"In a sense, nearly all great civilizations that perished did so because they had crystallized, because they were incapable of adapting themselves to new conditions, new methods, new points of view. It is as though people would literally rather die than change."  --Eleanor Roosevelt 

"We would rather be ruined than changed

We would rather die in our dread

Than climb the cross of the moment

and let our illusions die."

--WH Auden, The Age of Anxiety: A Baroque Eclogue

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, who strives valiantly; who errs . . . and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."  --Theodore Roosevelt

“Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, / The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. / Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, / I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”  --Emma Lazarus, “The New Colossus”

“The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they’ve found it.”  --Sir Terry Pratchett

"The whole work is only a drop in the ocean. But if I didn't put that drop in, the ocean would be one drop less. Same thing for you, same thing in your family, same thing in the community where you live. Just begin . . . one, one, one."  --Mother Teresa

"How powerless I am to express in human language the secrets of heaven."  --St. Therese of Lisieux

Take up Your Cross

Your pain is deep, and it won’t just go away. It is also uniquely yours, because it is linked to some of your earliest life experiences.

Your call is to bring that pain home. As long as your wounded part remains foreign to your adult self, your pain will injure you as well as others. Yes, you have to incorporate your pain into your self and let it bear fruit in your heart and the hearts of others.

This is what Jesus means when he asks you to take up your cross. He encourages you to recognize and embrace your unique suffering and to trust that your way to salvation lies therein. Taking up your cross means, first of all, befriending your wounds and letting them reveal to you your own truth.

There is great pain and suffering in the world. But the pain hardest to bear is your own. Once you have taken up that cross, you will be able to see clearly the crosses that others have to bear, and you will be able to reveal to them their own ways to joy, peace, and freedom.

--Henri Nouwen

"It is true that Our Lady is Queen of Heaven and earth, but at the same time she is more Mother than Queen."  --St. Therese of Lisieux

"In a dialogue nobody is trying to win. Everybody wins if anybody wins. There is a different sort of spirit to it. In a dialogue, there is no attempt to gain points, or to make your particular point of view prevail. . . it is a common participation."  --David Bohm, On Dialogue

"Ubuntu is very difficult to render into a Western language. It speaks of the very essence of being human. When we want to give high praise to someone we say they have Ubuntu. Then you are generous, your are hospitable, you are friendly and caring and compassionate. It is to say, ‘My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in yours.’"  --Desmond Tutu

"There are just some kind of men who — who’re so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results."  --Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)

"When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?"  --Eleanor Roosevelt

"Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought."  --Pope John Paul II

"Love ripples out through space and time. In a moment of positivity resonance, studies show, your awareness automatically expands, allowing you to appreciate more than you typically do. Also, quite automatically, your body leans in toward and affirms the other person, and begins a subtle synchronized dance that further enforces your connection. Over time, these powerful moments change who you are. They help expand your network of relationships and grow your resilience, wisdom, and physical health."  --Barbara L. Frederickson, Phd.

"One of the easiest human acts is also the most healing. Listening to someone. Simply listening. Not advising or coaching, but silently and fully listening... If we can speak our story, and know that others hear it, we are healed by that."  --Margaret J. Wheatley

"There are many truths of which the full meaning cannot be realized until personal experience has brought it home."  --John Stuart Mill

"I have never made one of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking."  --Albert Einstein

"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge."  --Daniel J. Boorstin

"Try to offer light in a world of darkness, peace in a world of war, love in a world of fear, hatred, and indifference."  --John Dear 

"What do you do when there's nowhere to turn? You drive straight ahead."  --Leslie Gordon

"When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful."  --Malala Yousafzai