Inspiring words

The following are pieces I have found inspiring, irrespective of my ‘belief system’. If you know a quote and you think I’ll like it, please contact me so I can consider including it here for others to share.

Beech.
A stressed tree hangs on to his leaves,
as fungus creeps up his insides,
a deafening saw slashes his knees,
a spiky stump left behind.

When all seems lost & he's carried away,
I'm drawn to the green of new life,
bustling insects & carpets of moss,
fungus a-plenty to thrive,
without this stump, this haven they love,
maybe they wouldn't survive.
© Lucy Rossiter, Somerset

Healing may not be so much about getting better,
as about letting go of everything that isn't you -
all of the expectations, all of the beliefs -
and becoming who you are.
Rachel Naomi Remen
 
God provides the wind, but man must raise the sails.
Saint Augustine

If you’re going through hell…. keep going.
Winston Churchill

The Sea, Me and Choices
"My favourite image of the nature of life, is as the sea":
Waves can be peaceful, live for a time and die gently.
Or they can surge around and crash into each other with spectacular annihilations.
Sad for the waves, but what happens to the sea?
Nothing at all.
If you see yourself as a wave, as 99.9999% of people do, then you are in trouble.
If you see yourself as the sea, then you realise that your actions as a wave are of zero consequence to the sea.
ZERO consequence!
Ian Kenneth Maclean

 I'm beginning to realise that a person never 'gets there'. This is a journey with no destination. It's an unending process.
Everything that is important is 'as you go', not when you 'get there', because there is no 'there'!
You can't force a horse to trust us;  trust must be earned.
But once trust is earned, all goals are so much easier to accomplish.
I'm not saying goals are bad, as they can give direction and purpose.
But the problems I see with being too goal-orientated, is that it's awfully easy to lose sight of the moment, to be so focused on the destination that you miss the journey.
Mark Rashid, 'Horses Never Lie'

The human race is governed by its imagination.
Napoleon

Highly effective people take the time they need to sharpen their tools,
which are, in fact, their bodies, souls, mind and hearts; it’s time for self-renewal.
Never neglect the spiritual dimension; it provides the energy for the rest of your life.
Stephen R Covey in "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", 1989

Guard well your spare moments - they are like uncut diamonds;
discard them and their value will never be known;
improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life.
Unknown

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by
the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.
Mark Twain

The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of wonder.
Ralph W Sockman

The Living Tree
  …There in the middle of a clearing … was a living tree,
Its limbs severed from it…
Regardless of its misfortune, it stood tall and proud.
… And I thought almost aloud “How sorrowful is this tree!”
And yet the tree heard me… and in return it spoke saying…
“Pity me not… for my appearance is but a Pruning and not a mutilation…
And now I grow inwardly… and therefore outwardly.
From within I shall blossom with greater senses and greater understanding … 
and reach heights that were not unattainable before, not even with my longest and most beautiful branch…
And from without... I shall achieve greater fulfilment.
I will see the sun when there appears to be but cloud…
And taste the rain in times of drought.
 
“Oh!” said I, hesitantly, “I would have not thought that.”
“Thought!” echoed the living Tree.
“Thought… is the creator of all things, for without thought there is nothing…
Even evolution is a thought process…
Improving on previous thoughts and previous dreams…
And dreams are but thoughts in the mist. 
Frank Moralee
 
Trust in dreams for in them is hidden the gates to eternity.
Kahlil Gibran
 

 Guard well your spare moments - they are like uncut diamonds;
discard them and their value will never be known;
improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life.
Unknown

It is the province of knowledge to speak and
it is the privilege of wisdom to listen.
Oliver Wendell Holmes
 
A jug fills drop by drop.
The Buddha
 
Understanding:
I asked God to take away my pain:
God said No. It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it up.
I asked God to make handicapped children whole:
God said No. They’re Spirit is whole, their body is only temporary.
I asked God to grant me patience:
God said No. Patience is a by-product of tribulations, it is not granted, it is earned.
I asked God to give me happiness:
God said No. I give you blessings; happiness is up to you.
I asked God to spare me pain:
God said No. Suffering draws you apart from the worldly cares and brings you closer to me.
I asked God to make my spirit grow:
God said No. You must grow on your own, but I shall prune you to make you grow.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life:
God said No. I shall give you life so that you may enjoy things.
 
I asked God to help me to love others as much as he loves me.
God said ‘AHHHHHhhhhhh’ Finally you have the idea!
A prayer
 
It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare;
it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.
Seneca, as quoted in “Dare to Dream” by yachtsman Pete Goss
 
If you want to heal the body, you must first heal the mind.
Plato (427-347 B.C.)
 
Listening:
When I ask you to listen to me
and you start giving me advice,
You have not done what I asked.
When I ask you to listen to me
and you begin to tell me why I shouldn’t feel that way,
you are trampling over my feelings.
When I ask you to listen to me
and you have to do something to solve my problem
you have failed me, strange as it may seem.
 
Listen! All I asked was that you listen!
Not talk or do - just hear me.
I can do for myself;
I am not helpless - maybe discouraged and
faltering - but not helpless.
 
For when you accept as a simple fact that I do feel what I feel
no matter how irrational,
then I can quit trying to convince you
and begin to get about this business of understanding
what is behind this irrational feeling.
When that is clear, the answers are obvious and I
don’t need advice.
Irrational feelings make sense when we understand
what’s behind them.
 
Perhaps that is why contemplation works,
sometimes for some people - because quietening the mind brings peace,
a peace that does not give advice or try to fix things.
It just listens and lets you work it out for yourself.
 
So please, listen and just hear me.
And if you want to talk, wait a minute for your turn,
and I will listen.
Maybe if we both sit and listen to each other,
we shall be able to solve even greater problems than our own.
Anon
 
You don’t have to see the whole staircase; just take the first step.
Martin Luther King

My interest is in the future,
because I am going to spend the rest of my life there
Charles Kettering
 
Making things happen:
Until one is committed,
there is hesitancy,
the chance to draw back,
always ineffectiveness.
 
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation),
there is one element of truth,
the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans;
the moment one commits oneself, then providence moves all.
 
All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one’s favour all manner of unseen incidents and meetings and material assistance,
which no man would have dreamed could have come his way.
 
Whatever you can do or dream you can,
begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic.
Begin it now.
Goethe
 
Nothing is particularly hard, if you divide it into small jobs.
Henry Ford
 
Motivation is what gets you started; habit is what keeps you going.
Jim Ryun
 
He said to me:
I've heard your prayer
I’ve seen the tears you’ve shed
The sorrow and the heartache
But, there’s a better world ahead.

My Cross was heavy too you know
I fell beneath its weight
No helping hand outstretched to me
Just jeers and screams of hate

E’en when I hung upon the Cross
The sky turned black as jade,
I even thought my Father
Had forgotten the promises he’d made.

The Clouds dispersed; and all was peace,
The sun in glory shone,
Then through the calm I heard His voice
Well done, my child, well done.

The burden may seem heavy
As we tread life’s lonely road,
Forgetting there is someone
Who wants to share our load.

Take my hand, our Saviour says
You need not walk alone,
Fear not, have faith, hold on to me
I’ll see you safely home.

The time will come, we know not when
He’ll draw us close and explain to us
Why these things had to be
from Holy Cross, Uckfield, 1995
 
Obstacles are what you see when you take your mind off the goal.
Peter Blake, Yachtsman

We have tamed the beasts and schooled the lightening;
but we have still to tame ourselves.
H. G. Wells
 
Good words are worth much and cost little.
George Herbert
 
The best and most beautiful things in the world
cannot be seen or even touched.
They must be felt with the heart.
Helen Keller
 
If the only prayer you say in your whole life is “Thank You”, that would suffice.
Johannes Meister Eckhart
 
Be yourself….everyone else is already taken!
Oscar Wilde