Four Elements Quotes

“Reflection comes between us and every other person and object in the world. An object or a person can be reflected in so many different ways. Yet the heart of an object or the essence of the heart can never be reflected. All faith and creativity is the hunger to cross over this frontier, it is the desire for pure and total encounter and belonging. Love is an affair between a reflection and its object.”
― John O'Donohue, Four Elements: Reflections on Nature

“All the animals and creatures of this earth are our former brothers and sisters but because we believe that we have "dominion" over them, we have become cruel little emperors.”
― John O'Donohue, Four Elements: Reflections on Nature

“Silence is the voice of the mystery. Silence let us dream again.”
― John O'Donohue, Four Elements: Reflections on Nature

“I would love to live
Like a river flows
Carried by the surprise
Of its own unfolding - Fluent”
― John O'Donohue, Four Elements: Reflections on Nature

“This earth is the only constant in our lives. It has been here for millions of years before us. It was his gift to unearth its riches; that this "human-come-lately" is but the latest link in the chain of evolution.

We must become aware of our present stage of "becoming" and to do this we need to look back at our history.”
― John O'Donohue, Four Elements: Reflections on Nature

“The interplay between farmers and the elements was a poem without words, the echo which would always return to him.
The air could hold the "breeze of the rain" or the "wind of warmth" to the discerning nose.
The stone carved its memory deep into the hands that chiseled it.
Fire was life in the hearth which was the center of home.
Water introduced itself to us from its most natural source in streams and wells.”
― John O'Donohue, Four Elements: Reflections on Nature

“One of John’s favorite quotes was from Meister Eckhart: Nothing in the universe resembles God more than silence.”
― John O'Donohue, Four Elements: Reflections on Nature

“A horizon is something towards which we move, but it's also something that moves along with us - Hans Georg Gadamer (Truth and Method)”
― John O'Donohue, Four Elements: Reflections on Nature

“Against all attempts at programs and methods, the great art of holiness is to let oneself be.”
― John O'Donohue, Four Elements: Reflections on Nature

“To young mind, work seemed to be the price that was gladly paid for the privilege of living so closely with the earth. Work was a real conversation with the landscape. It was not an abuse or raiding of the landscape. It was amazing to learn how to work in this context.”
― John O'Donohue, Four Elements: Reflections on Nature

“At a deeper level, time is but eternity living dangerously.”
― John O'Donohue, Four Elements: Reflections on Nature

“Person als Vermittlung (The Person as Mediator)”
― John O'Donohue, Four Elements: Reflections on Nature

“I would love to live Like a river flows, Carried by the surprise Of its own unfolding.”
― John O'Donohue, Four Elements: Reflections on Nature