"Life is beautiful in spite of everything! … There are many thorns, but the roses are there too."  --Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky

"Even though Tchaikovsky frequently lamented his “wearing, maddening depression,” perhaps most remarkable yet quintessentially human about his disposition was the ability to assure his loved ones of the very things he was unable to internalize himself — for who among us hasn’t found that it is far easier to offer light to our dearest humans in situations that leave our own inner worlds shrouded in impenetrable darkness?"  --Maria Popova

"Politics does not have to be a raging fire destroying everything in its path. Every disagreement doesn't have to be a cause for total war. We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal. We must reject a culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured."  --Joseph R. Biden

"There are two ways of exerting one's strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up."  -- Booker T. Washington

Love Deeply

 

"Do not hesitate to love and to love deeply. You might be afraid of the pain that deep love can cause. When those you love deeply reject you, leave you, or die, your heart will be broken. But that should not hold you back from loving deeply. The pain that comes from deep love makes your love even more fruitful. It is like a plow that breaks the ground to allow the seed to take root and grow into a strong plant. Every time you experience the pain of rejection, absence, or death, you are faced with a choice. You can become bitter and decide not to love again, or you can stand straight in your pain and let the soil on which you stand become richer and more able to give life to new seeds."  --Henri Nouwen

"To bring about peace in the world, to stop all wars, there must be a revolution in the individual, in you and me. What will bring peace is inward transformation which will lead to outward action. There can be right action only when there is right thinking and there is no right thinking when there is no self-knowledge. Without knowing yourself, there is no peace."  --Jiddu Krishnamurti

"I can conceive of no better service in the United States, henceforth, by democrats of thorough and heart-felt faith, than boldly exposing the weakness, liabilities and infinite corruptions of democracy."  --Walt Whitman

"Dialogue is a non-confrontational communication, where both partners are willing to learn from the other and therefore leads much farther into finding new grounds together."  --Scilla Elworthy