Calendar Book 2018

1. January: Journey of souls by M. Newton
2. February: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
3. March: The vision of a champion by A. Dorrance
4. April: Extreme ownership by Willink & Babin
5. May: Start with why by S. Sinek
6. June: Being mortal by A. Gawande
7. July: Pastores del Pirineo de Severino Pallaruelo. 
8. August: Notas de la vida de un pastor de Jorge Puyó Navarro
9. September: Ansó. Sus montes y su ganadería de Jorge Puyó Navarro
10. October: Handbook for teacher in Human Values Education by R & S. Farmer
11. November: The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by B. Franklin.
12. December: Destiny of souls by M. Newton

Calendar Book 2017.

1. January: Your erroneous zones by Wayne Dyer.
2. February: Angels in my hair by Lorne Byrne.
3. March: The champions mind by Jim Afremow.
4. April: The diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank.
5. May: Mental training for peak performance by Steve Ungerleider.
6. June: Messages from the masters by Bryan Weiss.
7. July: Hillbilly elegy by J.D. Vance.
8. August: Green card warrior by Nick Adams.
9. September: Grit by Angela Duckworth.
10. October: Wooden by John Wooden.
11. November: Knight. My story by Bobby Knight.
12. December: Love from Heaven by Lorna Byrne.

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Destiny of souls by Michael Newton. Quotes IV

-"I can come back whenever he really gets down in the dumps and yearns for me."
-Spirits are very selective in their use of our dreams sequences.
-Spiritual dreams involve our guides, teaching souls and our soulmates who come as messengers to assist us with solutions.
-Some of our greatest revelations come from the episodic dreams of events, places and behavior patterns emanating from experiences before we acquired our present body.
-Ways spirits connect with the living:
1. Somatic touch.
2. Personification with objects.
3. Dream recognition.
4. Transference through children.
5. Contact in familiar settings.
-Souls don't give up easily on us.
-We will see each other again some day, I know.
-Personal guides and soulmates, however they are represented, contact us from the other side if we require consolation.
-Angel-like spirits who regularly come to Earth between lives simply to help people they don't know.
-Having other relationships neither lessens nor dishonors our first love, it only validates that love, providing a state of healthy acceptance has been reached in between.
-Souls lose most of their negative emotional baggage when they shed their bodies.

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Destiny of souls by Michael Newton. Quotes III

-All roles are temporary.
-The person you love is not really gone.
-Part of your energy was left behind in the spirit world at the time of incarnation. When your love arrives back home again, you will already be there waiting with that portion of your energy which was left behind. This same energy is held in reserve for unification with the returning soul.
-In death, suddenly the soul is released and given freedom. Yet, if we have the need, souls are able to contact us on a regular basis from the spirit world.
-"I'll watch over her, but I know she is going to make it through this."
-Souls who are reaching back to comfort the living look for areas that are most receptive to their energy.
-Absence is only a change of reality and not final.         

Destiny of souls by Michael Newton. Quotes II

-Once or twice between lives we visit this group of higher beings who are a step or two above our teacher-guides.
-These masters are as close as I can come to the Creator.
-Going in front of the council is like being sent to the principal's office in school.
-Souls voluntarily select less than perfect bodies and difficult lives to address karmic debts or to work on different aspects of a lesson they have had trouble with in the past.
-Most souls accept the bodies offered to them in the selection room but a soul can reject what is offered and even delay reincarnating. Then, too a soul might ask to go to a physical planet other than Earth for a while.
-If we accept the new assignment, we are often sent to a preparation class to remind us of certain signposts and clues in the life to come, especially at those moments when primary soulmates come into our lives.
-Souls join their assigned hosts on the womb of the baby's mother sometime after the third month of pregnancy so they will have a sufficiently evolved brain to work with before term.
-"The only thing of true importance in this material life is the way we live and how we treat other people."

Destiny of souls by Michael Newton. Quotes.

-At the moment of death, our soul rises out of its host body.
-A guiding principle in the spirit world is that wrongdoing, intentional or untintentional, on the part of all souls will need to be readdressed in some form in a future life.
-There is no hell for souls, except perhaps on Earth.
-Some lives are so difficult that the soul arrives home very tired.
-Our soul groups are respectful of what we have gone through during an incarnation.
-Homecoming is a joyous interlude.
-Age is not a guarantee of high attainment.
-Every aspect of a life is dissected, even to the extent of reverse role playing in the group, to bring greater awareness.
-There certainly is structure in the spirit world, but it exists within a sublime matrix of compassion, harmony, ethics, and morality, far beyond what we practice on Earth.
-In the spirit world, we are not forced to reincarnate or participate in group projects.
-"I have skated through many easy lives and I like it that way because I haven't really wanted to work hard. Now, that's going to change. My guide says: we are ready when you are."
-Souls have feelings of humility at having been given the opportunity to incarnate in physical form.

Calendar Book #12 December: Destiny of Souls by Michael Newton.

The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin. Quotes IX

-These things I mention as a caution to young printers, and that they may be encouraged not to pollute their presses and disgrace their profession by such infamous practices, but refuse steadily, as they may see by my example that such a course of conduct will not on the whole, be injurious to their interests.
-I did not, however, aim at gaining his favor by paying any servile respect to him.
-He that has once done you a kindness, will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.
-After getting the first hundred pound, it is more easy to get the second.
-Never to ask for an office, and never to refuse one when offered to him.
-Human felicity is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur everyday.
-When men are employed they are best contented.

The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin. Quotes VIII

-Fewer still, in public affairs, act with a view to the good of mankind.
-There seems to me at present to be great occasion for raising a United Party for Virtue, by forming the virtuous and good men of all nations into a regular body, to be governed by suitable good and wise rules, which good and wise men may probably be more unanimous in their obedience to than common people are to common laws.
-The substance of an intended creed:
That there is one God, who made all things.
That he governs the world by his providence.
That he ought to be worshiped by adoration, prayer, and thanksgiving.
But the most acceptable service of God is doing good to man.
That the soul is immortal.
And that God will certainly reward virtue and punish vice, either here or hereafter.
-The Society of the Free and Easy: free, as being, by the general practice and habit of the virtues, free from the dominion of vice; and particularly by the practice of industry and frugality; free from debt, which exposes a man to confinement, and a species of slavery to this creditors.
-One man of tolerable abilities may work great changes, and accomplish great affairs among mankind, if he first forms a good plan, and, cutting off all amusements or other employments that would divert his attention, makes the execution of that same plan his sole study and business.
-Poor Richard's Almanac.
-It is hard for an empty sack to stand upright.
-These proverbs, which contained the wisdom of many ages and nations, I assembled and formed into a connected discourse prefixed to the Almanac of 1757, as the harangue of a wise old man to the people attending an auction.
-A vicious man could not be properly called a man of sense.

The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin. Quotes VII

-I contrived the following method for conducting that examination. I made a little book, in which I allotted a page for each of the virtues. I ruled each page with red ink, so as to have seven columns, one for each day of the week, marking each column with a letter for the day. I crossed these columns with thirteen red lines, marking the beginning of each line with the first letter of one of the virtues, on which line, and in its proper column, I might mark, by a little black spot, every fault I found upon examination to have been committed respecting that virtue upon that day.
-I determined to give a week's strict attention to each of the virtues successively.
-Every part of my business should have its allotted time, one page in my little book contained the following scheme of employment for the twenty-four hours of a natural day.
-My scheme of order gave me the most trouble.
-On the whole, although I never arrived at the perfection, I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the endeavor, a better and a happier man than I otherwise should have been if I had not attempted it.
-No qualities were so likely to make a poor's man fortune as those of probity and integrity.
-When another asserted something that I thought an error, I denied myself the pleasure of contradicting him abruptly, and on showing him immediately some absurdity in his proposition; and in answering I began by observing that in certain cases and circumstances his opinion would be right, but in the present case there appeared or seemed to be some difference.
-The modest way in which I proposed my opinions procured them a readier reception and less contradiction.
-I was but a bad speaker, never eloquent, subject to much hesitation in my choice of words, hardly correct in language, and yet I generally carried my points.
-In reality, there is, perhaps no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. 

The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin. Quotes VI

-This library afforded me the means of improvement by constant study, for which I set apart an hour or two each day.
-Reading was the only amusement I allowed myself. I spent no time in taverns, games, or frolicks of any kind; and my industry in my business continued as indefatigable as it was necessary.
-My original habits of frugality continuing.
-I never was without some religious principles; and being to be found in all the religions we had in our country, I respected them all, though with different degrees of respect, as I found them more or less mixed with other articles, which, without any tendency to inspire, promote, or confirm morality, served principallly to divide us, and make us unfriendly to one another.
-It was about this time I conceived the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection. I wished to live without committing any fault at any time.
-I concluded at length, that the mere speculative conviction that it was our interest to be completely virtuous, was not sufficient to prevent our slipping; and that the contrary habits must be broken, and good ones acquired and established, before we can have any dependence on a steady, uniform rectitude of conduct.
-The 13 virtues:
1. Temperance.
2. Silence.
3. Order.
4. Resolution.
5. Frugality.
6. Industry.
7. Sincerity.
8. Justice.
9. Moderation.
10. Cleanliness.
11.Tranquility.
12. Chastity.
13. Humility.

The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin. Quotes V

-Life is uncertain.
-I do not think that the writings of Caesar and Tacitus can be more interesting to a true judge of human nature and society.
-School and other education constantly proceed upon false principles, and show a clumsy apparatus pointed at a false mark.
-It is at youth that we plant our chief habits and prejudices.
-Why are weaker men to be deprived of such helps, when we see our race has been blundering on in the dark, almost without a guide in this particular, from the farthest trace of time?
-What more worthy of experiments and system that human life?
-Another thing demonstrated will be the propriety of every man's waiting for his time for appearing upon the stage of the world. Our sensations being very much fixed to the moment, we are apt to forget that more moments are to follow the first, and consequently that man should arrange his conduct so as to suit the whole of a life.
-Your attribution appears to have been applied to your life, and the passing moments of it have been enlivened with content and enjoyment, instead of being tormented with foolish impatience or regrets.
-Dr. Franklin praised your frugality, diligence and temperance, which he considered as a pattern for all youth; but it is singular that he should have forgotten your modesty and your disinterestedness, without which you never could have waited for your advancement, or found your situation in the mean time comfortable; which is a strong lesson to show the poverty of glory and the importance of regulating our minds.

The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin. Quotes IV

-For the industry of that Franklin, says he, is superior to anything I ever saw of the kind; I see him at him still at work when I go home from club, and he is at work again before his neighbors are out of bed.
-You may find friends to assist you. If you will take the debts of the company upon you; return to my father the hundred pound he has advanced; pay my little personal debts, and give me thirty pounds and a new saddle, I will relinquish the partnership, and leave the whole in your hands. I agreed to this proposal.
-I took care not only to be in reality industrious and frugal, but to avoid all appearances to the contrary. I dressed plainly; I was seen at no places of idle diversion. I never went out a fishing or shooting; a book, indeed, sometimes debauched me from my work, but that was seldom, snug, and gave no scandal; and, to show that I was not above my business, I sometimes brought home the paper I purchased at the stores through the streets on a wheelbarrow.
-I was not to expect money with a wife, unless with such a one as I should not otherwise think agreeable.

The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin. Quotes III

-I had by no means improv'd my fortune; but I had picked up some very ingenious acquaintance, whose conversation was of great advantage to me; and I had read considerably.
-I objected my want of money.
-My mind having been much more improv'd by reading.
-It may be well to let you know the then state of my mind with regard to my principles and morals, that you may see how far those influenc'd the future events of my life.
-I grew convinc'd that truth, sincerity and integrity in dealings between man and man were of the utmost importance to the felicity of life.
-We met on Friday evenings. The rules that I drew up required that every member, in his turn, should produce one or more queries on any point of Morals, Politics, or Natural Philosophy, to be discuss'd by the company.
-Our debates were to be under the direction of a president, and to be conducted in the sincere spirit of inquiry after truth, without fondness for dispute, or desire of victory; and to prevent warmth, all expressions of postiveness in opinions, or direct contradiction, were after some time made contraband, and prohibited under small pecuniary penalties.
-Our friendship continued without interruption to his death, upward of forty years; and the club continued almost as long, and was the best school of philosophy, morality, and politics that then existed in the province.

The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin. Quotes II

-On our way, a drunken Dutchman, who was a passenger too, fell overboard; when he was sinking, I reached through the water to his shock pate, and drew him up, so that we got him in again.
-My whole stock of cash consisted of a Dutch dollar, and about a shilling in copper. The latter I gave the people of the boat for my passage, who at first refus'd it, on account of my rowing; but I insisted on their taking it. A man being sometimes more generous when he has but a little money than when he has plenty, perhaps thro' fear of being thought to have but little.
-I went for a draught of the river water; and being filled with one of my rolls, gave the other two to a woman and her child that came down the river in the boat with us, and were waiting to go farther.
-I began now to have some acquaintance among the young people of the town, that were lovers of reading, with whom I spent my evenings very pleasantly; and gaining money by my industry and frugality.
-An incident happened that sent me back again much sooner than I had intended.
-The governor gave me an ample letter, saying many flattering things of me to my father, and strongly recommending the project of my setting up at Philadelphia as a thing that must make my fortune.
-By steady industry and a prudent parsimony I might save enough by the time I was one and twenty to set me up.
-This was the second governor who had done me the honor to take notice of me; which, to a poor boy like me, was very pleasing.
-The breaking into this money of Vernon's was one of the first great errata of my life.
-Had four or five shillings to pay out of his wages every Saturday night for that muddling liquor; and expense I was free from. And thus these poor devils keep themselves always under.
-I propos'd some reasonable alterations in their chappel laws.

The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin. Quotes

-I should have no objection to a repetition of the same life from its beginning, only asking the advantages authors have in a second edition to correct some faults of the first.
-It would not be altogether absurd if a man were to thank God for his vanity among the other comforts of life.
-I disliked the trade, and had a strong inclination for the sea.
-Nothing was useful which was not honest.
-From a child I was fond of reading, and all the little money that came into my hands was ever laid out in books.
-Persons of good sense, seldom fall into it. (Arguments).
-I was frequently chid for my singularity.
-For want of modesty is want of sense.
-So, I sold some of my books to raise a little money, was taken on board privately, and as we had a fair wind, in three days I found myself in New York, near 300 miles from home, a boy of but 17, without the least recommendation to, or knowledge of any person in the place, and with very little money in my pocket.

Calendar Book # 11: November. The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.

Life itself. Quotes

-Javier, me he dado cuenta de que tú y yo no hemos hablado nunca... Hace cinco años que yo soy dueño de estas tierras... y no me recuerdo que nos hayamos dicho no más que unas pocas palabras...
[...]
Y ahora debo preguntarte: ¿por qué significa tanto para ti?
-No le sigo señor.
-Los otros hombres usan varas y mallas. Pero tú las coges a mano. Lo que sólo te permite recoger la mitad.
-Bueno, por eso trabajo el doble. Señor.
-Lo sé, lo sé. No es un crítica. Es una simple pregunta.
-¿Por qué trabajas más duro que el resto de los hombres?
-Porque creo que es la manera correcta de hacerlo, señor.
-Te cuento la historia de mi padre, de la maltratada de mi madre, y cuanto te pido que hagas lo mismo, ¿lo único que me dices que es que es la manera correcta? Vamos hombre, bébete la manzanilla y cuéntame tu historia.
-Yo soy un hombre sencillo señor. Yo no tengo ninguna historia.
Mi padre no era un hijo de la gran puta. Mi padre era un hombre divertido, que silbaba mientras trabajaba. Y yo estoy feliz de poder hacerlo también mientras trabajo. La vara y el rastrillo magullan la aceituna. Por eso yo la cojo con las manos. Es la manera correcta. Eso es todo, señor.
-Los trabajadores te quieren mucho. Te he visto contarles historias, hacerles reir.
-Soy un bocazas.
-Pero conmigo eres muy reservado.
-Porque usted es el jefe, señor.
-Yo quiero ser tu amigo.
-No, le decepcionaría como amigo.
-No, no creo.
-Ya le he dado una respuesta, señor.
-Es curioso. El resto de los hombres me aprecian y apenas me conocen. Tú acabas de escuchar mi historia y... ¿no te hace sentir aprecio por mí? No pasa nada, puedes decir lo que quieras y ser totalmente honesto.
-No me hace apreciarlo algo más, señor.
-¿Puedo preguntarte por qué?
-Yo no habría cogido el dinero señor.

-Te gustaría ser capataz. Supervisar a la gente. Y vivirías aquí.
-Con la vivienda sería suficiente. Pero tengo una condición: cuidaré sus tierras, le ayudaré que prosperen como si fueran mías, pero mi silbido es para mí y mi bocaza es para mis jornaleros. No me pida nada señor. Y a cambio, yo nunca le pediré nada a usted.


-Enough. Listen to me. Rigo. You have had many ups and downs in your life. Too many. And you will have more. This is life. And this is what it does. Life brings you to your knees. It brings you lower than you think you can go. But if you stand back up and move forward... if you go just a little farther... you will always find love. I found love in you. And my life, my story, it will continue after I am gone... Because you are my story. You are your father's story. Your uncle's.
Rigo... my body fails me. But you are me. So you go now. Give me a beautiful life. The most beautiful life ever. Yeah? And if life brings us to our knees, you stand us back up. You get up. And go farther. And find us the love. Will you do that?

-I am not sure what story I have been telling. I am not sure if it is mine... or if it is some character I have yet to meet. I am not sure of anything. All I know is that, at any moment, life will surprise me. It will bring me to my knees. And when it does, I will remind myself... I will remind myself... that I am my father... and I am my father's father. I am my mother. And I am my mother's mother. And while it may be easy to wallow in the tragedies that shape our lives, and while it is natural to focus on those unspeakable moments that bring us to our knees, we must remind ourselves that if we get up, if we take the story a little bit farther, si vamos más allá, hay amor. If we go far enough, there's love.

Handbook for teachers in Human Values Education by Ron and Suwanti Farmer. Quotes XXI

-It is our very Presence that will motivate and transform the students in our care.
-How we live our lives will become an inspiration for the young ones to follow.
-We are immortal residing for a while in a mortal body.
-When something unfavorable is happening in the classroom, it is for our own good. It is for own good.
-When we can be mindful enough, to remember often enough that we are indestructible, all loving, peaceful and just, all fear will disappear.
-We remember how we felt during an event, much more than what we were thinking at the time.
-Teachers respond positively to having their strengths recognized, particularly by those above them in the hierarchy of responsibility.
-Every mistake as an opportunity to change direction, try again, and evolve.
-The mistake cannot know of the gains that will follow.
-Always stay calm on your boat.
- BOUNCE BACK
Bad times don´t last.
Other people can help.
Unhelpful thinking makes us more upset.
Nobody is perfect.
Concentrate on positive thinking.
Everybody as disturbing thoughts. They will pass.
Blame never.
Accept things we cannot change.
Catastrophizing avoidal.
Keep things in perspective.
-The five keys to a mindful relationship:
1. Attention to the present moment.
2. Acceptance of self and other.
3. Appreciation of all of our gifts.
4. Attunement.
5. Allowing: when we let go of our fears and fixed beliefs and prejudices, we can be open to the unfolding of possibilities of the present moment.

Handbook for teachers in Human Values Education by Ron and Suwanti Farmer. Quotes XX

-The power of example.
-This is what brings about healing in these boys, the example of a teacher believing in and living the Human Values, regardless of the challenges to the ego that are relentless in their onslaught.
-The goal is to be an example to everyone.
-Everyone will behave themselves in the presence of a policemen; only the truly decent will behave the same out of sight of the lawman's eye.
-Presence: moral behavior that is consistent across every aspect of our lives and builds a network of neural connections in our brain and heart that grows more integrated and resilient with each exercise or our good character.
-We will not be able to love our students in the most pure way as long as we regard then as different from each other and from ourselves.
-There needs to be harmony between our thoughts, words and deeds.
-Our environment contributes enormously to our health, happiness, and ability to teach and learn.
-A bright and colorful classroom, with healthy lunch-food provided, wise sayings on wall posters and calming music at times all go a long way to creating healthy student minds and bodies.
-There is only one religion, the religion of Love.
-It is the example we set for the children in virtuous and accomplished living that plays the greatest role. As we change, the whole world changes, for we are all interconnected.
-Noticing, being open-minded, having a beginner's mind, without judgement or labeling.
-When people relax that rigid sense of bodily defined identity and open up to realizing that we are all part of the interconnected whole.
-Every dish you wash is a new dish. Tenzin Palmo.
-The more someone dislikes, insults or attacks us, the more we need to love them.
-Sometimes you think you are the mud. But when you begin to wash off some of the mud, you will be able to get a glimpse of the shiny diamond inside you.
-We are the example of adulthood in a classroom of children.
-We can replay in our memory the scene, visualizing ourselves behaving in a more wise and loving way.
-It is our thoughts that determine our actions.

Handbook for teachers in Human Values Education by Ron and Suwanti Farmer. Quotes XIX

-We live in forgetfulness, looking for happiness somewhere else. Thich Nhat Hanh.
-Being open to the present moment, without clinging to it or rejecting it, allows teachers and students to let go of the endless chattering of their mind, to be free to experience the true Self, the five Human Values.
-The mind is a product of countless neuronal pathways in the brain, many of which have become set into habitual patterns over the years.
-To become exemplary role models we will need to reprogram the mind. It requires us to make a conscious choice at every moment, as to whether to hold on to a thought, or to let go of it.
-The challenge is how to remember to remember to be aware of each thought, and to exercise our mastery over whether it stays or not.
-When we are being patient, we know that the experience unfolding before our eye of awareness has it own perfect timing. Wishing that this moment will soon pass so that we can enjoy the next is like hoping that a blooming flower on a bush will soon fade so that we can enjoy the next one to appear.
-We can trust that whatever another person says or does to us, it will be perfect for our personal growth and learning.
-Letting go is like putting down two suitcases full of old rubbish.
-When we experience in the present moment the seven qualities of pure mindfulness (non-judging, patience, trust, beginner's mind, non-striving, letting go, acceptance), we see only the best in others.
-As we begin to develop awareness of the mind, it witnesses without judgment and without comment.
-School teachers have the fate of the nation in their hands.
-It is not enough for a teacher to impart information in an efficient manner without any consideration for the moral and ethical awakening of the classroom pupils.
-Today's children are not happy. We cannot stand by while our society's vulnerable ones suffer and go astray.
-Teaching as the most noble of all professions.
-We are all cells in the one body of humanity.
-It is because as students they have gained only information without any thought of transformation to become a true human being who lives and breathes goodness, wisdom and unconditional love, with an irresistible urge to be of service to those who are struggling.
-Be the change we want to see in our students.
-The example of our own behavior that we set before others is highly observable.
-Students who feel truly listened to, heard and understood by their teacher are automatically inclined to behave in this same way towards others.

Deep

Pure Gold

Is this cold enough 
Suitably calculated 
Is it dark enough 
Bold but understated 
Is it falling over backwards 
Is it straining 
Does it feel like my own 
Does it feel like it's out of my hands 
Does it hang there uncertain, insecure 
Guess it's pure gold 

Virgin ears uncovered 
By some shaky pen 
The browbeaten unsmothered 
By some vaporous intent 
Now they're falling over backwards 
And they're straining to hear, so I ask now 
Does it feel like your own 
Does it feel like it's out of your hands 
Does it hang there uncertain, insecure 
Guess it's pure gold 

Does it feel like our own 
Does it feel like it's out of our hands 
Does it hang there uncertain, insecure 
Guess it's pure gold 
Guess it's pure gold 
Guess it's pure gold

Handbook for teachers in Human Values Education by Ron and Suwanti Farmer. Quotes XVIII

-We live in forgetfulness, looking for happiness somewhere else. Thich Nhat Hanh.
-To become exemplary role models for the five Human Values, we will need to reprogram the mind.
-Peace, love, joy and all of the other noble virtues already lie waiting within us, in full force.
-Mindfulness: being aware of, or giving attention to, the present experience.
-Letting go is like putting down two suitcases full of old rubbish.
-Our mental/emotional habits, attitudes, likes and dislikes have well-established networks of neuronal activity in the brain. It will require diligent practice in our everyday lives if we are to neutralize these customary ways of thinking that limit our perception.
-We can trust that whatever another person says or does to us, it will be perfect for our personal growth and learning.
-The way to discover the deeper levels of our innate goodness and wisdom is to steadily live a more virtuous life in an increasingly mindful way.
-Where attention goes, neural firing occurs.
-As we begin to develop awareness of the mind, it witnesses without judgment and without comment.
-It is not enough for a teacher to impart information in an efficient manner without any consideration for the moral and ethical awakening of the classroom pupils.
-Whatever you do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Goethe.

Handbook for teachers in Human Values Education by Ron and Suwanti Farmer. Quotes XVII

-The Human Values Education teacher will no be proselytizing about any religion or creed, but, rather, aiming to perfect oneself so that students might more readily become perfect themselves.
-We are all diamonds covered with mud. You are not the mud, your are the diamond.
-You are a King who has been asleep.
-One must always choose the path with heart in order to be at one's best. Carlos Castaneda.
-Our natural inclination is to be selfless, generous and loving.
-The process of education has to inspire.
-Present education is more about preparation for joining the workforce than about how to reach one's full potential as a human being.
-Quality teaching places more emphasis on student engagement with learning and less emphasis on linear and developmental notions of learning. Learning is then regarded as something to which students will gravitate quiet naturally when it is meaningful and when the learning activities allow opportunities for student input, discussion or collaboration.
-Learning is at its best when we are happy and content within our social relationships, when we ourselves have played a part in the choice of what is to be learned; when we can apply what we have been learning to real-world situations; and when our feeling of self-worth is enhanced by helping others with the knowledge we have gained.
-Instead of teaching curriculum content, it is more effective to provide conditions whereby the students can learn the material using more of their own initiatives, with assistance provided where necessary.
-The character strengths come into play when a teacher dares to run the risk of treating students as human beings with enormous human potential.
-If you serve without love, it is not service at all. Sathya Sai Baba.
-There is much to be gained from putting in effort in a neurological sense. Our brain develops neuronal circuits that can respond up to 3000 times faster when we strive to persevere and do our very best.
-Every part of the content of the curriculum can be utilized as opportunities for the Human Values to come alive in the students.

Handbook for teachers in Human Values Education by Ron and Suwanti Farmer. Quotes XVI

-Every child who pushes the button triggering impatience, agitation, disappointment or dislike, is actually a gift, provided there is not turning away from facing the storm yet again.
-Each time we persevered and tried again, our skill level rose significantly.
-We can regard all of our failures to become living examples of unbroken equanimity and pure love as essential for our growth and turn towards these high goals with renewed faith and perseverance.
-A very high standard for the students necessarily involves embracing mistakes, setting the bar higher each time so that the mountain might appear, to the logical mind, to be impossible to climb.
-Plasticity is a core feature of the brain throughout life.
-Children learn well when the teacher:
1. Has a warm and loving relationship with each student.
2. Ensures that each child feels safe and protected.
3. Creates a learning atmosphere that produces optimal feelings of well being in each student.
4. Takes account of and has empathy with the fears, self-doubts, and other negative emotions
-For a child to attain their own unique level of human excellence, they will need to have optimized learning in their physical, social, moral and spiritual spheres as well.
-If your emotional abilities are not in hand, if you don't have self-awareness, if you are not able to manage your distressing emotions, if you can't have empathy and have effective relationships, then no matter how smart you are, you are not going to get very far. Goleman.
-Happy children who feel listened to and cared about are more able to pay attention to, understand,  learn from and remember what the teacher is presenting to them.
-This innate moral sense begins to be attenuated as the child grows older.
-Whenever you feel angry, think of Love, develop thoughts of Love in your heart. You will have Peace.
-Life is Love.
-If the thought is in harmony with the conscience and each one of the five Human Values, it is to be allowed to remain; if the thought transgresses any of these moral guidelines, it is to be let go.
-The heart has reasons that reason cannot understand.
-Spiritual Heart does exist.
-When Human Values Education speaks of Peaceful Mind, Open Heart, we are referring to a way of living that has the mind becoming the servant of the Spiritual Heart. 

Handbook for teachers in Human Values Education by Ron and Suwanti Farmer. Quotes XV

-Every conceivable aspect of human functioning are all dependent upon neurons, each of which has a specific function.
-Mirror neurons have been identified as being responsible for imitation learning.
-When we observe somebody behaving in a particular way, our mirror neurons begin setting up patterns of reactivity that ensure we will mirror, mimic or imitate what our senses are taking in.
-When neurons in the brain are not used, if they don't fire off, not connected to other neurons, they die off, on great numbers, in the millions. Research shows that experiences help our neurons to fire and rewire in new adaptive and resilient ways.
-To the extent that we are teachers who inspire, students will continue to grow the neuronal pathways of living the Human Values they observe in us, each time they recall something we did or said, or if they imagine themselves emulating our good character.
-Fill the heart with Love, and distribute that Love to all. Love grows with every gift of Love.
-Your thoughts, words and deeds will shape others, and theirs will shape you.
-Your heart is inherently filled with Love. Every cell in the human body is filled with Love. It is this micro-cosmic Love that fills the entire Cosmos.
-The more we learn, the easier is to learn.
-A teaching style that is only concerned with the curriculum content, without any passion and enthusiasm for the subject, and lacking any depth and quality of relationship with the students, will be inhibiting students' potential for learning and recall.
-Although perseverance can be uncomfortable at first, students need to know that pushing on is also a skill to be developed and that, each time we try once more, it gets easier to persevere.

Handbook for teachers in Human Values Education by Ron and Suwanti Farmer. Quotes XIV

-Identifying students' Signature Strengths and encourage them to maximize their practical expression has become an essential component of what Seligman now calls positive education.
-Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the thing I can and the wisdom to know the difference. R. Niebuhr.
-Resilient children shared three categories:
1. Character attributes of the child.
2. Family cohesion and warmth.
3. The use of external support systems by parents and children.
-The five C's of resilient coping:
1. Calm.
2. Clarity.
3. Connection.
4. Competence.
5. Courage.
-When we are present in interacting with another person, we give them our full attention and receive their communication openly, without judgment, and with curiosity.
-55% of all emotional meaning is conveyed through facial expressions and body language; another 38% is communicated through tone and rhythm of voice; only 7% is communicated through words. Mehrabian.
-If we can feel what another person feels, we can be more understanding, more loving, more compassionate.
-Benefits of high-quality service learning:
1. Student engagement.
2. Improves higher order thinking skills.
3. Develops important personal and social skills for young people.
4. Develops stronger connections with their schools, communities and society.
-The Seven Teaching Strategies of Human Values Education:
1. Quiet time.
2. Mindfulness.
3. Wise sayings.
4. Story telling.
5. Peaceful mind, open heart.
6. Service learning.
7. Unity of faiths.
-Our sufferings comes from wanting things of this world.
-Our social ans physical environment, what comes into us through the five senses, can change the function and structure of our brain, which in turn influences how we think and what we do.
-The more often we think and act in a virtuous way, the more will our brains be restructured so as to facilitate this more noble way of thinking and behaving.
-See what is good
Think what is good
Hear what is good
Talk what is good
Do only good

Handbook for teachers in Human Values Education by Ron and Suwanti Farmer. Quotes XIII

-Regardless of the challenges facing us, we are safe if we can sit in our boat, regulating how we think, feel and move.
-Defusion lets us give less importance to our habitual thinking patterns, to distance ourselves from and to let go of unhelpful thoughts, beliefs and memories.
-We must not wish anything other than what happens from moment to moment, all the while, however, exercising ourselves in goodness. St. Catherine of Genoa.
-The what is is the most holy. Alan Watts.
-Acceptance allows us to make room for painful feelings, urges and sensations, allowing them to com and go without a struggle.
-If we can dare to live according to the values and virtues that resonate strongly within us, powerful things begin to happen.
-It requires conviction and courage to commit ourselves to living the values we believe in, wherever that path may take us.
-You have to ask yourself the question: Who am I? This investigation will lead in the end to the discovery of something within you which is behind the mind. Solve that great problem, and you will solve all other problems thereby. Ramana Maharshi.
-When we know what action needs to be taken, begin as soon as possible.
When we know what activity we should not be engaging in, cease doing it immediately.
When we are not sure what to do, wait.
-Our Signature Strengths are those of the 24 Character Strengths that we have rated as being the most prominent in our attitudes and behavior today.
-The 24 Character Strengths:

WISDOM
1. Creativity
2. Curiosity
3. Judgment
5. Love of learning

COURAGE
6. Bravery
7. Honesty
8. Perseverance
9. Zest

HUMANITY
10. Kindness
11. Love
12. Social intelligence

JUSTICE
13. Fairness
14. Leadership
15. Teamwork

TEMPERANCE
16. Forgiveness
17. Humility
18. Prudence
19. Self-regulation

TRASCENDENCE
20. Appreciation of beauty
21. Gratitude
22. Hope
23. Humor
24. Spirituality

Handbook for teachers in Human Values Education by Ron and Suwanti Farmer. Quotes XII

-Our behavior is determined largely by our thoughts.
-Use positive thinking and autosuggestion.
-We must repeat over and over our heart chosen thoughts and words.
-Three forms of the Wise Sayings teaching strategy:
1. Thought for the Week.
2. Prayers.
3. Others wisdom sayings.
-At Toogolawa Schools there are four prayers:
1. Prayer at the beginning of the Morning Quiet time.
2. Forbearance Prayer.
3. Prior to Eating Prayer.
4. Prayer to close the school day at Quiet Time.
-Peaceful mind-open heart are essential ingredients for any form of lasting happiness.
-Self-awareness assumes the presence of mindfulness but can be extended to include examining and reflecting upon how we think, move, speak, feel and act.
-The prime concern of Human Values Education is that each student and teacher moves ever-upwards towards manifesting their innate human goodness and excellence.
-Teaching strategies into more self-awareness:
1. Mindfulness practices.
2. Journal writing.
3. Self-monitoring.
-To regulate aspects of the self, our habitual (often unconscious) patterns of thinking, sensing, feeling and acting, the essential prerequisite is self-awareness.
-Self-regulation can be engaged in by focusing one one or more of three pathways: reflection, resilience, and relationship. 

Handbook for teachers in Human Values Education by Ron and Suwanti Farmer. Quotes XI

-It is better to become the master of the mind, instead of being the slave of the mind. Become a Mastermind.
-The mind is like a mirror in which we can see who we truly are. When we practice mindfulness, we are cleaning the mirror so that we can discover the peace, love and happiness that lie waiting within.
-Inside each one of us is something like a diamond. It is who we truly are. The diamond has five sides. These are the five Human Values. But this diamond is hidden under layers of mud. The mud is our sadness, our non-stop thinking, our anger, boredom and feelings of failure. When we practice mindfulness, we are washing the mud off our diamond, so we can shine, so that we can be at peace and happiness that we truly are.
-Each one of us is like a King who has gone to sleep. The King is dreaming that he is a useless beggar, a nobody, a failure, a fool. When we practice mindfulness, it is like waking the King up from his bad dream. Then, he remembers that he is a King, he is not a failure, he is not a fool; the King is extraordinary, amazing, beautiful.
-This body is like a wild horse. We have to learn to control it so that we succeed and don't keep ending up in trouble. To do this we use the mind. The mind is like the reins that control the horse. When we practice mindfulness we are taking charge of our mind, our body and our life.
-Mindfulness develops the following qualities in both students and teachers:
1. The ability to be calm and to concentrate.
2. The ability to listen inwardly and become more aware of our feelings and our conscience.
3. The awareness that happiness, peace and love come from inside and not from outside.
4. The creation of an inner world of positive images and feelings, building confidence in oneself and goodwill towards others.
5. The ability to identify with others, to expand the positive feelings to include all of the outside world.
-Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion, will one day become reality. Earl Nightingale.
-Human Values Education believes that we have to plant enough flowers in the garden of their young hearts so there is no room for these pernicious weeds to continue their infestation.

Handbook for teachers in Human Values Education by Ron and Suwanti Farmer. Quotes X

-The real value of service, its most visible result, it that it reforms you, and reshapes you. Do service as a spiritual discipline; then you will be humble and happy.
-As our children discover the nobility and responsibility within themselves that bring lasting peace and happiness, so too will our society rediscover its essential goodness, truth, love and beauty as the young ones become its driving force when they move into their adult years.
-The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. William Ward.
-It is as if the student, in being inspired by the teacher's example of virtue, catches a glimpse of their own inherent beauty and magnificence and yearns to bring that home.
-Teaching strategies and techniques in Human Values Education:
1. Quiet time.
2. Mindfulness (Silent sitting)
3. Wise sayings.
4. Story telling.
5. Peaceful mind, Open heart.
6. Service learning.
7. Unity of faiths.
-Prayers and rituals are an opportunity for the student to experience the sacred, the grand mystery and beauty that runs like an underground stream beneath all of life's surface troubles and joys.
-Why do we ask people to sit straight and to sit quiet in meditation? Because when the body is straight and quiet, the mind inside is also straight and quiet. If you cannot control your body, how can you control your mind?
-Teaching strategy as Mindfulness:
1. Sitting or lying still.
2. Focus the mind on the breath, body parts, etc.
3. Guided imagination of light illuminating different parts of the body, and then throughout the whole world.
4. Repetition of special words, either in time with the breath, or independent of the breath.
5. Visualizing being courageous, confident, happy, forgiving, and so on, in specific situations.

Handbook for teachers in Human Values Education by Ron and Suwanti Farmer. Quotes IX

-Inspire kids to care.
-We are all kings and queens in disguise.
-Warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.
-When my class begins a new project, a new venture, we begin with a taste of excellence.
-When the school places values at the center of its work and purposely tries to live those values, the changes in students' and teachers' behaviors that follow naturally from this decision gradually edge them into quality teaching and learning activity.
-Human Values Education at its best will be evident when quality teaching is in play, for the two are intertwined, each fertilizing the other into new areas of growth, strength and vitality.
-Quality education, focusing on whole person development, insists on giving attention to such crucial factors as the school environment, one that focuses on the quality of the teacher-student relationship, the ambience in the school, the interconnectedness between the school and parents and community, and the example of moral and performance character displayed by the teacher. All of these influence the emotional state of the student.
-Happy children learn well; unhappy ones struggle. When children feel safe (in the playground, classroom and at home), feel recognized and affirmed by the teacher and have the opportunities and guidance provided where they can excel, these children rise to the occasion.
-Seven valuable guidelines for establishing quality class environments:
1. Teach as if relationships matter.
2. Use the power of a handshake.
3. Get to know students as individuals.
4. Use bonding to improve behavior.
5. Use the power of example.
6. Use a self-inventory to focus on role-modelling.
7. Invite guest speakers who are positive role models.
-Staff coordinators for the Student Action Teams reported that classrooms and schools as a whole became more peaceful, happy, safe and creative. This, in turn, the reports say, elevated both moral and performance character in students and staff. Student Action Teams help create a class and school environment that improves student engagement and wellbeing, and reduces truancy.

Handbook for teachers in Human Values Education by Ron and Suwanti Farmer. Quotes VIII

-When students who achieve best at school are asked to nominate the most important qualities for a teacher to have, they overwhelmingly say things about care and trust.
-Mere observation of individual student-teacher relationships is not able to identify in a measurable way what it is that such teachers are doing, there are subtleties in the caring and trusting relationship between  the elder mentor and student that, although not obvious to the outside observer, have such a positive impact upon the younger  that they want to learn; they want to earn the recognition that the elder is already giving them.
-If you treat an individual as he is, he will remain as he is. But if you treat him as if he were as he ought to be and could be, he will become that he ought to be and could be. Goethe.
-It is only with support of a philosophy and practice that encourages us to see only good; think only good; speak only good; and do only good, that we can look for an bring out the best in a child.
-It is the student well-being that seems to be one of the most important requirements for optimal learning to take place, and the research indicates that it is the teacher who plays the major role in students feeling happy, confident, motivated, curious and persevering.
-Each exemplary teacher is looking to bring out the best in themselves and in their students.
-You can mandate tests and standards and curricula all you want, but it means nothing if you can't inspire kids to care.
-Each teacher must examine: Am I practicing what I am teaching? 

Handbook for teachers in Human Values Education by Dr. Ron and Suwanti Farmer. Quotes VII

-For the flower of Human Values Education to blossom in children at school a special milieu is required, one that facilitates and strengthens the emergence of their innate love and wisdom.
-In the moral life of a school, there is no better opportunity for students to take on authentic responsibility than by helping to create a school of character. Students must be engaged as essential partners in that task. When students are in visible leadership roles, and when all students have a voice and a stake in the character education effort, adults will be far more effective in promoting good character than they ever can be acting alone. Lickona, 2004.
-Character development will be a higher priority in the minds of staff, students and parents if results are assessed. If character development isn't assessed but academic achievement is, should we be surprised that character recedes in importance?, Lickona, 2013.
-One of the ten components of the Comprehensive Assessment Plan (CAP) involves collecting school data on character-related indicators such as: school attendance, test scores, discipline referrals, bullying incidents, fights, number of students involved in community service, and so on. Lickona reminds us that, without such assessments, teacher are not able to make realistic decisions about how to improve on the school's character education program.
-Another valuable assessment tool published by the Centre for the 4th and 5th Rs is the Respect and Responsibility School Culture Survey with 29 questions rated 1 to 5 on an agree/disagree scale.
-The 8 Strengths of Character:
1. Lifelong learner and critical thinker.
2. Diligent and capable performer
3. Socially and emotionally skilled person.
4. Ethical thinker.
5. Respectful and responsible moral agent.
6. Self-discipline person who pursues a healthy lifestyle.
7. Contributing community member and democratic citizen.
8. Spiritual person engaged in crafting a life of purpose.

Handbook for teachers in Human Values Education by Dr. Ron and Suwanti Farmer. Quotes VI

-Values education is a process of learning about the ideals that a society deems important. While this learning can take a number of forms, the underlying aim is for students not only to understand the Values, but also to reflect them in their attitudes and behavior, and contribute to society through good citizenship and ethical practice.
-Human Values within us will not shine forth unless certain conditions are met.
-How to create the ideal conditions for the development of both virtuous behavior and academic excellence... (It is the key)
-Character education is defined as intentional strategies within schools to foster children's capacities and motivations to act as moral agents, i.e., to do good in the world. Terence Lovat.
-Students need performance character (initiative, self-discipline, perseverance, teamwork, etc.) to do their best work and moral character (respect, fairness, kindness, honesty) to build the relationships that make for a positive learning environment.
-When Human Values are taught with the understanding that they already lie within every child in full measure, there is both a wish to remind the students of their true nature.
-Students who are clever academically yet lack the higher moral standards will never be an asset to society if they only know how to use their cleverness for their own benefit at the expense of the whole.
-We look always for the diamond.
-We are beginning to come out of a period when children were given free rein to develop their character as suits their whim, without any clear moral guidelines apart from the generally low ones displayed in movies, advertising and computer games.
-Creating a culture of caring, respect and responsibility in schools has positive outcomes for both students and teachers alike, and for the community in which they live.
-Human Values Education involves self-sacrifice of a special kind to become who they are rightly meant to be. It is our duty, our sacred task, to show by our example how this is to be done. If we can find our own gold, the students will follow, for it is the natural inclination of all human beings to become the best they can be, to be truly happy, peaceful, loving, self-reliant, resilient, accomplished and kind.

Handbook for teachers in Human Values Education by Dr. Ron and Suwanti Farmer. Quotes V

-Those seeking to practice Right Conduct will show respect for society's laws, their parents and elders, and the customs and practices of other cultures and faiths.
They will aim to be healthy, tidy, punctual, dutiful, reliable and responsible; to live simply; to study and work diligently; to respect elders; and to take on duties and responsibilities willingly. They will develop self-reliance, self-discipline and enthusiasm.
Underlying all this is a commitment to be true to the inner guidance of conscience, which prompts all of Nature to be uniquely and perfectly Itself.
-Happiness is when what you think, what you say and what you do are in harmony. Gandhi.
-Those seeking to practice Non-violence will try to avoid expressing anger, resentment, envy, jealousy and bitterness. Instead, doing their best to cultivate Love and Peace.
-They will cultivate gentleness, kindness and friendliness with all; having sympathy for the pain and difficulties of others, and so being unwilling to hurt or insult others in thought, word or action. They will avoid finding fault with others, and will practice forgiveness and forbearance when abused.
-It is through the teaching of Human Values  that character will blossom in the children. Good character and the five Human Values are of course synonymous, representing the same high ideals of human behavior.
-None of the five Human Values can stand alone.
-Each of the Human Values is defined by the other four, although Love ultimately has primacy.
-Forget that harm that anyone has done to you, and forget the good that you have done to others. If wealth is lost, nothing is lost. If health is lot, something is lost. If character is lost, all is lost. Sathya Sai Baba.
-Character is something that has to be nurtured, fostered, shaped and sometimes forged in the fire of pain, disappointment, hardship, shame and anger.
-The Human Values are the foundation, the substance and essence of every cell and atom in the universe.
-A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart. Goethe.

Handbook for teachers in Human Values Education by Dr. Ron and Suwanti Farmer. Quotes IV

-We are the sculptors of our own character, chipping away those thoughts, words and actions that are keeping us away from realizing and living our true identity, the five Human Values.
-The Human Values Education program focuses on the age-range 5 to 16 years.
-We are not separate from anything or anybody; we are in every cell as life and in every atom as activity. I am in you and you are in me.
-Those seeking to live practically to Truth will do their best to be honest with themselves and with others, and to be true to their word.
 They will seek to develop their intuition, together with a sense of inquiry, open-mindedness, detachment and fearlessness; and will seek to discriminate between right and wrong by diligently listening to their conscience. They will cultivate the feeling of being connected to everything and everybody, remembering that what we do to others we are therefore doing to ourselves.
-Truth, and goodness, and beauty are but different faces of the same All. Ralph Waldo Emerson.
-Abiding in perfect Peace, we are not troubled by fear, or desire, envy, hatred, greed or any of the tormenting passions. They are only transient mind-images on the unchanging screen of universal consciousness. We therefore experience unshaken tranquility, not swayed by praise or blame, profit or loss, joy or sorrow, regarding them merely as two sides of the same coin, for all is One.
-Those seeking to live in Peace, will practice self-discipline, patience, tolerance and non-attachment. They will think before speaking and acting; avoid or neutralize anger; place limits on satisfying their desires; learn to still themselves for reflection and prayer; try to love and serve all; and strive always to be true to their conscience. They will aim to regard all events as auspicious; develop humility; smile in times of difficulty; and cultivate optimism. They will remind themselves that Peace is to be found within and not outside oneself.
-Peace cannot be achieved through violence; it can be attained only through understanding. Ralph Waldo Emerson.
-To align ourselves with the current of Right Conduct, we need to ask of each action whether it will lead us closer to, or away from, Love, Peace, Truth, and Non-violence.

Handbook for teachers in Human Values Education by Dr. Ron and Suwanti Farmer. Quotes III

-New values education, a way of schooling that gives equal priority, if not more, to the development of good character as it does to the training for academic excellence.
-In  this new era teaching must go beyond addictive kinds of presentism that push us into short-term thinking, and instead recover the full gradeur, drama, and mystery of what it means to be one human soul educating another. it will mean finding in that instant of communication between teacher and students a spark of the divine, however obscure and misunderstood. It will mean delving deeply into our common humanity and sharing that spiritual adventure with all of those students who are counting on us to help them realize all of the latent treasures that lie untapped deep within.
-Unless education is transformed into wisdom, and wisdom is expressed in character, education is a wasteful process. Sathya Sai Baba.
-Today the cause of all the unrest in the world is because the children have not been educated properly... They have been taught about their rights, but they have not been taught what are their responsibilities... They are only taught 'I', 'I', 'I', and nothing about 'we'...
-Our highest endeavor must be to develop free human beings who are able of themselves to impart purpose and direction to their lives. The need for imagination, a sense of truth, and a feeling of responsibility, these three forces are the very nerve of education.

Handbook for teachers in Human Values Education by Dr. Ron and Suwanti Farmer. Quotes II

-The link between education and jobs has to be broken. Education should be for life and not for a living. It should prepare youth for all the responsibilities of citizenship. Sathya Sai Baba
-Education should help make students the embodiments of Human Values such as Truth, Love, Right Conduct, Peace and Non-Violence. Academic knowledge alone is of no great value. It may help one to learn a livelihood. But education should go beyond preparation for earning a living. It should prepare one for the challenges of life morally and spiritually. It is because Human Values are absent in 'educated' persons that we find them steeped in anxiety and worry. Sathya Sai Baba
-The schools in India, Thailand and Zambia who were the first to apply the Human Values Education model soon found that, by assigning a higher priority to the development of good character than to academic attainment, scholastic performance reached above the levels being achieved in the mainstream schools where the teaching of values was being neglected.
-Values-based schooling enhances academic diligence and performance along with student and teacher well being.
-Education should imbue students with certain ideals. They should realize that there is only one caste, the caste of humanity. There is only one religion, the religion of love. There is only one language, the language of the heart. Sathya Sai Baba.
-We identified 10 values that underpin all successful communities: courage, justice, resilience, compassion, responsibility, respect, humility, gratitude, civility and integrity. These values are embedded in our daily practice and form the basis of teacher and student interactions. They are explicitly and implicitly taught through role modelling, inclusion in trans-disciplinary units, discussion, guided reflection and timely consideration of daily interactions...
Most important is that I live the values every minute of every day... Even though it would be easier at times to compromise one of the values we promote, I never do. They guide every decision. Cherylyin Skewes.
-No one grows simply by doing what someone else forces us to do. We begin to grow when finally we want to grow.
-The key to excellence is this: it is born from a culture... A culture of excellence transcends race, class, and geography; it doesn't matter what color, income or background children come from. Once  those children enter a culture with a powerful ethic, that ethic becomes their norm. It's what they know.

Handbook for teachers in Human Values Education by Dr. Ron and Suwanti Farmer. Quotes.

-When you let your Light shine, you unconsciously give others permission to do the same. Nelson Mandela.
-Research demonstrates that values education not only enhances academic diligence and performance, lifts student and teacher wellbeing, promotes higher thinking skills and galvanizes community involvement, it also achieves its primary goal of creating an environment in which children can flower into their own unique manifestations of human excellence, young beings who regard their education as preparation for a lifetime of selfless service to the community.
-It is vital that when we are educating our children's brains we do not neglect their hearts. 14th Dalai Lama.
-Human Values are contained in everyone and these should be preserved. Those who have forgotten this should be reminded. That duty you should carry out. Sathya Sai Baba.
-Values education refers to any explicit and/or implicit school-based activity to promote student understanding and knowledge of values and to inculcate the skills and disposition of students so they can enact particular values as individuals and as members of the wider community.
-To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society. Theodore Roosevelt.
-What is the use of acquiring high education if one is found wanting in virtues? What is the value of such education? What is the use of ten acres of barren land? Instead, a small piece of fertile land is good enough. Sathya Sai Baba.
-Walking among these selfless servants for the greater good are the stellar luminaries, like Gandhi, Rachel Carson, Abraham Lincoln, Mother Theresa, the Dalai Lama, who stand out like beacons in a stark landscape, beckoning millions to follow.
-The end of all knowledge must be the building up of character. Cesar Chavez.
-The education reform movement calling for such a change has been known internationally by a number of names, such as moral education, character education, ethics education and values education. The common message throughout them all is for teachers to take on the role of fostering in the students those values that will benefit humanity and Mother Earth instead of causing harm.
-The essential catalyst for the manifestation of the Human Values in students is for the teachers and parents themselves to become inspiring, noble exemplars of the five values in action.

Calenar Book #10 October. Handbook for teachers in human values education: Scientifically grounded teaching strategies for a meaningful life by R. Farmer and Suwanti Farmer

Anso: sus montes y su ganadería de Jorge Puyó Navarro. Frases IV

-Al amparo de esto, lleva fama este pueblo (Ansó) de rico y no lo es, aunque podría serlo. Como Municipio, pues, no tiene nada de eso, aunque parezca algo paradójicol. Lo único que tiene de bueno es que, a pesar de estar lejos de las urbes, no tiene ningún analfabeto. Claro que tiene un Grupo Escolar, ya medio anciano, del que fue alma D. Manuel de la Riva, donde dan enseñanza tres maestros y dos maestras. A esto, hoy como ayer, se debe todo.
-Su forma de vida es algo rutinaria, empírica: por lo innato, o por la falta de espíritu emprendedor, y aunque alguien, como Balmes, recomendara que no conviene ir por camino trillado, no sable salir del trazado por sus venerables viejos: pastores y siempre pastores.
-En la vida social, su temperamento particular no le permite enseñarse de momento. Tiene algo de espíritu observador y cuando ve llegada la hora, se acerca o se asoma, pero no para ofrecer lo que no siente, sino para darlo sin reservas, con la franqueza baturra de que está caracterizado. Este es Ansó: algo hosco y retraído hasta conocer, pero franco y acogedor después.
-Se halla la población ansotana situada en la margen izquierda del río Veral, el que ofrece fina brisa mañanera, impregnada de oxígeno salutífero que despiden los bosques del puerto. Su recorrido, es grande; su curso accidentado; sus aguas, cristalinas y espumosas, y su longitud, desde el Estrecho de Linza, en que nace, hasta el Aragón, en que desemboca, de 60 kilómetros.
-A unos diez kilómetros de su fuente original tenemos el Cuartel de Carabineros, que sirve de puerto de entrada al Valle de Zuriza. De este Zuriza, donde está hecha esta pobreza en una magnífica mañana de Julio, de paisaje incomparable, con su rincón de trovadores, ambiente terapeútico, todo salud corporal y riqueza espiritual, sosiego, tranquilidad, vida.
-Los bosques de que está ornamentada esta vasta zona de nuestro Valle, son enormes, y sus árboles, magníficos pinos, abetos y hayas, tienen un valor forestal de gran estimación. Pobladores terrestres de estos lugares silenciosos son el jabalí, el corzo, el sarrio, la fuina, y el zorro. Y aéreos, los volátiles como el picatroncos, el gayo, la graja, en enormes bandadas, que en sus revoloteos nublan el sol; la paloma torcaz, el milano, el buitre, la boleta y el águila imperial.
-Su flora es abundante y variadísima: sólo un buen botánico podría describirla. Ni que decir tiene que encierra importantes valores terapeúticos. Nuestro Zuriza es desconocido por la mayor parte de turistas que quieren saber de naturaleza bella, florida y sana. Sólo la Universidad de Zaragoza de verano en Jaca lo visita anualmente el día de Santiago, pero el escaso tiempo de que dispone no le permite pasar del portal. Desconoce, pues, el templo, que es el Estrecho de Linza, con sus recodos de Gamueta y Maz.
-El crítico y fotógrafo, el poeta y el filósofo, el artista y el pensador, tienen, pues, en nuestro Zuriza, el incomparable y acogedor pasto abundante para sus legítimas ambiciones. Que no dejen de visitarlo en su época adecuada (Junio y Julio), en que la Naturaleza viste  en estas soledades sus mejores galas de primavera, enseñando su florido ropaje, y verán como quedarán de él plenamente satisfechos y ricamente enamorados.

Ansó: sus montes y su ganadería de Jorge Puyó Navarro. Frases III

-De todos los productos secundarios de estos montes puede decirse que tiene primordial importancia a aun casi exclusiva, el que se refiere al aprovechamiento de los pastos. Quedan en segundo término todos los demás: la caza, por su escasa representación, la pesca, el fruto de haya, etc., etc.
-En suma, puede decirse que en el estado actual de la ordenación de estos montes, ocupa preferente lugar la producción del pasto a todas las demás producciones de los mismos, y es preciso, por tanto, que dediquemos a aquélla una atención preferente, que sirva, no sólo para mantener esta renta, sino para mejorarla en lo posible; pero haciéndola compatible con la renta del bosque, a medida que ésta también va superándose.
-Dichas partes reconocen y confiesan que el término y partida del Sabucar es término propio de la dicha villa de Ansó, y que no es parte ni porción del puerto de Soasqui sobredicho.
-Por lo cual, dicho paso se haya de pagar a veinte sueldos Jaqueses por millar del ganado menudo fuera corderos  y a dos reales por día a la guía que les guiare y acompañare y que no se pueda enviar más de una guía por millar y el ganado grueso porque al respeto de diez cabezas de ganado grueso por ciento de menudo.
-A 834 metros de altura sobre el nivel del mar, y en el ángulo formado por los límites de Navarra y Francia, en el Pirineo aragonés, se halla la villa de Ansó. Su población civil ha descendido bastante en estos dos últimos decenios, debido a la insucesión familiar de gran número de casas solariegas, hoy cerradas. Cuenta, pues, en la actualidad nada más que con unos 1.500 habitantes aproximadamente.
-Ansó, su origen como término municipal, ya referido en otro lugar de este librito, se remonta al año 1272; concesión otorgada por el Rey Jaime I de Aragón, y confirmada por ocho Reyes más, entre los que figura D. Fernando el Católico.
-Su extensión (Ansó) es enorme: unos 40 kilómetros lo surcan de Norte a Sur, y otros tantos o más, y siempre asomándonos a Francia, desde la Meseta de los Tres Reyes, límite de Navarra, hasta las proximidades de Candanchú; bosques y terreno pastizal casi todo, del que se aprovechan 43.000 cabezas de ganado lanar, alrededor de 2000 cabrías, 500 caballares, unos 1000 vacunos. Su riqueza principal, pues, y casi única es esa: ganadería y masa forestal.

Ansó: sus montes y su ganadería de Jorge Puyó Navarro. Frases II

-Esta superficie es la que puede decirse que está sobrecargada siempre; es decir, que en el ganado de los montes de Ansó, es preciso distinguir dos clases distintas: la de los pastos no subastados, en los que pasta el ganado de los vecinos de Ansó y la de los terrenos arrendados, en los que pasta el ganado extraño.
-En cambio, los grandes propietarios disminuyen  marcadamente y desde el año 1910 no existe en el Ayuntamiento registrado rebaño alguno que sume más de 1000 cabezas.
-Es necesaria para la parte del ganado trashumante una reglamentación con medidas severas que varíen totalmente las condiciones en que hoy se realiza el pastoreo de los mismos.
-Hacia el mes de Mayo y en general, cuando se aproxima la fusión de las nieves, se trasladan los ganados desde las regiones de las llanuras, o como se dice en la localidad desde la ribera, región que comprende la llamada de Cinco Villas, en Aragón, Ejea, Ayerbe, Huesca, etc., hasta el Gállego y aun hoy hasta Grañén, Tardienta y Zaragoza, entran por el camino viejo de la canal en los montes de la zona inferior, empezando por el de Fórcala, y en éstos permanecen hasta el 20 o 30 de Junio, según el tiempo, época en la que se verifica el destete de los corderos, y entonces se van a los montes altos, precediendo la cría por razón del pasto más tierno, y después las ovejas, que quedan hasta mediados de Julio en los montes anteriores. En los montes altos permanecen durante los meses de Julio, Agosto y Septiembre y aún parte de Octubre, si el tiempo lo permite, después bajan a los montes de la zona inferior y en los primeros días de Noviembre  se trasladan a la ribera, en donde se vuelve a cumplir el ciclo ya reseñado.

Ansó: sus montes y su ganadería de Jorge Puyó Navarro. Frases.

-Pues aquí  tenéis un ganadero-pastor, que posee biblioteca en su casa, que lee, que escribe en periódicos sobre asuntos relacionados con su ocupación cotidiana, y que hasta ha hablado en público con certera concisión y sencillez, que excusa la verbosidad. RICARDO DEL ARCO.
-Consta asímismo en este librito, el tratado internacional local con Francia, celebrado en Bayona, el día 14 de Abril de 1862, según el cual, Ansó está obligado a ceder los pastos de los montes de Estanés y Esper, cada seis y cada tres años, respectivamente, a los pueblos limítrofes franceses de Borce y Urdós, a cuenta de podernos aprovechar nosotros de los pueblos antedichos de las maderas que necesitemos para hacer cabañas y para los usos de la vida.
-Los pueblos de Ansó y Fago formaban un solo distrito municipal hasta el año 1830 en que se separaron, constituyendo Ayuntamientos independientes con distanta administración, a pesar de lo cual siguieron aprovechando mancomunadamente los montes del Valle.
-Resultando que por esa Jefatura se hacen análogos razonamientos para contestar a las reclamaciones formuladas por los Ayuntamientos de Ansó, Fago, Oto, Linás de Broto, Sarvisé, Bergua, Panticosa, Pueyo, Hoz de Jaca y Torla, pidiendo la suspensión de las subastas de pastos de sus montes y que se concedan a los Ayuntamientos de los pueblos vecinalmente, como vienen haciéndolo desde tiempo inmemorial.
-El espíritu, decimos, de todas las disposiciones dictadas sobre este asunto, tiende a respetar el peculiar modo de ser de la vida de este valle.
-El Valle de Ansó quizá sea el primer municipio que con personalidad propia solicita y se costea la ordenación de sus montes, aun en contra de un movimiento general.

Calendar Book #9 September: Ansó: sus montes y su ganadería de Jorge Puyó.

Notas de la vida de un pastor de Jorge Puyó Navarro. Frases XIX

-En cuanto a la vida del pastor, diremos ue es de mucha sujección, muy pegada a la tierra, vida por decirlo así, muy ruda, de pura naturaleza, siempre alejado del ambiente rural y del trato social, pero que tiene, por contrapeso, la salud, la paz, la tranquilidad y el buen deseo hacia todos sus semejantes, sobre todo si aquéllos son humildes.
-El pastor que siente su ganado y vela por sus ovejas, vive totalmente alejado del bullicio ciudadano, de la crítica, siempre perniciosa, del rencor y de todo aquello que puede envilecer al hombre. No sabe nada de envidias ni rencores, tampoco de insultos, y sí de ayuda al necesitado para darle cobijo en su majada y pan para alimentarse. Por vivir siempre pegado al santo suelo, ignora la hipocresía ciudadana y vive con nobleza ejemplar de la que carece mucha gente de matiz ciudadano. Nos llaman rudos y torpes y es cierto que lo somos en el saber, pero no en el sentir, prenda de la que adolece gran parte de la sociedad. Estos, nos anima; ello, nos enorgullece.

Notas de la vida de un pastor de Jorge Puyó Navarro. Frases XVIII

-Y concretamente hablando de Ansó, ya que a nosotros se dirige, le diremos a ese señor que estos pastores acusados de "lobos, salvajes, y amigos de pocas bromas" saben algo de Cervantes, Menéndez y Pelayo, Costa, Fray Luis. Y aún saben algo más, si cabe: la fecha en que nació y murió el gran filósofo Balmes, y lo que con tan maravillosa sencillez dejó plasmado en us famoso libro llamado "El Criterio".
-Es la oveja el animal más dócil, dulce e inofensivo que pisa la tierra: un simple cachorro recién nacido, un ave de corral, la cosa más insignificante, le produce verdadero susto. En cambio, el pastor, con más poder ofensivo que esos animales, no les hace mella: es la confianza que les merece, motivo de convivencia.
-Las ovejas viven, corrientemente, del pasto común que crían los montes. Animal muy sufrido, aguanta impasible los grandes temporales de lluvia y nieve, resiste igualmente el calor sofocante, llevan sin esfuerzo alguno las grandes jornadas por esos mundos inhóspitos en régimen de traslados desde su tierra al llano y viceversa, jornadas que nos roban quince días en el otoño y diez en la primavera.
-En su condición de animal doméstico tiene rasgos sencillamente admirables. Sus principales sentidos son el oído y el olfato. Doscientas o trescientas ovejas con sus respectivos corderitos, todas en un rebaño, es muy raro que una madre dé de tetar a hijo que no sea el suyo. De día, es el balido inonfundido el que les atrae; de noche, en la oscuridad es el olfato, fino e inequívoco el que los junta. En la parte sentimental tiene particularidades que rayan con lo humano. Pastando en el monte, no pasará una hora en que la madre deje de llamar al cordero para darle su exquisito alimento; si un cordero queda rezagado o dormido, al abrigo del cierzo, lo echa de menos en seguida y vuelve por él. Si un cordero muere por la noche, la oveja nos lo anuncia con su amargo y lastimero lloro, que sale por su amorosa boca. Son las ovejas, por fin, animales considerados como los más útiles a la humanidad en todos los aspectos de la vida. Las miremos, por tanto, con el respeto y cariño que se merecen los seres más útiles a la sociedad.

Notas de la vida de un pastor de Jorge Puyó Navarro. Frases XVII

-Llevemos el arado a tierras fértiles, cerealistas por esencia, y dejemos el resto para fines que la propia naturaleza tiene encomendado.
-Este pueblo (Ansó) es religioso, y sabe que la religión y la obediencia a Dios, el temor a Él, es el principio de la sabiduría.
-Por eso os digo a todos los excombatientes, militares y paisanos, a todos los que habéis estado en la guerra, con frío y con calor, con lluvia y con nieve, con barro y con escarcha, con hambre y con sed, durmiendo en el santo suelo y pasando las mil calamidades, que de manera alguna consintáis que, ni por la esquina, ni por los cafés, ni por los bares, hable nadie de España con el propósito bastardo de desmembrar su prestigio.
-Y puesto  que nuestra vida se debe a su muerte, ya que nosotros hablamos porque ellos no pueden hablar, les ofrezcamos, siquiera, es este Día-Aniversario, con toda sinceridad y con toda nuestra alma, el galardón modesto de nuestra perpetua gratitud.
-Pues he de decir a ustedes y hablo con toda sinceridad, que quería a este hombre como todo aquel hijo que le debe muchas cosas a su padre.
-Yo por mi parte, he de decir a ustedes y asegurar a todos, que si cierto es que el calzón y la basquiña nació con nosotros en las tablas de la cuna, o poco menos, en las otras tablas morirá también. Yo lo llevaba a los once años, ha sido mi compañero de toda la vida y con él iré al otro mundo cuando Dios me llame: no sé si se puede hacer más; no sé si se puede pedir más.
-Y sale al balcón un mozo arrogante, vestido con el indumento del país; saca unas cuartillas y se pone a leerlas con voz reposada, segura y fuerte, sin temblores de emoción, menos sin pausas de temor. Es una salutación y un anhelo de que el paso de la Universidad zaragozana por aquellas montañas dé sus frutos. Pide una compenetración del profesorado con el pueblo; enseñanza, lección, ejemplo. Ha terminado. Las aplausos atruenan la plaza. Los alumnos extranjeros se miran asombrados. Un auténtico pastor que cuida amorosamente su ganado en el puerto, en las cumbres enhiestas, ha escrito en el cubilar unas frases precisas, sobrias, sin arrequives, antes bien con un simpático leve desaliño que no daña a la corrección. Ese pastor ansotano se llama Jorge Puyó. Ricardo del Arco.
-Desfilan luego por aquella tribuna pública que es el balcón de la Casa Consistorial, un profesor alemán, otro norteamericano, otro inglés, otro francés, y todos se deshacen en elogios al rústico lector que ha lanzado unas ideas no zafias, sino de alta estirpe. Seguramente, piensan en sus países y en lo insólito del caso de este rincón de España en donde los vecinos no pagan arbitrios municipales, en donde reina el bienestar y la paz. Ricardo del Arco.

Notas de la vida de un pastor de Jorge Puyó Navarro. Frases XVI

-Como cosa esencial para poder apreciar sus condiciones (Valle de Zuriza) conviene aprovechar la época más oportuna, que es toda la primera quincena de julio: cuando las flores, cuando los árboles, cuando su vegetación tiene una magnífica expresión de sentimiento, cuando Zuriza virgen, muy ferviente y muy poética, sin hablar nada quiere decir mucho. Entonces, no después, es cuando hay que ir a ver Zuriza para saber qué es lo que tiene de bueno y de interesante.
-Por nuestra parte, y a pesar de ser nuestra fiesta la Nochebuena, por ser nuestros primitivos compañeros los primeros que les cupo la honra y el placer de adorar a Jesús, diremos que fue la Nochebuena del pan y del vino, y de la sardina asada a las brasas o cenizas; pues ni aún migas pudimos hacer por carecer este año de lo más indispensable que nunca nos faltó; el sebo. Fue la Nochebuena del silencio y de las manos a la frente, a la oscuridad y a la soledad de la cabaña, que es donde con más amor y dolor se recuerda al hermanoy al primo, perdidos para siempre en la tragedia. Y ante ésta tan triste como sublime realidad ¿qué debemos hacer, buen español? Mejorar nuestra condición de hermanos desplegando amor y desterrando ese feo egoísmo que todavía existe en algunos pechos; siendo generosos y comprensivos y cristianos prácticos, haciendo que el amor sea para los de casa y para los de fuera, como dice en su Encíclica "Rerum Novarum" León XIII, que en fin de cuentas, con la vara que medimos, seremos medidos.
-Se ha dicho que la mejor ayuda es la que se presta cada cual y es cierto.
-Es Huesca la provincia de España que más cara produce carne de ganado lanar. Sin embargo su precio es corriente o igual al de aquéllas que crian ganado en condiciones mucho más ventajosas.
-Una oveja trashumante lleva consigo 300 pesetas de gastos desde que sale hasta que vuelve a su tierra. Para compensar las pérdidas  en abortos y bajas en mayores (10-10%, respectivamente, necesita que su cordero valga 95, 100 y 105 duros, y no se sacan. Pesa 11 kilos, ¿a qué precio hay que vender esa carne? A 45,45 pesetas  el kilo. Esto no está al alcance de la clase baja ni tampoco de la clase media...

Notas de la vida de un pastor de Jorge Puyó Navarro. Frases XV

-Día breve. Declina la tarde y el ganado vuelve al corral. Lo encerramos. Abrimos la caseta y encontramos una vivienda solitaria, muda, con algún que otro roedor. Una cerilla nos da lumbre para encender unas brozas. Silencio. nos miramos y preguntamos: ¿qué hacemos?... Lo de siempre; y fue esto: unas migas y, por toda ración, una sardina de esas que se levantan del cubo. Un par de tragos y a dormir. A dormir sobre dos pellejos para taparnos con una manta empolvada, carcomida por los años. ¡De esta manera pasaron los pastores la Nochebuena en el campo!
Pero frente a esto, mientras nosotros nos disponemos a descansar, deseosos de ver pronto el lucero del alba, otros, los más, estarán preparando la gran cena basada en el pavo, en el pollo, en el ternasco, con abundante y buenos postres, para regarlos con exquisitas bebidas, de donde saldrá el humor y las consiguientes ganas de cantar, bailar, etc., etc. ¡Qué diferencias tan grandes hay en la vida!
-Pero más vale dejar esto y pensar en ser más buenos y más justos; porque en la hora menos pensada se puede presentar esa señora que ni duerme ni sestea, y que con igual pie pisa grandes castillos que las viviendas más humildes... Y allí se acaba todo.
-Once años no muy bien cumplidos tenía yo cuando me sacó mi padre de casa para llevarme a la ribera.
-Recién salido de la escuela, mi ilusión no era otra que la de ir al ganado; las ovejas, los corderos, las cabras, los chotitos, todo inocencia y dulzura, acaparaban por entero mi ilusión infantil, hasta el punto de hacerme olvidar todas las últimas lecciones y las advertencias y consejos que nos diera aquel maestro ejemplar , conocedor perfecto de la vida de los pueblos del Pirineo oscense; de estos pueblos cuyos habitantes tienen que estar ausentes de sus casas siete meses al año, conociendo caracteres nuevos y costumbres distintas, para lo que se debe estar bien dotado de gramática y aritmética. Se llamaba aquel encorbado anciano  don Francisco Fuertes, hombre enérgico, respetabilísimo, serio, testarudo en su empeño, pues no había discípulo que a los diez años  no le resolviera a su padre problemas de interés, de compañia, de aligación, falsa posición, etcétera, etcétera. ¡Qué de veces me dejó encerrado en la escuela sin salir a comer por no saberme la lección!¡Y con qué cariño recuerdo aquel castigo tan ejemplar!

Notas de la vida de un pastor de Jorge Puyó Navarro. Frases XIV

-Aguatuerta. Estar aquí, ver esto, produce una satisfacción enorme en el ganadero que ha sido pastor toda su vida. Los carneros-guías con sus esquilas; los corderos dóciles; algún que otro "mamantón" que se acerca amoroso a lamernos, recordando días malos de frío invierno  en que le dábamos al cabra para salvarlo; y el jugueteo triscado de unos y otros al alborear, son cosas que admiran y alegran todos los sentidos.
-Dentro de un par de días, Dios mediante, me iré a casa, sin otro interés que el de ver a mi mujer y a mis hijos. De ahí, para allá... nada. Hombres y mujeres en abundancia, sin calzón ni basquiña, por las calles de Ansó, y mucho bullicio por los cafés, tabernas y bares, en todo lo cual apuntan muchos signos de decadencia. Ahí está todo.
-Como el buen estudiantes a sus libros, nosotros amamos la ganado y lo llevamos con el cuidado e interés que aquél pone en los textos más importantes.
-Decididamente, los montañeses hemos venido al mundo para ser exclusivamente pastores y ganaderos. Más lo primero que lo segundo. De otra suerte, no se podría concebir el llevar con agrado esta vida tan dura, tan pródiga en privaciones y sacrificios. Porque para nosotros, los siete meses de ausenciade nuestras casas, que bien podríamos llamarlos de destierro por esos mundosde la  tierra baja, no hay fiestas semanales ni de precepto. Sólo sabemos de la Nochebuena por el recuerdo constante del nacimiento de Jesús, adorado por compañeros nuestros. De ahí para allá, perdemos el cuento y todos los días son iguales para nosotros. Si llueve, como si nieva. si hace frío, como si hace calor. Pegados a la tierra como seres inertes, sin apetencias de pueblos ni de ciudades. ¿Qué nombre se le puede dar a eso en estos tiempos?
-La Nochebuena en el campo. Mañana o madrugada fría. Hay escarcha en los abrigos y hielo en las balsas. El pastor se dispone a dar vuelta por el ganado. A intervalos, hay aire fuerte, huracanado, que produce remolinos y grandes nubes de polvo, que ciegan al mayoral. Pasado esto, se ven bastantes ovejas paridas, y todas a bien, cosa rara, por cierto. Las primalas o primerizas, guardando su corderillo bajo el vientre, nos desafían con las patas delanteras, como si fuésemos perros. Pero nosotros, con nuestro lenguaje particular, procuramos convencerlas de que no lo somos y logramos coger el corderillo para sacarlo a la pradera, siguiendo ellas amorosas, igual que madres humanas.
-Soltamos el ganado, y no para jornada larga, por las ovejas están "cargadas". Paren, van pariendo, y los caloyos tiemblan porque hace un día bastante crudo. Tiemblan, digo, hasta que, tontín tonteando, como borrachos, se acercan a la madre y quedan colgados de un pezón. Instantes después, llenos los ijares y sin temor a nada ni a nadie, dan señalesde querer juguetear. ¡Qué gusto da esto en medio de tanta contrariedad!

Notas de la vida de un pastor de Jorge Puyó Navarro. Frases XIII

-¡Qué alegre, y sobre todo qué tranquila es la vida en la soledad de éstos, nuestros incomparables parajes de Zuriza!
-Entregados a las faenas del ordeño para hacer queso, encerramos el ganado en el muidero a eso de las cuatro y media de la madrugada. Una hora o poco más y las ovejas están listas para el pastoreo. Echo el cuajo a la leche con su normal temperatura, 28 grados, y me voy de pastor para hacer esto, dejando a mis discípulos, Manuel y Pepito, con las consiguientes advertencias, para que hagan el queso y se adiestren en la materia para días o tiempos sucesivos.
-Y nos sorprende también en el silencio profundo de estos elevados parajes, el descorrer silencioso de alguna piedrecita discretamente movida, sin duda alguna por ocultar su presencia, por los sarrios que viven a dos mil y pico metros sobre nosotros, mirándonos como las ardillas al cazador desde las tajas más elevadas de los mejores mozos de la selva. Unos y otros, parece que nos quieren decir jactanciosos: somos superiores a vosotros, los humanos, porque vivimos más arriba, sin rencores, ni envidias, ni soberbias, ni discusiones, todo eso hijo de la pedantería, y más hermanados también, cerca de Dios. ¡Qué hermoso lenguaje éste! ¡Cuánta belleza  espiritual encierra! Esto nutre y alimenta, para el sensitivo, más que las buenas migas, que el cordero a la pastora, que el ternasco asado, que el vino de buena cuba, que los manjares más exquisitos que pueda exigir el paladar más delicado.
-Por estas latitudes, es costumbre darle a cada pastor, operario u ordeñador la ración de 200 ovejas, que deberá dejarlas listas en menos de una hora y media. El ordeño, siempre a campo libre, se verifica dos veces al día: a las cuatro de la mañana, y a las dos de la tarde, llueva o deje de llover, haga calor o deje de hacerlo.
-La leche que viene a dar estas 600 ovejas es de unos 90 a 100 litros diarios, de la que se obtienen unos ocho quesos de 2,5 kilogramos, aproximadamente, con un total de 20 kilos. Su clase, tipo ansotano, es buena, ya demostrada por el señor Albareda en sus publicaciones con mucha anterioridad a todo esto. Es superior al Roncal, por ser los pastos del vecino valle más bastos que los nuestros y su ganado de inferior calidad.