Free me as free is the forest fire, as is the thunder that laughs aloud and hurls defiance to darkness.
All the great utterances of man have to be judged not by the letter but by the spirit – the spirit which unfolds itself with the growth of life in history.
We have seen that in order to be powerful we have to submit to the laws of the universal forces, and to realise in practice that they are our own. So, in order to be happy, we have to submit our individual will to the sovereignty of the universal will, and to feel in truth that it is our own will. When we reach that state wherein the adjustment of the finite in us to the infinite is made perfect, then pain itself becomes a valuable asset.
Her wistful face haunts my dreams like the rain at night.
I sit at my window this morning where the world like a passer-by stops for a moment, nods to me and goes.
CANNOT choose the best. The best chooses me.
The man whose acquaintance with the world does not lead him deeper than science leads him, will never understand what it is that the man with the spiritual vision finds in these natural phenomena.
When we express our thought in words, the medium is not found easily. There must be a process of translation, which is often inexact, and then we fall into error. But.
When we were young, we understood all sweet things; and we could detect the sweets of a fairy story by an unerring science of our own. We never cared for such useless things as knowledge. We only cared for truth.
When a material body breaks it may be put together again. But when two human beings are divided, after a long separation, they never re-unite at the same place, and to the same time; for the mind is a living thing, and moment by moment it grows and changes.
I do not for a moment suggest that Japan should be unmindful of acquiring modern weapons of self-protection. But this should never be allowed to go beyond her instinct of self-preservation. She must know that the real power is not in the weapons themselves, but in the man who wields those weapons.
Mother, it is no gain, thy bondage of finery, if it keep one shut off from the healthful dust of the earth, if it rob one of the right of entrance to the great fair of common human life.
At the end of the day I hasten in fear lest thy gate to be shut; but I find that yet there is time.
The traveller in the read-brown clothes that he wears that dust may not show upon him, the girl searching in her bed for the petals fallen from the wreath of her royal lover, the servant or the bride awaiting the master’s home-coming in the empty house, are images of the heart turning to God.
Tears came to my eyes. I forgot that he was a poor Cabuli fruit-seller, while I was –. But no, what was I more than he? He also was a father.
Those who slander others,′ Sachish said, ’do so because they love slander, not because they love truth. It’s pointless therefore to struggle to prove that a piece of slander is untrue.
Spring scatters the petals of flowers that are not for the fruits of the future, but for the moment’s whim.
I shall ever try to keep all untruths out from my thoughts, knowing that thou art that truth which has kindled the light of reason in my mind. I shall ever try to drive all evils away from my heart and keep my love in flower, knowing that thou hast thy seat in the inmost shrine of my heart. And it shall be my endeavour to reveal thee in my actions, knowing it is thy power gives me strength to act.
I take pride in this great wall, and I plaster it with dust and sand lest a least hole should be left in this name; and for all the care I take I lose sight of my true being.
The sands of desert may be very white and shiny, but I would much rather sow my seeds in black soil.