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Inspirations
I like to hold a poem or an inspirational thought in my mind as I work. Here are some favorites:
"Art evokes the mystery without which the world would not exist."-Rene-Francois-Ghislain Magritte
"The truth dazzles gradually, or else the world would be blind." -Emily Dickinson
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace."-Jimi Hendrix
"When you are in doubt, be still and wait. When doubt no longer exists for you, then go forward with courage. So long as mists envelope you, be still; be still until the sunlight pours through and dispels the mists- as it surely will. Then act with courage."- White Eagle
"A talent is formed in stillness; a character in the world's torrent." -Goethe
There are no edges to my loving now.
You've heard it said there's a window that opens from one mind to another,
but if there's no wall,
there's no need for fitting the window, or the latch.
-Rumi, translation by Coleman Barks
I have lived on the lip of insanity,
wanting to know reasons, knocking on a door.
It opens.
I've been knocking from the inside!
-Rumi, translation by Coleman Barks
"Why not go out on a limb? That's where the fruit is."-Will Rogers
"Don't compromise yourself. You are all you've got."- Janis Joplin
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
-T.S. Eliot
"We must be the change we wish to see in the world." -Gandhi
"Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant?"-Henry David Thoreau
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." -Emerson
"The source of all crafts, sciences, and arts is the power of reflection." -Bahá'u'lláh
"The reality of man is his thought, not his material body." -Abdu'l-Baha
"So long as the thoughts of an individual are scattered he will achieve no results, but if his thinking be concentrated on a single point wonderful will be the fruits thereof." -Abdu'l-Baha
In the beginning was the beat
And the beat was the rhythm of God
And the rhythm of God became the harmony of humanity
And where there is harmony there is peace.
-Rev. Clarence Glover, Essence magazine, 1987
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." -author Marianne Williamson, quoted by Nelson Mandela during his 1994 Inaugural speech
"The Great Being saith: Blessed and happy is he that ariseth to promote the best interests of the peoples and kindreds of the earth... It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens." -Bahá'u'lláh
"The soul never thinks without a picture." -Aristotle
"...and then the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." -Anais Nin
"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt." -Margaret Atwood
"But words are things, a small drop of ink,
Falling like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think."-Lord Byron
"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life that he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." -Henry David Thoreau
"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundation under them." -Henry David Thoreau
"One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for 1,000 years. To read is to voyage through time." -Carl Sagan, astronomer and writer (1934-1996)
"To be an artist is to believe in life."- Henry S. Moore
"Art is the only way to run away without leaving home." -Twyla Tharp
"It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?"-Henry David Thoreau
"You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment."-Henry David Thoreau
“True art consists of spreading wide the intervals so that imagination may fill the space between the trees.” -Walter Anderson, artist
“If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.” -William Blake, poet, engraver, and painter (1757-1827)
“We either make ourselves happy or miserable. The amount of work is the same.” -Carlos Castenada, mystic and author (1925-1998)
“The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or how badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.” -Kurt Vonnegut, from A Man Without a Country
“There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in.” -Leonard Cohen, songwriter
“A soul mate is someone to whom we feel profoundly connected, as though the communication and communing that take place between us were not the product of intentional efforts, but rather a divine grace. This kind of relationship is so important to the soul that many have said there is nothing more precious in life.” -Thomas Moore
“There is a force within which gives you life.
Seek that.
In your body lies a priceless gem.
Seek that.
O wandering soul, if you want to find the greatest treasure,
don't look outside.
Look inside,
and seek that.”
–Rumi
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