inspirational quotes

until one is committed, there is hesitancy,

the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness.
concerning all acts of initiative (and creation),
there is one elementary truth
the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans:
that the moment one definitely commits oneself,
the providence moves too.
a whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents,
meetings and material assistance,
which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.
~w. h. murray (the scottish himalaya expedition, 1951)

whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it;

boldness has genius, power and magic in it.
~johann wolfgang von goethe

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

i gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience

in which i must stop and look fear in the face...
i say to myself, i've lived through this
and can take the next thing that comes along...
we must do the things that we think we cannot do.
~eleanor roosevelt

life is difficult.
this is a great truth, one of the greatest truths.
it is a great truth because once we truly see this truth,
we transend it.
once we truly know that life is difficult -
once we truly understand and accept it -
then life is no longer difficult.
because once it is accepted,
the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.
~m scott peck

it is not necessary to deny another's reality

in order to affirm your own.
~anne wilson schaef

the lesson which life repeats and constantly enforces is "look under
foot."
you are always nearer the divine and the true sources of your power than
you think.
the lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive.
the great opportunity is where you are.
do not despise your own place and hour.
every place is under the stars, every place is the center of the world.
~john burroughs

in the end, nothing we do or say in this lifetime will matter

as much as the way we have loved one another.
~daphne rose kingman

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

this world conceals everything,

unless you're ready to undo it.
then, everything appears as a piece of the infinite
and you are no different from it.
~brita latona

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

the world we have created is a product of our thinking.

it cannot be changed without changing our thinking.
~albert einstein

the drop grows happy by losing itself in the river.

~mirza ghalib

there are only two ways to live your life.

one is as though nothing is a miracle.
the other is as if everything is.
~albert einstein

love, love, love, that is the soul of genius.

~wolfgang amadeus mozart

the snow goose need not bathe to make itself white.

neither need you do anything but be yourself.
~lao tzu

i was always looking outside myself

for strength and confidence,
but it comes from within.
it is there all the time.
~anna freud

truly it is in the darkness that one finds the light,

so when we are in sorrow,
then this light is nearest of all to us.
~meister eckhart

stop leaving and you will arrive.

stop searching and you will see.
stop running away and you will be found.
~lao tzu

what if the question is not

why am i so infrequently the person i really want to be,
but why do i so infrequently want to be the person i really am?
~oriah mountain dreamer

you need not do anything.

remain sitting at your table and listen.
you need not even listen, just wait.
you need not even wait, just learn to be quiet, still and solitary.
and the world will freely offer itself to you unmasked.
it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.
~franz kafka

you are me, and i am you.

isn't it obvious that we "inter-are"?
you cultivate the flower in yourself,
so that i will be beautiful.
i transform the garbage in myself,
so that you will not have to suffer.
~thich nhat hanh

out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,

there is a field. i'll meet you there.
when the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
ideas, language, even the phrase each other
doesn't make any sense.
~rumi

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

...once again we face a paradox, for it appears

that softening your heart and gently tending its wounds
will protect you from evil.
building a fortress and defending yourself behind it will
only make you more vulnerable.
healing your own heart is the single
most powerful thing you can do
to change the world.
your own transformation will enable you to withdraw
so completely from evil
that you contribute to it by not one word, one thought, or one breath.
this healing process is like recovering your soul.
~deepak chopra
the deeper wound recovering the soul from fear and suffering, 2001

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

if i shed a tear i won't cage it

i won't fear love
if i feel a rage i won't deny it
i won't fear love
~sarah mclachlan

if i accept the sunshine

and warmth,
then i must also accept
the thunder and lightning.
-kahlil gibran

may the stars carry your sadness away,

may the flowers fill your heart with beauty,
may hope forever wipe away your tears,
and, above all, may silence make you strong.
~chief dan george

...in spite of everything i still believe that people are really good at
heart.
~anne frank

when you follow your bliss...

doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors;
and where there wouldn't be a door for anyone else.
~joseph campbell

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
meditation is being happy with yourself for no reason at all.
the joy of cherishing your being, happy that you are.
you are simply in love with yourself, in love with existence.
~tishan

it is only with the heart that one can see rightly,

what is essential is invisible to the eye.
~antoine de saint exupery

there is in all visible things...a hidden wholeness.

~thomas merton

i do not believe that sheer suffering teaches.

if suffering alone taught, all the world would be wise,
since everyone suffers.
to suffering must be added mourning,
understanding, patience, love, openness,
and a willingness to remain vulnerable.
~anne morrow lindbergh

love is the way messengers from the mystery tell us things.

~nisargadatta maharaj

when one is pretending, the entire body revolts.

~anais nin

our deepest wishes are whispers of our authentic selves.

we must learn to respect them.
we must learn to listen.
~sarah ban breathnach

let everything about you breathe the calm and peace of the soul.
~author unknown

too often we underestimate the power of a touch,

a smile, a kind word, a listening ear...
an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring...
all of which have the potential to turn a life around.
~leo buscaslia
nothing is so strong as gentleness
and nothing is so gentle as real strength.
~ralph w. sockman

to make peace, our hearts must be at peace with the world.

~thich nhat hanh

find a place (inside) where there's joy,

and the joy will burn out the pain.
~joseph campbell

the goal of life

is to make your heartbeat
match the beat of the universe,
to match your nature with nature.
~joseph campbell

the liveness in me just loves to feel

the liveness in growing things,
in grass and rain and leaves and flowers
and sun and feathers and furs
and earth and sand and moss.
~emily carr

it is by going down into the abyss

that we recover the treasures of life.
where you stumble,
there lies your treasure.
~joseph campbell

opportunities
to find deeper powers
within ourselves
come when life
seems most challenging.
~joseph campbell

we must be willing to get rid of

the life we've planned, so as to have
the life that is waiting for us.
the old skin has to be shed
before the new one can come.
~joseph campbell

great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrity's.

the latter cannot understand it when a man
does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices
by honestly and courageously using his intelligence.
~albert einstein

we must not ignore

the small daily differences we can make
which, over time, add up
to big differences
that we often cannot foresee.
~marian wright edelman

opportunity stands beside you every moment,

and one of its favorite disguises is that of obstacles.
~author unknown

be the change you want to see in the world.

~mahatma gandhi

civilization is just a slow process of learning to be kind.

~charles l. lucas

i wouldn't have seen it if i hadn't believed it.

~marshall mcluhan

to overcome difficulties
is to experience the full delight of existence.
~arthur schopenhauer

the best and most beautiful things in the world

cannot be seen or even touched.
they must be felt with the heart.
~helen keller

when one door of happiness closes another opens,

but often we look so long at the closed door
that we do not see the one which is opened before us.
~helen keller

we are each a gift,

exactly as we are in this moment,
with no improvements!
~sark

you gotta dance like nobody's watching,

dream like you will live forever,
live like you're going to die tomorrow,
and love like it's never going to hurt.
~meme grifsters

we are living in enchanted time.

with our spirits right
~ben okri

your hearts know in silence the secrets

of the days and nights.
but your ears thirst for the sound of
your heart's knowledge.
~kahlil gibran

just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do.

where there is love and inspiration, i don't think you can go wrong.
~ella fitzgerald

we have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize.

~thich nhat hanh

the most authentic thing about us

is our capacity to create, to overcome,
to endure, to transform, to love,
and to be greater than our suffering.
~ben okri

our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
it is our light not our darkness that frightens us.
~marianne williamson

when we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed.
but when we are silent, we are still afraid.
so it is better to speak.
~audre lorde

you yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe,

deserve your love and affection.
~the buddha

one can never consent to creep

when one feels the impulse to soar.
~helen keller

a friend is someone who knows the song in your heart

and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.
~jacquie

...and then the day came

when the risk to remain tight in a bud
was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
~anais nin

the appearance of things change according to the emotions,

and thus we see magic and beauty in them,
while the magic and beauty are really in ourselves.
~kahlil gibran

never doubt
that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens
can change the world:
indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
~margaret mead