Thanks also to all those who have supported the Urbanmonks Thinktank in 2014. On to a great new year! Lots of exciting projects and books coming out in 2015.

On this New Year's Eve, let me give thanks to all those who have worked and are working to improve the emotional health of our culture, and by that I also mean our cultures - the culture of our relationships, the culture of our families, the culture of our neighborhoods, our villages, and our cities.

Here is a great quote from one of the great American philosopher writer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, who has remained a continuing influence in American society, though often below the radar. He helped inspire both Thoreau and Whitman. The peak of his cultural influence in the United States was during 1830s-1840s.

This quote is as valuable now as it ever has been. Wisdom, right here. But I tell you, if you want to really know a quote, you got to write it down somewhere, carry it with you in your wallet for a week or two.

Wisdom quotes have layers. It's a lesson, in a sentence. Amazing.

So without further ado, this was Emerson, dropping knowledge many generations ago.

What lies behind us and what lies before us
are small matters compared to what lies within us.