Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 1 Jan 2014

1. Hope smiles from the threshold of the year...

Hope / Smiles from the threshold of the year to come, / Whispering 'it will be happier' – Alfred Tennyson

2. An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new...

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves. – Bill Vaughan

3. Sometimes too much to drink is barely enough...

Sometimes too much to drink is barely enough – Mark Twain

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4. New Year's Eve is like every other night...

New Year's Eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights. – Hamilton Wright Mabie

5. He who breaks a resolution is a weakling...

He who breaks a resolution is a weakling; he who makes one is a fool. – F.M. Knowles

6. Every man should be born again on the first...

Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take no interest in the things that were and are past. – Henry Ward Beecher

7. Last year's words belong to last year's language

Last year's words belong to last year's language. And next year's words await another voice. – TS Eliot

8. Life can only be understood backwards...

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards. – Soren Kierkegaard

9. Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar...

Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar, took his last drink and swore his last oath. Today, we are a pious and exemplary community. Thirty days from now, we shall have cast our reformation to the winds and gone to cutting our ancient shortcomings considerably shorter than ever. – Mark Twain

10. Be always at war with your vices, at peace with...

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. – Benjamin Franklin