They went to university because someone, at a time when universities seemed important, said that in order to rise in the world, you had to have a degree. And thus the world was deprived of some excellent gardeners, bakers, antique dealers, sculptors, and writers.
— Paulo Coelho (The Witch of Portobello)
***
To be yourself -
in a world which is doing its best, night and day,
to make you like everybody else
means to fight the hardest battle
which any human being can fight,
and never stop fighting.
~E.E. Cummings
— Paulo Coelho (The Witch of Portobello)
***
To be yourself -
in a world which is doing its best, night and day,
to make you like everybody else
means to fight the hardest battle
which any human being can fight,
and never stop fighting.
~E.E. Cummings
***
When you do things from your soul,
you feel a river moving in you, a joy.
When actions come from another section,
the feeling disappears.
~Rumi
you feel a river moving in you, a joy.
When actions come from another section,
the feeling disappears.
~Rumi
***
To see the world in a grain of sand
and heaven in a wildflower
hold infinity
in the palm of your hand
and eternity in an hour.
~William Blake
and heaven in a wildflower
hold infinity
in the palm of your hand
and eternity in an hour.
~William Blake
***
Do not stand at my grave and forever 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 forever cry.
I am not there. I did not die.
~Melinda Sue Pacho
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 forever cry.
I am not there. I did not die.
~Melinda Sue Pacho
***
Learning to love differently is hard,
love with the hands wide open, love
with the doors banging on their hinges,
the cupboard unlocked, the wind
roaring and whimpering in the rooms...
~Marge Piercy
from her poem, To Have Without Holding
love with the hands wide open, love
with the doors banging on their hinges,
the cupboard unlocked, the wind
roaring and whimpering in the rooms...
~Marge Piercy
from her poem, To Have Without Holding
***
Twenty years from now
you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do
than by the ones you did.
So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.
~M. Twain
you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do
than by the ones you did.
So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.
~M. Twain
***
Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it;
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.
~Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
***
The truly creative mind in any field is…[a] delicate organism [with] the overpowering necessity to create, create, create — so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, their very breath is cut off… They must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency they are not really alive unless they are creating.
~Pearl S. Buck
***
Some of us have taken the red pill.
~Chris Guillebeau
***
If I had my life to live over,
I would have talked less and listened more.
I would have invited friends over to dinner
even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.
I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and
worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.
I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.
I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day
because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.
I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.
I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.
I would have cried and laughed less
while watching television- and more while watching life.
I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.
I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.
I would never have bought anything just because it was practical,
wouldn't show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.
Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy,
I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.
When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said,
'Later. Now go get washed up for dinner.'
There would have been more 'I love you's'... More 'I'm sorrys' ...
But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute...
look at it and really see it ... live it...and never give it back.
~Erma Bombeck
