"And the loving person is also one
who see the continual wonder and
joy of being alive."
L. Buscaglia

"Every day you should
be seeing the world
in a new personal way."
L. Buscaglia

"But a man is always capable of growth and change,
and if you don't believe this,
you are in the process of dying."
L. Buscaglia

"The loving person has
no need to be perfect,
only human."
L. Buscaglia

"We are constantly moving away from
ourselves and others."

"We need not be afraid to touch, to feel, to show emotion.
The easiest thing is the world to be is what you are. What you feel.
The hardest thing to be is what other people want you to be..."

"Are you really you, or are you what people have told you you are?"
L. Buscaglia

"Are you really you, or are you what people have told you you are?"
L. Buscaglia

Is it possible to learn a lesson so well that you cannot remember ever learning it?

Can a skill become so ingrained that its origin is forgotten?
How about walking and talking? How about reading and writing?
And what about thinking? That’s right thinking.
That thing that you are doing right now: How about thinking?

Can you remember where you learned to think?
Can you remember who taught you to think?
Do you remember what they taught you to think?
Is what you think what you choose to think or is it what someone else taught you to think?
Can you rethink what you think and teach yourself not to think as you were taught to think,
but instead think as an independent thinker?

Can you remember when you first thought of yourself as an independent thinker?
Who was it that taught you to think of yourself as an independent thinker and then asked you to think independent thoughts?
Did he or she think of himself or herself as an independent thinker?
And who was it that taught him or her how to think as an independent thinker?
How did he or she teach you to be an independent thinker without you thinking as he or she does?

Are you an independent thinker who only thinks like other independent thinkers or are you truly an independent thinker who thinks that you think just like everybody else?

Is it possible to learn a lesson so well that you cannot remember ever learning it?

Originally written - February 26, 1996

"Assemble with those you love to rekindle joy."
R. Fulghum

Originally written - December 18, 1993

"Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends,
to which, if persevered in, they must lead.
But if the courses be departed from,
the ends will change."
C. Dickens

The ghost of your past can be very frightening to face,
but if this ghost has helped to elevate you to a more
advanced spirit, then perhaps it is not such a frightening
ghost after all.
M. Alibrando

"No one has ever found a limit to human potential."
L. Buscaglia

"If you feel something, let people know that you feel it."
L. Buscaglia

"The loving individual is a person who is spontaneous."
L. Buscaglia

"It isn't enough to live and learn for today.
We have to dream about what the world
is going to be like in fifty years and
educate for a hundred years hence,
and dream of a world a thousand
years hence.
L. Buscaglia

"This loving person is
a person who abhors waste -
waste of time,
waste of human potential."
L. Buscaglia

"There is no greater responsibility
in the world than being a human being..."
L. Buscaglia

"The loving person must
be one who recognizes responsibility."
Me misquoting L. Buscaglia

"...what did you learn today?"
L. Buscaglia

"There is no word vast enough
to begin to describe even
the simplest of man."
L. Buscaglia

"Lables are a distancing phenomena -
stop using them."
L. Buscaglia

"A loving person rids himself of labels."
L. Buscaglia

"Labels are a distancing phenomena.
They push us away from each other."
L. Buscaglia

"We created time,
and now we have
become slaves to it."
L. Buscaglia

"Love is certainly genetically inscribed,
but it needs to be evoked, studied,
taught and practiced if it's too have
any real meaning."
L. Buscaglia

"You are the best you.
You will always be
the second best anyone else."
L. Buscaglia

"In the end,
you only have you."
L. Buscaglia

"Show me your differences
so that maybe I can
learn from them."
L. Buscaglia

Suspend judgement.
Forget perfection.
Get the words out.
Keep them coming.
Get it down.
Don't stop.
Write it down.
Keep going.
Just write.
Write.
M. Alibrando's poem using N. Kelton's words.
Her words, my order.

"Education should be the process of
helping everyone to discover his uniqueness,
to teach him how to develop that uniqueness,
and then show him how to share it because that's
the only reason for having anything."
L. Buscaglia

"...write because
you want to write."
N. Kelton

"Your revelations are what matter."
N. Kelton

"...good writing takes courage,
a willingness to let people see
your insides, discipline and
a fierce determination."
N. Kelton

"Everything has a price.
Nothing worthwhile is free."
N. Kelton

"It is human nature to want
a return for our fee."
Me misquoting N. Kelton

"First of all, the loving individual
has to care about himself."
L. Buscaglia

"We are all so much together,
but we are all dying of loneliness."
Dr. A. Schweitzer

"...don't teach love..."
"...simply facilitate growth in love."
Me misquoting L. Buscaglia

"You can only give away what you have."
L. Buscaglia

"It's a matter of sharing.
What ever I have
I can share it with you."
L. Buscaglia talking about love.

"Don't invite internal critics back for Homecoming.
Let them visit someone else."
N. Kelton

"I didn't want to write 'out there' pieces
with so much happening inside."
N. Kelton

"We relate to those who struggle."
L.Buscaglia

"Real love is a very
human phenomenon."
L. Buscaglia

Grow up, you can't be an adult forever.
M. Alibrando

"Courage is knowing what not to fear."
Plato

"In a controversy the instant we feel anger
we have already ceased striving for the truth,
and have begun striving for ourselves."
Buddha

The Paradoxical Commandments

by Dr. Kent M. Keith

1. People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
    Love them anyway.
2. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
    Do good anyway.
3. If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.
    Succeed anyway.
4. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
    Do good anyway.
5. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
    Be honest and frank anyway.
6. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas
    can be shot down by the smallest men and women
    with the smallest minds.
    Think big anyway.
7. People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
    Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
8. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
    Build anyway.
9. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
    Help people anyway.
10. Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
     Give the world the best you have anyway.
K. M. Keith
© 1968, 2001 Kent M. Keith

A turkey has made a great sacrifice,
when it becomes our symbol of thankfulness.
M. Alibrando

"What have you sacrificed lately to
make the world a better place?"
L. Buscaglia

Originally written - November 25, 1993

"Demanding perfection kills the joy
and the process.
It's the uptight adults on your back.
Get rid of them and hangout with
the child who enjoys playing in the sand."
N. Kelton

Wisdom is
in all of us
and we can
bring it forth
if we allow it to.
M. Alibrando

"No one just mounts a horse and just rides."
N. Kelton

"Doubt is an invitation to think."
M. Alibrando

"Don't be afraid to climb out on a limb... 
That's where the fruit is!"
L. Buscaglia

Originally written - November 23, 1993

Write what you know
and wisdom will flow.
M. Alibrando

"...is your resistance greater than your desire?"
N. Kelton

"..no one life is of more or less significance than another,
nor is any one of us more or less responsible,
for in each of us lies a vital part of the wholeness."
L. Buscaglia

"Writing wakes you up.
Both the outside and the inner world,
make you more conscious and alive."
Me misquoting N. Kelton

"No one has it all figured out."

"...look withinh to sort things out."

"If you go deeply enough into your soul,
you articulate what people feel."

"Some thing should become clear."
N. Kelton

"Good writing requires disclosure."

"...look at your experiences and
see the truths - both dark and light."

"Self-revelation is a gift to
both write and reader."
N. Kelton

You build a road one stone at a time.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - Febuary 28, 1997

Ideas come easily,
results take time.
M. Alibrando

Strength comes from really knowing
what you want and deciding.
M. Alibrando

Give yourself a chance to be
uniquely and originally yourself.
M. Alibrando

Make a special effort to catch the ideas, the thoughts,
the feelings that flash into your mind just briefly.
These flashes may prove to be the keys to the
important thing that are really you.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - July 20, 1993

Even rejected ideas are important and helpful.
What you are not says as much about you as what you are.
Don't be afraid to say no to an idea if it's not working for you.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - July 10, 1997

If you have peace within yourself,
other will see it
and want some for themselves.
M. Alibrando

"The job of a writer is to
communicate, not sell.
To pare it down to the truth."
N. Kelton

Write to figure things out.
M. Alibrando

Write what is in your heart.
M. Alibrando

"Quietly do it."
"Write about the things that matter to you."
"Look inward."
"Pull them out."
Me misquoting N. Kelton

"Those who want to write -
and not dream or talk -
best sit there and
get the words down."
N. Kelton

"Those who work and accomplish
don't yap.
And those who yap don't do."
N. Kelton

"Just do it."
N. Kelton

"If you think you are
sounding crazy or silly,
all the more reason to
say it.
That's your stuff.
Yours alone.
And probably your truest self."

"Keep it going.
Keep it alive.
And let it all hang out.
No one will cart you off
to the loony bin when you
write your truths for yourself."
N. Kelton

"By writing...,
you become more awake
and conscious."
N. Kelton

"There are two ways to
become a better writer:
1. By writing.
2. By becoming increasingly self-aware."
N. Kelton

"There are no shoulds."
N. Kelton

"A sheltered life can be a
daring life as well.
for all serious daring
starts from within."
E. Welty

"Look inside."
N. Kelton

"All experiences are material.
It is about what you have to say."
N. Kelton

"Write from where you are."
N. Kelton

"Every writer must articulate
from the specific.
They write from where they stand,
because there is nothing else,
from which to draw."
N. Kelton

One must formulate one's own values and
act upon them. 

The human condition should be accepted and
used as a means to personal growth.

If you can accept loneliness as a condition of existence,
then perhaps you can value it as a spur to the
pursuit of personal achievement.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - October 21, 1993

The ghost of your past can be
very frightening to face,
but if this ghost has helped to
elevate you to a more advanced spirit,
then perhaps it is not such a frightening
ghost after all.

There are many such ghosts.
Facing each of them each in turn can
make your current spirit stronger,
perhaps even strong enough to
defeat those inner demons.

Defeating demons leads to dragon slaying.
M. Alibrando

In order to live your life to the fullest you must
become your own knight in shining armor to
save your own damsel from distress.
M. Alibrando

Be the Superman to your Lois Lane.
M. Alibrando

"You can flyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"
P. Pan

Originally written - October 31, 1993

Ancient communities gathered around campfires to feel safe
from the frightening creatures of the night,
both real and imagined.

More recently folks gathered around their kitchen tables
to feel warm and safe from the troubles of their homeland,
both real and imagined.

Where can our modern communities gather together?
Where can we go to feel safe from the problems of our world,
both real and imagined?

Is it the campfires and kitchen tables
which make people feel safe
or the gatherings themselves? 
M. Alibrando

Originally written - October 31, 1994

"Start with yourself."
N. Kelton

"Look at your life.
See what is missing,
and what is there."

"Look at your family,
at your struggles
and triumphs."

"Look at how you fit in."
N. Kelton

Write what you know and
the wisdom will flow.
M. Alibrando

"You needn't schlep to the
Himalayas for material."
N. Kelton

"Be yourself in whatever you write.
Make sure you tell the truth."
N. Kelton

Just write down one true thing.
Other truths will follow in time.
M Alibrando

"The deal is to tell the truth."
N. Kelton

What you write must
reveal the self, truthfully and sincerely.
M. Alibrando

"One of the reasons we write is to
find out our truths."
N. Kelton

"Not every idea is a winner."

"Get your feet wet."

"Jot down things that
get you or obsess you.
They are yours."
N. Kelton

"Think about the reasons
you really want to write."
N. Kelton

"Entertain you ideas,
not your critics.
They can fend for themselves.

Trust what stirs you.
Don't second-guess yourself.

Your first impulse is
you creative self,
your child,
your true self. "
N. Kelton

"Most of our writing gets done
when we don't seem to be
writing at all."
N. Kelton

"Learn to trust that glean
in you eye.
Whether it comes at you
at the beauty parlor
or at work."
N. Kelton

"There is a reason
an idea comes to you.
Play with it. Use it.
It's yours."
N. Kelton

"It helps to not be looking but in the throes of life.

That's when ideas quitely tap us.
Or hit us between the eyes.
Or tickle or scratch or itch us.
Or sneak right up from behind us."
N. Kelton

"In every work of genius
we recognise our own
rejected thoughts."
R. W. Emerson

"Anything is good if
it grabs
or sparks the writer."
N. Kelton

"Ideas, like most good things,
appear when we least expect them
not when we demand they should."
N. Kelton

"We often get our best ideas
when we are somewhere else."
N. Kelton

"Find a comfortable place to write.
Physically and within yourself."
N. Kelton

"No one gets anywhere playing it safe."
N. Kelton

"To have fun doing anything,
you have to give yourself
permission to
make a fool of yourself."
N. Kelton

"Everyone hears the music.
Everyone can dance."
N. Kelton

"You have to want to do it.
And be willing to take the risk."
N. Kelton

"Writing is an act of discovery.
It is a way to figure things out.
When you write,
you learn something about yourself.
If you don't, there is no deal."
N. Kelton

"What is our place on the planet?
How do we fit in?"
N. Kelton

"One of the reason writers write is to
make sense of what we are not."
N. Kelton

"Yes, it is scary to face the blank page and ourselves.

The only thing scarier is not to."
N. Kelton

"Turning experiences into words takes courage.
And a willingness to let people see who you are."
N. Kelton

"Good writing is about letting go.
It's about losing your self consciousness.
It leads you to your truest self.
And to enormous possibility."
N. Kelton

"Pretend you're in High School
and in your bedroom alone
with your favorite [music] blasting.
Boogie on paper like you boogied
back then when no one was around."
Me misquoting N. Kelton

"Tell the truth."

"Be yourself..."

"Let it roll."
N. Kelton

"Like taking Frost's
less traveled road
having courage
makes all the difference."
N. Kelton

"Show, don't tell."
N. Kelton

"Reveal yourself honestly."
N. Kelton

"...we take ourselves with us wherever we go."

"...living with other people is hard..."

"...dispite the stress and tension,
we need one another so we learn how to
compromise and adjust."
Me misquoting N. Kelton

"Be willing to keep opening up."
N. Kelton

"...be fully engaged."

"...the conflict [is] between you and you."

"The truths about life and yourself [is] illuminated
through a journey that touches our hearts and souls."
Me misquoting N. Kelton

"Be fully present."
L. Buscaglia

"Don't just go out into the world.
Go into yourself."
M. Alibrando

" Far more sustaining and nourishing is
regularly expressing what is 'within.' "
N. Kelton

"People in professions
and in other arts
serve long apprenticeships.
Writers are not excused."
N. Kelton

"Important things
take a long time to develop."
N. Kelton

"Your initial satisfaction should
come from your writing
and the discoveries you make
in the process."
N. Kelton

"When you write first and foremost for yourself,
not an audience or fame,
you become a better writer."
N. Kelton

"If you are not writing because you want to write,
you should do something else.
Writing is hard work.
Really hard work.
There are easier ways to be miserable."
N. Kelton

"...moderation and patience [have]
won more victories
than threats and sword-rattling."
Me misquoting M. Wies / T. Hickman

"You need not have been
to hell and back
to turn your life into prose."
N. Kelton

"Make your writing sing."
N. Kelton

Your true self exist within the center of
a maelstrom of the total personality.
You are then, the fulcrum
-- a point of singularity --
between your history and your possibility.

Every moment spent, every choice made,
every course correction made during
the epic journey of your existence
brings you closer to the "eye of the storm"
where your "real self" exist
whole -- complete -- perfect.

During your lifetime, you may occasionally pass over
-- and for a brief moment hover --
within the realm of this perfect self.
But soon, this moment will pass into history,
and your current self will then be drawn back out
into the chaos of everyday life.

One must try to not be distressed by
an all to brief glimpse of a future self
you might wish to be in the here and now.
Instead, try to be strengthen
by the knowledge that the future holds,
within its folds of passing days,
a better you.
One that is actually obtainable.

Given time, anything is possible.

Originally written - October 22, 1994

Write about the person you wish to become.
Map out all of the details.
If you can chart each and every course correction carefully
to that perfect you,
then you can then follow your map and finally
reach your destination-self.
M. Alibrando

Are there moments in your life that you wish had turned out differently?
Moments you wish you had acted differently?
Spoke differently?
Or had been brave enough to speak at all?
M. Alibrando

Try using moments of past failures as
lessons to hone future successes.
M. Alibrando

"Mean what you write and
write what you mean.
Otherwise it won't ring true."
N. Kelton

"Show up fully and
put your heart into what you say."
Me misquoting N. Kelton

"...each of us is responsible
for his own life."
N. Kelton

"Being understood is like coming home."
N. Kelton

Truths take time to unravel."
M. Alibrando

Keep seeking universal truths.
The thought mine runs
deeper than you know."
M. Alibrando

"Good writing has revelations.
Readers want truths about
their own lives."
N. Kelton

"We are all just muddling through.
The best we can do is love and
forgive ourselves."
N. Kelton

"And what are you saying anyway?
You must say something.
You cannot just let off steam.
and you can't just whine and kvetch."
N. Kelton

"Reading for pleasure is not guess work.
We have far too of that."
N. Kelton

"...something should become clear to you.
You should reach a new level of understanding..."
Me misquoting N. Kelton

"...life, is a mixed bag.
There is joy as well as grief
and just when we are ready to
tear our hair out,
the light shines on us again."
N. Kelton

"Try restating old wisdom
using new words."
M. Alibrando

"Just as a tree goes dormant in Winter,
then blossoms a new in Spring,
wisdom, too, can blossom a fresh
after being dormant for a long season."
M. Alibrando

"When you begin to believe
your own brand of wisdom
is better than every other
wisdom, it is time to
reexamine the wisdom that
brought you to this conclusion."
M. Alibrando

"Wisdom must be allowed to grow
- to evolve.
To remain fresh it must,
like a set of lungs,
draw into it fresh ideas and
expel from it old ones that
no longer have meaning for you."
M. Alibrando

"...reveal something to the reader
about who you are and what
you think and feel, 
but who they are as well."
N. Kelton

"The ending is,
as I see it,
your summation.
Your truth.
The point you are driving home."
N. Kelton

"State your purpose."
N. Kelton

"Write from the heart,
not from any where else."
N. Kelton

"If we deny love that is given to us,
if we refuse to give love because
we fear the pain of loss,
then our live will be empty,
our loss greater."
M. Weis / T. Hickman

"...you must be willing to
show who you are inside.
And of course,
you must really care."
N. Kelton

"...we can no longer
live within the world
and live apart
from the world."
M. Weis / T. Hickman

"The experiences that have
touched or hurt or tickled you
are the material from which
your truths spring."
N. Kelton

"The keys are usually the same:
Patience, openness, and perseverance."
N. Kelton

"Don't let fear stand in your way."
N. Kelton

"To my mind, all good writing is self-revelatory."
N. Kelton

"You must push past your limits to
keep growing."
N. Kelton

"Decent writers can and do go far
if they are also very good students.
They are willing to learn.
And to revise and revise.
That's the only way to get better."
N. Kelton

"Accept that your writing won't
always be good."
N. Kelton

"...you words won't always
be pearls."
N. Kelton

"The writing road is rocky.
Patience and perspective are keys."
N. Kelton

"You have delete buttons.
Eraser. Correction fluid.
And better yet: Tomorrow."
N. Kelton

"To make peace with your enemy,
you must first go to war with yourself"
Unknown 11-year-old Camper

"Take writing seriously,
but enjoy the ride."
N. Kelton

"Feelings give way to more feelings.
Keep at it.
They will keep bubbling up."
N. Kelton

"Isn't that why we write?
To discover what we are feeling,
to sort the whole thing out?"
N. Kelton

"There is no one way to write."
N. Kelton

"Lord, help any writer, too,
who tries to be someone
other than himself on the page."
N. Kelton

"Writing is like acting, too.
If you don't feel what you
are putting on paper,
it simply will not ring true."
N. Kelton

"Writing, in some ways is like love:
you cannot fake it.
You have got to feel it.
It has got to
come from the heart."
N. Kelton

"Establish a routine
in which you alternately
go out and go within.
One that connects you to
something larger than yourself
and enables you to give."
N. Kelton

"If you want to write -
Really Write -
you must also
make a commitment."
N. Kelton

"If something hits you when
you don't seem to be writing
or when you should be
doing something else,
let the words flow and
the ideas come pouring out."
N. Kelton

"There will be plenty of time for revisions."
Me misquoting N. Kelton

"If there is something inside of you
that you wish to say,
that is reason enough to say it."
N. Kelton

"Passion is the fuel that propels a writer into action."
N. Kelton

If you want something -
truly want something -
there is nothing that anyone
can say or do that will
keep you from it.
M Alibrando

Even a simple promise can be difficult to keep.
Try anyway.
M. Alibrando

"It doesn't matter when you sit down to write,
the important thing is to carve out time."
N. Kelton

"Not every day is great."
N. Kelton

"There are no easy rides
or free professions.
Everyone pays dues."
N. Kelton

Guide yourself to yourself.
M. Alibrando

"Write when you are inspired.
And write when you are not.
Inspiration is not always with us.
It doesn't come UPS.
N. Kelton

"Writing requires brains, heart and courage.
The last ingredient can often
be the most difficult to find."
M. Alibrando

"Desire and discipline are the keys to success."
Me misquoting N. Kelton

"Discipline requires both
flexibility and judgment."
Me misquoting M. S. Peck

"Important things take time to develop."
N. Kelton

"Acclaimed author E. L. Doctorow beautifully compares
writing to driving at night with headlights.
You have a vague idea what is in front
and where you might go,
but you just see a little ahead."
N. Kelton

There are many universal experience being repeated
in the lives of succeeding generations.
Anonymous

By playing a role,
you become that role.
Anonymous

Development of the self is impossible without self-knowledge.
The full realization of the self lies in a future you have yet to dream.
It is a goal, something to strive for, and
it requires persistence, perceptiveness, and wisdom.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - October 17, 1994

In concealing your darker side from others,
you conceal it from yourself.
Awareness of only the light-side allows for
an incomplete development of the whole.

In order to conduct the symphony of the self,
one must include both major and minor cords.
The more interesting pieces include themes for
the villian as well as the hero.

The conflict provides the energy.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - October 16, 1994

As my mother once said,
"Take care of the little things,
the big things tend to
take care of themselves."

If you can't control the weather,
and keep it from raining,
then check the weather reports
and keep an umbrella handy.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - October 18, 1994

You grow, regardless of age,
always moving toward
a more complete you.

And, who you are now is as much apart of
who you hope to become as it is apart of
who you have already been.
M. Alibrando

When adventure, excitement and zest disappear,
life losses meaning.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - October 19, 1994

One must be guided by the spontaneous
flow of the unconscious.
Only in that way can the true-self be revealed.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - October 20, 1994

Your true self exist within the center of a
maelstrom of the total personality.
You are then, the fulcrum --
a point of singularity --
between your history and your possibility.
Every moment spent,
every choice made,
every course correction made during
the epic journey of your existence
brings you closer to the "eye of the storm"
where your "real self" exist
whole -- complete -- perfect.

During your lifetime,
you may occasionally pass over
-- and for a brief moment hover --
within the realm of this perfect self.
But soon, this moment will pass into history,
and your current self will then
be drawn back out into
the chaos of everyday life.

One must try to not be distressed
by an all to brief glimpse of a future self
you might wish to be in the here and now.
Instead, try to be strengthen by
the knowledge that the future holds,
within its folds of passing days,
a better you.
One that is actually obtainable.

Given time, anything is possible.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - October 22, 1994

"The only way were going to
get anything done
is to get everyone involved."
J. Clark

Originally written - November 2, 1994

Most of us are not even aware of
our need to conform.

The history of humanity is repeated
during the childhood of each human being.

Work out a compromise between
your needs and your environment.

Be concerned with the development of the self,
with an eye towards the future.
Anonymous

Originally written - November 26, 1994

Human beings are striving creatures
who develop, grow and unfold.
Through the use of imagination,
we can more than just remember our past;
we can ponder it.
We can even project ourselves into a future,
far beyond our present,
to change one possible outcome for another.
Like trying on a garment,
or road testing a new car before purchase,
we can better decide if it fits us,
or feels right for the road ahead.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - November 20, 1994

Do not listen to what it says,
but observe what it does.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - November 17, 1994

"When you can escape your feelings of isolation
and develop a sense of belonging,
you can find meaning in life."
Unknown

Originally written - November 12, 1994

Each sound creates a symbol,
symbols create letters,
letters create words,
words create sentences,
sentences create paragraphs,
and paragraphs make up essays
of complex thoughts and ideas. 
With enough schools of thought,
herds of ideas,
and flocks of concepts,
one can create a whole ecology
of philosophies and belief system.
Some ecologies are so adaptable
that they can cover whole continents,
and last many generations.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - November 11, 1994

"You don't control an ecology,
you live within it,
either responsibly or irresponsibly.
The same is true for the ecology of ideas."
D. Gerrold

"An idea or a thought does not exist alone,
it exist as a part of a herd of ideas or a
school of thoughts."
D. Gerrold

"In the ecology of ideas, new ideas are always appearing,
all of the time; we're continually testing them.
Some of the new ideas aren't strong enough to survive and die out.
Others adapt, grow, evolve, survive and strengthen the entire ecology.
The process of ideas rubbing up against each other is just like
the process of people rubbing up against each other;
that's how you make new people and new ideas."
D. Gerrold

Originally written - November 10, 1994

"Knowledge doesn't need to be argued.
It can be proved."
D. Gerrold

Originally written - November 3, 1994

"We only disagree about what we don't know."
D. Gerrold

"Belief isn't knowledge.
Belief is a conviction without truth behind it.
A belief is something you think to be true
or want to be true, but hasn't been proven yet."
D. Gerrold

Originally written - November 2, 1994

Influence others, not by force or power,
but by love, reason, and example.
Anonymous

Originally written - November 27, 1994

"...push past (your) insecurities and
keep on moving (your) pen."
Me misquoting N. Kelton

"...listen to yourself."
Me misquoting N. Kelton

"Writing is giving voice to our feelings
and making discoveries about ourselves."
N. Kelton

"Let go. Let it flow.
Let you feelings out on the page.
That is what writing is.
And it is not for the chosen few."
N. Kelton

"What matters is the truth."
N. Kelton

"I've learned that people will forget what you said,
people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget how you made them feel."
Maya Angelou

"What would life be if we had no
courage to attempt anything?"
V. Van Gogh

"Letting it happen and taking the ride.
That's the joy in writing."
N. Kelton

"You are lost the instant you
know what the results will be."
J. Gris

"Nothing turns out as we expect it to.
Nothing turns out as planned.
That's the journey.
That's the fun.
Letting our unconscious take us along
while we stay out of it's way."
N. Kelton

"If you hear a voice within you say
'you cannot paint,'
then by all means paint,
and that voice will be silenced."
V. Van Gogh

"Writing is difinitely harder than
discussing the idea of the novel
you are going to write."
N. Kelton

"Writing is a deceptively difficult art."
N. Kelton

"There are easier ways to be miserable."
N. Kelton

"The rewards you will reap from writing are
the greatest you will possibly know."
N. Kelton

"...if you do it regularly and consistently
you definitely get better."
N. Kelton

"The way to get better is by writing."

"Writing, like life, has few gaurantees."

"Writing is hard work."
N. Kelton

"Everyone has something special to say
and a unique way of seeing and saying it.
This individuality bubbles up when we
allow it to happen and when we
get out of our own way."
N. Kelton

"I dream of painting and then I paint my dream."
V. Van Gogh

"You must write for writing's own reward
and for the intrinsic joy it brings.
Achieving this bliss means following it,
and writing what we feel."
N. Kelton

There will be plenty of time for revisions.
M. Alibrando

If you want something -
truly want something -
there is nothing that anyone
can say or do that will
keep you from it.
M Alibrando

Which comes first,
determination or courage?

Take a risk and find out.

Together they will lead you
to the truth.
M. Alibrando

"Writing is giving voice to our feelings
and making discoveries about ourselves."
N. Kelton

"Desire and discipline are
the keys to success."
N. Kelton

"... find your voice so
you will keep writing..."
N. Kelton

"Writing is about being courageous.
It takes a willingness to let people
see who you are.
Talent plays a tiny role.
Determination is the key."
N. Kelton

"Expressing what's in our hearts and minds
is a way of hanging out with our gods."
N. Kelton

"...expressing ourselves freely is bliss."
N. Kelton

"...the entire history of mankind is problem solving...
Me misquoting R. Bradbury

Do you consider yourself successful?
What do you need to feel as if you are a success?
What is keeping you from your success?
M. Alibrando

"What does writing teach you?
Does it teach you that you are alive?
M. Alibrando

"Having the courage to say you do not
know the answer to a question
is perhaps the beginning of wisdom."
Jon Meacham

"Do unto others
as you would have them
do unto you."
Jesus of Nazareth - Luke 6:31

"What you do not wish
others to do unto you
do not do unto them."
Confucius

"Do not do to your neighbor
what you would take ill from him."
Pittacus

The best things are worth repeating.   
M. Alibrando

"What is written may seem elementary and repetitious."
L. Buscaglia

A truism is often a paradox.
M. Alibrando

"All thoughts lead to the same conclusion."
Confucius

A paradox is often a truism.
M. Alibrando

Like a loving parent,
wisdom often repeats itself.
M. Alibrando

"Birds never sing in caves."
H. D. Thoreau

Do not listen to what it says,
but observe what it does.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - November 17, 1994

Stream of Consciousness
By Michael Alibrando

The mind is my thought ocean,
Consciousness is my thought stream,
Flowing, keeping track of time,
Insights flashing me a glean.

Through mental engineering,
I have worn in schools of thought,
Existential scuba gear,
For idea fish I've caught.

Idea fish are not like others,
You cannot catch them whole,
For you must scoop your cerebral net around them,
And capture up their soul.

Do not fear it does not hurt them,
To lift their spirits away,
You only keep them long enough,
To put to paper what they say.

Then you let them go again,
To reread what they have brought,
Add to private mental lakes,
A private school of thought.

Copyright © 1993 Michael Alibrando

"Just as fish may be unaware
of the existence of the water
in which they swim, most of us
are unaware of the ceaselessly
flowing time in which we live."
P. Zimbardo

"As we look further into the future,
we are forced to
do more in the present.
P. Zimbardo

"As long a man has will he will have
have some degree of control
over his reactions,
responses and conclusions."
L. Buscaglia

"He is not totally at the mercy of forces
greater than himself for he himself
becomes a powerful force."
L. Buscaglia

"Change does not occur by merely willing it
any more than behavior changes
simply through insight."
L. Buscaglia

"Things can be changed.
Nothing is irreversible."
L. Buscaglia

"If each person were to assume a small responsibility,
things could be made better."
L. Buscaglia

"The only question ask of ourselves is,
'What can I do?'

The answer is usually simple and answerable,
especially if we truly care and are willing to
assume the responsibility."
L. Buscaglia

Influence others, not by force or power,
but by love, reason, and example.
Anonymous

Originally written - November 27, 1994

"You cannot teach a person anything;
you can only help him find himself."
Galileo

Originally written - November 13, 1994

"Making peace is harder than making war."
A. E. Stevenson

"We underestimate human nature
when we fail to study
the best examples of humanity."

"To determine how fast humans can run,
you study not the average runner but
the fastest runner you can find."
A. Maslow

Determine the limits of your potential.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - November 30, 1994

"Theories should not be any more complex than necessary."
W. Occam

Life should not be any more complex than necessary.
M. Alibrando

Maturity is not a goal,
but a process."
L. Buscaglia

"We cannot sole life's problems
except by solving them."
M. S. Peck

"...we must accept responsibility
for a problem before we can
solve it."
M. S. Peck

"Love and the self are one
and the discovery of either is
the realization of both."
L. Buscaglia

Take the time.
M. Alibrando

"Problems do not go away.
they must be worked through
or else they remain, forever
a barrier to the growth and
development of the spirit."
M. S. Peck

"...as with so many problems,
the longer they are ignored,
the larger they become and
the more painful and difficult
to solve."
M. S. Peck

"Love isn't afraid to feel."
L. Buscaglia

Language creates new worlds and possibilities.
M. Alibrando

Pluralism is the belief
that no single explanatory
system or view of reality
can account for all
the phenomena of life.

thefreedictionary.com

"Ultimately love is everything."
M. S. Peck

"Good discipline requires time."
M. S. Peck

"Self-discipline is self-caring."
M. S. Peck

"...one hour of pain followed by six hours of pleasure (is)
preferable to one hour of pleasure followed by six of pain."
Me misquoting M. S. Peck

The space between all things
is as important as the things.
M. Alibrando

Incites are often more like flash bulbs than flashlights,
and the wisdom these might bring may quickly fade
from your minds-eye if you do not record them.
M. Alibrando

"Without discipline we can solve nothing."
M. S. Peck

"Problems call forth our courage and wisdom;
indeed, they create our courage and wisdom.
M. S. Peck

"Those things that hurt, instruct."
B. Franklin

"...as we negociate the curves and corners of our lives,
we must continually give up parts of ourselves.
The only alternative to this giving up is not to travel
at all on the journey of life."
M. S. Peck

"The way you go must be your decision."
M. Alibrando

"Knowing what you want from life
is only half of the difficulty of
getting what you want from life."

"Did you set a goal for yourself today?
Did you accomplish that goal?
If not today then when?"
M. Alibrando

"Grasp opportunities to create the future."
M. Alibrando

"A total immersion in
life offers the best clasroom
for learning to love."
L. Buscaglia

"Just because the message
may never be recieved
does not mean it is not
worth sending."
Segaki

"All learning involves searching,
finding, analyzing, evaluating,
experiencing, accepting, rejecting,
practicing and reinforcement."
L. Buscaglia

"Learning is a complicated life-long process.
To learn to love is to be in constant change.
The process is endless,
for man's potential to love is infinate."
L. Buscaglia

"One can only move toward change
when he willfully arrives at a
proposal to do so.
L. Buscaglia

" 'To be is to do,'
say; the existentialist."
L. Buscaglia

"One only becomes real (Human)
at the point of action."
L. Buscaglia

Doubt is an invitation to think.
M. Alibrando

"Don't be afraid to climb out on a limb,
That's where the fruit is."
L. Buscaglia

Originally written - November 23, 1993

Language is only one expression of our thoughts.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - November 21, 1993

Each new year is best begun with a reflection of the past to help map out the path ahead.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - May 26, 1995

See yourself as being many things and as
being capable of being many more things.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - September 16, 1993

"Once we truly know the life is difficult -
once we truly understand and accept it -
then life is no longer difficult.
M. S. Peck

"Life is a series of problems.
Do we want to moan about them
or solve them?"
M. S. Peck

"Yet it is this whole process of
meeting and solving problems
that life has it's meaning.
M. S. Peck

It is natural for rain and water to
fill up empty spaces
on the ground.

Puddles, ponds, lakes
and oceans all
get filled and refilled.

But even if there was no water,
these same spaces would
be filled with atmosphere.
Air replaces water.

Take away the air and
all you have left is
light or darkness to
fill the empty spaces.

M. Alibrando

"The mind and the spirit are one and the same."
Me misquoting M. S. Peck

"The journey of spiritual growth is a long one."
M. S. Peck

"Life is difficult."
M. S. Peck

"...face the blank page."
Me misquoting N. Kelton

"...express what is in your heart and mind..."
Me misquoting N. Kelton

"The more you write,
the freer you'll become ."
N. Kelton

"The way to get better is by writing."
N. Kelton

"Discipline requires both
flexibility and judgment."
Me misquoting M. S. Peck

"Balancing gives us flexibility."
Me misquoting M. S. Peck

Learn when to let go.
M. Alibrando

"...the loss of balance
is ultimately more painful
than the giving up required to
maintain balance."
M. S. Peck

"...the withholding of essential information is
the most common form of lying."
M. S. Peck

"The more honest one is,
the easier it is to
continue to be honest,
just as the more lies one has told,
the more necessary it is
to lie again.
M. S. Peck

"You know, it's about seeing the world as what it can be and not what it is."
K.R. Sridhar

"Two wrong make a fight."
Anonymous

Let it go.
M. Alibrando

In the eternal tension of opposites
there can be only one winner.
M Alibrando

"Love is the only rational act."
"Love wins. Love always wins!"
L. Buscaglia

Often a great triumph comes after many failures.
M. Alibrando

Keep writing even after
you are successful.
Whatever makes you successful
will keep you successful long after
your first triumph as long as you
remember what brought you to it
in the first place.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - December 29, 2009

Before we can do away with prejudice, hatred and war,
we must all obtain stable, secure lives free from fear and anxiety.

It is impossible to become a self-actualizer,
if your needs for learning and understanding are not met.
Your self-actualizer is the "real-self" within the eye of the "storm-self."

To begin to develop the "real-self" one must make the journey inward
through the layer after layer of "storm-self."
M. Alibrando

Originally written - December 3, 1994

You can face your fears by putting them on the page.
M. Alibrando

What is you legacy?
What will you leave behind?
M. Alibrando

Good writing is always personal.
M. Alibrando

"Don't wish for apples.
Grow strong trees.
L. Buscaglia

To achieve bliss one must
write what one feels.
M. Alibrando

Truths are useless unless
you share them
with other truth seekers.
M. Alibrando

"Everything in the universe
goes by indirection.
There are no straight lines."
R. W. Emerson

"Indirection is everything.
Metaphor is medicine."
R. Bradbury

"So, it seems, we are all science-fictional children
dreaming ourselves into new ways of survival."
R. Burdbury

"Everywhere we look: Problems.
Everywhere we further deeply look: Solutions.
R. Bradbury

"Dream and learn and build."
R. Bradbury

"What we are trying to do is find a way
to release the truth that lies in all of us."
R. Bradbury

"What do I really think of the world?
What do I love, fear, hate?"
R. Bradbury

"Let the world burn through you."
R. Bradbury

"By work, by quantitative experience,
man releases himself from obligation
to anything but the task at hand."
R. Bradbury

"The writer must let his fingers run out the story of his characters,
who, being human and full of strange dreams and obsessions,
are only to glad to run."
R. Bradbury

"To fail is to give up."
R. Bradbury

"Quality gives experience.
From experience alone can quality come."
R. Bradbury

"All arts, big and small,
are the elimination of waste in motion
in favor of concise declaration."
R. Bradbury

"His greatest art will oft be
what he does not say,
what he leaves out,
his ability to state simply
with clear emotion,
the way he wants to go."
R. Bradbury

What path are you on and why did you choose it?

Did you choose this road for the direction it is heading -
the destination -
or for the road itself -
the material it is made of?

Or, are you simply on this road for the scenery?
M. Alibrando

"You need to keep finding yourself a little more each day."
R. Bach

"Overcome your limitations in order, patiently."
R. Bach

"Like everything else - practice..."
R. Bach

Originally written - November 15, 2009

A book of a thousand pages begins with a first sentence.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - August 13, 2009

"For I believe that eventually
quantity will make for quality."
R. Bradbury

"Each of you,
curious about creativity,
wants to make contact
with that thing in yourself
that is truly original."
R. Bradbury

Work.
Be not it's slave,
But it's partner.
Make work a joy,
not a burden.
M. Alibrando

"Listen to yourself."
Me misquoting N. Kelton

A writer writes because he or she cannot NOT write.
A singer sing because he or she cannot NOT sing.

What do you do because you cannot NOT do it?
What is you passion?
What brings your words forth?
What makes you sing?
M. Alibrando

Eighty percent of success is showing up.
Woody Allen

Don't let "Real Life" get in the way of what is real.
M. Alibrando

Don't daydream your life away.
Write your dreams down.
M. Alibrando

How does one get to Carnage Hall?
Practice, practice. practice.

How does one get to Amazon.com?
See above.
M. Alibrando

Great musicians practice everyday
even if just a little bit.
So, too, should a great writer
write a little something every day.
M. Alibrando

Write something everyday whether it is good or not.
Good takes practice,
Everyday requires discipline.
M. Alibrando

Important things take time to develop.
M. Alibrando

Set a new goal each day...

...baby steps.
M. Alibrando

If you do not know what you want to become then find out the hard way.

Begin by listing everything you are certain you do not want to be.

Often the process of elimination is the only viable option to discover The True You.
M. Alibrando

Some of the most important things ever written
opened up a "world of trouble" for the author.

Boldly seek new worlds.
M. Alibrando


Life is making choices...

...Make some wrong ones once in a while.
M. Alibrando

Your life may not be unlike a story.

If it is written as a play,
you are one of the performers in your play.
Perhaps you may even be directing
the actions of some of the players,
demonstrating some leadership of
yourself as well as others.

If it is written as a novel,
you are not being an active participant.
You are only acting as an observer.
Which is participation,
but is not nearly as much fun as
playing at being someone
you would rather be.

Originally written - May 20, 1992

"In order to understand people,
you must try to hear what they do not say.
And it may be something they will never say."
J. Powell

"If you practice being fictional for a while,
you will understand that fictional characters
are sometimes more real than people
with bodies and heartbeats."
R. Bach

Originally written - May 20, 1992

"There is always more to discover."
L. Buscaglia

"Change is the end result of all true learning."
L. Buscaglia

"No matter. I still believe that at heart man is good."
Anne Frank

"Man is happiest when he is creating."
L. Buscaglia

"Love always create, it never destroys.
In this lies man's only promise."
L. Buscaglia

These ideas are kernels of nutmeat found inside the shells of life lessons.
M. Alibrando

"Anger is energy for change."

"We don't have complete knowledge or control over the world, but we do have choices. And choices lead to outcomes."
G. Colnaghi

Originally written - November 28, 1994

"Feelings, unverbalized, can be destructive."
L. Buscaglia

"Give gifts of love without reason...

...verbalize your happiness."
L. Buscaglia

Originally written - August 4, 1993

"No man ever steps into the same river twice,
for it is not the same river and he is not the same man."
Heraclitus

How does one vacinate against boredom?
M. Alibrando

"If you are quite and tranquil you can become the ruler of the world."
Lao-Tzu

"The farther you go, the less you know."
Lao-Tzu

All of the ages of the past exist in every spec of dust.

All of the possibilities of the future are also in that same spec of dust.
M. Alibrando

By playing a role you become that role.
M. Alibrando

Day follows night without effort.
M. Alibrando

Searching for meaning IS the meaning of life.
M. Alibrando

At some point in your life you must
try and put your words out there for others to read and
decide if they also have meaning for them.

M Alibrando


Do not expect everyone to
take away the same meaning
that your words have for you.
M Alibrando

Whatever you are doing right now -
it doesn't matter what it is -
consider it a work in progress.

Life is a work in progress.

Bringing a painting or a novel to completion may allow one too pause -
for a moment -
to bask in the glory of one's body of work,
before continuing to build once again
upon that which has already been accomplished.

The greatest achievers of any age -
upon their egress-
have often left behind that next great masterpiece -
unfinished.  
And thou we might look for some mysteriously hidden meaning
in their uncompleted task -
we find there is none.

The meaning is in the task itself.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - March 6, 1995

Express yourself.
If you are a singer or a musician, be music.
If you are a writer, be language.
An artist -- art.
A dancer -- movement.
And if you are a dreamer...
...then become the dream.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - March 9, 1995

The real you can stand alone surrounded by daylight,
while the false you must hide amongst the shadows of the night.

There is no final universal truth to be discovered which can put an end to the process of seeking truths.
The closest one might come to finding a universal truth of this lifetime is that learning never ends.

Keep seeking truth.
Keep learning.
Keep growing.

It is impossible to teach something without learning something.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - February 27, 1996

Is it possible to learn a lesson so well that you cannot remember ever learning it?

Can a skill become so ingrained that it's origin is forgotten?
How about walking and talking?
How about reading and writing?
And what about thinking?
That's right thinking. That thing that you're doing right now. How about thinking?
Can you remember where you learned to think?
Can you remember who taught you to think?
Do you remember what they taught you to think?
Is what you think what you choose to think or is it what someone else taught you to think?
Can you rethink what you think and teach yourself not to think as you were taught to think, but instead think as an independent thinker?
Can you remember when you first thought to think of yourself as an independent thinker?
Who was it that taught you to think of yourself as an independent thinker and asked you to think independent thoughts?
Did he or she think of himself or herself as an independent thinker?  And who taught him or her how to think as an independent thinker?
How did he or she teach you to be an independent thinker without you thinking as he or she does?
Are you an independent thinker who only thinks likes other independent thinkers or are you a truly independent thinker who thinks that you think just like everybody else?

It is possible to learn something so well that you cannot ever remember learning.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - February 26, 1996

Sometimes the greatest philosophies lie hidden
on a blank page like invisible ink or lemon juice.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - April 1, 1996
Originally posted using "invisible text," April 1, 2010

Sometimes the greatest philosophies lie hidden

on a blank page like invisible ink or lemon juice.

M. Alibrando

Originally written - April 1, 1996

Once one school of thought is finished, another must begin.

There are no vacations from one's own school of thought,
but there may be school trips.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - May 18, 1995

"It is not life (a noun) that matters,
but living (a verb) that is most important.

Action words speak louder than nouns.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - May 19, 1995

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...
...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
H. Lee

"It is not life (a noun) that matters,
but living (a verb) that is most important.

Action words speak louder than nouns.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - May 19, 1995

Express yourself.
If you are a singer or a musician, be music.
If you are a writer, be language.
An artist -- art.
A dancer -- movement.
And if you are a dreamer...  
...then become the dream.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - March 9, 1995

Is it true that when one tries to define love one somehow makes love in someway inadequate?
M. Alibrando

"I define love thus: The will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth. "
S. Peck

Originally written - July 24, 1995

It is not always possible to give something that offers monetary
value to one who shares a kindred spirit, better, then, to
give ideas which may be turned into future fortunes.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - February 24, 1996

Choose freedom.

The more democratic your life,
the harder it is to manage,
but the better your final results will be.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - August 18, 1995

You cannot become a superman if, for you, life is kyptonite.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - December 20, 1996

"...The meaning in life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour.
What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general
but rather the specific meaning of a person's life at a given moment."
V. Frankl

"...Each man is questioned by life;
and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life;
to life he can only respond by being responsible."
V. Frankl

Originally written - December 23, 1994

If it is not possible to give money to a kindred spirit,
then give ideas which may be turned into future fortunes.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - February 24, 1996

Take advantage of rare occasions to do something different.
Some of the nicest surprises are those that we give to ourselves.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - February 29, 1996

Some of the greatest authors who have ever written have never published one word of even their greatest works for fear of rejection.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - May 7, 1996

What would you call the willingness to extend oneself for the purpose of nurturing growth?
M. S. Peck

Why are we afraid of learning about love?

Are we afraid of discovering that love is something which can be learned and that we somehow got our lessons wrong?
Have we forgotten that learning is a process of trial and error?
When we error in a math lesson don't we often go back and rework the problem and then check our answers with people who know the correct answers?
Don't these people also write math textbooks and don't we trust them to know the best approaches for solving similar problems found in similar lessons?
Then why don't we trust people who have learned about love?
People who have researched and experienced love and have written essays, papers and books about what they have learned about love?
Could we be afraid that love lessons will somehow diminish the magical effect love has in our lives?
Is there a magic that take one and one and turn them into two?
Why must love be magical?
If mathematical formulas make like easier when working with numbers, then why wouldn't formulas for better relationships make life easier when learning about love?

Why are we afraid to learning about love?
M. Alibrando

Originally written - February 28, 1996

Sometimes in order to find an answer to an important question
you must fully submerge yourself in the process of
seeking out that answer.

Much like a sponge which cannot absorb very much
when only being dipped into water,
neither can one find important answers
when only occasionally looking for them.

But when entirely submerged that same sponge will
find itself over flowing with the water, just as you will
find yourself overflowing with answers
while you are submerged within the process of
asking questions and seeking truths.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - February 25, 1996

"We are not for everyone and everyone is not for us.
The question is, If we cannot be with another, can we at least not hurt them?
Can we, at least, find a way to coexist?"
L. Buscaglia

"Any thing that is learned can be unlearned.
In this process called change lies our real hope."
L. Buscaglia

Originally written - July 28, 1993

Secrets can be harmful to any relationship, but especially with the relationship of the true-self.

Improve your listening skills. This may require listening to that which is not normally heard.

Listening between the vibrations can be very revealing.
M. Alibrando

"The genius of communication is to be both totally honest and
both totally kind at the same time."
J. Powell

"Sticks and stones may break our bones,
but words will break our hearts."
R. Fulghum

Originally written - July 25, 1993

Words rarely express exactly what one means to say.
M. Alibrando

Language confounds those ideas which have yet to be fully realized.
M. Alibrando

Words often get in the way on the path to enlightenment.
M. Alibrando

Some of the best ideas cannot be expressed in words.
Sometimes you just need to build a light bulb and then
turn it one for others to see how it works.
M. Alibrando

Even adults can sometimes falter and act like children again.  This can be either a blessing or a return of the worst elements of childhood.

The schoolyard during recess can be both a place of rapture and of trauma.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - July 20, 1993

"Hatred paralyzes life;
Love releases it.
Hatred confuses life;
Love harmonizes it.
Hatred darkens life;
Love illuminates it."
M. L. King Jr.

"The ultimate measure of a man
is not where he stands
in moments of comfort
and of convenience,
but where he stands
at times of challenge and controversy."
M. L. King Jr.

"... our lives have many painful moments,
many baptism of fire,
sickness, loneliness, loss, and failure,
which we must pass through
before we can enter into life,
before a whole new world is opened up to us."
J. Powell

Originally written - July 12, 1993

"The argument that things have always been so, however,
does not mean that things should ever be thus."
J. Meacham

What sets you free?
M. Alibrando

"Eventually you learn there are no rules except the ones you make up."
R. Bradbury

Profound word provoke profound thoughts.
M. Alibrando

Follow the path that best leads you to you.
M. Alibrando

Those who wish to become artist are often doodlers.
Those who wish to become writers should try doodling in words.
M. Alibrando

"It's not how many times you get knocked down, it's how quickly you get up."
J. Biden quoting his father

"It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up."
V. Lombardi

"The greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising everytime we fall."
Confucius

Wisdom - real truth -  is ever constant.
M. Alibrando

"There is no one who does not eat and drink.
But few there are who really know flavor."
Confucius

"When the archer misses the center of the target,
he turns round and seeks for the cause of his failure within himself."
Confucius

"He who learns to be his true self is one who finds out what is good and holds fast to it."
Confucius

Originally written - March 23, 1993

"Having the capacity for love
is not the same as
having the ability for love."
L Buscaglia

"All roads lead to the same place.
All thoughts go to the same conclusion."
Confucious

"We are all much less than we can be."
L. Buscaglia

Some concepts are like the image of a lit candle in a holder.
A blink later and two lovers stare intently into each others eyes.
M. Alibrando

Love can be like cotton.
When found in it's natural state, it can be wonderful to touch and feel.
But, like cotton, it can be refined, textured, colored, blended and
woven into an even more wonderful and beautiful cloth.

Love can be worn, like a garment,
beautifully displayed for all to see,
or hidden as an undergarment.

When do you get to be the person you always wanted to be?

Create and wear the garment of your choice.

Every wardrobe has it's accessories.

Change is inevitable, beneficial and the reason
your mental closet is full of possibilities.

You can help others to accept and be open to you
mostly by accepting and revealing yourself to others.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - May 26, 1993

"We can lead only insofar as we go before."
M. S. Peck

Risk nothing,
Chang nothing.
M. Alibrando

Are you a child pretending to be an adult,
or an adult pretending to be a child?
M Alibrando

How strong is you fear of being discovered for being a fraud?
M. Alibrando

When will you decide that
you have finally suffered enough?
M. Alibrando

"Are you truly happy with who you are?
If so, can you maintain your happiness
no matter where you go,
what you do or
who you are with?"
M. Alibrando

"We are all rich and ignore the buried fact of accumulated wisdom."
R. Bradbury

"...go forth into the world and explode an idea."
Me misquoting R. Bradbury

"How does one get lost?"
R. Bradbury

"The failure to relax a particular tension can lead to madness."
R. Bradbury

"Self-consciousness is the enemy of all art, be it acting, writing, painting or
living itself, which is the greatest art of all."
R. Bradbury

"We never sit anything out. We are cups, constantly being filled.
The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and
let the beautiful stuff out."
R. Bradbury

"Imagination is more important than information.'
A. Einstein

"The very nature of art is invention."
R. Bradbury

"If necessary, create a ritual to get there.
You may first need to rite,
in order to write
what you believe is right."
M Alibrando

Read.
Reflect.
Write.
M. Alibrando

"No one can solve problems for someone whose
problem is that they don't want problems solved."
R. Bach

"No matter how qualified or deserving you are, you will never
reach a better life until you can imagine it for yourself and
allow yourself to have it."
R. Bach

"The best way to avoid responsibility is to say, 'I've got responsibilities.' "
R. Bach

"Your friends will know you better in the first minute you meet them
than your acquaintances will know you in a thousand years."
R. Bach

"The bond that links the family is not one of blood
but of respect and joy in each others life.
Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof."
R. Bach

Originally written - May 27, 1992

"We work with being,
but it is non-being that we use."
G. DeRosa

There is a little Walter Mitty in all of us.

Imagination expands reality.
M. Alibrando

Through writing one discovers their voice.
A personal voice.
M Alibrando

"He who learns to be his true self is one
who finds out what is good and holds fast to it."
Confucius

The school of one's thoughts are like a school of fish.  Each is separate and different, yet all are moving in the same general direction.

Sometimes truth can be a very private thing.  Each of us live within our own very personal universe.
M Alibrando
Originally written -  April 21, 1993

"...the current knows where it is going."

"The river delights to lift us free, if only we dare let go."

"Our true work is this voyage, this adventure."

"In the path of our happiness shall we find the learning for which we have chosen this lifetime."
R. Bach

Try not to judge another until you have traveled a day inside of his or her skin.
M. Alibrando

"The good neighbor looks beyond the external accidents and
discerns those inner qualities that make all men human
and, therefore, brothers."
M. L. King Jr.

"I have to ..." and "I choose to..." are opposite sides of
the same coin. 

A good leader observes a situation,
accepts advice,
weighs the choices...
...and then acts. 

What makes a leader?
Delegation and trust,
common sense and listening,
compassion and understanding.

Originally written - April 13, 1993

"Individuality comes forth when one allows it to."
M Alibrando

"Get out of your own way."
Leo Buscaglia

Fear is easier than understanding.
Unknown

Learning something new
is like adding a thread to the tapestry or you life,
or a tile to the reflective mural of your existence.
M. Alibrando

Originally written -March 1, 1993

"I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that 
gentleness is to be expected only from the strong."
Leo Rosten

"Have you written enough
so that you are relaxed
and can allow the truth to get out
without being ruin by
self-conscious posturing or
changed by desire to become rich."
R. Bradbury

"A small echo may start an idea.
A big echo may result in a story."
R. Bradbury

"Every time you hear an echo from you Subconscious,
you know yourself a little better."
R. Bradbury

"What you will become in the end
will be more and more of what
you are deciding and trying to
be right now."
R. Bach

Originally written -February 28, 1993

"Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools."
A. Einstein

"If you never assume importance
you can never lose it."
Laotzu

"...he who over-reaches
and tries to live by force
shall die therby of course,..."
Laotzu

Originally written -June 6, 1993

"It is the weak who are cruel.  Gentleness can only be expected from the strong."
Leo Buscaglia

"...we're so busy looking out,
to find way and means,
we forget to look in."
R. Bradbury

"That which was not, is."
R. Bradbury

There will be plenty time for revisions.
M Alibrando

"Run fast, stand still."
R. Bradbury

"In quickness is truth."
R. Bradbury

"In hesitation is thought."
R. Bradbury

"What you will become in the end will be more and more of what you are deciding and trying to be right now."
R. Bach

Originally written - February 28, 1993

"The love for my own self is inseparably connected with the love for any other self."
E. Fromm

"Love of others and love of ourselves are not alternatives."
E. Fromm

"Genuine love is an expression of productiveness and implies care, respect, responsibility, and knowledge."
E. Fromm

    Who then are the true philosophers?
    Those who are the lovers of truth.
Plato

Just do the best that you can with what you have been given.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - February 27, 1993

"You cannot assume that people, even those most close to you,
will know and understand your unexpressed needs and feelings."
L. Buscaglia

Love is not a mind reader.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - February 14, 1993

If only one seed in ten-thousand takes root,
there will still be enough trees to fill an orchard.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - January 4, 1993

"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in it's hands.
You seek problems because you need there gifts."
R. Bach

"When you play it safe you create a world of insecurity."
J. Powell

Originally written - December 21, 1992

"Even if your on the right track you'll get run over if you just sit there."
W. Rogers

Make a sacrifice of your boredom.  It may not be as easy as you think.
M. Alibrando

Originally written -  October 8, 1992

"The truth you speak has no past and no future.  It is and that is all it has to be."
R. Bach

Evil cannot spread without followers.  It maintains power by suppressing truth, and retreats when forcibly confronted.
M. Alibrando

The things you have to say to yourself are more important
than those things you are reading here.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - September 26, 1992

"It is easy to forget our times of knowing,
to think they've been dreams or old miracles.
Nothing good is a miracle, nothing lovely is a dream."
R. Bach

Spectacular sunsets, billowy clouds, colorful rainbows --
the image is a dream, but the beauty is real.
M. Alibrando

"The power of thought -- the magic of the mind."
Byron

As surely as you can make a flower bloom,
so too you will bloom. 
It is only a matter of time.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - September 24, 1992

Your only limit is your imagination.

You are the master of your own destiny,
how far you control destiny is up to you.

If life is an illusion,
then learn to be an illusionist.

"Learn what the magician knows
and it's not magic anymore."
R. Bach

Pretend you made a wish and got what you asked for,
but then, somehow, you forgot that you had made a wish.
Now all you have to do is remember what you wished for, and
you can be happy again.
M. Alibrando

Don't jump off a ledge until you are ready to fly.
When you believe that you are ready,
you will lift strait off of the earth, unlike the birds -- which need a head start.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - September 24, 1992

"Failures are just as valuable experiences as successes..."
R. Fry

Your only real mistakes are those
from which you have learned nothing.

If you believe you can you already have.

Your emotional reactions may be
telling you something about yourself.
M. Alibrando

Listening is searching to find the treasure of the real person.

If you really want to find out a lot about yourself,
then from time to time ask yourself:
"How did I get here?" or "Where did I come from?"

By tracing your origins, you will be able to
uncover a whole family tree of your present self.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - September 21, 1992

The perspective of fighting fire with fire is absurd
unless you desire to burn down your house.
But just as enough well placed water, can douse a fire,
enough well placed love can quell a hatred.
M. Alibrando

"The leaves let go, the seeds let go,
and I must let go sometimes too."
R. Fulghum

"Every person passing through this life
will unknowingly leave something and
take something away."
R. Fulghum

"Absolute calm is not the law of the ocean.
And it is the same with the Ocean Life."
M. Gandhi

Truth is a tool of love.
Fear is a tool of hate.
If the truth can set you free,
perhaps then, it is fear which is
keeping you from your freedom.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - September 20, 1992

"Fail to honor people,
They fail to honor you."
Laotzu

"Yield and you need not break:
Bent you can straighten."
Laotzu

"Weapons often turn upon the wielder."
Laotzu

"Deny the way of life and you are dead."
Laotzu

Originally written - August 19, 1992

"When Yi (a famous archer) taught people to shoot, he told them to pull the string on the bow to it's full length.  The man who wants to cultivate himself must also develop himself to the full extent.  A great carpenter teaches his apprentice to use squares and compasses.  The man who wants to cultivate himself, must also have squares and compasses for his conduct."
Mencius

Love is a great risk,
but it's rewards far out weight those of hatred.
M. Alibrando

"An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind."
M. Gandhi

Originally written - August 11, 1992

There are many voices within you and
each voice has something important to add to the chorus of the self. 
Some voices may be louder than others,
but even the softest voices are important to the whole corral arrangement
and must be paid attention to as well.

No idea can work unless you use it consistently. 
It may take practice but once you become accustom to
an idea you may find yourself doing something out of habit.

The most potent ideas occur out of your first nature.

A soul without reflection is like a mirror without the silvering.
M. Alibrando

"The future will depend on what we do in the present."
M. Gandhi

Originally written - August 8, 1992

Try imagining your brain/body-self as an idea machine,a bio-chemical computer, and your mental/spiritual self as your programming, cognitive software if you will,  where new data is not simply received and stored, but instead, it constantly being rewritten and stored for inclusion within the over-all program.  Your thoughts, ideas, concepts, and perspectives make-up part of your programming.  The program you are today determines the new lines of data and information which will be excepted and added tomorrow.  Each new line and each new sub-routine in your software creates a different you, and each new you writes a new line of programming and creates a new sub-routine to be included into the original program.

Your software is forever changing, growing, and developing towards an all new program where only you can define the priorities for the running of sub-routines in the hierarchy of the self structure -- where only you know it's true importance.

It is not the circuitry which makes a computer useful to a task,
It is it's programming.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - August 7, 1992

"You may never have proof of your importance,
but you are more important than you think."
R. Fulghum

If there is a destiny for you it is not written in the stars.
It is written inside of you and can be rewritten by you
if you allow it to be.

Find differently clever ways to
speak to old truths - as well as to new truths.

Once you discover your new ideas and perspectives you must use and hone them,
but be flexible enough to continually add the perspectives you learn from others so as to
allow your learning process to continue.
M. Alibrando

"Man is ultimately self-determining.
What he becomes -- within the limits of
endowment and environment -- he has made for himself."
V. Frankl

Originally written - August 6, 1992

"Individual liberty and interdependence are both essential for life in society."
M. Gandhi

We are all integral parts of the cosmic mural.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - August 5, 1992

"Every man aught to say what he thinks."
Plato

Everything starts as somebody's daydream.
M. Alibrando

Behind the door to your heart is something wonderful
waiting to happen.
M. Alibrando

It's ok to be confused about the details of love and of life,
but try to be clear about the spirit.
M. Alibrando

Even if you choose not to believe in a superior being,
it is difficult to ignore that there must be
a superior way of life.
It's up to you to find that way of life.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - August 3, 1992

Life is a pen filled with ink,
writing for the purpose of leaving words on a paper. 

Some live to write,
others must write to live.
M. Alibrando

A teacher can only help a students give birth to their own ideas.
It is each student's choice whether to fertilize an idea or not,
and whether to allow an idea a chance to become an adult thought with a life of it's own.
It is possible to abort an idea prematurely,
when perhaps you are not yet ready for the adult responsibilities of a given idea.

The child of ideas is an adult responsibility.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - July 28, 1992

You have the power to wage war,
kill indiscriminately those who do not see life as you see it,
do not believe as you believe.
Just remember you would rather die yourself
than force someone into heaven.

Love lost hurts, whether it is deliberate or accidental doesn't matter, the simple fact that it hurts matters.

Be careful of the lightning bolts you throw;
you just might hit someone you love.

Violence is unthinkable.
M. Alibrando

Every insight you have makes a statement.
You are saying something about yourself
by the ideas and concepts
you choose to keep as part of yourself.

Whatever your ideas are,
when you share them with another,
they become a part of him or her.
M. Alibrando

You are in control of your own destiny.
How far you control destiny is up to you.
There are two ways to reach your ultimate goal.
Stop where you are and say,
"This is it,"
or keep going.

Of course you never reach the top,
but it is precisely this that keeps you going.
M. Alibrando

"Remember, you are never given a wish
without also being given the power to make it true.
You may have to work for it, however."
R. Bach

You have the ability to rise higher than your dreams,
you just haven't dreamed that far yet.
But when you do you will dream higher.
M. Alibrando

"You can fly."
R. Bach

Rome didn't fall in a day.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - May 29, 1992

Your purpose in life is to
find it within yourself to
become a person of excellence,
intelligence and adaptability.
First you crawl.
Then you walk.
Then you run.
You can ride a bike or swim;
or learn to climb mountains.
You can even learn to soar.

               You have the freedom to
    break the chains of gravity anytime you want.
                   You live to be free.

M. Alibrando

Originally written - May 28, 1992

“For the first thing a writer should be is - excited.”
R. Bradbury

“What do you love most in this world?”

“What do you want more than anything else in the world?
What do you love?
What do you hate?”
R. Bradbury

“What are the best things and the worst things in your life,
and when are you going to get around to whispering or shouting them?”
R. Bradbury

“…If you are writing without zest, without gusto, without love, without fun, you are only half a writer.”
R. Bradbury

“Yell. Jump. Play.”

“Go do it.”

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.”
R. Bradbury

“…find the courage to rebel, change your life…”
Me misquoting R. Bradbury

“What do I suffer from? What is the cure?”
R. Bradbury

"You are led through your lifetime by the inner learning creature, the playful spiritual being that is your real self."
R. Bach

"Don't turn away from possible futures before you're certain you don't have anything to learn from them."
R. Bach

The best way to learn something is to have fun while learning it.
M. Alibrando

"Learning is finding out what you already know.
Doing is demonstrating that you know it.
Teaching is reminding others that
they know just as well as you do.
We are all learners, doers, teachers."
R.Bach

When you tell someone your feelings you risk everything.
But a hermit lives a lonely life.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - May 19, 1992

"We need to be free to create."
L. Buscaglia

Who you are(were)

as you read this

is not who you were(are)

as you finish.

"You teach best
what you most
need to learn."
R. Bach

Only you know how to achieve the success you desire.

Some parents never see their children as adults.
You must not let the parent inside of you keep the child inside of you locked away from the dangers of the world, keeping the child from growing up.
Let the child out to play ever once in a while.

"What's the point of being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes?"
Dr. Who

    Sometimes,
    you just want to
    go out and play.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - May 18, 1992

Think of the universe
as an endless sheet of paper
for you to write your thoughts upon.

When you aim for perfection you soon discover that
perfection is a moving target.

Even if you believe that you can never obtain perfection in your lifetime, you must still strive for excellence.
Consider the idea of excellence as an A+ for effort.

Anything that prevents you from becoming the best you that
you can become -- must be put aside.

What you are learning applies to you and no one else.
By the time you bring your perspective to someone else,
it has already changed.

Perspective can change
in the blink of an eye.

Originally written -May 17, 1992

You don't need evil;
evil needs you. 

It's easy to love the beautiful, kind people who love us as well.
The challenge is in finding a way to love everyone.
Even those people you might believe
you have good reason to not love. 
Who shall you not love?
M. Alibrando

"To live in love is life's greatest challenge."
L. Buscaglia

There will always be
more of nothing
than of something.
But try to fill the nothing
with your something anyway.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - May 6, 1992

A tree falling in the forest may not be seen or heard
but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened. 

Can you appreciate the subtle and sharp contrast of colors in a sunset or in the prism of a rainbow,
or do you insist on clear skies? 

What you do with your life is up to you and no one else.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - April 3, 1992

Everyone wants to forgive themselves;
they're just not sure others want to forgive them.
Don't worry what others think.
You do not exist to impress the world.
You exist to live your life in a way that makes you happy.
Everyone is free to choose to live however they wish.
Responsibility is the ability to
answer for the way we choose to live.
There is only one person that you have to answer to -- yourself.
There is no duty we so under rate as the duty of being happy.

Start with yourself.

It takes practice to see the good in everyone,
including yourself.
Helping others to see the good in themselves
helps you to see the good in yourself.
Just because you don't know the answer to something
doesn't mean that it's not there
waiting for you to find it.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - March 27, 1992

You are a center of thought, and a gravity well for ideas. 
You are a star in a galaxy of perspectives and insights
which wait to be drawn into your sphere of influence to
be fully explored.
It may take more than one life time to
explore every corner of your galaxy,
so map it as best you can.
Leave your map of ideas for future explorers.
It may give them something to study while they chart new ground.

Stop envying other people's Enterprises and take command of your own.
Try launching a few ships of your own thoughts into the cosmos of ideas.

The greatest adventures often begin with a "What If ?"
M. Alibrando

"If you wanted to change a life, let someone unwrap a gift of
thought from you, what would it be?"
R. Bach

"Get out of your own way."
L. Buscaglia

No one has ever been born ahead of their time,
but some have been born ahead of popular opinion.
M. Alibrando

Originally written -March 21, 1992

Life is a word processor booted up and ready to go,
writing for the purpose of filling up the spaces on a newly formatted diskette.
M. Alibrando

You do know yourself, but like most things you know,
you need to be reminded of what you know.

Improve yourself; no one else can do it for you.

What you are reading here may act as a mirror,
reflecting your most profound thoughts.
It's like shining a light into your soul just for a second.
Would you call that insight?

You may wish to ask another for their
perspective on some of your insights.
Remember that this is a very courageous thing to do,
because sometimes your ideas,
like a light,
can easily be dowsed.
But other times it is just as likely they may be focused through a prism,
giving you new insights and perspectives you never dreamed.
Have the courage to allow your ideas to shine.

    Focus your attention
           on what
    you need to know.

M. Alibrando

Originally written - January 31, 1996 and March 12, 1992

Words are a blank page’s best friend.

Are you the blank page or are you the friend?
M Alibrando

The more you learn about the world in which you live,
The more difficulty you may have expressing exactly what it is you have learned.

What is written may seem elementary and repetitious.
A truism is often a paradox.
M. Alibrando

"All thoughts lead to the same conclusion."
Confucius

A paradox is often a truism.
M. Alibrando

"What is written may seem elementary and repetitious."
L. Buscaglia

The best things are worth repeating.   
M. Alibrando

The purpose of learning is to challenge yourself. 
Life is a challenge;
Don't limit yourself.
M. Alibrando

Originally written - March 23, 2000 and January 4, 1992