Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Some of our Favorite Quotations. We'd Love to Hear Yours

I often write down quotes that I’ve heard that move me. I will scribble them down on scrap paper or email them to myself. I think it’s because it’s comforting to know that other people feel the way I do. And I am in awe of people who are so skilled with words that they can express their feelings in a way that can truly make other people understand them.

Some of Mara’s favorite quotes:

I am heading towards the light because I understand that I am following the shadows and only light casts a shadow. 
—Sharon Stone

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. 
—Martin Luther King, Jr.

Which was Born in a Night to Perish in a Night
When the Soul Slept in Beams of Light. 
—William Blake

Even the least among you can do all that I have done, and greater things.
—John, 14:12

We dance round in a ring and suppose, 
But the Secret sits in the middle and knows. 
—Robert Frost

In every seed is the promise of a thousand forests. 
—Eiko Romero

No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path. 
—Buddha

Listen to many, speak to a few. 
—William Shakespeare

The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.
—Elie Wiesel

The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.
—Albert Einstein

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway. If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway. What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today will often be forgotten. Do good anyway. Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway. In the final analysis, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway.

—Mother Teresa

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Toni here. Like Mara, I write quotes down on a scrap of paper or email them to myself. One beautifully crafted thought can inspire me for days. 

Some of Toni's favorite quotes:

Beware of wandering into your head alone. It’s a dangerous neighborhood. 
—Gary Snyder

Feeling certain, of course, is no guarantee of being right. 
—Zen teacher Barry Magid

Be gentle first with yourself if you wish to be gentle with others. 
—Lama Yeshe

Let no one deceive another or despise any being in any state; let none by anger or hatred wish harm upon another. 
—The Buddha, Metta Sutta

Let no man pull you so low as to hate him. 
—Martin Luther King, Jr.

And Jesus wept. 
—John 11:35

The heart that breaks can contain the whole universe. 
—Joanna Macy

The mind is its own place and in itself can make a heaven of hell or a hell of heaven. 
—John Milton

Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves. 
—Carl Jung

Attention is the purest form of generosity. 
—Simone Weil

Do I contradict myself?
Very well, then I contradict myself.
I am large, I contain multitudes.
—Walt Whitman

And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good. 
—John Steinbeck

The whole life of a man is but a point in time. Let us enjoy it. 
—Plutarch

I know but one freedom and that is the freedom of the mind
—Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the Earth are never alone or weary of life. 
—Rachel Carson

Breathe. Pay Attention. Be Kind. Stop Grabbing. 
—Anne Lamott


Dr. King


4 comments:

  1. Toni-- I don't have the exact quote but your sharing the practice of finding joy in the happiness and joy of others has been transformative. Thanks to you and Mara for this great list! --Mollie

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    1. Toni here. I'm so glad you liked the quotations. The practice you're referring to is called mudita, but there's no need to remember that name. In fact, I'm working on a new edition of How to Be Sick and am taking out most of the foreign words!

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  2. From St Bernadette: "If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces... never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again. That's the beauty of being alive... We can always start all over again..."


    “when by the flood of your tears, the inner and outer have fused into One, you will find her whom you sought with such anguish, nearer than the nearest, the very breath of the life, the very core of every heart.” Anandamayi Ma.

    From a song: "There is a voice that Has no name; it comes with evening or behind the rain. I have no time now to stop and explain, I must keep moving cause it helps to ease the pain." Song "Moving On," Ray Hannisan. Fact checked Mudcat Cafe.org.

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    1. Thank you so much for these quotations. I've copied and pasted them into a Word document so I can read them again and again. All my best, Toni

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