Seeking a Beautiful Life - Beautiful Pictures, Inspiring Thoughts

All photos by Ken R. Young

The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it. - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe 

The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man’s foot long enough to enable him to put the other one somewhat higher. - Thomas Huxley 

Make no little plans, for they have no magic to stir men’s blood... Make big plans, aim high in hope and work. – Daniel H. Burnham 

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. - Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Why not go out on a limb? Isn’t that where the fruit is? - Frank Scully 

Anything the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. - Napoleon Hill 



Go now, strong men! Follow the road of great example. Why slack off and turn your backs. When you overcome the earth, the stars will be yours! - Boethius 



Reach high, for stars hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal. - Pamela Vaull Starr 

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. - Theodore Roosevelt 



I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is the moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious. - Vince Lombardi 

Snowflakes are one of nature's most fragile things, but just look what they can do when they stick together. - Vista M. Kelly

We can only appreciate the miracle of a sunrise if we have waited in darkness. - Unknown 

Nothing stops the man who desires to achieve. Every obstacle is simply a course to develop his achievement muscle. It's a strengthening of his powers of accomplishment. - Eric Butterworth 



Be like a rocky headland on which the waves break incessantly, but it stands fast and the waters sink to rest. - Marcus Aurelius 

They can conquer who believe they can. - Virgil 

Change your thoughts and you change your world. - Norman Vincent Peale 

You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses. - Tom Wilson 

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. - Helen Keller 



Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice. - Wayne Dyer 

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude. - Thomas Jefferson 



I’ve learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances. - Martha Washington 

Optimism is essential to achievement and it is also the foundation of courage and true progress. - Nicholas Murray Butler 

Peace is the result of retraining your mind to process life as it is, rather than as you think it should be. - Wayne W. Dyer 

You cannot perceive beauty but with a serene mind. - Henry David Thoreau 

We should not let our fears hold us back from pursuing our hopes. - John F. Kennedy

There is in this world no greater force than the force of a man determined to rise. - Unknown

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right, even though I think it is hopeless. - Admiral Chester W. Nimitz

Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul. - Henry Ward Beecher

When we do the best we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another. - Helen Keller

A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm. - Charles M. Schwab

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

In the depths of winter, I finally found there was in me an invincible summer. - Albert Camus

There is real magic in enthusiasm. It spells the difference between mediocrity and accomplishment. - Norman Vincent Peale

Far away in there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead. - Louisa May Alcott

When you reach for the stars, you may not quite get them, but you won't come up with a handful of mud, either. - Leo Burnett

The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to his commitment to excellence. - Vincent Lombardi

Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves. - Sir James Matthew Barrie

Don’t Worry. Be Happy.- Bobby McFerrin

Think contentment the greatest wealth. - George Shelley

What one can dream, one can achieve. - Jules Verne

Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it. - Andy Rooney

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve imagined - Henry David Thoreau

Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. - Samuel Johnson

We should not let our fears hold us back from pursuing our hopes. - John F. Kennedy

Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in; aim at earth and you get neither. - C. S. Lewis

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals. - Henry Ford

The secret to success is constancy of purpose. - Benjamin Disraeli

Whatever you do or dream you can do - begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Throw your heart over the fence and the rest will follow. - Norman Vincent Peale

If you can dream it, you can do it! - Walt Disney

Take the first step in faith, you don't have to see the whole staircase to take the first step. - Martin Luther King

Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps the singing bird will come. - Lois Lowry

You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star. - Friedrich Nietzsche

Your attitude determines your altitude. - Unknown 



The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all. - from Disney's Mulan

Be bold. If you’re going to make an error, make a doozy, and don’t be afraid to hit the ball. - Billie Jean King

If you can imagine it, you can create it. If you dream it, you can become it. -William Arthur Ward



Beautiful pictures are developed from negatives in a dark room. So if you see darkness in your life be reassured that a beautiful picture is being prepared. - Unknown 

We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action. - Frank Tibolt

 Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty. - Adair Lara

One ship sails East,
And another West,
By the self-same winds that blow,
Tis the set of the sails
And not the gales,
That tells the way we go.

Like the winds of the sea
Are the waves of time,
As we journey along through life,
Tis the set of the soul,
That determines the goal,
And not the calm or the strife.
- Ella Wheeler Wilcox 

The secret of life is not to do what you like, but to like what you do. - American Proverb

Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk. – Dalai Lama

Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction. - John F. Kennedy



Be kind and merciful. Let no one ever come to you without coming away better and happier. - Mother Teresa

 I will prepare and some day my chance will come. - Abraham Lincoln

I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship. - Louisa May Alcott 

 It's kind of fun to do the impossible. – Walt Disney

Keep your feet on the ground, but let your heart soar as high as it will. - A. W. Tozer 

To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life. - Robert Louis Stevenson



Very little is needed to make a happy life. It is all within yourself, in your way of thinking. - Marcus Aurelius

Even from a dark night songs of beauty can be born. - Maryanne Radmacher Hershey