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Words of Wisdom |
"There's a period of life where we swallow a knowledge of ourselves and it becomes either good or sour inside.""A new day needs to be honored. People have always known that. Didn't they chant at dawn in the sun temples of Peru? And leap and sway to Aztec flutes in Mexico? And drum sunrise songs in the Congo? And ring a thousand small gold bells in China?""Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land among the stars.""Like an old gold-panning prospector, you must resign yourself to digging up a lot of sand from which you will later patiently wash out a few minute particles of gold ore.""Beginnings are apt to be shadowy.""It only takes one person to change your life--you.""There is a logic of colors, and it is with this alone, and not with the logic of the brain, that the painter should conform.""To have someone who brings out the colors of life and whose very presence offers tranquility and contentment enriches my being and makes me grateful for the opportunity to share.""Children are surely one of God's greatest gifts and true challenges. To share your life with a child is to humble yourself so that you may learn from them and discover with them the beautiful secrets that are only uncovered in searching.""All of us have unique talents and gifts. No obstacle, be it physical, mental or emotional, has the power to destroy our innate creative energies.""The wisdom of all ages and cultures emphasizes the tremendous power our thoughts have over our character and circumstances.""I was taught that the way of progress is neither swift nor easy.""Do not fear mistakes--there are none.""If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain; If I can ease one life the aching, Or cool one pain, Or help one fainting robin Into his nest again, I shall not live in vain.""Taking a new step, uttering a new word is what people fear most.""As a bee seeks nectar from all kinds of flowers, Seek teachings everywhere." "Our own rough edges become smooth as we help a friend smooth her edges.""If I were alone in a desert and feeling afraid, I would want a child to be with me. For then my fear would disappear and I would be made strong. This is what life in itself can do because it is so noble, so full of pleasure and so powerful. But if I could not have a child with me I would like to have at least a living animal at my side to comfort me.""Imagination is more important than knowledge.""What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us.""Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.""We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.""Only those who dare, truly live.""A painting is never finished--it simply stops in interesting places.""One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.""There is one common flow, one common breathing, all things are in sympathy.""I have come to terms with the future. From this day onward I will walk easy on the earth. Plant trees. Kill no living things. Live in harmony with all creatures. I will restore the earth where I am. Use no more of its resources than I need. And listen, listen to what it is telling me.""When
we lose the right to be different, we lose the privilege to be free."
"In the deeper reality beyond space and time, we may be all members of one body.""The words that enlighten the soul are more precious than jewels.""Toleration is the greatest gift of the mind.""Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.""I think self-awareness is probably the most important thing towards being a champion.""The non-violent approach does not immediately change the heart of the oppressor. It first does something to the hearts and souls of those committed to it. It gives them a new self-respect; it calls up resources of strength and courage that they did not know they had. Finally, it reaches the opponent and so stirs his conscience that reconciliation becomes a reality.""The most elusive knowledge of all is self-knowledge.""Were our knowledge of human relationships a hundredfold more reliable than it is now, it would still be foolish to seek ready-made solutions for problems of living in the index of a book.""Real learning comes about when the competitive spirit has ceased.""Learning is movement from moment to moment.""Now is the time when your action is practise.""I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. Simple in actions and in thoughts, you return to the source of being. Patient with both friends and enemies, you accord with the way things are. compassionate toward yourself, you reconcile all beings in the world."". . . that is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you've understood all your life, but in a new way.""I want, by understanding myself, to understand others. I want to be all that I am capable of becoming . . . This all sounds very strenuous and serious. But now that I have wrestled with it, it's no longer so. I feel happy--deep down. All is well.""There are no new truths, but only truths that have not been recognized by those who have perceived them without noticing.""Those who do not know how to weep with their whole heart don't know how to laugh either.""What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves?""Love and the hope of it are not things one can learn; they are a part of life's heritage.""The makers of images"Chance is always powerful. Let your hook be always cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish.""Difficulties, opposition, criticism--these things are meant to be overcome, and there is a special joy in facing them and in coming out on top. It is only when there is nothing but praise that life loses its charm, and I begin to wonder what I should do about it.""Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out your horn.""It's not the earthquake that controls"Did you ever observe to whom the accidents happen? Chance favors only the prepared mind.""Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.""Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.""The influence of a beautiful, helpful, hopeful character is contagious, and may revolutionize a whole town.""No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.""Somewhere along the line of development we discover what we really are, and then we make our real decision for which we are responsible. Make that decision primarily for yourself because you can never really live anyone else's life, not even your own child's. The influence you exert is through your own life and what you become yourself.""My lifetime listens to yours.""Pilgrimage to the place of the wise is to find escape from the flame of separation.""There are many ways to search but the object of the search is always the same. Don't you see that the roads to Mecca are all different? . . .The roads are different, the goal one. . . When people come there, all quarrels or differences or disputes that happened along the road are resolved. . . Those who shouted at each other along the road 'you are wrong' or 'you are an infidel' forget their differences when they come there because there, all hearts are in unison.""In all the ten directions of the universe, There is only one truth. When we see clearly, the great teachings are the same.""Many of us achieve only the semblance of communication with others; what we say is often not contingent on what the other has just said, and neither of us is aware that we are not communicating.""All mystics speak the same language for they come from the same country."". . . words are more powerful than perhaps anyone suspects, and once deeply engraved in a child's mind, they are not easily eradicated.""Because everything we do and everything we are is in jeopardy, and because the peril is immediate and unremitting, every person is the right person to act and every moment is the right moment to begin.""To have one's individuality completely ignored is like being pushed quite out of life. Like being blown out as one blows out a light.""This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood which unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.""It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.""I believe that if it were left to artists to choose their own labels, most would choose none.""We tend to think of the rational as a higher order, but it is the emotional that marks our lives. One often learns more from ten days of agony than from ten years of contentment.""No person is your enemy, no person is your friend, every person is your teacher.""Teach us to walk the soft Earth as relatives to all that live.""For is it not true that human progress is but a mighty growing pattern woven together by the tenuous single threads united in a common effort?""Most kids hear what you say; some kids do what you say; but all kids do what you do.""Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.""To keep a lamp burning we have to keep putting oil in it.""There
are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects
it."
"Limited expectations yield only limited results."
Haines, J. (Ed.). (2000, July 20). Light Our Candles: Words of Wisdom [WWW document]. Light Our Candles. Leavenworth, KS: Saint Mary College. Retrieved Month #, 2000 from the World Wide Web: https://lightourcandles.tripod.com/wisdom.html
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