Month: February 2018

Today’s Quote by poet Allen Tate

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I have felt darkness lead me by the hand
Over the hill to greet the singing dawn….

Allen Tate

Today’s Quote on Suffering by Gibran

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“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” ~ Khalil Gibran

First Love ~ Poem by John Clare

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First Love

by John Clare
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I ne’er was struck before that hour
With love so sudden and so sweet.
Her face it bloomed like a sweet flower
And stole my heart away complete.

My face turned pale, a deadly pale.
My legs refused to walk away,
And when she looked what could I ail
My life and all seemed turned to clay.

And then my blood rushed to my face
And took my eyesight quite away.
The trees and bushes round the place
Seemed midnight at noonday.

I could not see a single thing,
Words from my eyes did start.
They spoke as chords do from the string,
And blood burnt round my heart.

Are flowers the winter’s choice
Is love’s bed always snow
She seemed to hear my silent voice
Not love appeals to know.

I never saw so sweet a face
As that I stood before.
My heart has left its dwelling place
And can return no more.

Today’s Quote on Integrity

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Integrity is not a conditional word. It doesn’t blow in the wind or change with the weather. It is your inner image of yourself, and if you look in there and see a man who won’t cheat, then you know he never will. ~ John D. MacDonald

Love After Love ~ Poem by Derek Walcott

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Love After Love

by Derek Walcott

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

Today’s Quote on Finding Happiness

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Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Three Oddest Words ~ Poem by Wislawa Szymborska

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The Three Oddest Words

by Wislawa Szymborska

When I pronounce the word Future,
the first syllable already belongs to the past.

When I pronounce the word Silence,
I destroy it.

When I pronounce the word Nothing,
I make something no non-being can hold.

 

We Cannot Live Without Love – Poem by Pope Saint John Paul II

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We Cannot Live Without Love

by Pope John Paul II

We cannot live without love.
If we do not encounter love,
If we do not experience it and make it our own,
And if we do not participate intimately in it,
Our life is meaningless.
Without love we remain incomprehensible to ourselves.

 

Love is Enough ~ Poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

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Love is Enough

 by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Love is enough. Let us not ask for gold. 
Wealth breeds false aims, and pride and selfishness; 
In those serene, Arcadian days of old 
Men gave no thought to princely homes and dress. 
The gods who dwelt on fair Olympia’s height 
Lived only for dear love and love’s delight. 
Love is enough.

Love is enough. Why should we care for fame? 
Ambition is a most unpleasant guest: 
It lures us with the glory of a name 
Far from the happy haunts of peace and rest. 
Let us stay here in this secluded place 
Made beautiful by love’s endearing grace! 
Love is enough.

Love is enough. Why should we strive for power? 
It brings men only envy and distrust. 
The poor world’s homage pleases but an hour, 
And earthly honours vanish in the dust. 
The grandest lives are ofttimes desolate; 
Let me be loved, and let who will be great. 
Love is enough.

Love is enough. Why should we ask for more? 
What greater gift have gods vouchsafed to men? 
What better boon of all their precious store 
Than our fond hearts that love and love again? 
Old love may die; new love is just as sweet; 
And life is fair and all the world complete: 
Love is enough!

25 Principles to Live By by John Perry Barlow

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25 Principles for Adult Behavior by John Perry Barlow Songwriter for the Grateful Dead

1. Be patient. No matter what.
2. Don’t badmouth: Assign responsibility, not blame. Say nothing of another you wouldn’t say to him.
3. Never assume the motives of others are, to them, less noble than yours are to you.
4. Expand your sense of the possible.
5. Don’t trouble yourself with matters you truly cannot change.
6. Expect no more of anyone than you can deliver yourself.
7. Tolerate ambiguity.
8. Laugh at yourself frequently.
9. Concern yourself with what is right rather than who is right.
10. Never forget that, no matter how certain, you might be wrong.
11. Give up blood sports.
12. Remember that your life belongs to others as well. Don’t risk it frivolously.
13. Never lie to anyone for any reason. (Lies of omission are sometimes exempt.)
14. Learn the needs of those around you and respect them.
15. Avoid the pursuit of happiness. Seek to define your mission and pursue that.
16. Reduce your use of the first personal pronoun.
17. Praise at least as often as you disparage.
18. Admit your errors freely and soon.
19. Become less suspicious of joy.
20. Understand humility.
21. Remember that love forgives everything.
22. Foster dignity.
23. Live memorably.
24. Love yourself.
25. Endure.

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