Count Blessings Quotes

We've searched our database for all the quotes and captions related to Count Blessings. Here they are! All 100 of them:

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Count your blessings, not your problems. Count your own blessings, not someone else's. Remember that jealousy is when you count someone else's blessings instead of your own.
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Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
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Dance. Smile. Giggle. Marvel. TRUST. HOPE. LOVE. WISH. BELIEVE. Most of all, enjoy every moment of the journey, and appreciate where you are at this moment instead of always focusing on how far you have to go.
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Mandy Hale (The Single Woman–Life, Love, and a Dash of Sass: Embracing Singleness with Confidence)
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We should certainly count our blessings, but we should also make our blessings count.
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Neal A. Maxwell
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Those born to wealth, and who have the means of gratifying every wish, know not what is the real happiness of life, just as those who have been tossed on the stormy waters of the ocean on a few frail planks can alone realize the blessings of fair weather.
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Alexandre Dumas (The Count of Monte Cristo)
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The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.
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Eric Hoffer
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Be happy, noble heart, be blessed for all the good thou hast done and wilt do hereafter, and let my gratitude remain in obscurity like your good deeds.
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Alexandre Dumas (The Count of Monte Cristo)
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Count your blessings. Once you realize how valuable you are and how much you have going for you, the smiles will return, the sun will break out, the music will play, and you will finally be able to move forward the life that God intended for you with grace, strength, courage, and confidence.
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Og Mandino
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Some people never find love at all, count yourself blessed if it ever happens your way
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Ellen Hopkins (Burned (Burned, #1))
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Love is a wonderful gift. It's a present so precious words can barely begin to describe it. Love is a feeling, the deepest and sweetest of all. It's incredibly strong and amazingly gentle at the very same time. It is a blessing that should be counted every day. It is nourishment for the soul. It is devotion, constantly letting each person know how supportive it's certainty can be. Love is a heart filled with affection for the most important person in your life. Love is looking at the special someone who makes your world go around and absolutely loving what you see. Love gives meaning to one's world and magic to a million hopes and dreams. It makes the morning shine more brightly and each season seem like it's the nicest one anyone ever had. Love is an invaluable bond that enriches every good thing in life. It gives each hug a tenderness, each heart a happiness, each spirit a steady lift. Love is an invisible connection that is exquisitely felt by those who know the joy, feel the warmth, share the sweetness, and celebrate the gift!
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Douglas Pagels
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We're all blessed and we're all blighted, Chief Inspector," said Finney. "Everyday each of us does our sums. The question is, what do we count?
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Louise Penny (A Rule Against Murder (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #4))
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You're sad because you're sad. It's psychic. It's the age. It's chemical. Go see a shrink or take a pill, or hug your sadness like an eyeless doll you need to sleep. Well, all children are sad but some get over it. Count your blessings. Better than that, buy a hat. Buy a coat or a pet. Take up dancing to forget.
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Margaret Atwood
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Not to be rude, but it was all pointless," I noted from across the room. Four eyes narrowed at me. "What? I said 'not to be rude'. That's like saying 'God bless them' right after you say bad things about someone. It means it doesn't count!
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Molly Harper (Nice Girls Don't Live Forever (Jane Jameson, #3))
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To witness miracles unfold in your experience, count your blessings and be thankful. Perceived small blessings accumulate to be the most powerful.
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T.F. Hodge (From Within I Rise: Spiritual Triumph over Death and Conscious Encounters With the Divine Presence)
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I count as blessings things I could have benefited from, even if I neglected to utilize them. A gift is still a gift, even if left wrapped and unopened.
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Jarod Kintz (This Book is Not for Sale)
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I much prefer whining to counting my blessings.
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Mary Ann Shaffer
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While you are going through your trial, you can recall your past victories and count the blessings that you do have with a sure hope of greater ones to allow if you are faithful.
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Ezra Taft Benson
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Blessings! Count them and be thankful. Ask for an abundance of them and accept with gratitude.
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C. Toni Graham
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Live, for a day will come when you will be happy and bless life
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Alexandre Dumas (The Count of Monte Cristo)
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Nana used to say whenever you start feeling like the world is taking a bite out of you, bite back by counting your blessings.
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C.C. Hunter (Chosen at Nightfall (Shadow Falls, #5))
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Envy is the art of counting the other fellow's blessings instead of your own.
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Harold G. Coffin
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Got any mood music?” β€œIf you press Play on the stereo you’re going to hear Miley Cyrus.” β€œI don’t know who that is.” β€œCount your blessings.
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Tere Michaels (Faith & Fidelity (Faith, Love, & Devotion, #1))
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Wealth can also be that attitude of gratitude with which we remind ourselves everyday to count our blessings.
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Chris Gardner (The Pursuit of Happyness)
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Take time daily to reflect on how much you have. It may not be all that you want but remember someone somewhere is dreaming to have what you have.
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Germany Kent
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When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.
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Willie Nelson
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As I lay there, counting my blessings and broken ribs, Elodin stepped into my field of vision. He looked down at me. "Congratulations," he said. "That was the stupidest thing I've ever seen." His expression was a mixture of awe and disbelief. "Ever.
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Patrick Rothfuss (The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1))
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fool me once, shame on you. fool me twice, shame on me.
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Todd Strasser (Count Your Blessings (Mob Princess, #3))
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With the arrogance of youth, I determined to do no less than to transform the world with Beauty. If I have succeeded in some small way, if only in one small corner of the world, amongst the men and women I love, then I shall count myself blessed, and blessed, and blessed, and the work goes on.
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William Morris (The Well At The World's End: Volume I)
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To make 2013 (or any other)your year, keep it simple: 1) Count your blessings first 2) Whatever you did last year, Do it better 3) Go step by step, One day at a time. 4) Create/make your own opportunities. 5) Believe in your abilities at all times, 6) Qutting is not an option. Keep Going. 7) Finish what you started
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Pablo
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When the voice and the vision on the inside is more profound, and more clear and loud than all opinions on the outside, you've begun to master your life
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John F. Demartini (Count Your Blessings: The Healing Power of Gratitude and Love)
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We still counted happiness and health and love and luck and beautiful children as "ordinary blessings.
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Joan Didion (Blue Nights)
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Count your blessings
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Haruki Murakami
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I know that I am fortunate to have any place at all to live in London, but I much prefer whining to counting my blessings.
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Mary Ann Shaffer (The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society)
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Count blessings and discover Who can be counted on.
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Ann Voskamp (One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are)
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Can God be counted on? Count blessings and find out how many of His bridges have already held.
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Ann Voskamp (One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are)
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Don't count your blessings, let your blessings count! EnjoyLife!
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Bernard Kelvin Clive (52 Seconds: Simplified Motivation - Words to Inspire)
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It may be that there is no place for any of us. Except we know there is somewhere; and if we found it, but lived there only a moment, we could count ourselves blessed.
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Truman Capote (The Grass Harp, Including A Tree of Night and Other Stories)
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I was pirouette and flourish, I was filigree and flame. How could I count my blessings when I didn't know their names?
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Rita Dove (On the Bus With Rosa Parks)
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When day begins to break I count my blessings, good and bad, Being wakeful for your sake, Remembering the covenant we've always had, What eagle look your face still shows, While up from my heart's root So great a sweetness flows I shake from head to foot.
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P.C. Cast
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When I count my blessings, I find you in every one.
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Richelle E. Goodrich (Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year)
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I choose to be with him for however many days or minutes we are granted, and to count myself blessed to have them.
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Cassandra Clare (Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices, #3))
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Whatever our individual troubles and challenges may be, it’s important to pause every now and then to appreciate all that we have, on every level. We need to literally 'count our blessings,' give thanks for them, allow ourselves to enjoy them, and relish the experience of prosperity we already have.
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Shakti Gawain
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Christianity is not a sprint but an endurance run. Therefore it is not how we start the race that counts, but how we complete it. How we finish is determined by the choices we make, and those are often formed by patterns we develop along the way.
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John Bevere (Honor's Reward: How to Attract God's Favor and Blessing)
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Envy is the art of counting the other fellow's blessings instead of your own.
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Harold Coffin Syrett
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Better to lose count while naming your blessings than to lose your blessings to counting your troubles.” Maltbie D. Babcock (1858–1901) WRITER AND CLERGYMAN
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Rhonda Byrne (The Magic (The Secret, #3))
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It is a great thing to be young and to live without pain. And yet it is a blessing few of us count until we lose it.
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Geraldine Brooks (Year of Wonders)
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Even people who counted their blessings never counted them in the morning. For one thing, there wasn't time.
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Lisa Scottoline (Look Again)
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the secret to happiness is counting your blessings while others are adding up their troubles.
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T. Greenwood (Bodies of Water)
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Count your blessings. There are many beautiful things in life to appreciate. The gift of life is a priceless.
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Lailah Gifty Akita
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In darkness, I count my blessings like Manman taught me. One: I am alive. Two: there is no two.
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Nick Lake (In Darkness)
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In trying to count our many blessings the difficulty is not to find things to count, but to find time to enumerate them all.
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A.W. Tozer (The Root of the Righteous)
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Count your blessings, not your worries.
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Alexandra Monir (Timekeeper (Timeless, #2))
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Sweetheart, happily ever after does exist, it’s just not what you think,” he said. β€œHappily ever after isn’t a solution to life’s problems or a guarantee that life will be easy; it’s a promise we make ourselves to always live our best lives, despite whatever circumstance comes our way. When we focus on joy in times of heartbreak, when we choose to laugh on the days it’s hard to smile, and when we count our blessings over our lossesβ€”that’s what a true happily ever after is all about. You don’t get there by being perfect; on the contrary, it’s our humanity that guides us. And that’s what fairy tales have been trying to teach us all along.
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Chris Colfer (Worlds Collide (The Land of Stories, #6))
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Question your assumptions, be kind to yourself, live for the moment, loosen up, pray, scream, curse the world, count your blessings, just let go, just be.
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Carol Shields (The Stone Diaries)
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You’re pure chaos. Once upon a time, I would have gladly let myself be destroyed by you and counted it as a blessing, but now I want absolutely nothing to do with your martyrdom.
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Lylah James (A Vow of Hate (A Vow of Hate, #1))
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It is impossible to lose everything and still be alive.
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Mokokoma Mokhonoana
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He knows how to market himself well. Nowadays, that's all that seems to count. He's rebellious in a way that appeals to people with vain, shallow taste. So of course he manipulates his audiences with the blessing of his recording company and the financial investors behind his brand.
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Jess C. Scott (Sven (Naked Heat #2))
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But there was no use pretending: I was not the sort of person who counted blessings; I was the sort of person for whom there could never be enough blessings.
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Jamaica Kincaid (Lucy)
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Glass half empty, glass half full. Well, either way you won't be going thirsty, count your blessings not your flaws...
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Lauren Aquilina
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No one owes us anything. We only owe ourselves to get off our backsides, count our blessings, and face our challenges. When you live from that perspective, the gifts pour forth.
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Bronnie Ware (The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing)
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My mother raised her eyebrow, and murmured, β€œAnd to think I was always worried that you didn’t have any friends. I suppose I should have been counting my blessings.
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Patricia Briggs (Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, #4))
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isn’t that reason enough to keep living? To rediscover simple delights one moment at a time, I mean. I used to count them on my fingers, reassuring myself there was still good in the world and reminding myself to keep looking for those blessings.
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Nora Sakavic (The Sunshine Court (All for the Game, #4))
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Always count your blessings, even if you have to count them through your tears
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Eleanor Brownn
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If you want more from life β€” start by counting your blessings instead of counting your losses, deficits and wants.
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Bryant McGill (Simple Reminders: Inspiration for Living Your Best Life)
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When you see a dandelion do you see a wish or a weed? When you hear a child cry do you hear a need or a demand? When you wash a sticky face do you feel blessed or burdened? As parents, our perspective determines our response, and our response determines our children's reality. So let's wish wishes, meet needs, and count blessings to make childhood a magical, peaceful, joy-filled reality for both our children and ourselves.
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L.R. Knost
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What I suddenly understood was that a thank-you note isn't the price you pay for receiving a gift, as so many children think it is, a kind of minimum tribute or toll, but an opportunity to count your blessings. And gratitude isn't what you give in exchange for something; it's what you feel when you are blessed--blessed to have family and friends who care about you, and who want to see you happy. Hence the joy from thanking.
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Will Schwalbe (The End of Your Life Book Club)
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So you had a bad day. Kick it aside and be grateful for one less bad day to pass through.
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Richelle E. Goodrich (Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year)
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My soul is exceedingly joyful.
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Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
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Count your blessings as the more you are grateful for what you have the more there is to be grateful for.
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Praveen Agarawal
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Many people are not wise enough to count life’s blessings. They keep focusing instead on what the world has denied them.
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Amish Tripathi (Sita: Warrior of Mithila (Ram Chandra #2))
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Don't be concerned with what you can't do. Work on what you can do - then count your blessings.
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Alan Robinson
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Count your blessings and be grateful not a great fool.
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Habeeb Akande
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Nay! Alas for us all! And for all that walk in the world in these after-days. For such is the way of it: to find and lose, as it seems to those whose boat is on the running stream. But I count you blessed [...] for your loss you suffer of your own free will, and you might have chosen otherwise. But you have not forsaken your companions, and the least reward that you shall have is that the memory of LothlΓ³rien shall remain ever clear and unstained in your heart, and shall neither fade nor grow stale.
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J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
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My dearest friend Abigail, These probably could be the last words I write to you and I may not live long enough to see your response but I truly have lived long enough to live forever in the hearts of my friends. I thought a lot about what I should write to you. I thought of giving you blessings and wishes for things of great value to happen to you in future; I thought of appreciating you for being the way you are; I thought to give sweet and lovely compliments for everything about you; I thought to write something in praise of your poems and prose; and I thought of extending my gratitude for being one of the very few sincerest friends I have ever had. But that is what all friends do and they only qualify to remain as a part of the bunch of our loosely connected memories and that's not what I can choose to be, I cannot choose to be lost somewhere in your memories. So I thought of something through which I hope you will remember me for a very long time. I decided to share some part of my story, of what led me here, the part we both have had in common. A past, which changed us and our perception of the world. A past, which shaped our future into an unknown yet exciting opportunity to revisit the lost thoughts and to break free from the libido of our lost dreams. A past, which questioned our whole past. My dear, when the moment of my past struck me, in its highest demonised form, I felt dead, like a dead-man walking in flesh without a soul, who had no reason to live any more. I no longer saw any meaning of life but then I saw no reason to die as well. I travelled to far away lands, running away from friends, family and everyone else and I confined myself to my thoughts, to my feelings and to myself. Hours, days, weeks and months passed and I waited for a moment of magic to happen, a turn of destiny, but nothing happened, nothing ever happens. I waited and I counted each moment of it, thinking about every moment of my life, the good and the bad ones. I then saw how powerful yet weak, bright yet dark, beautiful yet ugly, joyous yet grievous; is a one single moment. One moment makes the difference. Just a one moment. Such appears to be the extreme and undisputed power of a single moment. We live in a world of appearance, Abigail, where the reality lies beyond the appearances, and this is also only what appears to be such powerful when in actuality it is not. I realised that the power of the moment is not in the moment itself. The power, actually, is in us. Every single one of us has the power to make and shape our own moments. It is us who by feeling joyful, celebrate for a moment of success; and it is also us who by feeling saddened, cry and mourn over our losses. I, with all my heart and mind, now embrace this power which lies within us. I wish life offers you more time to make use of this power. Remember, we are our own griefs, my dear, we are our own happinesses and we are our own remedies. Take care! Love, Francis. Title: Letter to Abigail Scene: "Death-bed" Chapter: The Road To Awe
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Huseyn Raza
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When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.” Willie Nelson (B. 1933) SINGER-SONGWRITER
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Rhonda Byrne (The Magic (The Secret, #3))
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Maybe we should stop looking at why God doesn’t answer every prayer the way we think He should. But instead we should count it a blessing that He hears our prayers at all.
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Jody Hedlund (Love Unexpected (Beacons of Hope, #1))
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Gratitude is the antidote for misery. When you are counting your blessings you are too busy to be counting your problems.
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Miya Yamanouchi (Embrace Your Sexual Self: A Practical Guide for Women)
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The proud man counts his newspaper clippings; the humble, his blessings.
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Fulton J. Sheen
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Count Your Blessings And Not Your Depressings
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John M Sheehan
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Gratitude, the ability to count your blessings, is the ultimate way to connect with the heart.
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Baptist de Pape (The Power Of The Heart: Finding Your True Purpose)
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Take another look at your life. Give thanks. Accept your circumstances. Give thanks. Count your blessings. Give thanks. Show up for each day’s meditation. Be willing to give the basic tools a fair chance. They can help you find your way.
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Sarah Ban Breathnach (Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort of Joy)
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The 15 Principles of Life 1. Count your blessings. 2. Read good books. 3. Discover your gifts. 4. Chase your dreams. 5. Learn from everyone. 6. Forgive your enemies. 7. Protect your friends. 8. Love your family. 9. Do good deeds. 10. Harm none. 11. Hone your skills. 12. Work hard. 13. Use time wisely. 14. Take calculated risks. 15. Improve yourself.
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Matshona Dhliwayo
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And finally, count your blessings. You got through college. You didn’t commit suicide, O.D., or have a nervous breakdown, and let’s remember the ones who did. It’s time to get busy. It’s your turn to cause trouble.
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John Waters
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BLESSINGS ARE IMMEASURABLE You can Lose a child Or a parent, The love of your life, A good job, A game, A deal, A bet, An idea, Your favorite thing, Money, Your best friend, A moment, An opportunity, A chance, Your keys, Your mind, Your health, Your identity, Your virginity, Your religion, Your shirt, Your license, ID or Passport, Phone or phone number, Hope, Faith, Luck, Your pride, Or your house, And feel like You've lost everything, And keep on losing. Stop Counting losses And start counting your blessings. Only then, Will you discover that losses Are easier to point out And count Than blessings, And that blessings Outnumber your losses For they are truly Immeasurable. It is only normal that People count losses with Their minds, And ignore To count blessings With the graciousness Of their hearts.
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Suzy Kassem (Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem)
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You can Lose a child Or a parent, The love of your life, A good job, A game, A deal, A bet, An idea, Your favorite thing, Money, Your best friend, A moment, An opportunity, A chance, Your keys, Your mind, Your health, Your identity, Your virginity, Your religion, Your shirt, Your license, ID or Passport, Phone or phone number, Hope, Faith, Luck, Your pride, Or your house, And feel like You've lost everything, And keep on losing. Stop Counting losses And start counting your blessings. Only then, Will you discover that losses Are easier to point out And count Than blessings, And that blessings Outnumber your losses For they are truly Immeasurable. It is only normal that People count losses with Their minds, And ignore To count blessings With the graciousness Of their hearts.
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Suzy Kassem (Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem)
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...this counting blessings was the unlocking of the mystery of joy, joy, "the gigantic secret of the Christian," joy hiding in gratitude ... God had used the dare to give me this; led me all he way to give me this, live fully, fully live. Page 83
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Ann Voskamp (One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are)
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Cultivating an attitude of gratitude begins with counting your blessings. In simpler terms, gratitude is expressing thanks for gifts we receive. Genuine gratitude helps us to see the little things in life that are often overlooked, yet so precious.
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Dana Arcuri (Harvest of Hope: Living Victoriously Through Adversity, A 50-Day Devotional)
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But of course, the Count also wept for himself. For despite his friendships with Marina and Andrey and Emile, despite his love for Anna, despite Sofia - that extraordinary blessing that had struck him from the blue - when Mikhail Fyodorovich Mindich died, there went the last of those who had known him as a younger man.
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Amor Towles (A Gentleman in Moscow)
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I'm afraid it's not nonsense," Genghis said, shaking his turbaned head and continuing his story. "As I was saying before the little girl interrupted me, the baby didn't dash off with the other orphans. She just sat there like a sack of flour. So I walked over to her and gave her a kick to get her moving." "Excellent idea!" Nero said. "What a wonderful story this is! And then what happened?" "Well, at first it seemed like I'd kicked a big hole in the baby," Genghis said, his eyes shining, "which seemed lucky, because Sunny was a terrible athlete and it would have been a blessing to put her out of her misery." Nero clapped his hands. "I know just what you mean, Genghis," he said. "She's a terrible secretary as well." "But she did all that stapling," Mr. Remora protested. "Shut up and let the coach finish his story," Nero said. "But when I looked down," Genghis continued, "I saw that I hadn't kicked a hole in a baby. I'd kicked a hole in a bag of flour! I'd been tricked!" "That's terrible!" Nero cried.
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Lemony Snicket (The Austere Academy (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #5))
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Journaling is a way to ask tough questions: Where am I standing in my own way? What’s the smallest step I can take toward a big thing today? Why am I so worked up about this? What blessings can I count right now? Why do I care so much about impressing people? What is the harder choice I’m avoiding? Do I rule my fears, or do they rule me? How will today’s difficulties reveal my character?*
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Ryan Holiday (Stillness is the Key)
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people who regularly practice appreciation or gratitudeβ€”who, for example, β€œcount their blessings” once a week over the course of one to twelve consecutive weeks or pen appreciation letters to people who’ve been kind and meaningfulβ€”become reliably happier and healthier, and remain happier for as long as six months after the experiment is over.
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Sonja Lyubomirsky (The Myths of Happiness: What Should Make You Happy, but Doesn't, What Shouldn't Make You Happy, but Does)
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Open up. Ask for help. Accept help. Accept yourself. Be completely honest. Take a daily inventory. Whenever you are in the wrong, make amends. Face reality. Reach out. Communicate. Show kindness. Share your concerns and your worries with another human being. Help another human being, on a daily basis. Count your blessings, not your failures. Don’t live in regret or in yesterday. Don’t project your fears into tomorrow. Take action, when action is needed. Deal with your feelings if and when they arise. Don’t sit on them.
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Sally Brampton (Shoot the Damn Dog: A Memoir of Depression)
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A word of consolation may sweetly touch the ear. Now and then a quiet song will clear the mind of fear. A simple act of kindness can ease a load of care. Stories told in memory diminish all despair. A whispered prayer of comfort draws angel arms around. Counting blessings, great and small, helps gratitude abound. These acts, all sympathetic, will kindly play their part. But seldom do they dry the tears shed mutely in the heart.
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Richelle E. Goodrich (Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year)
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When we have sampled much and have wandered far and have seen how fleeting and sometimes superficial a lot of the world is, our gratitude grows for the privilege of being part of something we can count onβ€”home and family and the loyalty of loved ones. We come to know what it means to be bound together by duty, by respect, by belonging. We learn that nothing can fully take the place of the blessed relationship of family life.
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Thomas S. Monson
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She kisses his lips; he kisses hers; they solemnly bless each other. The spare hand does not tremble as he releases it; nothing worse than a sweet, bright constancy is in the patient face. She goes next before himβ€”is gone; the knitting-women count Twenty-Two. "I am the Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.
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Charles Dickens (A Tale of Two Cities)
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As the days passed, I began to look upon my fate with new eyes. I often lamented the wicked turns my life had taken, but I rarely considered how much I had to be thankful for, how I had survived so long where so many others had perished, how I had seen wonders that no other Zamori had... I had been so intent on counting all the miseries and humiliations I had endured that I neglected to thank the Almighty for the blessings he had bestowed upon me.
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Laila Lalami (The Moor's Account)
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And once it comes, now that I am wise in its ways, I no longer fight it. I lie down and let it happen. At first every small apprehension is magnified, every anxiety a pounding terror. Then the pain comes, and I concentrate only on that. Right there is the usefulness of migraine, there in that imposed toga, the concentration on the pain. For when the pain recedes, ten or twelve hours later, everything goes with it, all the hidden resentments, all the vain anxieties. The migraine has acted as a circuit breaker, and the fuses have emerged intact. There is a pleasant convalescent euphoria. I open the windows and feel the air, eat gratefully, sleep well. I notice the particular nature of a flower in a glass on the stair landing. I count my blessings.
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Joan Didion (The White Album)
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What if a man could write everything that came into his mind. You could find there gems of wisdom, depth of utter despair, heights of the most cherished hopes, killing fields where we slaughter our enemies, moments of faith and moments of doubts, dark chambers where we commit infidelity against our partners, counting the goods we have stolen, hell nightmares, heaven blessedness, cursing of our enemies and blessing of our friends, and many other things. If one could write his mind, it would be a mirror to other minds where they could find themselves and not feel as the only wretched souls in existence. Go on then, write your mind in a book and publish it
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Bangambiki Habyarimana (Pearls Of Eternity)
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Do you know the first thing Jesus did with that meager offering? He looked up to heaven and gave thanks to God for the little he was given by the boy. I wonder what it was like for that boy to see his meager meal held up to the heavens by the hands of a grateful Jesus. Jesus, of course, knew it wasn’t going to remain little, that it was about to be multiplied into great abundance. But let’s not miss this moment. The Son of God, holding our offering up to Almighty God and blessing it with his thanks! Remember Kalli, unable to imagine what she could possibly do to help but volunteering anyway? We need to be like her. We don’t need to know how God is going to use our meager offering. We only need to know that he wants to use it. Always remember that God celebrates our gifts to him and blesses them. Next, Jesus broke the bread and the fish. When he blessed it, there were five and two. But when he broke it, we lose count. The more Jesus broke the bread and fish, the more there was to feed and nourish. The disciples started distributing the food, and soon what was broken was feeding thousands. The miracle is in the breaking. It is in the breaking that God multiplies not enough into more than enough. Are there broken places in your life so painful that you fear the breaking will destroy you? Do you come from a broken home? Did you have a broken marriage? Did you have a broken past? Have you experienced brokenness in your body? Have your finances been broken? You may think your brokenness has disqualified you from being able to run in the divine relay, but as with my own life and Kalli’s, when we give God our brokenness, it qualifies us to be used by God to carry a baton of hope, restoration, and grace to others on the sidelines who are broken.
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Christine Caine (Unstoppable: Running the Race You Were Born To Win)
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Why do we complain of Nature? She has shown herself kindly; life, if you know how to use it, is long. But one man is possessed by an avarice that is insatiable, another by a toilsome devotion to tasks that are useless; one man is besotted with wine, another is paralyzed by sloth; one man is exhausted by an ambition that always hangs upon the decision of others, another, driven on by the greed of the trader, is led over all lands and all seas by the hope of gain; some are tormented by a passion for war and are always either bent upon inflicting danger upon others or concerned about their own; some there are who are worn out by voluntary servitude in a thankless attendance upon the great; many are kept busy either in the pursuit of other men's fortune or in complaining of their own; many, following no fixed aim, shifting and inconstant and dissatisfied, are plunged by their fickleness into plans that are ever new; some have no fixed principle by which to direct their course, but Fate takes them unawares while they loll and yawnβ€”so surely does it happen that I cannot doubt the truth of that utterance which the greatest of poets delivered with all the seeming of an oracle: "The part of life we really live is small."5 For all the rest of existence is not life, but merely time. Vices beset us and surround us on every side, and they do not permit us to rise anew and lift up our eyes for the discernment of truth, but they keep us down when once they have overwhelmed us and we are chained to lust. Their victims are never allowed to return to their true selves; if ever they chance to find some release, like the waters of the deep sea which continue to heave even after the storm is past, they are tossed about, and no rest from their lusts abides. Think you that I am speaking of the wretches whose evils are admitted? Look at those whose prosperity men flock to behold; they are smothered by their blessings. To how many are riches a burden! From how many do eloquence and the daily straining to display their powers draw forth blood! How many are pale from constant pleasures! To how many does the throng of clients that crowd about them leave no freedom! In short, run through the list of all these men from the lowest to the highestβ€”this man desires an advocate,6 this one answers the call, that one is on trial, that one defends him, that one gives sentence; no one asserts his claim to himself, everyone is wasted for the sake of another. Ask about the men whose names are known by heart, and you will see that these are the marks that distinguish them: A cultivates B and B cultivates C; no one is his own master. And then certain men show the most senseless indignationβ€”they complain of the insolence of their superiors, because they were too busy to see them when they wished an audience! But can anyone have the hardihood to complain of the pride of another when he himself has no time to attend to himself? After all, no matter who you are, the great man does sometimes look toward you even if his face is insolent, he does sometimes condescend to listen to your words, he permits you to appear at his side; but you never deign to look upon yourself, to give ear to yourself. There is no reason, therefore, to count anyone in debt for such services, seeing that, when you performed them, you had no wish for another's company, but could not endure your own.
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Seneca (On the Shortness of Life: Life Is Long if You Know How to Use It (Penguin Great Ideas))
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When life hands you questions, answer them. When life hands you mysteries, unravel them. When life hands you enigmas, decipher them. When life hands you tasks, accomplish them. When life hands you problems, tackle them. When life hands you skills, develop them. When life hands you talents, sharpen them. When life hands you friends, cherish them. When life hands you family, value them. When life hands you acquaintances, treasure them. When life hands you opponents, confront them. When life hands you acquaintances, celebrate them. When life hands you allies, support them. When life hands you riches, multiply them. When life hands you possessions, protect them. When life hands you pleasures, ration them. When life hands you experiences, relish them. When life hands you students, instruct them. When life hands you mentors, study them. When life hands you teachers, esteem them. When life hands you disciples, inspire them. When life hands you gurus, honor them. When life hands you lessons, remember them. When life hands you teachings, impart them. When life hands you demands, tackle them. When life hands you obstacles, challenge them. When life hands you troubles, overcome them. When life hands you burdens, conquer them. When life hands you titles, cherish them. When life hands you degrees, employ them. When life hands you medals, welcome them. When life hands you awards, appreciate them. When life hands you blessings, count them.
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Matshona Dhliwayo