Will It Be Here?

It is a puzzling thing. The truth knocks on the door and you say, 'Go away, I'm looking for the truth,' and so it goes away. Puzzling.  ~ Robert M. Pirsig

Will it be here that we shall find a place which will not elude us, or which if it remains does not exert on us a culpable attraction? Or must we, leaning over the deck and watching the shores glide by, move forever onward?  ~ Andre Gide

(Quotes about searching, truth, life)

They Call It Peace

Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity...  ~ John Muir

“Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed ... We simply need that wild country available to us, even if we never do more than drive to its edge and look in.  ~ Wallace Stengner

Like music and art, love of nature is a common language that can transcend political or social boundaries.  ~ Jimmy Carter

And this is what happened, and this is why the caribou and the wolf are one; for the caribou feeds the wolf, but it is the wolf that keeps the caribou strong.  ~ Farley Mowat

To plunder, to slaughter, to steal, these things they misname empire; and where they make a wilderness, they call it peace.  ~ Tacitus

Quotes about wilderness, nature, life

My Fragile Immortality

Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.  ~ Maya Angelou

To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life.  ~ W. Somerset Maugham

Where does your security lie? Is God your refuge, your hiding place, your stronghold, your shepherd, your counselor, your friend, your redeemer, your saviour, your guide? If He is, you don't need to search any further for security.  ~ Elisabeth Elliot

From my spirit's gray defeat,
From my pulse's flagging beat,
From my hopes that turned to sand
Sifting through my close-clenched hand,
From my own fault's slavery,
If I can sing, I still am free.

For with my singing I can make
A refuge for my spirit's sake,
A house of shining words, to be
My fragile immortality.  ~ Sara Teasdale

Quotes about refuge, life

To Make Allowances

I myself am made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions. ~ Augusten Burroughs
 
I like flaws. I think they make things interesting. ~ Sarah Dressen
 
A perfect character might be attended with the inconvenience of being envied and hated; and that a benevolent man should allow a few faults in himself, to keep his friends in countenance. ~ Benjamin Franklin
 
I don't want a perfect character, I want a character who has, as strange as it sounds, some humanity, some flaws, some needs. ~ Nicholas Cage

Only a kind person is able to judge another justly
and to make allowances for his weaknesses.
A kind eye, while recognizing defects,
sees beyond them.  ~Lawrence G. Lovasik

Tags: quotes about flaws, weaknesses, life

Take to the Oars

Adversity is the first path to truth.  ~ Lord Byron

When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.  ~ Henry Ford

Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition, is not only a waste of energy but the worst habit you could possibly have.  ~ Dale Carnegie

But ne'er the rose without the thorn.  ~ Robert Herrick

If the wind will not serve, take to the oars.  ~ Latin proverb

Tags: quotes about hardship, adversity, life

To Set our Hearts Right

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall.  ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Hearts Live By Being Wounded.  ~ Oscar Wilde

The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of a wise man is in his heart.  ~ Benjamin Franklin

To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.
~Confucius 

Tags: quotes about the heart, life

Do Your Own Growing

I don't consider myself to be a major talent, so the only solace I can take is to hope I'm growing. ~ Paul Simon

Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that but simply growth, We are happy when we are growing. ~ William Butler Yeats

A man growing old becomes a child again.  ~ Sophocles

The trick is growing up without growing old.  ~ Casey Stengel 
 
You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was.  ~ Abraham Lincoln

Tags: quotes about growing, life

Take a Good Look

Every now and again take a good look at something not made with hands – a mountain, a star, the turn of a stream. There will come to you wisdom and patience and solace and, above all, the assurance that you are not alone in the world. ~Sidney Lovett

Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars...
and if you have eyes you will be able to see
that the whole existence is joyful.
Everything is simply happy.
Trees are happy for no reason;
they are not going to become prime ministers or presidents
and they are not going to become rich
and they will never have any bank balance.
Look at the flowers- for no reason.
It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are.  ~Osho

Tags: quotes about nature, solace life

Bridge to our Future

Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life.  ~ Albert Einstein

It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons.  ~ Johann Schiller

Call it a clan, call it a network, call in a tribe, call it family.  Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.  ~ Jane Howard

In time of test family is best.  ~ Burmese proverb

The family is link to our past, bridge to our future.  ~ Alex Haley

Tags: quotes about family, life

The Richness of Self

By all means use sometimes to be alone.  
Salute thyself; see what thy soul doth wear. ~ George Herbert

Inside myself is a place where I live all alone, and that's where I renew my springs that never dry up.  ~ Pearl Buck

The happiest of all lives is a busy solitude.  ~ Voltaire

Never be afraid to sit awhile and think.  ~ Lorraine Hansberry

Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is richness of self.  ~ May Sarton

Tags: quotes about solitude, life

You Have the Answer

Like vanishing dew,
a passing apparition
or the sudden flash
of lightning -- already gone --
thus should one regard one's self.  ~ Ikkyu

We are taught you must blame your father, your sisters, your brothers, the school, the teachers - but never blame yourself. It's never your fault. But it's always your fault, because if you wanted to change you're the one who has got to change.  ~ Katharine Hepburn

You are who you are when nobody's watching.  ~ Stephen Fry

Non nobis solum nati sumus. (Not for ourselves alone are we born.)  ~  Cicero

Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves. But deep down below the surface of the average conscience a still, small voice says to us, something is out of tune.  ~ C. G. Jung

You have the answer.  Just get quiet enough to hear it.  ~ Pat Obuchowski

Tags: quotes about self, life

By Becoming More

Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons.  ~ Ruth Ann Schabacker

It is better to deserve without receiving, than to receive without deserving.  ~ Robert Green Ingersoll

We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly, and without hesitation; for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the fingers.  ~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca

For of those to whom much is given, much is required.  ~ John F. Kennedy

Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more.  ~ Anthony Robbins

For it is in giving that we receive.  ~ St. Francis of Assisi 

Tags: quotes about giving, receiving, life

It Equals Miracles

If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on.   ~ Steve Jobs
 
We've got facts, they say. But facts aren't everything; at least half the battle consists in how one makes use of them.  ~ Fyodor Dostoevski
 
Growing up, I didn't have a lot of toys, and personal entertainment depended on individual ingenuity and imagination - think up a story and go live it for an afternoon.   ~ Terry Brooks
 
Ingenuity, plus courage, plus work, equals miracles.  ~ Bob Richards

Ingenuity is nothing more than doing the best with what you've got.  ~ Eric Walton

Tags: quotes about innovation, ingenuity, life

How Can We Expect Ideal Conditions?

We all love animals.  Why do we call some "pets" and others "dinner?"  ~ k.d. lang

Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.  ~ Albert Einstein

To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being.  I should be unwilling to take the life of a lamb for the sake of the human body.  ~ Mahatma Gandhi

I think if I want to eat more meat you should kill it yourself and eat it raw so that you are not blinded by the hypocrisy of having it processed for you.  ~ Margie Clark

While we ourselves are the living graves of murdered beasts, how can we expect ideal conditions on the earth?  ~ George Bernard Shaw

Tags: quotes about vegetarianism, life

Telling Secrets to the Wind

Voiceless it cries,
Wingless flutters,
Toothless bites,
Mouthless mutters.   ~ J. R. R. Tolkien
 
And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.   ~ Kahlil Gibran

Faeries, come take me out of this dull world,
For I would ride with you upon the wind,
Run on the top of the dishevelled tide,
And dance upon the mountains like a flame.  ~ W. B. Yeats

So fine was the morning except for a streak of wind here and there that the sea and sky looked all one fabric, as if sails were stuck high up in the sky, or the clouds had dropped down into the sea.  ~ Virginia Wolf

And the leaves were telling secrets to the wind.  ~ Peter Mulvey

Tags: quotes about the wind, life

A Call to Arms

Our own physical body possesses a wisdom which we who inhabit the body lack. We give it orders which make no sense.   ~ Henry Miller
 
The body is a big sagacity (insight), a plurality with one sense, a war and peace, a flock and shepherd.  ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
 
Cheerfulness is the best promoter of health and is as friendly to the mind as to the body.   ~ Joseph Addison
 
Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live.   ~ Jim Rohn
 
This is a call to arms. A call to be gentle, to be forgiving, to be generous with yourself. The next time you look into the mirror, try to let go of the story line that says you're too fat or too sallow, too ashy or too old, your eyes are too small or your nose too big; just look into the mirror and see your face. When the criticism drops away, what you will see then is just you, without judgment, and that is the first step toward transforming your experience of the world.    ~ Oprah Winfrey

Tags: quotes about the body, life

Hold on to One's Heart

He is a true fugitive who flies from reason.  ~ Marcus Aurelius

Reason is the shepherd trying to corral life's vast flock of wild irrationalities.  ~ Paul Eldridge

Reason: the arithmetic of the emotions.  ~ Elbert Hubbard

The heart has its reasons which reason knows not.  ~ Blaise Pascal

One ought to hold on to one's heart; for if one lets it go, one soon loses control of the head too.  ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Tags: quotes about reason, logic, life

Cannot Blossom Without Sunshine

Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows.  ~ Helen Keller

What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.  ~ Joseph Addison

Some people are so much sunshine to the square inch.  ~ Walt Whitman

Laughter is a sunbeam of the soul.  ~ Thomas Mann

A flower cannot blossom without sunshine, and man cannot live without love.  ~ Max Muller

Tags: quotes about sunshine, life

Light One Small Candle

Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth try.  ~ James A. Michener

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.  ~ John Wooden

It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.  ~ Mark Twain

When you choose your friends, don't be short-changed by choosing personality over character.  ~ W. Somerset Maugham

Better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness.  ~ Chinese proverb

Tags: quotes about character, life

Risks Must Be Taken

To laugh is to risk being a fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out to another is to risk involvement.
To express feelings is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas, your dreams, before the crowd
Is to risk their loss. To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.
The person who risks nothing,
Does nothing,
Has nothing and is nothing.
They may avoid suffering and sorrow, 
But they simply cannot learn, Feel, change, grow, love or live. 
Risks must be taken because, the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. 
Only a person who risks is free.  ~Leo Buscaglia

Tags: quotes about risk, life

A Form of Exploration

Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you.  ~ Aldous Huxley

Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow; it only saps today of its strength.   ~A. J. Cronin

And if my heart be scarred and burned,
The safer, I, for all I learned.  ~ Dorothy Parker

Never regret. If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience.  ~ Victoria Holt

In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration.  ~ Ansel Adams

Tags: quotes about experience, life

You Own Unique Spirit

No creature is fully itself till it is, like the dandelion opened in the bloom of pure relationship to the sun, the entire living cosmos.  ~ D. H. Lawrence

It is the chiefest point of happiness that a man is willing to be what he is.  ~ Desiderus Erasmus

Originality is...a by-product of sincerity.  ~ Marianne Moore

My mom always said I like to stir the pot with a glittering spoon.  ~ Kris Carr

Ride the energy of your own unique spirit.  ~ Gabrielle Roth

Tags: quotes about being yourself, individuality, life

Grades of Concealing It

In heaven I yearn for knowledge, account all else inanity;
On earth I confess an itch for the praise of fools - that's vanity.   ~ Robert Browning
 
I loathe narcissism, but I approve of vanity.  ~ Diana Vreeland
 
Vanity is so secure in the heart of man that everyone wants to be admired; even I who write this, and you who read this.  ~ Blaise Pascal
 
There are no grades of vanity; there are only grades of concealing it.  ~ Mark Twain
 
Or, rather, let us be more simple and less vain.   ~ Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Tags: quotes about vanity, life

Keep Moving

Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony.   ~ Thomas Merton

Your hand opens and closes, opens and closes. If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralyzed.  Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as birds' wings.   ~ Rumi
 
My point is, life is about balance. The good and the bad. The highs and the lows. The pina and the colada.     ~ Ellen DeGeneres

The word happiness would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.   ~Carl Jung
 
Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.   ~Robert Fulghum

Life is like riding a bicycle; in order to keep your balance you must keep moving.   ~ Albert Einstein 

Tags: quotes about balance, life