If I had to live my life over again, I'd dare to make more mistakes next time. -- Nadine Stair Security is not the meaning of my life. Great opportunities are worth the risks. -- Shirley Hufstedler
Let's be risk takers... But I am a bit scared to take risks. Maybe let's start small. Baby steps toward risk. A plan. I like it.
Nothing is interesting if you're not interested. -- Helen Macinness
Time and time again I come back to this idea. You can't force people to get involved if they aren't interested in the subject. I've been trying to get the boys into new foods and activities. Unfortunately this isn't working very well. I need to let the boys come to me. But the waiting is killing me!
After all, there is but one race--humanity. -- George Moore
Something to ponder today...
A broken bone can heal, but the wound a word opens can fester forever. - Jessamyn West
Sometimes I have this fear. I fear that my boys will be crushed by cruel words. I want to protect them from those words. And yet, I know that it is inevitably for them to experience the hardships of life. I just hope that they can understand that most of those words don't matter (though they hurt) and don't inflict those words on anyone else.
"At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet." -- Plato
Do you become emotional when in love? Surprisingly I do. Usually I am a pretty straight forward person. When in love, I become a mushy girl. I feel a bit silly, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.
I have never seen a greater monster or miracle than myself. -- Montaigne
We humans have the capacity to create or destroy, to a superhero or a villain. What will you choose to be today?
"Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise." -- Sigmund Freud
While I'm not a huge fan of Freud, this just rings true. How often do we lie to ourselves about the hard things in life? How can we be honest with others if we aren't honest with ourself first? I challenge you to ask yourself a hard question and write the truth down. Hard, but such a great challenge on the road to being a better person.
"The fact is always obvious much too late, but the most singular difference between happiness and joy is that happiness is a solid and joy a liquid." -- J.D. Salinger (De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period)
This little enigma from Salinger sums up much of life unfortunately.
"The great thing about fantasy is that you can drag dreams and longings and hopes and fears and strivings out of your subconscious and call them 'magic' or 'dragons' or 'faeries' and get to know them better." -- Robin McKinley
This imagery is just beautiful. I see something like the pensieve from the Harry Potter books, except instead of memories, fully realized beings come out. Fantasy is one of my favorite genres. To get completely immersed in a new world filled with terrifying and wondrous creatures is heaven. I absolutely loved McKinley's novel Sunshine and definitely want to read more of her books. Something tells me that I'm going to love them.
"Some people are beautiful. Not in looks. Not in what they say. Just in what they are." -- Markus Zusak I am the Messenger
In a culture obsessed with physical beauty, I love this little reminder.
"One is always considered mad when one perfects something that others cannot grasp." -- Ed Wood
Thank you Mr. Wood. Love it!
"And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic never find it." -- Roald Dahl The Minpins
Not a book of his that I have read... but I do love this quote. I wish all people could have childlike wonder when viewing the world. We live in an extraordinary place and time. Enjoy it!
"I wonder if I've changed in the night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning?... But if I'm not the same, the next question is 'Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle!" -- Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll One of my all time favorite books. I read this to the boys last summer and they really got into it. We didn't have time to read Through the Looking Glass before they left for Indiana. So, it's definitely going on our summer reading list.
I find that this book, more than most I read, has some great quotes about life and identity. I find that I ask myself the same exact questions that Alice does throughout her journey. Maybe that's why I've always loved her as a character.
"Never regret. If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience." -- Victoria Holt
Such good advice. I try not to regret. I try to remember that everything I do, good or bad, makes me who I am. However, I think everyone would like to change something from their past. And that's the trick: being okay with it even if you wish you had made a different decision. Ahhh... the joys of being an adult.
"I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul." -- Pablo Neruda (Sonet XVII)
I'm going to say it... Neruda's poetry is sexy. I get little shivers down my spine when I read it. He grasps language like no other. He envokes all the senses through the written word. I love it. And the only way to truly read it is aloud. It's like Shakespeare, the writing sounds so much better aloud.
"To be an artist is to believe in life." -- Henry Moore
I don't usually like abstract modern art, but something about Moore's scupltures intrigue me. I'm leaning toward form...
Cross out every sentence until you come to one you cannot do without. That is your beginning. -- Gary Provost
I wish it was that easy... or maybe it is and I just stress too much about my writing. Speaking of, I really really really need to get back on that horse.
I saw the angel in the marble and I just chiseled till I set him free. -- Michelangelo
I love the simplicity of Michelangelo's quote. He saw the beauty that could be and created it. There was no divine intervention, no long drawn out artistic speech. He saw, he did. Beside the fact that he had such great talent, I envy Michelangelo in his simple outlook. When I want to create, I obsess. I think about what I want to do, how to do it, where I could go wrong. I don't just create. I need to focus on my crafting techniques. I want to just do. And however it comes out, it is. I won't obsess over perfection. I am sure that Michelangelo had many pieces left unfinished. We see only the greatness of his work. But I want to not be shamed by the unfinished, the imperfect. I want to create. And if I create something beautiful, I want to revel in its beauty without boasting. Wish me luck...
"Perhaps, after all, romance did not come into one’s life with pomp and blare, like a gay knight riding down; perhaps it crept to one’s side like an old friend through quiet ways; perhaps it revealed itself in seeming prose, until some sudden shaft of illumination flung athwart its pages betrayed the rhythm and the music; perhaps . . . perhaps . . . love unfolded naturally out of a beautiful friendship, as a golden-hearted rose slipping from its green sheath."L.M. Montgomery- Anne of Avonlea
I seem to have a thing for quotes about love the last couple of weeks. But I found this one, and absolutely love it. Anne of Avonlea is one of my childhood books. I wanted to be Anne. I wanted to live in her village and fall in love. This quote speaks to how I see love and romance. We should not expect all the fiery love-at-first-sight nonsense. Instead, look for the love that creeps up on you. The one that has been there growing, but you have been too busy to notice. There you just might find your one true love.
"I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant." -- Jane Austen Persuasion
When I first read Jane Austen's novels, Pride and Prejudice was my favorite. I loved the characters, the romance, the wit. But as the years have progressed, I have come to absolutely love Persuasion. Austen's last book has a maturity of characters and story. Our heroine is older, wiser, but still stuck with the conventions of the day and her family's status. I adore Anne Elliott, but even more I love Captain Wentworth. Such a man!