Positively Speaking: 167 Words of Wisdom and Life Lessons Heard Over the Years

1. To change everything, simply change your attitude.
2. A friend is a person who knows all about you, but likes you anyway.
3. Good manners sometimes means simply putting up with other people's bad manners.
4. The less people know about you, the less they have to talk about.
5. It is my observation that too many of us are spending money we have earned to buy things we don't need to impress people we don't like.
6. The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.
7. To be bitter is to waste precious moments of a life that's already too short.
8. No one is guaranteed happiness. Life just gives each person time and space. It's up to us to fill it with JOY.
9. Job security is being worth more than you're getting paid.
10. Almost all of our unhappiness is the result of comparing ourselves to others.
11. You wouldn't be worried about what people think of you if you knew how seldom they actually do.
12. Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking. 
13. Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness, and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again.
14. 5 rules to be happy: 1) Free your heart from hatred; 2) Free your mind from worry; 3) Live simply; 4) Expect less and 5) Give more
15. Always take a chance. The end result may not always be what you hope for but at least you'll never go through life wondering "what if..." and "if only..."
16. The real test of true love is having all the things go wrong but still having a special way to love despite all the wrong things that may happen.
17. Love is not a word to say when we feel guilty nor the right word to say when we like a person, but love really matters when we share our thoughts, our minds and our hearts.
18. A soul mate is someone who brings out the best in you. They are not perfect but are always perfect for you.
19. Give openly and without expectation.
20. Love what you're doing at this second. Worry about the rest later - or never.
21. Give others the benefit of the doubt. 
22. Love knows no strangers. Treat everyone as a friend-to-be.
23. Give attention to what and whom you most hold dear.
24. Live each day as though it's your first.
25. Love and accept people for who they are.
26. Live like the world is upside down because maybe it is.
27. No man is worth your tears and the only one who is will never make you cry.
28. Everyone hears what you say. Friends listen to what you say. Best friends listen to what you don't say.
29. If someone says something unkind about me, live so that no one will believe it.
30. Make someone's day by simply sending them a note.
31. The greater a person's sense of guilt, the greater his/her need to cast blame on others.
32. No matter what happens or how bad it seems today, life goes on and it will be better tomorrow. 
33. If you pursue happiness, it will elude you. If you focus on your family, your friends, the needs of others, your work, and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you. 
34. Even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.
35. Whenever you decide something with an open heart, usually the right decision is made.
36. Everyday reach out and touch someone. People love that human touch - holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.
37. You can't change the past, but you can ruin the present by worrying over the future.
38. Love...and you shall be loved.
39. It's important for parents to live the same things they teach.
40. If you fill your heart with regrets of yesterday and the worries of tomorrow, you have no today to be thankful for.
41. Happy memories never wear out...relive them as often as you want.
42. The choice you make today will usually affect tomorrow.
43. Love is strengthened by working through conflicts together.
44. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
45. The best thing parents can do for their children is to love each other.
46. To get out of a difficulty, one usually must go through it.
47. We often take for granted the things that we should be giving thanks for. 
48. Happiness is enhanced by others but does not depend upon others. 
49. Do what you can, for who you can, with what you have and where you are.
50. Remember, it's not your job to get people to like you; it's your job to like people. 
51. Believe in miracles, but don't depend on them.
52. What you do today is getting you closer to where you want to be tomorrow.
53. Don't forget that we are ultimately judged by what we give, not by what we get.
54. When someone lets you down, don't give up on him.
55. Remember that loving words quickly heal. 
56. Seek respect rather than popularity.
57. Don't let the odds keep you from pursuing what you were meant to do. 
58. Be willing to accept a temporary inconvenience for a permanent improvement.
59. Protect your enthusiasm from the negativity of others.
60. To help your children turn out well, spend twice as much time and half the money.
61. When you hear a kind word spoken about a friend, tell him/her so.
62. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
63. Follow the three Rs: Respect for self, Respect for others, Responsibility for all your actions.
64. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
65. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
66. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
67. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
68. Spend some time alone every day.
69. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
70. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
71. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.
72. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
73. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.
74. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
75. Be gentle with the earth.
76. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
77. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
78. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it. 
79. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.
80. Genuine friendship is not measured by time but is measured by acceptance. A friend is one where even though you reflect the silver, he/she sees the GOLD. 
81. The human heart feels things the eyes cannot see, and knows what the mind cannot understand. 
82. When you feel down because you didn't get what you want, just sit tight and be happy because God is thinking of something better to give you.
83. When something happens to you, good or bad, consider what it means.
84. There's a purpose to life's events, to teach you how to laugh more or not to cry too hard.
85. You can't make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved, the rest is up to the person to realize your worth.
86. What the heart gives away is never gone...it is kept in the hearts of other. 
87. The measure of love is when you love without measure. In life, there are very rare chances that you'll meet the person you love and loves you in return. So once you have it, don't ever let go...the chance might never come your way again.
88. It's better to lose your pride to the one you love, than to lose the one you love because of pride. We spend so much time looking for the right person to love or finding fault with those we already love, when instead we should be perfecting the love we give.
89. When you truly care for someone, you don't look for faults, you don't look for answers, you don't look for mistakes. Instead, you fight the mistakes, accept the faults and overlook excuses.
90. You never lose in loving. You only lose in holding back. 
91. It's so funny how we set qualifications for the right person to love, while at the back of our minds, we know that the person we truly love will always be an exception.
92. The greatest challenge in our life is to find someone who knows our flaws and differences and yet still willingly embraces you with so much love.
93. It hurts to love someone and not be loved in return, but more painful is to love and never finding the courage to let the person know how you feel. 
94. Maybe God wants us to meet a few wrong people before meeting the right one so when we finally meet the right person, we know how to be grateful for that gift. 
95. Love is taking away the feeling, passion, and romance and finding out you still care about that person.
96. The people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.
97. Happiness lies for those who cry, those who have searched and tried, for only they can appreciate the importance of people who have touched their lives.
98. When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you were smiling; live your life so that when you die, you're smiling and everyone around you is crying.
99. When one door of happiness closes, another one opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one that's been open all along.
100. The best kind of friend is the one you could sit with, never saying a word then walking away feeling like it's the best conversation you ever had. 
101. It's true that we don't know what we have until we lose it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives. 
102. Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they'll love you back. Don't expect love in return, just wait for it to grow in their hearts and if it doesn't simply be content it grew in yours. 
103. Love comes to those who still hope even though they've been disappointed, to those who still believe even though they've been betrayed, to those who still love even if they've been hurt before.
104. Don't go for looks, it can deceive. Don't go for wealth, even that fades away. Go for someone who can make you smile because only a smile makes a dark day seem bright.
105. Always put yourself in others' shoes; if you feel it hurts you, it probably hurts the other person, too.
106. The beginning of love is to let those we love be themselves and not twist them into someone else-otherwise, we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.
107. The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything, they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.
108. Always leave loved ones with loving words; it make be the last time you see them.
109. Either you control your attitude or it controls you.
110. Regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.
111. A best friend is someone you can do anything or nothing and have the best time.
112. True friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.
113. Just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have.
114. Maturity has more to do with types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.
115. No matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you once in awhile and you must forgive them for that.
116. No matter how bad your heart is broken, the world doesn't stop for your grief.
117. Our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.
118. Just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other and just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.
119. Don't be so eager to find out a secret; it could change your life forever.
120. Two people can look at the same thing and see something totally different.
121. Your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.
122. Credentials on a wall do not make anyone a decent human being.
123. Don't cry over anyone who won't cry over you.
124. If love isn't a game, why are there so many players?
125. Nobody is perfect until you fall in love with them.
126. Everything is okay in the end. If it's not okay, then it's not the end.
127. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
128. Keep learning. Never let the brain idle. "An idle mind is the devil's workshop." The devil's name is Depression.
129. EnJOY the simple things.
130. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life is ourselves. Be alive while you are alive.
131. Surround yourself with what you love.
132. Laugh often, long and loud.
133. Cherish your health. If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
134. Don't take guilt trips. Go to the mall, the next country, a foreign country, but not to guilt country.
135. Tell the people you love, that you love them, at every opportunity.
136. Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.
137. It takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them.
138. Be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
139. Talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.
140. Make all your friends feel there is something special in them.
141. Look at the sunny side of everything.
142. Think only of the best, work only for the best, and expect only the best.
143. Be as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
144. Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to greater achievements of the future.
145. Give everyone a smile.
146. Spend so much time improving yourself that you have no time left to criticize others.
147. Be too big for worry and too noble for anger.
148. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
149. Marry someone you love to talk to. As you age, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
150. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have, or sleep all you want.
151. When you say, "I love you," mean it.
152. When you say, "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.
153. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
154. Believe in love at first sight.
155. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.
156. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.
157. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.
158. Don't judge people by their relatives.
159. Talk slowly but think quickly.
160. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"
161. A true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart.
162. The only reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just like you.
163. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you. 
164. Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble.
165. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it.
166. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.
167. The JOY you bring to others is the JOY that comes back to you.

Which ones are your favorite?