β
He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much;
Who has enjoyed the trust of pure women, the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children;
Who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;
Who has never lacked appreciation of Earth's beauty or failed to express it;
Who has left the world better than he found it,
Whether an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul;
Who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had;
Whose life was an inspiration;
Whose memory a benediction.
β
β
Bessie Anderson Stanley (More Heart Throbs Volume Two in Prose and Verse Dear to the American People And by them contributed as a Supplement to the original $10,000 Prize Book HEART THROBS)
β
Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold . . .β The pillow seemed to sink a little, and Johnny died.
β
β
S.E. Hinton (The Outsiders)
β
May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house.
β
β
George Carlin
β
May the odds be ever in your favor!
β
β
Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1))
β
May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
You must remember, family is often born of blood, but it doesn't depend on blood. Nor is it exclusive of friendship. Family members can be your best friends, you know. And best friends, whether or not they are related to you, can be your family.
β
β
Trenton Lee Stewart (The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #1))
β
If I might make a suggestion,β said Will. βAbout twenty paces behind us, in the Council room, is Benedict. If youβd like to go back in there and try kicking him, I recommend aiming upward and a bit to the leftβ
β
β
Cassandra Clare (Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices, #2))
β
I can feel infinitely alive curled up on the sofa reading a book.
β
β
Benedict Cumberbatch
β
May the hair on your toes never fall out!
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit, or There and Back Again)
β
May your adventures bring you closer together, even as they take you far away from home.
β
β
Trenton Lee Stewart (The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #2))
β
This is what love does. In the stories, love healed your wounds, fixed what was broken, allowed you to go on. But love wasnβt a spell, some kind of benediction to be whispered, a balm or a cure-all. It was a single, fragile thread, which grew stronger through connection, through shared hardship and trust.
β
β
Leigh Bardugo (Rule of Wolves (King of Scars, #2))
β
Because reading is one of the joys of life, and once you begin, you can't stop, and you've got so many stories to look forward to.
β
β
Benedict Cumberbatch
β
May God break my heart so completely that the whole world falls in.
β
β
Mother Teresa
β
May your heart always be joyful. May your song always be sung.
β
β
Bob Dylan
β
May you live as long as you wish and love as long as you live.
β
β
Robert A. Heinlein
β
I wish I wrote the way I thought
Obsessively
Incessantly
With maddening hunger
Iβd write to the point of suffocation
Iβd write myself into nervous breakdowns
Manuscripts spiralling out like tentacles into abysmal nothing
And Iβd write about you
a lot more
than I should
β
β
Benedict Smith
β
Goodnight you princes of Maine, you kings of New England.
β
β
John Irving (The Cider House Rules)
β
Rules and school are tools for fools! I don't give two mules for rules.
β
β
Trenton Lee Stewart (The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #1))
β
So we'll just let things take their course, and never be sorry.
β
β
F. Scott Fitzgerald (Benediction)
β
I asked her if she believed in love, and she smiled and said it was her most elaborate method of self-harm.
β
β
Benedict Smith
β
Goodnight sweet prince, may flights of devils wing you to your rest.
β
β
Anne Rice
β
The last thing I wanted was to fall in love
because, deep down, I remembered that love hurt.
β
β
Joss Stirling (Finding Sky (Benedicts, #1))
β
May the sun bring you new energy by day, may the moon softly restore you by night, may the rain wash away your worries, may the breeze blow new strength into your being, may you walk gently through the world and know it's beauty all the days of your life.
β
β
Apache Blessing
β
When a man is prey to his emotions, he is not his own master.
β
β
Baruch Spinoza
β
Oh, hereβs a clever one. Do you remember this question from the first test? It reads, βWhatβs wrong with this statement?β And do you know what Constance wrote in reply? She wrote, βWhatβs wrong with you?
β
β
Trenton Lee Stewart (The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #1))
β
Is this what family is like: the feeling that everyoneβs connected, that with one piece missing, the whole thingβs broken?
β
β
Trenton Lee Stewart (The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #1))
β
Remember, children. For every exit, there is also an entrance. ~ Milligan, The Mysterious Benedict Society
β
β
Trenton Lee Stewart
β
May the Force be with you.
β
β
George Lucas (Star Wars: A New Hope (Star Wars Novelizations, #4))
β
His mouth captured hers, trying to show her with his kiss what he was still learning to express in words. He loved her. He worshipped her. He'd walk across fire for her. Heβ
βstill had the audience of her three brothers.
Slowly breaking the kiss, he turned his face to the side. Anthony, Benedict, and Colin were still standing in the foyer. Anthony was studying the ceiling, Benedict was pretending to inspect his fingernails, and Colin was staring quite shamelessly.
β
β
Julia Quinn (The Duke and I (Bridgertons, #1))
β
Truth is not determined by a majority vote.
β
β
Pope Benedict XVI
β
Joy, not sorrow.
Laughter, not tears.
Life, not death.
Love, not blame.
β
β
Lisa Schroeder (I Heart You, You Haunt Me)
β
Anthony Bridgerton leaned back in his leather chair,and then announced,
"I'm thinking about getting married."
Benedict Bridgerton, who had been indulging in a habit his mother detestedβtipping his chair drunkenly on the back two legsβfell over.
Colin Bridgerton started to choke.
Luckily for Colin, Benedict regained his seat with enough time to smack him soundly on the back, sending a green olive sailing across the table.
It narrowly missed Anthony's ear.
β
β
Julia Quinn (The Viscount Who Loved Me (Bridgertons, #2))
β
The further you get away from yourself, the more challenging it is. Not to be in your comfort zone is great fun.
β
β
Benedict Cumberbatch
β
Das Gegengift zu Einsamkeit ist nicht das wahllose Zusammensein mit irgendwelchen Leuten. Das Gegengift zu Einsamkeit ist Geborgenheit.
β
β
Benedict Wells (Vom Ende der Einsamkeit)
β
It is theologically and anthropologically important for woman to be at the center of Christianity. Through Mary, and the other holy women, the feminine element stands at the heart of the Christian religion.
β
β
Pope Benedict XVI
β
Sky, you can't ignore this!" He stood under the street lamp, sleet settling in his hair, hands fisted at his side. "You're mine - you have to be.
β
β
Joss Stirling (Finding Sky (Benedicts, #1))
β
Women do not think with logic and discretion but with emotions of the heart
β
β
Cassandra Clare (Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices, #2))
β
Every great thinker keeps a journal, you know.
β
β
Trenton Lee Stewart (The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #1))
β
And please don't call me that."
I didn't call you 'that', I called you George Washington.
β
β
Trenton Lee Stewart (The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #1))
β
The missing aren't missing, they're only departed,
All minds keep all thoughts - so like gold - closely guarded,
β
β
Trenton Lee Stewart (The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #1))
β
If you follow the will of God, you know that in spite of all the terrible things that happen to you, you will never lose a final refuge. You know that the foundation of the world is love, so that even when no human being can or will help you, you may go on, trusting in the One that loves you.
β
β
Pope Benedict XVI
β
And maybe it would have bitten you in half," said Will. "What you are describing, the transformation into a demon, is the last stage of the pox."
"Will!" Charlotte threw up her hands. "Why didn't you say so?"
"You know, the books on demon pox are in the library," Will said with an injured tone. "I wasn't preventing anyone from reading them."
"Yes, but if Benedict was going to turn into an enormous serpent, you'd think you could at least have mentioned it," said Charlotte. "As a matter of general interest.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices, #3))
β
Children are capable of such open rudeness.
β
β
Trenton Lee Stewart (The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #1))
β
You lit me up like Vegas
β
β
Joss Stirling (Finding Sky (Benedicts, #1))
β
That demon woman you were lounging with on the divan,β said Will. βWould you call her a friend, or more of a business associate?β
Benedictβs dark eyes hardened. βInsolent puppyββ
βOh, Iβd say she was a friend,β said Tessa. βOne doesnβt usually let oneβs business associates lick oneβs face. Although I could be wrong. What do I know about these things? Iβm only a silly woman.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices, #2))
β
The world offers you comfort. But you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness
β
β
Pope Benedict XVI
β
Farewell, and may the blessing of Elves and Men and all Free Folk go with you.
May the stars shine upon your faces!
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
Now you will feel no rain,
For each of you will be shelter to the other.
Now you will feel no cold,
For each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there is no more loneliness for you.
For each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two bodies,
But there is only one life before you.
β
β
R.K. Lilley (Grounded (Up in the Air, #3))
β
No to laugh, not to lament, not to detest, but to understand.
β
β
Baruch Spinoza (Theological-Political Treatise)
β
Live Long and Prosper
β
β
Leonard Nimoy
β
One problem with being a leader, is that even among your friends you are alone, for it is you -- and you alone -- to whom the others look for final guidance.
β
β
Trenton Lee Stewart (The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #1))
β
Now listen, we need to be quiet as mice. No, quieter than that. As quiet as . . . as . . .β
βDead mice?β Reynie suggested.
βPerfect,β said Kate with an approving nod. βAs quiet as dead mice.
β
β
Trenton Lee Stewart (The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #3))
β
Poor Kate,β said Constance, βsheβs lost her marbles.
β
β
Trenton Lee Stewart (The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #1))
β
Good night, Lisa. Sleep with the angels."
Her eyes stung from quick tears. It had been her mother's nightly benediction: Sleep with the angels. But then he added words her mother never had: "Then come back to earth and sleep with your devil, who would burn in hell for one night in your arms.
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (The Highlander's Touch (Highlander, #3))
β
CUSTOMER: Iβd like to buy this audiobook.
BOOKSELLER: Great.
CUSTOMER: Only, I donβt really like this narrator.
BOOKSELLER: Oh.
CUSTOMER: Do you have a selection of narrators to choose from? Ideally, Iβd like Benedict Cumberbatch
β
β
Jen Campbell (More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops)
β
Victor patted my hand. 'I like you, Sky. You're a fighter.'
'I am, aren't I? Hear that, Zed? No more bambi comparisons. I'm a Rottweiler -with a temper.'
'A very small Rottweiler,' said Zed, still not convinced.
β
β
Joss Stirling (Finding Sky (Benedicts, #1))
β
Grow the lawn and mow the lawn
always keep the TV on,
brush your teeth and kill the germs,
poison apples, poison worms.
β
β
Trenton Lee Stewart (The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #1))
β
I'm crazy, Zed.' There, I'd admitted it.
'Uh-huh. And I'm crazy too -about you.
β
β
Joss Stirling (Finding Sky (Benedicts, #1))
β
I fall in love all the time. With music, film, poetry. A smile. A bum. But rarely the whole of someone.
β
β
Benedict Smith
β
Soulfinders can't be bad for each other - they are each other. We aren't complete apart.
β
β
Joss Stirling (Stealing Phoenix (Benedicts, #2))
β
Music is not take it or leave it; Music is life or death!
β
β
Joss Stirling (Finding Sky (Benedicts, #1))
β
We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God.
β
β
Pope Benedict XVI
β
Why, then, do you think the white player might have done it?β
Reynie considered. He imagined himself moving out his knight only to bring it right back to where it started. Why would he ever do such a thing? At last he said, βPerhaps because he doubted himself.
β
β
Trenton Lee Stewart (The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #1))
β
What were we talking before I was so rudely interrupted by a flying citrus ?
β
β
Joss Stirling (Finding Sky (Benedicts, #1))
β
What is life without laughter?
β
β
Trenton Lee Stewart (The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #1))
β
Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed. Each of us is loved. Each of us is necessary.
β
β
Pope Benedict XVI
β
Yeah, well, not many boys take their girls out on a duck shoot with them as target for a first date. You have to give me points for style.
β
β
Joss Stirling (Finding Sky (Benedicts, #1))
β
Did you know that chocolate had special chemicals in it to make you feel happy?"
"I don't need an excuse for chocolate.
β
β
Joss Stirling (Finding Sky (Benedicts, #1))
β
Metaphorically speaking, itβs easy to bump into one another on the journey from A to B and not even notice. People should take time to notice, enjoy and help each other.
β
β
Benedict Cumberbatch
β
like Belgian chocolateβabsolutely sinful and completely irresistibleβ.
β
β
Joss Stirling (Finding Sky (Benedicts, #1))
β
Das Leben ist kein Nullsummenspiel. Es schuldet einem nichts, und die Dinge passieren, wie sie passieren. Manchmal gerecht, so dass alles einen Sinn ergibt, manchmal so ungerecht, dass man an allem zweifelt. Ich zog dem Schicksal die Maske vom Gesicht und fand darunter nur den Zufall.
β
β
Benedict Wells (Vom Ende der Einsamkeit)
β
There were things I couldnβt say; I could only write them. Because when I spoke, I thought; and when I wrote, I felt.
β
β
Benedict Wells (Vom Ende der Einsamkeit)
β
Excuse me, Mr Tall-and-Good-looking Wolfman, but can you help the English midget reach the sauce?β I think not.
β
β
Joss Stirling (Finding Sky (Benedicts, #1))
β
You have half our gifts. I the other. Together we make a whole. Together we are much more powerful.
β
β
Joss Stirling (Finding Sky (Benedicts, #1))
β
The word poetry comes from the Greek word poiesis which just means βa makingβ. So if youβve made it, itβs poetry. Even if itβs breakfast.
β
β
Benedict Smith
β
Daddy, will you take me to the mill, again?
β
β
Trenton Lee Stewart (The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #1))
β
I've heard of a guy in Chicago who advertises in the phone book under "Wizard",though that's probably a urban legend.
β
β
Benedict Jacka (Fated (Alex Verus, #1))
β
Happiness is not the reward of virtue, but is virtue itself; nor do we delight in happiness because we restrain from our lusts; but on the contrary, because we delight in it, therefore we are able to restrain them.
β
β
Baruch Spinoza
β
Hell-on-skis, can you hear me? This is flying cupcake.
β
β
Joss Stirling (Seeking Crystal (Benedicts, #3))
β
Evil draws its power from indecision and concern for what other people think.
β
β
Pope Benedict XVI
β
I keep myself amused and others confused
β
β
Benedict Cumberbatch
β
I've seen and swam and climbed and lived and driven and filmed. Should it all end tomorrow, I can definitely say there would be no regrets. I am very lucky, and I know it. I really have lived 5,000 times over.
β
β
Benedict Cumberbatch
β
The beauty of that June day was almost staggering. After the wet spring, everything that could turn green had outdone itself in greenness and everything that could even dream of blooming or blossoming was in bloom and blossom. The sunlight was a benediction. The breezes were so caressingly soft and intimate on the skin as to be embarrassing.
β
β
Dan Simmons (Drood)
β
Reynie's fce fell. 'It's not funny, Kate.'
For a moment - a fleeting moment - Kate looked desperately sad. 'Well, of course it's not funny, Reynie Muldoon. But what do you want me to do? Cry?
β
β
Trenton Lee Stewart (The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #1))
β
I'm not a little woman you need to defend.'
His face hardened. 'That's exactly what you are: you're my little woman and I'm not having you sacrifice yourself for me.
β
β
Joss Stirling (Stealing Phoenix (Benedicts, #2))
β
I...I'm sorry to come like this,' I murmured.
'Stop being so damn British about it-you don't need to apologize. Ssh, it's fine.
β
β
Joss Stirling (Finding Sky (Benedicts, #1))
β
Reading list (1972 edition)[edit]
1. Homer β Iliad, Odyssey
2. The Old Testament
3. Aeschylus β Tragedies
4. Sophocles β Tragedies
5. Herodotus β Histories
6. Euripides β Tragedies
7. Thucydides β History of the Peloponnesian War
8. Hippocrates β Medical Writings
9. Aristophanes β Comedies
10. Plato β Dialogues
11. Aristotle β Works
12. Epicurus β Letter to Herodotus; Letter to Menoecus
13. Euclid β Elements
14. Archimedes β Works
15. Apollonius of Perga β Conic Sections
16. Cicero β Works
17. Lucretius β On the Nature of Things
18. Virgil β Works
19. Horace β Works
20. Livy β History of Rome
21. Ovid β Works
22. Plutarch β Parallel Lives; Moralia
23. Tacitus β Histories; Annals; Agricola Germania
24. Nicomachus of Gerasa β Introduction to Arithmetic
25. Epictetus β Discourses; Encheiridion
26. Ptolemy β Almagest
27. Lucian β Works
28. Marcus Aurelius β Meditations
29. Galen β On the Natural Faculties
30. The New Testament
31. Plotinus β The Enneads
32. St. Augustine β On the Teacher; Confessions; City of God; On Christian Doctrine
33. The Song of Roland
34. The Nibelungenlied
35. The Saga of Burnt NjΓ‘l
36. St. Thomas Aquinas β Summa Theologica
37. Dante Alighieri β The Divine Comedy;The New Life; On Monarchy
38. Geoffrey Chaucer β Troilus and Criseyde; The Canterbury Tales
39. Leonardo da Vinci β Notebooks
40. NiccolΓ² Machiavelli β The Prince; Discourses on the First Ten Books of Livy
41. Desiderius Erasmus β The Praise of Folly
42. Nicolaus Copernicus β On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres
43. Thomas More β Utopia
44. Martin Luther β Table Talk; Three Treatises
45. FranΓ§ois Rabelais β Gargantua and Pantagruel
46. John Calvin β Institutes of the Christian Religion
47. Michel de Montaigne β Essays
48. William Gilbert β On the Loadstone and Magnetic Bodies
49. Miguel de Cervantes β Don Quixote
50. Edmund Spenser β Prothalamion; The Faerie Queene
51. Francis Bacon β Essays; Advancement of Learning; Novum Organum, New Atlantis
52. William Shakespeare β Poetry and Plays
53. Galileo Galilei β Starry Messenger; Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences
54. Johannes Kepler β Epitome of Copernican Astronomy; Concerning the Harmonies of the World
55. William Harvey β On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals; On the Circulation of the Blood; On the Generation of Animals
56. Thomas Hobbes β Leviathan
57. RenΓ© Descartes β Rules for the Direction of the Mind; Discourse on the Method; Geometry; Meditations on First Philosophy
58. John Milton β Works
59. MoliΓ¨re β Comedies
60. Blaise Pascal β The Provincial Letters; Pensees; Scientific Treatises
61. Christiaan Huygens β Treatise on Light
62. Benedict de Spinoza β Ethics
63. John Locke β Letter Concerning Toleration; Of Civil Government; Essay Concerning Human Understanding;Thoughts Concerning Education
64. Jean Baptiste Racine β Tragedies
65. Isaac Newton β Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy; Optics
66. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz β Discourse on Metaphysics; New Essays Concerning Human Understanding;Monadology
67. Daniel Defoe β Robinson Crusoe
68. Jonathan Swift β A Tale of a Tub; Journal to Stella; Gulliver's Travels; A Modest Proposal
69. William Congreve β The Way of the World
70. George Berkeley β Principles of Human Knowledge
71. Alexander Pope β Essay on Criticism; Rape of the Lock; Essay on Man
72. Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu β Persian Letters; Spirit of Laws
73. Voltaire β Letters on the English; Candide; Philosophical Dictionary
74. Henry Fielding β Joseph Andrews; Tom Jones
75. Samuel Johnson β The Vanity of Human Wishes; Dictionary; Rasselas; The Lives of the Poets
β
β
Mortimer J. Adler (How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading)
β
Breakfast is the only meal of the day that I tend to view with the same kind of traditionalized reverence that most people associate with Lunch and Dinner. I like to eat breakfast alone, and almost never before noon; anybody with a terminally jangled lifestyle needs at least one psychic anchor every twenty-four hours, and mine is breakfast. In Hong Kong, Dallas or at home β and regardless of whether or not I have been to bed β breakfast is a personal ritual that can only be properly observed alone, and in a spirit of genuine excess. The food factor should always be massive: four Bloody Marys, two grapefruits, a pot of coffee, Rangoon crepes, a half-pound of either sausage, bacon, or corned beef hash with diced chiles, a Spanish omelette or eggs Benedict, a quart of milk, a chopped lemon for random seasoning, and something like a slice of Key lime pie, two margaritas, and six lines of the best cocaine for dessertβ¦ Right, and there should also be two or three newspapers, all mail and messages, a telephone, a notebook for planning the next twenty-four hours and at least one source of good musicβ¦ All of which should be dealt with outside, in the warmth of a hot sun, and preferably stone naked.
β
β
Hunter S. Thompson
β
I am very flattered. I have also become a verb as in "I have cumberbatched the UK audience" apparently. Who knows, by the end of the year I might become a swear word too! It's crazy and fun and very flattering.
β
β
Benedict Cumberbatch
β
Fuck You Poem #45
Fuck you in slang and conventional English.
Fuck you in lost and neglected lingoes.
Fuck you hungry and sated; faded, pock marked, and defaced.
Fuck you with orange rind, fennel and anchovy paste.
Fuck you with rosemary and thyme, and fried green olives on the side.
Fuck you humidly and icily.
Fuck you farsightedly and blindly.
Fuck you nude and draped in stolen finery.
Fuck you while cells divide wildly and birds trill.
Thank you for barring me from his bedside while he was ill.
Fuck you puce and chartreuse.
Fuck you postmodern and prehistoric.
Fuck you under the influence of opiun, codeine, laudanum, and paregoric.
Fuck every real and imagined country you fancied yourself princess of.
Fuck you on feast days and fast days, below and above.
Fuck you sleepless and shaking for nineteen nights running.
Fuck you ugly and fuck you stunning.
Fuck you shipwrecked on the barren island of your bed.
Fuck you marching in lockstep in the ranks of the dead.
Fuck you at low and high tide.
And fuck you astride
anyone who has the bad luck to fuck you, in dank hallways,
bathrooms, or kitchens.
Fuck you in gasps and whispered benedictions.
And fuck these curses, however heartfelt and true,
that bind me, till I forgive you, to you.
β
β
Amy Gerstler (Ghost Girl)
β
You've read half the books in this house? This whole house?"
"Well, approximately half." Sticky said. "To be more accurate, I suppose I've read more like" - his eyes went up as he calculated - "three sevenths? Yes, three sevenths."
"Only three sevenths?" said Kate, pretending to look disappointed. "And here I was prepared to be impressed.
β
β
Trenton Lee Stewart (The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #3))
β
I can worship Nature, and that fulfills my need for miracles and beauty. Art gives a spiritual depth to existence -- I can find worlds bigger and deeper than my own in music, paintings, and books. And from my friends and family I receive the highest benediction, emotional contact, and personal affirmation. I can bow before the works of Man, from buildings to babies, and that fulfills my need for wonder. I can believe in the sanctity of Life, and that becomes the Revealed Word, to live my life as I believe it should be, not as I'm told to by self-appointed guides.
β
β
Neil Peart (The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa)
β
The answer to this riddle has a hole in the middle,
And some have been known to fall in it.
In tennis it's nothing, but it can be received,
And sometimes a person may win it.
Though not seen or heard it may be perceived,
Like princes or bees it's in clover.
The answer to this riddle has a hole in the middle,
And without it one cannot start over.
β
β
Trenton Lee Stewart (The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #3))
β
The Day is Done
The day is done, and the darkness
Falls from the wings of Night,
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight.
I see the lights of the village
Gleam through the rain and the mist,
And a feeling of sadness comes o'er me
That my soul cannot resist:
A feeling of sadness and longing,
That is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only
As the mist resembles the rain.
Come, read to me some poem,
Some simple and heartfelt lay,
That shall soothe this restless feeling,
And banish the thoughts of day.
Not from the grand old masters,
Not from the bards sublime,
Whose distant footsteps echo
Through the corridors of Time.
For, like strains of martial music,
Their mighty thoughts suggest
Life's endless toil and endeavor;
And to-night I long for rest.
Read from some humbler poet,
Whose songs gushed from his heart,
As showers from the clouds of summer,
Or tears from the eyelids start;
Who, through long days of labor,
And nights devoid of ease,
Still heard in his soul the music
Of wonderful melodies.
Such songs have power to quiet
The restless pulse of care,
And come like the benediction
That follows after prayer.
Then read from the treasured volume
The poem of thy choice,
And lend to the rhyme of the poet
The beauty of thy voice.
And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares, that infest the day,
Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs,
And as silently steal away.
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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (The Belfry of Bruges and Other Poems)
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You know the stories of my grandfather, I am sure?β Jesse asked.
Lucie raised an eyebrow. βThe one who turned into a great worm because of demon pox, and was slain by my father and uncles?β
βI feared your parents would not have considered it the kind of tale suitable for a young ladyβs ears,β said Jesse. βI see that was an idle concern.β
βThey tell it every Christmas,β said Lucie smugly.
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Cassandra Clare (Chain of Gold (The Last Hours, #1))
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To have Christian hope means to know about evil and yet to go to meet the future with confidence. The core of faith rests upon accepting being loved by God, and therefore to believe is to say Yes, not only to him, but to creation, to creatures, above all, to men, to try to see the image of God in each person and thereby to become a lover. That's not easy, but the basic Yes, the conviction that God has created men, that he stands behind them, that they aren't simply negative, gives love a reference point that enables it to ground hope on the basis of faith.
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Pope Benedict XVI
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Are we not perhaps all afraid in some way? If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us? Are we not perhaps afraid to give up something significant, something unique, something that makes life so beautiful? Do we not then risk ending up diminished and deprived of our freedom? . . . No! If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed. Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation. And so, today, with great strength and great conviction, on the basis of long personal experience of life, I say to you, dear young people: Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ β and you will find true life. Amen.
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Pope Benedict XVI
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You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have
striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The
hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.
In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on
other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war
machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of
Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.
Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well
equipped and battle hardened. He will fight savagely.
But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of
1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats,
in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their
strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home
Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions
of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men.
The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to
Victory!
I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in
battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory!
Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great
and noble undertaking.
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Dwight D. Eisenhower
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Something I constantly notice is that unembarrassed joy has become rarer. Joy today is increasingly saddled with moral and ideological burdens, so to speak. When someone rejoices, he is afraid of offending against solidarity with the many people who suffer. I don't have any right to rejoice, people think, in a world where there is so much misery, so much injustice.
I can understand that. There is a moral attitude at work here. But this attitude is nonetheless wrong. The loss of joy does not make the world better - and, conversely, refusing joy for the sake of suffering does not help those who suffer. The contrary is true. The world needs people who discover the good, who rejoice in it and thereby derive the impetus and courage to do good. Joy, then, does not break with solidarity. When it is the right kind of joy, when it is not egotistic, when it comes from the perception of the good, then it wants to communicate itself, and it gets passed on. In this connection, it always strikes me that in the poor neighborhoods of, say, South America, one sees many more laughing happy people than among us. Obviously, despite all their misery, they still have the perception of the good to which they cling and in which they can find encouragement and strength.
In this sense we have a new need for that primordial trust which ultimately only faith can give. That the world is basically good, that God is there and is good. That it is good to live and to be a human being. This results, then, in the courage to rejoice, which in turn becomes commitment to making sure that other people, too, can rejoice and receive good news.
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Pope Benedict XVI