A Quote I like...

Caught this quote whilst reading a tribute to a late Agility dog:
"To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."
It's by Ralph Waldo Emerson - an American (and a surprising one at that). I guess I liked it because it sums up simply what I feel everyone in their lives should strive to achieve, it is not a life wasted if you have done any of those things above. Call it cliche if you want, or the typical commercialised sap of the comfortable idealistic westerner but there comes a point in everyone's life where they ask of themselves 'Why am I here?'. If you cannot answer that question in any meaningful way (ie. 'I'm here to be a mindless drone who pays government taxes' is *not* a meaningful answer) then I think that's when people start to get depressed, to engage in self destructive behaviours and to no longer be healthy in both mind and body. To see that question answered so simply and beautifully is quite frankly enlightening and inspiring. Sometimes inspiration doesn't have to be the earth moving type.