Martin Luther King Day - the Day of Hope

"I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word."

Martin Luther King, Jr

Gandhi's Prayer for Peace

I offer you peace.
I offer you love.
I offer you friendship.
I see your beauty.
I hear your need.
I feel your feelings.
My wisdom flows from the highest source.
I salute that source in you.
Let us work together.
For unity and peace.

Mahatma Gandhi

Peace in Your Heart

“You must first have peace in your own soul before you can make peace between other people. Peaceable people accomplish more good than learned people do.

If you observe good example, follow it; and if you see bad example, take care not to do the same; if you already fallen into this fault, work to correct it quickly. As your eyes observe others, be sure that you also are observed by them.

You will be happier for having kept silence than for all the long talks and the gossip; good deeds will be of greater value than clever words.”

Thomas Kempis

Imagine Peace

"If one billion people in the world think peace, we’ll get peace.You may think: “Well, how are we going to get one billion people in the world to think PEACE?”

Remember, each one of us has the power to change the world. Power works in mysterious ways. You don’t have to do much. Visualise the domino effect and just start thinking PEACE.

Thoughts are infectious. Send it out. The message will circulate faster than you think. It’s time for action. The action is PEACE. Spread the WORD.

Spread PEACE. Remember: A dream we dream together is reality. So stand up, speak out, and come together. Imagine all the people living life in peace."

Yoko Ono

Give Peace A Chance

"Let us wake up, come together, and work on cleaning and healing our planet,instead of further destroying it. Let's not waste one more day in creating a machinery of destruction. Give us a chance. On behalf of ourselves and all species on Earth.We can do it. We must."

Yoko Ono

The Age of Miracles

"The mind is its own kind of dance floor. What this generation could do from our rocking chairs could literally rock the world. If in fact the highest, most creative work is the work of consciousness, then in slowing down we're not doing less; we're doing more. Having slowed down physically, we're in a better space to rev up psychically. We are becoming contemplative. We are shifting from the outer to the inner not in order to begin our demise, but to reseed and regreen the consciousness of the planet. And that's what is happening now: We're going slower in order to go deeper, in order to go faster in the direction of urgently needed change."

Marianne Williamson from the book The Age of Miracles

Pay It Forward

"It's hard. You can't plan it. You have to watch people more. Sort of keep an eye on them, to protect them, cause they can't always see what they need. It's your big chance to "fix something" that's not like your bike. You can fix a person."

"I think some people are too scared, that things could be different. I guess it's hard for some people who are so used to things the way they are, even if they're bad, to change, cause, I guess, they kind of give up. When they do, everybody kind of loses."

Trevor from the movie Pay it Forward

Words on Peace

"What kind of peace do I mean? What kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children - not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women - not merely peace in our time but peace for all time." John F. Kennedy

"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy...Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." Martin Luther King Jr

"The only safe way to overcome an enemy is to make of the enemy a friend." Mahatma Gandhi

"If you desire with all your heart, friendship with every race on earth, your thought, will spread; it will become the desire of others, growing stronger and stronger, until it reaches the minds of all men." Abdu'l Baha

"In this world, hate never dispelled hate. Only love dispels hate. This is the law, ancient and inexhaustible." The Buddha

Forever Young by Dylan

"May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong.

May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young."

Bob Dylan

Be Creative

Richard Branson has decided to invest $3 billion dollars over the next decade to fight global warming. He will invest all profits from his travel-related companies (Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Trains) in initiatives to develop new renewable energy technologies, both run by Virgin companies and external businesses. The more creative we are the more we can help others.

"Ridiculous yachts and private planes and big limousines won’t make people enjoy life more, and it sends out terrible messages to the people who work for them. It would be so much better if that money was spent in Africa – and it’s about getting a balance."

"A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts."

"I never get the accountants in before I start up a business. It's done on gut feeling, especially if I can see that they are taking the mickey out of the consumer."

"I think the most important thing is that in the last seven days we've just had the greatest adventure of our lifetimes."

"Well, I'm somebody who is just living...living life, and if I get frustrated by something, then I like to try to put it right"

Richard Branson

In His Own Words

"That was one of the things that worried me - to be raised to the position of a semi-god after being in prison - because then you are no longer a human being. I wanted to be known as Mandela, a man with weaknesses, some of which are fundamental, and a man who is committed, but never the less, sometimes he fails to live up to expectations."

"When I think about the past, the types of things people did, I feel angry, but again that is my feeling. The brain always dominates, says, as I have pointed out, you have a limited time to stay on Earth. You must try and use that period for the purpose of transforming your country into what you desire it to be."

"It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership."

"As I have said, the first thing is to be honest with yourself. You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself...Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but humility."

Nelson Mandela

Do All the Good You Can

“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”

John Wesley

Wisdom from the Homeless

How To Create Positive Outcomes

• Don’t worry about what people think, they don’t do it very often.
  
  
• If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you have never tried before.
  
  
• A person, who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.
  
  
• Someone who thinks logically provides a nice contrast to the real world.
  
  
• You should not confuse your career with your life.
  
  
• Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.
  
  
• Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.
  
  
• The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.
  
  
• Your friends love you anyway.
  
  
• Never be afraid to try something new.

The Healing Room

"I have a universe inside me
Where I can go, an spirit guides me
There I can ask oh any question
I get the answers if I listen
I have a healing room inside me
The loving healers there they feed me
They make me happy with their laughter
They kiss and tell me I'm their daughter
I'm their daughter

You have a little voice inside you
It doesn't matter who you think you may be
You're not free if you don't know me
See I'm not the lie that lives outside you
And it doesn't matter what you think
you believe

You're not free if you don't know me
If you don't know me
See I am the universe inside you
You come to me and I will guide you
And make you happy with my laughter
I joy in seeing you're my daughter
You're my daughter
So believe you're not free if you don't know me"

Sinead Ó Connor

I Have A Dream

"Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends. And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day."

Martin Luther King Jr

Imagine

"Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one."

John Lennon