Poetry

     There is nothing but beauty – 

     and beauty has only one perfect expression,

     Poetry.

     All the rest is a lie. 

       Stéphane Mallarmè

Hope

Toronto 2 (2013, 9.18), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


     We do not hope because we believe,
     we believe because we hope. 

        Miguel de Unamuno, Tragic Sense of Life

Dream worth having

Richmond Hill United Church 15 (2013, 7.9), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


The only dream worth having ... 
is to dream that you will live while you're alive, 
and die only when you're dead. 

Arundhati Roy

Myths

Calling Lakes Centre 21 (2013, 6.11), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Myths are truths remembered like dreams. 

Steven Charleston

Eye

Calling Lakes Centre 24 (2013, 6.11), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

The soul, fortunately, has an interpreter – 

often an unconscious but still a faithful interpreter – 

in the eye. 

Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

True Civilization

Masjid 1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


We will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize the rights of others.

Will Rogers, A Cherokee, 
Quoted in The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King

Real Dialogue

Masjid 2, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


When we have peace within,
real dialogue with others is possible.

Thich Nhat Hanh, Living Buddha, Living Christ

Secret Destinations

Shirway Gardens 5, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware. 

Martin Buber

As they are

RCC_6023-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


     What would people look like
     if we could see them as they are,
     soaked in honey, stung and swollen,
     reckless, pinned against time?

       Ellen Bass, If You Knew

Clarity

RIC_0349-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

When the mind is clear, behavior is always impeccable. 

Sylvia Boorstein

The content of faith

RIC_2140-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

     The content of faith, for us, is not opposed to,

     exclusive of, other faiths.

         Muriel Rukeyser, "Poetry and Belief," The Life of Poetry

Imperfections

RCC_4017, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

It's the imperfections that make the charm. 

Rebecca Moses

Finding Self

RCC_8633, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

To look into a mirror;

And to see a mirror,

I find myself again.

Anonymous

Be open

RIC_1901, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

As an inlet cannot close itself to the sea that shapes it,

the heart can only wear itself open.

Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening

Being human

RIC_2004, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Everyone should keep a piece of paper with “for my sake the world was created” in one pocket and a piece of paper with “I am but dust and ashes” in another. The Rabbi was expressing an existential truth: each individual being is important, but not self-important.

Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Peshicha (1765-1827) quoted by Seth Segall

Fear less, love more

DSC_0643
Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

Fear less, hope more,

Eat less, chew more,

Whine less, breathe more,

Talk less, say more,

Love more, and all good things will be yours.

Swedish Proverb

Wisdom

RC1_0146
Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of nonessentials. 

Lin Yutang

God

DSC_8358
Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

God doesn't promise to fix things;

God just promises not to go away.

Deborah Keenan

With the eyes closed

RIC_9860
Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

Quien ha visto con los ojos abiertos, puede volver a ver, pero con los ojos cerrados.

Who has seen with the eyes open can see again, but with the eyes closed.

Antonia Porchia, Voices, translated by W.S. Merwin

Renunciation

_RIC3647
Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

Be content with what you have,
rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you.

Lao-Tzu, Tao Te Ching