Love is, above all, the gift of oneself. - Jean Anouilh
When the student is ready, the Master appears.
-Buddhist proverb
A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you forget the words.
Everyone stumbles over the truth from time to time, but most people pick themselves up and hurry off as though nothing ever happened.
- Sir Winston Churchill
NO LENGTH OF TIME OR DISTANCE CAN COME BETWEEN THE FRIENDSHIP OF THOSE WHO ARE THOROUGHLY CONVINCED OF EACH OTHER'S WORTH
Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.
desiderata - max ehrmann - 1927
There be none of beauty's daughters
with a magic like thee;
and like music on the waters
is they sweet voice to me:
heavenly voices.
- Byron
Too many to list! (My 40 GB ipod is FULL!) But, I'm going to slowly tackle it anyway. Listing JUST my favorites. Even then this will be huge.
Singers and Bands:
There is a space on everyone's bookshelves for books one has outgrown but cannot give away. They hold one's youth between their leaves, like flowers pressed on a half-forgotten summer's day.
- Marion C. Garretty
If there’s a book you really want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.
- Toni Morrison
Man is made or unmade by himself. In the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself. He also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace.
- William James
Poets:
What would you attempt to do if you knew you would not fail?
-Robert H. Schuller
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.
If you are lonely while you're alone, you are in bad company. - Jean Paul Sartre
Compassion
With
humbleness,
may I face
everyone
with compassion
With
devotion
to enlightened life
may I abide
in true compassion
So that others
may know
their true Heart,
may I have
the wisdom
and True Knowledge
to bring out the best
in everyone
With
compassion
for this world
with all
and everyone
in it,
may I fight
in every way
for a better world,
for the generations
to come
Accepting
any hardship
for myself,
may I abide
in the Energy
of the Universe,
the source
of wisdom
and compassion
Empowered,
may I have
true compassion
in sharing
the wisdom
of life and death
with others,
by
being present
in meditation,
of any shape
or form
of everyday life
May
this branch
of Love
be
of benefit
-Steinar Almelid
When one has nothing to lose, one becomes courageous.
We are timid only when there is something we can still cling to.
- Carlos Castaneda
When I hear somebody sigh, 'Life is hard, ' I am always tempted to ask, 'Compared to what?'
-Sydney Harris
No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.
-Helen Keller
When you come to the edge of all that you know, you must believe one of two things: There will be earth upon which to stand, or you will be given wings to fly.
Art and Inspiration:..
If you cannot be a poet, be the poem.
– David Carradine
..
Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.
– Kahlil Gibran
I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see. The longer I live, the more my mind dwells upon the beauty and the wonder of the world.
- John Burroughs
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The swing of a sword cannot cut the mist from the sky.
- Li He
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Do what you know best;
If you’re a runner, run.
If you’re a bell, ring.
- Ignas Bernstein
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A student approached a Zen master and asked, "What happens after we die?"
The Zen master said, "I don't know."
"You don't know?" exclaimed the student, "but you are a master!"
"That may be true," was the reply, "but I'm not a dead one."
- Zen Teaching Story
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Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken. Although its light is wide and great, the moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide. The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.
- Dogen
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Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.
– Matthew 7:7
A painting in a museum probably hears more foolish remarks than anything else in the world.
As the old man walked the beach at dawn, he noticed a young man ahead of him picking up starfish and flinging them into the sea. Catching up with the youth, he asked him why he was doing this. The answer was that the stranded starfish would die if left until the morning sun. "But the beach goes on for miles and there are millions of starfish," countered the other. "How can your effort make any difference?" The young man looked at the starfish in his hand and threw it to safety in the waves. "It makes a difference to this one," he said.
-
Loren C. Eiseley "The Star Thrower." Harcourt Brace. 1979
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Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
~St. Francis of Assisi - 13th Century~
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When you are taken unawares by an outbreak of fire or the news of a death, there is in the first mute shock a feeling of guilt, the indistinct reproach: did you really not know of this? Did not the dead person's name, the last time you uttered it, sound differently in your mouth? Do you not see in the flames a sign from yesterday evening, in a language you only now understand?
-Walter Benjamin, One-Way Street, 1925-6
Life's a Bitch, so kick her ass.
- Angela Perri
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La Fiamma Sacra (The Sacred Flame)
(lyrics by Frank Musker, music by Ronan Hardiman)
Born with the voice of an angel
A boy with the earth on his hands
For this child of the lowly
Fate had made other plans
He was only a man of the people
With barely his clothes to his name
But when he sang - there was magic
Touched by love's sacred flame
La fiamma sacra
(Chorus)
Holy fire in his soul
Born to conquer the dark
A man who came – to carry the flame
Awakening – la fiamma sacra
He sang to the soul of a nation
A voice for the meek and the strong
A world of fabulous stories
Came to life in his song
With a gift for the whole of creation
He gave not for fortune or fame
A simple man – blessed with magic
Touched by love's sacred flame
La fiamma sacra
(Chorus)
Holy fire in his soul
Born to conquer the dark
A man who came – to carry the flame
With a voice that can speak – to the heart
Holy fire in his soul
Born to conquer the dark
A man who came – to carry the flame
Awakening – la fiamma sacra
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Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn's rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight,
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die.
~Anonymous
We are molded and remolded by those who have loved us; and though the love may pass, we are nevertheless their work, for good or ill. - Francois Mauriac
SONNET #43, FROM THE PORTUGUESE
By Elizabeth Barrett Browning
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints!---I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!---and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
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Messages From Michael
Ralph Marston's Daily Motivator
World Prayers
Annie: Do we have to believe in fairie to see them?
Betsy: Land sakes no! They have to believe in you.
-Bird Bones and Wood Ash, Charles De Lint
Friends:
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