Inspirational Living: Life Lessons For Success & Happiness

Listen to episode 425 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Inspirational Life Lessons | Dr. Frank Crane. Adapted from “If I Were Twenty-One” by Dr. Frank Crane. Motivational Podcast Excerpt: Learn the art of conversation, of small talk. Equip yourself to be able to entertain the grouchiest, most blasé people. For there is hardly a business in the world in which it is not a great advantage to be able to converse entertainingly. The secret of being a good conversationalist is a genuine, unselfish interest in others. That and practice. It consists more in making the other person talk, than in talking yourself. In addition, do not argue. I never knew one person in my life that was convinced by argument. Discuss, yes; but not argue. The difference is this: in discussion you are searching for the truth, and in argument you want to prove that you are right. In discussion, therefore, you are anxious to know your neighbor’s views, and you listen to them. In argument, you don’t care anything about the other person’s op

Listen to episode 410 of the Inspirational Living podcast: How to Live Right & Get the Most Out of Life. Edited and adapted from Right Living by Susan H. Wixon. Motivational Podcast Transcript: "Living will teach you how to live better than any preacher or book," says Goethe. But what is it to live? Is it simply to eat, drink, and be merry? Is it to learn a little, here and there; to laugh and play; to sleep, weep, toil, and battle from day to day, and from year to year for food and shelter? Is it to bend every energy to the acquirement of wealth, fame, or position? Is it to sacrifice all for the applause of the multitude? Life is more than that. It has larger uses. It contains greater and grander results. It holds loftier and nobler aspirations. Its measure is flaming with the fires of truth, glowing with the gold of understanding. Life, rightly lived is an inspiration, an incentive to high effort, a means of true and sure happiness. The one who is worthy of the praise and gratitude of millions,

Listen to episode 393 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Beauty, Truth & The Upanishads. Edited and adapted from The Realisation of Life by Rabindranath Tagore. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Every day our science is penetrating into the region formerly marked on the map as unexplored or unexplorable. Our sense of beauty is similarly engaged in ever pushing on from its conquests. Truth is everywhere, therefore everything is the object of our knowledge. Beauty is omnipresent, therefore everything is capable of giving us joy. In the early days of human history, we took everything as a phenomenon of life. The science of life then began by creating a sharp distinction between life and non-life. But as science is proceeding further and further, the line of demarcation between the animate and inanimate is growing more and more vague. In the beginning of our understanding, the sharp lines of contrast were helpful to us, but as our comprehension becomes clearer they gradually fade away. The Upanishads have said

Listen to episode 380 of the Inspirational Living podcast: The Wisdom of Nikola Tesla | My Inventions. Edited and adapted from the writing of Nikola Tesla. Inspirational Podcast Transcript: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. A special thanks to our newest patrons Stanley Oahimin and Daniel McGehee. By becoming patrons, Stanley and Daniel now get access to 100 additional podcasts from our archive that are no longer available in our current public list — as well as full transcripts to every episode. To get that same access, become our patron today. You can do so for as little as $3 a month. Learn more at LivingHour.org/patron. Thank you. Today’s reading was edited and adapted from the writings of Nikola Tesla. “If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.” “The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and yet be quite insane.” “The day science begins to study non-physical phe

Listen to episode 268 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Literary Life Lessons from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Edited and adapted from The Maxims and Reflections of Goethe. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. I’d like to thank all of you who’ve taken the time to subscribe to our YouTube channel. I’m only about 45 people short of my goal of 1000 subscribers by the end of the month. So, if you would like to help me out and subscribe, please visit LivingHour.org/youtube. Or simply go to YouTube, search for the Inspirational Living podcast, and click the subscribe button. Thank you. Today’s reading was edited and adapted from The Maxims and Reflections of Goethe. Translated by T. Bailey Saunders, and published in 1906. THERE is nothing worth thinking but it has been thought before; we must only try to think it again. In the works of humankind, as in those of nature, it is really the motive which is chiefly worth our attention. How can you come to know yourself? Never by

Listen to episode 265 of the Inspirational Living podcast: A Brahmin Guide for Living a Noble Life. Edited and adapted from The Economy of Human Life, translated from an ancient Brahmin manuscript by Robert Dodsley. Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. With high school and university graduations upon us, you may be looking for the perfect graduation gift. Share a lifetime’s worth of wisdom by giving the new graduate our books of timeless inspirational life lessons—available now in both heirloom hardcover and e-book. Purchase your copies today by visiting our website InspirationalLifeLessons.com. Thank you. Today’s reading was edited and adapted from The Economy of Human Life, translated from an ancient Brahmin Manuscript by Robert Dodsley, published in 1839. COMMUNE with yourself and consider for what reason you were made. Contemplate your powers, your wants, and your connections — so that you shall discover the duties of life, and be directed in all your ways. Proceed not to speak o

Listen to episode 264 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Gautama Buddha | Inspirational Quotes. Edited and adapted from words and thoughts attributed to Gautama Buddha. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast, brought to you by the generous financial support of listeners like you. Gain access to our exclusive series on spiritual growth by becoming our patron today. Learn more about the series Our Sunday Talks by visiting LivingHour.org/Sunday. Thank you. Today’s reading has been edited and adapted from words and thoughts attributed to Gautama Buddha. “Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” “Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.” “Three things cannot hide for long: the Moon, the Sun and the Truth.” “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our though

Listen to episode 237 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Carl Jung on Life, God & Religion. Edited and adapted from the work of Carl Jung. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. Visit our lifestyle brand BookofZen.com to shop for inspirational fashion and gifts. Proceeds help support the production of our podcast. Today’s reading was edited and adapted from the work of Swiss psychologist Carl Jung. “The decisive question for humanity is: Are we related to something infinite or not? That is the telling question of our lives. Only if we know that the thing which truly matters is the infinite can we avoid fixing our interests upon futilities and upon all kinds of goals which are not of real importance. The more we lay stress on false possessions, and the less sensitivity we have for what is essential, the less satisfying is our life. We feel limited because we have limited aims, and the result is envy and jealousy. If we understand, and feel, that here in this life we a

Listen to episode 236 of the Inspirational Living podcast: How to Live a Good Life | Lubbock, Seneca, Epictetus. Edited and adapted from edited and adapted from The Use of Life by Sir John Lubbock. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. To gain access to the full transcripts of our more than 200 podcasts, please become our monthly patron for less than the price of your favorite Latte. Learn more at LivingHour.org/patron. Today’s reading was edited and adapted from The Use of Life by Sir John Lubbock, published in 1894. The most important thing to learn in life, is how to live. There is nothing people are so anxious to keep as life, and nothing they take so little pains to keep well. This is no simple matter. "Life is short. Art is long. Opportunity fleeting. Experiment uncertain, and Judgment difficult,'' says Hippocrates. Happiness and success in life do not depend on our circumstances, but on ourselves. More people have ruined themselves than have ever been

Listen to episode 214 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Wake up & Live | Mindfulness Exercises. Edited and adapted from Wake Up & Live by Dorothea Brande. Motivational Podcast Excerpt: There are dozens of small ways by which we can make our minds both keener and more flexible – two qualities that are necessary for those who intend to live successfully. We all succumb too easily to the temptation to find a routine which allows us to get our day’s tasks done with a minimum of effort and conscious attention — a fact which might have no unfortunate effects at all if we used the time we save by our routines to a good purpose. But the cold truth is that we do nothing of the sort. We apply the habit of routines to our whole lives, growing mentally and spiritually more flaccid, more timorous, less experimental with every day we spend supported by the rigidity of habit. Habit takes care of most of our ordinary activities. We get through our work by using only that part of our intellect which has been train

Listen to episode 200 of the Inspirational Living podcast: How to Build Personal Magnetism | Magnetic Charisma. Adapted Stepping-Stones to Success by Horace D. Hitchcock. Self-Development Podcast Excerpt: Henry Ward Beecher once said: "There are persons so radiant, so genial, so kind, so pleasure bearing, that you instinctively feel in their presence that they do you good; whose coming into a room is like the bringing of a lamp there." That is personal magnetism. It is that quality of personality which attracts, causes admiration in others, and is a compelling force to success and good living. A person may be beautiful and brilliant mentally, but if they lack "personal magnetism" they are dull and uninteresting to those with whom they come in contact. Personal magnetism is the magic flame that lights up the inner soul. It is that wonderful charm which, when properly cultivated and used, is a priceless treasure. It is true that all things of influence can be made to produce good or evil. The

Listen to episode 199 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Sun Tzu: The Art of War | Leadership and Management. Adapted from the classic work by Sun Tzu.Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. If you value our podcast, don’t forget to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to us on YouTube. If you feel inspired to leave us a review at the iTunes store, that would be much appreciated too. Today’s reading is a collection of quotes from Sun Tzu’s classic The Art of War, which was written in China during the 5th century B.C.“If you know your opponent and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not your opponent, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither your opponent nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”“Supreme excellence consists of breaking your opponent’s resistance without fighting.” “There are not more than five musical notes, yet the combinations of these five give rise to

Listen to episode 197 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Arthur Schopenhauer: Quotes, Wisdom & Philosophy Talk. Adapted from A Multitude of Counsellors by J.N. Larned.Self-Help Podcast Excerpt: The most general survey shows us that the two foes of happiness are pain and boredom. We may go further, and say that in the degree in which we are fortunate enough to get away from the one, we approach the other. Life presents, in fact, a more or less violent oscillation between the two. Needy surroundings and poverty produce pain; while, if we are more than well off, we are bored. Nothing is so good a protection as inward wealth, the wealth of the mind, because the greater it grows the less room it leaves for boredom. . . .The conclusion we come to is that the individual whom nature has endowed with intellectual wealth is the happiest. Men and women of inner wealth want nothing from outside but the gift of undisturbed leisure, to develop and mature their intellectual faculties, that is, to enjoy their wealth. I

Listen to episode 192 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Sowing & Reaping. Edited and adapted from a book by the same name by Booker T. Washington.Motivational Podcast Excerpt: What I am about to tell you now is true of all the pursuits of life. We get out of every venture just what we put into it; no more, no less. To attain success we must put forth hard and honest labor. At the back of all success there is hard, persistent labor. There is no royal road — those who think there is always fail.No person ever reaped any success in life who did not sow wisely. As each person takes up the serious business of life, they must do something — they must labor and wait. In order to reap something, something must be done. Value for value is the real standard of life's exchange of benefits.Show me someone who is always grumbling, always finding fault with their condition, never satisfied with their opportunities, and I will show you a person who does not appreciate the opportunities in the environment in which

Listen to episode 189 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Native American Wisdom | The Girl & Boy Scouts of America. Adapted from Indian Scout Talks: A Guide for Boy Scouts & Camp Fire Girls by Charles Eastman.Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: To be in harmony with nature, one must be true in thought, free in action, and clean in body, mind, and spirit. This is the solid granite foundation of character.Have you ever wondered why most great men and women were born in humble homes and passed their early youth in the open country? There a child is accustomed to see the sun rise and set every day; there the rocks and trees are personal friends; the child’s geography is born with them, for they carry a map of the region in their head.In civilization, there are many deaf ears and blind eyes. Because the average child in the town has been deprived of close contact and intimacy with nature; what they have learned from books they soon forget, or are unable to apply. All learning is a dead language to the student

Listen to episode 185 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Life is an Adventure: Dare to Live It. Adapted from The Open Door by Hugh Black.Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: In faithless and bitter moods, people may sometimes say that there is nothing new under the sun, though we know as fact that there is nothing but the new. Dr. Johnson may say that a blade of grass is always a blade of grass whether in one country or another, but we know that there are no two blades of grass alike even in the same field.Life speaks to us with many voices, and not one of them without significance. It speaks to us in the world without and in the world within, by the infinitely little and the infinitely great. The human comedy appeals to laughter and tears, pity and pride; and above all it calls to us to be more than mere spectators. We too are in the play, and must make our part in it as it goes along unrehearsed.By faith the human mind makes its journey through the world for knowledge, and by faith the soul makes its journey th

Listen to episode 182 of the Inspirational Living podcast: The Art of Becoming You | The Power to Be Oneself. Adapted from The Aim of Life by Philip Stafford Moxom.Motivational Podcast Excerpt: The thoughts that I wish to present to you now gather themselves naturally about two simple propositions: The first of these is: Every one ought consciously to have an aim in life. Whether we are conscious of it or not, everyone has a ruling tendency; but everyone should also have a controlling and persistent purpose in life.No one has a right to live aimlessly, for no one has a right to abandon reason and self-control, and consent to be a mere waif drifting like a plaything of the winds. We are endowed with powers that make us capable of good and often great achievement. We are gifted with reason and conscience and will, in order that we may both become and do that which is noble and beneficent.In the mythology of the Greeks, Phaethon aspired to drive the flaming chariot of the sun. The task was beyond his human power

Listen to episode 170 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Laugh and Live: Douglas Fairbanks' Healthy Lifestyle. Edited and adapted from the work of Douglas Fairbanks Sr.Self-Help Podcast Excerpt: We must also remember that out of energy and enthusiasm comes something else that must not be neglected ... in fact it must be cultivated and guarded from the very beginning . . . laughter. The mere possession of energy and enthusiasm makes us feel like laughing. We want to leap and jump and dance and sing. If we feel like doing so, don't let us be afraid to do it.Get out in the air and run like a child. Jump ditches, vault fences, swing the arms! Never fail to get next to nature when responsive to the call. Indeed, we may woo this call from within ourselves until it comes to be second nature.When we rise in the morning, let us be determined that we will start the day with a hearty laugh. Laugh because you are alive, laugh with everything. Let yourself go. That is the secret — the ability to let one's se

Listen to episode 168 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Ben Franklin’s Wisdom. Edited and adapted from Poor Richard’s Almanack, a yearly publication produced by Benjamin Franklin from 1732 to 1758.Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: If you could have Half your Wishes, you would double your Troubles.Anger is never without a Reason, but seldom with a good One.Tomorrow, every fault is to be amended; but that Tomorrow never comes.A Fool is one who cannot conceal their Wisdom.Think of three things: whence you came, where you are going, and to whom you must account.Pride dines on Vanity, sips on Contempt. The Proud hate Pride – in others, that is.Well done is better than well said.Necessity never made a good bargain.The Sun never repents of the good it does, nor does it ever demand compensation.Fear to do ill, and you need fear nothing else.Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.Search others for their virtues, thyself for thy vices.Glass, China, and a Reputation are easily cracked, and never

Listen to episode 167 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Positive Success Principles: Integrity, Laughter & Love. Edited and adapted from How Success is Won by Bernarr Macfadden.Motivational Podcast Excerpt: My message today is sent forth with the hope that it will enthuse you who are struggling at the bottom of the ladder of life, and that it may help you to understand that the greatest rewards are easily within reach of those who are willing to struggle on persistently, with a definite and unswerving aim continuously in view.In the strongest terms, I want to emphasize the importance of interest in your work. I maintain that without it success was never achieved by anyone. The one straight road to success is to learn to love your business. You can do best that which you love best. If you have started in a business which you cannot learn to love, then you should go into some other business. You will never succeed in our age of competition unless you can find real pleasure in your work.The mere making of