I used to love a quote from Henry David Thoreau. I still like it, but I have other more favorite quotes now. He once wrote, “I’d rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than share a velvet cushion.” I like it, but it’s also a reflection of a lonely person, so it cannot be my favorite anymore.

There is another quote that helped change my life. Written by a man named Bill Wilson, it follows. “We never thought of making honesty, tolerance, and love our daily basis for living.”

The first time I read this, I laughed out loud. I thought to myself–ah no, I never thought of that. Then I realized he was serious. Since then, I try to live by these words. I often fall short, but I try. The world would be a much better place if everyone lived by these words. I can start by applying them to my own little world in front of me.