Interlude: An Internet Retreat "Thought of the Day"

Learn to watch your drama unfold while at the same time knowing you are more than your drama.
Ram Dass

We are one, after all, you and I. Together we suffer, together exist, and forever will recreate each other.
Pierre Teilhard De Chardin

Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours.
Richard Bach

Live so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you.
H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.
Albert Camus

I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.
John Muir

In those whom I like, I can find no common denominator; in those whom I love I can: they all make me laugh.
W.H. Auden

Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.
William James

Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character.
Heraclitus

If you see good in people, you radiate a harmonious loving energy which uplifts those who are around you. If you can maintain this habit, this energy will turn into a steady flow of love.
Annamalai Swami

Not what we have, but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance.
Epicurus

An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.
Plutarch

We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aid, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn.
Henry David Thoreau

The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.
Leo Tolstoy

It is not from reason that justice springs, but goodness is born of wisdom.
Maurice Maeterlinck

It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
Joanne Kathleen Rowling

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
Melody Beattie

Intelligence is not to make no mistakes, but quickly to see how to make them good.
Bertolt Brecht

The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul.
G. K. Chesterton

If only we'd stop trying to be happy we'd have a pretty good time.
Edith Wharton

Hope is the feeling we have that the feeling we have is not permanent.
Mignon McLaughlin

Observation, not old age, brings wisdom.
Publius Syrus

Everything we do is infused with the energy with which we do it. If we're frantic, life will be frantic. If we're peaceful, life will be peaceful. And so our goal in any situation becomes inner peace.
Marianne Williamson

One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.
Carl Gustav Jung

To undertake a genuine spiritual path is not to avoid difficulties but to learn the art of making mistakes wakefully, to bring to them the transformative power of our heart.
Jack Kornfield

True love is no game of the faint-hearted and the weak. It is born of strength and understanding.
Meher Baba

And now let us believe in a long year that is given to us, new, untouched, full of things that have never been, full of work that has never been done, full of tasks, claims, and demands; and let us see that we learn to take it without letting fall too much of what it has to bestow upon those who demand of it necessary, serious, and great things.
Rainer Maria Rilke

Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.
Helen Keller

You can't do what you want till you know what you're doing.
Moshe Feldenkrais

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

The contemplation of truth and beauty is the proper object for which we were created, which calls forth the most intense desires of the soul, and of which it never tires.
William Hazlitt

Consequently: he who wants to have right without wrong, order without disorder, does not understand the principles of heaven and earth. He does not know how things hang together.
Chuang Tzu

Mastery of the world is achieved by letting things take their natural course.
Tao Te Ching

Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love!
Hamilton Wright Mabie

If you have much, give of your wealth; if you have little, give of your heart.
Arabian Proverb

It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little–do what you can.
Sydney Smith

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall–think of it, ALWAYS.
Mahatma Gandhi

If you cannot be compassionate to yourself, you will not be able to be compassionate to others.
Thich Nhat Hanh

If you keep saying things are going to be bad, you have a good chance of being a prophet.
Isaac B. Singer

Nothing is so hard for those who abound in riches as to conceive how others can be in want.
Jonathan Swift

The more we know, the better we forgive. Those who feel deeply feel for all living beings.
Madame De Stael

Remember that if the opportunities for great deeds should never come, the opportunities for good deeds are renewed day by day. The thing for us to long for is the goodness, not the glory.
F.W. Faber

Let us learn to appreciate there will be times when the trees will be bare, and look forward to the time when we may pick the fruit.
Anton Chekhov

Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total; of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.
Robert Kennedy

Cultivation to the mind is as necessary as food to the body.
Marcus Tullius Cicero

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.
John Muir

What you see in yourself is what you see in the world.
Afghan proverb

The vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal that you enthrone in your heart–this you will build your life by, and this you will become.
James Allen

Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.
Napoleon Hill

When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.
Abraham Maslow

We are realizing that in an interconnected world, not only are problems interwoven, but the solutions are interconnected as well, which means whatever we do to help ourselves and our world, we must do it together.
David Spangler

If there was already a path it would have to be someone else's; the whole point is to find your own way.
Joseph Campbell

We're never so vulnerable than when we trust someone–but paradoxically, if we cannot trust, neither can we find love or joy.
Walter Anderson

I began to understand that the promises of the world are for the most part vain phantoms, and that to have faith in oneself and become something of worth and value is the best and safest course.
Michelangelo

If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.
Ancient Buddhist Saying

By having a reverence for life, we enter into a spiritual relation with the world. By practicing reverence for life we become good, deep, and alive.
Albert Schweitzer

What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined together to strengthen each other in all labour, to minister to each other in all sorrow, to share with each other in all gladness, to be one with each other in the silent unspoken memories?
George Eliot

Past Thoughts of the Day from Interlude: An Internet Retreat

Learn to watch your drama unfold while at the same time knowing you are more than your drama.

We are one, after all, you and I. Together we suffer, together exist, and forever will recreate each other.

Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours.

Live so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you.

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.

I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.

In those whom I like, I can find no common denominator; in those whom I love I can: they all make me laugh.

Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.

Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character.

If you see good in people, you radiate a harmonious loving energy which uplifts those who are around you. If you can maintain this habit, this energy will turn into a steady flow of love.

Not what we have, but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance.

An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.

We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aid, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn.

The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.

It is not from reason that justice springs, but goodness is born of wisdom.

It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.

Intelligence is not to make no mistakes, but quickly to see how to make them good.

The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul.

If only we'd stop trying to be happy we'd have a pretty good time.

Hope is the feeling we have that the feeling we have is not permanent.

Observation, not old age, brings wisdom.

Everything we do is infused with the energy with which we do it. If we're frantic, life will be frantic. If we're peaceful, life will be peaceful. And so our goal in any situation becomes inner peace.

One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.

To undertake a genuine spiritual path is not to avoid difficulties but to learn the art of making mistakes wakefully, to bring to them the transformative power of our heart.

True love is no game of the faint-hearted and the weak. It is born of strength and understanding.

Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.

You can't do what you want till you know what you're doing.

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.

The contemplation of truth and beauty is the proper object for which we were created, which calls forth the most intense desires of the soul, and of which it never tires.

Consequently: he who wants to have right without wrong, order without disorder, does not understand the principles of heaven and earth. He does not know how things hang together.

Mastery of the world is achieved by letting things take their natural course.

Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love!

If you have much, give of your wealth; if you have little, give of your heart.

It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little–do what you can.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall–think of it, ALWAYS.

If you cannot be compassionate to yourself, you will not be able to be compassionate to others.

If you keep saying things are going to be bad, you have a good chance of being a prophet.

Nothing is so hard for those who abound in riches as to conceive how others can be in want.

The more we know, the better we forgive. Those who feel deeply feel for all living beings.

Remember that if the opportunities for great deeds should never come, the opportunities for good deeds are renewed day by day. The thing for us to long for is the goodness, not the glory.

Let us learn to appreciate there will be times when the trees will be bare, and look forward to the time when we may pick the fruit.

Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total; of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.

Cultivation to the mind is as necessary as food to the body.

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.

What you see in yourself is what you see in the world.

The vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal that you enthrone in your heart–this you will build your life by, and this you will become.

Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.

When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

We are realizing that in an interconnected world, not only are problems interwoven, but the solutions are interconnected as well, which means whatever we do to help ourselves and our world, we must do it together.

If there was already a path it would have to be someone else's; the whole point is to find your own way.

We're never so vulnerable than when we trust someone–but paradoxically, if we cannot trust, neither can we find love or joy.

I began to understand that the promises of the world are for the most part vain phantoms, and that to have faith in oneself and become something of worth and value is the best and safest course.

If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.

By having a reverence for life, we enter into a spiritual relation with the world. By practicing reverence for life we become good, deep, and alive.

What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined together to strengthen each other in all labour, to minister to each other in all sorrow, to share with each other in all gladness, to be one with each other in the silent unspoken memories?