Quote

I think Samuel Johnson had it right when he observed that hope is itself a species of happiness. So if we want to be happy it only makes sense to discipline ourselves to choose our attitudes, to think positively and to be hopeful.

Michael Josephson

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Michael Josephson
Age: 82
Born: 1942
Born: December 10
Motivational Speaker
Philosopher
Life
Happiness
Attitudes
Happy
Positively
Hope
Observed
Sense
Hopeful
Makes
Species
Right
Discipline
Think
Choose
Samuel
Thinking
Attitude
Johnson

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Character is the moral strength to do the right thing even when it costs more than you want to pay.
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There's some wisdom and no moral deficiency to one who holds courage in reserve and uses it as a last resort. Before we take the kind of risks that require courage, we ought to exhaust other less risky alternatives.
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The opposite of success is not failure. Unsuccessful efforts are not failures unless they so discourage you that you abandon further efforts to achieve your goal. Even then, the venture or effort may be a failure but you are not. Failure is an event not a character trait.
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What will matter in the end is not what you bought but what you built not what you got but what you gave not what you learned by what you taught. What will matter is not your competence but your character.
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Never do anything for another with the expectation of gratitude. The expectation itself turns the gift into an exchange and suggests a debt is owed you.
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Gratitude is most treasured when it is unexpected. When we expect, even demand gratitude, we treat it simply as payment due for some service we rendered and we squeeze any good feeling out of it.
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What you allow you encourage.
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People who don't believe in you are right only if you believe they are.
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Success comes in cans. Failures comes in can'ts.
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America is a song that sounds the best when we all sing together - at least for a while.
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Character is just another term for good person. A person of character lives a worthy life guided by moral principles. A person of character is a good parent, a good friend, a good employee and a good citizen.
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Good character is more important than wealth, good looks, popularity and even education. These things do not guarantee happiness and often they become obstacles to developing good character.
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Experimenting with drugs is like target practice where your head is the bull's-eye.
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We judge our own character by our best intentions and most noble acts, but we will be judged by our last worst act.
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Neither the intensity of your feelings nor the certainty of your convictions is any assurance that you are right.
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Whatever you do, make a difference. Earn the right to look back at something and say, 'I did that.'
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What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.
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Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the many things we have to be thankful for, not so we feel guilty about what we have that others don't, but to be genuinely grateful for our blessings.
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I am grateful for all those people who said no. It is because of them that I did it myself. Practice an attitude of gratitude. You can either be miserable dwelling on the troubles you have or grateful for the ones you don't have. Your troubles don't care but it makes a huge difference in your life.
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A certain formula for an unhappy life is pursue someone else's definition of success. Until you define your own goals and purposes your life is not your own and there can be no sense of fulfillment no matter how much you achieve.
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