Gaining Strength, Courage and Confidence
“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, “I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.” . . . You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
–Eleanor Roosevelt (American Diplomat, First Lady and Humanitarian, 1884-1962)
You Learn by Living
Kindling Inspiration
“I learned… that inspiration does not come like a bolt, nor is it kinetic, energetic striving, but it comes into us slowly and quietly and all the time, though we must regularly and every day give it a little chance to start flowing, prime it with a little solitude and idleness.”
–Brenda Ueland (American Feminist and Author, 1891-1985)
Spiritual Insights
“The cognitive insights of a person who has [spiritual] vision can provide healthy food for all. All of us can apply these insights to our lives; and if we do so, we shall soon realize the possibilities of life in every area.”
–Rudolf Steiner (Croatian-born Austrian Mystic, Occultist, Social Philosopher, Architect and Founder of Anthroposophy, 1861-1925)
Inspiration
“We would not – from here – counsel anyone to be guided by influences from without. … If these come as in inspirational writings from within, and not as guidance from others – that is different … the inspirational may develop the soul of the individual, while the automatic may rarely reach beyond the force that is guiding or directing.”
–Edgar Cayce (American Healer, Mystic and Psychic, 1877-1945)
Awareness
Not much point in doing anything unless YOU are actually present!
“Of course it is of no use to direct our steps to the woods, if they do not carry us thither. I am alarmed when it happens that I have walked a mile into the woods bodily, without getting there in spirit…. What business have I in the woods, if I am thinking of something out of the woods?”
–Henry David Thoreau (American Essayist and Philosopher, 1817-1862)
The Art of Silence
“There is one form of art which is superior to all other forms – the art of remaining quiet and silent…. All the arts serve a limited purpose and provide only momentary joy. But the art of silence and the resultant peace ensure happiness…. That all should cultivate.”
–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)
Thought and Speech
“Everyone who lives any semblance of an inner life thinks more nobly and profoundly than he speaks.”
–Robert Louis Stevenson (Scottish Writer, 1850-1894)
Imagination, Aspiration and Spirituality
“Imagination plays a most significant role in the spiritual life. Suppose you are not having good meditations, but six months ago you had a very good, powerful, high meditation.
What you can do is try to imagine that powerful meditation. Then your imagination will become reality.
After fifteen minutes or half an hour, you will get a good meditation.
Vivekananda was such a great spiritual figure, yet sometimes for six months at a time he did not have a good meditation. What did he do? He used to imagine a time when he did have a good meditation, and inside his imagination was aspiration. So imagination is very good.”
–Sri Chinmoy (a.k.a. Chinmoy Kumar Ghose, Indian Philosopher and Spiritual Teacher, 1931-2007)
Plato’s Permanent Principle
“Plato’s cardinal idea was that there existed a permanent principle of unity beneath the forms, changes, and other phenomena of the universe.”
–Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (Russian Author, Translator and Founder of the Theosophical Society, 1831-1891)
“Isis Unveiled (Volumes 1 and 2)” (Helena Petrovna Blavatsky)
Simplify and Master
“The more we reduce the size of our world, the more we shall be its master.”
–Jacinto Benavente (Spanish Dramatist who, in 1922, Won the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1866-1954)
