“To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world. You are surrounded by adventure. You have no idea of what is in store for you, but you will, if you are wise and know the art of travel, let yourself go on the stream of the unknown […]
Henry David Thoreau on Living Deliberately
Thich Nhat Hanh on Clouds, Paper and Poets
Henry Miller on Perspective, Acceptance, and the Beauty of Making Art
“When you put your mind to such a simple, innocent thing, for example, as making a watercolour, you lose some of the anguish which derives from being a member of a world gone mad. Whether you paint flowers, stars, horses or angels you acquire respect and admiration for all the elements which go to make […]
Pema Chodron on Change and Opening Yourself to the Dynamic Nature of Your Being
“When you open yourself to the continually changing, impermanent, dynamic nature of your own being and of reality, you increase your capacity to love and care about other people and your capacity to not be afraid. You’re able to keep your eyes open, your heart open, and your mind open. And you notice when you […]
Annie Dillard on How Reading Can Inspire Us with Wisdom, Courage, and the Possibility of Meaningfulness
“Why are we reading if not in hope that the writer will magnify and dramatize our days, will illuminate and inspire us with wisdom, courage, and the possibility of meaningfulness, and will press upon our minds the deepest mysteries, so we may feel again their majesty and power? What do we ever know that is […]
Writing, Wit and Wisdom from Mark Twain
Needing no introduction (but having one anyway), Mark Twain aka Samuel Langhorne Clemens, was a novelist, literary critic, short story writer, essayist, lecturer, joker, pontificator and all round commenter on the great theatre that is life. Growing up with 19 cats can do that to you. Both his birth and death coincided with a passing […]
Albert Einstein on Life as a Miracle and Embracing the Whole of Nature
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people; first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is […]
Hitchcock on Happiness
Hitchcock offers his simple recipe for happiness. Clear away all negativity, resentment and hurt so your creativity can flourish. “A clear horizon, nothing to worry about on your plate. Only things that are creative and not destructive. That’s within yourself, within me I can’t bear quarrelling I can’t bare feelings between people. I think hatred […]