Life as a Leaf: Growing Integrity in Children

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Appendix A
Sample Focused Thought Quotations

• “Nature does not bestow virtue; to be good is an art.” — Seneca, Roman rhetorician (c. 54-c. 39)
• “Happiness is not the end of life: character is.” — Henry Ward Beecher, American preacher (1813-1887)
• “If we are to reach real peace in this world . . . we shall have to begin with the children.” — Mohandas Gandhi, Indian civil rights leader (1869-1948)
• “National events determine our ideals, as much as our ideals determine national events.” — Jane Addams, American author and social worker (1860-1935)
• “The best way to teach morality is to make it a habit with children.” — Aristotle, Greek philosopher (384-322)
• “We don’t accomplish anything in this world alone . . . and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one’s life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something.” — Sandra Day O’Connor, American Supreme Court justice (b. 1930)
• “Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” — Abraham Lincoln, 16th American president (1809-1865)
• “The point is not to pay back kindness but to pass it on.” — Julia Alvarez, American writer and poet (b. 1950)
• “If you will think about what you ought to do for other people, your character will take care of itself. Character is a by-product, and any man who devotes himself to its cultivation in his own case will become a selfish prig.” — Woodrow Wilson, 28th American president (1856-1924)
• “Thoughts lead on to purposes; purposes go forth in action; actions form habits; habits decide character; and character fixes our destiny.” — Unknown
• “When we are really honest with ourselves we must admit that our lives are all that really belong to us. So, it is how we use our lives that determine what kind of men we are. It is my deepest belief that only by giving our lives do we find life.” — Cesar Chavez, American labor leader (1927-1993)
• “The needs of society determine its ethics.” — Maya Angelou, American singer, actress, activist, and writer (b. 1928)
• “Goodness is the only investment that never fails.” — Henry David Thoreau, American essayist and nature writer (1817-1862)
• “America’s future will be determined by the home and the school. The child becomes largely what he is taught; hence we must watch what we teach, and how we live.” — Jane Addams, American author and social worker (1860-1935)
• “After hunger, a human’s most important need is to know what is virtuous.” — Jerome Kagan, Harvard psychology professor and author (b. 1929)
• “The first step in the evolution of ethics is a sense of solidarity with other human beings.” — Albert Schweitzer, German Nobel Peace Prize-winning mission doctor and theologian (1875-1965)
• “Those only are happy who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness; on the happiness of others, on the improvement of mankind, even on some art or pursuit, followed not as a means, but as itself an ideal end. Aiming thus at something else, they find happiness by the way.” — John Stuart Mill, 19th-century English philosopher and economist (1806-1873)
• “See to do good, and you will find that happiness will run after you.” — James Freeman Clarke, American preacher and author (1810-1888)
• “A nation, as a society, forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society.” — Thomas Jefferson, 3rd American president and founding father (1743-1826)
• “Our life is what our thoughts make it.” — Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor (121-180)
• “In looking for people to hire, look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence and energy. And if they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.” — Warren Buffet, American financier (b. 1930)
• “To educate a person in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.” — Theodore Roosevelt, 26th American president (1858-1919)
• “Like the body that is made up of different limbs and organs, all moral creatures must depend on each other to exist.” — Hindu proverb
• “In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.” — Thurgood Marshall, American Supreme Court justice (1908-1993)
• “Let no man be sorry he has done good because others have done evil. If a man has acted right he has done well, though alone. If wrong, the sanction of all mankind will not justify him.” — Henry Fielding, English novelist (1707-1754)
• “Economy, prudence, and a simple life are the sure masters of need, and will often accomplish that which, their opposites, with a fortune at hand, will fail to do.” — Clara Barton, American teacher, nurse, and humanitarian (1821-1912)
• “Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education; they grow there, firm as weeds among rocks.” — Charlotte Bronte, English novelist (1816-1855)
• “A weak mind is like a microscope, which magnifies trifling things but cannot receive great ones.” — G. K. Chesterton, English essayist and poet (1874-1936)
• “I tell students that the opportunities I had were a result of having a good educational background. Education is what allows you to stand out.” — Ellen Ochoa, American astronaut (b. 1958)
• “The foundation of morality is to have done, once and for all, with lying.” — Thomas Henry Huxley, English biologist and evolutionist (1825-1895)
• “Life consists in what a man is thinking of all day.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist and poet (1803-1882)
• “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” — Edmund Burke, English statesman and political philosopher (1729-1797)
• “Action indeed is the sole medium of expression for ethics.” — Jane Addams, American author and social worker (1860-1935)
• “Right actions for the future are the best apologies for wrong ones in the past.” — Tyron Edwards, American theologian(1809-1894)
• “We allow our ignorance to prevail upon us and make us think we can survive alone, alone in patches, alone in groups, alone in races, even alone in genders.” — Maya Angelou, American singer, actress, activist, and writer (b. 1928)
• “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” — Mother Teresa, Albanian nun and missionary of charity (1910-1997)
• “The family unit plays a critical role in our society and in the training of the generation to come.” — Sandra Day O’Connor, American Supreme Court justice (b. 1930)
• “Character is that which reveals moral purpose, exposing the class of things a man chooses and avoids.” — Aristotle, Greek philosopher (384-322)
• “When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends.” — Japanese proverb
• “The true measure of an individual is how he treats a person who can do him absolutely no good.” — Ann Landers (Esther Pauline Friedman), American newspaper advice columnist (1918-2002)
• “The highest result of education is tolerance.” — Helen Keller, American social activist, public speaker, and author (1880-1968)
• “But if you ask what is the good of education in general, the answer is easy: that education makes good men, and that good men act nobly.” — Plato, Greek philosopher (c. 428-c. 348)
• “Not out of right practice comes right thinking, but out of right thinking comes right practice. It matters enormously what you think. If you think falsely, you will act mistakenly; if you think basely, your conduct will suit your thinking.” — Annie Besant, British activist, writer, and orator (1847-1933)
• “To see what is right and not to do it is cowardice.” — Confucius (K’ung-Fu-tzu), Chinese philosopher (551-479)
• “Courage is the price life exacts for peace.” — Amelia Earhart, American aviator (1897-1937)
• “The mighty oak was once a little nut that stood its ground.” — Unknown
• “You cannot make yourself feel something you do not feel, but you can make yourself do right in spite of your feelings.” — Pearl S. Buck, American writer (1892-1973)
• “If you don’t have enemies, you don’t have character.” — Paul Newman, American actor (b. 1925)
• “Loyalty oaths increase the number of liars.” — Noel Peattie, poet (1932-2005)
• “What you don’t see with your eyes, don’t witness with your mouth.” — Jewish proverb
• “A free society is one where it is safe to be unpopular.” — Adlai Stevenson II, American politician and presidential candidate (1900-1965)
• “The proper man understands equity, the small man profits.” — Confucius (K’ung-Fu-tzu), Chinese sage (551-479 B.C.)
• “The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.” — Hannah Arendt, German political philosopher and author (1906-1975)
• “Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think.” — Benjamin Disraeli, British statesman and novelist (1804-1881)
• “I believe . . . that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another.” — Thomas Jefferson, 3rd American president and founding father (1743-1826)
• “Civilization is a method of living and an attitude of equal respect for all people.” — Jane Addams, American author and social worker (1860-1935)
• “The precepts of the law are these: to live honestly, to injure no one, and to give every man his due.” — Justinian I, Byzantine emperor (483-565)
• “The loftiest edifices need the deepest foundations.” — George Santayana, American philosopher and poet (1863-1952)
• “The true test of civilization is not the census, nor the size of cities, nor the crops - no, but the kind of man the country turns out.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, philosopher, and poet (1803-1882)
• “What you say tells other people what you are.” — Unknown
• “Provision for others is the fundamental responsibility of human life.” — Woodrow Wilson, 28th American president (1856-1924)
• “Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” — Malachy McCourt, Irish-American writer and actor (b. 1931)
• “The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - excellence. To know how to do something is to enjoy it.” — Pearl S. Buck, American writer (1892-1973)
• “The moral law commands us to make the highest possible good in a world the final object of all our conduct.” — Paul Ricoeur, French philosopher (1913-2005)
• “No man is more cheated than a selfish man.” — Henry Ward Beecher, American preacher (1813-1887)
• “When somebody lies, somebody loses.” — Stephanie Ericsson, American writer (b. 1953)
• “People pay for what they do, and still more, for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it simply: by the lives they lead.” — Edith Wharton, American novelist (1862-1937)
• “Men are not punished for their sins, but by them.” — Elbert Hubbard, American entrepreneur and philosopher (1856-1915)
• “The jealous are troublesome to others, but torment to themselves.” — William Penn, American colonial leader (1644-1718)
• “The words of the tongue should have three gatekeepers: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?” — Arabian proverb
• “Act so as to elicit the best in others and thereby in thyself.” — Felix Adler, American educator and reformer (1851-1933)”
• There can be no high civility without a deep morality.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist and poet (1803-1882)
• “Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. . . . They do not mean to do harm. . . . They are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves.” — T. S. Eliot, American-British poet (1888-1965)
• “We become just by the practice of just actions, self-controlled by exercising self-control, and courageous by performing acts of courage.” — Aristotle, Greek philosopher (384-322)
• “The Way of the Sage is to act but not to compete.” — Lao-Tzu, Chinese philosopher (fl. 6th century B.C.)
• “We pay a price when we deprive children of the exposure to the values, principles, and education they need to make them good citizens.” — American Sandra Day O’Connor, Supreme Court justice (b. 1930)
• “Don’t wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty and the pig likes it.” — Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), American humorist, author, and journalist (1835-1910)
• “I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people.” — Rosa Parks, American activist (1913-2005)
• “The intention makes the crime.” — Aristotle, Greek philosopher (384-322)
• “The aim of life is some way of living, as flexible and gentle as human nature; so that ambition may stoop to kindness, and philosophy to candor and humor. Neither prosperity nor empire nor heaven can be worth winning at the price of a virulent temper, bloody hands, an anguished spirit, and a vain hatred of the rest of the world.” — George Santayana, American philosopher and poet (1863-1952)
• “We are each other’s harvest; we are each other’s business; we are each other’s magnitude and bond.” — Gwendolyn Brooks, American poet (1917-2000)
• “Humility is the solid foundation of all the virtues.” — Confucius (K’ung-Fu-tzu), Chinese sage (551-479)
• “Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.” — Italian proverb
• “The farther a man knows himself to be free from perfection, the nearer he is to it.” — Gerard Groote, Dutch religious reformer (1340-1384)
• “Hatred is blind, anger is foolhardy, and he who pours out vengeance risks having to drink a bitter draft.” — Alexandre Dumas, French novelist and playwright (1802-1870)
• “Anger is never without a reason, but seldom a good one.” — Benjamin Franklin, American statesman and inventor (1706-1790)
• “I shall allow no man to belittle my soul by making me hate him.” — Booker T. Washington, American educator (1856-1915)
• “The truth is always exciting. Speak it, then. Life is dull without it.” — Pearl S. Buck, American writer (1892-1973)
• “Civilizations should be measured by the degree of diversity attained and the degree of unity retained.” — W. H. Auden, English poet (1907-1973)
• “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” — Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), American humorist, author, and journalist (1835-1910)
• “He who thinks he has no faults has one.” — Unknown
• “It is strangely absurd to suppose that a million of human beings, collected together, are not under the same moral laws which bind each of them separately.” — Thomas Jefferson, 3rd American president and founding father (1743-1826)
• “There are two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there.” — Indira Gandhi, Indian prime minister (1917-1984)
• “I long to accomplish some great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.” — Helen Keller, American social activist, public speaker, and author (1880-1968)
• “Any man’s life will be filled with constant and unexpected encouragement if he makes up his mind to do his level best each day.” — Booker T. Washington, American educator (1856-1915)
• “Whatever else may be shaken, there are some facts established beyond warring: virtue is better than vice, truth is better than falsehood, kindness than brutality.” — Quintin Hogg, English merchant and philanthropist (1845-1903)
• “If you have made mistakes, even serious ones, there is always another chance for you. What we call failure is not the falling down, but the staying down.” — Mary Pickford (Gladys Louise Smith), American actress (1893-1979)
• “This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in.” — Theodore Roosevelt, 26th American president (1858-1919)
• “Life appears to me to be too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrong.” — Charlotte Bronte, English novelist (1816-1855)
• “Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them - every day begin the task anew.” — St. Francis de Sales, bishop of Geneva (1567-1622)
• “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (1901-1978)
• “The quest for riches darkens the sense of right and wrong.” — Antiphanes, Greek dramatist (408-334)
• “Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.” — Hannah Arendt, German political philosopher and author (1906-1975)
• “There are many persons ready to do what is right because in their hearts they know it is right. But they hesitate, waiting for the other fellow to make the first move and he, in turn, is waiting for you.” — Marian Anderson, American singer (1902-1993)
• “Never esteem anything as of advantage to you that will make you break your word or lose your self-respect.” — Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor (121-180)
• “I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts.” — John Locke, English philosopher (1632-1704)
• “We have learned to say that the good must be extended to all of society before it can be held secure by any one person or class; but we have not yet learned to add to that statement, that unless all [people] and all classes contribute to a good, we cannot even be sure that it is worth having.” — Jane Addams, American author and social worker (1860-1935)
• “We are all dependent on one another, every soul of us on earth.” — George Bernard Shaw, Irish writer (1856-1950)
• “We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community . . . Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.” — Cesar Chavez, American labor leader (1927-1993)
• “Politics should be the part-time profession of every citizen who would protect the rights and privileges of free people and who would preserve what is good and fruitful in our national heritage.” — Lucille Ball, American actress and comedian (1911-1989)
• “The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.” — Thomas Carlyle, Scottish essayist (1795-1881)
• “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” — John Donne, English clergyman & poet (1572-1631)

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