"If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
But if I am only for myself, who am I?
If not now, when?"
-- Hillel
"What good is it to gain the whole world if you lose your soul?"
-- Jesus
"What good is it to gain your soul if you cannot feed your children? "
-- Mike Jay
"We can choose to make the success of all humanity our personal business. We can choose to be audacious enough to take responsibility for the entire human family. We can choose to make our love for the World what our lives are really about. Each of us now has the opportunity, the privilege to make a difference in creating a World that works for all of us. It will require courage, audacity and heart. It is much more radical than a revolution, it is the beginning of a transformation in the quality of life on our planet. You have the power to fire a shot heard around the World.
If not you, who? If not here, where? If not now, when?"
-- Werner Erhard, 1979
"The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet."
-- Frederich Buechner
"Describe the steps you would take, the gifts you would buy, the generosity you would bestow, the kindness you would offer, the enthusiasm you would have, the attention you would give, and anything else that appeals to you, if you were able to give yourself the things you want someone else to give to you.
NONE OF US WANTS TO GROW UP"
-- Cheri Huber
“This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one...being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap, being a force of nature, instead of a feverish selfish clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy… I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as i live it, it is a privilege to do whatever i can. i rejoice in life for its own sake… Life is no brief candle to me, but sort of a bright torch that i got hold of for a moment and i want to make it burn as brightly as possible, before handing it on to future generations"
-- George Bernard Shaw “Bright Torch”
"Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy."
-- Joseph Campbell
"If your mind is on the right path, it doesn’t matter how fast you go. If you’re on the right path, you’ll get there. Commitment keeps you on the path."
-- Steve Chandler
Throw away
Your begging bowls at God’s door
For I have heard the Beloved
Prefers sweet threatening shouts,
Something on the order of:
Hey, Beloved,
My heart is a raging volcano
of love for you!
You better start kissing me –
Or else!"
-- Hafiz
"You don't need to get what you want if you can express what you want"
-- Strephon Kaplan-Williams
"You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves."
-- Mary Oliver
"When we act from our deepest convictions it is impossible to reach perfection."
-- Dee Hock
"The heart has its reasons that Reason knows not of."
-- Blaise Pascal
"Narcissism... suggests that what we need is not humility, especially the false kind that arises from the repression of ambition, but great dreams, high ideals, and pleasure in our own talents and abilities."
-- Thomas Moore
