One of the few useful things I learned in grade school was from
a film they showed us on personal responsibility. It made the
salient point that "You can't avoid decisions and responsibility,
you can only give them to someone else."

-From an acquaintance

Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit.

- W. Somerset Maugham

There was once a monk who would carry a mirror whereever he went. A priest noticed this one day and thought to himself, "This monk must be so preoccupied with the way he looks that he has to carry that mirror all the time. He should not worry about the way he looks on the outside. It's what's inside that counts." So the priest approached the monk and asked "Why do you always carry that mirror?" thinking this would surely prove his guilt.

The monk pulled the mirror from his bag and pointed it at the priest. Then he said "I use it in times of trouble. I look into it and it shows me the source of my problems as well as the solution to my problems."