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HAPPINESS
PSYCHOLOGY
QUOTES
SPIRITUALITY

The Panther

His vision, from the constantly passing bars,
has grown so weary that it cannot hold
anything else. It seems to him there are
a thousand bars; and behind the bars, no world.

As he paces in cramped circles, over and over,
the movement of his powerful soft strides
is like a ritual dance around a center
in which a mighty will stands paralyzed.

Only at times, the curtain of the pupils
lifts, quietly—. An image enters in,
rushes down through the tensed, arrested muscles, plunges into the heart and is gone.

Rainer Maria Rilke

(Source: poemhunter.com)

George Gray

I have studied many times The marble which was chiseled for me— A boat with a furled sail at rest in a harbor. In truth it pictures not my destination But my life. For love was offered me and I shrank from its disillusionment; Sorrow knocked at my door, but I was afraid; Ambition called to me, but I dreaded the chances. Yet all the while I hungered for meaning in my life. And now I know that we must lift the sail And catch the winds of destiny Wherever they drive the boat. To put meaning in one’s life may end in madness, But life without meaning is the torture Of restlessness and vague desire— It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.

- Edgar Lee Masters

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.

Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

Jelaluddin Rumi (found on www.gratefulness.org )

IF

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on”;

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man my son!

Rudyard Kipling.

How to be an artist

Poem by Joseph Beuys.

English version (freely translated by myself):

Let yourself fall.
Learn to observe snakes.
Plant impossible gardens
Let someone dangerous in for tea.
Make small Signs that say “yes”
and spread them all over your house.
Become a friend of freedom and uncertainty.
Look forward to dreaming. Cry at the movies.
Swing as high as you can on a swing at moonlight.
Maintain different moods.
Refuse to be “responsible”. DO IT OUT OF LOVE.
Take a lot of naps.
Pass on money. Do it now.
The money will follow.
Laugh a lot. Bathe in the moonlight.
Dream wild, imaginative dreams.
Draw on the walls. Read every day.
Imagine you are enchanted.
Giggle with children. Listen to old people.
Open yourself. Dive in. Be free.
Praise Yourself. Let go of fear.
Play with everything. Preserve the child in you.
You are innocent.
Build a castle of covers
Get wet. Hug trees.
Write loveletters.
Original version:
Lass Dich fallen.
Lerne Schlangen zu beobachten.
Pflanze unmögliche Gärten.
Lade jemand Gefährliches zum Tee ein.
Mache kleine Zeichen die “ja” sagen
und verteile sie überall in Deinem Haus.
Werde ein Freund von Frieheit und Unsicherheiten.
Freue Dich auf Träume. Weine bei Kinofilmen.
Schaukel so hoch Du kannst mit einer Schaukel bei Mondlicht.
Pflege verschiedene Stimmungen.
Verweiger Dich “verantwortlich” zu sein. TU ES AUS LIEBE.
Mach eine Menge Nickerchen.
Gib Geld weiter. Mach es jetzt.
Das Geld wird folgen.
Lache eine Menge. Bade im Mondlicht.
Träume wilde, phantasievolle Träume.
Zeichne auf die Wände. Lies jeden Tag.
Stell Dir vor, Du wärst verzaubert.
Kicher mit Kindern. Höre alten Leuten zu.
Öffne Dich. Tauche ein. Sei frei.
Preise Dich selbst. Lass die Angst fallen.
Spiele mit allem. Unterhalte das Kind in Dir.
Du bist unschuldig.
Baue eine Burg aus Decken.
Werde nass. Umarme Bäume.
Schreibe Liebesbriefe.

What it is

Poem by Erick Fried.


English version:


It is madness
says reason
It is what it is
says love

It is unhappiness
says caution
It is nothing but pain
says fear
It has no future
says insight
It is what it is
says love

It is ridiculous
says pride
It is foolish
says caution
It is impossible
says experience
It is what it is
says love.


Original version:

Es ist Unsinn
sagt die Vernunft
Es ist was es ist
sagt die Liebe

Es is Unglück
sagt die Berechnung
Es ist nichts als Schmerz
sagt die Angst
Es ist aussichtslos
sagt die Einsicht
Es ist was es ist
sagt die Liebe

Es ist lächerlich
sagt der Stolz
Es ist leichtsinnig
sagt die Vorsicht
Es ist unmöglich
sagt die Erfahrung
Es ist was es ist
sagt die Liebe

The ROAD AHEAD or the ROAD BEHIND

I think the fates must grin as we denounce them and insist,
The only reason we can’t win is the fates themselves have missed.
Yet, there lives on the ancient claim-We win or lose within ourselves,
The shining trophies on our shelves can Never win tomorrow’s game.
So you and I know deeper down
There is a chance to win the crown,
But when we fail to give our best,
We simply haven’t met the test
Of giving all and saving none
Until the game is really won.
Of showing what is meant by grit,
Of playing through not letting up,
It’s bearing down that wins the cup.
Of taking it and taking more
Until we gain the winning score
Of dreaming there’s a goal ahead,
Of hoping when our dreams are dead,
Of praying when our hopes have fled.Yet, losing, not afraid to fall,
If bravely we have given all,
For who can ask more of a man
Than giving all within his span.
That giving all, it seems to me,
Is not so far from VICTORY.
And so the fates are seldom wrong,
No matter how they twist and wind;
It’s you and I who make our fates,
We open up or close the gates
On the ROAD AHEAD or the ROAD BEHIND

George Joseph Moriarty