I don't care what you say anymore; this is my life. Go ahead with your own life, leave me alone. Billy Joel

Lost in the Forest

-Pablo Neruda-

Lost in the forest, I broke off a dark twig
And lifted its whisper to my thirsty lips:
Maybe it was the voice of the rain crying,
A cracked bell, or a torn heart.
Something from far off it seemed
Deep and secret to me, hidden by the earth,
A shout muffled by huge autumns,
By the moist half-open darkness of the leaves.
Wakening from the dreaming forest there, the hazel sprig
Sang under my tongue, its drifting fragrance
Climbed up through my conscious mind
As if suddenly the roots I had left behind
Cried out to me, the land I had lost with my childhood ---
And I stopped, wounded by the wandering scent.

I exist as I am, that is enough.
--Walt Whitman

One smile, can start a friendship.
One word, can end a fight.
One look, can save a relationship.
One person, can change your life.

(unknown)


http://www.livelifehappy.com/live-life-quotes/

We must be our own,
before we can be another's.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

a 14 year old girl in my congregations youth group came up with this statement:

>The phrase I believe that sums up the decision to be made by my generation.

"Or shall I hear the name of Plato and never read his book?" - Reading, Thoreau.<

Which lead me to this quote: "One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you wind up being governed by your inferiors" ~ Plato

http://i.picresize.com/images/2012/11/27/KwqEf.jpg

Katniss~~

Nothing is permanent in this wicked world - not even our troubles.
--Charlie Chaplin

as the gnuspas span across the sky
the wonderdorf starts to catch my eye
the fibblezire is not heard but seen
as his harsh breath is pale blue-green
and all have wanted to try and fly
but the gnuspas span across the sky

@

“You can fool some of the people some of the time — and that’s enough.”

--Roger Price

This being human is a guest-house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
Who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture.
Still, treat each guest honorably.
Who may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

~ Rumi

“Trust starts with truth and ends with truth.” ― Santosh Kalwar

“If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is not right, I will happily change. Those who seek the truth, are never harmed by it. It is the person who continues in his self-deception and ignorance who is harmed.” ― Marcus Aurelius

“We don't get to chose what is true. We only get to choose what we do about it.”
― Kami Garcia

If light is in your heart, you will find your way home

~ Rumi

(possibly my favorite quote of all)

I believe that all of the things you do for other people, you're actually doing for yourself. Life is like a bank account.
Random acts of kindness, telling the truth, being loving, showing up for yourself and others...these are deposits.
Getting fucked up, fucking other people over, letting your ego lead your choices...the things we think are fun after midnight, don't seem so entertaining at eleven in the morning--these are withdrawals.
If we give more than we take, we progress.
If we take more than we give, we regress.

~K. Cutrone

Nothing will work unless you do.
--Maya Angelou

Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work.
--Booker T. Washington

There is joy in work. There is no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something.
--Henry Ford

“Do not seek the because - in love there is no because, no reason, no explanation, no solutions.”
Anais Nin

Hell, if I'd jumped on all the dames I'm supposed to have jumped on, I'd have had no time to go fishing.
Clark Gable

All of us failed to match our dreams of perfection. So I rate us on the basis of our splendid failure to do the impossible.
William Faulkner

Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.
Harriet Tubman

If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough. Albert Einstein

"It's not the wound that teaches, but the healing."

" Dreaming of how awesome someday will be ,but doing nothing different than what you are doing today. Will cause depression , unhappiness and major dis ease in your life. Do it now , whatever it takes , you can't afford to wait. Don't use the future to escape the present." Unknown


“Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.”
― H. Jackson Brown Jr.


He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.” ― George Orwell, 1984

I don't love studying. I hate studying. I like learning. Learning is beautiful. --Natalie Portman

http://i.picresize.com/images/2012/11/29/voQjZ.jpg

Katniss~~

This is true love — you think this happens every day?”― William Goldman


“He loved her, he loved her, and until he'd loved her he had never minded being alone....” -Unknown



“I think Heaven will be like a first kiss.”― Sarah Addison

“Plant seeds of happiness, hope, success, and love; it will all come back to you in abundance. This is the law of nature.” ― Steve Maraboli

“The universe doesn’t give you what you ask for with your thoughts - it gives you what you demand with your actions.” ― Steve Maraboli


“You can't just wish change; you have to live the change in order for it to become a reality.” ― Steve Maraboli

My all-time favorite quote:

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." - Benjamin Franklin

And my second all-time favorite quote:

"It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men." - Frederick Douglass

First time I read the second one, it brought tears to my eyes. SO much horror in this society could be prevented if only so many children were not horribly abused and neglected...:candle:

Speaking of quotes that make me tear up:

"Only when the last tree has died
and the last river been poisoned
and the last fish been caught
will we realize we cannot eat money."

Cree Indian Proverb

:candle:

Broken Wings...Kahlil Gibran
 

"The heart's affections are divided like the branches of the Cedar tree, if the tree loses one strong branch, it will suffer, but it does not die.
It will pour all its vitality into the next branch, so that it will grow and fill that empty place"...GIBRAN



Sadly, I didn't discover my passion for Gibran until college, but I love his works. I no longer have my books of his works...but I can google them.
The above passage is from a dear friend's book, written about her journey through life. She sent me a .pdf file with the book and I am reading it now. I discovered this passage at beginning of one of her chapters..and was reminded of this....as I had read this at my wife's memorial service.

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
--Mahatma Gandhi

Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.
--Benjamin Disraeli

In order to have great happiness you have to have great pain and unhappiness - otherwise how would you know when you're happy?
--Leslie Caron