friendship
Shared Wisdom: Words From Others
Once again it is my pleasure to share words of wisdom from others that I seem to find at every corner and in every moment of my journey, many of them at just the exact moment that I need them.
- “Truth is such a rare thing; it is delightful to tell it".” (Emily Dickinson)
- “One thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.” (Albert Schweitzer)
- “I pray thee, O God, that I may be beautiful within.” (Socrates)
- “Do whatever comes your way to do as well as you can. Put a good deal of thought into happiness that you are able to give.” (Eleanor Roosevelt)
- “Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.” (James M. Barrie)
- “From every human being there rises a light that reaches straight to heaven and when two souls that are destined to be together find each other,
their streams of light flow together, and a single brighter light goes forth from their united being.” (Unknown – used by Michael Podesta, Calligrapher)
- “No man is an island entire of itself; Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” (John Donne)
- “You can lay the foundation of a friendship in a matter of moments, but it is a work of time to build a monument.” (Madelyn Watt)
- “Every human being, of whatever origin, of whatever station, deserves respect. We must each respect others, even as we respect ourselves.”
(U. Thant)
- “Were there no God, we would be in this glorious world with grateful hearts and no one to thank.” (Christina Rossetti)
- “Don’t be afraid to take big steps. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.” (David Lloyd George)
- “Some goals are so worthy, it’s glorious even to fail.” (Unknown)
- “Why was man created on the last day? So that he can be told, when pride possesses him: God created the gnat before thee.” (The Talmud)
- “No one is so rich that he does not need another’s help: no one is so poor as not to be useful in some way to his fellow man.” (Pope Leo XIII)
I hope you enjoy these quotations and that they prove to be as helpful to you as they have to me.
Shared Wisdom: Words of Love and Friendship
I love finding quotations that speak of love and friendship. Whenever I read them they remind of the great blessings I have in my many friends and the gift that I receive when someone loves me. I believe that these are human manifestations of what God feels toward us. So here are a few quotations that caught my attention and my heart’.
“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.” (Martin Luther King)
“Too many of us stay walled because we are afraid of being hurt. We are afraid to care too much, for fear that the other person does not care at all.” (Eleanor Roosevelt)
“The supreme happiness of life is the conviction of being loved for yourself, or more correctly, of being loved in spite of yourself.” (Victor Hugo)
“For whoever knows how to return a kindness he has received, must be a friend above all price.” (Sophocles)
“Like everyone else I feel the need of relations and friendship, of affection, and I am not made of stone or iron, so I cannot miss these things without feeling, as does any other intelligent man, a void and deep need. I tell you this to let you know how much good your visit has done me.” (Vincent Van Gogh)
“Today a new sun rises for me; everything lives, everything is animated, everything seems to speak to me of my passion, everything invites me to cherish it.” (Anne De Lenclos)
“Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow-ripening fruit.” (Aristotle)
And this last one I treasure most of all.
“Human love and the delights of friendship, out of which are built the memories that endure, are also to be treasured up as hints of what shall be hereafter.” (Bede Jarrett)
So as we approach Thanksgiving Day, I will offer a gratitude for all the people who love me and for the friendships that bring me so much joy.
Shared Wisdom: Short & Sweet
I love coming across words that are lush, that have deep meaning, that carry a wealth of wisdom. I also love economy of words. You know, that short phrase that says so much with so little. The following quotations are a combination of those short and meaningful sentences and some that are slightly longer. All are worth reading and remembering.
“It’s never too late to become what you might have been.” (George Eliot)
“It’s hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head.” (Sally Kempton)
“When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.” (African proverb)
“If I don’t have red, I use blue.” (Pablo Picasso)
“God is a verb.” (Buckminster Fuller)
“Nothing makes us so lonely as our secrets.” (Paul Tournier)
“I celebrate myself, I sing myself.” (Walt Whitman)
“You can only perceive real beauty in a person as they get older.” (Anouk Aimee)
“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” (Albert Camus)
“The easiest kind of relationship is with ten thousand people, the hardest is with one.” (Joan Baez)
Not quite so short but still so sweet!
“Perfection is never about the past or the future. It is always and only about now. You are perfect no matter how many mistakes you think you have made. There is nothing you have thought, felt, or done that prevents you from realizing your perfection right here and right now.” (Paul Ferrini)
“What a joy for two people – each to be a shady covering for the other. A place to rest when the sun is too hot or the wind too biting. ………Real friendship grows when we are prepared to be there equally in the bad moments and the good, when we weep with those who weep – and rejoice with those who rejoice.” (Sheila Walsh)
“The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much of what is not shared between them, and lessens the threat of their difference.” (Audre Lord)
“While we may not be able to control all that happens to us, we can control what happens inside of us.” (Benjamin Franklin)
“It’s great to love, but another person’s love cannot fill the hole in your heart. Filling up your heart is your responsibility. You need to love and affirm yourself day by day, moment by moment. Without your love for yourself, no amount of love from your partner is enough.” (Paul Ferrini)
And let me finish up with a beautiful short prayer that really uplifted me in a dark moment and reminded me that my God is always there for me, even when I don’t see Him or I turn my back on Him. My husband Rich forwarded it to me from a web site called AmericanCatholic.org which provides “Minute Meditations” each day. This one came on 5 August 2010.
“Dear Lord God, echo in our hearts at the right moment when life is most unpredictable, that you are never unfaithful and will never leave is.”