fail. Nevertheless, pretending to disjoin them helps organize our thoughts. So with no apologies for any “mis-categorized” quotes, here is what these respected writers had to say.

1. The Essence of Good Writing

Inventor Thomas Edison once said: “Genius is 1 per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration”. In other words, it’s hard work. The same is true of writing, both creative and expository. This is good news, because it means that even the least inspired of us can write well if we are just willing to expend the necessary energy.

Here are a few more quotations along the same line.

“A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” - -Thomas Mann

“The secret of good writing is to say an old thing in a new way or to say a new thing in an old way.” - - Richard Harding Davis

“Good writing is clear thinking made visible.” - - Bill Wheeler

“Writers must constantly ask: what I am trying to say? Surprisingly often, they don’t know.” - - William Zinsser

“There are two kinds of writers in the world: bad writers and improving writers.” - - William Blundell

“Every writer I know has trouble writing.” - - Joseph Heller

“Good writing is hard work” - - Snoopy (Charles Schulz)

2. Writing as Discovery

“I know very dimly when I start what’s going to happen. I just have a very general idea, and then the thing develops as I write.” - - Aldous Huxley

“There are thousands of thoughts lying within a man that he does not know till he takes up the pen and writes.” - - William Makepeace Thackeray

“The act of writing is the act of discovering what you believe.” - - David Hare

“Writing became such a process of discovery that I couldn’t wait to get to work in the morning. I wanted to know what I was going to say.” - - Sharon O’Brien

“I never know what I think about something until I read what I’ve written on it.” - - William Faulkner

In other words, if you believe you have nothing to say, pick a topic and start writing. You may surprise yourself.

3. The Objectives of Good Writing

“We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out - - Ray Bradbury

“I write because I’m afraid to say some things out loud” - - Anonymous.

“The skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can think.” - - Edwin Schlossberg

“When I sit down at my writing desk, time seems to vanish. I think it’s a wonderful way to spend one’s life” - - Erica Jong

4. The Techniques of Good Writing

“The faster I write, the better my output. If I’m going slow, I’m in trouble. It means I’m pushing the words instead of being pulled by them.” - - Raymond Chandler

“Work extra hard on the beginning of your story, so it snares reader’s instantly. And know how you’re going to end your story before you start writing. Without a sense of direction, you can get lost in the middle.” - - Joan Lowery Nixon

“Detail makes the difference between boring and terrific writing. It’s the difference between a pencil sketch and a lush oil painting. As a writer, words are your paint. Use all the colors.” - - Rhys Alexander

“What I like in a good author is not what he says, but what he whispers”. - - Logan Pearsall Smith.

“Cut out all those exclamation marks. An exclamation mark is like laughing at your own jokes.” - - F. Scott Fitzgerald

“Nothing is so simple that it cannot be misunderstood - - Jr. Teague

5. Writing & Rewriting

“I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent rewriter.” - - James Michener

“Having imagination, it takes you an hour to write a paragraph that, if you were unimaginative, would take you only a minute. Or you might not write the paragraph at all.” - - Franklin P. Adams

“Write your first draft with your heart. Re-write with your head.” - - Anonymous

“The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is you really want to say.” - - Mark Twain

“I have made this [letter] longer, because I have not had the time to make it shorter” - - Blaise Pascal

“I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” - - Mark Twain

In other words, the first draft is almost always too long and poorly structured. To be clear and concise requires at least a second draft, and often more. Or put more succinctly:

“The first draft of anything is sh*t.” - - Ernest Hemingway

6. Clarity & Conciseness

“When something can be read without effort, great effort has gone into its writing.” - - Enrique Jardiel Poncela

“Easy reading is damn hard writing.” - - Nathaniel Hawthorne

“What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.” - - Samuel Johnson

“Resist the temptation to try to use dazzling style to conceal weakness of substance.”
- - Stanley Schmidt

“Don’t write merely to be understood. Write so that you cannot possibly be misunderstood.” - - Robert Louis Stevenson

“The writer does the greatest good who gives his reader the most knowledge and takes from him the least time.” - - Sydney Smith

7. Style & Words

“‘I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions.’ - - James Michener

“A good style should show no signs of effort. What is written should seem a happy accident.” - - W. Somerset Maugham

“You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what’s burning inside you. And we edit to let the fire show through the smoke. - - Arthur Polotnik

“Writers must rely more on the feel of a sentence than on the dictates of a rule book.” - - James J. Kilpatrick

“Like stones, words are laborious and unforgiving, and the fitting of them together, like the fitting of stones, demands great patience and strength of purpose and particular skill.” - - Edmund Morrison

“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” - - Mark Twain

8. Egoism Unbound

Few writers ever have the opportunity to quote themselves. I don’t know if anything I have ever said will be remembered a hundred years from now, or even a hundred minutes from now. But for what they are worth, here are few ideas I have encountered, developed, and believed in for over 40 years.

“Convoluted writing is easy, it takes little thought. Simple writing is difficult; it takes all the thinking you can muster - and then some.”

“Simple writing is a challenge whose rewards are boundless. Once a writer recognizes this, everything else falls into place.”

“Good writing - and by extension good speaking - depend on only a handful of fundamental principles. Once you have mastered these, all the tips and techniques for applying them become almost self-evident.”

“Clarity can be defined as a quasi-mathematical formula, which is also a recipe for effectively applying it. To be clear, you must do three things:

1. Emphasise what is of key importance.

2. De-emphasise what is of secondary importance.

3. Eliminate what is of no importance.

In short: CL = EDE”

“Conciseness can be defined as a quasi-mathematical formula, which is also a recipe for effectively applying it. To be concise, your text must be as:

1. Long as necessary, i.e. adequately cover all essential material

2. Short as possible, i.e. avoid all superfluous words, sentences and paragraphs

In short: CO = LS”

“Clarity and conciseness are two sides of the same coin. To be clear, you must be concise. Unnecessary verbiage obscures, so it must be eliminated. Likewise, to be concise, you must be clear. Only by knowing precisely what you want to say can you eliminate obscuring words, sentences and paragraphs.”

“Writing is like cooking. You assemble the ingredients and start mixing. When the lifeless liquid begins to stiffen and take shape, you know you are making a cake. For me, the feeling is really that physical.”

“Continually ask yourself: ‘Why the hell should anyone want to read what I am writing?’ If you can give at least three good reasons, stop writing and start thinking. Otherwise, you will be wasting everyone’s time - principally your own.”

“Aim for the lowest common denominator. Virtually no one will object that your text is too easy, but some may object that it is too hard. Focus on those who may not understand; they are your true audience. The others will not object.”

“The basic principles of good writing and speaking are few and easy to understand. Unfortunately, most books on the subject bury them under an avalanche of tips and techniques.”

Having just written a book myself, let me conclude with something I wish I had said, but in fact comes from someone else. “Inside every fat book there is a thin book struggling to get out” - - Anonymous

Amen.

Philip Yaffe is a former reporter/feature writer with The Wall Street Journal and a marketing communication consultant. He currently teaches a course in good writing and good speaking in Brussels, Belgium. His recently published book In the “I” of the Storm: the Simple Secrets of Writing & Speaking (Almost) like a Professional (84 pages) is available from Story Publishers in Ghent, Belgium (storypublishers.be) and Amazon (amazon.com).

For further information, contact:

Philip Yaffe
Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 (0)2 660 0405
Email: phil.yaffe@yahoo.com

About the Author:
Philip Yaffe is a former writer with The Wall Street Journal and international marketing communication consultant. Now semi-retired, he teaches courses in persuasive communication in Brussels, Belgium. Because his clients use English as a second or third language, his approach to writing and public speaking is somewhat different from other communication coaches. He is the author of In the “I” of the Storm: the Simple Secrets of Writing & Speaking (Almost) like a Professional. Contact: phil.yaffe@yahoo.com.

Author: Robert Vance.

I’ve always drawn the line with dog. Even though my Chinese friends tell me that cooked dog in China is of the wild variety, I just can’t do it. I always politely refuse. But that doesn’t mean that I haven’t eaten some other very strange foods in China. Sometimes, you just have to go with the “local specialty.”

A few years ago, I visited Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of Chinese Kung Fu, in Henan Province. I stayed in the downtown area of Dengfeng, which is just a “stone’s throw” from the famous temple. After spending the day at Shaolin, I wandered back into town and began looking for a place to eat. The streets of Dengfeng were filled with white tables and pink chairs and it seemed that the whole town came out to eat. While the sight of so many people eating dinner on the street was interesting, what was more fascinating was what they were eating as well as what I would be eating a few minutes later. At first, I really didn’t believe what I was seeing. Throughout the downtown area, people were being served grubs mixed with vegetables and spices on small metal trays covered in plastic. That’s right, grubs. I was disgusted at first but I was also very hungry. There was a battle that waged in my mind for those brief moments. Sure, I told myself, we don’t eat grubs where I come from but that doesn’t mean that they’re not worth eating. And besides, I asked myself, why are Westerners so obstinate about not eating these little creatures? Maybe we’ve been missing out all along. So, within ten minutes, I was sitting at a small table popping grub after grub into my famished mouth. Look, I won’t say it was the best meal that I ever had but other than the “squish,” that occurred everytime I bit down on a grub, the meal was quite enjoyable. The spices and added vegetables helped to make the experience even more enjoyable and I went to bed with a full stomach that night.

Grubs are probably the strangest and grossest (by Western standards) food that I have ever eaten. Well, I don’t know. Some of you may consider donkey meat to be a bit “exotic.” Or how about turtles? Turtle eggs? Anyone? Then there is rabbit meat. It’s a bit bristly and tough, but the taste isn’t completely unpleasant. Chinese people also have an affinity for pig and chicken blood. I’m not a big fan of anything’s blood but I can’t say I haven’t tried some. In Lhasa, Yak meat is a local specialty and I shared many a cup of butter tea with the local monks.

Eating new and strange foods is just part of life in China. While I am always concerned about the cleanliness of food that I am eating, I am definitely not afraid to try some foods that the West would consider “disgusting.” You shouldn’t be either. While it is okay to draw the line at eating dog, I think that experiencing some new tastes and sensations in your mouth is not such a bad idea.

For more articles about living in China please visit
Living in China — The China Teaching Web

About the Author:
Robert Vance heads up The China Teaching Web and has been teaching English abroad since 2002.

Author: Mary Wismer.

About the Author:
thank you for saving me: what can i say? you are everything you shed your blood for me: what can I say? you took my sins and shame, a sinner called by name.