The Gift of Words

8/2/2019 The Gift of Words

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www.womanatics.com Page 1

THE GIFT OF WORDS:80+ Best Quotes on Happiness, Love and Motivation

AND10 True Inspirational Stories

--Compiled By

Surabhi Surendra

www.womanatics.com


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PART I

Introduction

Lives of great men all remind us we can make our lives sublime. And, departing, leave

behind us footprints on the sands of timeHenry Wadsworth

We often draw inspiration from people who have impacted our lives in some manner,

big or small. We look up to them who influenced us to become who we are today.

Their words are the aphorisms that have become Gospel for millions of us. The real

greatness of these aphorisms is that no matter when or how you read them, they

always resonate with utter wisdom.

In this ebook, I have carefully picked up the sayings and quotes of the legends that

have given me the strength, courage and optimism whenever I needed it. These words

have been my guiding light since the time I started maintaining a diary which dates

back to sometime around the summer of 1994.

I hope you too enjoy reading these pearls of wisdom. Read them out loud anytime you

think it is getting dark and gloomy inside.

For more such goodness, please visit www.womanatics.com and follow me

@womanatics.

To drop a line about this compilation or simply to say hello, please shoot me an emailat my email id - surabhi at womanatics.com.
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Happiness

Happiness is the very essence of our living. People are either happy or not. There is no

state in between. Our every action is our endeavour to seek happiness. Yet, to some,

happiness usually eludes. May be because they dont know what makes them happy.

I always believe happiness lies in the small, little things that one finds along the road side

of the journey of life.

Happiness is not a destination. It is the journey itself. It is the state. If I do not want

anything to change about my today, it means I am content with it. I am happy.

Happiness is the flower that blooms at the very first ray of the dawn. It withers away

with time but reappears again next morning. It is the innocuous laugh of an infant thatkeeps constantly converting into crying and screaming.

It lies in the surprise gift! It can be found in an envelope that reaches you after a

fortnight and shows the petite, curvy hand writing of your old mother. It can be

experienced in the thud of the claps you get as you step onto the stage or in the shine of

the eyes of your boss when he pats you saying, congratulations, you did it!

Happiness is finally your state of mind. How you feel at a moment defines your

happiness.


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Best Quotes

Angels can fly because they take themselves so lightly. - G.K. Chesterton

If you think sunshine brings you happiness, then you haven't danced in the rain.Anonymous

Enjoy your own life withoutcomparing it with that of another. - Marquis De Condorce

A clear conscience is the softest pillow in the world. NRN Murthy

Dance as though no one is watching you. Love as though you have never been hurt

before. Sing as though no one can hear you. Live as though heaven is on earth. - Souza

Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but

which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. Nathaniel Hawthorne

The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up. - Mark Twain

Be glad of life, because it gives you the chance to love and to work and play and to look

up at the stars. Henry Van Dyke

Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you

will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. - Nathaniel Hawthorne

We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't

have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have. - Frederick Keonig

Eden is that old-fashioned house we dwell in every day

Without suspecting our abode until we drive away.

-Emily Dickinson

Happiness always looks small while you hold it in your hands, but let it go, and you learnat once how big and precious it is. - Maxim Gorky

Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on

yourself. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happiness isn't something you experience; it's something you remember. - Oscar Levant

Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.

Thomas Merton
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Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, youll get to enjoy

it second time H. Jackson Brown Jr

Never harbour grudges; they sour your stomach and do no harm to anyone else. -

Robertson Davies

Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk

life, to be needed. Storm Jameson

I keep telling people, smile, you will look young; it is an exercise! Ifyou dont smile, you

face will look dull Asha Bhosle

Everyone should wake up in the morning and say a big thank you to the man up there

for giving us another 24 hours to enjoy our gift. J.J. Valaya

If you want to be happy, be. Leo Tolstoy

The pleasantest things in the world are pleasant thoughts: and the great art of life is to

have as many of them as possible. - Montaigne

We need both happiness and sorrows to lead a colourful life. After all, a rainbow is

formed only when there is sunshine and rain. Anonymous

Happiness grows at our own firesides and is not to be picked in strangers gardens.Douglas Jerrold

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the

source of your joy. Thich Nhat Hanh

If you can not be the poet, be the poem. David Carradine

If you want others to be happy, practise compassion. If you want to be happy, practise

compassion. Dalai Lama


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LOVE

I Love You.

This is probably the most magical phrase in the world. This one statement can actually

change the course of life. Such is the power of love.

If it was not love, we would not have had many great poets, artists, film makers and

writers. Every human has a basic need the need to be loved. An infant is born with this

need and if he is deprived of it, he grows up to possess a hard view of the world.

Love is not just about romance or the attraction between two genders. It is a soft feeling

that one living being carries for the other. It is a bond that binds two beings together

while it the same feeling that separates few relationships from others. What separates a

mother from other relations? Love. What binds two siblings together for life? Love.

What makes two people ready to die for each other or to sacrifice anything without any

regrets? Love.

But this is the beauty of true love. It does not ask for sacrifices. It lets you be you. It letsyou grow.


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Best Quotes

I am nothing special; just a common man with common thoughts, and I've led a common

life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten. But

in one respect I have succeeded as gloriously as anyone who's ever lived: I've loved

another with all my heart and soul; and to me, this has always been enough. The

Notebook (movie)

One does not fall in or out of love. One grows in love. Leo Buscaglia

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They

must be felt with the heart. Helen Keller

At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet. - Plato

If you want to be loved, be lovable Ovid

Let us always meet with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love Mother Teressa

Immature love says: 'I love you because I need you.' Mature love says 'I need you

because I love you. - Erich Fromm

The ultimate test of a relationship is to disagree but to hold hands. - Quoted by

Alexandra Penney in Self

A bell is no bell 'til you ring it,

A song is no song 'til you sing it,

And love in your heart

Wasnt put there to stay -

Love isnt love

'Til you give it away.

-Oscar Hammerstein, Sound of Music.

Love means not ever having to say you're sorry. - Erich Segal

You know you're in love when you don't want to fall asleep because reality is finally

better than your dreams. - Dr. Seuss

Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye. - H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. - Samuel Butler
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Man always wants to be a womans first love, woman likes to be a mans last love.

Oscar Wilde

Set your love free, if it comes back its yours; if not, it never was. Richard Bach

Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.

Buddha

People love others not for who they are but for how they make them feel. Irwin

Federman

You know it's love when all you want is that person to be happy, even if you're not part

of their happiness. Julia Roberts

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within

yourself that you have built against it. - Jalal ad din Rumi

Developing the mind is important, but developing a conscience is the most precious gift

parents can give to their children. John Gray

You know you are in love when you dont want to fall asleep because reality is finally

better than your dreams. Dr. Seuss

Love is missing someone whenever you are apart, but somehow feeling warm insidebecause you are close in heart. Kay Knudsen


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MOTIVATION

Motivation is doing. It is the action.

The intent of an act may be different but the force is always the motivation. No act can

be performed without a motive though the reasons and the factors of the motivation

can be varied.

Motivation can come from fear. It can be born of a challenge, a question or simply a lure.

Only a person really knows what truly inspires him. What is a source of motivation for

one person can be sheerly demotivating for another. But whatever the source may be,

motivation begins from within.

We chase things to bring them to us, to get us what we have dreamt of and wished for

and needed. It is we whofind outwhat we love or what makes us happyand then we get

up to get it.

Your love for happiness will prompt you to sail through unknown waters and that is

motivation.


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Best Quotes

Dreams come true; without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them

John Updike

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase. Martin

Luther King, Jr.

Once in a while it really hits people that they dont have to experience the world in the

way they have been told to. Alan Keighley

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. Eleanor

Roosevelt

Dream as if you'll live forever... live as if you'll die today. James Dean

Dream your dreams with open eyes and make them come true. T. E. Lawrence

Aim High, Aim far. If you miss the moon, you will fall among the stars. Les Brown

This world we are living in is mighty hard to beat, we get a thorn with every rose but

arent the roses sweet? Anonymous

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them. Walt Disney

Others can stop you temporarily; you are the only one who can do it permanently Zig

Ziglar

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other

is as though everything is a miracle. Albert Einstein

And in the end, its not the years in your life that count. Its the life in your years.

Abraham Lincoln

When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon

the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us. Alexander

Graham Bell

Your time is limited, so dont waste it living someone elses life. Dont be trapped by

dogma which is living with the results of other peoples thinking. Dont let the noise of

others opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the

courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly

want to become. Everything else is secondary. Steve Jobs
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Take care of your body. Its the only place you have to live. Jim Rohn

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off

living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon-instead of

enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today. Dale Carnegie

It is never too late to be what you might have been. George Eliot

Dont ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive. And

then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who are alive. Howard

Thurman

The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going. Ralph Waldo Emerson

You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People cant do something themselves, they

wanna tell you you cant do it. If you want something, go get it. Period. Pursuit of

Happyness (Movie)

20 years from now you will be disappointed by the things you didnt do than by the ones

you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade

winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. Mark Twain

Your worth consists in what you are and not in what you have. Thomas Edison

We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all of the power we need inside

ourselves already. J.K. Rowling

We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. Aristotle

When you move beyond your fear, you feel free. Spencer Johnson

The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there

if youre willing to work. Oprah Winfrey

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have

kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. Dale Carnegie

If you run you stand a chance of losing, but if you dont run youve already lost. Barack

Obama

Ive missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. Ive lost almost 300 games. 26 times Ive

been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. Ive failed over and over and

over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. Michael Jordan
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When it is dark enough, you can see the stars. Ralph Waldo Emerson

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Lao Tzu

If you think you have it tough, read history books. Bill Maher

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any

other. Abraham Lincoln

Meditate. Live purely. Be quiet. Do your work with mastery. Like the moon, come out

behind the clouds! Shine. Buddha

You must be the change you wish to see in the world. Mahatma Gandhi

Your talent is Gods gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God. Anonymous

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave

man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. Nelson

Mandela

When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to

realize his dream. Paulo Coelho

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should

be. Now put the foundations under them. Henry David Thoreau

Some men see things as they are and say 'why'? Others dream things that never were

and say 'why not? George Bernard Shaw


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PART II

TRUE INSPIRATIONAL STORIES

Of

Failure and Success

(They have inspired generations and still continue to do so.)


14/24


Mahatma Gandhi

A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes.

Known as the father of the nation, this world hero had inferiority complex about himself.

He was a mediocre student. After successfully passing the law examination, he found it

difficult to speak to even a small group and thus practising law was a distant dream.

He got his barrister degree from England and realized that in Rajkot (his hometown)

lawyers knew more about Indian laws so he headed to Mumbai to learn about Indian

laws. During his first cross examination in court room, he failed to recollect his thoughts

and collapsed in his chair. He was even rejected for a part time teaching position in a

high school in Mumbai. He, ironically, discovered his flair for writing memorials and

petitions. He returned to Rajkot and started working by writing petitions. That is when

he got a job offer from South Africa and he headed there. That event changed his life

along with millions of others.


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Oprah Winfrey

As you become more clear about who you really are, you'll be better able to decide

what is best for you - the first time around.

One of Americas most powerful women, Oprah Winfrey, definitely had a very traumatic

start. She was molested by many of her relatives and men at a tender age of nine. In her

own words, she was sexually promiscuous as a teenager and gave birth to a baby boy

who died in infancy. But with her grit, determination and talent, she moved on to winnumerous prizes in dramatics and oration competitions.

She started working while in college and continued working as an anchor. Soon she

joined WJZ-TV News as a co-anchor. 8 years later she joined another network in Chicago

and hosted a half an hour morning show that became an instant hit. Realizing its

popularity it became a one hour program and thats how The Oprah Winfrey Show was

born. There has been no looking back for her since then.


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Amitabh Bachchan

No one can go through life without their share of knocks. I am no different from any

other.

The legendary Indian Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan was rejected several times

before being offered a role in movies.

When he reached Mumbai to give wings to his dreams of acting, he approached many

film directors but was rejected by all because of his height. He was 63 and the directors

thought he was too tall for an Indian film lead actor role. Dejected, he decided to try

elsewhere and approached All India Radio for the position of a news anchor. There too

he was rejected as the producers thought his baritone voice was not suitable for news

anchoring. But the actor did not give up.

He was offered the lead role in the movie Saat Hindustanifor which he even bagged an

award for best male debut but his problems did not ease. His multiple films came and

flopped. Finally it was his 13th

film that made him the superstar and today he rules the

Indian film industry.


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Steven Spielberg

I never felt comfortable with myself, because I was never part of the majority. I always

felt awkward and shy and on the outside of the momentum of my friends' lives.

The name which is now synonymous with many highly successful and record making,

acclaimed movies had his share of troubles too. Apart from the fact that he was

embarrassed of publicly confessing his religious practice he even got bloody nose twice,

after being knocked down in school.

For his graduation studies, he applied to University of Southern California School of

Theatre, Film and Television twice but was rejected. He anyways continued his studies at

California State University, Long Beach. After he became famous, USC awarded him an

honorary degree in 1994 and in 2002, thirty five years after starting college, Spielberg

finished his degree via independent projects at CSULB, and was awarded his B.A.


18/24


Michael Jordan

If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had

them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and

give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.

The most notable and revered Basketball player of all times, Jordan was rejected inVarsity basketball team as the organizers thought that at 511 he was too short to play

at that level. At this, the player apparently locked himself in a room and cried his heart

out.

To prove his worth, Jordan became the star of Junior Varsity team. In the coming

summer he grew 10 cms taller and trained rigorously. He averaged around 20 points per

game and finally got a position in McDonalds All American team and then began his

journey to ultimate success.


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Walt Disney

All the adversity I've had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles have strengthened

me... You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing

in the world for you.The animation industry Czar had gone bankrupt! After starting The Alice Comedies

series, Walt ran out of money and his company Laugh O - Grams went bankrupt. But

undeterred, Walt moved to California and again re-launched the series.

In his early years, Walt had worked on the rail roads selling newspapers, sodas and

popcorns to the travellers. Later he joined Red Cross and went to France where he drove

Ambulance and chauffeured Red Cross Officials. Though interestingly, his ambulance was

covered with Disney Cartoons.


20/24


Soichiro Honda

Success represents the 1% of your work which results from the 99% that is called

failure.The master mind of Honda Motor Company was rejected by Toyota for his designs! The

self made engineer designed pistons and went to sell them to Toyota only to have them

rejected.

He then worked on them hard and after redesigning them, he won the contract with

Toyota and established a company to build pistons for them. His company was later

destroyed in an earthquake. Also, to redesign his rejected pistons he had to pawn his

wifes jewellery.

The determined man had ambitions and will power to accomplish so undeterred he

focussed on making bicycles with small engines and established the worlds largest

motor bike selling company.


21/24


Jack London

I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy

and permanent planet.The author of the cult book Call of the Wild was born in grim poverty. He had very less

formal education and was even a local urchin. It was his deep interest in reading books

that motivated him to finish his education formally.

He received around 600 rejection slips for his first story. His novel Martin Eden is a story

of his own adventures in getting his stories published. His story The Law of Life (now

touted as a masterpiece) was rejected by Atlantic editors along with several other

written pieces.

On visiting his house in California, which is now a memorial named House of Happy

Walls, one can see the 600 rejection slips that he received from various publishers.


22/24


Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen

Most fears cannot withstand the test of careful scrutiny and analysis. When we expose

our fears to the light of thoughtful examination they usually just evaporate.

The authors of arguably the best non-fiction, self help book series were rejected more

than a hundred times by the publishers. The book that now has 65 titles to its credit and

that has sold over 80 million copies world wide was rejected 140 times by the publishers

on account of being overly positive. This book is none other than the famous Chicken

Soup For The Soul.

Their agent returned their manuscript back to them saying it would never be published.

The authors took the manuscript to American Book Sellers Association Convention

where there were around 4000 publishers with booths and walked from booth to booth

for three days. Finally, on third day a small publisher from Florida decided to have a look

at it. When the publisher decided to publish it, the authors did not even get an advance.

The book was not on the best selling list for about 14 months but when it finally came on

the list, it stayed there for consecutive three years!


23/24


Rabindra Nath Tagore

The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but makes our

life in harmony with all existence.Asias first Nobel Laureate and the genius who gave the name Mahatma to M.K. Gandhi

never had a formal education. And he went on to win the most coveted Nobel Prize of

Literature for his master piece Gitanjali. He never approved of the formal education

system in schools calling them boring. He rather insisted on a dynamic model of

education which he created in his Shantiniketan. He went to several schools only to

dislike them and drop out of them. He even went to University College, London to study

Law but came back without completing his studies as he did not like the weather!

He also received knighthood in 1915 but he surrendered it in 1919 as a protest against

the Jalianwala Bagh Massacre (a tragic even during Indias struggle for Independence

where British troops killed 400 innocent Indian demonstrators). He later wrote Gitanjali:

offering of songs, that tried to find inner calm and seeked divine and human love, andwon the most sought after Nobel Prize of Literature.


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AFTERWORD

A book is a gift you canopen again and again.Garrison Keillor

There are happy times and then there are the dark days. This inevitable cycle recurs ineveryones life. What is ignored and snubbed in lighter days becomes significantly

inciting in bleak times. That is when wisdom plays an important role. It tells you nothing

is permanent; that life is how one decides to build it.

So many times, we know the truth but fail to understand it. We all know I can if I think I

can but forget to put it in action. It is all just a game of what comes to mind. Think about

sorrows and you will have problems dancing in your eyes. Imagine solutions and there

will surely be a path in front.

Lessons given by eminent leaders, people who ventured out in to the untamed worlds,

are the roots of this wisdom. Time and again, there is a need to come back and read

these valuable teachings to focus on the important things; to shrug off the unnecessary

and do the necessary.

This ebook is one such endeavour. It is compiled with the aim of giving you

companionship whenever you need someone to tell you things that you may already

know but still want to be told.

If you have found it useful or you think it can be of help to anyone, please dont hesitate

in spreading the word around. Once you have your copy, please feel free to share it with

others. Knowledge after all increases with sharing.

I am also eagerly looking forward to hear an honest feedback of this ebook. Please let

me know your views atwomanatics.

I earnestly hope the following quote holds true for this ebook as well.

You know you have read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if

you have lost a friend. Paul Sweeney
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The Gift of Words