Shine like a light, but don’t flash at people like lightning. Some people do odd things to get even. Bluntness is the art of saying nothing in a way that leaves nothing unsaid. The emptier the pot, the quicker it boils. Watch your temper. A hothead has never been able to set the world on…
Author: Alan Holden
Television
Television has made a wonderful change in American conversation—there’s less of it. Even if we don’t make TV an idol, too often it makes us idle. Some people dislike TV so much they spend many hours weekly watching it. TV is called a medium because it’s a rare show that’s well done. Television enables people…
Taxes
Tax reform is when you take the taxes off things that have been taxed in the past and put taxes on things that haven’t been taxed before. Golf is much like taxes—you drive hard to get to the green and then wind up in the hole. One way to pay less tax—earn less. The most…
Tact
Tact is the art of pretending you didn’t notice anything. Diplomacy, at one time, consisted of giving a hand without a handout. We are so desiring to be tactful that we are losing contact. Tact is the unsaid part of what you think. Tact is criticizing the mistake rather than the person who made it….
Sunday School
We either build better Sunday schools and churches, or else we build better prison cells. Three rules in teaching Sunday school: be sincere, be brief, be seated. Everyone who thinks there ought to be a Sunday school ought to attend Sunday school. The most expensive piece of furniture in Sunday school is an empty chair….
Success
Success always covers a multitude of blunders. Eighty percent of success is just showing up. It’s lonesome at the top, but you do eat better. People who say that something is impossible should not interrupt those who are managing to get it done. Success is buying a Mercedes out of petty cash. The only time…
Stubbornness
To walk in our own way is to run away from God. Some troubles come from wanting our own way; others come from being allowed to have it. Some people are so disagreeable that after falling into a river, they insist on swimming upstream. Some people are like the mule—awful backward about going forward. Sometimes…
Stability
Some people are like fences—they run around a lot without getting anywhere. Flowers that bend toward the sun do so even on cloudy days. The way to endure change is to find something that never changes. To be helped, one must be willing to be helped. Two of the greatest personality handicaps are regret and…
Special Days
The most important part about Christmas is the first six letters. Unless we see the cross overshadow the cradle, we will have lost the real meaning of Christ’s birth. At Christmas consider not so much the gift of a friend but the friendship of the giver. It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas…
Smiling
Smiles never go up in price nor down in value. A smile is mightier than a grin. People all over the world smile in the same language. You might as well laugh at yourself once in a while; everybody else does. If there is a smile in your heart, your face will show it. God…