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February 11 - February 16, 2025
Love had arrived in a form he didn’t recognise, which was doubtless why he’d become aware of the danger too late to head it off.
‘Richer they are, slower they pay.’
God is real and that help is always there, though we may not understand how to reach it, or how to even ask for it.
And why not laugh? Laughter is joyous, and joy comes from God.
nothing on this earthly plane comes without patience and struggle.
even the most troubled may gain peace and joy. That even those who have done dreadful things may be forgiven. That there is a home to which all may be called, if they only believe it is possible.’
In friendships and close relationships an individual must make a careful choice. He surrounds himself either with good or with bad company; he cannot have both at once.
For youthful folly it is the most hopeless thing to entangle itself in empty imaginings. The more obstinately it clings to such unreal fantasies, the more certainly will humiliation overtake it.
An internal change takes place when we commit to lives of service. We become more than we’ve ever dreamed we could be.
The correct place of the woman is within; the correct place of the man is without.
‘True healing is only possible from the spirit,’
The superior man is on his guard against what is not yet in sight and on the alert for what is not yet within hearing…
‘A sense of identity based on jobs, or any of the trappings of the bubble world, is inherently materialist,’ she said. ‘When we firmly reject the cravings of the ego and begin nourishing the spirit, hurts disappear and the true self can emerge, a self that will no longer care if flesh objects pass out of its life.’
OBSTRUCTION means difficulty. The danger is ahead. To see the danger and to know how to stand still, that is wisdom.
A man must part company with the inferior and superficial. The important thing is to remain firm.
‘I mean… he’s gay, isn’t he? So—’ ‘Thass materialism,’
‘She thinks there’s such a thing as “gay”.’
‘Bodies don’t matter,’ Shawna told Robin firmly. ‘On’y spirit matters.’
The heart thinks constantly. This cannot be changed, but the movements of the heart—that is, a man’s thoughts—should restrict themselves to the immediate situation. All thinking that goes beyond this only makes the heart sore.
the cross meant something to him, nonetheless. It stood for Ted and Joan, for order and stability, but also for the unknowable and unresolvable, for the human craving for meaning in chaos, and for the hope of something beyond the world of pain and endless striving. Some mysteries were eternal and unresolvable by man, and there was relief in accepting that, in admitting it. Death, love, the endless complexity of human beings: only a fool would claim to fully understand any of them.
Thus amid all fellowship The superior man retains his individuality.
Thus the superior man pardons mistakes And forgives misdeeds.
Even in the midst of danger there come intervals of peace… If we possess enough inner strength, we shall take advantage of these intervals…
Regret is inactive and useful only in so far as it propels us onwards, to more action.
Thus the superior man controls his anger And restrains his instincts.
In the midst of the greatest obstructions, Friends come.
Patience in the highest sense means putting brakes on strength.
Now it is the time of struggle. The transition must be completed.
it was sometimes surprising what concerted effort in pursuit of a worthwhile goal could achieve.
… one must move warily, like an old fox walking over ice… deliberation and caution are the prerequisites of success.
“Struggle must exist, for all life is a struggle of some kind. But make certain that you do not struggle in the interest of self against truth and justice.”’
What has been spoiled through man’s fault can be made good again through man’s work.
At such times when hidden divergences in temper make themselves felt and lead to mutual misunderstandings, we must take quick and vigorous action to dissolve the misunderstandings and mutual distrust.
Happy families, he thought, didn’t seem to brood on the significance and power of blood ties;
It’s dangerous to make a cult of your own unhappiness. Hard to get out, once you’ve been in there too long. You forget how.’
“Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times.”
Confucius says… Life leads the thoughtful man on a path of many windings. Now the course is checked, now it runs straight again. Here winged thoughts may pour freely forth in words, There the heavy burden of knowledge must be shut away in silence. But when two people are at one in their inmost hearts, They shatter even the strength of iron or of bronze.
we’ve got to forgive who we were, when we didn’t know any better.
