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The Pearl
Said one oyster to a neighboring oyster,
"I have a great pain within me
It is heavy and round and I am in distress."
And the other oyster replied with haughty complacence,
"Praise be to the heavens and to the sea,
I have no pain within me.
I am well and whole both within and without."
At that moment a crab was passing by and heard the two oysters,
and he said to the one who was well and whole both within and without,
"yes, you are well and whole; but the pain that your neighbor bears
is a pearl of great beauty."
~Kahlil Gibran~
How do we love God, whom we do not see,
if we do not love another whom we do see?
~Mother Teresa~
Whatever affects one directly, affects all
indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you
ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.
~Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.~
Wisdom is knowledge which has become part
of one's being.
~Orson S Marden~
...it is not so much where we stand, as in
what direction we are moving.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes~
You can never do a kindness to soon,
because you never know how soon it will be too late.
~Anonymous~
It is said that when Buddha first had his
enlightenment he was asked,
"Are you a God?" "No," he replied.
"Are you a saint?" "No."
"Then what are you?" And he answered, "I am
awake."
~Buddha~
Only one who devotes himself to a cause
with his whole strength and soul
can be a true master.
For this reason mastery demands all of a person.
~Albert Einstein~
What lies behind us and lies before us are
small matters
compared to what lies within us.
~Ralph Emerson Waldo~
To understand the heart and mind of a
person,
look not at what he has already achieved,
but at what he aspires to.
~Kahlil Gibran~
Four things come not back;
the spoken word the spent arrow, the past and
the neglected opportunity.
~Omar Idn Al-halif~
If God created shadows it was in order to
better emphasize the light.
~Pope John XXIII~
"It doesn't happen all at once,"
said the Skin Horse. "You become.
It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people
who break easily,
or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept.
Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been
loved off,
and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very
shabby.
But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real
you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."
Excerpt from "The Velveteen Rabbit" or "How Toys
Become Real"
by Margery Williams
DESIDERATA
Go quietly amid the noise and haste
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender, be on good terms with all
persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others,
even to the dull and ignorant; they, too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others you may become bitter or vain,
for there will always be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of our time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery;
but let this not blind you to what virtue there is.
Be yourself.
Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune,
but do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here,
and whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
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