Endings

"When we come to the last moment of this lifetime and we look back across it, the only thing that's going to matter is 'What was the quality of our love?' " ~ Richard Bach 

"Every problem has a spiritual lesson. Get the lesson. Life gets better. Don't get it. And the lessons get harder." ~ Oprah

"No fear is more false than the fear of stepping outside of the customary world and its ways."

A response to news of a suicide . . .

“What a wonderful day when we American's take major depression more seriously, and treat people with the kindness, compassion and patience we give to patients with cancer or some other serious ailment, instead of making them feel weak and cowardly.” ~ Post by WhatASweetBeginning, Huffington Post, 12/27/11

"Be kind to everyone you meet, for everyone is fighting a great battle."   ~  Plato of Alexandria

WORDS

" . . .Don't worry up your mind
People are sick and mean sometimes
Don't worry up your mind
They're only words
It's only words
It's only words"
Lyrics to Words by Ryan Adams

If there is anything I have learned about men and women, it is that there is a deeper spirit of altruism than is ever evident. Just as the rivers we see are minor compared to the underground streams, so, too, the idealism that is visible is minor compared to what people carry in their hearts unreleased or scarcely released. Dr. Albert Schweitzer

"When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost." ~ Billy Graham

Your Critics

“When you see yourself doing something badly and nobody’s bothering to tell you anymore, that’s a very bad place to be. Your critics are your ones telling you they still love you and care.”  ~ Randy Pausch
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Pausch

Water

Nothing in the world,

Is as yielding and receptive as water;

Yet in attacking the firm and inflexible,

Nothing triumphs so well.

Because of what it is not,

This becomes easy.

The receptive triumphs over the inflexible;

The yielding triumphs over the rigid.

-Lao Tzu

Tao-te-ching

There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience. Proverb

"Everybody is unique. Do not compare yourself with anybody else lest you spoil God's curriculum." ~ Baal Shem Tov

Permanent Relaxation

"Permanent relaxation comes as we relax our imaginary ideas about ourselves. We must remember that these imaginary self-images are always subconscious, unseen, so a man finds it difficult at first to connect his tension with them. Stated differently, a man cannot see how his self-pictures must always be at war with reality, causing endless tension and distress. It is his realization of all this which sets him free. To repeat, permanent relaxation comes as we relax our imaginary ideas about ourselves." ~ Esoteric Mind Power

Tolerance

"For a person who cherishes compassion and love, the practice of tolerance is essential, and for that, an enemy is indispensable. So we should be grateful to our enemies, for it is they who can best help us to develop a tranquil mind." ~ Dalai Lama

"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear." ~ Martin Luther King