Published 1-23-12   The Religion Network publishes every Monday

ON TODAY'S SITE:
Blessed Teresa, Melody Beattie, Charles Swindoll, Sri Anandamoyi Ma, Thich Nhat Hanh, Confucius
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 Photo by Chuck Bowman              All rights reserved



People are often unreasonable and self-centered.

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives.

Be kind anyway.

If you are honest, people may cheat you.

Be honest anyway.

If you find happiness, people may be jealous.

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow.

Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough.

Give your best anyway.

For you see, in the end, it is between you and God.

It was never between you and them anyway.



Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)
Albanian nun, founder of Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India



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The issue is not about others understanding
and taking us seriously. The issue is not about
others believing we're good and good enough.
...We are the ones that need to see the light.


Excerpted from "The Language of Letting Go,"
by Melody Beattie
Hazeldon, 1990

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We cannot change our past.
We cannot change the fact that people act in a certain way.
We cannot change the inevitable.
The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have,
and that is our attitude.


Charles R. Swindoll (1934 -    )
Christian pastor and author

Photo by Chuck  Bowman        All rights reserved



Try to treat with equal love all the people
with whom you have relations. Thus the abyss
between 'myself' and 'yourself' will be filled
in, which is the goal of all religious worship.

Sri Anandamoyi Ma (1896-1982)
Spiritual teacher and guru from India


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When we come into contact with the other person,
our thoughts and actions should express our mind
of compassion, even if that person says and does
things that are not easy to accept. We practice in
this way until we see clearly that our love is not
contingent upon the other person being lovable.

Thich Nhat Hanh (1926-  )
Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk and author