“Quotations”: For Living a Selfless Life

By Steve Soto

Phrases quotes and sayings have influenced us for centuries. Our thoughts and actions are a result of what we have heard and our subsequent reactions to them. What we are taught and how we retain and exhibit that information results in how we perceive life and how we are perceived throughout life.

I have always appreciated a succinct, meaningful phrase that could positively be applied to specific areas of life or to life in general. Some phrases and quotes have stayed with me throughout my lifetime and have shaped my thoughts and actions as I tried to stay true to their meaning. Some phrases seem to be a given, such as All men are created equal, five words from Thomas Jefferson as he began the Declaration of Independence, which helped shape the beginning of a new nation. Another American president, John Kennedy, told us, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." Before we entered WWII, Franklin Roosevelt gave us We have nothing to fear but fear itself. Descartes, the famous French philosopher and mathematician told us, I think, therefore I am. Martin Luther Kings famous speech gave us the historic words I have a dream. These words were spoken years ago but remain just as vital today as they were then.

Socrates was a treasure trove of meaningful quotations such as, An unexamined life is not worth living, Know thyself, and my favorite quote from Socrates, He who is not content with what he has, would not be content with what he would like to have.

Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt said, Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people.

However inspirational and encouraging these and other quotes may be, I feel they fell on deaf ears. I have a great concern on the negative way people interact and treat one another on a daily basis. I am not referring to the major offenses such as murderers, assaults, and sexual predation. I think that everyday encounters one has with a complete stranger, and often a person one is friendly with, have deteriorated. Often you see and hear one person verbally abusing and degrading another in everyday conversation, and the derogatory comments are returned as if expected. This interaction is not only committed with strangers but is commonplace with friends as a normal manner of corresponding with one another. There is a lot of rude behavior and certainly no acceptance given to other persons choices in life. There is no respect or kindness. I see a culture of selfishness, self-indulgence, a self-sense of importance, and unjustified expectations. There is no mutual respect for one another, no ethics, and virtually no outward morality. This behavior is extended to strangers as well. People say this is the new norm. I think notmore like a disappointing societal regression. This is a misstep in our culture that must be addressed and corrected so we may fully continue on our moral evolutionary path.

I have assembled a few quotations of my own that are a result of my personal contemplation and experience. My writings are the personal inference of my own thoughts. Like all quotes, phrases, or songs, my words may have no effect on you, or they may cause you to think of what is said or even cause you to change an attitude or belief in a different positive direction.

Hopefully my thoughts and quotations will have a positive impact.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 27, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524501440

Steve Soto

Steve is a retired municipal government employee. He has a degree in Law and worked 30 years as a Redevelopment/Economic Development Manager for four different cities. After retirement, Steve coached high school baseball, he is an avid Los Angeles Dodgers fan. Steve has been married 32 years to his wife Yolanda and has three kids, Lesley, Randi and Steven. He also has four grand children, Samantha, Matthew Jake and Lauren. Steve is the author of three other published books, “Are You Ethical”, My Journey Through Life With Multiple Sclerosis” and “Quotations”. His newest book “Thoughts of Life, Yesterday Today and Tomorrow” is a conglomeration of past and present writings of poems, essays and quotations.

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