German Rhyme

Morgen, morgen nur nicht heute
Sagan alle faule Leute.
Tomorrow, tomorrow but not today
All the lazy people say.

MOLIERE

The trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.

Once upon a time............

A student asked Buddha, "Are you the Messiah?"
"No" was the answer.
“Are you a healer?"
"No". "Are you a teacher?" "No”.
"Then what are you?" "I am awake", Buddha replied.

BENJAMIN MAYS

The tragedy of life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach.

CONFUCIUS

Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.

ELMER G. LETTERMAN

A man may fall many times, but he won't be a failure until he says that someone pushed him.

Latin Proverb

He who sins when drunk will have to atone for it when sober.

St PAUL

Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

JAMES THURBER

There is no exception to the rule that every rule has an exception.

OSHO

Don’t seek, don’t search, don’t ask, don’t knock, don’t demand - just relax. If you relax, it comes. If you relax, it is there. If you relax, you start vibrating with it.

LILY TOMLIN

For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.

CHARLES READE

Never a day passes over the earth, but men and women of no note do great deeds, speak great words and suffer noble sorrows.

ALBERT SCHWEITZER

Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust and hostility to evaporate.

THICH NHAT HANH

Through your love for each other, through learning the art of making one person happy,
you learn to express your love for the whole of humanity and all beings.
Please help us develop the curriculum for the Institute for the Happiness of One Person.
Don't wait until we open the school.
You can begin practicing right away.

GANDHI

There is more to life than increasing its speed.

HELEN KELLER

Avoiding danger is no safer
in the long run than outright exposure.
Life is either a daring adventure,
or nothing.

WINSTON CHURCHILL

We make a living by what we get - we make a life by what we give.

SAMUEL JOHNSON

If your determination is fixed,
I do not counsel you to despair.
Few things are impossible to diligence and skill.
Great works are performed not by strength,
but by perseverance.

OVID

Take rest - a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.

Gaelic Saying

Bidh an t-ubhal as fheàrr air a’mheangan as àirde. (The best apple is on the highest bough.)

LAO-TZU

He who obtains has little. He who scatters has much.

ANON

Young men who have wives, O then,
Young men who have wives, O then,
Be kind to the first for the next may be worse,
And you'll long for the first one again.

[from a trad. song "I Married a Wife"]

KAHLIL GIBRAN

The lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest and then becomes a host, and then a master.

HILLEL the Elder

If not now, when?

CARY GRANT

My formula for living is quite simple. I get up in the morning and I go to bed at night. In between, I occupy myself as best I can.

Latin Proverb

Neither shall the wave, which has passed on, ever be recalled; nor can the hour, which has once fled by, return again.

PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

A man, to be greatly good, must imagine intensely and comprehensively. He must put himself in the place of another and of many others. The pains and pleasures of his species must become his own.

BUDDHA

Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care, for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill.

JAMES THURBER

Progress was all right. Only it went on too long.

ALFRED ADLER

It is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.

LORD CHESTERFIELD

Know the true value of time. Snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination. Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.

AESOP

A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety.

TOM BARRETT

Hiking the high cliffs,
my friends clamber over rough
stone up to the high peak.
I, spotting an unused trail,
choose a different path.
I've heard there are many paths to the summit,
and I trust this is one of those.
But this is the lonely way.
This is the slippery trail
on the cold side of the mountain.
I am alone, except for the few footprints
in the kneedeep snow.
No one to guide me but unknown strangers
who have trekked this way before.
I begin to wonder,
Have I been a fool?
Will I lose my way?
Is this a true path or some
way to where I should not go?
Climbing higher, the trail is scarce.
Thorny bushes slow the pace.
But I sense I'm closer to my goal.
I reach the peak before my friends,
but see them coming not far below.
And up ahead, another ridge,
a higher peak,
a mountain glowing in the sun.

[Re-produced here from www.interluderetreat.com
by kind permission of the poet]

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.

BARBARA DE ANGELIS

No one is in control of your happiness but you. Therefore you have the power to change anything about yourself or your life that you want to change.

OSHO

This is the Zen approach - nothing is there to be done. There is nothing to do. One has just to be. Have a rest and be ordinary and be natural.

Sufi Saying

There are two rules on the spiritual path - begin and continue.

DOUGLAS PAGELS

Sometimes it’s important to work for that pot of gold. But other times it’s essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which colour to slide down on the rainbow.

ANON

"Silent" is an anagram of "listen".

MAHARISHI MAHESH YOGI

Don’t fight darkness. Bring the light and darkness will disappear.

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

I have learned,
that if one advances confidently
in the direction of one’s dreams,
and endeavours to live the life one has imagined,
one will meet with a success
unexpected in common hours.

DESMOND TUTU

Without memory, there is no healing.
Without forgiveness, there is no future.

LAO-TZU

He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.

J. M. BARRIE

Dreams do come true, if you only wish hard enough. You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it.

ANTHONY De MELLO

Said the river to the seeker, “Does one really have to fret about enlightenment? No matter which way I turn, I’m homeward bound.”

VINCE LOMBARDI

The spirit, the will to win,
and the will to excel are the things that endure.
These qualities are so much more important
than the events that occur.

CHARLES CHAPLIN

Nothing is permanent in this wicked world, not even our troubles.

HUANCHU DAOREN

Calm in quietude is not real calm. When you can be calm in the midst of activity, this is the true state of nature. Happiness in comfort is not real happiness. When you can be happy in the midst of hardship, then you see the true potential of the mind.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot
That it do singe yourself

(from HENRY VIII)

Gaelic Saying

Cha d’dhùin doras nach d’fhosgail doras.
No door ever closed, but another opened.

SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE

Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm.

WALTER LINN

It is surprising what a man can do when he has to, and how little most men will do when they don't have to.

BUDDHA

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else. You are the one who gets burned.

CHIEF SITTING BULL

Every seed is awakened and so is all animal life. It is through this mysterious power that we too have our being. We therefore yield to our animal neighbours the same right as ourselves to inhabit this land.

[Sitting Bull, born between 1831 and 1837, died 1890, chief of the Dakota Sioux]

PROUST

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes but in having new eyes.

W. H. AUDEN

We are all here on earth to help others. What on earth the others are here for I don't know.

Japanese Saying

Vision without action is a daydream; action without vision is a nightmare.

ALBERT SCHWEITZER

One does not have to be an angel in order to be saint.

HSI-TANG

Although gold dust is precious, when it gets in your eyes, it obstructs your vision.

GALILEO

You cannot teach a man anything. You can only help him find it within himself.

KATHERINE MANSEFIELD

I must say I hate money, but it’s the lack of it I hate most.

The DALAI LAMA

I have three treasures which I guard and keep - the first compassion, the second economy, the third humility.
From compassion comes courage, from economy comes the means to be generous, from humility comes responsible leadership.

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

The best portion of a good man’s life -
his little, nameless, unremembered acts
of kindness and love.

MOTHER TERESA

All that we need to know and all the wisdom of the cosmos we will find in our own hearts.

LAO TZU

Knowing others is intelligence, knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Mastering others is strength, mastering yourself is true power.

FRED ASTAIRE

Old age is like everything else - to make a success of it, you need to start young.

Native American Saying

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.

CHARLES DICKENS

Whatever I have tried to do in life,
I have tried with all my heart to do it well.
Whatever I have devoted myself to,
I have devoted myself completely.
In great aims and in small
I have always been thoroughly in earnest.

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

Learning and wisdom are superfluities, merely surface glitter, but it is the heart that is the seat of all power.

[Swami Vivekananda 1863-1902, Indian philosopher, lecturer and writer who brought Eastern ideas to the West]

GOETHE

Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean.

[Goethe 1749-1832, German philosopher, author, poet and dramatist]

LUCILLE BALL

One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn't pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself.

[Lucille Ball 1911-1989, American comedienne and actress, star of the long-running "I Love Lucy"]

WARREN BUFFETT

Someone is sitting in the shade today, because someone planted a tree a long time ago.

[Warren Buffett 1930- , American business man and philanthropist, possibly the richest man in the world]

SPINOZA

Peace is not the absence of war. It is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence and justice.

[Baruch Spinoza 1632-1677, Dutch philosopher]

CHARLOTTE GRAY

Human beings who leave behind them no great achievements, but only a sequence of small kindnesses, have not had wasted lives.

Swedish Saying

You cannot prevent the birds of sadness from passing over your head, but you can prevent them from nesting in your hair.

BUDDHA

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.

SHEL SILVERSTEIN

Listen to the mustn'ts, child.
Listen to the don'ts.
Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts.
Listen to the never haves,
Then listen close to me,
Anything can happen, child, anything can be.

[Shel Silverstein 1930-1999, American songwriter, composer, musician, poet, cartoonist, author. He wrote the words and music of "A Boy Named Sue" which was a hit for Johnny Cash.]

ANTOINE de SAINT EXUPERY

Love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction.

[Antoine de Saint Exupery 1900-1944, French aviator and writer. His most famous work was the children's classic "The Little Prince" which he also illustrated.]

MARY OLIVER

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
The world offers itself to your imagination,
Calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exacting -
Over and over, announcing your place
In the family of things.

THOMAS ALVA EDISON

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

LAO-TZU

Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench.
Care about other people's approval and you will be their prisoner.
Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity.

ANDREW CARNEGIE

He that cannot reason is a fool. He that will not is a bigot. He that dare not is a slave.

THE DALAI LAMA

Our prime purpose in this life is to help others, and if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.

JOHN A. SHEDD

A ship on harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are made for.

YISRAEL BEN ELIEZAR

Think first before you blame someone for making a mistake. If you had done this, what excuse would you find for yourself to justify yourself? Then give the other person the benefit of your excuse. This is the ultimate in love.

JENNIFER EDWARDS

The beauty of life is, while we cannot undo what is done, we can see it, understand it, learn from it and change.
So that every new moment is spent not in regret, guilt, fear or anger, but in wisdom, understanding and love.

ZENRIN KUSHU

Sitting quietly, doing nothing,
Spring comes, and the grass grows by itself.

DAVID BOHM

The great strength of science is that it is rooted in actual experience. The great weakness of contemporary science is that it admits only certain types of experience as legitimate.

Old Gypsy Saying

Gypsy gold does not chink or glitter,
It gleams in the sun and neighs.

W. H. AUDEN

Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can - all of them can make me laugh.

MOTHER TERESA

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.

Confucian Saying

If thy strength will serve, go forward in the ranks. If not, stand still.

PIET HEIN

Whenever you're called on to make up your mind, and you're hampered by not having any, The best way to solve the dilemma, you'll find, is simply by spinning a penny. No, not so that chance shall decide the affair while you're passively standing there moping, But the moment the penny is up in the air, you suddenly know what you're hoping.

SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE

I have often thought what a melancholy world this would be without children, and what an inhuman world without the aged.

Native American Saying

A bowl belongs to whoever needs it.

BERNARD EDMONDS

To dream anything that you want to dream, that is the beauty of the human mind.
To do anything that you want to do, that is the strength of the human will.
To trust yourself, to test your limits, that is the courage to succeed.

BUDDHA

If you find a good companion, who is following the same spiritual path, travel together, overcoming obstacles as they arise.

ALBERT EINSTEIN

Only two things are infinite - the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.

DAVID CARRADINE

If you cannot be a poet, be the poem.

Gaelic Saying

Some people make things happen, some watch things happen, while others wonder what has happened.