Saturday ~ July 28.2018

The sculptor Michelangelo was once asked how it was that he could create such beautiful works, "It's very simple, he answered. "When I look at a block of marble, I see the sculpture inside it. All I have to do is remove what doesn't belong." The master says: "There is a work of art each of us was destined to create. That is the central point of our life, and - no matter how hard we try to deceive ourselves - we know how important it is to our happiness. Usually, that work of art is covered by years of fears, guilt, and indecision. But, if we decide to remove those things that d not belong, if we have no doubt as to our capability, we are capable of going forward with the mission that is our destiny. That is the only way to live with honor."

Wednesday ~ July 18, 2018

The "Seven Social Sins":
Knowledge without character,
Science without humanity,
Wealth without work,
Commerce without morality,
Politics without principles,
Pleasure without conscience,
Worship without self-sacrifice.

(Mahatma Gandhi, 1869 - 1948)

Tuesday ~ July 17, 2018

In ordinary life, we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.

(Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1906 - 1945)

Monday ~ July 16, 2018

In a world more and more polluted by the lying of politicians and the illusions of the media, I occasionally crave to hear and tell the truth... Friendship by its very nature freer of deceit than any other relationship we can know, because it is the bond least affected by striving for power, physical pleasure, or material profit, most liberated from any oath of duty or of constancy.

(Francine du Plessix Gray, b. 1930)

Sunday ~ July 15, 2018

To love is the greatest thing in life; it is very important to talk about love, to feel it, to nourish it, to treasure it, otherwise, it will soon be dissipated, for the world is very brutal. If while you are young you don't feel love, if you don't look with love at people, at animals, at flowers, when you grow up you find that your life is empty; you will be very lonely, and the dark shadows of fear will follow you always. But the moment you have in your heart this extraordinary thing called love and feel the depth, the delight, the ecstasy of it, you will discover that for you the world is transformed.

(Jiddu Krishnamurti, 1895 - 1986)

Saturday ~ July 14, 2018

I am done with great things and big plans, great institutions and big success. I am for those tiny, invisible things, loving, human forces that work from individual to individual, creeping through the crannies of the world like so many rootlets, or like the capillary oozing of water, which, if given time, will rend the hardest monuments of pride.

(William James, 1842 - 1910)

Friday ~ July 13, 2018

We eventually learn that spirituality is not about leaving life's problems behind, but about continually confronting them with honesty and courage. It is about ending our feeling of separation from others by healing our relationships with parents, co-workers, and friends. It is about bringing heightened awareness and compassion to our family life, careers, and community service.

(Jiddu Krishnamurti, 1895 - 1986)