The problem is not how to wipe out all differences,
but how to unite with all differences intact.
Rabindranath Tagore
I slept and dreamt that life was joy,
I awoke and saw that life was service,
I acted and behold, service was joy.
Rabindranath Tagore
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
May you live all the days of your life.
Jonathan Swift
We are praying that mankind does wake up and think about the
future, for we haven't just inherited this earth from our ancestors,
but we are borrowing it from our unborn children.
Joseph Chasing Horse
We must trust our own thinking. Trust where we're going. And get the job done.
Wilma Mankiller, Principal Chief
Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma
There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is
translated through you into action, and because there
is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique.
And if you block it, it will never exist through any
other medium and be lost. The world will not have it.
It is not your business to determine
how good it is:
nor how valuable it is;
nor how it compares with other expressions. It is
your business to keep it yours clearly and directly,
to keep the channel open.
You do not even have to believe in yourself or
your work. You have to keep open and aware directly
to the urges that motivate YOU.
Keep the channel open . . .
No artist is pleased . . .
There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is
only a queer, divine dissatisfaction; a blessed unrest
that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than
the others.
Martha Graham to Agnes DeMille
How You Are Does Not Matter.
What matters is How You Are in Relation to How You Are.
Peter Rengel
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature,
nor do the children of man as a whole experience it.
Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure.
Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.
Helen Keller
We are surrounded by insurmountable opportunity.
Pogo
Life is uncertain, always eat dessert first.
There is only one real blasphemy: the refusal of joy.
Paul Rudnick
Do you know why angels can fly?
Because they take themselves lightly!
You can't change the world
But you can change your perception of the world
And if you can change your perception of the world
Then you can change the world!
Barry Brilliant
If you don't have a sense of humor about it, then it isn't funny.
Wavy Gravy
Breathe into the hard times.
Dahlia (of Jim &...), Ivy Lane, circa 1987
People single me out for being an activist, but I always say that the
impulse is inborn - it just needs to be nurtured. It starts when
you're little, and you see some kids being unkind to another kid on
the bus. Maybe you do something. Maybe you don't. But there was that
little hint in your brain that something was wrong, that you weren't
comfortable with the situation.
Throughout your life, you have the opportunity to learn from that
experience, to react to that little voice inside of you that says
something has crossed your moral bottom line, to ignore what others
are telling you to do and honor your impulse. The very core of being
an activist is being true to yourself.
Susan Sarandon
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 most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened
about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically
liberates others.
Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love, Harper Collins 1993
Read by Nelson Mandela in his Inauguration Speech, May 1994
A slave is one who waits for someone else to free him.
Rosellen Brown
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age
of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of
belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of light,
it was the season of darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the
winter of despair.
opening passage of A Tail of Two Cities
by Charles Dickens
Instructions for Life from the Dalai Lama
- Take into account that great love and great
achievements involve great risk.
- When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
- Follow the three Rs: Respect for self, respect
for others and responsibility for all your actions.
- Remember that not getting what you want is
sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
- Learn the rules so you know how to break them
properly.
- Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
- When you realize you've made a mistake, take
immediate steps to correct it.
- Spend some time alone every day.
- Open your arms to change, but don't let go of
your values.
- Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
- Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get
older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a
second time.
- A loving atmosphere in your home is the
foundation for your life.
- In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with
the current situation. Don't bring up the past.
- Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
- Be gentle with the earth.
- Once a year, go some place you've never been before.
- Remember that the best relationship is one in
which your love for each other exceeds your need
for each other.
- Judge your success by what you had to give up in
order to get it.
- Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.
Ninety percent of life is just showing up.
Woody Allen
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