Climbing a ladder of greatness...

I'm trying something new tonight- something I am calling a quote ladder. I found one quote in a book I'm reading that caught my eye, and then each of the following quotes spawned from the ideas in the preceeding one. Since I wasn't having any particularly interesting thoughts of my own, I figured I would borrow some from the greats...

"Man is the only animal for whom his own existence is a problem which he has to solve." Erich Fromm

"The mystery of life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced." Alan Watts

"There is an objective reality out there, but we view it through the spectacles of our beliefs, attitudes, and values." David G. Myers

“Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking.” Leo Tolstoy

"Work joyfully and peacefully, knowing that right thoughts and right efforts will inevitably bring about right results." James Allen

"If you focus on results, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results." Jack Dixon

"Providence has its appointed hour for everything. We cannot command results, we can only strive." Mohandas Gandhi

“Sometimes we strive so hard for perfection that we forget that imperfection is happiness” Karen Nave

"One should never direct people towards happiness, because happiness too is an idol of the market-place. One should direct them towards mutual affection. A beast gnawing at its prey can be happy too, but only human beings can feel affection for each other, and this is the highest achievement they can aspire to." Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn