#ren

We search for happiness everywhere, but we are like Tolstoy's fabled beggar who spent his life sitting on a pot of gold, under him the whole time. Your treasure--your perfection--is within you already. But to claim it, you must leave the buy commotion of the mind and abandon the desires of the ego and enter into the silence of the heart. ↗

— Elizabeth Gilbert

#self-awareness #life

The Waking I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow. I feel my fate in what I cannot fear. I learn by going where I have to go. We think by feeling. What is there to know? I hear my being dance from ear to ear. I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow. Of those so close beside me, which are you? God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there, And learn by going where I have to go. Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how? The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair; I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow. Great Nature has another thing to do To you and me, so take the lively air, And, lovely, learn by going where to go. This shaking keeps me steady. I should know. What falls away is always. And is near. I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow. I learn by going where I have to go. ↗

— Theodore Roethke

#consciousness #destiny #fate #future #life

Each song is a child I nourish and give my love to. But even if you have never written a song, your life is a song. How can it not be? ↗

— Michael Jackson

#music #song #life

I did everything wrong," he said. "I misunderstood everything. Moon Child gave me so much, and all I did with it was harm, harm to myself and harm to Fantastica." Dame Eyola gave him a long look. No," she said. "I don't believe so. You went the way of wishes, and that is never straight. You went the long way around, but that was your way. And do you know why? Because you are one of those who can't go back until they have found the fountain from which springs the Water of Life. And that's the most secret place in Fantastica. There's no simple way of getting there." After a short silence she added: "But every way that leads there is the right one. ↗

— Michael Ende

#life

Life's no piece of cake, mind you, but the recipe's my own to fool with. ↗

— Haruki Murakami

#free-will #life #recipe #life

Only themselves understand themselves and the like of themselves, As souls only understand souls. ↗

— Walt Whitman

#perfectionism #self #self-awareness #souls #life

And even though I'm standing in the middle of the biggest crowd I've ever seen in my life, I suddenly feel very alone. ↗

— Lauren Oliver

#hana #lauren-oliver #lena #life

Never judge yourself so harshly that you never arise from the ashes of life. ↗

— Shawntel Jefferson

#renewal #spiritual #life

Is there anyone’s life story you don’t want to know?” “Not really.” His expression was unexpectedly serious. “Because people make a story of their lives. Gains, losses, tragedy and triumph—you can tell a lot about someone simply by what they put into each category. You can learn a lot about what you put into each category by your reaction to them. They teach you about yourself without ever intending to do it—and they teach you a lot about life. ↗

— Michelle Sagara West

#life #rennick #story #life

Love can grown among the rocks and thorns of life. ↗

— Karen Marie Moning

#karen-marie-moning #love #life