Morning Briefings

The question isn’t did you fail, but did you pick yourself up and move ahead. And there is one other little question ‘Did you collaborate in your own defeat?’ A lot of people do. Learn not to.

– John Gardner
from a 1993 speech

We don’t make a conscious decision to turn towards the dark path of deceit. We don’t wake up one day and decide that being a person of good character is overrated. We don’t suddenly develop a penchant for dwelling in a pit. No, departure from integrity is more subtle and insidious than that, like taking a wrong turn and ending up lost–in a bad neighborhood.

– Kristin Armstrong
Living Faith

The overemphasis on politics today is an indication that people are governed, rather than governing.

– Fulton J. Sheen in the 1953 book
Way to Happiness: An Inspiring Guide to Peace, Hope and Contentment

Set down your chains, ’til only faith remains; set down your chains. And lend your voices only to sounds of freedom. No longer lend your strength to that which you wish to be free from. Fill your lives with love and bravery and we shall lead a life uncommon.

– Jewel
Life Uncommon

Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.

– Saint Augustine
from The Pope & The CEO Facebook page

In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teachings show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about you.

– Titus 2:7-8

About a quarter of admissions officers at the nation’s top 500 colleges have used websites such as Facebook and Google to vet applicants, according to an annual Kaplan Test Prep survey. Of those, more than one-third say they have found something that has hurt a student’s chance of admission.

– Douglas Belkin & Caroline Porter, The Wall Street Journal
Web Profiles Haunt Students

God, what do you think I should do? It is the one question that has almost completely disappeared from the dialog of modern men and modern women. And it is for that sole reason that so many men and so many women lead lives of quiet desperation and animosity. If we think we can lead the lives of happiness we’re hoping for without asking that question and honestly seeking the answer to it, then we are absolutely kidding ourselves.

– Matthew Kelly
in a speech at the Orange County Catholic Prayer Breakfast

One with God is a majority.

– Mary Pickford
Why Not Try God?

This is one of the most honest and frequently given excuses I hear. ‘I just don’t have the moral courage to be open about my faith.‘ By definition, moral courage means you are willing to act on your convictions even if it costs you something, such as social acceptance or convenience.

– Randy Hain
The Catholic Briefcase