“
If you think you are big, you become small. If you know you are nothing, you become unlimited. That’s the beauty of being a human being.
”
”
Sadhguru (Pebbles Of Wisdom)
“
We become so absorbed in our flaws and faults that we forget that it is better to be a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without. To have flaws is beauty in itself, a fact so frightening that we hurry to hide them from sight and tarnish the whole in the process of comparing ourselves to others.
”
”
Forrest Curran (Purple Buddha Project: Purple Book of Self-Love)
“
You have too much social influence upon you. You are not going by your own nature. People do so many nonsensical life-negative things because they don’t want to be left out of the scene around them.
”
”
Sadhguru (Pebbles Of Wisdom)
“
Old men tend to forget what thought was like in their youth; they forget the quickness of the mental jump, the daring of the youthful intuition, the agility of the fresh insight. They become accustomed to the more plodding varieties of reason, and because this is more than made up by the accumulation of experience, old men think themselves wiser than the young.
”
”
Isaac Asimov (Pebble in the Sky (Galactic Empire, #3))
“
Pebbles that bring you joy are better than diamonds that bring you sorrow.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
Most people are investing their whole lifetime just for their material well-being. Dying to live, this is called.
”
”
Sadhguru (Pebbles Of Wisdom)
“
The whole art of being a Guru is just this: to constantly puncture people’s egos and still manage to remain their friend.
”
”
Sadhguru (Pebbles Of Wisdom)
“
Every seed goes through the tremendous struggle of losing itself – losing its safety and integrity and becoming vulnerable to every outside force that’s around. But without that vulnerability, without the breaking, without the shedding of the shell, life won’t sprout.
”
”
Sadhguru (Pebbles Of Wisdom)
“
Every human being is longing for involvement. Not for touch, not for a kiss, not for sex, not for anything else; one is basically longing for a deep sense of involvement.
”
”
Sadhguru (Pebbles Of Wisdom)
“
Affluence has not brought misery. The money did not stay in your pocket; it got into your head. Only then misery came to you. Having lots of money in your pocket is good. But if it enters your head, it becomes misery, because that is not its place.
”
”
Sadhguru (Pebbles Of Wisdom)
“
Were these boys in their right minds? Here were two boys with good intellect, one eighteen and one nineteen. They had all the prospects that life could hold out for any of the young; one a graduate of Chicago and another of Ann Arbor; one who had passed his examination for the Harvard Law School and was about to take a trip in Europe,--another who had passed at Ann Arbor, the youngest in his class, with three thousand dollars in the bank. Boys who never knew what it was to want a dollar; boys who could reach any position that was to boys of that kind to reach; boys of distinguished and honorable families, families of wealth and position, with all the world before them. And they gave it all up for nothing, for nothing! They took a little companion of one of them, on a crowded street, and killed him, for nothing, and sacrificed everything that could be of value in human life upon the crazy scheme of a couple of immature lads.
Now, your Honor, you have been a boy; I have been a boy. And we have known other boys. The best way to understand somebody else is to put yourself in his place.
Is it within the realm of your imagination that a boy who was right, with all the prospects of life before him, who could choose what he wanted, without the slightest reason in the world would lure a young companion to his death, and take his place in the shadow of the gallows?
...No one who has the process of reasoning could doubt that a boy who would do that is not right.
How insane they are I care not, whether medically or legally. They did not reason; they could not reason; they committed the most foolish, most unprovoked, most purposeless, most causeless act that any two boys ever committed, and they put themselves where the rope is dangling above their heads....
Why did they kill little Bobby Franks?
Not for money, not for spite; not for hate. They killed him as they might kill a spider or a fly, for the experience. They killed him because they were made that way. Because somewhere in the infinite processes that go to the making up of the boy or the man something slipped, and those unfortunate lads sit here hated, despised, outcasts, with the community shouting for their blood.
. . . I know, Your Honor, that every atom of life in all this universe is bound up together. I know that a pebble cannot be thrown into the ocean without disturbing every drop of water in the sea. I know that every life is inextricably mixed and woven with every other life. I know that every influence, conscious and unconscious, acts and reacts on every living organism, and that no one can fix the blame. I know that all life is a series of infinite chances, which sometimes result one way and sometimes another. I have not the infinite wisdom that can fathom it, neither has any other human brain
”
”
Clarence Darrow (Attorney for the Damned: Clarence Darrow in the Courtroom)
“
God loves you’ is not significant. If you are in such a way that everybody around you cannot help but fall in love with you – now, that is great!
”
”
Sadhguru (Pebbles Of Wisdom)
“
Carrying grudges is like carrying pebbles, they will always weigh you down.
”
”
Granthana Sinha
“
There is no such thing as ego; it is empty talk. The nasty part of you, you call it ego. Whenever you get nasty, you don’t want to see, “It is me who is nasty.” You want to say, “Oh, it is my ego.” This is another way of passing the buck. There is no ego. There is just you, and you, loid and you alone.
”
”
Sadhguru (Pebbles Of Wisdom)
“
An ugly diamond is still worth more than a beautiful pebble.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
The little boy I watched throwing pebbles into the empty fountain, he wasn't too old to climb trees. You could tell he had too much wisdom for his age. Probably he believed that he wasn't made for this world. I wanted to say to him: If not you, who?
”
”
Nicole Krauss
“
By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third, by experience, which is the bitterest. - Confucius
”
”
Laurence Endersen (Pebbles of Perception: How a Few Good Choices Make All The Difference)
“
Children only come through you, you don’t create them. It is a privilege that they have happened through you. Enjoy the privilege; don’t think of it as an authority. Just enjoy the privilege that another life chose to come through you into this world.
”
”
Sadhguru (Pebbles Of Wisdom)
“
Learning is a natural human trait. When you learn something that you did not know, it should make you joyful. But if learning is making children miserable, then we have not understood how to impart learning.
”
”
Sadhguru (Pebbles Of Wisdom)
“
18 When we utter the word ‘spirituality’, what we are saying is, “I want to become all-inclusive, or all-exclusive. I want to include everything as a part of myself, or I want to just exclude everything, including myself.“ These are two ways – either include everything or exclude everything. Either become infinite, or become zero; the in-between is an endless trap.
”
”
Sadhguru (Pebbles Of Wisdom)
“
There is wisdom climbing mountains," Maderos said softly. "For they teach us how truly small we are. This is just a pebble within one kingdom. There are higher mountains you must climb." ~ The Wretched of Muirwood
”
”
Jeff Wheeler
“
Where there are no bees there is no honey.
Where there are no flowers there is no perfume.
Where there are no clouds there is no rain.
Where there are no stars there is no light.
Where there are no roses there are no thorns.
Where there are no skies there are no stars.
Where there are no storms there are no rainbows.
Where there are no animals there are no forests.
Where there are no plants there are no jungles.
Where there are no seeds there are no harvests.
Where there are no spiders there are no webs.
Where there are no ants there are no colonies.
Where there are no worms there are no fish.
Where there are no mice there are no serpents.
Where there are no carcasses there are no vultures.
Where there are no stones there are no pebbles.
Where there are no rocks there are no mountains.
Where there are no deserts there are no oases.
Where there are no stars there are no galaxies.
Where there are no worlds there are no universes.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
By seeing the multitude of people around it, by being busied with all sorts of worldly affairs, by being wise to the ways of the world, such a person forgets himself, in a divine sense forgets his own name, dares not believe in himself, finds being himself too risky, finds it much easier and safer to be like the others, to become a copy, a number, along with the crowd.
Now this form of despair goes practically unnoticed in the world. Precisely by losing oneself in this way, such a person gains all that is required for a flawless performance in everyday life, yes, for making a great success out of life. Here there is no dragging of the feet, no difficulty with his self and its infinitizing, he is ground smooth as a pebble, as exchangeable as a coin of the realm. Far from anyone thinking him to be in despair, he is just what a human being ought to be. Naturally, the world has generally no understanding of what is truly horrifying.
”
”
Søren Kierkegaard
“
An original pebble is better than a counterfeit diamond.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
Bricks on your back are easier to carry than pebbles on your soul.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without one. Lost trust takes time to rebuild. But with consistency and humility, the diamond can be unearthed again.
”
”
Stacey Lee (The Downstairs Girl)
“
A dirty diamond is still worth more than a clean pebble.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
A diamond is only a pebble in the eyes of the blind.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
I know that every atom of life in all this universe is bound up together. I know that pebble cannot be thrown into the ocean without distrubing every drop of water in the sea. I know that every life is inextricably mixed and woven with every other life. I know that every influence, conscious and unconscious, acts and reacts on every living organism, and that no one can fix the blame.
I know that all life is a series of infinite chances, which sometimes result one way and sometimes another. I have not the infinite wisdom that can fathom it, neither has any other human brain. But I do know that in back of it is a power that made it, that power alone can tell, and if there is no power, then it is an infinite chance which man cannot solve.
”
”
Marianne Wiggins (Evidence of Things Unseen)
“
When the mind prays,
it moves rocks.
When the heart prays,
it moves hills.
When the soul prays,
it moves mountains.
When the mind sees,
it moves pebbles.
When the heart believes,
it moves cliffs.
When the soul conceives,
it moves ridges.
When thoughts rise,
they move stones.
When desires ascend,
they move walls.
When experiences grow,
they move towers.
When hope increases,
it moves minds.
When faith increases,
it moves hearts.
When love increases,
it moves souls.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
She told me it’s called the Maka Hanya Haramita Shingyo,69 which means something like the Great Most Excellent Wisdom Heart Sutra. The only part I remember goes like this: Shiki fu i ku, ku fu i shiki.70 It’s pretty abstract. Old Jiko tried to explain it to me, and I don’t know if I understood it correctly or not, but I think it means that nothing in the world is solid or real, because nothing is permanent, and all things—including trees and animals and pebbles and mountains and rivers and even me and you—are just kind of flowing through for the time being.
”
”
Ruth Ozeki (A Tale for the Time Being)
“
One bee does not make a swarm.
One wasp does not make a nest.
One wolf does not make a pack.
One bull does not make a herd.
One dog does not make a litter.
One sheep does not make a flock.
One lion does not make a pride.
One branch does not make a tree.
One pebble does not make a hill.
One rock does not make a mountain.
One dune does not make a desert.
One spark does not make a flame.
One finger does not make a hand.
One color does not make a rainbow.
One leaf does not make a plant.
One flower does not make a garden.
One seed does not make a forest.
One drop does not make an ocean.
One cloud does not make a sky.
One star does not make a galaxy.
One world does not make a universe.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
I supposed I'd been hit in the heart, but the prospect of death neither hurt nor frightened me. As I fell, I saw the smooth, white pebbles in the muddy road; their arrangement made sense, it was as necessary as that of the stars, and certainly great wisdom was hidden in it. That concerned me, and mattered more than the slaughter that was going on all round me.
”
”
Ernst Jünger (Storm of Steel)
“
Even in a minute instance, it is best to look first to the main tendencies of Nature. A
particular flower may not be dead in early winter, but the flowers are dying; a particular
pebble may never be wetted with the tide, but the tide is coming in. To the scientific eye
all human history is a series of collective movements, destructions or migrations, like the
massacre of flies in winter or the return of birds in spring.
”
”
G.K. Chesterton
“
But in good times his family saw little of him, for then he roamed, fished, hunted, searched for roots, lay in the grass or crouched in trees, sniffed, listened, imitated the voices of animals, kindled little fires and compared the shapes of the smoke clouds with the clouds in the sky, drenched his skin and hair with fog, rain, air, sun, or moonlight, and incidentally gathered, as his Master and predecessor Turu had done in his lifetime, objects whose inner character and outward form seemed to belong to different realms, in which the wisdom or whimsicality of nature seemed to reveal some fragment of her rules and secrets of creation, objects which seemed to unite symbolically widely disparate ideas: gnarled branches with the faces of men or animals, water-polished pebbles grained like wood, petrified animals of the primordial world, misshapen or twinned fruit pits, stones shaped like kidneys or hearts.
”
”
Hermann Hesse (The Glass Bead Game)
“
A Thousand mountains will greet my departing friend,
When the spring teas blossom again.
With such breadth and wisdom,
Serenely picking tea—
Through morning mists
Or crimson evening clouds—
His solitary journey is my envy.
We rendezvous at a remote mountain temple,
Where we enjoy tea by a clear pebble fountain.
In that silent night,
Lit only by candlelight,
I struck a marble bell—
Its chime carrying me
A hidden man
Deep into thoughts of ages past.
— "The Day I Saw Lu Yu off to Pick Tea
”
”
Aaron Fisher (The Way of Tea: Reflections on a Life with Tea)
“
Then he turned the pebbles over in his hardened fingers, remembering the only words in the way of wisdom his father had ever given him. The land is your bones and your bones is the land. He thought about that, looking long and long into the coming night, a light snow falling hushed and calm in the dark open. Before putting his foot in the stirrup he leaned down and scattered the pebbles back onto the earth but for one nugget that he pushed into his pocket and squeezed until it was as his heart felt. Dust.
”
”
Robert Gatewood (The Sound of the Trees)
“
A rock, a large piece of rock weathers off a cliff and dives deep into a pool of gushing water. Back washed, It journeys roughly and knocks of other rocks, smashing through the waves as it loses itself in scattered pieces except for its core. That core travels far and wide, it coarsely gets ground by gravel pieces smaller than itself and bullied by boulders all of which it bears up as it withstands the pressure of a distant journey off the shore. At some point, it gets dry and it encounters mud, it gets smeared dirty but the mud doesn't stick, the rain washes of the mud and it rolls off into the sand. It dances in the sand and dives into the bottom of the waves.
Rising like a phoenix through the ashes, it emerges polished, looking more beautiful than it did when it got edged of the cliff. It rises a pebble, smooth and sleek. Coveted by rocks starting their dive.
To be a pebble you have to run the turbulent tidal race.
”
”
Victor Manan Nyambala
“
From my readings, I had learned of a vast pool of human knowledge that both included books and went far beyond them in content and reach. The humans, of course, having only the faintest of intimations of quenging, use a different though related metaphor for the noosphere in which they like to dip their feet. Instead of seeing the truth of all things as a single, superluminal substance that everywhere flows like water, they conceive of it as a collection of things, and they content themselves with fashioning nets with their minds in the hope of casting them out in order to capture here a prettier pebble and there a smoother shell. Hence their name for the Oceanic wisdom that should flow among all beings: the worldwide Net.
”
”
David Zindell (The Idiot Gods)
“
Love, aren’t you the one who lights soul’s fire?
My earthly heart gets cold
but I sustain the shivers boldly.
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys
and shores of universal life
and play with pebbles of destiny.
”
”
Alexis Karpouzos (THE PATH OF WISDOM: Poetry for a new heaven)
“
And then there is this jewel with its many facets of wisdom. It’s not difficult to imagine the breadth and depth of this sentiment – at least where astuteness and faith are an inseparable dynamic duo running rampant: “…while God does listen, knowing what He knows about us, and how well we take disappointment, often He will find a way to save us all the heartache and trouble we unwittingly plead and beseech and continually pester him for; ever a loving, wise Father, He will just simply answer, “no,” by default; by not answering, “yes.
”
”
Connie Kerbs (Paths of Fear: An Anthology of Overcoming Through Courage, Inspiration, and the Miracle of Love (Pebbled Lane Books Book 1))
“
And then there is this jewel with its many facets of wisdom. It’s not difficult to imagine the breadth and depth of this sentiment – at least where astuteness and faith are an inseparable dynamic duo running rampant: “…while God does listen, knowing what He knows about us, and how well we take disappointment, often He will find a way to save us all the heartache and trouble we unwittingly plead and beseech and continually pester him for; ever a loving, wise Father, He will just simply answer, 'no,' by default; by not answering, 'yes,' no matter how passionately we fail to understand the importance of His not acquiescing to our every whim.
”
”
Connie Kerbs (Paths of Fear: An Anthology of Overcoming Through Courage, Inspiration, and the Miracle of Love (Pebbled Lane Books Book 1))
“
Thinking & Wisdom: Peter Bevelin, Edward de Bono, Benjamin Franklin, Daniel Gilbert, Daniel Kahneman, Jiddu Krishnamurti, Steven Pinker, Tania Singer, Amos Tversky. Philosophy & Effective Living: James Allen, Stephen Covey, Viktor Frankl, Tamar Gendler’s Open Yale philosophy lectures, Daniel Gilbert, Khalil Gibran, A.C.
”
”
Laurence Endersen (Pebbles of Perception: How a Few Good Choices Make All The Difference)
“
A lucky person is one who plants pebbles and harvests potatoes.
”
”
Julia Stuart (The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise)
“
A rough diamond is still worth more than a polished pebble.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
From the Bridge” by Captain Hank Bracker
Pebbles, Rocks & Mountains
Rocks can be formed in many different ways and are found in just about every corner of our planet, the Moon, up in space and who knows where else. Now pebbles are the mini-me’s of rocks and generally are about one to three inches in size. Geologists will tell you that they are about 5 millimeters in diameter, but who’s counting? In fact there are two beaches that are made up entirely of pebbles such as the Shingle Beach in Somerset, England. Generally pebbles are found along rivers, streams and creeks whereas mountains are usually a part of a chain that was created along geothermal fault lines. The process of Mountain formation is associated with movements of the earth's crust, which is referred to as plate tectonics. See; now that I looked it up, I know these things!
What I’m about to say has absolutely nothing to do with geology and everything to do about human nature. In the course of events we never trip over mountains and seldom over rocks, but tripping over pebbles is another thing.
Marilyn French, a writer and feminist scholar is credited with saying, “Men (she should have included Women) stumble over pebbles, never over mountains.” She was the lady (I should have said woman) whose provocative 1977 novel, “The Women's Room” captured the frustration and fury of a generation of women fed up with society's traditional conceptions of their roles (and this is true). However, this has nothing to do with the feminist movement and is simply a metaphor. Of course we’re not going to trip over mountains, not unless we are bigger than the “Jolly Green Giant!” and so it’s usually the little things that trip us up and cause us problems.
What comes to mind is found on page 466 of The Exciting Story of Cuba. This is a book that won two awards by the “Florida Authors & Publishers Association” and yet there are small mistakes. They weren’t even caused by me or my team and yet there they are, getting bigger and bigger every time I look at them. Now I’m not about to tell you what they are, since that would take the fun out of it, but if you look hard enough in the book, you’ll succeed in discovering them!
I will however tell you that one of these mistakes was caused by a computer program called “Word.” It’s wonderful that this program has a spell check and can even correct my grammar, but it can’t read my mind. In its infernal wisdom, the program was so insistent that it was right and that I was wrong that it changed the spelling of, in this case, the name of a person in the middle of the night. It happened while I was sleeping! I would have seen it if it had been as big as a mountain, however being just a little pebble it escaped my review and even escaped the eagle eyes of Lucy who still remains the best proof reader and copy editor that I know. When you discover what I missed please refrain from emailing me, although, normally, I would really enjoy hearing from you! I unfortunately already know most of the errors in the book, for which I take full responsibility.
The truth of it is that my mistakes leave me feeling stupid and frustrated. Now, you may disagree with me however I don’t think that I am really all that stupid, but when you write hundreds of thousands of words, a few of them might just slip between the cracks. None of us are infallible and we all make mistakes. I sometimes like to say that “I once thought that I had made a mistake, but then found out that I was mistaken.” And so it is; if you think about it, it’s the pebbles that create most of our problems, not the rocks and certainly not the mountains.
I’ll let you know as soon as my other books, Suppressed I Rise – Revised Edition; Seawater One…. And Words of Wisdom, “From the Bridge” are available. It’s Seawater One that has the naughty bits in it… but that just spices it up. Now with that book you can really tell me what you think….
”
”
Hank Bracker
“
I used to suffer from many frustrating discomforts that almost paralyzed me, and this happened during circumambulation as well as otherwise. I turned to the recitation of The Opening and rubbed over the spot where it hurt, and it dropped like a pebble. I have experienced this a number of times. I would take a tumbler filled with the water of zamzam, recite The Opening over it many times and drink it, and find the benefit and strength that I have not seen in any remedy. The matter is in fact greater than this, but [its benefits obtain] in accordance with the strength of faith and soundness of belief, and God is the Helper.
”
”
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (Ranks of the Divine Seekers A Parallel English-Arabic Text. Volume 1 (Islamic Translation) (English and Arabic Edition))
“
Quotes are like pebble stone thrown into the sea alike mind. Don't let all reach bottom ,some should be sent back to the shore.
”
”
P Sarda
“
...We are, indeed, ALL His own. Whether we believe it or not. Whether we know it or not. Whether we admit it or remember it or celebrate it, or not. Whether we live this, or not - we are part and parcel o the living proof of an intelligent, organized, purposeful creation; one of beauty, wisdom, and intent beyond our limited view of the here and now.
”
”
Connie Kerbs (Paths of Fear: An Anthology of Overcoming Through Courage, Inspiration, and the Miracle of Love (Pebbled Lane Books Book 1))
“
A teacher cannot give you the truth The truth is already in you. You only need to open yourself – body, mind and heart- so that his or her teachings will penetrate your own seeds of understanding and enlightenment If you let the words enter you, the soil and the seeds will do the rest of the work
”
”
Akṣapāda (Thich Nhat Hanh’s Pebbles of Peace: 707 Stones Polished with Wisdom)
“
When a child enters your life, it is time to learn. It is not time to teach. Most people think it is time to teach; that is the misfortune. If a child enters your life, it is time to relearn the life that you have forgotten. That a child can laugh without reason, that he can jump around for no reason, that he can become an exuberant burst of aliveness – that’s life.
”
”
Sadhguru (Pebbles Of Wisdom)
“
To lose a thousand pebbles in the persuit of one diamond is gain.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
We’re living in some stupid times. If you want to see the world go to Hell then give power to stupid, evil people; they’ll do all they can to control those who don’t know or want to know any better. You don’t climb up the ladder of success when you become a Marxist, you climb down. In fact a man loses two positions when he becomes a good, little proletariat; his personhood and his manhood. A man chooses to become a pebble among pebbles when he cannot become a mountain. The new rebel’s goal of today is making men despise themselves by taking what was honorable yesterday and turning it into the prejudices of tomorrow.
”
”
Michael Kurcina (We Fight Monsters: Wisdom and inspiration that speak to the warrior's soul)
“
Venus was rising, holding her own in the sky that was beginning to brighten. As I left the docks and warehouses behind, I came to a marshy shoreline, thick with water reeds. Though the sky above was clear, the water's surface swirled with little mists. I began to sing a song to Isis, made up on the spot, which caught the rhythm of the oars. A breeze sprang up and the reeds sang with me.
Then as the first rays of sun dimmed the stars, birds everywhere lifted their voices and rose in line after line into the sky. On the outskirts of the city, I came to what looked like it might have been an abandoned villa or farmstead. I decided to sit down and watch the lake changing colors with the light. That's when I heard it. Not the soft lapping of the water against the shore, but the sound of flowing water. I looked and in the glowing light, I saw a small stream, eally just a trickle washing down a pebbly incline towards the lake. Something prompted me to follow the stream inland.
I made my way though brambly thickets of brambling roses. The way seemed to open for me, the thorns all but retracting so as not to catch my cloak or scratch my arms and legs. At the source, I knelt down and parted the thicket, and there it was. The spring at the base of the hill so steep, it was almost a cliff. The water bubbled up from the darkness of earth, giving back the brightness of sky. Like all springs, a way between worlds.
I was no stranger to sacred springs and magic wells. I was raised to revere them. I had first glimpsed my beloved on the well of wisdom on Tir n mBan. But this spring. I closed my eyes to listen to its sound, and I knew I had heard it before.
The wind picked up, washing over me, scented with fish and roses. When it quieted again, I opened my eyes and gazed at the clear surface of the pool, and for an instant, I saw a tower, and the dawn sky, and the two people standing there. Then the image vanished, but I had seen all I needed to see.
Alright, I said to myself, my goddess, to Miriam's know it all angels, Magala is is.
And by the way, I added, my name is Maeve.
”
”
Elizabeth Cunningham (The Passion of Mary Magdalen (Maeve Chronicles, #2))