Emilie Richards's Blog, page 10

Sunday Inspiration: The Greatest Gift

“The greatest gift is the passion for reading.
It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites,
it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind.
It is a moral illumination.”

― Elizabeth Hardwick

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Sunday Inspiration: Hate and Pain

 

I imagine one of the reasons
people cling to their hates
so stubbornly
is because they sense,
once hate is gone,
they will be forced to deal
with pain.

-James Baldwin

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Sunday Inspiration: The Great Stories

“It’s like the great stories, Mr. Frodo, the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn’t want to know the end because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad has happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing this shadow, even darkness must pass. A new day will come, and when the sun shines, it’ll shine out the clearer. I know now folks in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going because they were holding on to something. That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for.”
― Samwise Gamgee from the movie Lord of the Rings

The theme for our first week of season at my beloved Chautauqua Institution was friendship, and we had an exceptional presentation by Sean Astin, who played Samwise Gamgee in one of our favorite book and movie series, “Lord of the Rings,” by J.R.R. Tolkien.

At the end of his interview Sean stood up and recited the above soliloquy, one of the most inspiring in literature. It gave me goosebumps!

— Image by Victor Molina from Pixabay

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Sunday Inspiration: I am listening

“Walking, I am listening to a deeper way.

Suddenly my ancestors are behind me.

Be still, they say.

Watch and listen.

They are the result of the love of thousands.”

-Linda Hogan, Native American writer

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Sunday Inspiration: Forgiveness

“Forgiveness is simply about understanding that every one of us is both inherently good and inherently flawed. Within every hopeless situation and every seemingly hopeless person lies the possibility of transformation.”

~Archbishop Desmond Tutu

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Sunday Inspiration: Time is a companion

“Someone once told me that time was a predator
that stalked us all our lives.
I rather believe that time is a companion
who goes with us on the journey
and reminds us to cherish every moment,
because it will never come again.
What we leave behind is not as important as how we’ve lived.”

Gene Roddenberry (spoken by Captain Picard)

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Sunday Inspiration: Graduation quotes for 2023

It’s that time of year to celebrate those who are graduating from educational institutions, and one of the traditional ways to honor those students is to inspire them with wisdom and wit. Here are some of the most inspirational quotes of 2023.

“All those adults that you used to think were in charge and knew what they were doing? It turns out they don’t have all the answers. A lot of them aren’t even asking the right questions. So, if the world’s going to get better, it’s going to be up to you.
-Barack Obama

“The future is always uncertain, but we who celebrate what you have done, who celebrate all of vour achievements, we are certain of one thing on this day: You will not let us down.”
-Tom Hanks

“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.”
-Michael Altschuler

“Follow your passion. It will lead you to your purpose.”
-Oprah Winfrey

“When you have a dream, you’ve got to grab it and
never let go.”
-Carol Burnett

“I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.”
-Jim Carrey

“You are educated. Your certification is in your degree. You may think of it as the ticket to the good life. Let me ask you to think of an alternative. Think of it as your ticket to change
the world.”
-Tom Brokaw

***Thanks to countryliving.com for gathering and presenting these wonderful quotes.

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Sunday Inspiration: We must never forget

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”

John F. Kennedy

And we must never forget the men and women who sacrificed so much so that we may be free. I know we will all take some time this weekend to remember…

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Sunday Inspiration: Complaining

A friend sent me these words from Teddy Roosevelt.

“Complaining about a problem without proposing a solution is called whining.”

I started to wonder how often we have enough information to propose a solution. Or how often we have the energy to contemplate our choices so we can make a proposal. Or hardest yet, coming up with a solution and then following through on it.

I complain about a lot of things without moving to the next step, too tired or worried to try. How about you?

Teddy had more food for thought for us all. Let me know what you think.

“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 better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

 

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Sunday Inspiration: No Barriers

“Love recognizes no barriers.
It jumps hurdles, leaps fences,
penetrates walls to arrive
at its destination full of hope.”
~Maya Angelou

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