FOR MOMENTS WHEN THE WORDS OF THE WISE HELP US
The following quotations inspire, touch and motivate me. You will notice that I’m a great fan of Rumi! BUT there are wide range of quotations from Aesop to Bod Marley and many in-between. I hope one or more of these quotations will inspire you too.
BE INSPIRED TO BE THE BEST YOU CAN BE
No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted—Aesop
Too many people die with their music still inside them—Oscar Wilde
You were born with potential.
You were born with goodness and trust.
You were born with ideals and dreams.
You were born with greatness.
You were born with wings.
You are not meant for crawling, so don’t.
You have wings.
Learn to use them and fly—Rumi
You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice—Bob Marley
Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world—Buddha
There is no greater joy nor greater reward than to make a fundamental difference in someone’s life—Sister Mary Rose McGeady
Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, the planners, the doers, the successful people with their heads in the clouds and their feet on the ground. Let their spirit ignite a fire within you to leave this world better than when you found it—Wilferd A. Peterson
Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive—Howard Thurman
Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself—Rumi
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter won’t mind—Dr. Seuss
The man who views the world at fifty the same as he did at twenty wasted thirty years of his life—Muhammad Ali
Bravery is being the only one who knows that you are afraid—Franklin P. Jones
Being kind not in some great deed of heroism, not in some great speech or act that may be pointed with pride—but rather in the little kindneseese from day to day—Edgar Cayce
As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them—John F. Kennedy
I always prefer to believe the best of everybody, it saves so much trouble—Rudyard Kipling
Don’t cry because it is over, smile because it was—Dr. Seuss
I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles—Audrey Hepburn
We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop—Mother Theresa
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover—Mark Twain
You must be the change you want to see in the world. As human beings our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world—that is the myth of the atomic age—as in being able to remake ourselves—Mahatma Ghandi
Almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart—Steve Jobs
Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they are never weakness—Brené Brown
I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear—Nelson Mandela
The best way to motivate other people to help YOU fulfil your goals is to help them fulfil THEIR goals—Deepak Chopra
There are only 2 days a year when nothing can be done. One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow, so today is the right day to love, believe do and mostly live—Dalai Lama
Your beliefs become your thoughts.
Your thoughts become your words.
Your words become your actions.
Your actions become your habits.
Your habits become your values.
Your values become your destiny―Gandhi
LEARNING TO LOVE YOURSELF—JUST AS YOU ARE
Love yourself—accept yourself—forgive yourself—and be good to yourself, because without you the rest of us are without a source of many wonderful things—Leo F. Buscaglia
We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty—Maya Angelou
The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely—Carl Jung
Dance like no one is watching. Sing like no one is listening. Love like you have never been hurt and live like it’s heaven on Earth—Mark Twain
It is never too late to be what you might have been—George Eliot
If you don’t look after your body, you’ll have nowhere to live—Jason Vale
The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times—Paulo Coelho
There is a morning inside of you waiting to burst into light—Rumi
WORKING WITH YOUR EMOTIONS
This poem sums up how welcoming our emotions helps us find inner peace and harmony.
THE GUEST HOUSE
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows
who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honourably.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thoughts, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond—Rumi
FINDING YOUR SPIRITUAL SELF
There is hope if people will begin to awaken that spiritual part of themselves, that heartfelt knowledge that we are caretakers of this planet—Brooke Medicine Eagle
Happiness resides not in possessions and not in gold; the feeling of happiness dwells in the soul—Democritus
This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness—Dalai Lama
Happiness is when what you think, what you say and what you do are in harmony. Always aim at complete harmony of thought, word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well—Mahatma Ghandi
There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life—John Lennon
Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it—Rumi
When I talk of forgiveness I mean the belief that you can come out the other side a better person. A better person than the one being consumed by anger and hatred. Remaining in that state locks you in a state of victimhood, making you almost dependent on the perpetrator. If you can find it in yourself to forgive then you are no longer chained to the perpetrator. You can move on, and you can even help the perpetrator to become a better person too—Archbishop Desmond Tutu
At the end of the day, I can end up just totally wacky, because I’ve made mountains out of molehills. With meditation, I can keep them as molehills—Ringo Starr
The enlightened give thanks for what most people take for granted. As you begin to be grateful for what most people take for granted, that vibration of gratitude makes you more receptive to good in your life—Michael Bernard Beckwith
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection—Buddha
You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. Each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. It’s just a matter of paying attention to this miracle—Paulo Coelho
Try not to resist the changes that come your way. Instead let life live through you. And do not worry that your life is turning upside down. How do you know that the side you are used to is better than the one to come?—Rumi
The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift—Albert Einstein.
THE HEALING POWER OF NATURE
I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field some where and don’t notice it… People think pleasing God is all God cares about. But any fool living in the world can see it’s always trying to please us back—Alice Walker
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better—Albert Einstein
If all the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to the man. All things are connected—Chief Seattle of the Suwanish
Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul—John Muir
Only when the last tree has died, and the last river poisoned and the last fish caught, will we realise that cannot eat money—Cree Indian Saying
We can speak without voice to the trees and the clouds and the waves of the sea. Without words they respond though the rustling of leaves and the moving of clouds and the mumuring of the sea—Paul Tillich
Some of nature’s most exquisite handiwork is on a miniature scale, as anyone knows who has applied a magnifying glass to a snowflake—Rachel Carson
It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade—Charles Dickens
The sun, with all those planets revolving around it, and dependent upon it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do—Galileo
A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song—Chinese Proverb
Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers feed also the soul—The Koran
FIND SATISFACTION IN YOUR WORK
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act but a habit—Aristotle
Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone—Pablo Picasso
I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work—Thomas Edison (re. his effort to make the light bulb work!)
Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare—Japanese proverb
Help people reach their potential. Catch them doing something right—from the One Minute Manager
Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply—Stephen R. Covey
Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something deep inside them—a desire, a dream, a vision— Muhammad Ali
Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress—Mahatma Gandhi
To achieve what you want, you have to be stronger than those around you—Benjamin Disraeli
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist see opportunity in every difficulty—Winston Churchill
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them—Henry Davide Thoreau
An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching—Mahatma Ghandi
You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over—Richard Branson
Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything—Napoleon Hill
WHEN YOU HAVE LOST A LOVED ONE
Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes. Because for those who love with heart and soul there is no such thing as separation—Rumi
Look upon each day that comes as a challenge, as a test of courage. The pain will come in waves, some days worse than others, for no apparent reason. Accept the pain. Do not suppress it. Never attempt to hide grief—Daphne du Maurier
If I should go before the rest of you
Break not a flower nor inscribe a stone.
Nor when I’m gone speak in Sunday voice,
But be the usual selves that I have known.
Weep if you must—parting is hell
But life goes on—so sing as well —Joyce Grenfell
Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you plann’d:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad —Christina Rossetti
However long the night, the dawn will break—African Proverb
Oh heart, if one should say to you that the soul perishes like the body, answer that the flower withers, but the seed remains—Kahlil Gibran
INSPIRATION FOR PEACEFUL, LOVING WORLD
Peace, in the sense of the absence of war, is of little value to someone who is dying of hunger or cold. It will not remove the pain of torture inflicted on a prisoner of conscience. It does not comfort those who have lost their loved ones in floods caused by senseless deforestation in a neighboring country. Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where the people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free—Dalai Lama
Because there is global insecurity, nations are engaged in a mad arms race, spending billions of dollars wastefully on instruments of destruction, when millions are starving. And yet, just a fraction of what is expended so obscenely on defense budgets would make a real difference in enabling God’s children to fill their stomachs, be educated, and be given the chance to lead fulfilled and happy lives—Archbishop Desmond Tutu
We will not build a peaceful world by following a negative path. It is not enough to say we will not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but on the positive affirmation of peace—Martin Luther King
Don’t complain that the rose bush has thorns; rejoice that the thornbush bears roses—The Koran
Before I pass judgment on a man, let me walk a mile in his moccasins—Native American Saying
Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right—Mahatma Gandhi
One man can make a difference, and every man should try—John F. Kennedy
Just because an animal is large, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t want kindness; however big Tigger seems to be, remember that he wants as much kindness as Roo—A. A. Milne
We get most upset with those we love because they are close to us and we know that they are aware of our weaknesses… If only we could learn to live with our inadequacies, our frailties, our vulnerabilities, we would not need to try so hard to push away those who really know us—Desmond Tutu
BE GUIDED BY YOUR EMOTIONS
This poem sums up how welcoming our emotions helps us find inner peace and harmony.
THE GUEST HOUSE
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows
who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honourably.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thoughts, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond—Rumi
