Anais Nin(1903-1977)

"And the day came when the risk
it took to remain tightly closed in
a bud was more painful than the risk
it took to bloom."

~Anais Nin

Barak Obama(1961- )

“For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace."

~Obama

How we need more of this sentiment right now...

Kahlil Gibran(1883-1931)

Your reason and your passion are the rudder
and the sails of your seafaring soul.
If either your sails or your rudder be broken,
you and toss and drift,
or else be held at stand still in mid-seas.

From "The Prophet"

Woodrow Wilson(1856-1924)

You are not here merely to make a living.
You are here in order to enable the world
to live more amply, with greater vision,
with a finer spirit of hope and achievement.
You are here to enrich the world,
and you impoverish yourself
if you forget the errand.

Swahili Warrior Song

Life has meaning only in the struggles.
Triumph or defeat is in the hands of the Gods.
So let us celebrate the struggles.

Rumi(1207-1273)

What the caterpillar calls
the end of the world,
the master calls a butterfly.

W.B. Yeats(1865-1939)

I am content to follow to its source
Every event in action or in thought;
Measure the lot; forgive myself the lot!
When such as I cast out remorse
So great a sweetness flows into the breast
We must laugh and we must sing,
We are blest by everything
Everything we look upon is blest.

Antonio Machado(1875-1939)

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt-marvelous error!-
that a spring was breaking
out in my heart.
I said: Along which secret aqueduct,
Oh water, are you coming to me,
water of a new life
that I have never drunk?

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt-marvelous error!-
that I had a beehive
here inside my heart.
And the golden bees
were making sweet honey
from my old failures.
Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt-marvelous error!-
that a fiery sun was giving
light inside my heart.
It was fiery because I felt
warmth as from a hearth,
and sun because it gave light
and brought tears to my eyes.

Last night as I slept,
I dreamt-marvelous error!-
that it was God I had
here inside my heart.

(interpreted version by Robert Bly)

Friedrich Nietzsche(1844-1900)

Remain faithful to the earth, my brothers and sisters,
with the power of your virtue.
Let your gift-giving love and your knowledge
serve the meaning of the earth.
Thus I beg and beseech you.
Do not let them fly away from earthly things
and beat with their wings against eternal walls.
Alas, there has always been so much virtue
that flew away...
back to the body, back to life,
that it may give the earth a meaning...
Verily, the earth shall yet become a site of recovery.
And even now a new fragrance surrounds it.
bringing salvation-and a new hope.

John Greenleaf Whittier(1807-1892)

No longer forward nor behind
I look in hope or fear;
But, grateful, take the good I find,
The best of now and here.