Walking in the Clouds
“When I do not walk in the clouds I walk as though I were lost.”
–Antonio Porchia (Italian-born Argentinean Poet, 1886-1968)
Integrity
“Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.”
–Oprah Winfrey (American Television Personality and Philanthropist, 1954-)
Striving After Perfection
“Life is an aspiration. Its mission is to strive after perfection, which is self-realization.”
–Mahatma Gandhi (Indian Nationalist and World Teacher, 1869-1948)
To What Do You Aspire?
“To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved but what he aspires to.”
–Kahlil Gibran (Lebanese Poet and Philosopher, 1883-1931)
True Bravery
“True bravery is shown by performing, without witnesses, what one might be capable of doing before all the world.”
–François, Duc de La Rochefoucauld (French Writer and Moralist, 1613-1680)
Divinity is Everywhere
“If God is all-pervading and everywhere, Divinity must be in the marketplace as much as in the desert, in the bank as much as in the jungle, in the court of law as much as in the solitary mountain.”
–Annie Besant (English Social Reformer, Fabian, Theosophist and Leader in the Movement for Indian Independence, 1847-1933)
The Intuitive Leap
“The moment of truth, the sudden emergence of a new insight, is an act of intuition. Such intuitions give the appearance of miraculous flushes, or short-circuits of reasoning. In fact they may be likened to an immersed chain, of which only the beginning and the end are visible above the surface of consciousness. The diver vanishes at one end of the chain and comes up at the other end, guided by invisible links.”
–Arthur Koestler (Hungarian-born British Writer and Philosopher, 1905-1983)
Overcoming Adversity
“He said not, “thou shalt not be troubled, thou shalt not be travailed, thou shalt not be diseased;” but He said, “Thou shalt not be overcome.”
–Julian of Norwich (English Mystic and Anchoress, 1342-c.1416)
Meaning and Resilience
“If architects want to strengthen a decrepit arch, they increase the load that is laid upon it, for thereby the parts are joined more firmly together. So, if therapists wish to foster their patients’ mental health, they should not be afraid to increase that load through a reorientation toward the meaning of one’s life.”
–Viktor E. Frankl (Austrian Psychiatrist, 1905-1997)
Losing the Sense of Separation
“In the ultimate depth of being, we find ourselves no longer separate but, rather, part of the unity of the universe. That unity includes the sufferer and the suffering, and the healer and that which heals. Therefore, all acts of healing are ultimately our selves healing our Self.”
–Ram Dass (a.k.a. Richard Alpert, American Spiritual Teacher, Author and Lecturer, 1931-)
