Came across this sweet little video recently. Check it out for your­self

In the interest of embracing opti­mism, I decided to look up some quotes by famous and not-so-famous people that inspire me to approach life in a pos­i­tive, light-hearted manner. Yes, I know, quotes are some­times looked down upon, and quotes are not the only way to learn any­thing, the con­text mat­ters more in most cases. But a good quote is like a good song, a small morsel of wisdom or wit that can inspire great things in the observer’s mind. Here are some juicy ones from my ever-growing collection:

“Snatching the eternal out of the des­per­ately fleeting is the great mag­ical trick of human exis­tence.” ~Tennessee Williams

“When you per­ceive that an act done to another is done to your­self, you have under­stood the great truth.” ~Taoist saying

“Thousands of can­dles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be short­ened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” ~Buddha

“The most beau­tiful thing we can expe­ri­ence is the mys­te­rious. It is the source of all true art and sci­ence.” ~Albert Einstein

“To the out­side world we all grow old. But not to brothers and sis­ters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other’s hearts. We share pri­vate family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live out­side the touch of time.” ~Clara Ortega

“Nothing is so strong as gen­tle­ness, and nothing is so gentle as real strength.” ~Ralph Stockman

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” ~T. Roosevelt

“Great spirits have always encoun­tered vio­lent oppo­si­tion from mediocre minds.” ~Albert Einstein

“Genius is the ability to put into effect what is on your mind.” ~F. Scott Fitzgerald

“He is a hard man who is only just, and a sad one who is only wise.” ~Voltaire

“True love sto­ries never have end­ings.” ~Richard Bach

“Anyone can be pas­sionate, but it takes real lovers to be silly.” ~Rose Franken

“What the world really needs is more love and less paper work.” ~Pearl Bailey

“To all of us the thought of heaven is dear–
Why not be sure of it and make it here?
No doubt there is a heaven yonder too,
But ’tis so far away–and you are near.”
~Omar Khayyam

“For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.” ~Lily Tomlin

From CBC’s Ideas radio show, I am lis­tening to the pod­cast with Nick Maxwell on the ideas about sci­ence pre­sented in his book From Knowledge to Wisdom: A Revolution for Science and the Humanities.

A long but highly insightful con­ver­sa­tion between acclaimed authors Salman Rushdie and Irshad Manji on the nature of belief, Islamism, the his­tory of Islam and Quran, and what to do in a world full of cra­zies on both the Islamist side and the racist west­erner side. Rational, thinking people of all vari­eties will enjoy this video… please watch in full, it’s worth it. Intelligent com­ments are welcome.

1. Live for the past.
2. Live for the future.
3. Think every­thing is always about you.
4. Think that you just don’t matter at all.
5. Believe that pills will solve all your prob­lems.
6. Believe that pills are stupid and use­less.
7. Do not let your­self change.
8. Believe that it is all your fault.
9. Believe that it is all other people’s fault.
10. Accept all the bad things you have heard, read or thought about you.
11. Deny any good things you have heard, read or thought about you.
12. Never think about other people’s prob­lems.
13. Think that because you can’t do every­thing, you shouldn’t do any­thing.
14. Roll your eyes while reading this list.
15. When hap­pi­ness comes, greet it with fear or guilt or resent­ment.
16. Think that you are or have bad luck.
17. Don’t express your­self cre­atively in any way.
18. Keep on trying to please and/or piss-off Mom and/or Dad.
19. Wait for someone else to come and save you.
20. Exercise only spo­rad­i­cally and only out of guilt.
21. Don’t make friends with silence.
22. Watch a lot of TV.
23. Stay away from Nature.
24. Think of every­thing in terms of black or white.
25. Take all, give nothing.

~Kiran Mehdee [June 2008]

Battlestar Galactica‘s Tricia Helfer’s
‘Angel for Animals’ PETA PSA

Click on the poster to read more about Tricia and to enter a con­test to win Battlestar Galactica DVD’s!

Frito-Lay‘s new Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos, which are the “offi­cial sponsor” of The Colbert Report‘s cov­erage of the pres­i­den­tial pri­maries, have earned praise from PETA…

“Seeking Common Ground (SCG) was co-founded by five women in response to a growing desire to apply their cor­po­rate edu­ca­tion and pub­lishing skills to topics closer to heart and home.”

I am deeply inspired and in search of such a group here in Toronto.

Who knows… maybe I’ll just create one!

I recently dis­cov­ered the strik­ingly simple and haunt­ingly beau­tiful art of Thalia Took. This image is of the Arab Triple Goddess.