Wilferd Peterson Quotes

There are no secrets of success. Success is doing the things you know you should do. Success is not doing the things you know you shouldn't do. Success is not limited to any one area of your life. It encompasses all the facets of your relationships: as parent, as wife or husband, as citizen, neighbor, worker and all of the others. Success is not confined to any one part of your personality but is related to the development of all the parts: body, mind, heart and spirit. It is making the most of your total self.

Leonardo da Vinci, one of the greatest creative thinkers of all time, strongly recommended the habit of meditation in the dark. He wrote: "For I have found in my own experience that it is of no small benefit, when you lie in bed in the dark, to recall in imagination, one after another, the outlines of the form you have been studying." He often awoke to find his problems solved. Da Vinci would often stand silent and motionless before a painting for hours, without using his brush, as though waiting for spiritual guidance.

Don't point your finger to the heights your children should go. Start climbing and they will follow.

Forgiveness works the miracle of change.

The art of achievement is the art of making life - your life - a masterpiece.

In practicing the art of parenthood, an ounce of example is worth a ton of preachment.

Love is the creative fire, the inspiration that keeps the torch of progress aflame.

Work miracles by setting a good example. Others will catch your spirit! The power of a good example is the greatest miracle-working power of all.

Love is the spiritual magnetism that draws men together, for the working of miracles.

Inject laughter into tense situations to save the day; laughter calms tempers and soothes jangled nerves.

Let your light shine. Be a source of strength and courage. Share your wisdom. Radiate love.

Prayer is thinking and thanking. It is thinking of our many blessings and accepting them with a thankful spirit.

We give of ourselves when we give gifts of the heart: love, kindness, joy, understanding, sympathy, tolerance, forgiveness. . .

The secret of greatness is simple: do better work than any other man in your field - and keep on doing it.

It is time to browse through the precious books that have meant the most to you that you may rediscover illuminating phrases and sentences to light your pathway to the future.

Imagination helps you to recognize the reality of facts, but then to go beyond them, to penetrate beneath them, to rise above them in your search for creative answers to problems. Imagination "stirs up the gift of God in thee." Through your imagination you touch and express the inspiration of the Infinite. Imagination, in the words of Shakespeare, "gives to airy nothing a local habitation and a name." You reach into the heavens to grasp an idea, then you bring it down to earth and make it work.

It is great to love life. Accept life as a precious gift from the hand of God and strive to make the most of it.

Decision is often the difference between greatness and mediocrity. In every man's life there comes a time when he must search for a cause, a work, an ideal to which he can give himself. Whether he says 'Yes' or 'No' to the challenge will determine his future.

Tolerance is understanding. It is open to new light. Those who are tolerant are always eager to explore viewpoints other than their own.

As you help men to grow, as you work for peace, understanding and good will, your influence will merge, with the good influences of men of every age, into the eternal golden stream of God's goodness.

Decision is the spark that ignites action. Until a decision is made, nothing happens.... Decision is the courageous facing of issues, knowing that if they are not faced, problems will remain forever unanswered.

He can talk to himself about his dreams, hopes and aspirations. He can convince himself that there is a place for him and an important work for him to do.

Imagination is a flame that ignites the creative spirit. Imagination lights up your mind by stoking mental fires. It can be stimulated from the outside through the senses, or from the inside through the driving power of curiosity and discontent.

The master secret of happiness is to meet the challenge of each new day with the serene faith that: "All things work together for good to them that love God."

You select the colors of your thoughts; drab or bright, weak or strong, good or bad. You select the colors of your emotions; discordant or harmonious, harsh or quiet, weak or strong. You select the colors of your acts; cold or warm, fearful or daring, small or big.

Love is the supreme good; it is the overflowing life, the giving of ourselves to noble ends and causes.

Our children are watching us live and what we are shouts louder than anything we can say.

Response is what we have trained ourselves to be; it is a reflection of our manhood, character, ideals. We cannot always control our surface reactions, but we can sit at the helm of our lives and control our responses to the blows of life.

Many times we will get more ideas and better ideas in two hours of creative loafing than in eight hours at a desk.

Release your problem to God with a prayer that the answer will come in its own good time and place. Hold the attitude of faith and expectancy, knowing that God has all the answers, that His knowledge is limitless and can never be exhausted.

Words of encouragement fan the spark of genius into the flame of achievement.

It is looking for the joys that come in small, precious packages and making the most of them, knowing that big packages of joy are few and far between.

Those who hope to avoid all failure and misfortune are trying to live in a fairyland; wise people realistically accept failures as a part of life and build philosophies to meet them and make the best of them.

Great men are little men expanded; great lives are ordinary lives intensified.

Today's world needs change, alteration, renewal, and corrections of errors. It needs new ideas, new approaches, methods, plans, procedures, and new ways of doing things. Maybe you should think of going-literally or symbolically- to a circus today, where you'll see stunts you never dreamed possible. The novelty and originality there may stimulate what you need more of in this life. Have the daring to take a flight for the idea you believe in!

Take time for good books; time to absorb the thoughts of poets and philosophers, seers and prophets.

Laughter is the best medicine for a long and happy life. He who laughs lasts!

Take a look at those two open hands of yours. They are tools with which to serve, make friends, and reach out for the best in life. Open hands open the way to achievement put them to work today.

You are a bundle of mysteries. Finding and conquering yourself is a lifetime task. There are unplumbed depths in you full of the rich ore of personal discovery. Explore your self! There is power in you — the power to change yourself and to change the world.

Prayer is dedicating our thought, feeling and action to the expression of goodness. It is to become like a window through which the light of God shines.

Words of encouragement fan the spark of genius into the flame of achievement. Legend tells us that Lincoln's dying mother called her small son to her bedside and whispered, 'Be somebody, Abe'.

Adventure begins with you, personally. It is in the way you look at things. It is the mental stance you take as you face your day. It is finding magic in things. It is talking with people and discovering their inner goodness. It is the thrill of feeling a part of the life around you. The attitude of adventure will open things up for you. The world will become alive with new zest and meaning. You'll become more aware of the beauty everywhere. Nothing will seem unimportant. Everything will be revealed as having pattern and purpose.

The best leaders are very often the best listeners. They have an open mind. They are not interested in having their own way but in finding the best way.

The Art of Success . . . Success is ninety-nine percent mental attitude. It calls for love, joy, optimism, confidence, serenity, poise, faith, courage, cheerfulness, imagination, initiative, tolerance, honesty, humility, patience, and enthusiasm. . . . Success is having the courage to meet failure without being defeated. It is refusing to let present loss interfere with your long-range goal. . . . Success is relative and individual and personal. It is your answer to the problem of making your minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years add up to a great life.

Big thinking precedes great achievement.

Cynics and critics wake us up. Kindness often covers up the truth and allows us to sleep on in our ignorance.

Love is the dove of peace, the spirit of brotherhood, it is tenderness and compassion, forgiveness and tolerance.

Every forward step achieved by man has been due to the adventurous attitude. This attitude inspires dissatisfaction with the world as it is; it arouses the desire to change and improve things. The attitude of adventure is the flame that lights the fuse to explode new ideas.