Health and Purpose
“Give a man health and a course to steer, and he’ll never stop to trouble about whether he’s happy or not.”
–George Bernard Shaw (Irish Dramatist, Socialist and, in 1925, Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, 1856-1950)
Notes on a Musical Score
“Each individual life is as special as a note on a musical score where…each fills a designated space….When such individual musical notes are played together, a melody emerges; when nature, including man, responds appropriately through the intertwining of all its unique vibrations, harmony of life emerges.”
–Meredith L. Young-Sowers (American Writer and Creator of the Stillpoint Model of Integrative Life Healing)
An Illusion About Life
“Much violence is based on the illusion that life is a property to be defended and not to be shared.”
–Henri Nouwen (Dutch Catholic Priest and Writer, 1932-1996)
Self-Transcendence
“Your self-transcendence-goal
Is not something
That you have to achieve.
It was already given to you long ago
By your Beloved Supreme.
You have only to believe it.
You have only to receive it.”
–Sri Chinmoy (a.k.a. Chinmoy Kumar Ghose, Indian Philosopher and Spiritual Teacher, 1931-2007)
You can find many really profound aphorisms here: http://www.srichinmoy.org/resources/library/poetry/aspiration_plants/index.html
The First Step: Self-Mastery
“Begin at once a program of self-mastery. But start modestly, with the little things that bother you. When you call your child, be prepared that she may not respond to you, or if she does, she might not do what you want her to do. Under these circumstances, it doesn’t help your child for you to become agitated. It should not be in her power to cause you any disturbance”
–Epictetus (Phrygian-born Greek Stoic Philosopher, c.A.D.55- c.A.D.135)
The Context of Truth
“As one tone does not produce a harmony, neither is a truth that stands alone complete.”
–Emanuel Swedenborg (Swedish Scientist, Mystic and Philosopher, 1688-1772)
Mastering New Skills
“Ah, mastery … what a profoundly satisfying feeling when one finally gets on top of a new set of skills … and then sees the light under the new door those skills can open, even as another door is closing.”
–Gail Sheehy (American Journalist and Author, 1937-)
Understanding What Matters
“Understanding what matters you shall be free from the bondage of the world: — Through information, digging, and casting aside the stones, a treasure may be found, but not by calling it to come forth.”
–Shankara (a.k.a. Adi Shankaracharya, Indian Sage, Spiritual Teacher and Author of the Crest-Jewel of Discrimination, Dates Uncertain, but c.A.D. 686-718 or 788-821)
“Shankara’s Crest Jewel of Discrimination” (Swami Prabhavananda, Christopher Isherwood)
Conquering Yourself
“Conquer yourself and the world lies at your feet.”
–Saint Augustine of Hippo (Numidian-born Theologian, A.D.354-430)
The Disease to Please
“I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure: which is: Try to please everybody.”
–Herbert Bayard Swope (American Journalist, 1882-1958)
