nothing is too much trouble if it turns out the way it should. (julia child)
now, from thousands of feet in the air, i see something else: my mother stands behind my father and his head leans against hers. as he eats, she strokes his hair. like a miraculous circuit, each draws strength from the other. i see that i must give what i most need. (anne michaels, fugitive pieces)
kind words never die. (m.c. hubbard)
may the road rise to meet you, may the wind always be at your back, may the sun shine warm upon your face, may the rains fall softly upon your fields… (irish blessing)
accept what people offer. drink their milkshakes. take their love. (wally lamb, she's come undone)
we live our lives, do whatever we do, and then we sleep. it's as simple and ordinary as that. a few jump out windows, or drown themselves, or take pills; more die by accident; and most of us are slowly devoured by some disease, or, if we're very fortunate, by time itself. there's just this for consolation: an hour here or there when our lives seem, against all odds & expectations, to burst open & give us everything we've ever imagined, though everyone but children (and perhaps even they) know these hours will inevitably be followed by others, far darker and more difficult. still, we cherish the city, the morning, we hope, more than anything for more. heaven only knows why we love it so. (michael cunningham, the hours)
the whole world is a very narrow bridge but the most important thing to remember is to have no fear at all. (rabbi nachman of breslov)
climb the mountains and get their good tidings. nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. the winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. (john muir)
i cried because i had no shoes. then i met a man who had no feet. (wally lamb)
remember it always. remember that you and i made this journey and went together to a place where there was nowhere left to go. (jhumpa lahiri)
my father was very sure about certain matters pertaining to the universe. to him, all good things - trout as well as eternal salvation - came by grace; and grace comes by art; and art does not come easy. (a river runs through it)
...each milestone came and went. the calendar advanced, and there was no baby. the english language lacks the words 'to mourn an absence.' for the loss of a parent, grandparent, spouse, child or friend we have all manner of words and phrases, some helpful, some not. still, we are conditioned to say something, even if it is only 'i am sorry for your loss.' but for an absence, for someone who was never there at all, we are wordless to capture that particular emptiness. for those who deeply want children and are denied them, those missing babies hover like silent, ephemeral shadows over their lives. who can describe the feel of a tiny hand that is never held? (laura bush)
to live would be an awfully big adventure. (peter pan)
one of the secrets, and pleasures, of cooking is to learn to correct something if it goes awry; and one of the lessons is to grin and bear it if it cannot be fixed. (julia child)
courage does not always roar. sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "i will try again tomorrow." (mary anne radmacher)
a misty morning does not signify a cloudy day. (ancient proverb)
hope is a thing with feathers
that perches in the soul.
and sings the tune
without the words
and never stops at all.
(emily dickinson)
and the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. (anais nin)
go big or go home. because it's true. what do you have to lose? (eliza dushku)
you have brains in your head. you have feet in your shoes. you can steer yourself, any direction you choose. (dr. seuss)
the best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and G-d because only then does one feel that all is as it should be. (anne frank)
you're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. (christopher robin to winnie the pooh)
whenever a person rises from one level to the next, it necessitates that he first has a descent before the ascent. because the purpose of any descent is always in order to ascend. (rabbi nachman of breslov)
it was a matter of perspective, i began to see. the whole world was crazy; i'd flattered myself by assuming i was a semifinalist. (wally lamb, she's come undone)
just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly. (proverb)
while the astronauts, heroes forever, spent mere hours on the moon, i have remained in this new world for nearly thirty years. i know that my achievement is quite ordinary. i am not the only man to seek his fortune far from home, and certainly i am not the first. still, there are times i am bewildered by each mile i have traveled, each meal i have eaten, each person i have known, each room in which i have slept. as ordinary as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination. (jhumpa lahiri, interpreter of maladies)
important lessons: look carefully; record what you see. find a way to make beauty necessary; find a way to make necessity beautiful. (anne michaels)
each of us must confront our own fears, must come face to face with them. how we handle our fears will determine where we go with the rest of our lives. to experience adventure or to be limited by the fear of it. (judy blume)
i am not a smart man, particularly, but one day, at long last, i stumbled from the dark woods of my own, and my family's, and my country's past, holding in my hands these truths: that love grows from the rich loam of forgiveness; that mongrels make good dogs; that the evidence of G-d exists in the roundness of things. this much, at least, i've figured out. i know this much is true." (wally lamb, i know this much is true)
