Accentuate the Positive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z45EB4TiYz4

Bing Crosby

AC-CENT-TCHU-ATE THE POSITIVE (Mister In-Between)
(Johnny Mercer / Harold Arlen)

You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between

You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene

(To illustrate his last remark
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they do
Just when everything looked so dark)

Man, they said we better
Accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
No, do not mess with Mister In-Between
Do you hear me, hmm?

(Oh, listen to me children and-a you will hear
About the elininatin' of the negative
And the accent on the positive)
And gather 'round me children if you're willin'
And sit tight while I start reviewin'
The attitude of doin' right

(You've gotta accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between)

You've got to spread joy (up to the maximum)
Bring gloom (down) down to the minimum
Otherwise (otherwise) pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene

To illustrate (well illustrate) my last remark (you got the floor)
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they say (what did they say)
Say when everything looked so dark

Man, they said we better
Accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
No! Don't mess with Mister In-Between

Sleep

O sleep,
O gentle sleep,
Nature's soft nurse, how have I frightened thee,
That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down
And steep my sense in forgetfulness?
- William Shakespeare

The Little Engine That Could

Quotes:

"We are what we believe we are."
- C. S. Lewis

"If you think you can win, you can win. Faith is necessary to victory."
- William Hazlitt, English Essayist (1778-1830)

"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right. "
- Henry Ford


Websites:

http://www.fff.org/freedom/1091c.asp

http://www.zimbio.com/Courage+Quotes/articles/2/YOu+Can+If+You+Think+You+Can

http://searchwarp.com/swa146551.htm

http://www.isshin-ryu.com/newsletters/2005/news-mar2005.htm

http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?fd605807-0029-4ccd-83d0-fbd6e4af7754

http://melodylaila.com/thoughts/2008/01/03/inspiration-from-the-little-engine/


Poems:

You Can If You Think You Can!

If you think you are beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you like to win, but you think you can't,
It is almost certain you won't.

If you think you'll lose, you're lost,
For out in the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow's will.
It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are,
You've got to think high to rise,
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.

Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man.
But soon or late the man who wins,
Is the man who thinks he can.

~ C. W. Longenecker ~

Beware Of Your Gunless Friend!

The dangerous people are not the ones
Who hit you with clubs and rob you with guns!
The thief won't attack your character traits
Or belittle your abilities to your face!
It likely will be a well-meaning friend
Who merely crushes your will to win.

No, he doesn't rob you, at point of gun,
He simply says, "It can't be done."
When pointed to thousands who already are
He smiles and says, "They're superior!"
Personality-wise, and abilities, too,
They're way ahead of what others can do!"

It matters not that his words are untrue
For, you feel "others" must know you!
So, you're robbed of your hopes, your dreams to succeed.
Robbed of the material blessing received,
Robbed of your faith that says, "I can."
And robbed by an ignorant, gunless friend.

So, the deadliest of men is not he with a gun,
But the one who tells you "It can't be done!"
For that taken by burglars can be gotten again.
But, what can replace your will to win?

~ Author Unknown ~

If you Think You Can, You Can!

You can be a total winner even if you're a beginner,
If you think you can, you can,
If you think you can, you can,
You can wear the gold medallion,
You can ride your own black stallion,
If you think you can, you can,
If you think you can, you can,

It's not your talent or the gift at birth,
It's not your bank book that determines worth,
And it isn't in the color of your skin,
It's your attitude that lets you win,
You can upset Connors or Austin,
Or win the marathon at Boston,
If you think you can, you can,
If you think you can, you can,

You can profit through inflation,
You can redirect this nation,
If you think you can, you can,
If you think you can, you can,

It doesn't matter if you've won before,
It makes no difference what's the half time score,
It's never over until the final gun,
So keep on trying and you'll find you've won,
You grab your dream and then believe it,
Go out and work and you'll achieve it,
If you think you can, you can,
If you think you can, you can!

~ Denis Waitley ~

Sources -
http://www.cybernation.com/victory/youcandoit/youcan.php

http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/2800.html

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/henryford122817.html

The things that don't quite kill us...

That which does not kill us makes us stronger.
Friedrich Nietzsche

This quote may be used quite often, but it holds a great truth at its heart. Adversity and hard times can lead us to defeat and death or to strength and toughness. We can survive far more than we give ourselves credit for most of the time. We can be as tender and as elegant as a blooming rose no matter how tough the environment that surrounds us.

Another source of inspiration (I love this poem!):

Rudyard Kipling
If

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!