“Let’s release ourselves from confrontation. We can’t change the past but we can influence the future. A cup of tea and a bun and a little generosity goes a very long way, and a soft word opens hearts whereas a bitter word closes them down. This works at home, in the street, in the community, and politically – it just takes somebody to break the ice with a handshake, a hug or a kiss.” [Mary McAleese, Eighth President of Ireland, 1997-2011]
Category Archives: Wisdom
Madiba on Poverty
Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings [Nelson Mandela]
Heinz Family on Community
The health of our community is determined by the contributions that each and every one of us makes or chooses not to make.
Churchill on Life
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give [Sir Winston Churchill]
Kierkegaard on Being Fooled
There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true. The other is to refuse to accept what is true [Soren Kierkegaard]
Shaw on Life
This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognised by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. (George Bernard Shaw)
Eminem on Nice
I don’t care if you are black, white, straight, bisexual, gay, lesbian, short, tall, fat, skinny, rich or poor. If you’re nice to me, I’ll be nice to you. Simple as that!
Shaw on Adaptation
Reasonable men (sic) adapt themselves to the World. Unreasonable men adapt the World to themselves. That’s why all progress depends on unreasonable men. (George Bernard Shaw)
Brittain on War
Perhaps the careful study of man’s past will explain to me much that seems inexplicable in his disconcerting present. Perhaps the means of salvation are already there, implicit in history, unadvertised, carefully concealed by the war-mongers, only awaiting rediscovery to be acknowledged with enthusiasm by all thinking men and women. (Vera Brittain – British writer, feminist and pacifist – in Testament of Youth, 1933)
Peñalosa on Cities
An advanced city is not one where the poor use cars, but rather one where the rich use public transport. [Enrique Peñalos, former mayor of Bogotá]