Soul Aflame!

[knightofalbion]

\r\n \r\n All this talk of religion, but it\'s how you live your life that is the all-important thing.
\n
\nIf you set out each day to do all the goodness and kindness that you can, and to do no harm to man or beast, then you are walking the highest path.
\n
\nAnd when your time is up, if you can leave the earth a better place than you found it, then yours will have been a life well lived.\r\n

[knightofalbion]

\r\n \r\n Invictus
\n
\nby
\n
\nWilliam Ernest Henley
\n
\n
\nOut of the night that covers me,
\nBlack as the Pit from pole to pole,
\nI thank whatever gods may be
\nFor my unconquerable soul.
\n
\nIn the fell clutch of circumstance
\nI have not winced, nor cried aloud.
\nUnder the bludgeonings of chance
\nMy head is bloody, but unbowed.
\n
\nBeyond this place of wrath and tears
\nLooms but the Horror of the shade,
\nAnd yet the menace of the years
\nFinds, and shall find, me unafraid.
\n
\nIt matters not how strait the gate,
\nHow charged with punishments the scroll,
\nI am the master of my fate;
\nI am the captain of my soul.\r\n

[knightofalbion]

\r\n \r\n Is there anyone upon the earth who is glad that you have lived?
\n
\n(From \'The Shining Paths\' by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki)\r\n

[Cookie]

\r\n \r\n

DESIDERATA

\n

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
\nand remember what peace there may be in silence.
\nAs far as possible without surrender
\nbe on good terms with all persons.
\nSpeak your truth quietly and clearly;
\nand listen to others,
\neven the dull and the ignorant;
\nthey too have their story.

\n

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
\nthey are vexations to the spirit.
\nIf you compare yourself with others,
\nyou may become vain and bitter;
\nfor always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
\nEnjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

\n

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
\nit is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
\nExercise caution in your business affairs;
\nfor the world is full of trickery.
\nBut let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
\nmany persons strive for high ideals;
\nand everywhere life is full of heroism.

\n

Be yourself .
\nEspecially, do not feign affection.
\nNeither be cynical about love;
\nfor in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
\nit is as perennial as the grass.

\n

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
\ngracefully surrendering the things of youth.
\nNurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
\nBut do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
\nMany fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
\nBeyond a wholesome discipline,
\nbe gentle with yourself.

\n

You are a child of the universe,
\nno less than the trees and the stars;
\nyou have a right to be here.
\nAnd whether or not it is clear to you,
\nno doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

\n

Therefore be at peace with God,
\nwhatever you conceive Him to be,
\nand whatever your labors and aspirations,
\nin the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

\n

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
\nit is still a beautiful world.
\nBe cheerful.
\nStrive to be happy.

\n

~Max Ehrmann~

\r\n

[BigAl]

\r\n \r\n ALWAYS
\r\n Think pleasant thoughts
\r\n Say pleasant things
\r\n And the world will reward you\r\n

[knightofalbion]

\r\n \r\n So many gods, so many creeds
\nSo many paths that wind and wind
\nWhile just the art of being kind
\nIs all the sad world needs
\n- Ella Wheeler Wilcox\r\n

[kind2creatures]

\r\n \r\n ~ Life ~
\n
\nLife is hard to those who struggle
\nAnd times never seem to fly
\nNo-one smiles unless they choose to
\nDid you ever ask them why?
\n
\nDays go by and before you know it
\nAnother month has passed
\nI wonder how many are collecting memories
\nOr do they all still live in the past?
\n
\nCircumstances always changing
\nTears dancing within our eyes
\nI wonder did they see it coming
\nOr was it the ultimate surprise?
\n
\nSeconds go by and minutes pass
\nBad times do come and go
\nBut we know not to fear forever
\nFor good times also show.
\n
\nLife\'s a journey of understanding
\nBut there\'s some who forget to breathe
\nWith love and hope could you remind them?
\nBefore they\'re leaving us to grieve.
\n
\nReach out and touch and embrace your life
\nAwaken and capture each moment
\nMove forth, have faith and banish your fear
\nContinue to find your own smile if it\'s absent.
\n
\n� Silent Whispers
\n_________________
\nBlessings,
\n
\nSilent Whispers.
\n
\n(from onebigcircle)
\n\r\n

[knightofalbion]

\r\n \r\n Here we are, here and now. This is our big moment in time. So let us try and do something - something good, something beautiful - with the precious years allotted to us.\r\n

[knightofalbion]

\r\n \r\n I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do. And by the grace of God, I will
\n- Edward Everett Hale\r\n

[knightofalbion]

\r\n \r\n A well known author and poet was working and vacationing on the southern coast of Spain.
\nOne morning very early, he was walking along the beach; the sun was just rising. While enjoying the beauty about him, he glanced down the beach and saw a lone figure dancing about.
\nFascinated by this other person celebrating the day that was about to dawn, he moved closer. As he came nearer, he realized that the young man was not dancing, but in one graceful movement was picking objects up from the beach and tossing them out into the sea. As he approached the young man, he saw that the objects were starfish.
\n"Why in the world are you throwing starfish into the water?"
\n"If the starfish are still on tbe beach when the tide goes out and the sun rises higher in the sky, they will die", replied the young man as he continued tossing them out to the sea.
\n"That\'s ridiculous! There are thousands of miles of beach and millions of starfish. You can\'t believe that what you are doing could possibly make a difference!"
\nThe young man picked up another starfish, paused thoughtfully and remarked as he tossed it out into the waves, "It makes a difference to this one."
\n- Loren Eisley\r\n

[knightofalbion]

\r\n \r\n I am the voice of the voiceless;
\nThrough me the dumb shall speak,
\nTill the deaf world\'s ear be made to hear
\nThe wrongs of the wordless weak.
\n
\nFrom street, from cage and from kennel,
\nFrom stable and zoo, the wail
\nOf my tortured kin proclaims the sin
\nOf the mighty against the frail.
\n
\nOh, shame on the mothers of mortals
\nWho have not stooped to teach
\nOf the sorrow that lies in dear, dumb eyes,
\nThe sorrow that has no speech.
\n
\nThe same force formed the sparrow
\nThat fashioned man the king;
\nThe God of the whole gave a spark of soul
\nTo furred and to feathered thing.
\n
\nAnd I am my brother\'s keeper,
\nAnd I will fight his fight,
\nAnd speak the word for beast and bird
\nTill the world shall set things right
\n
\n- Ella Wheeler Wilcox\r\n

[kind2creatures]

\r\n \r\n The most beautiful things in the world are not seen nor touched. They are felt with the heart.
\n~Helen Keller~
\n
\n\r\n

[knightofalbion]

\r\n \r\n Harry Wheatcroft, probably the most celebrated rose grower says, "He who would grow good roses, must have roses in his heart".
\nAnd he is a pacifist. "I deplore beyond all measure the thousands of millions spent to create implements to destroy mankind. With all that money everybody in the world could grow roses. The world could be made so beautiful, if only people..."
\nYes, if only people had roses in their hearts, there would be no more wars, no more misery, just beauty and goodness
\n- Al Koran (From \'Bring Out The Magic In Your Mind\')\r\n

[knightofalbion]

\r\n \r\n One does not need to be a psychic to see God in the petal of a rose - Peggy Mason\r\n

[Cookie]

\r\n \r\n

CIRCLE WISDOM

\n

I invite you to enter for a moment
\ninto Sacred Time and Space,
\ninto a way of seeing that is broad and spacious.
\nSee this Day, from the time you arose this morning
\nuntil you sleep this evening, as one Ceremony,
\ndivided into small and familiar rituals,
\nyour Heart as the Altar.
\nYou, part of the Cycles of Light and Darkness.
\nNow begin to see your Life,
\nfrom the moment of your Conception
\nuntil the time of your Death
\nas one long, continuous Ceremony,
\nfilled with many rituals,
\nsome familiar, some unknown and challenging.
\nYour Home and all Your Relations, the Altar.
\nYou, part of many Seasons and Cycles.
\nNow see this Ceremony of your Life
\nas part of a much larger Ceremony that extends
\nSeven Generations into the Past and Seven into the Future,
\nmade up of many Births and Deaths.
\nThis beautiful spinning Earth the Altar.
\nYou, part of the great Ebb and Flow.
\nNow, if You will, imagine this larger Ceremony
\nto be but one part of a Ceremony so grand,
\nso magnificent as to be hardly comprehensible,
\na great, vast Ceremonial Circle, rich and vibrant
\nwith millions upon millions of swirling
\nCircles of Dancing Light,
\nand You, one of those Dancing Circles,
\na Dancer on the Altar that is the Universe,
\nwhere Time is Eternal.
\nMay You Dance In Beauty.

\n

~Sedonia Cahill~

\r\n

[knightofalbion]

\r\n \r\n All people are brothers and sisters, irrespective of colour, race or creed. Therefore, if anyone, anywhere in the world, is suffering or in distress, it concerns you, it concerns me, it concerns us all.\r\n

[knightofalbion]

\r\n \r\n We are all parts of the Great White Spirit. Some He has painted red, some black, some yellow and some He has not painted at all. But all these colours are part of His scheme.
\nThere will not be any peace in your world until all these colours blend together, until men learn not to look at the skins, but at the souls that are behind them
\n- Silver Birch\r\n

[knightofalbion]

\r\n \r\n Let there be peace on earth - and let it begin with me -' + '- White Eagle\r\n

[Cookie]

\r\n \r\n

Write it on your heart
\nthat every day is the best day in the year.
\nHe is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day
\nwho allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety.
\nFinish every day and be done with it.
\nYou have done what you could.
\nSome blunders and absurdities, no doubt crept in.
\nForget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day;
\nbegin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit
\nto be cumbered with your old nonsense.
\nThis new day is too dear,
\nwith its hopes and invitations,
\nto waste a moment on the yesterdays.

\n

~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

\r\n

[knightofalbion]

\r\n \r\n Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around
\n- Leo Buscaglia\r\n

[knightofalbion]

\r\n \r\n Colour has a great effect upon you, for good or bad. It can have an effect upon you in the decoration of your house, in the things you use every day; the colour of your car, your pen, your motor yacht, your suit, indeed everything you possess. It can affect your whole outlook on life.
\nYou vibrate to a particular Ray and express the characteristics of that Ray
\n- Al Koran (From \'Bring Out The Magic In Your Mind\')\r\n

[knightofalbion]

\r\n \r\n And as he spoke of understanding, I looked up and saw the rainbow leap with flames of many colours over me
\n- Black Elk\r\n

[kind2creatures]

\r\n \r\n "Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal. Live this day as if it were your
\nlast. The past is over and gone. The future is not guaranteed." ~Wayne Dyer~\r\n

[Cookie]

\r\n \r\n Really good stuff in here, I love this thread!! \r\n

[knightofalbion]

\r\n \r\n Charter for a better world
\n
\nhttps://www.unesco.org/cpp/uk/declarations/paxterre.htm\r\n

[kind2creatures]

\r\n \r\n I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.
\n
\n~John Muir, 1913, in L.M. Wolfe, ed., John Muir, John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir, 1938\r\n

[knightofalbion]

\r\n \r\n Help thy brother\'s boat across and lo! thine own has reached the shore - Hindu proverb\r\n

[knightofalbion]

\r\n \r\n To have a true friend is one of life\'s greatest blessings, but to have a friend, one must be a friend.
\n
\nAnd this is a war story. When the remnants (of the regiment) got back to their trenches, one young soldier discovered that his pal was missing. He asked his officer if he might go out into no-man\'s-land to look for him.
\nThe officer said, "Yes, you may go, but it isn\'t worth it."
\nThe young soldier went and in a little while returned mortally wounded.
\nBefore he died he said to his officer, \'It was worth it sir, for when I reached him he said "I knew you\'d come" \'
\nThat is friendship. Real friendship.
\n- Al Koran (\'Bring Out The Magic In Your Mind\')\r\n

[knightofalbion]

\r\n \r\n Man is the gardener of his own soul. The Great Spirit has provided him with all that is necessary for it to grow in wisdom, grace and beauty. The implements are there, he has but to use them wisely and well - Silver Birch\r\n

[Cookie]

\r\n \r\n \'The purpose of life is not to be happy - but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you have lived at all.\'
\n~Leo Rosten
\n\r\n

[kind2creatures]

\r\n \r\n Yesterdays dreams are not forgotten,
\nFor they live on within the mind,
\nCould they give birth to a future?
\nA dream of its most precious kind.
\n
\nYesterdays promises could be broken,
\nWhere hearts do dare not follow,
\nCould you protect your own future?
\nOr be dying in the arms of tomorrow?
\n
\nYesterdays lies leave you crying,
\nConsumed within your own pain,
\nKnowledge is there if you take it,
\nAnd your choice if you listen again.
\n
\nYesterdays pain stays planted,
\nStuck in firmly with a knife,
\nWould you take it to your tomorrow?
\nAnd bathe within its strife.
\n
\nToday is the moment we live in,
\nHandle your moments with care,
\nAs soon as the moments are over,
\nYesterday\'s already there.
\n
\n(copyright 2002 JF Silent Whispers)
\n_________________\r\n

[Cookie]

\r\n \r\n Love that, K2C!
\n
\nI like to think of \'yesterday\' as our training ground & to learn from the hurts, but not to allow \'hurt\' to overshadow what\'s to come.
\nLiving in the moment is a great place to be \r\n

[kind2creatures]

\r\n \r\n

\r\n

Quote:

\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n

\r\n \r\n

\r\n Originally Posted by Cookie\r\n \r\n

\r\n

Love that, K2C!
\n
\nI like to think of \'yesterday\' as our training ground & to learn from the hurts, but not to allow \'hurt\' to overshadow what\'s to come.
\nLiving in the moment is a great place to be

\r\n \r\n

\r\n

I completely agree Cookie! Wise advice, sometimes hard to do, but being aware of the benefits of living in the moment makes it much easier for us to follow through.
\n
\nPS: I like the thread too! Kudos (and rep points) to knightofalbion. \r\n

[Cookie]

\r\n \r\n ps
\nLove all the other quotes & inspirational saying through-out this thread as well~ \r\n

[kind2creatures]

\r\n \r\n There are two worlds; the world that we can measure with line and rule, and the world that we feel with our hearts and imaginations.
\n
\n~Leigh Hunt~\r\n

[kind2creatures]

\r\n \r\n Success is full of promise till men get it; and then it is a last-year\'s nest from which the birds have flown.
\n
\n~Henry Ward Beecher~\r\n

[knightofalbion]

\r\n \r\n Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail - Ralph Waldo Emerson\r\n

[knightofalbion]

\r\n \r\n If not you, who???\r\n

[knightofalbion]

This thread is for inspirational quotations, poems and short stories.

If there is something that has touched your soul, led you to a higher path or given you strength in a time of adversity, then please add it here.

If it has helped you, then the chances are it will help others too. And to help each other along is the calling of every soul.

Into the light!