Don't be a potato

The man who has nothing to boast of but his illustrious ancestry,
is somewhat like a potato, the only good thing is under ground.

        Thomas Overbury, Characters

 

 

 

What are you building?

In the moment of crisis,
    the wise build bridges
        and the foolish build dams.

                Nigerian proverb

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't fight the future

You cannot fight against the future.
         Time is on our side.

            William Gladstone, 1866 Speech to the House of Commons

 

 

 

 

 

Perfection

What is love's perfection?
To love our enemies,
and to love them to the end that they may be our brothers.

        St. Augustine of Hippo, Ten Homilies of the First Epistle of John

 

 

 

 

 

Ask for a better room

I wish I could show you
when you are lonely or in darkness
the astonishing light of your own being.
Even after all this time
the Sun never says to the Earth,
"You owe me."
Look what happens
With a love like that,
It lights the whole sky.
Fear is the cheapest room in the house.
I would like to see you living in better conditions.

        Daniel Ladinsky, writing as the Persian poet Hafez

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Choose your stories

Be careful of the stories on offer;
test them for who they tell you
you can be and we can be.
Look for the liberatory ones,
the ones that open doors and
take you through the gates,
not the ones that slam them.
The ones that invite you to expand,
not contract, to expand in care,
in awareness, in connection.

    Rebecca Solnit, We Were Made for This, Meditations in an Emergency

 

 

 

Anxiety

I define anxiety as experiencing failure in advance.

        Seth Godin, Poke the Box