Ten Quotes on Love and Marriage

We celebrated my wife's birthday today with a sumptuous dinner which she herself painstakingly prepared for the whole family. I had wanted to treat them out instead but she prevailed in the end. Compromise: that's lesson no.1 to a long and happy marriage, LOL. Why don't we explore today the many faces of LOVE and MARRIAGE while I'm at it:

Love at first sight is easy to understand; it's when two people have been looking at each other for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle. -Amy Bloom

* * *

LOVE, n. A temporary insanity curable by marriage or by removal of the patient from the influences under which he incurred the disorder... It is sometimes fatal, but more frequently to the physician than to the patient. -Ambrose Bierce

* * *

MARRIAGE, n. The state or condition of a community consisting of a master, a mistress and two slaves, making in all, two. -Ambrose Bierce

* * *

In matrimony, to hesitate is sometimes to be saved. -Samuel Butler

* * *

Ah Mozart! He was happily married - but his wife wasn't. -Victor Borge

* * *

One survey found that ten percent of Americans thought Joan of Arc was Noah's wife.... -Robert Boynton

* * *

Husbands are awkward things to deal with; even keeping them in hot water will not make them tender. -Mary Buckley

* * *

Laugh and the world laughs with you. Snore and you sleep alone. -Anthony Burgess

* * *

The majority of husbands remind me of an orangutan trying to play the violin. -Honore de Balzac

* * *

All married couples should learn the art of battle as they should learn the art of making love. Good battle is objective and honest--never vicious or cruel. Good battle is healthy and constructive, and brings to a marriage the principle of equal partnership. -Ann Landers

(Photo credit: www.sxc.hu)

Ten Quotes on Failures

I'm feeling contemplative today. That's what a setback could do to me. I was hopeful about something positive to develop this week, but the news I received this morning was otherwise. I know that such experiences are meant to teach us a lesson. We just have to be perceptive. Let's wax philosophical about FAILURES through the wise words of other great men:

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. -Thomas Edison

* * *

Failure doesn't mean you are a failure... it just means you haven't succeeded yet. -Robert Schuller

* * *

Try again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett

* * *

Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat. -F. Scott Fitzgerald

* * *

There are defeats more triumphant than victories. -Michel de Montaigne

* * *

You always pass failure on your way to success. -Mickey Rooney

* * *

A failure is a man who has blundered but is not capable of cashing in on the experience. -Elbert Hubbard

* * *

My reputation grows with every failure. -George Bernard Shaw

* * *

The only real failure in life is the failure to try. -Sven Goran Eriksson

* * *

Success builds character, failure reveals it. -Dave Checkett

(Photo credit: www.stockxpert.com)

Ten Quotes on Birthdays

I wanted to blog about my birthday last Saturday but I hestitated. I have already restructured my main blog to just focus on finance topics. Ditto for my other blogs, which have their own niches. This looks like my only blog where I could talk about birthdays and (hopefully) get away with it, so here goes:

The best birthdays of all are those that haven't arrived yet. -Robert Orben

* * *

My birthday!--what a different sound
That word had in my youthful ears;
And how each time the day comes round,
Less and less white its mark appears.
-Thomas Moore

* * *

No wise man ever wished to be younger. -Jonathan Swift

* * *

Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what the hell happened. -Cora Harvey Armstrong

* * *

When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it happened or not. -Mark Twain

* * *

Men are like wine. Some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age. -C.E.M. Joad

* * *

Age is a high price to pay for maturity. -Tom Stoppard

* * *

Growing old is like being increasingly penalized for a crime you have not committed. -Anthony Powell

* * *

If we could be twice young and twice old we could correct all our mistakes. -Euripides

* * *

You take all of the experience and judgment of men over 50 out of the world and there wouldn't be enough left to run it. -Henry Ford

(Photo credit: www.sxc.hu)

Ten Quotes on Entrepreneurship

It's been nearly two weeks since my last post. As I have explained in my other blog, we recently launched, together with some former colleagues in investment banking, a new consultancy group that's now busy seeking mandates in what we believe to be an underserved niche in the Philippine market. Of course, nothing is ever certain in this world except death and taxes. Who knows, in the end, we could be proven wrong about our analysis and perception. But until then, we are hopeful and bullish about our prospects as a new business group. This is the wider context for my choice of subject for today's post.

The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It's as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer. -Nolan Bushnell (founder of Atari)

* * *

The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance. Remember, the greatest failure is to not try. Once you find something you love to do, be the best at doing it. -Debbi Fields (founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies)

* * *

When you reach an obstacle, turn it into an opportunity. You have the choice. You can overcome and be a winner, or you can allow it to overcome you and be a loser. The choice is yours and yours alone. Refuse to throw in the towel. Go that extra mile that failures refuse to travel. It is far better to be exhausted from success than to be rested from failure. -Mary Kay Ash (founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics)

* * *

Experience taught me a few things. One is to listen to your gut, no matter how good something sounds on paper. The second is that you're generally better off sticking with what you know. And the third is that sometimes your best investments are the ones you don't make. -Donald Trump (real estate and entertainment mogul)

* * *

I had to make my own living and my own opportunity! But I made it! Don't sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them! -Madam C.J. Walker (America's first black female millionaire)

* * *

An entrepreneur tends to bite off a little more than he can chew hoping he'll quickly learn how to chew it. -Roy Ash (co-founder of Litton Industries)

* * *

Entrepreneurs are risk takers, willing to roll the dice with their money or reputation on the line in support of an idea or enterprise. They willingly assume responsibility for the success or failure of a venture and are answerable for all its facets. -Victor Kiam

* * *

Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage. -Niccolo Machiavelli

* * *

I'm not sure I knew what an entrepreneur was when I was ten, but I knew that starting little businesses and trying to sell greeting cards or newspapers door-to-door or just vending machine kind of thing is.. there's just something very intriguing to me about that. -Steve Case

* * *

Too often, we try to fit in with the crowd. We play it safe. But innovation is about taking risks while being true to you. This takes confidence. And it takes the belief that your “style” is what the world needs and wants. Yes, taking this risk may help you stand out. More importantly, it may be the ticket to your success. -Stephen Shapiro

(Photo credit: www.flickr.com)