β
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
β
β
Albert Einstein
β
You can't live your life for other people. You've got to do what's right for you, even if it hurts some people you love.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
β
You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.
β
β
A.A. Milne (Winnie-the-Pooh (Winnie-the-Pooh, #1))
β
Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently.
β
β
Maya Angelou
β
Take responsibility of your own happiness, never put it in other peopleβs hands.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β
Respect other people's feelings. It might mean nothing to you, but it could mean everything to them.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett
β
Live the Life of Your Dreams: Be brave enough to live the life of your dreams according to your vision and purpose instead of the expectations and opinions of others.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
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
You cannot control the behavior of others, but you can always choose how you respond to it.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β
Life becomes easier and more beautiful when we can see the good in other people.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett
β
The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain as your legacy.
β
β
Kalu Ndukwe Kalu
β
Learn to light a candle in the darkest moments of someoneβs life. Be the light that helps others see; it is what gives life its deepest significance.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β
Follow your heart, listen to your inner voice, stop caring about what others think.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β
Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.
β
β
Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi (The Essential Rumi)
β
The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word 'crisis.' One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger--but recognize the opportunity.
β
β
John F. Kennedy
β
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, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. 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.
β
β
Marianne Williamson (A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles")
β
There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.
β
β
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1))
β
Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.
β
β
Barack Obama
β
Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself.
β
β
Lois McMaster Bujold (A Civil Campaign (Vorkosigan Saga, #12))
β
What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?
β
β
George Eliot
β
Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours.
β
β
Yogi Berra (When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It!: Inspiration and Wisdom from One of Baseball's Greatest Heroes)
β
Stop comparing yourself to other people, just choose to be happy and live your own life.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β
Let the improvement of yourself keep you so busy that you have no time to criticize others.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β
For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday and lessen the suffering of others. You'd be surprised how far that gets you.
β
β
Neil deGrasse Tyson
β
All parents damage their children. It cannot be helped. Youth, like pristine glass, absorbs the prints of its handlers. Some parents smudge, others crack, a few shatter childhoods completely into jagged little pieces, beyond repair.
β
β
Mitch Albom (The Five People You Meet in Heaven)
β
Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not.
β
β
Pablo Picasso (Pablo Picasso: Metamorphoses of the Human Form : Graphic Works, 1895-1972)
β
Help others without any reason and give without the expectation of receiving anything in return.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β
The unhappiest people in this world, are those who care the most about what other people think.
β
β
C. JoyBell C.
β
If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.
β
β
Mother Teresa
β
For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, let a child run his fingers through it once a day.
For poise, walk with the knowledge youβll never walk alone.
...
We leave you a tradition with a future.
The tender loving care of human beings will never become obsolete.
People even more than things have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed and redeemed and redeemed.
Never throw out anybody.
Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, youβll find one at the end of your arm.
As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands: one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.
Your βgood old daysβ are still ahead of you, may you have many of them.
β
β
Sam Levenson (In One Era & Out the Other)
β
I have drunken deep of joy,
And I will taste no other wine tonight.
β
β
Percy Bysshe Shelley
β
Don't let the expectations and opinions of other people affect your decisions. It's your life, not theirs. Do what matters most to you; do what makes you feel alive and happy. Don't let the expectations and ideas of others limit who you are. If you let others tell you who you are, you are living their reality β not yours. There is more to life than pleasing people. There is much more to life than following others' prescribed path. There is so much more to life than what you experience right now. You need to decide who you are for yourself. Become a whole being. Adventure.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett
β
Death is no more than passing from one room into another. But there's a difference for me, you know. Because in that other room I shall be able to see.
β
β
Helen Keller
β
The outer world is a reflection of the inner world. Other peopleβs perception of you is a reflection of them; your response to them is an awareness of you.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β
We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.
β
β
AnaΓ―s Nin (The Diary of AnaΓ―s Nin, Vol. 7: 1966-1974)
β
The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who donβt want it badly enough. Theyβre there to stop the other people.
β
β
Randy Pausch (The Last Lecture)
β
The best thing to hold onto in life is each other.
β
β
Audrey Hepburn
β
Promise Yourself
To be so strong that nothing
can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness, and prosperity
to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel
that there is something in them
To look at the sunny side of everything
and make your optimism come true.
To think only the best, to work only for the best,
and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others
as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past
and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times
and give every living creature you meet a smile.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself
that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear,
and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world,
not in loud words but great deeds.
To live in faith that the whole world is on your side
so long as you are true to the best that is in you.
β
β
Christian D. Larson (Your Forces and How to Use Them)
β
There is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women."
(Keynote speech at Celebrating Inspiration luncheon with the WNBA's All-Decade Team, 2006)
β
β
Madeleine K. Albright
β
When in a relationship, a real man doesn't make his woman jealous of others, he makes others jealous of his woman.
β
β
Steve Maraboli (Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience)
β
Strong people have a strong sense of self-worth and self-awareness; they donβt need the approval of others.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β
Smile more. Smiling can make you and others happy.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β
Do stuff. be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration's shove or society's kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It's all about paying attention. attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. stay eager.
β
β
Susan Sontag
β
Life is too short to waste any amount of time on wondering what other people think about you. In the first place, if they had better things going on in their lives, they wouldn't have the time to sit around and talk about you. What's important to me is not others' opinions of me, but what's important to me is my opinion of myself.
β
β
C. JoyBell C.
β
When the going gets tough, put one foot in front of the other and just keep going. Donβt give up.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β
Stop giving other people the power to control your happiness, your mind, and your life. If you don't take control of yourself and your own life, someone else is bound to try.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β
The reason it hurts so much to separate is because our souls are connected. Maybe they always have been and will be. Maybe we've lived a thousand lives before this one and in each of them we've found each other. And maybe each time, we've been forced apart for the same reasons. That means that this goodbye is both a goodbye for the past ten thousand years and a prelude to what will come.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
β
Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
β
β
John Wooden
β
There will be a few times in your life when all your instincts will tell you to do something, something that defies logic, upsets your plans, and may seem crazy to others. When that happens, you do it. Listen to your instincts and ignore everything else. Ignore logic, ignore the odds, ignore the complications, and just go for it.
β
β
Judith McNaught (Remember When (Foster Saga, #1))
β
So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.
β
β
Mitch Albom (Tuesdays With Morrie)
β
Each day brings new opportunities, allowing you to constantly live with loveβbe there for othersβbring a little light into someone's day. Be grateful and live each day to the fullest.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β
The strongest people find the courage and caring to help others, even if they are going through their own storm.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β
Since I was young, I have always known this: Life damages us, every one. We canβt escape that damage. But now, I am also learning this: We can be mended. We mend each other
β
β
Veronica Roth
β
Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.
β
β
J.M. Barrie
β
Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.
β
β
Ronald Reagan
β
You are in charge of your own happiness; you don't need to wait for other people's permission to be happy.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β
I do not care so much what I am to others as I care what I am to myself.
β
β
Michel de Montaigne
β
When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.
β
β
Maya Angelou
β
The love that moves the sun and the other stars.
β
β
Elizabeth Gilbert
β
You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.
β
β
William Wilberforce
β
And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human historyβmoney, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slaveryβthe long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.
β
β
C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity)
β
The easiest thing to be in the world is you. The most difficult thing to be is what other people want you to be. Don't let them put you in that position.
β
β
Leo F. Buscaglia
β
Don't think about making life better for other people who don't even deserve you, rather, focus on making your life the best, for yourself and those who love you.
β
β
C. JoyBell C.
β
How would your life be different ifβ¦You walked away from gossip and verbal defamation? Let today be the dayβ¦You speak only the good you know of other people and encourage others to do the same.
β
β
Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
β
What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man seeks is in others.
β
β
Confucius
β
Donβt let others tell you what you canβt do. Don't let the limitations of others limit your vision. If you can remove your self-doubt and believe in yourself, you can achieve what you never thought possible.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β
Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, it's at the end of your arm, as you get older, remember you have another hand: The first is to help yourself, the second is to help others.
β
β
Sam Levenson
β
We are like sculptors, constantly carving out of others the image we long for, need, love or desire, often against reality, against their benefit, and always, in the end, a disappointment, because it does not fit them.
β
β
AnaΓ―s Nin
β
You are unique. You have different talents and abilities. You donβt have to always follow in the footsteps of others. And most important, you should always remind yourself that you don't have to do what everyone else is doing and have a responsibility to develop the talents you have been given.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β
Life begins on the other side of despair.
β
β
Jean-Paul Sartre
β
Be the positive impact on the lives of others.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett
β
Donβt worry if people think youβre crazy. You are crazy. You have that kind of intoxicating insanity that lets other people dream outside of the lines and become who theyβre destined to be.
β
β
Jennifer Elisabeth (Born Ready: Unleash Your Inner Dream Girl)
β
Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others; to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can.
β
β
Dalai Lama XIV
β
It's worth making time to find the things that really stir your soul. Thatβs what makes you really feel alive. You have to say βnoβ to other things youβre used to, and do it with all your heart.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett
β
If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then, you are an excellent leader.
β
β
Dolly Parton
β
I am a happy camper so I guess Iβm doing something right. Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.
β
β
J. Richard Lessor
β
The Reality of The Other Person Lies Not In What He Reveals To You, But What He Cannot Reveal To You.
Therefore, If You Would Understand Him, Listen Not To What He Says, But Rather To What He Does Not Say.
β
β
Kahlil Gibran
β
Want to keep Christ in Christmas? Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, forgive the guilty, welcome the unwanted, care for the ill, love your enemies, and do unto others as you would have done unto you.
β
β
Steve Maraboli (Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience)
β
These rough sketches, which are born in an instant in the heat of inspiration, express the idea of their author in a few strokes, while on the other hand too much effort and diligence sometimes saps the vitality and powers of those who never know when to leave off.
β
β
Giorgio Vasari
β
The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity... and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.
β
β
William Blake
β
A fight is going on inside me," said an old man to his son. "It is a terrible fight between two wolves. One wolf is evil. He is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other wolf is good. he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you."
The son thought about it for a minute and then asked, "Which wolf will win?"
The old man replied simply, "The one you feed.
β
β
Wendy Mass (Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life)
β
I've come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that's as unique as a fingerprint - and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing the energy of the universe to lead you.
β
β
Oprah Winfrey
β
How would your life be different ifβ¦You stopped allowing other people to dilute or poison your day with their words or opinions? Let today be the dayβ¦You stand strong in the truth of your beauty and journey through your day without attachment to the validation of others.
β
β
Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
β
If I am to be fallen into love, I will. And if as a result I will appear to be stupid, disillusioned, and of poor judgment, I will. And I would be damned if I cared what other people think. For I would rather be thought of as all of these things, than not love. If in loving, I become the naked woman on the horse, I will ride that horse with my head held high. This is my spirit. I am unbreakable.
β
β
C. JoyBell C.
β
I know that pain is the most important thing in the universes. Greater than survival, greater than love, greater even than the beauty it brings about. For without pain, there can be no pleasure. Without sadness, there can be no happiness. Without misery there can be no beauty. And without these, life is endless, hopeless, doomed and damned.
Adult. You have become adult.
β
β
Harlan Ellison (Paingod and Other Delusions)
β
7 Effective Ways to Make Others Feel Important
1. Use their name.
2. Express sincere gratitude.
3. Do more listening than talking.
4. Talk more about them than about you.
5. Be authentically interested.
6. Be sincere in your praise.
7. Show you care.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β
We've all started to put down the virtues of the other factions in the process of bolstering our own. I don't want to do that. I want to be brave, and selfless, and smart, and kind, and honest." He clears his throat. "I continually struggle with kindness.
β
β
Veronica Roth (Divergent (Divergent, #1))
β
Down on the lake rosy reflections of celestial vapor appeared, and I said, "God, I love you" and looked to the sky and really meant it. "I have fallen in love with you, God. Take care of us all, one way or the other." To the children and the innocent it's all the same.
β
β
Jack Kerouac (The Dharma Bums)
β
Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we learn. The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and prejudices and the acceptance of love back in our hearts. Love is the essential reality and our purpose on earth. To be consciously aware of it, to experience love in ourselves and others, is the meaning of life. Meaning does not lie in things. Meaning lies in us.
β
β
Marianne Williamson
β
Iβve become skeptical of the unwritten rule that just because a boy and girl appear in the same feature, a romance must ensue. Rather, I want to portray a slightly different relationship, one where the two mutually inspire each other to live - if Iβm able to, then perhaps Iβll be closer to portraying a true expression of love.
β
β
Hayao Miyazaki
β
In friendship...we think we have chosen our peers. In reality a few years' difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another...the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting--any of these chances might have kept us apart. But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking no chances. A secret master of ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," can truly say to every group of Christian friends, "Ye have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another." The friendship is not a reward for our discriminating and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each of us the beauties of others.
β
β
C.S. Lewis (The Four Loves)
β
Life moves on, whether we act as cowards or heroes. Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such
β
β
Henry Miller
β
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly, and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love β for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you from misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labours and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
β
β
Max Ehrmann (Desiderata: A Poem for a Way of Life)
β
The person in life that you will always be with the most, is yourself. Because even when you are with others, you are still with yourself, too! When you wake up in the morning, you are with yourself, laying in bed at night you are with yourself, walking down the street in the sunlight you are with yourself.What kind of person do you want to walk down the street with? What kind of person do you want to wake up in the morning with? What kind of person do you want to see at the end of the day before you fall asleep? Because that person is yourself, and it's your responsibility to be that person you want to be with. I know I want to spend my life with a person who knows how to let things go, who's not full of hate, who's able to smile and be carefree. So that's who I have to be.
β
β
C. JoyBell C.
β
There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree, and does not rest until it has found one. Then, singing among the savage branches, it impales itself upon the longest, sharpest spine. And, dying, it rises above its own agony to outcarol the lark and the nightingale. One superlative song, existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen, and God in His heaven smiles. For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain⦠Or so says the legend.
β
β
Colleen McCullough (The Thorn Birds)
β
Responsibility to yourself means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you...it means that you do not treat your body as a commodity with which to purchase superficial intimacy or economic security; for our bodies to be treated as objects, our minds are in mortal danger. It means insisting that those to whom you give your friendship and love are able to respect your mind. It means being able to say, with Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre: "I have an inward treasure born with me, which can keep me alive if all the extraneous delights should be withheld or offered only at a price I cannot afford to give.
Responsibility to yourself means that you don't fall for shallow and easy solutions--predigested books and ideas...marrying early as an escape from real decisions, getting pregnant as an evasion of already existing problems. It means that you refuse to sell your talents and aspirations short...and this, in turn, means resisting the forces in society which say that women should be nice, play safe, have low professional expectations, drown in love and forget about work, live through others, and stay in the places assigned to us. It means that we insist on a life of meaningful work, insist that work be as meaningful as love and friendship in our lives. It means, therefore, the courage to be "different"...The difference between a life lived actively, and a life of passive drifting and dispersal of energies, is an immense difference. Once we begin to feel committed to our lives, responsible to ourselves, we can never again be satisfied with the old, passive way.
β
β
Adrienne Rich
β
Go into yourself. Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depths of your heart; confess to yourself whether you would have to die if you were forbidden to write.
This most of all: ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I write? Dig into yourself for a deep answer. And if this answer rings out in assent, if you meet this solemn question with a strong, simple βI must,β then build your life in accordance with this necessity; your whole life, even into its humblest and most indifferent hour, must become a sign and witness to this impulse. Then come close to Nature. Then, as if no one had ever tried before, try to say what you see and feel and love and lose...
...Describe your sorrows and desires, the thoughts that pass through your mind and your belief in some kind of beauty - describe all these with heartfelt, silent, humble sincerity and, when you express yourself, use the Things around you, the images from your dreams, and the objects that you remember. If your everyday life seems poor, donβt blame it; blame yourself; admit to yourself that you are not enough of a poet to call forth its riches; because for the creator there is not poverty and no poor, indifferent place. And even if you found yourself in some prison, whose walls let in none of the worldβs sounds β wouldnβt you still have your childhood, that jewel beyond all price, that treasure house of memories? Turn your attentions to it. Try to raise up the sunken feelings of this enormous past; your personality will grow stronger, your solitude will expand and become a place where you can live in the twilight, where the noise of other people passes by, far in the distance. - And if out of this turning-within, out of this immersion in your own world, poems come, then you will not think of asking anyone whether they are good or not. Nor will you try to interest magazines in these works: for you will see them as your dear natural possession, a piece of your life, a voice from it. A work of art is good if it has arisen out of necessity. That is the only way one can judge it.
β
β
Rainer Maria Rilke
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For everything in this journey of life we are on, there is a right wing and a left wing: for the wing of love there is anger; for the wing of destiny there is fear; for the wing of pain there is healing; for the wing of hurt there is forgiveness; for the wing of pride there is humility; for the wing of giving there is taking; for the wing of tears there is joy; for the wing of rejection there is acceptance; for the wing of judgment there is grace; for the wing of honor there is shame; for the wing of letting go there is the wing of keeping. We can only fly with two wings and two wings can only stay in the air if there is a balance. Two beautiful wings is perfection. There is a generation of people who idealize perfection as the existence of only one of these wings every time. But I see that a bird with one wing is imperfect. An angel with one wing is imperfect. A butterfly with one wing is dead. So this generation of people strive to always cut off the other wing in the hopes of embodying their ideal of perfection, and in doing so, have created a crippled race.
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C. JoyBell C.
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Do not love half lovers
Do not entertain half friends
Do not indulge in works of the half talented
Do not live half a life
and do not die a half death
If you choose silence, then be silent
When you speak, do so until you are finished
Do not silence yourself to say something
And do not speak to be silent
If you accept, then express it bluntly
Do not mask it
If you refuse then be clear about it
for an ambiguous refusal is but a weak acceptance
Do not accept half a solution
Do not believe half truths
Do not dream half a dream
Do not fantasize about half hopes
Half a drink will not quench your thirst
Half a meal will not satiate your hunger
Half the way will get you no where
Half an idea will bear you no results
Your other half is not the one you love
It is you in another time yet in the same space
It is you when you are not
Half a life is a life you didn't live,
A word you have not said
A smile you postponed
A love you have not had
A friendship you did not know
To reach and not arrive
Work and not work
Attend only to be absent
What makes you a stranger to them closest to you
and they strangers to you
The half is a mere moment of inability
but you are able for you are not half a being
You are a whole that exists to live a life
not half a life
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Kahlil Gibran
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When I was little and running on the race track at school, I always stopped and waited for all the other kids so we could run together even though I knew (and everybody else knew) that I could run much faster than all of them! I pretended to read slowly so I could "wait" for everyone else who couldn't read as fast as I could! When my friends were short I pretended that I was short too and if my friend was sad I pretended to be unhappy. I could go on and on about all the ways I have limited myself, my whole life, by "waiting" for people. And the only thing that I've ever received in return is people thinking that they are faster than me, people thinking that they can make me feel bad about myself just because I let them and people thinking that I have to do whatever they say I should do. My mother used to teach me "Cinderella is a perfect example to be" but I have learned that Cinderella can go fuck herself, I'm not waiting for anybody, anymore! I'm going to run as fast as I can, fly as high as I can, I am going to soar and if you want you can come with me! But I'm not waiting for you anymore.
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C. JoyBell C.