Association of Retiring Dentists

True success and true happiness not only go together but each other enhances the other.

-

Maxwell Maltz, M.D., 1899-1975, author, Psychocybernetics

There is nothing wrong with retirement as long as one doesn't allow it to interfere with one's work.

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Ben Franklin

To remain healthy a man must have some goal, some purpose in life that he can respect and be proud to work for.

-

Hans Selye, endocrinlogist, 1907-1982

Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher. 

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-Japanese proverb

The foolish and the dead alone never change their opinion.

-

Lowell

We have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it.

-

George Bernard Shaw

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.

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-Albert Schweitzer, philosopher, physician, musician, Nobel laureate (1875-1965)

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
- Leonardo da Vinci

What is life if I am no longer useful to others?
- Johann wolfgang von Goethe

Reflect on your present blessings of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes of which all men have some.  

- Charles Dickens

A man may be very industrious, and yet not spend his time well. There is no more fatal blunderer than he who consumes the greater part of life getting his living.
- Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862)

A sound mind in a sound body, is a short but full description of a happy state in this world.

- John Locke, philosopher (1632-1704)

It is more often from pride than from ignorance that we are so obstinately opposed to current opinions; we find the first places taken, and we do not want to be the last.
- -Francois De La Rochefoucauld, moralist (1613-1680)

Cheerfulness and contentment are great beautifiers and are famous preservers of youthful looks.
- Charles Dickens, novelist (1812-1870)

Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.
- Charlie Chaplin, actor, director, and composer (1889-1977)

Oh, would that my mind could let fall its dead ideas, as the tree does its withered leaves!
- -Andre Gide, author, Nobel laureate (1869-1951)

That action is best which accomplishes the greatest happiness for the greatest numbers.
- Francis Hutcheson, philosopher (1694-1746)

He who has a why can endure any how.
- -Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher (1844-1900)

Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of nonessentials.

- -Lin Yutang, writer and translator (1895-1976)

You can't teach an old dogma new tricks.
- unknown

There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all. 
- Peter Drucker, management consultant, professor, and writer (1909-2005)

Happiness belongs to the self-sufficient.
- Aristotle

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The great use of life is to spend it on something that will outlast us.
- William James

To have joy, one must share it.
- Lord Byron

Transport of the mails, transport of the human voice, transport of flickering pictures -- in this century, as in others, our highest accomplishments still have the single aim of bringing men together.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery, author and aviator (1900-1945)

Visionaries are limited by their visions.
- Malcolm Gladwell, author

Life is a tragedy for those who feel, and a comedy for those who think. 
- Jean de la Bruyere, essayist and moralist (1645-1696)

You have to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather is.
- Abe Lincoln

I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him.
- Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer (1564-1642)

What we do for ourselves dies with us.  What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.
- Albert Pine

There are times in the lives of most of us when we would have given all the world to be as we were but yesterday, though that yesterday had passed over us unappreciated and unenjoyed.
- William Edward Hartpole Lecky 1838-1903

What you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while.
- Gretchen Rubin

Look for happiness under your own roof.
- in a fortune cookie found by author, Gretchen Rubin

Be happy.  It is one way of being wise.
- Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette 1873-1954

What a wonderful life I've had! I only wish I'd realized it sooner.
- Sidonie-Gabrielle Collette, 1873-1954

Money doesn't buy happiness, but it allows you to be miserable in some nice places.
- Unknown

Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons.
- Woody Allen

Some, for the sake of making a living, forget to live.
- Margaret Fuller

Cleverness is not wisdom.
- -Euripides (seen on a sign in a dental school)

The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all of your money
- Anonymous

You can get old pretty young if you don't take care of yourself.
- Yogi Berra

He who laughs, lasts.
- Wilfred A. Peterson

If I 'd known I was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself.
- Eubie Blake

Always go to other people's funerals.  Otherwise, they won't come to yours.
- Yogi Berra

Retirement at 65 is ridiculous. When I was 65 I still had pimples.
- George Burns

I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.
- Lily Tomlin

They say such nice things about people at their funerals that it makes me sad to realize that I'm going to miss mine by just a few days.
- Garrison Keillor

I plan on living forever. ..So far so good.
- Unknown

Time plays no favorites and will pass whether you act or not.
- Unknown (in an accounting newsletter)

The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.
- Will Rogers

Age has more to do with state of mind than years.

What lies before us and what lies behind us is nothing compared to what lies within us.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Elders are the diamonds of mankind.  It takes a lot of time and pressure to become what they are.

The face you have up to age thirty-five is the one you are born with; after thirty-five it's the one you have made.
- attributed to Abraham Lincoln

Enjoy life.  There are no re-runs.
- Shirl Lowery

What we think, or what we know, or what we believe, is in the end, of little consequence. The only thing of consequence is what we do.
- John Ruskin, author, art critic, and social reformer (1819-1900)

      "I'm so worried," the elderly heart patient said as the nurse plumped up his pillows.  "Last week, I read about a man who was in the hospital because of heart trouble, and he died of malaria."
  "Relax." the nurse said smiling.  "This is a first rate hospital.  When we treat someone for heart trouble, he dies of heart trouble."

Birthdays are good for you.  The more you have, the longer you live.

Over the hill?
What hill?
I don't remember any hill.

- seen on a T-shirt

Life begins when a person first realizes how soon it ends.
- Mardelene Cox

The richer your friends, the more they will cost you.
- Elisabeth Marbury

I'm not afraid to die.  I just don't want to be there when it happens.
- Woody Allen

    George was sitting in his boat the other day when he heard a voice say, "Pick me up."
He looked around an could not see anyone.  He thought he was dreaming when he heard the voice again, "Pick me up."
     He looked in the water and there floating on the top was frog.  George said, "Are you talking to me?"
  The frog said, "Yes, I'm talking to you.  Pick me up and kiss me, and I'll turn into the most beautiful woman you have ever seen and will give you the most wonderful pleasues that you have ever dreamed of."
   George looked at the frog for a short time and then reached over and picked it up carefully, placing it in his pocket.
    The frog shouted, "Are you nuts?  Didn't you hear what I said?  I said, 'Kiss me and I will give you pleasures like you have never had!'"
     George opened his pocket, looked at the frog and said, "Yes, I heard you, but at my age, I'd rather have a talking frog."

He was impressed by the way his buddy preceded every request to his wife with endearing terms. -"Honey,"  "My Love,"  "Darling," "Sweetheart,"  "Pumpkin," etc. 
     The couple had been married almost 70 years and, clearly, they were still very much in love.
    While his wife was in the kitchen the man leaned over and said to his host,  "I think it's wonderful that, after all these years, you still call your wife those loving pet names."
  The old man turned to him and whispered,  "To tell you the truth, I forgot her name about ten years ago."

The way to get good ideas is to get lots of ideas and throw the bad ones away.
- Linus Pauling, American chemist

Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it! Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.
- George Bernard Shaw

To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.
- Henri Bergson, French Philosopher

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing it is not fish they are after.

- Henry David Thoreau

Life is too important to be taken seriously.

Being over the hill is better than being under it.

The banker saw his old friend Tom, an eighty year old rancher, in town. Tom had lost his wife a year or so before and rumor had it that he was marrying a 'mail order' bride.
Being a good friend, the banker asked Tom if the rumor was true.
Tom assured him that it was. The banker then asked Tom the age of his new bride to be.
Tom proudly said, "She'll be twenty-one in November."
Now the banker, being the wise man that he was, could see that the sexual appetite of a young woman could not be satisfied by an eighty-year-old man.
Wanting his old friend's remaining years to be happy the banker tactfully suggested that Tom should consider getting a hired hand to help him out on the ranch, knowing nature would take its own course.
Tom thought this was a good idea and said he would look for one that afternoon.
About four months later, the banker ran into Tom in town again. "How's the new wife?" asked the banker.
Tom proudly said, "Good - she's pregnant."
The banker, happy that his sage advice had worked out, continued, "And how's the hired hand?"
Without hesitating, Tom said, "She's pregnant too."
        (Don't ever underestimate old guys.)

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican fishing village. A tourist complimented the local fishermen on the quality of their fish and asked how long it took him to catch them. "Not very long." they answered in unison.
"Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?"
The fishermen explained that their small catches were sufficient to meet their needs and those of their families.
"But what do you do with the rest of your time?"
"We sleep late, fish a little, play with our children, and take siestas with our wives. In the evenings, we go into the village to see our friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. We have a full life."
The tourist interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat."
"And after that?"
"With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge new enterprise."
"How long would that take?"
"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years." replied the tourist.
"And after that?"
"Afterwards? Well my friend, that's when it gets really interesting," answered the tourist, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!"
"Millions? Really? And after that?" asked the fishermen.
"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends."
"With all due respect sir, but that's exactly what we are doing now. So what's the point wasting twenty-five years?" asked the Mexicans.

(And the moral of this story is:   Know where you're going in life....you may already be there:-)

All people who live, die. But, not all people who die have lived.
- Author Unknown

Two elderly ladies had been friends for many decades. Over the years, they had shared all kinds of activities and adventures. Lately, their activities had been limited to meeting a few times a week to play cards. One day, they were playing cards when one looked at the other and said, "Now don't get mad at me - I know we've been friends for a long time, but I just can't think of your name! I've thought and thought, but I can't remember it. Please tell me what your name is."
For at least three minutes she just stared and glared at her. Finally she said, "How soon do you need to know?"

Here is the test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you're alive, it isn't.
- Richard Bach, writer

The irate customer calling the newspaper office loudly demanded to know where her Sunday edition was.
"Ma'am," said the employee, "Today is Saturday. The Sunday paper is not delivered until Sunday."
There was quite a pause on the other end of the phone, followed by a ray of recognition.
  "I guess that also explains why there was no one in church this morning."

Not in his goals but in his transitions man is great.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Cremation?...Think outside the box.

The best way to predict the future is to create it.
- Peter Drucker

In this world it is not what we take up, but what we give up, that makes us rich.
- Henry Ward Beecher

Two elderly ladies meet at the launderette after not seeing one another for some time. After inquiring about each other's health one asked how the other's husband was doing. 
"Oh! Ted died last week. He went out to the garden to dig up a cabbage for dinner, had a heart attack and dropped down dead right there in the middle of the vegetable patch!"
"Oh dear! I'm very sorry." replied her friend "What did you do?"
"Opened a can of peas instead."

Never confuse motion with action.
- Benjamin Franklin

65 year-old George went to the doctor for an exam. The doctor was taking a history and asked, “What did your father die of?"
"Who said he died? He's 93 and still going strong,"  George responded. "That's great! Well how'd his father die?" inquired the doctor.
"Who said he died? He's 113 and actually is getting married next week." said George.
"WOW! That's fantastic, but why would a 113 year-old want to get married?" asked the doctor.
"Who said he wanted to get married?"

I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center.
- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., writer

I get up every morning determined to both change the world and to have one hell of a good time. Sometimes, this makes planning the day difficult.
- E.B. White

An unhurried sense of time is in itself a form of wealth.
- Bonnie Friedman, author (b. 1958)

Three friends suddenly die and meet up at the Pearly Gates, where they get to talking about what they would like to hear people say about them at their wake.
The first man says, " I hope people will say that I was a wonderful doctor annd a good family man."
The second man says, " I would like to hear people say that as a school teacher I made a big difference in the lives of kids."
The third man says, "I like to hear someone say, 'Look, he's moving!'."

If you prepare for the future, you won't have to worry about it.
- Author Unknown

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worthwhile.
- Herm Albright, writer

They are happy men whose natures sort with their vocations.
- Francis Bacon, essayist, philosopher, and statesman (1561-1626)

Experience makes us see an enormous difference between piety and goodness.
- Blaise Pascal, philosopher and mathematician (1623-1662)

Once upon a time a man whose ax was missing suspected his neighbor's son.
The boy walked like a thief, looked like a thief, and spoke like a thief.
But the man found his ax while digging in the valley, and the next time he saw his neighbor's son, the boy walked, looked and spoke like any other child.
- Lao-tzu, philosopher (6th century BCE)

My wife asked, "Watcha doing today?" and I responded, "Nothing". Then she said, "You did that yesterday." So I said "I wasn't finished."

Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed that's all who ever have.
- Margaret Mead

My young grandson called the other day to wish me Happy Birthday. He asked me how old I was, and I told him, 62. My grandson was quiet for a moment, and then he asked, "Did you start at 1?"

Don't let aging get you down. It's too hard to get back up.

Arthur is 90 years old. He's played golf every day since his retirement 25 years ago. One day he arrives home looking downcast. 'That's it', he tells his wife. I'm giving up golf. My eyesight has gotten so bad...once I've hit the ball, I can't see where it went.'
His wife sympathizes. As they sit down she says, "Why don't you take my brother with you, and give it one more try?"
"That's no good", sighs Arthur. "Your brother is a hundred and three. He can't help".
"He may be a hundred and three", says the wife, "but his eyesight is perfect"'.
So the next day Arthur heads off to the golf course with his brother-in-law. He tees up, takes an almighty swing and squints down the fairway. He turns to the brother-in-law. "Did you see the ball?"
"Of course I did!", says the brother-in-law. "I have perfect eyesight".
"Where did it go?", asks Arthur.
"I can't remember".

Like cars in amusement parks, our direction is often determined through collisions.
- Yahia Lababidi, author (b. 1973)