Words to live by
“The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives” – Albert Schweitzer
This quote from Albert Schweitzer is one of the mottos I try to live by. In those few short words, a whole world of regret or opportunity, depending on which way you look at it, is encapsulated. It is for me a powerful quote, which never fails to stop me in my tracks.
Regular readers of this blog will know that I am a big fan of quotations. I believe in their power to change your whole day, your whole week, even your whole life. So, I was delighted recently to see a piece on the Know Cancer blog echoing these very thoughts.
“Words of inspiration can take us many places. They can evoke in us an awakening to be a better person or enthuse a new direction in life; spark a change. They may help us get through times that seem like an unbearable slump we will never escape from or teach us to love, be happy with what we have, and just appreciate yourself and the earth that you came from. To be able to share a quote that you believe in, a quote that drives you and inspires positivity; to be able to share that with another person is something special, especially when it touches them in a way that births new thoughts or a new way of life.”
What are some of your favorite quotes? Why not share them with us here and inspire each other today.
Related Posts:
“A cancer diagnosis encourages us to know both the fragility and the hopes of life, and with that knowledge to live most fully.”
W.S. Harpham, MD
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Indeed! What truly wonderful words to live by…
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Beautiful words and a real call to live an authentic life – thanks for sharing
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one of my favorite quotes is the following
“Where your talents and the needs of the world cross lies your calling.” — Aristotle
I try to live my own life by those words.
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I love the following quote on experience:
Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him.
– Aldous Huxley
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For me, one of my favourite and most beautiful quotes is by Rainer Maria Rilke:
Be patient toward all that is unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves.
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Hi Marie,
Just catching up with some of your posts that I missed and wanted to add something here. I just picked up a book at my library entitled “Living Life as a Thank You: The Transformative Power of Daily Gratitude” by Nina Lesowitz and Mary Beth Sammons. I have not read it all yet, just started it and this quote was the way they opened the first chapter “Don’t be concerned about being disloyal to your pain by being joyous” – Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan.
This really spoke to me when I read it. Sometimes as a cancer survivor I feel like a combination of “I’ve been through so much pain I deserve to wallow in it a bit and I don’t want to forget about it or get too happy because then I might find myself right back in pain again.” And also a little of “I want people to know how much it sucks to have cancer so I can’t show joy otherwise they will think I am fine when lots of times I am not.” But all these head games are just that…games, and they are stealing my joy from me. And I need to know that living a joyful life will not diminish what I have been through but will help me to honor myself and my experience and remind me to move on.
Thanks for giving us this forum to share and for always leading me to new levels of understanding.
LOve, Debbie
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what a terrific comment from Debbie – am really impressed with all your readers comments
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Good day,
One of my favourite quotes is from Marianne Williamson…
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
By the way, the day after you wrote this post, I discovered Albert Schweitzer and wrote a post about him…synchronicity?
Kal
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