Posts Tagged With: quotations

Finding Words Everywhere

Posted on November 12, 2014 by Kami

Being a fan of words I look for and read them everywhere. I think it all started ages ago while reading the backs of cereal boxes. Now I read everything: signs, plaques, memorials, directions, chalkboards, menus, whiteboards, magnets, carvings, raised metal, blocks, imprints, impressions, sidewalk chalk, train graffiti, book spines, air fresheners, notices, refrigerators, headlines. Even the occasional book.

Words hang out everywhere and in some surprising places. Some even smell good.

Here’s a few words I’ve run into lately:

The good and the bad.

“There are places I remember all my life, Though some have changed, Some forever, not for better, Some have gone and some remain.” ~ From the Beatles”In My Life.”

Such a tiny word…

“Some of you say, “Joy is greater than sorrow,” and others say, “Nay, sorrow is the greater.” But I say unto you, they are inseparable. Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.” ~Khalil Gibran

Life began here.

“The greatest change we need to make is from consumption to production, even if on a small scale, in our own gardens. If only 10% of us do this, there is enough for everyone. Hence the futility of revolutionaries who have no gardens, who depend on the very system they attack, and who produce words and bullets, not food and shelter.” ~Bill Mollison

Don’t ask me to choose just one kind.

“We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie.” ~ David Mamet

A concrete idea.

“Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.” ~ Michelangelo

Wings, roots, reasons.

“Give the ones you love wings to fly, roots to come back and reasons to stay.” ~ Dalai Lama

Such a big word.

“The real things haven’t changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong.” ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder

~*~~*~~*~

Categories: Communication, Writing | Tags: discover, Garden, happy, joy, pie, quotations, quotes, remembering, wings, words | 1 Comment

On Attempts at Keeping the Unwieldy Tamed

Posted on October 20, 2013 by Kami

Sunday Quotes

I’ve found I don’t always make clear transitions of logic that others can follow. That’s particularly true if I’m not well, or slightly medicated, which is the case today. So please bear with my leaps of sensibility and know that it made sense in my mind at least for a time.

I’d never read this poem by Robert Frost until this week. Not sure where it’s been hiding. Thought I’d share it with you today.

God’s Garden

“God made a beauteous garden

With lovely flowers strown,

But one straight, narrow pathway

That was not overgrown.

And to this beauteous garden

He brought mankind to live,

And said “To you, my children,

These lovely flowers I give.

Prune ye my vines and fig trees,

With care my flowers tend,

But keep the pathway open

Your home is at the end.”

~ Robert Frost

Isn’t that a lovely picture as we wander and wonder through life, pruning and pinching back the wildness around and in us?

Then I found this thought, which seemed to fit with my week of pain and impatience.

“We tend to use prayer as a last resort, but God wants it to be our first line of defense. We pray when there’s nothing else we can do, but God wants us to pray before we do anything at all. Most of us would prefer, however, to spend our time doing something that will get immediate results. We don’t want to wait for God to resolve matters in His good time because His idea of ‘good time’ is seldom in sync with ours.” ~ Oswald Chambers

Never been much of a fan of God’s timetable. But then, sometimes, usually I’ll admit, God’s timing is perfect. What else would it be. It’d just me thinks the timing is off. Patience is not one of my strong points. Especially if pain is involved.

Also, never been a fan of Stephen Covey, but this rang true to me. Not sure if this idea fits with the previous two, but I like it anyway and so it gets inserted here:

“You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage—pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically, to say “no” to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger “yes” burning inside. The enemy of the “best” is often the “good.” ~ Stephan R. Covey

I think what I like about this is the “pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically” approach to saying “no.”

And clearly, this brief paragraph by Beryl Markham (aka Karen Blixen from Out of Africa fame) doesn’t fit with any of the three thought preceding it. But, I feel I’ve reached past the fourth day of unkempt and wild and thought I’d share the sentiment in her poetic words, with which I’ll close today’s post.

“I had never realized before how quickly men deteriorate without razors and clean shirts. They are like potted plants that go to weed unless they are pruned and tended daily. A single day’s growth beard makes a man look careless; two days’, derelict; and four days’, polluted.” ~ Beryl Markham

Categories: Wondering | Tags: Gardens, paths, Patience, prayer, priorities, Pruning, quotations, wildness | 4 Comments

Sunday Quotables, Too, or Two, or Again

Posted on September 1, 2013 by Kami

I really don’t like the title of this post. There’s got to be a better way of saying it, but I am fresh out of brilliance and, as a friend of mine calls it, “finesse.”

If you have any suggestions for a Sunday Post title I’d be thrilled and would gratefully name one of my garden flowers after you, or something wondrous like that.

So this first quote is, admittedly, taken out of context and edited. I’ll share the edited one with you first. Then, under that I’ll give you the full quote as I found it. I like both versions, a lot. The longer one leans toward the rebellious side, which I have a tendency to tip toward myself. So, on my mini-chalkboard at home I quoted the non-rebellious version. I’m pretty sure Mark Twain would hang me up by my toenails and throw sharp words at me, at the very least.

“Life is short, Break the Rules.
Forgive quickly, Kiss SLOWLY.
Love truly. Laugh uncontrollably
And never regret ANYTHING
That makes you smile.”
— Mark Twain

I agree, Life is short, even at its longest. I don’t generally condone breaking the rules, but have been known to do so, a little too often. And, regret? Regret falls under an entire category of multiple blog posts which I may, someday if I feel brave, write and elucidate on.

“The Lord of the Rings” books shine with brilliance and wisdom. I try to restrain myself from quoting Tolkien too often, but you gotta admit, he nails it time and again. Here’s a tiny bite of the feast that his words created.

Then, there’s this saying I have on my wall in the kitchen. It’s a reminder to myself that I’m not really really old. Even though parts of me seem insistent on convincing me otherwise.

I’ll refrain from vowing to get to bed earlier, eat better, brush more often and exercise twice as much as usual. I think I just want to try to stay young at heart. Which would involve the first quote: forgiving, kissing, loving, laughing. I can do those.

That’s all I’ve got for today.

Wishing you a week filled with grateful moments, joy, and laughter.