“The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won’t.”
~Henry Ward Beecher
“He conquers who endures.”
~Persius
“Vitality shows in not only the ability to persist but the ability to start over. ”
~F. Scott Fitzgerald
Given the state of worry and relief my family’s been put through in the past couple weeks, I thought I would return to my regularly schedules Quotes of the Week with a few pieces on hope and family. There is great pain and immeasurable joy contained within the word – family – and they are, truly, among the most important relations we will ever have in life – for they are always with us, whether we always wish them to or not:
“The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another’s desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together.”
~Erma Bombeck
“Sometimes our hearts get tangled
And our souls a little off-kilter
Friends and family can set us right
And help guide us back to the light.”
~Sera Christann
“Hope is that thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops…at all.”
~Emily Dickinson
“O my Soul, there is a link between your heart and mine.
And my heart is looking for that path.
My heart is clear and pure like water and pure water
is a perfect mirror for moonlight.”
~Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī (Rumi)
On Saturday, I will be undergoing my college’s commencement ceremony, and for all intents and purposes in the eyes of Michigan State University, I shall be henceforth a graduate…nevermind that finals aren’t until the week after that. Because that makes perfectly logical sense. Nevertheless, in honor of the day, and the nervousness of what’s coming after, I give you these quotes for the week…
“We acquire the strength we have overcome.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.”
~African Proverb
I have returned! And the getting was good, as they say. Thanksgiving now in the past, I can say without a doubt the weekend of rest and relaxation was much needed, and much appreciated. I feel rejuvenated and ready to roll – and given that finals, graduation and the last stages of my internship are now going to be barraging me over the next couple weeks, and everything’s coming to a head, that’s definitely a plus. If you see a little cutback in the creative flow over the days to come – do not fear, I shall return to normality eventually, but ’tis the season of much busywork, leaving my time a precious thing.
That said, I hope you all have a fine Thanksgiving weekend yourselves! For those of you in the states, at least. And to those of you abroad, I hope the week in general treated you well.
As I’ve recently seen on the news, however, not everywhere was having quite so happy a time as I. Most notably I refer to the ongoing madness in the Koreas, artillery and war games oh my. It seems war’s always looming just around the bend, in one place or another. Doesn’t help that, as in the Koreas, peace has never truly been declared. I know everyone’s on pins and needles to see how things turn out today, as the U.S. and South Korea kick off those war games amidst North Korea’s latest stunts…and it is in that vein that this week’s quotes find me making an implore for peace. We could all use some, if only for a little while.
“There is no way to peace, peace is the way.”
~A.J. Muste
“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”
~Mother Teresa
“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”
~Mohandas Gandhi
“Peace is not something you wish for; It’s something you make, Something you do, Something you are, And something you give away.”
~Robert Fulghum
On every thorn, delightful wisdom grows,
In every rill a sweet instruction flows.
~Edward Young
Not to know at large of things remote
From use, obscure and subtle, but to know
That which before us lies in daily life,
Is the prime wisdom.
~John Milton
The fact is, that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can.
~Robert Cushing
A dual quote of the week, both pertaining to life…because I have been somewhat lazing through mine of late, and I need to see about that changing. Finals here on campus certainly have an impact, but I do hope to begin setting about this site more thoroughly in the days and weeks to come.
Welcome to the encroaching warmth of summer!
“He lives the poetry that he cannot write. The others write the poetry that they dare not realize.” ~Oscar Wilde
“For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Do you know the story of the Easter Bells in Europe? Throughout the year, Europe is set to the ringing of the bells, save the Christian Good Friday and Holy Saturday. It is a token of mourning. Yet on Easter day they ring out once more, as a celebration of their savior’s resurrection. On this day, millions of people are set to celebration across the world.
Accordingly, this first quote of the week is in honor of the Easter weekend.
I think of the garden after the rain;
And hope to my heart comes singing,
“At morn the cherry-blooms will be white,
And Easter bells be ringing!”
~Edna Dean Procter, Easter Bells
The Waking Den 