Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)
from The Prophet
Then said Almitra, "Speak to us of Love."
And he raised his head and looked upon the people,
and there fell a stillness upon them. And with a great voice he said:
When love beckons to you follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind
lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.
Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest
branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire,
that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.
All these things shall love do unto you that you may know
the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge
become a fragment of Life's heart.
But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness
and pass out of love's threshing- floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh,
but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.
When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart,"
but rather, I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course of love,
if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart
and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart
and a song of praise upon your lips.
A Dream within a Dream
Edgar Allan Poe
Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow—
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if Hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of golden sand—
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep—while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Edgar Allan Poe
Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow—
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if Hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of golden sand—
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep—while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Night Thoughts
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Stars, you are unfortunate, I pity you,
Beautiful as you are, shining in your glory,
Who guide seafaring men through stress and peril
And have no recompense from gods or mortals,
Love you do not, nor do you know what love is.
Hours that are aeons urgently conducting
Your figures in a dance through the vast heaven,
What journey have you ended in this moment,
Since lingering in the arms of my beloved
I lost all memory of you and midnight.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Stars, you are unfortunate, I pity you,
Beautiful as you are, shining in your glory,
Who guide seafaring men through stress and peril
And have no recompense from gods or mortals,
Love you do not, nor do you know what love is.
Hours that are aeons urgently conducting
Your figures in a dance through the vast heaven,
What journey have you ended in this moment,
Since lingering in the arms of my beloved
I lost all memory of you and midnight.
"Hope is not the same as joy when things are going well,
or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously headed
for early success, but rather an ability to work for something to
succeed. Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism.
It's not the conviction that something will turn out well,
but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of
how it turns out. It is this hope that gives us strength to live and
to try new things, even in conditions that seem hopeless. Life is
too precious to permit its devaluation by living pointlessly, emptily,
without meaning, without love, and finally, without hope."
- Vaclav Havel, Disturbing the Peace
or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously headed
for early success, but rather an ability to work for something to
succeed. Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism.
It's not the conviction that something will turn out well,
but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of
how it turns out. It is this hope that gives us strength to live and
to try new things, even in conditions that seem hopeless. Life is
too precious to permit its devaluation by living pointlessly, emptily,
without meaning, without love, and finally, without hope."
- Vaclav Havel, Disturbing the Peace
To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
To weep is to risk being called sentimental.
To reach out to another is to risk involvement.
To expose feelings is to risk showing your true self.
To place your ideas and your dreams before the crowd is to risk being called a fool.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk despair, and to try is to risk failure.
But risks must be taken, because the greatest risk in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing and becomes nothing.
~ Leo Buscaglia
To weep is to risk being called sentimental.
To reach out to another is to risk involvement.
To expose feelings is to risk showing your true self.
To place your ideas and your dreams before the crowd is to risk being called a fool.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk despair, and to try is to risk failure.
But risks must be taken, because the greatest risk in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing and becomes nothing.
~ Leo Buscaglia
"I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me." - Isaac Newton (source: Reader's Digest, Jan 2001)
Another Suitcase in Another Hall
words and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice
I don't expect my love affairs to last for long
Never fool myself that my dreams will come true
Being used to trouble I anticipate it
But all the same I hate it--wouldn't you?
So what happens now?
Another suitcase in another hall
So what happens now?
Take your picture off another wall
Where am I going to?
You'll get by, you always have before
Where am I going to?
Time and time again I've said that I don't care
That I'm immune to gloom, that I'm hard through and through
But every time it matters all my words desert me
So anyone can hurt me--and they do
So what happens now?
Another suitcase in another hall
So what happens now?
Take your picture off another wall
Where am I going to?
You'll get by, you always have before
Where am I going to?
Call in three months time and I'll be fine I know
Well maybe not that fine, but I'll survive anyhow
I won't recall the names and places of each sad occasion
But that's no consolation--here and now
So what happens now?
Another suitcase in another hall
So what happens now?
Take your picture off another wall
Where am I going to?
You'll get by, you always have before
Where am I going to?
words and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice
I don't expect my love affairs to last for long
Never fool myself that my dreams will come true
Being used to trouble I anticipate it
But all the same I hate it--wouldn't you?
So what happens now?
Another suitcase in another hall
So what happens now?
Take your picture off another wall
Where am I going to?
You'll get by, you always have before
Where am I going to?
Time and time again I've said that I don't care
That I'm immune to gloom, that I'm hard through and through
But every time it matters all my words desert me
So anyone can hurt me--and they do
So what happens now?
Another suitcase in another hall
So what happens now?
Take your picture off another wall
Where am I going to?
You'll get by, you always have before
Where am I going to?
Call in three months time and I'll be fine I know
Well maybe not that fine, but I'll survive anyhow
I won't recall the names and places of each sad occasion
But that's no consolation--here and now
So what happens now?
Another suitcase in another hall
So what happens now?
Take your picture off another wall
Where am I going to?
You'll get by, you always have before
Where am I going to?
The Invitation
by Oriah Mountain Dreamer
It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.
It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain! I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"
It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.
It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.
by Oriah Mountain Dreamer
It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.
It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain! I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"
It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.
It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.
Finding Forrester
"For if we wait too long, we risk learning that life is not a game that is won... or lost... it is a game that, too often, simply isn't played."
Family isn't always what you're born with -- sometimes it's the people you find, sometimes it's the people who find you. From Oscar-nominated director Gus Van Sant comes Finding Forrester, an uplifting story about the unusual dynamic between an isolated author and the confident teenager who changes his life.
Through their unique, occasionally contentious alliance, Jamal navigates a new world outside of the South Bronx home he shares with his loving mother and brother. Forrester is Jamal's unlikely guide on his journey into the strange, strait-laced academic community in which he must now prove himself as a writer.
"For if we wait too long, we risk learning that life is not a game that is won... or lost... it is a game that, too often, simply isn't played."
Family isn't always what you're born with -- sometimes it's the people you find, sometimes it's the people who find you. From Oscar-nominated director Gus Van Sant comes Finding Forrester, an uplifting story about the unusual dynamic between an isolated author and the confident teenager who changes his life.
Through their unique, occasionally contentious alliance, Jamal navigates a new world outside of the South Bronx home he shares with his loving mother and brother. Forrester is Jamal's unlikely guide on his journey into the strange, strait-laced academic community in which he must now prove himself as a writer.
got this from one of the posters of samasa, a student political organization in UP, when i was a freshman...
Ours must remain a time of hope and wonder.
In the face of cynicism and indifference,
we must speak of the world not as one that nears its end,
but one that ever seeks to be reborn.
Ours must remain a time of courage.
It is not surrender or compromise that stays the hand of oppression;
only unfailing challenge can undo such a regime of anguish.
Ours must remain a time for living truly and deeply.
We must not grow old in our youth.
Our lives become far richer, far mor meaningful
as we strive hand in hand to live beyond ourselves.
To contemplate the beautiful,
To stand courageous,
To lead, to serve, to live.
To be young and activist.
Ours must remain a time of hope and wonder.
In the face of cynicism and indifference,
we must speak of the world not as one that nears its end,
but one that ever seeks to be reborn.
Ours must remain a time of courage.
It is not surrender or compromise that stays the hand of oppression;
only unfailing challenge can undo such a regime of anguish.
Ours must remain a time for living truly and deeply.
We must not grow old in our youth.
Our lives become far richer, far mor meaningful
as we strive hand in hand to live beyond ourselves.
To contemplate the beautiful,
To stand courageous,
To lead, to serve, to live.
To be young and activist.
check the meaning of your names here
Gezelle
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your name of Gezelle makes you very idealistic and generous, with the strong desire to uplift humanity leading you into situations where you can express your desire to serve others. You want to assume responsibilities and to look after people; however, you can become too involved in other people's problems and tend to worry. Your name gives you a natural desire to express along artistic and musical lines. You desire a settled home and family life, and are expressive and attentive to your loved ones. You must be careful not to become possessive and jealous of those close to you, however, as you could attract losses and unfortunate experiences. If you attach an ideal of service to your life, you could find great happiness and could express a very beautiful, happy, responsible, artistic, and generous nature. The weakness of this name is in worry, which in turn affects the nervous system, creating a tendency to be highly strung or over-sensitive to the thoughts of others.
Gezelle
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your name of Gezelle makes you very idealistic and generous, with the strong desire to uplift humanity leading you into situations where you can express your desire to serve others. You want to assume responsibilities and to look after people; however, you can become too involved in other people's problems and tend to worry. Your name gives you a natural desire to express along artistic and musical lines. You desire a settled home and family life, and are expressive and attentive to your loved ones. You must be careful not to become possessive and jealous of those close to you, however, as you could attract losses and unfortunate experiences. If you attach an ideal of service to your life, you could find great happiness and could express a very beautiful, happy, responsible, artistic, and generous nature. The weakness of this name is in worry, which in turn affects the nervous system, creating a tendency to be highly strung or over-sensitive to the thoughts of others.
why is the sky blue?
you might be wondering why i am asking this question....see, one saturday morning, i was jogging in UP.....and then i looked up, and as expected there above me was the sky....it was just the normal sky, not clear blue but blue. smoky blue.
one good thing about jogging is that you remember to ask yourself questions about things you used to be curious about but forgot about them along the way. somehow it brings you closer to yourself when other things in your life seems to pull you away.
okay now, laugh.
you might be wondering why i am asking this question....see, one saturday morning, i was jogging in UP.....and then i looked up, and as expected there above me was the sky....it was just the normal sky, not clear blue but blue. smoky blue.
one good thing about jogging is that you remember to ask yourself questions about things you used to be curious about but forgot about them along the way. somehow it brings you closer to yourself when other things in your life seems to pull you away.
okay now, laugh.
They Can't Take That Away From Me
from the soundtrack of Love's Labours Lost
The way you wear your hat
The way you sip your tea
The memory of all that
No they can't take that away from me
The way your smile just beams
The way you sing off key
The way you haunt my dreams
No they can't take that away from me
We may never ever meet again, on that bumpy road to love
Still I'll always, always keep the memory of
The way you hold your knife
The way we danced till three
The way you changed my life
No they can't take that away from me
No they can't take that away from me
The way your smile just beams
The way you sing off key
The way you haunt my dreams
No they can't take that away from me
We may never ever meet again, on that bumpy road to love
Still I'll always, always keep the memory of
The way you hold your knife
The way we danced till three
The way you changed my life
No you can't take that away
You can't take that away from me
No you can't take that away from me
from the soundtrack of Love's Labours Lost
The way you wear your hat
The way you sip your tea
The memory of all that
No they can't take that away from me
The way your smile just beams
The way you sing off key
The way you haunt my dreams
No they can't take that away from me
We may never ever meet again, on that bumpy road to love
Still I'll always, always keep the memory of
The way you hold your knife
The way we danced till three
The way you changed my life
No they can't take that away from me
No they can't take that away from me
The way your smile just beams
The way you sing off key
The way you haunt my dreams
No they can't take that away from me
We may never ever meet again, on that bumpy road to love
Still I'll always, always keep the memory of
The way you hold your knife
The way we danced till three
The way you changed my life
No you can't take that away
You can't take that away from me
No you can't take that away from me
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