Sue B's Wisdom Page

Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

In an earlier stage of our development most human groups held to a tribal ethic. Members of the tribe were protected, but people of other tribes could be robbed or killed as one pleased. Gradually the circle of protection expanded, but as recently as 150 years ago we did not include blacks. So African human beings could be captured, shipped to America, and sold. In Australia white settlers regarded Aborigines as a pest and hunted them down, much as kangaroos are hunted down today. Just as we have progressed beyond the blatantly racist ethic of the era of slavery and colonialism, so we must now progress beyond the speciesist ethic of the era of factory farming, of the use of animals as mere research tools, of whaling, seal hunting, kangaroo slaughter, and the destruction of wilderness. We must take the final step in expanding the circle of ethics.

It isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes, you have to learn to forgive yourself.

Fundamentally, what everyone needs is mental strength and confidence, to manage the mind, just as we manage the outside world.

Every morning is like a new reincarnation into this world. Let us take it then for what it is and live each moment anew.

Researchers studied 34 students at the University of Virginia, taking them to the base of a steep hill and fitting them with a weighted backpack. They were then asked to estimate the steepness of the hill. Some participants stood next to friends during the exercise, while others were alone. The students who stood with friends gave lower estimates of the steepness of the hill. And the longer the friends had known each other, the less steep the hill appeared.

Change the story and you change perception; change perception and you change the world.

The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are.

At first dreams seem impossible, then improbable, then inevitable.

I've learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances.