Stay Positive


"In the midst of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer."

- Alert Camus








Friday, June 22, 2012

Former Drug Developer Discovers Next-Generation Biotech Stocks - ACHN, ACOR, AMRN, IDIX, MDVN - Foolish Blogging Network

 Management is the key ingredient

Raghuram "Ram" Selvaraju, an analyst I recently interviewed for The Life Sciences Report, began his initial career in translational drug discovery at Serono in 2000 with early and remarkable success.

As a young researcher he demonstrated real insight and ability when he discovered the first novel protein candidate ever developed entirely within the company.

Fast forward to March 2012, and we find Selvaraju in the middle of another singular event when he became the first analyst ever hired by Aegis Capital Corp. in the company's 26-year existence.

In between these extraordinary life experiences, Selvaraju managed for get himself ranked as a #1 "Best on the Street" analyst in the Wall Street Journal in 2006 when he was at Rodman & Renshaw.

Before talking about stocks I want to know his formula for success.

While he admits that his scientific background is important, it's just one piece of the puzzle.

How do you pick biotech companies?

"The most important thing about assessing development-stage companies in the biotech universe is the quality of management," he says.

Unlike quantitative comparables among companies developing similar therapies, management, "Is not something you can measure on a standard scale. It's a sliding scale at best," he says.

"What I look at in the context of management is track record.

If a team has been successful before you can bet on them doing it again." It works the other way around too. "If we see a management team that has failed multiple times before," he says. "We're not going to give it a lot of credence."

...........................................................................................


The first companies on Selvaraju's list are served up with care like pearls on satin.

He loves Amarin Corporation plc (NASDAQ: AMRN), Medivation Inc. (NASDAQ: MDVN) and Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: IRWD).

"The common thing that all three of these companies share is that they are all development-stage companies," he says.

"They do not currently have revenues, and they are all heavily dependent on the future of a single drug."

Amarin's AMR101
(icosapent ethyl), an ultra-pure fish oil for hypertriglyceridemia, has already been filed with the FDA.

The product has an extraordinary safety profile which is important for drugs competing with statins, which may elevate liver enzymes for which patients have to be monitored constantly.

Amarin's PDUFA (Prescription Drug User Fee Act) date for AMR101 is July 26th, and "I fully expect that we will see drug approval on that date," he says.
..................................................................


Medivation is in a similar situation with its Enzalutamide (formerly MDV3100) which was filed with the FDA on May 21.

The product is partnered with Japanese big pharma Astellas Pharma Inc. (OTCPK: ALPMF).

Enzalutamide has shown strong outcomes in hormone-refractory, chemotherapy-experienced prostate cancer patients, "Which is the hardest possible patient population in prostate cancer to treat," he says. "

And, most importantly, the drug showed virtually no side effects."
 

Selvaraju believes the whole package is nothing short of excellent. "I would expect that the drug could potentially be approved before the end of this year," he says.

....................................................

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals is developing linaclotide for chronic constipation and irritable bowel syndrome.

The product acts locally in the GI tract and is not absorbed systemically which contributes to its strong safety profile.

Competing products have cumbersome and uncomfortable side effects and tend not be effective.

Linaclotide produces symptomatic relief at an 18–30% rate on a placebo-adjusted basis, "Which turns out to be two to three times as effective as its closest competitor," says Selvaraju.
..........................................................

I ask about peak sales for these three products.

"In my view, I think Amarin, Ironwood and Medivation all have legitimate blockbuster opportunities with their drugs," he says.

"Amarin's drug AMR101 could be the biggest. I think sales could be somewhere in the $6–10 billion ($6–10B) range at peak."

Selvaraju throws out some familiar biotech names that have become popular with media, bloggers and day traders, but "These (Amarin, Ironwood and Medivation) are the real next-generation biotech companies in my opinion," he says.

"I feel that these three companies, which have been financed with far less capital (than other companies) and their drugs are in my opinion going to be much more widely used and much more popular."

Selvaraju also has a hepatitis C (HCV) theme.

"The HCV sector is very important in the world of the sellside analyst today," he says. "Some disease areas are always going to be hotter than others, and others come into and go out of fashion from year to year-- a bit like clothing lines from your favorite designers.

So, HCV is what I would classify as the flavor of the year," he says.

Salvaraju loves to analyze comparisons among companies in the same therapeutic space.

"Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACHN) has in my view been neglected somewhat," he says. "There has been some acquisition speculation over it but not anywhere near as much as I think there should be.

If you look at one comparable to Achillion, a company called Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: IDIX), you will see that it trades at roughly double the valuation of Achillion.

Yet, Idenix has only one clinical-stage asset that is truly meaningful in the HCV arena, whereas Achillion has four.

So, in my opinion, the discrepancy between Idenix and Achillion doesn't make a lot of sense," he says. "  I would strongly advise the investor to consider Achillion over Idenix."

.......................................................................................................................


He knows Acorda Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ACOR) quite well. 

The company is focused on multiple sclerosis (MS) which is where Selvaraju has been focused over his entire career on both Wall Street and when he was in industry. 

Going with his good management theme, "CEO Ron Cohen is a canonical example of the kind of CEO that I look for," he says. 

"He's extremely thoughtful and is very upfront with investors. I believe that Acorda in the long-term should be an excellent investment." Selvaraju says 

Acorda's Ampyra (dalfampridine) is a highly differentiated MS drug.

"It's orally bioavailable, and it is the only symptomatic therapy that specifically addresses walking impairment. 

Furthermore, it is the only drug approved for use in all types of MS, and there are several different kinds."





 


Source:
Former Drug Developer Discovers Next-Generation Biotech Stocks - ACHN, ACOR, AMRN, IDIX, MDVN - Foolish Blogging Network


By Mike Volkin - June 22, 2012 | Tickers: ACHN, ACOR, AMRN, IDIX, MDVN | 0 Comments

Mike is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinions of our bloggers and are not formally edited.

Former Drug Developer Discovers Next-Generation Biotech Stocks

By George S. Mack, The Life Sciences Report

Mindfulness Based Stress Relief

Multiple Sclerosis  symptoms are made worse by stress so it is good to always be on the lookout for stress relieving techniques.


Mindfulness | Vancouver Island Regional Library | BiblioCommons

Mindfulness

An Eight-week Plan for Finding Peace in A Frantic World
Williams, Mark (Book - 2011)
 



Mindfulness

"From one of the leading thinkers on Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, a pioneering set of simple practices to dissolve anxiety, stress, exhaustion, and unhappiness. Everyday life is so frantic and full of troubles that we have largely forgotten how to live a joyful existence. We try so hard to be happy that we often end up missing the most important parts of our lives. In Mindfulness, Oxford professor Mark Williams and award-winning journalist Danny Penman reveal the secrets to living a happier and less anxious, stressful, and exhausting life. Based on the techniques of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, the unique program developed by Williams and his colleagues, the book offers simple and straightforward forms of mindfulness meditation that can be done by anyone--and it can take just 10 to 20 minutes a day for the full benefits to be revealed"--Provided by publisher.





Henry David Thoreau



"Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each."
"Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something."
"If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. Men will believe what they see."
"What people say you cannot do, you try and find that you can."
"Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for love of it."
"There is no remedy for love but to love more."
Journal, July 25, 1839
"He enjoys true leisure who has time to improve his soul's estate."
Journal, February 11, 1840
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away."
Walden, Conclusion, 1854
"Our houses are such unwieldy property that we are often imprisoned rather than housed in them."
Walden: Economy, 1854
"Man is the artificer of his own happiness."
Journal, January 21, 1838
"Goodness is the only investment that never fails."
Walden: Higher Laws, 1854
"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestioned ability of a man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor."
"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."
"That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest."
"[Water is] the only drink for a wise man."
"Men are born to succeed, not fail."
"It is an interesting question how far men would retain their relative rank if they were divested of their clothes."
Walden, 1854
"How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book."
Walden: Reading, 1854


Featured Books 

  • Walden Paperback by Henry David Thoreau - Every library should have it and its spine should be well cracked. (I'm going to crack mine as soon as I'm finished here.)
  • Civil Disobedience, Solitude and Life Without Principle Paperback by Henry David Thoreau - The justification for his rebellion (he refused to pay taxes because of the Mexican American War).
  • Henry David Thoreau : Three Complete Books Hardcover by Henry David Thoreau - Get Walden, Cape Cod, and The Maine Woods in a hardbound edition surely to last forever in your bookcase (especially if you don't read it).
  • The Portable Thoreau Paperback by Henry David Thoreau, Carl Bode - If you are actually planning on reading his works, this is the book to buy. At 698 pages, it hardly seems portable, but you receive a collection of his works to keep you reading for awhile. Enjoy!


For more information about Henry David Thoreau, try these links:

  • Thoreau World Wide - A good introduction to Henry David Thoreau. Make sure you read Background behind Walden.
  • The Life of Henry David Thoreau - No snazzy pictures, but a good outline of the author's life.
  • The Writings of Henry D. Thoreau - A great site! You can view a scan of Thoreau's handwriting (including analysis and translation), a list of related sites, and a frequently asked questions (FAQ) file.










Articles - The Quotations Page

Let's Get Motivated



"Please write again soon. Though my own life is filled with activity, letters encourage momentary escape into others' lives and I come back to my own with greater contentment."
Elizabeth Hailey, "A Woman of Independent Means"
"One of the greatest victories you can gain over someone is to beat him at politeness."
Josh Billings
"The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but to reveal to him his own."
Benjamin Disraeli
"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
"I always remember an epitaph which is in the cemetery at Tombstone, Arizona. It says: 'Here lies Jack Williams. He done his damnedest.' I think that is the greatest epitaph a man can have - When he gives everything that is in him to do the job he has before him. That is all you can ask of him and that is what I have tried to do."
Harry S. Truman
"Be not afraid of greatness: some men are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them."
William Shakespeare, "Twelfth Night"
"Live well. It is the greatest revenge."
The Talmud
Featured Books
The following books and tapes are available through Amazon.com:
  • Life 101 Hardcover by Peter McWilliams - Reading one of his books is tantamount to reading them all, but this is the one I recommend. A wonderfully positive book with lots of quotations, many of which found their way into the Motivational Quotes of the Day collection.
  • Good AdviceHardcover by William Safire, Leonard Safir (Compiler) - Many quotes from the Motivational Quote of the Day page are from this book. There is no better place to find good advice about life, business dealings and fear than from people who have gone through it before. This small little book is organized by subject. I really like this book and have read the entire thing a few times, but there are two things that go against it: the attributes are simple, and there are many Unknowns or Proverbs. I don't really like to use quotes by Unknown because I suspect that someone said them, but they aren't getting credit for it. Aside from those minor problems, this book is a lot of fun with cute pictures and great organization.
  • Do It! Let's Get Off Our Butts Hardcover by Peter McWilliams - Although it shares much of its information with Life 101, there is nothing more motivational than this book. It combines wisdom with methods of motivating yourself. All of that with wonderful quotations to boot.
  • 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself Hardcover by Steve Chandler - More quick tips for getting the life you have always desired. Get rid of those negative thoughts and that pessimistic attitude. Recipient of the King Features Syndicate 1997 AudioBook of the Year Award.
For more information about Motivation, try these links:
  • Motivating Moments - A quotation collection also containing motivational, inspirational and positive quotes. Organized into three groups: Customer Service and Sales, Motivational & Positive Quotes, and Inspirational Quotes.
  • Good Thinking Quotes - Another quote collection devoted to motivational quotations from the good people at Patrick Comb's www.goodthink.com (reminds me of the doublespeak in George Orwell's 1984, but that's another story).
  • Daily Motivator - Motivating thoughts brought to you every day by Ralph S. Marston, Jr.
  • The Maximum Potential Project - This site is described as a mental health program aimed at conquering the problems of underachievers and restoring motivation, self-esteem, and happiness. It uses therapy to help people who feel that they are underachievers. Read the Motivational Quotes of the Day page every day and you might avoid costly therapist bills.

Articles - The Quotations Page


Positive Thinking


"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."


- John Wooden



Life can be wildly tragic at times, and I've had my share. But whatever happens to you, you have to keep a slightly comic attitude. In the final analysis, you have got not to forget to laugh.

-- Katharine Hepburn



Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Joe Louis - America's Hero Betrayed (Documentary) - YouTube

Jack Osbourne Diagnosed With Multiple Sclerosis

  There are a few notable statements in this article:
 
"We welcome the Osbournes publicly supporting the notion of seeking counseling. This may benefit many other less famous patients." 

Famous patients give a 'face to the struggle' this disease causes for sufferers and helps the various m.s. societies to raise funds to find a cure and to formulate more effective treatments.


Avoid charging at windmills:

the "I'm going to beat this" attitude. 

Adapt and work around the fatigue,pain, memory problems and other symptoms you may have so you can maintain an active life.

...patients are encouraged to maintain a vigorous, active lifestyle and a positive outlook.


Jack Osbourne Diagnosed With Multiple Sclerosis at 26 - ABC News

 By (@mikaelaconley)
At only 26 and a new father, Jack Osbourne was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis earlier this spring.
  
The average age at which a patient is diagnosed is 37. 

.... approximately 400,000 Americans have MS, according to the National MS Society.
About 200 people are newly diagnosed each week.
 
Because of the typical early onset of the disease, MS patients are at the threshold of many life decisions, including career, marriage and children.

 "People have spent their entire life up until the point of diagnosis imagining their life in a certain way, they have to interpret how they're going to let go of that picture and how they see themselves, and fit that new information into the sense of who they are," said Rosalind Kalb, a clinical psychologist and director of the Professional Resource Center at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
 

While the diagnosis can throw one's life, particularly a young person's life that isn't fully settled, into disarray, patients should not jump to any conclusions about how the disease will run its course, said Kalb.

"It's important for patients not to rush out and quit their jobs or break up relationships because they may be able to live a full life with manageable symptoms," Kalb said.

Doctors and patients do not know how their multiple sclerosis will behave in the early weeks and months after diagnosis, and it is really only in hindsight that one can understand the severity of their disease. 

"While the public face of MS may be the wheelchair and problems walking, most people with MS never need the assistance of a wheelchair, but instead live with uncertainty," Dr. Daniel Kantor, president of the Florida Society of Neurology and member of the American Academy of Neurology...

   ... the hardest issue to cope with in MS is the fear of the unknown." 

Because of the sudden change and the myriad of unknowns, Kalb said counseling is sometimes recommended to help people cope with the new diagnosis, but not always.

Most importantly, she said patients need "access to good information and support from people around them."

"Most people do not have the luxury of psychological therapy after a diagnosis, but this would be ideal," said Kantor.

"We welcome the Osbournes publicly supporting the notion of seeking counseling. This may benefit many other less famous patients."

Kalb said the people who tend to have the most difficult time with their disease are the ones who approach it with a "I'm going to beat this" attitude. 

"We don't know how to beat this disease yet, we don't have a cure, but there are so many more treatments available than just a few years ago, so it's better to prioritize the days' challenges, and start that treatment early," she said. 
 

Patients experience a wide range of early onset symptoms of the disease, but people will typically notice changes in their vision, especially when feeling overheated, and numbness, tingling and other strange sensations in their limbs and extremities. Others will experience pain or changes in their bladder function and memory. 

Osbourne told People Magazine he was diagnosed with the disease after he lost 60 percent of his vision in his right eye. 

  Doctors recommend that patients begin treatments as early as possible, as that is when the medication is most effective in delaying and reducing events and onset, Coetzee said. Otherwise, patients are encouraged to maintain a vigorous, active lifestyle and a positive outlook. 

"It's important to maintain a healthy but pragmatic approach to this disease," said Coetzee. "

As with anything, we don't know where we will be in the future with this disease, but even just 30 years ago, there were so many unknowns.

While there still are unknowns, there is a lot more we know about symptoms and treatments and a lot more knowledge to build a foundation on."

Scots Joke


A bloke walks into a Glasgow library and says to the prim librarian,

'Excuse me Miss, dey ye hiv ony books on suicide?'

To which she stops doing her tasks, looks at him over the top of her glasses and says,

'Fook off, ye'll no bring it back!'




Thursday, June 14, 2012

Always walk on the sunny side of the street.

http://static.newworldencyclopedia.org/d/d5/Sunflowers.jpg
"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow.
It is what sunflowers do" -Helen Keller



  • Sure, the world is full of trouble. But, as long as we have people undoing trouble, we have a pretty good world.
  • The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.
  • Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.
- Helen Keller

Sunflowers to the Rescue!

 
Helen Keller knew enough about the wisdom of this bright and beautiful plant to share it with others. While she understood and celebrated the sunflower’s ability to follow the movement of the sun, she could not have known of its power to cleanse the earth. Thanks to the wonders of science, we do now, and it is a beautiful and useful wisdom!


The sunflower, or Helianthus annuus, from the Greek helios, meaning “Sun,” is a powerful plant in the world of industry and art. There are few people in the world who would be unable to recognize its shining yellow face in a garden or field. This bright, cheerful flower has given us a delicious and hardy seed, a versatile cooking oil, leaves for cattle feed, a stem strong enough to make paper, and of course, much beauty. It has also, as of late, brought us something even more special: the ability to remove harmful toxins from our soil, helping us to more safely handle the earth around us and grow food for ourselves and our communities.

The sunflower is one of many plants that are now known to aid in “phytoremediation,” a process that employs various types of plants to remove, transfer, stabilize, and/or destroy contaminants in the our soil, water and air. Compared to other cleanup methods, such as soil excavation or pumping polluted groundwater, phytoremediation has become a clean, cost-effective and environmentally-friendly way to reclaim and reuse land that has been tainted by poisonous chemicals and heavy metals.
 

Sunflowers are not only able to absorb lead, but other dangerous heavy metals such as arsenic, zinc, chromium, copper, and manganese. Probably the most astounding example of phytoremediation was the use of a type of sunflower to clean up contaminated soil in the Ukraine following the Chernobyl disaster, one of the worst nuclear power plant accidents in history. 

Other communities from far and wide have learned about and employed the magic healing of sunflowers. “Project Sprout,” based out of Tulane City Center in New Orleans, focuses on planting bio-energy gardens that include plants like sunflowers as a way to remediate soil, yield a crop for bio-fuel production, provide green-collar job training and to support urban revitalization in neighborhoods of New Orleans that suffered devastating damage from hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Sunflowers have an amazing capacity to not only transform the health of a space in your community, but also add beauty.

If you’re looking to clean up your soil, or just want to enjoy the beauty of these flowers in your garden, here are some great varieties to try:

Soraya – a nice bright orange sunflower that grows to about 6 feet with a single stem.

Ring of Fire – a multicolored starbust sunflower that’s around 3 to 4 feet tall.

Russian Mammoth – a beautiful yellow flower that can grow to be 8 feet tall!

Velvet Queen – red and orange with burgundy undertones and grows to an average of 5 feet.


 Source:
 http://www.farmersalmanac.com/home-garden/2012/06/11/sunflowers-to-the-rescue/

 Sunflowers to the Rescue!

......................................................................................................

Having just purchased a couple of these flowers at the local plant vendor, it seemed wise to go to an expert to learn how to care for this plant.

.......................................................................................................

More Helen Keller:

 Courage
Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.

Confidence
Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the face.




Helianthus_whorl.jpg(640 × 480 pixels, file size: 320 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)
 


Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Quotes


Brave men are all vertebrates; they have their softness on the surface and their toughness in the middle.
 - Lewis Carrol

Friday, June 8, 2012

Sonnabend Lecture: Jon Kabat-Zinn

Sonnabend Lecture: Jon Kabat-Zinn - YouTube



 
Uploaded by on Oct 17, 2011
Dr. Kabat-Zinn is founding director of the Stress Reduction Clinic at UMass Medical Center, which has served as the model for mindfulness-based clinical intervention programs at over 400 medical centers and clinics nationwide and abroad. He drew hundreds of people to Lesley University's Brattle Campus Monday, October 3, 2001, to deliver the Sonnabend Lecture, guiding the packed audience through an exploration of Mindfulness, followed by a meditation exercise. Dr. Kabat-Zinn's visit coincided with the launching of Lesley's new program in Mindfulness Studies.

The bi-annual Sonnabend Lecture invites a distinguished practitioner in the field of human services to work with Lesley's students and faculty, and enrich the academic community.

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Mindfulness as a Foundation for Health: Thich Nhat Hanh and Health@Google - YouTube

Mindfulness as a Foundation for Health: Thich Nhat Hanh and Health@Google - YouTube



Uploaded by on Sep 23, 2011
Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh (known as Thay in his circles) made a rare visit to the Googleplex to lead a half-day Health@Google workshop in the fundamentals of mindfulness. The exercises and rituals of mindfulness lay the path to optimal health and happiness.

Thay may be the second most famous Buddhist monk in the world, right after the Dalai Lama. He is certainly one of the best known and most respected Zen Masters in the world. Thay is a best-selling author, poet, and peace activist who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King Jr. He is a key pioneer in actively applying insights from meditation to solving real-world social, political and environmental problems. Thay most recently published Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life, with Harvard School of Public Health nutritionist Dr. Lilian Cheung. At 85, he's touring North America before retiring to his monastery in France.

Life at Google is fast, furious and fun, yet it can take a toll on ourselves and our loved ones. Through Thay's specially crafted workshop, you'll learn how to reduce stress, eat for health, sleep better, find emotional stability, improve concentration and sustain optimal performance.

--Chade-Meng Tan

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Nutrients for Better Mental Performance - YouTube

Nutrients for Better Mental Performance - YouTube
 

        on Dec  3, 2009              

Google Tech Talk

December 2, 2009



ABSTRACT



Presented by Steven Wm. Fowkes.



The talk will answer questions like:



1. Which nutrients promote optimal brain function?

2. What nutrients are commonly deficient enough to impair mental performance?

3. How can you get a better nights sleep without Ambien?

4. What nutrients counteract aspects of aging?

5. Is there an alternative to serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SRI) antidepressants?

6. What modern nutrition myths lead us to consume products that sabotage healthy brain function?

7. What tests can you get from your doctor?

8. What nutrients affect appetite, alertness, and tension?

9. What nutrient combo will prevent hangovers 90% of the time?



About Steven Wm. Fowkes

Steven Wm. Fowkes is the Director of the Cognitive Enhancement Research Institute and a co-author of the book Smart Drugs II.

He  has appeared on Larry King Live and in two anti-aging documentaries.  Steve will explain how different nutritions can help people of all ages  treat various physical and mental conditions, spanning from genetic  disorders such as Down syndrome, to adolescent behavior problems and on  to senility and Alzheimer's disease in the elderly. He will also speak  about using nutrients to address memory problems as well as verbal and  multi-tasking challenges that the testosterone-poised homo sapiens  (i.e., men) are commonly known for. In the Q&A feel free to ask him  how to use nutrients to improve ones sense of humor.

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Saturday, June 2, 2012

Visualize better days ahead and Walk on the sunny side of the street.


"It is necessary to hope
For hope itself is happiness,
And its frustrations, however frequent
Are less dreadful than its extinction."

- Samuel Johnson 


Quotes


"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself."
---Friedreich Nietzsche


"The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind."
-- William Blake, A MemorableFancy


I love to doubt as well as know."
--Dante Alighieri



To see a World in a Grain of Sand 
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, 
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand 
And Eternity in an hour.
-- William Blake, Auguries of Innocence



"We are here on earth to do good for others. What the others are here for, I don't know."
-- W. H. Auden




"Without contraries is no progression.  Attraction and repulsion, reason and energy, love and hate, are necessary to human existence."
-- Wiliam Blake, The Argument



"Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed."
-- Herman Melville, US novelist & sailor (1819 - 1891)



"It’s better to believe in what you know than to know what you believe in."
-- HL Gaskins




“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”
 – Epicurus circa 300 BC