Patience in the presence

Patience in the presence
Of teeming obstacles
Is the only way
To surprisingly succeed in life.

~ Sri Chinmoy

Every second

Every second
Either you are going to miss
Or you are going to avail yourself of
A golden opportunity.

~ Sri Chinmoy

Life has no limits

Life has no limits.
It is the mind that creates
Life's so-called limits.

~ Sri Chinmoy

We forget to remember God

We forget to remember God.
Therefore our life on earth
Remains uninspired, unillumined
And unfulfilled.

~ Sri Chinmoy

If I do not accept myself

If I do not accept myself
As imperfect,
How am I going to transcend
My limitations?

~ Sri Chinmoy

Our mind-windows

Our mind-windows
Have to be cleaned every day
If we want to see truth through them.

~ Sri Chinmoy

There is no way

There is no way
To achieve goodness
Without offering it first.

~ Sri Chinmoy

We shall definitely be successful

We shall definitely be successful in life,
If we take each outer difficulty
As an opportunity.

~ Sri Chinmoy

Do you want to be happy

Do you want to be happy,
Really happy?
Then just think
Of your outer life less,
A little less,
And live more,
A little more,
In your inner life.

~ Sri Chinmoy

Anyone

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."

~Albert Einstein

Far away there in the sunshine

"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead."

~Louisa May Alcott

If I am not

"If I am not for myself, who will be?"

~Pirke Avoth

The tragedy is

"The tragedy is that so many people look for self-confidence and self-respect everywhere except within themselves, and so they fail in their search."

Dr Nathaniel Branden

Let the world know you

"Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be, because sooner or later, if you are posing, you will forget the pose, and then where are you?"

~Fanny Brice

Other people's opinion

"Other people's opinion of you does not have to become your reality."

~Les Brown

It took me a long time

"It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else's eyes."

~Sally Field

Never be bullied

"Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself."

~Harvey Fienstein

The way you treat yourself

"The way you treat yourself sets the standard for others."

~Dr Sonya Friedman

In my day

"In my day, we didn't have self-esteem, we had self-respect, and no more of it than we had earned."

~Jane Haddam

It's surprising

"It's surprising how many persons go through life without ever recognizing that their feelings toward other people are largely determined by their feelings toward themselves, and if you're not comfortable within yourself, you can't be comfortable with others."

~Sidney J. Harris

Every individual

"Every individual has a place to fill in the world, and is important, in some respect, whether he chooses to be so or not."

~Nathaniel Hawthorne

There is only one corner

"There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self."

~Aldous Leonard Huxley

Self confidence

"Self confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings."

~Dr. Samuel Johnson

Accept everything about yourself

"Accept everything about yourself, I mean everything. You are you and that is the beginning and the end, no apologies, no regrets."

~Clark Moustakas

At bottom every man knows

"At bottom every man knows well enough that he is a unique being, only once on this earth; and by no extraordinary chance will such a marvellously picturesque piece of diversity in unity as he is, ever be put together a second time."

~Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Do not walk behind me

Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either. Just pretty much leave me the hell alone.
~unknown

Never miss

Never miss a good chance to shut up.

~unknown

Duct tape

Duct tape is like ‘The Force’. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.

~unknown

Some days you’re the bug

Some days you’re the bug; some days you’re the windshield.

~unknown

Always remember

Always remember that you’re unique. Just like everyone else.

~unknown

The journey

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and leaky tire.

~unknown

Never, under any circumstances

Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

~unknown

I won’t say ours was a tough school

I won’t say ours was a tough school, but we had our own coroner. We used to write essays like: What I’m going to be if I grow up.

~unknown

Experience is

Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.

~unknown

Nothing is more discouraging

Nothing is more discouraging than unappreciated sarcasm.

~unknown

“Are you sarcastic?”

“Are you sarcastic?”
“Well no duh!”

~unknown

I like you

I like you.
People say I’ve got no taste,
but I like you.

~unknown

You were looking good

You were looking good from afar..
now you’re far from looking good.

~unknown

Someone who thinks logically

Someone who thinks logically, provides a nice contrast to the real world.

~unknown

Sarcasm

Sarcasm I now see to be, in general, the language of the devil.

~unknown

Thou shalt not

Thou shalt not weigh more than thy refrigerator.

~unknown

I find television very educating

I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.

~unknown

He has no enemies

He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.

~unknown

He was happily married

He was happily married - but his wife wasn’t.

~unknown

I feel so miserable

I feel so miserable without you, it’s almost like having you here.

~unknown

Don’t be humble

Don’t be humble. You’re not that great.

~unknown

Our enemies are innovative

Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.

~unknown

If you’re too open-minded

If you’re too open-minded, your brains will fall out.

~unknown

If you’re one in a million

If you’re one in a million, there are six thousand people exactly like you.

~unknown

For a long time

"For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin -- real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life."

-- Fr. Alfred D’Souza

I have never

"I have never been contained except I made the prison."

~Mary Evans

If you play it safe

"If you play it safe in life you've decided that you don't want to grow any more."

~Shirley Hufstedler

I never know

"I never know what the next lesson is going to be, because we’re not supposed to know; we’re supposed to trust ourselves to discover it."

~Melody Beattie

I trust so much

"I trust so much in the power of the heart and the soul; I know that the answer to what we need to do next is in our own hearts. All we have to do is listen, then take that one step further and trust what we hear. We will be taught what we need to learn."

~Melody Beattie

Consciousness

Consciousness naturally resists anything uncounsious and unkown.

~Carl G. Jung

Say: O unbelievers

Say: O unbelievers!
I do not serve that which you serve,
Nor do you serve Him Whom I serve:
Nor am I going to serve that which you serve,
Nor are you going to serve Him Whom I serve:
You shall have your religion and I shall have my religion.

~Quran 109:1-6

The haves

The haves and have-nots can often be traced back to the dids and did-nots.

~D.O. Flynn

It is better

"It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it."

~Joseph Joubert

Any sufficiently advanced technology

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

~Arthur C. Clarke

We humans are

We humans are Pilgrims on the Path and also the Path itself. Not only do we burn, we are the burning ground.

~Sarah Leigh Brown

Even trees understand me

Even trees understand me! Good heavens, I lie under them, too, don’t I? I’m just like a pile of leaves.

~Frank O'Hara

I am

I am the least difficult of men.
All I want is boundless love.

~Frank O'Hara

My eyes are

My eyes are vague blue, like the sky, and change all the time; they are indiscriminate but fleeting, entirely specific and disloyal, so that no one trusts me. I am always looking away. Or again at something after it has given me up. It makes me restless and that makes me unhappy, but I cannot keep them still. If only I had grey, green, black, brown, yellow eyes; I would stay at home and do something. It’s not that I’m curious. On the contrary, I am bored but it’s my duty to be attentive, I am needed by things as the sky must be above the earth. And lately, so great has their anxiety become, I can spare myself little sleep.

~Frank O'Hara

Why should I

Why should I share you?
Why don’t you get rid of someone else for a change?

~Frank O'Hara

Each time my heart is broken

Each time my heart is broken it makes me feel more adventurous (and how the same names keep recurring on that interminable list!), but one of these days there’ll be nothing left with which to venture forth.

~Frank O'Hara

Do you really want

"Do you really want to look back on your life
and see how wonderful it could have been
had you not been afraid to live it."

~ Caroline Myss

Contain your experience

"Contain your experience with the divine
so that it does not escape you but rather shapes you.
Be silent.
Silence will help you avoid engaging in the games of competition and illusion
that regularly seduce us in the outside world.
Silence also helps you avoid distraction.
It helps focus the busy mind -
the mind that always has to be doing something, thinking something,
the mind that always has to be otherwise engaged
lest it become introspective and allow the soul's voice to override its own.
The silence I am describing is a silence that you use
to contain the grace you receive when you enter the Castle of your soul.
This quality of silence allows you to engage in discernment.
You carry this silence within you, even when you are with others.
It allows you to hold your center amid the chaos of your life;
it keeps you clear so that you do not do or say things you will regret
or make decisions out of fear. "

~ Caroline Myss

Therefore

"Therefore, when you enter into anything, as a frightened being,
that contract you make with another person out of fear, has to fall apart."

~ Caroline Myss

Forgive

"Forgive and call back the energy wasted on past events."

~ Caroline Myss

In order to heal

"In order to heal oneself,
we must learn how to forgive."

~ Caroline Myss

One of the greatest struggles

"One of the greatest struggles of the healing process
is to forgive both yourself and others
and to stop expending valuable energy on the past hurts."

~ Caroline Myss

It is your birthright

"It is your birthright to discover your sacred contract.
It will guide you to find your divine destiny."

~ Caroline Myss

Our goal while on this earth

"Our goal while on this earth is to transcend our illusions and discover the innate power of our spirit. We are responsible for what we create, and we must therefore learn to act and think with love and wisdom and live in service to others and all life."

~ Caroline Myss

Spirituality on the other hand

Spirituality on the other hand, is a chosen path
of developing intimate relationships with God.
It's chosen, it's nurtured, and it's optional."

~ Caroline Myss

The forgiving heart

"The forgiving heart is capable of anything.
I believe that deeply.
And that’s where in terms of becoming an empowered individual....
when you get to the point where you realize you can look at someone and say
“I love myself enough -
not in a schmaltzy garbage sense, Hallmark stuff,
I’m talking respect myself -
I respect my life-force enough to no longer waste it."

~ Caroline Myss

There is no such thing

"There is no such thing as a simple act of compassion
or an inconsequential act of service.
Everything we do for another person has infinite consequences."

~ Caroline Myss

The act of forgiveness

"The act of forgiveness is the act of returning to present time.
And that's why when one has become a forgiving person,
and has managed to let go of the past,
what they've really done is they've shifted their relationship with time.

~ Caroline Myss

Intuition is

"Intuition is neither the ability to engage prophecy
nor a means of avoiding financial loss or painful relationships.
It is actually the ability to use energy data
to make decisions in the immediate moment."

~ Caroline Myss

The love that flows

"The love that flows through your heart
purifies not only your own spirit, but the love you share with others."

~ Caroline Myss

The soul

"The soul always knows what to do to heal itself.
The challenge is to silence the mind."

~ Caroline Myss

Forgiveness

"Forgiveness is no longer an option
but a necessity for healing."

~ Caroline Myss

When we harbor

"When we harbor negative emotions toward others or toward ourselves,
or when we intentionally create pain for others,
we poison our own physical and spiritual systems.
By far the strongest poison to the human spirit
is the inability to forgive oneself or another person.
It disables a person's emotional resources.
The challenge is to refine our capacity to love others as well as ourselves
and to develop the power of forgiveness. "

~ Caroline Myss

We grow primarily

"We grow primarily through our challenges,
especially those life-changing moments when we begin to recognize
aspects of our nature that make us different from the family
and culture in which we have been raised."

~ Caroline Myss

Always go

"Always go with the choice that scares you the most,
because that’s the one that is going to require the most from you. "

~ Caroline Myss

Whenever

"Whenever you become empowered,
you will be tested."

~ Caroline Myss

You are afraid

"You are afraid of your own empowerment as much as those around you are of you becoming empowered."

~ Caroline Myss

If anyone

"If anyone tries to complicate your life, turn and walk away from them."

~ Caroline Myss

All birds

All birds, even those of the same species, are not alike, and it is the same with animals and with human beings. The reason WakanTanka does not make two birds, or animals, or human beings exactly alike is because each is placed here by WakanTanka to be an independent individuality and to rely upon itself.

~Shooter, Teton Sioux

I have seen

... I have seen that in any great undertaking it is not enough for a man to depend simply upon himself.

~Lone Man (Isna-la-wica) Teton Sioux

The Great Spirit

The Great Spirit is in all things, he is in the air we breathe. The Great Spirit is our Father, but the Earth is our Mother. She nourishes us, that which we put into the ground she returns to us....

~Big Thunder (Bedagi) Wabanaki Algonquin

The traditions of our people

The traditions of our people are handed down from father to son. The Chief is considered to be the most learned, and the leader of the tribe. The Doctor, however, is thought to have more inspiration. He is supposed to be in communion with spirits... He cures the sick by the laying of hands, and payers and incantations and heavenly songs. He infuses new life into the patient, and performs most wonderful feats of skill in his practice.... He clothes himself in the skins of young innocent animals, such as the fawn, and decorated himself with the plumage of harmless birds, such as the dove and hummingbird ...

~Sarah Winnemucca, Paiute, (1844-1891)

From Wakan-Tanka

From Wakan-Tanka, the Great Mystery, comes all power. It is from Wakan-Tanka that the holy man has wisdom and the power to heal and make holy charms. Man knows that all healing plants are given by Wakan-Tanka, therefore they are holy. So too is the buffalo holy, because it is the gift of Wakan-Tanka.

~Flat-Iron (Maza Blaska Oglala Sioux Chief)

everything on the earth

...everything on the earth has a purpose, every disease an herb to cure it, and every person a mission. This is the Indian theory of existence.

~Mourning Dove, Salish, 1888-1936

In the beginning

In the beginning of all things, wisdom and knowledge were with the animals, for Tirawa, the One Above, did not speak directly to man. He sent certain animals to tell men that he showed himself through the beast, and that from them, and from the stars and the sun and moon should man learn.. all things tell of Tirawa.

All things in the world are two. In our minds we are two, good and evil. With our eyes we see two things, things that are fair and things that are ugly.... We have the right hand that strikes and makes for evil, and we have the left hand full of kindness, near the heart. One foot may lead us to an evil way, the other foot may lead us to a good. So are all things two, all two.

~Eagle Chief (Letakos-Lesa) Pawnee

You have noticed

You have noticed that everything as Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round..... The Sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nest in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours....

Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves.

~Black Elk, Oglala Sioux Holy Man, 1863-1950

The American Indian

The American Indian is of the soil, whether it be the region of forests, plains, pueblos, or mesas. He fits into the landscape, for the hand that fashioned the continent also fashioned the man for his surroundings. He once grew as naturally as the wild sunflowers, he belongs just as the buffalo belonged....

~Luther Standing Bear, Oglala Sioux, 1868-1937

One does not

"One does not sell the land people walk on."

~Crazy Horse, Sept. 23, 1875

Treat the earth well

Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children."

~Ancient Indian Proverb

You ask me

"You ask me to plow the ground. Shall I take a knife and tear my mother's bosom? Then when I die she will not take me to her bosom to rest.

"You ask me to dig for stones! Shall I dig under her skin for bones? Then when I die I cannot enter her body to be born again.

"You ask me to cut grass and make hay and sell it and be rich like white men, but how dare I cut my mother's hair?

"I want my people to stay with me here. All the dead men will come to life again. Their spirits will come to their bodies again. We must wait here in the homes of our fathers and be ready to meet them in the bosom of our mother."

~Wovoka, Paiute

Once I was in Victoria

"Once I was in Victoria, and I saw a very large house. They told me it was a bank and that the white men place their money there to be taken care of, and that by and by they got it back with interest.

We are Indians and we have no such bank; but when we have plenty of money or blankets, we give them away to other chiefs and people, and by and by they return them with interest, and our hearts feel good. Our way of giving is our bank."

~Chief Maquinna, Nootka

I will follow

"I will follow the white man's trail. I will make him my friend, but I will not bend my back to his burdens. I will be cunning as a coyote. I will ask him to help me understand his ways, then I will prepare the way for my children, and their children. The Great Spirit has shown me - a day will come when they will outrun the white man in his own shoes."

~Many Horses

I love this land

"I love this land and the buffalo and will not part with it. I want you to understand well what I say. Write it on paper...I hear a great deal of good talk from the gentlemen the Great Father sends us, but they never do what they say. I don't want any of the medicine lodges (schools and churches) within the country. I want the children raised as I was.

I have heard you intend to settle us on a reservation near the mountains. I don't want to settle. I love to roam over the prairies. There I feel free and happy, but when we settle down we grow pale and die.

A long time ago this land belonged to our fathers, but when I go up to the river I see camps of soldiers on its banks. These soldiers cut down my timber, they kill my buffalo and when I see that, my heart feels like bursting."

~Santana, Kiowa Chief

My Father

"My Father: a long time has passed since first we came upon our lands; and our people have all sunk into their graves. They had sense. We are all young and foolish, and do not wish to do anything that they would not approve, were they living. We are fearful we shall offend their spirits if we sell our lands; and we are fearful we shall offend you if we do not sell them. This has caused us great perplexity of thought, because we have counselled among ourselves, and do not know how we can part with our lands.

My Father, we have sold you a great tract of land already; but it is not enough! We sold it to you for the benefit of your children, to farm and to live upon. We have now but a little left. We shall want it all for ourselves. We know not how long we shall live, and we wish to leave some lands for our children to hunt upon. You are gradually taking away our hunting grounds. Your children are driving us before them. We are growing uneasy. What lands you have you may retain. But we shall sell no more.

~Metea, a Potowatami chief of the Illinois nation

I love this land

"I love this land and the buffalo and will not part with it. I want you to understand well what I say. Write it on paper...I hear a great deal of good talk from the gentlemen the Great Father sends us, but they never do what they say. I don't want any of the medicine lodges (schools and churches) within the country. I want the children raised as I was.

I have heard you intend to settle us on a reservation near the mountains. I don't want to settle. I love to roam over the prairies. There I feel free and happy, but when we settle down we grow pale and die.

A long time ago this land belonged to our fathers, but when I go up to the river I see camps of soldiers on its banks. These soldiers cut down my timber, they kill my buffalo and when I see that, my heart feels like bursting."

~Santana, Kiowa Chief

Success

"Success in almost any field depends more on energy and drive than it does on intelligence. This explains why we have so many stupid leaders."
-Sloan Wilson

Social order

Social order at the expense of liberty is hardly a bargain.

~Marquis De Sade

In order to know

In order to know virtue, we must first acquaint ourselves with vice.

~Marquis De Sade

Happiness

Happiness lies neither in vice nor in virtue; but in the manner we appreciate the one and the other, and the choice we make pursuant to our individual organization.

~Marquis De Sade

Happiness is ideal

Happiness is ideal, it is the work of the imagination.

~Marquis De Sade

Between understanding

Between understanding and faith immediate connections must subsist.

~Marquis De Sade

Are wars anything

Are wars anything but the means whereby a nation is nourished, whereby it is strengthened, whereby it is buttressed?

~Marquis De Sade

Are not laws dangerous

Are not laws dangerous which inhibit the passions? Compare the centuries of anarchy with those of the strongest legalism in any country you like and you will see that it is only when the laws are silent that the greatest actions appear.

~Marquis De Sade

All is theft

All, all is theft, all is unceasing and rigorous competition in nature; the desire to make off with the substance of others is the foremost - the most legitimate - passion nature has bred into us and, without doubt, the most agreeable one.

~Marquis De Sade

The more defects

The more defects a man may have, the older he is, the less lovable, the more resounding his success.

~Marquis De Sade

The imagination

The imagination is the spur of delights... all depends upon it, it is the mainspring of everything; now, is it not by means of the imagination one knows joy? Is it not of the imagination that the sharpest pleasures arise?

~Marquis De Sade

Man's natural character

Man's natural character is to imitate; that of the sensitive man is to resemble as closely as possible the person whom he loves. It is only by imitating the vices of others that I have earned my misfortunes.

~Marquis De Sade

Lust's passion

Lust's passion will be served; it demands, it militates, it tyrannizes.

~Marquis De Sade

Lust is

Lust is to the other passions what the nervous fluid is to life; it supports them all, lends strength to them all ambition, cruelty, avarice, revenge, are all founded on lust.

~Marquis De Sade

It is always

It is always by way of pain one arrives at pleasure.

~Marquis De Sade

My manner of thinking

My manner of thinking, so you say, cannot be approved. Do you suppose I care? A poor fool indeed is he who adopts a manner of thinking for others!

~Marquis De Sade

It is not my mode of thought

It is not my mode of thought that has caused my misfortunes, but the mode of thought of others.

~Marquis De Sade

I've already told you

I've already told you: the only way to a woman's heart is along the path of torment. I know none other as sure.

~Marquis De Sade

We are no guiltier

We are no guiltier in following the primative impulses that govern us than is the Nile for her floods or the sea for her waves.

~ Marquis de Sade

Destruction

Destruction, hence, like creation, is one of Nature's mandates.

~Marquis De Sade

All universal moral principles

All universal moral principles are idle fancies.

~Marquis De Sade

'Til the infallibility

'Til the infallibility of human judgements shall have been proved to me, I shall demand the abolition of the penalty of death.

~Marquis De Sade

To judge

To judge from the notions expounded by theologians, one must conclude that God created most men simply with a view to crowding hell.

~Marquis De Sade

Truth titillates

Truth titillates the imagination far less than fiction.

~Marquis De Sade

Variety

Variety, multiplicity are the two most powerful vehicles of lust.

~Marquis De Sade

What is

What is more immoral than war?

~Marquis De Sade

Woman's destiny

Woman's destiny is to be wanton, like the bitch, the she-wolf; she must belong to all who claim her.

~Marquis De Sade

Your body

Your body is the church where Nature asks to be reverenced.

~Marquis De Sade

Some people

Some people are like Slinkies. Not really good for anything but they bring a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs.

~unknown

We all need space

We all need space -- free from demands, deadlines, expectations and judgments -- to explore who we are and what life is all about. Free time, with absolutely no agenda, is rich with potential. How can we grow if we have no space and freedom to dream?

"Deny children -- or anyone else -- the chance to do ‘nothing,’ and we may be denying them the chance to do ‘something’ -- to find and do any work that is truly important to themselves or to someone else."

-- John Holt

No one can

"No one can find his work, what he really wants to put all of himself into, when everything he does he is made to do by others. This kind of searching must be done freely or not at all."

-- John Holt

Our distress comes

"Our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for.

Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."

~Franklin D. Roosevelt