What lies within us

RC1_0691, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

What lies behind us and what lies

before us are small matters when

compared to what lies within us.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sympathy

RC1_0715, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Sympathy is a consequence of inclusion, the affectionate

result of an expanded identity that occurs when “self” and

“other” are recognized as simply “self.”

Lin Jensen, "Having the Lake to Ourselves”
   in The Best Buddhist Writing 2011, ed. by Melvin McLeod

Unity

RC1_0718, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

A single stick may smoke, but it will not burn.

Ethiopian proverb

Wisdom

RC1_0694, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

All wisdom is plagiarism; only stupidity is original.

Huge Kerr

Infinite responsibility

RC1_0681, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

   Our being spreads out far beyond us, and mingles with the

   beings of others.  We live in other peoples’ thoughts, their

   plans, their dreams  . . .  we have an infinite responsibility.

    Iris Murdoch

Good Spirit

RC1_0601
Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

A good spirit is like a muscle. If you do not work and exercise it and massage it in a good and positive way it will eventually wither and die.

Brandon Astor Jones, Black Prisoner
from "Language Is a Place of Struggle": Great Quotes by People of Color, edited by Tram Nguyen

Memory

RC1_0559
Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

Memory is a funny thing. If you want to bury it, it will be bottled up deeply inside. But if you decide to unleash it, it will open a floodgate and take over everything else.

Kien Nguyen, Asian American dentist
from "Language Is a Place of Struggle": Great Quotes by People of Color, edited by Tram Nguyen

Thousand Faces of the Divine

RC1_0592
Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

All I know is there are a thousand faces of the Divine, and a thousand ways to pray. Every minute of life presents an essential choice: to avail ourselves of this relationship, or to close up in isolation.

Christina Baldwin, The Seven Whispers: A Spiritual Practice for Tmes Like These

Pilgrim

To journey without being changed is to be a nomad.
To change without journeying is to be a chameleon.
To journey and be transformed by the journey is to be a pilgrim.

Mark Nepo, The Exquisite Risk