“
I will not fall for any of the following: alcoholics, workaholics, commitment phobics, people with girlfriends or wives, misogynists, megalomanics, chauvists, emotional fuckwits or freeloaders, perverts.
”
”
Helen Fielding (Bridget Jones’s Diary (Bridget Jones, #1))
“
I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me.
”
”
Anaïs Nin
“
May the New Year bring you courage to break your resolutions early! My own plan is to swear off every kind of virtue, so that I triumph even when I fall!
”
”
Aleister Crowley (Moonchild)
“
I muttered a swear word to myself. After I heard Angel cussing like a sailor when she stubbed her toe, my new resolution was to watch my language. All I needed was a six-year-old mutant with a potty mouth
”
”
James Patterson (The Angel Experiment (Maximum Ride, #1))
“
The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective.
”
”
G.K. Chesterton (A Chesterton calendar)
“
May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions.
”
”
Joey Adams
“
Past and Present I know well; each is a friend and sometimes an enemy to me. But it is the quiet, beckoning Future, an absolute stranger, with whom I have fallen madly in love.
”
”
Richelle E. Goodrich (Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year)
“
This is the new year the new you. You can pass through another year, coasting on cruise control. Or you can step out of your comfort zone, trying things you have never done before, & make 2012 as the year that you elevate from where you are & soar high. Make it happen!
”
”
Pablo
“
New Year’s Day: Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.
”
”
Mark Twain
“
I'm resolving to just wing it and see what happens.
”
”
Bill Watterson
“
New Year's Resolution: To tolerate fools more gladly, provided this does not encourage them to take up more of my time.
”
”
James Agate
“
It wouldn't be New Year's without a resolution. I've resolved to take a moment every day for the rest of my life to appreciate what I have.
”
”
Susan Beth Pfeffer (Life As We Knew It (Last Survivors, #1))
“
Half of the time, the Holy Ghost tries to warn us about certain people that come into our life. The other half of the time he tries to tell us that the sick feeling we get in a situation is not the other person’s fault, rather it is our own hang-ups. A life filled with bias, hatred, judgment, insecurity, fear, delusion and self-righteousness can cloud the soul of anyone you meet. Our job is never to assume,instead it is to listen, communicate, ask questions then ask more, until we know the true depth of someone’s spirit.
”
”
Shannon L. Alder
“
Whatever it is you're scared of doing, Do it.
”
”
Neil Gaiman
“
What do you need in the New Year? You need a dream; your dream needs an action; and your action needs right thinking! Without right thinking, you can have only unrealised dreams!
”
”
Mehmet Murat ildan
“
Kindness, kindness, kindness.
I want to make a New year's prayer, not a resolution. I'm praying for courage.
”
”
Susan Sontag
“
If the idea of loving those whom you have been taught to recognize as your enemies is too overwhelming, consider more deeply the observation that we are all much more alike than we are unalike.
”
”
Aberjhani (Splendid Literarium: A Treasury of Stories, Aphorisms, Poems, and Essays)
“
Making the choice to exercise compassion is an expression of Love for Humanity and Life itself.
”
”
Aberjhani (Splendid Literarium: A Treasury of Stories, Aphorisms, Poems, and Essays)
“
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
”
”
Pablo
“
For a change, don't add new things in your life as a new year's resolution. Instead, do more of what's already working for you and stop doing things that are time-waste.
”
”
Salil Jha
“
It can be difficult to speak truth to power. Circumstances, however, have made doing so increasingly necessary.
”
”
Aberjhani (Splendid Literarium: A Treasury of Stories, Aphorisms, Poems, and Essays)
“
On New Year's Eve the whole world celebrates the fact that a date changes.
Let us celebrate the dates on which we change the world.
”
”
Akilnathan Logeswaran
“
There is nothing magical about the flip of the calendar, but it represents a clean break, a new hope, and a blank canvas.
”
”
Jason Soroski
“
The acknowledgement of a single possibility can change everything.
”
”
Aberjhani (Splendid Literarium: A Treasury of Stories, Aphorisms, Poems, and Essays)
“
Wishes are possibilities. Dare to make a wish.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Think Great: Be Great! (Beautiful Quotes, #1))
“
NOEL: You can get excited about the future. The past won't mind.
”
”
Hillary DePiano (New Year's Thieve)
“
MOTHER TIME: We all get the exact same 365 days. The only difference is what we do with them.
”
”
Hillary DePiano (New Year's Thieve)
“
Whatever makes my soul feel good in 2016, that's what I'm chasing.
”
”
Robert Tew
“
With adequate planning, passion and perseverance, you can achieve the God-given goals.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
“
You will find there are times you must grasp your life with both hands and forcefully steer it in a new direction and then strain to hold your course until the storms of fear, weakness, and doubt abate.
”
”
Richelle E. Goodrich (Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year)
“
I love crafting. Knitting, decoupage, scrapbooking, any "lady-ish" art form, I'm a fan. For about six months each. Then I shove all the supplies in a closet, alongside the skeletons of long dead New Year's resolutions, like saber fencing, playing the ukulele, and Japanese brush painting.
”
”
Felicia Day (You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost))
“
August is a gentle reminder for not doing a single thing from your new year resolution for seven months and not doing it for next five.
”
”
Crestless Wave
“
Have you heard of the most evil things done by people in their lifetime? They have coveted men's wives, killed hundreds of Christians and sold their best friend's life away for just a few coins. Isn't it interesting that they were God's chosen in the bible? ---Saul, Judas & King David
”
”
Shannon L. Alder
“
Work on your strengths, not your weaknesses. How many of your New Year’s resolutions have been about fixing a flaw? And how many of those resolutions have you made several years in a row? It’s difficult to change any aspect of your personality by sheer force of will, and if it is a weakness you choose to work on, you probably won’t enjoy the process. If you don’t find pleasure or reinforcement along the way, then—unless you have the willpower of Ben Franklin—you’ll soon give up. But you don’t really have to be good at everything. Life offers so many chances to use one tool instead of another, and often you can use a strength to get around a weakness.
”
”
Jonathan Haidt (The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom)
“
On the night of New Year’s Day, I thought of a wonderful New Year’s resolution for the men who run the world: get to know the people who only live in it.
”
”
Martha Gellhorn (The Face of War)
“
Each year's regrets are envelopes in which messages of hope are found for the New Year.
”
”
John R. Dallas Jr. (We Need to Have a Word: Words of Wisdom, Courage and Patience for Work, Home and Everywhere)
“
May you find a new grace to live your dreams in coming year.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
“
To see the first sun rise in New Year is the most sacredness of existence.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
“
Let go of what was and embrace what to be.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
“
Begin again.
Begin again.
Every year
Every day
Every moment
Begin again.
”
”
Shellen Lubin
“
May the New Year bring you new strength, new hope and new dreams.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
“
Sometimes a year has been so disastrous and so terrible that entering a new year will automatically mean entering a wonderful year!
”
”
Mehmet Murat ildan
“
JUST FOR TODAY, I will live through this day only. I will not brood about yesterday or obsess about tomorrow. I will not set far-reaching goals or try to overcome all of my problems at once.
I know that I can do something for 24 hours that would overwhelm me if I had to keep it up for a lifetime.
JUST FOR TODAY, I will be happy. I will not dwell on thoughts that depress me. If my mind fills with clouds, I will chase them away and fill it with sunshine.
JUST FOR TODAY, I will accept what is. I will face reality. I will correct those things that I can correct and accept those I cannot.
JUST FOR TODAY, I will improve my mind. I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration. I will not be a mental loafer.
JUST FOR TODAY, I will make a conscious effort to be agreeable. I will be kind and courteous to those who cross my path, and I'll not speak ill of others. I will improve my appearance, speak softly, and not interrupt when someone else is talking. Just for today, I will refrain from improving anybody but myself.
JUST FOR TODAY, I will do something positive to improve my health. If I'm a smoker, I'll quit. If I'm overweight, I will eat healthfully -- if only for today. And not only that, I will get off the couch and take a brisk walk, even if it's only around the block.
JUST FOR TODAY, I will gather the courage to do what is right and take the responsibility for my own actions.
”
”
Abigail Van Buren
“
Your worst fears are just that, fears.
All you know, all you have done
is always there with you,
will always be so.
Nothing is lost when you leap--jump in--
with openness to the great whatever.
”
”
Shellen Lubin
“
The beauty of beginner mind
is the quality of the experience
of wonder, of gratitude,
of joy in all that is
and all that is
to come.
”
”
Shellen Lubin
“
The beauty of beginner mind
is in the quality of the experience
and the ability to take all you know
with all your sense of wonder and possibility
into discovery...
Begin again.
”
”
Shellen Lubin
“
Cheers to a gracious New Year. May we uphold the fullness of God’s grace, goodness and goodwill.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
“
Again, the opportunity has come to start off with our best. Make sure all the 365 pages of your book are worth the writing; as well publishing for.
”
”
Kaushal Yadav
“
I know a little more about you now, Audray, or whoever you really are. The New Year is near, and my son’s resolution will not include you. Or I could make your life very uncomfortable after I tell James about you.
”
”
Marie Montine (Mourning Grey: Part One: The Guardians Of The Temple Saga)
“
By now it's March, and it's too late to start another new year's resolution: you'll simply have to wait until December 31st again. Everybody knows you can't start something new in March. That would be ridiculous. Similar to starting a diet on a Thursday. Madness. (All diets start on a Monday, as on the Thursday before you start you have to eat everything out of your fridge and cupboards for the following Monday. It's a marvellous system.)
”
”
Miranda Hart (Is It Just Me?)
“
The beginning of every New Year is always the best time to give another chance to your neglected talents!
”
”
Mehmet Murat ildan
“
Each new year is another chance to get love right.
”
”
Aberjhani (Splendid Literarium: A Treasury of Stories, Aphorisms, Poems, and Essays)
“
We were, each of us… at a crossroads of public and private dynamics which had brought us to this frame-worthy moment. I thought of the different currents and crosscurrents of history which had formed, merged, broken apart, and reformed to create the opportunity for us to give something essential to each other’s lives.
”
”
Aberjhani (Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah)
“
The expectation of intelligent gossip is a powerful motive for serious self-criticism, more powerful than New Year resolutions to improve one's decision making at work and at home.
”
”
Daniel Kahneman (Thinking, Fast and Slow)
“
Every New Year brings its sacred blessings.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
“
Making New Year resolutions is one thing. Remaining resolute and seeing them through is quite another.
”
”
Alex Morritt (Impromptu Scribe)
“
O Lord God! What plans do you have for me this year?
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
“
And it’s frustrating because you’ve never been taught how to bridge the gap between theory and practice, between your New Year’s resolutions and your actual behaviour.
”
”
Aldous Huxley (Island)
“
Just because the dates change, does not mean you have to change. The continuous path towards self-improvement is a timeless process.
”
”
Brittany Burgunder
“
It seems silly to worry about the arbitrary moment some person long dead declared to be the end of one year and the beginning of another, as if our attempts to divide time into meaningful chunks actually mean anything. People wait for the countdown to tell them it's okay to believe in themselves again. They end each year with failure, but hope that when the clock strikes twelve, they can begin the new year with a clean slate. They tell themselves that this is the year things will happen, never realizing that things are always happening; they're just happening without them.
”
”
Shaun David Hutchinson (We Are the Ants)
“
Beginning a new year - have a resolution to make - not to be a damn fool!' -- Kay Francis
”
”
Lynn Kear (Kay Francis: A Passionate Life and Career)
“
Will the rich continue to be rich in the New Year? Will the poor continue to be poor in the New Year? Then for god’s sake how on earth the New Year will be called as new?
”
”
Mehmet Murat ildan
“
Hope
your time from the end of the year to
start of a new year
always sounds 'it will be happier and fruitful'...
”
”
Santosh Kalwar
“
The underprivileged are byproduct of society’s material progress.
”
”
Pawan Mishra
“
Savour on the moment, while still waiting for sacred time.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
“
There is good in every year.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
“
You will get what you wish to have.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
“
People would cheer throw confetti and then go about breaking the resolutions they had made only moments before.
”
”
Neal Shusterman (Downsiders (Downsiders, #1))
“
Dear 2016,
If I had any defeats in your team, I am glad they were on my terms.
Love,
Defeated Winner
”
”
Jasleen Kaur Gumber
“
Podia-se desejar uma tarde feliz, uma noite feliz, um dia inteiro feliz, no máximo. Mas um ano?
”
”
Lygia Fagundes Telles (Ciranda de Pedra)
“
Hey friend, don’t you dare forget, as you’re creating a new you, that there’s a whole lot about the old you that is worth keeping.
”
”
Toni Sorenson
“
Let all the failures of your past year be your best guide in the New Year!
”
”
Mehmet Murat ildan
“
Forget not the past.
The past prepares us for the present.
The present equipped us for the future.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita
“
The Christian living is a spiritual welfare. As the year draws to an end, seek the face of the Lord for guidance in the coming year.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Think Great: Be Great! (Beautiful Quotes, #1))
“
If you decide to cut something out this year, try replacing it with something else to balance out the loss. If you stop drinking soda, for example, replace it with becoming more sedentary. You deserve it. You loved soda.
”
”
Colin Nissan
“
Packaged inside of every mistake there lays a great lesson. And while I don’t want to take the mistake into the New Year, I most certainly want to take the lesson that’s packaged inside of it.
”
”
Craig D. Lounsbrough
“
My New Year's Eve is always 2 July, the night before my birthday. That's the night I make my resolutions. And this year scares the life out of me, because no matter how successful, how good things appear, there is always a deep core of failure within me, although I am trying to deal with it. My biggest fear, this coming year, is that I will be waking up alone.
It makes me wonder how many bodies will be fished out of the Thames, how many decaying corpses will be found in one-room flats.
I'm just being realistic.
”
”
Tracey Emin (Strangeland)
“
As we did every New Year's Eve we made ridiculous resolutions that no one would keep, and quietly we all wondered what the coming year would hold, each of us praying for our own private miracles. Good health. Better health. A marriage for this child, a good job for another. This hopefulness was something hardwired into our psyches, that a new year might mean some monumental something wonderful could happen to bring us happiness at a level we had never known. A new year was a chance to start over. Maybe even, just maybe, there would be peace on earth for one entire day.
”
”
Dorothea Benton Frank (The Last Original Wife)
“
You can never make this New Year as your best year because your best year is always the year you were born! When the fireworks start, be thankful for your existence and for everything which made this possible!
”
”
Mehmet Murat ildan
“
Let us do something incredible this New Year: Let us try to see the world from the window of other cultures!
”
”
Mehmet Murat ildan
“
We joyfully pray with grateful heart’s to welcome blessings in New Year.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
“
A fresh day brings new sunrise and new hope for a fresh start.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
“
[...] Get rid of the things that make you fragile
We're taking the negative route for this exercise. Ask yourself: What makes me fragile? Certain people, things, and habits generate losses for us and make us vulnerable. Who and what are they?
When we make our New Year's resolutions, we tend to emphasize adding new challenges to our lives. It's great to have this kind of objective, but setting "good riddance" goals can have an even bigger impact.
”
”
Francesc Miralles (Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life / The Little Book of Lykke / Lagom: The Swedish Art of Balanced Living)
“
The more specific you are about your resolution, the better your chance of sticking with it. Don’t just say, “I want to lose weight.” Say, “When my arm jiggles, I want it to look less like a pelican’s throat-pouch choking down a bass.
”
”
Colin Nissan
“
Live a life abundant in love and rich in spirit, these are the seeds of a fulfilling existence. Be the safe harbor you seek in the world. Follow your dreams, not your fear.
Go into the New Year with an open mind and hopeful heart. Don't let the chains of unforgiveness weigh you down. Life is too short to live in a prison of past hurts. The futures is yours for the taking and creating.
Life is bittersweet, when we can let darkness and light co-exist as illumination, we can live in true happiness. When we live life at its best, it is a symphony of feelings, of high and low notes, of tragedy and comedy, love and loss, magic and the sublime. It can be quite a spectacular journey when we fully embrace and accept it.
”
”
Jaeda DeWalt
“
MOTHER TIME: Life goes by so very fast, my dears, and taking the time to reflect, even once a year, slows things down. We zoom past so many seconds, minutes, hours, killing them with the frantic way we live that it's important we take at least this one collective sigh and stop, take stock, and acknowledge our place in time before diving back into the melee. Midnight on New Year's Eve is a unique kind of magic where, just for a moment, the past and the future exist at once in the present. Whether we're aware of it or not, as we countdown together to it, we're sharing the burden of our history and committing to the promise of tomorrow.
”
”
Hillary DePiano (New Year's Thieve)
“
To speak truth, sir, I don't understand you at all: I cannot keep up the conversation, because it has got out of my depth. Only one thing I know: you said you were not as good as you should like to be, and that you regretted your own imperfection--one thing I can comprehend: you intimated that to have a sullied memory was a perpetual bane. It seems to me, that if you tried hard, you would in time find it possible to become what you yourself would approve; and that if from this day you began with resolution to correct your thoughts and actions, you would in a few years have laid up a new and stainless store of recollections, to which you might revert with pleasure.
”
”
Charlotte Brontë (Jane Eyre)
“
This year has taught me the simple craft of belief. I believe in the things I’ve nurtured and built this year. Slowly but carefully. Such as understanding, knowledge, passion, strength; the hundreds of songs I’ve written, the 365 poems, the books I’ve read and the miles I’ve run. The resolution to breathe, to meditate, to not harm my mind or body even when I’ve felt like it.
”
”
Charlotte Eriksson
“
MOTHER TIME: Every New Year is the same. Every day, every second is too for that matter. But when we deliver them in secret, when another year just begins as a matter of fact, it's easy to fail to appreciate what a miracle it is to have more time. So, I suppose, it feels different right now because this time you're paying attention
”
”
Hillary DePiano (New Year's Thieve)
“
What I have learned from about twenty years of serious reading is this: It is sentences that change my life, not books. What changes my life is some new glimpse of truth, some powerful challenge, some resolution to a long-standing dilemma, and these usually come concentrated in a sentence or two. I do not remember 99% of what I read, but if the 1% of each book or article I do remember is a life-changing insight, then I don't begrudge the 99%.
From "Quantitative Hopelessness and the Immeasurable Moment
”
”
John Piper
“
There will be no New Year for those who keep living in the older years! If you really want to enter a new year, shot all the doors behind you and stick yourself to the New Year where everything is ready for you to be designed by you! Every man is an artist and every artist has the power to create infinite things; just be in the present time and design your life! No man can design his life by being in the past because present time is the only studio we can do our work!
”
”
Mehmet Murat ildan
“
So New Year, I have too many hopes in you..
I hope you lead me safely to the shore.
I hope you can be nice to me, just nice and nothing more.
I hope you vanquish this tornado of sores.
I don't ask the sun to be always shining.
I don't ask the day to be much longer.
I don't ask the guiding stars to be brighter.
I don't ask for more flowers or more powers.
I don't ask the sky to be clear from clouds,
so no rain of misery and frustration to be found.
All I ask for is some peace around.
All I ask for is some peace of mind.
So New Year, I have too many hopes in you.
My wishes are infinite, what are you going to do?
Don't disappoint me, I suppose... you already know!
”
”
Noha Alaa El-Din (Norina Luciano)
“
Today marks the end of the last chapter of the year. With the start of the first chapter of the New Year’s book, let's put the old book on the shelf or even in the lower drawer, and let's pick up the new one, carry crayons in our hands, and start writing a new colorful story.
يصادف اليوم نهاية الفصل الأخير من العام. مع بداية الفصل الأول من كتاب العام الجديد ، دعونا نضع الكتاب القديم على الرف أو حتى في الدرج السفلي ، و لنلتقط الكتاب الجديد ، ونحمل أقلام التلوين في أيدينا ، ونبدأ في كتابة قصة جديدة ملونة
”
”
Nadine Sadaka Boulos
“
You know what I think?”
Touching him feels so good, so strangely uncomplicated, like he’s the exception to every rule. “What?”
“I think you love your job,” he says softly. “I think you work that hard because you care ten times more than the average person.”
“About work,” I say.
“About everything.” His arms tighten around me. “Your sister. Your clients. Their books. You don’t do anything you’re not going to do one hundred percent. You don’t start anything you can’t finish.
“You’re not the person who buys the stationary bike as part of a New Year’s resolution, then uses it as a coatrack for three years. You’re not the kind of woman who only works hard when it feels good, or only shows up when it’s convenient. If someone insults one of your clients, those fancy kid gloves of yours come off, and you carry your own pen at all times, because if you’re going to have to write anything, it might as well look good. You read the last page of books first—don’t make that face, Stephens.” He cracks a smile in one corner of his mouth. “I’ve seen you—even when you’re shelving, you sometimes check the last page, like you’re constantly looking for all the information, trying to make the absolute best decisions.”
“And by you’ve seen me,” I say, “you mean you’ve watched me.”
“Of course I fucking do,” he says in a low, rough voice. “I can’t stop. I’m always aware of where you are, even if I don’t look, but it’s impossible not to. I want to see your face get stern when you’re emailing a client’s editor, being a hard-ass, and I want to see your legs when you’re so excited about something you just read that you can’t stop crossing and uncrossing them. And when someone pisses you off, you get these red splotches.” His fingers brush my throat. “Right here.”
“You’re a fighter,” he says. “When you care about something, you won’t let anything fucking touch it. I’ve never met anyone who cares as much as you do. Do you know what most people would give to have someone like that in their life?” His eyes are dark, probing, his heartbeat fast. “Do you know how fucking lucky anyone you care about is? You know . . .
”
”
Emily Henry (Book Lovers)
“
Girls did not always organize their thinking about themselves around the physical. Before World War I, self-improvement meant being less self-involved, less vain: helping others, focusing on schoolwork, becoming better read, and cultivating empathy. Author Joan Jacobs Brumberg highlighted this change in her book The Body Project by comparing the New Year’s resolutions of girls at the end of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: “Resolved,” wrote a girl in 1892, “to think before speaking. To work seriously. To be self-restrained in conversations and actions. Not to let my thoughts wander. To be dignified. Interest myself more in others.
”
”
Peggy Orenstein (Girls and Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape)
“
Oh, my friends, the first wish I have for the new year is to change the worn-out greeting: 'happy new year'. There is no happiness, only fleeting moments of joy. There is nothing new under the sun, only new ways of looking at the same eternal challenges and unresolved questions. There is no point in wishing for a perfect health in a profoundly sick world – the view is much clearer and more interesting when living on the edge. And so, I wish you all endurance as we go through another difficult year. I wish you courage to snatch a few more days (or moments) of joy as another year slips through the fingers of Time. I wish you much strength to maintain your equilibrium as we face new earthquakes of uncertainty in the coming year. Most of all, I wish we never give up on the possibility of doing things otherwise. And, of course, I wish you much love.
”
”
Louis Yako
“
They told tales as they sat at their work, and every one related what wonderful things he had seen or experienced. One afternoon I heard an old man among them say that God knew every thing, both what had happened and what would happen. That idea occupied my whole mind, and towards evening, as I went alone from the court, where there was a deep pond, and stood upon some stones which were just within the water, the thought passed through my head, whether God actually knew everything which was to happen there. Yes, he has now determined that I should live and be so many years old, thought I; but, if I now were to jump into the water here and drown myself, then it would not be as he wished; and all at once I was firmly and resolutely determined to drown myself. I ran to where the water was deepest, and then a new thought passed through my soul. "It is the devil who wishes to have power over me!" I uttered a loud cry, and, running away from the place as if I were pursued, fell weeping into my mother's arms. But neither she nor any one else could wring from me what was amiss with me.
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Hans Christian Andersen (The Fairy Tale of My Life: An Autobiography)
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Colored like a sunset tide is a gaze sharply slicing through the reflective glass. A furrowed brow is set much too seriously, as if trying to unfold the pieces of the face that stared back at it. One eyebrow is raised skeptically, always calculating and analyzing its surroundings. I tilt my head trying to see the deeper meaning in my features, trying to imagine the connection between my looks and my character as I stare in the mirror for the required five minutes.
From the dark brown hair fastened tightly in a bun, a curl as bright as woven gold comes loose. A flash of unruly hair prominent through the typical browns is like my temper; always there, but not always visible. I begin to grow frustrated with the girl in the mirror, and she cocks her hip as if mocking me. In a moment, her lips curve in a half smile, not quite detectable in sight but rather in feeling, like the sensation of something good just around the corner. A chin was set high in a stubborn fashion, symbolizing either persistence or complete adamancy. Shoulders are held stiff like ancient mountains, proud but slightly arrogant.
The image watches with the misty eyes of a daydreamer, glazed over with a sort of trance as if in the middle of a reverie, or a vision. Every once and a while, her true fears surface in those eyes, terror that her life would amount to nothing, that her work would have no impact. Words written are meant to be read, and sometimes I worry that my thoughts and ideas will be lost with time.
My dream is to be an author, to be immortalized in print and live forever in the minds of avid readers. I want to access the power in being able to shape the minds of the young and open, and alter the minds of the old and resolute. Imagine the power in living forever, and passing on your ideas through generations. With each new reader, a new layer of meaning is uncovered in writing, meaning that even the author may not have seen.
In the mirror, I see a girl that wants to change the world, and change the way people think and reason. Reflection and image mean nothing, for the girl in the mirror is more than a one dimensional picture. She is someone who has followed my footsteps with every lesson learned, and every mistake made. She has been there to help me find a foothold in the world, and to catch me when I fall. As the lights blink out, obscuring her face, I realize that although that image is one that will puzzle me in years to come, she and I aren’t so different after all.
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K.D. Enos
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Benefits Now—Costs Later We have seen that predictable problems arise when people must make decisions that test their capacity for self-control. Many choices in life, such as whether to wear a blue shirt or a white one, lack important self-control elements. Self-control issues are most likely to arise when choices and their consequences are separated in time. At one extreme are what might be called investment goods, such as exercise, flossing, and dieting. For these goods the costs are borne immediately, but the benefits are delayed. For investment goods, most people err on the side of doing too little. Although there are some exercise nuts and flossing freaks, it seems safe to say that not many people are resolving on New Year’s Eve to floss less next year and to stop using the exercise bike so much. At the other extreme are what might be called sinful goods: smoking, alcohol, and jumbo chocolate doughnuts are in this category. We get the pleasure now and suffer the consequences later. Again we can use the New Year’s resolution test: how many people vow to smoke more cigarettes, drink more martinis, or have more chocolate donuts in the morning next year? Both investment goods and sinful goods are prime candidates for nudges. Most (nonanorexic) people do not need any special encouragement to eat another brownie, but they could use some help exercising more.
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Richard H. Thaler (Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness)
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SOCIAL/GENERAL ICEBREAKERS
1. What do you think of the movie/restaurant/party?
2. Tell me about the best vacation you’ve ever taken.
3. What’s your favorite thing to do on a rainy day?
4. If you could replay any moment in your life, what would it be?
5. What one thing would you really like to own? Why?
6. Tell me about one of your favorite relatives.
7. What was it like in the town where you grew up?
8. What would you like to come back as in your next life?
9. Tell me about your kids.
10. What do you think is the perfect age? Why?
11. What is a typical day like for you?
12. Of all the places you’ve lived, tell me about the one you like the best.
13. What’s your favorite holiday? What do you enjoy about it?
14. What are some of your family traditions that you particularly enjoy?
15. Tell me about the first car you ever bought.
16. How has the Internet affected your life?
17. Who were your idols as a kid? Have they changed?
18. Describe a memorable teacher you had.
19. Tell me about a movie/book you’ve seen or read more than once.
20. What’s your favorite restaurant? Why?
21. Tell me why you were named ______. What is the origin of your last name?
22. Tell me about a place you’ve visited that you hope never to return to.
get over your mom’s good intentions.
23. What’s the best surprise you’ve ever received?
24. What’s the neatest surprise you’ve ever planned and pulled off for someone else?
25. Skiing here is always challenging. What are some of your favorite places to ski?
26. Who would star as you in a movie about your life?
Why that person?
27. Who is the most famous person you’ve met?
28. Tell me about some of your New Year’s resolutions.
29. What’s the most antiestablishment thing you’ve ever done?
30. Describe a costume that you wore to a party.
31. Tell me about a political position you’d like to hold.
32. What song reminds you of an incident in your life?
33. What’s the most memorable meal you’ve eaten?
34. What’s the most unforgettable coincidence you’ve experienced or heard about?
35. How are you able to tell if that melon is ripe?
36. What motion picture star would you like to interview? Why?
37. Tell me about your family.
38. What aroma brings forth a special memory?
39. Describe the scariest person you ever met.
40. What’s your favorite thing to do alone?
41. Tell me about a childhood friend who used to get you in trouble.
42. Tell me about a time when you had too much to eat or drink.
43. Describe your first away-from-home living quarters or experience.
44. Tell me about a time that you lost a job.
45. Share a memory of one of your grandparents.
46. Describe an embarrassing moment you’ve had.
47. Tell me something most people would never guess about you.
48. What would you do if you won a million dollars?
49. Describe your ideal weather and why.
50. How did you learn to ski/hang drywall/play piano?
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Debra Fine (The Fine Art of Small Talk: How to Start a Conversation, Keep It Going, Build Networking Skills and Leave a Positive Impression!)