A Happy and Successful New Year

Wishing you all a Happy and Successful New Year with the following thoughts to start out your year:

"He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much;
Who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children;
Who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;
Who has left the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul;
Who has never lacked appreciation of earth’s beauty or failed to express it;
Who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had;
Whose life was an inspiration;
Whose memory a benediction."
-Bessie A. Stanley, 1905 Lincoln, Kansas

This quotation is often inaccurately attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson and quoted in the following way:
"To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty,
To find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded."

For further (and interesting) reading about the common misattribution of the quote check out:
http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Philosophy/Sui-Generis/Emerson/success.htm