A–Z My All-Time Favorites: Fables, Parables, Quotations, Motivational and Human Interest Stories

By Leonard LaPlaca

This book is full of wonderful insights and brilliant wisdom that impacts the heart. As a savvy teacher and an expert in leading people to right thinking, Leonard brings a wealth of feel-good, even life-changing, messages.

With this book, you will be able to start your day with the right attitude!

As an internationally recognized success expert, I can say that Leonard has done a great job in collecting and assembling this collection of treasures. Read it now!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 21, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524538484

Leonard LaPlaca

About the Author Leonard LaPlaca is an award-winning personal success coach who brings excitement and motivation to life and learning. The author speaks to civic and business groups and educational associations and also designs unique courses to motivate students with negative self-image, inadequate study skills, and low incentive. He has achieved great success in his efforts. Mr. LaPlaca received many awards and recognitions for his outstanding and innovative approaches to learning such as the following: —Recipient of the Tribune-Democrat’s 1974 Good Teaching Award —Recipient of the 1991 Capital Award Medallion —Nominated for a Community Star Award for Outstanding Citizens —Included in the 1992 Edition of Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers —Inducted into the Windber Hall of Fame in 1995 The author received an EdM degree in English education from the University of Pittsburgh and a BS in education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He taught English in junior high school. His students remember him for integrating innovative life skills into the classroom. The award-winning teacher applies life skills in teaching his students. He motivates their learning by interjecting parables, famous quotations, and philosophies of various motivational writers and speakers. A student wrote, “You were the best teacher I ever had. I think about you often and your excellent teaching style. I still remember some of the quotations that you mentioned. ‘I had the blues because I had no shoes, until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet,’ and so on.” Leonard opens his life and shares his own experiences in overcoming negative thoughts and actions. You will be challenged by his story as well as those of others who overcame great obstacles to find happiness and success.

Book preview

Copyright © 2016 by Leonard LaPlaca.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2016914121

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-5245-3850-7

      Softcover      978-1-5245-3849-1

      eBook         978-1-5245-3848-4

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 11/18/2016

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

738395

Or

Leonard LaPlaca

1-814-467-6105

CONTENTS

Foreword

Acknowledgments

A. Prologue

B. Your Basic Responsibilities

C. What Will Determine What You Get?

D. Motivation

E. Kpowf (Keep Plugging On With Faith)

F. Cause And Cure Of The Inferiority Complex

G. Not Positive Thinking

H. Mistakes

I. Potential

J. Power Of Serotonin

K. Power Of Synergy

L. Zen Buddhist Parable

M. Magic Muscle

N. Truly Inspirational

O. Successfully Moving Out Of. Your Comfort Zone

P. Little-Recognized Secret Of Success

Q. Where Will You Find The Secret?

R. Thio

S. What Are You Carrying And Why?

T. Noah S. Martin

U. Si, Wu, And Bo

V. The Penetrating Question

W. Suspend Judgment

X. A Godly Spider

Y. The Key—Your Response

Z. The Worst Loss

Notes

Over One Hundred Stimulating Quotations

This book is dedicated to my brother-in-law, Ray Wozny, who died while this book was being written. He understood the great secret as illustrated by Lao Tzu’s quotation:

What is a good man but a bad man’s teacher?

What is a bad man but a good man’s job?

If you don’t understand this, you will get lost,

however intelligent you are.

It is the great secret.

Because he lived the great secret (we are all in this together!), he treated everyone kindly. Even though he was married for nearly forty-nine years to my sister, we never heard him say one negative comment about her. What ruins any moment is negativity.

My sister chose the following poem for his prayer card.

In Loving Memory of

Raymond J. Wozny

January 13, 1944

February 12, 2015

I SAID, GOD, LIFE IS SO HARD.

AND GOD SAID,

"THAT’S WHY I GAVE YOU LOVED

ONES."

I SAID, GOD MY LOVE ONE DIED,

AND GOD SAID, SO DID MINE.

I SAID, GOD, IT’S SUCH A LOSS.

AND GOD SAID,

I SAW MINE NAILED TO A CROSS.

I SAID, "GOD, YOUR LOVED ONE

LIVES."

AND GOD SAID, SO DOES YOURS,

I SAID, "GOD, WHERE ARE THEY

NOW?"

AND GOD SAID,

"MINE IS ON THE RIGHT

AND YOURS IS IN THE LIGHT."

I SAID, GOD IT HURTS

AND GOD SAID, I KNOW.

FOREWORD

This is a very unique book. I like it because it is chock-full of the kind of stories, quotes and parables that lift and inspire! Leonard LaPlaca has provided a fabulous resource that can make you feel good, think positive…. and smile. It is fun and easy to read it and will be a treasure in your library.

This book is full of wonderful insights and brilliant wisdom that impact the heart. As a savvy teacher and an expert in leading people to right thinking, Leonard brings a wealth of feel good…. even life changing….. messages.

With this book you will be able to start your day with the right attitude!

As an internationally recognized success expert I can say that Leonard has done a great job in collecting and assembling this collection of treasures. Read it NOW!

Jack M. Zufelt

Mentor To Millions

Author of the # 1 best-selling book,

The DNA of Success,

International Keynote Speaker and Trainer

www.dnaofsuccess.com

www.jackzufeltspeaks.com

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank JoAnn, my wife, who has been a positive stabilizing influence on our family, and I am grateful for the tremendous sacrifices that our parents have made on our behalf. (As Robin Sharma stated, Adore your parents. You’ll miss them when they’re gone.)

Also, I would like to thank Jackie, our daughter, for making us proud by doing everything with the utmost pride possible (PRIDE stands for personal responsibility in daily effort).

In addition, our grandchildren, Easton and Roman, daily enhance our lives with their enthusiastic outlook. (Enthusiasm truly is the little-recognized secret of success.)

Next, Russert, our loyal and beloved dog, truly is one of our master teachers in disguise, teaching us the power of unconditional love.

Finally, thank you to my family (especially Ray and Jo) and friends (especially Becky, Dwight, Joe, Jim, Jeff, Nick, and Eric) for being an effective support network system and teaching me that real life is all about relationships (treasures, not trinkets).

Special thanks to Mary Jervis of Xlibris for constantly going the extra mile (a professional yet amicable) to assist in the production of this book.

In a class by herself, I would again like to thank Jackie, my daughter, for guiding, leading, and directing me in the publication of this book.

Being a reverse paranoid, I am grateful that the universe is operating on my behalf.

The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.

—Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

A

Prologue

Since 1963, I have been fascinated, utterly fascinated, with collecting these ideas—fables, parables, quotations, and motivational and human interest stories—in order to add other dimensions not only to my teaching but also to other aspects of my life.

The fascinating stories in this book contain pertinent lessons about real living, which I wish I had learned in school. Each story not only stands by itself but also contains at least one important moral lesson, which, if implemented, could change your life now.

Even though each story stands alone, the following common denominators are weaved throughout the stories. These factors made our country great and can also make you a true success, as a real person in today’s world:

1. Passion—some great neurologists have proven that when you do anything with enthusiasm, it produces only one-tenth the exhaustion of ordinary effort (How to Get Things Done by David Seabury and Alfred Uhler).

2. The ability to persist (yet remain patient)—such a trait as patient persistence.

3. The work ethic—You have got to pay before you can play. Enjoy making sacrifices because they will lead to your overall preparation and development.

4. The ability to handle criticism.

5. The power of synergy—the ability to cooperate.

6. Using failure as a stepping stone to success.

7. Responsibility factor.

The enclosed fables, parables, quotations, and motivational and human interest stories are the nuggets of gold from the wealth of information that I have amassed since 1963. This truly has been a labor of love, and hopefully, I can continue until my dying day. Why? "School is never out for the pro!"

What should you be aware of about me?

1. I don’t have it all together.

2. I shall never have it all together.

3. I am struggling like everyone else.

4. I have made mistakes.

5. Presently, I am making mistakes.

6. I shall continue to make mistakes.

7. None of these ideas are mine.

8. None of these ideas are unique.

9. If you feel anything foolish or ludicrous is said, it is I.

10. If you think anything prudent is mentioned, it is simply God channeling his wisdom through me. Let us give credit where credit is due!

11. Also, when it comes to my faith, I am strictly in the kindergarten stage.

12. Finally, if I have any gift at all, it is simply to break concepts down into manageable bite-size chunks so you can taste success—whatever that means to you since success is as personal as your own toothbrush. You can begin to taste success by immediately implementing the ideas that click with you.

With unfailing kindness, your life always presents what you need to learn. Whether you stay home or work in an office or whatever, the next teacher is going to pop right up.

—Charlotte Joko Beck

B

Your Basic Responsibilities

As you ponder the information, your responsibilities are fourfold:

1. Being receptive

2. Being actively involved in the reading

3. Using the ideas that clicked with you

4. Sharing the ideas

If you are receptive as you are reading, you will be listening, asking, watching, and thinking—the four key components of the learning cycle. Actively listen to what the author is saying since listening is one of the primary purposes of life, but you do not have to believe. Listen not only to the writer but also to yourself, the world, and to the higher force. Listen with your mind, heart, and soul. Listening properly is an active thought-provoking process. If you listen actively, you will be exercising your brain muscle. Listening properly will pay you massive dividends, both now and in your future years. God gave us two ears and one mouth. Was he trying to tell us something?

A second element of the learning cycle is asking questions. Skim each chapter before you read it. Then ask yourself penetrating questions that you hope will be answered in that chapter. In order to read effectively, you must