"[D]enouncing evil is a far cry from doing good."  -- Philip Gourevitch, We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families (1998)

"Nothing is sweeter than to think well of others."  --St. Therese of Lisieux

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,

and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible without surrender

be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly;

and listen to others,

even the dull and the ignorant;

they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,

they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,

you may become vain and bitter;

for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;

it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs;

for the world is full of trickery.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;

many persons strive for high ideals;

and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.

Especially, do not feign affection.

Neither be cynical about love;

for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment

it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,

gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.

But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,

be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,

no less than the trees and the stars;

you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,

no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,

whatever you conceive Him to be,

and whatever your labors and aspirations,

in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,

it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy.

--Max Ehrmann

“If life is to be complete, it must include not only the dimension of length but also of breadth which the individual concerns [themselves] in the welfare of others. No [person] has learned to live until [they] can rise above the narrow confines of [their] individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity."  --Martin Luther King, Strength to Love

"We have given corporations dominion over the sustaining of our lives. . . . They shape our thoughts and our language. They create the images and metaphors of our time, which our children use to define their world and their lives. In other words: what corporations do well, what corporations are designed to be, is the problem.”  --Richard Grossman

"There is really nothing more to say—except why. But since why is difficult to handle, one must take refuge in how."  --Toni Morrison

“The irony of our existence is this: We are infinitesimal in the grand scheme of evolution, a tiny organism on Earth. And yet, personally, collectively, we are changing the planet through our voracity, the velocity of our reach, our desires, our ambitions, and our appetites. We multiply, our hunger multiplies, and our insatiable craving accelerates. We believe in more, more possessions, more power, more war. Anywhere, everywhere our advance of aggression continues. Consumption is a progressive disease. My aggression towards myself is the first war. Wilderness is an antidote to the war within ourselves."  --Terry Tempest Williams

“This is how we will heal the Earth, and ourselves—through deep love and intimate local knowledge of her waters and soils, her moods and changing conditions. When the Earth is sacred to us again, we will do what is required to mend our relationship with her, even if it means giving up certain habits or goals that once mattered: more money, a bigger house, or a way of life dependent on fossil fuels. When we remember that our bodies and the Earth-body are inseparable, we will hear her cry and feel her pain as our own. And we will not turn away."  Kosmos Newsletter, July 2018

"From the heart arise unknowable impulses as well as conscious feelings, moods, and wishes. The heart, too, has its reasons and is the center of perception and understanding. Finally, the heart is the seat of the will: it makes plans and comes to good decisions. Thus the heart is the central and unifying organ of our personal life. Our heart determines our personality, and is, therefore, not only the place where God dwells but also the place to which Satan directs his fiercest attacks. It is this heart that is the place of prayer. The prayer of the heart is a prayer that directs itself to God from the center of the person and thus affects the whole of our humanness."  --Henri Nouwen

“I believe that no tradition can remain a mere dead inheritance. It is a living inheritance which we must continue to offer to the living. Isn't it possible then to include in the law certain important questions of conscience, to include them nonetheless, and thereby to bring the tradition to life again for the sake of the people?”  --Daniel Berrigan to the Judge at the Catonsville Trial in At Play in the Lions Den by Jim Forest

“If I wait for someone else to validate my existence, it will mean that I’m shortchanging myself.”  Zanele Muholi

"I have no right, by anything I do or say, to demean a human being in [their] own eyes. What matters is not what I think of [them]; it is what [they think of themselves]. To undermine a [person's] self-respect is a sin."  --Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

“I shall not commit the fashionable stupidity of regarding everything I cannot explain as a fraud."  --C.G. Jung, address to the Society for Psychical Research in England

"All animals, including people, organize around 'us vs them' until some brave souls venture out of their tiny sphere to broaden who counts as 'us.' To further complicate the aspiration of peace on earth, when the 'ways' taught to us by our group are based on God's Law . . . there is no earthly way to argue effectively."  --Susan L. Allen, The Tao of Nonviolence

"Peace. What is that? Something I have taken so much for granted in all my years on our planet. I have never had to endure the suffering experienced by millions and it intrigues me how I could have managed to avoid the implications of warfare so easily."  --Annie Lennox