Wilferd Peterson Quotes

The art of love is God at work through you.

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

As artist Nature splashes color across the vast canvas of the sky with
the radiance and splendor of sunrise and sunset.
She arches rainbows against the passing storm, creates flowers and foliage,
sets autumn woods on fire with the beauty of turning leaves
and touches mountaintops with snow crystals.

The leader sees things through the eyes of his followers. He puts himself in their shoes and helps them make their dreams come true. The leader does not say, "Get going!" Instead he says, "Let's go!" and leads the way. He does not walk behind with a whip; he is out in front with a banner.

By the grace of God you are what you are; glory in your selfhood, accept yourself and go on from there.

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

Success is not arriving at the summit of a mountain as a final destination. It is a continuing upward spiral of progress. It is perpetual growth.

Imagination guides you in your contacts with individuals and crowds, so you can discover new concepts and approaches.

You visualize yourself as the person you want to be. You strive to make the ideal in your mind become a reality on the canvas of Time.

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.

Love, in the words of the Master, is the shining commandment: LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

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

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.

The reason progress is slow is that we always expect other men to be the heroes and to live the heroic lives. But we all have hero stuff in us. In our sphere of life we can always live more heroically and triumphantly and grow in heroic stature.

The art of humility begins with a recognition of our dependence on others and an appreciation of God's gift of life.

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

Explore your mind, discover yourself, then give the best that is in you to your age and to your world. There are heroic possibilities waiting to be discovered in every person

In gratitude for God's gift of life to us we should share that gift with others. The art of giving encompasses many areas. It is an outgoing, overflowing way of life.

We can make these three dynamic words - "reverence for life" - a part of our lives by becoming aware that God is the source of all life and that we are one with life. "The good person," said Schweitzer, "is the friend of all living things."

Prayer does not change God, it changes us. It deepens insight, increases intuitive perception, expands consciousness. It transforms personality.

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.

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.

In cathedral or cottage, the art of worship is an inner adventure; it is the personal practice of the presence of God.

Believing is a daring adventure into the unseen, it is a radiant faith in the unexplored, the undiscovered, the miracles of the future ... There is magic in the art of believing! Believe! Engrave these words of the Master in your memory: "All things are possible to those who believe." Believe! Believe in the limitless supply of God's goodness. The universe is filled with more wonders than you can imagine.

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.

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

When we become more fully aware that our success is due in large measure to the loyalty, helpfulness, and encouragement we have received from others, our desire grows to pass on similar gifts. Gratitude spurs us on to prove ourselves worthy of what others have done for us. The spirit of gratitude is a powerful energizer.

Be gentle with yourself, learn to love yourself, to forgive yourself, for only as we have the right attitude toward ourselves can we have the right attitude toward others.

The secret of being more vitally alive is to be more aware. Starting today, from this moment, become aware of awareness!

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

You open doors when you open books ... doors that swing wide to unlimited horizons of knowledge, wisdom, and inspiration that will enlarge the dimensions of your life.

"The word which God has written on the brow of every person," wrote Victor Hugo, "is Hope." As long as we have hope no situation is hopeless.

Sooner or later, a man if he is wise, discovers that life is a mixture of good days and bad, victory and defeat, give and take.

Friendship, awareness, happiness, all of the arts of the good life, are brilliant beads strung on the golden cord of love.

Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, the planners, the doers, the successful people with their heads in the clouds and their feet on the ground. Let their spirit ignite a fire within you to leave this world better than when you found it ...

Success is focusing the full power of all you are on what you have a burning desire to achieve.

To have an open self is to provide a free channel for the infinite goodness of God. To have an open self is to keep yourself aware, alert and sensitive to the beauty and wonder of life. God's love will flow through you into the world when you are open. You enlarge the dimensions of your life when you keep yourself open to the highest and best. The key to God's infinite riches is within you; open yourself and you will receive.

Happiness doesn't come from doing what we like to do but from liking what we have to do.

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

A person is alive only to the degree that he or she is aware. To make the most of life we must constantly strive to be aware of the importance of being aware. Be aware of your senses and use them: So often we are distracted and unconscious of the riches our senses can pour into our lives. We eat food without tasting it, listen to music without hearing it, smell without experiencing the pungency of odors and the delicacy of perfumes, touch without feeling the grain or texture, and see without appreciating the beauty around us.

He knows that as long as a man keeps his faith in God and in himself nothing can permanently defeat him.

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.

When one has reverence for life, one will never do anything to harm, hinder, or destroy life. Instead one bends every effort to help life to fulfill its highest destiny. One strives to maintain, enhance, and assist life to make the most of itself.

Christmas is not in tinsel and lights and outward show. The secret lies in an inner glow. It's lighting a fire inside the heart. Good will and joy a vital part. It's higher thought and a greater plan. It's glorious dream in the soul of man.

Read! Read something every day. Discipline yourself to a regular schedule of reading. In fifteen minutes a day you can read twenty books a year.

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.

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

The art of thinking is the greatest art of all, for 'as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.' The thinker knows he is today where his thoughts have taken him and that he is building his future by the quality of the thoughts he thinks.

Our challenge is to face up heroically to the world as it is and do our very best to make the most of our lives. To strive to live each day with serenity and courage.

Champion the right to be yourself; dare to be different and to set your own pattern, live your own life, and follow your own star.

Good will is a power that can be used every day of the year and every hour of the day. It is instantly available. By continuously practicing good will we cultivate a deep subconscious habit of good will. It becomes a pattern of our response in all situations. Good will works as silently as the sun and with as much power. It thaws the ice and snow of resistance and indifference. It warms and wins human hearts. It draws forth the best in others as flowers are drawn from the soil. It stimulates growth.

See it big, and keep it simple.

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.

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

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'.

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

Imagination stimulates your thinking power by giving your mind abundant data with which to work. It opens the gate to dreams and fantasies so that you may become receptive, as a little child, in exploring the Kingdom of Ideas.

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 yourself! There is power in you - the power to change yourself and to change the world; the power to create plans, projects, movements for the common good; the power to inspire and serve.

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.

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.

Love is down to earth and it reaches to the highest star; it is the valey of humility and the mopuntaintop of ecstasy.