INSPIRATIONS
'Life, believe, is not a dream
So dark as sages say;
Oft a little morning rain
Foretells a pleasant day.
Sometimes there are clouds of gloom,
But these are transient all;
If the shower will make the roses bloom.
Oh why lament its fall?'
Charlotte Bronte
‘Why am I afraid to tell you who I am?’
‘I am afraid to tell you who I am, because,
if I tell you who I am, you may not like who I am, and it’s all that I have’. John Powell
'How beautiful, how grand and liberating this experience is, when people learn to help each other. It is impossible to overemphasize the immense need humans have to be really listened to, to be taken seriously, to be understood. Modern psychology has brought it very much to our attention. At the very heart of all psychotherapy is this type of relationship in which one can tell everything, just as a little child will tell all to his mother. No one can develop freely in this world and find a full life without feeling understood by at least one person…..…. He who would see himself clearly must open up to a confidant freely chosen and worthy of such trust.” Paul Tournier, M.D.
'When I despair, I remember that all through history the way
of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants,
and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in
the end they always fall. Think of it...always.' Mahatma Gandhi
‘What if you discovered that the least of the brethren of Jesus, the one who needs your love the most, the one you can help the most by loving, the one to whom your love will be most meaningful – what if you discovered that this least of the brethren of Jesus…… is you?’ Carl Jung
‘So long as we imagine it is we who have to look for God, we must often lose heart. But it is the other way about – He is looking for us.’ Simon Tugwell
'Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light Jesus, Matthew 11:28-30
‘Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference.’ Robert Frost
‘The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives.’ Albert Schweitzer
'The first and best victory is to conquer self.' Plato
‘The door on which we have been knocking all our lives will open at last.’ C S Lewis
'There will come a time when you believe everything is
finished. That will be the beginning.' Louis L'Amour
'The Road goes ever on and on.
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way.’
J R R Tolkien
‘One thing God has spoken,
Two things have I heard:
That you, O God, are strong,
And that You, O Lord, are loving.'
God, Psalm 62: 11-12
‘No man, for any considerable period of time, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the truth.’ Nathaniel Hawthorne
‘To be, rather than to appear’
Who can give a man this, his own name?'
George MacDonald
‘The deepest desire of our hearts if for union with God. God created us for union with himself. This is the original purpose of our lives.' Brennan Manning
'He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.' God, Isaiah 40:28-31
‘Then the time came when the risk it took
To remain tight in a bud was more painful
Than the risk it took to blossom.’
Anais Nin
'To do for yourself the best that you have it in you to do – to grit your teeth and clench your fists in order to survive the world at its harshest and worst –is, by that very act, to be unable to let something be done for you and in you that is more wonderful still. The trouble with steeling yourself against the harshness of reality is that the same steel that secures your life against being destroyed secures your life also against being opened up and transformed by the holy power that life itself comes from. You can survive on your own. You can grow strong on your own. You can even prevail on your own. But you cannot become human on your own.’ Frederick Buechner
‘I have loved you with an everlasting love.’God, Jeremiah 31:3
‘Show me your face, let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet and your face is lovely.’ God, Song of Songs 2:14
'After winter comes the summer, After night comes the dawn. And after every storm, there comes clear,open skies.' Samuel Rutherford
'When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.' Alexander Graham Bell
'Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.' Carl Jung
'Do not consider painful what is good for you.' Euripides
'Facing it, always facing it, that’s the way to get through. Face it.' Joseph Conrad
'Every one of us gladly turns away from his problems; if possible, they must not be mentioned, or, better still, their existence is denied. We wish to make our lives simple, certain, and smooth, and for that reason problems are taboo. We want to have certainties and no doubts—results and no experiments—without even seeing that certainties can arise only through doubt and results only through experiment. The artful denial of a problem will not produce conviction; on the contrary, a wider and higher consciousness is required to give us the certainty and clarity we need.' C.G. Jung, Collected Works, Vol. 8
'Oh the comfort, the inexpressible comfort, of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but to pour them all out, just as it is, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful friend will take and sift them, keeping what is worth keeping, and then, with the breath of kindness, blowing the rest away.' Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot)
'Love asks people to become more of their true selves in each other’s presence and to become more steadily alive and sensitive to each other’s person.' Eugene Kennedy, Living with Everyday Problems
'Make your own recovery the first priority in your life.' Robin Norwood
'The woman who sweats under her mask, whose role makes her itch with discomfort, who hates the division in herself, is already beginning to be free.' Thomas Merton
'One is always in the dark about one’s own personality. One needs others to get to know oneself.' Carl Jung, Jung Speaks
'The spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim freedom for the captives
And release from darkness for the prisoners,
To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour
And the day of vengeance of our God,
To comfort all who mourn,
And provide for those who grieve in Zion –
To bestow on them a crown of beauty
Instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
And a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
A planting of the Lord for the display of His splendour
They will rebuild the ancient ruins
And restore the places long devastated;
They will renew the ruined cities
That have been devastated for generations.
Aliens will shepherd your flocks;
Foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
And you will be called priests of the Lord,
You will named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
And in their riches you will boast.
Instead of their shame
my people will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
they will rejoice in their inheritance;
and so they will inherit a double portion in their land,
and everlasting joy will be theirs.'
God, Isaiah 61