Reality never matched their dreams; happiness was just around the corner – a corner they never turned. And the source of it all was the human mind.
Stress happens when the mind resists what is.
We must pass through solitude and difficulty, isolation and silence, to find that enchanted place where we can dance our clumsy dance and sing our sorrowful song. But in that dance, and in that song, the most ancient rites of our conscience fulfill themselves in the awareness of being human. – Pablo Neruda, Toward the Splendid City.
My mind is like a pond without ripples. Your mind is full of waves because you feel separated from, and often threatened by, an unplanned, unwelcome occurrence. Your mind is like a pond into which someone has just dropped a boulder!
Life is about refinement, not perfection. And you still have refining to do.
You Don’t need a reason to be happy. If you do that reason can be taken away.
A man’s character reveals itself most clearly when he makes a choice under pressure.
You have tried to be superior in an ordinary realm. Now you must learn to be ordinary in a superior realm.
To really help people, you first need to understand them – but first understand yourself, prepare yourself; develop the clarity, the courage, and the sensitivity to exert the right leverage, in the right place, at the right time. Then your actions will have power. History,” he added, “holds many examples of individuals and nations who acted without the wisdom to foresee the consequences.
Experts devote their life to training. Masters devote their training to life.
The movements of the highest warriors are relaxed and expansive because they fight for a cause larger than themselves. Only by surrendering to God’s will does one find victory in battle and serenity in life.” Serafim started pacing again, as he did.
I am a warrior! he snapped. Beyond that, who I am depends on who you want me to be.
In life, stress happens when you resist... No matter what comes your way, if you take a rigid position, you experience pain. Never oppose force with force. Instead, absorb it and use it... Yielding can overcome even a superior force.
Happiness is not just something you feel – it is who you are.
Even a dark purpose can keep a man alive.
When a man has learned to live without money, he thought, a few rubles can go a long way.
You will fail many times, but in failing you will learn, and in learning you will find your way.
When you sit, sit; when you stand, stand; whatever you do, don’t wobble.’ Once you make your choice, do it with all your spirit. Don’t be like the preacher who thought about praying while making love to his wife, and thought about making love to his wife while praying.
I don’t even know if the sun will rise or whether I’ll wake up in the morning. I don’t know if God will grant me my next breath. So I choose to live on faith rather than knowledge – and accept whatever comes, welcome or not, bitter or sweet – all of it, a gift from God.
Life was never meant to be a struggle, just a gentle progression from one point to another, much like walking through a valley on a sunny day. – Stuart Wilde.