Yes, I am a quote/poem junkie...I have loads and loads of them stashed here, there and everywhere. Books, pieces of paper, folders and more just full of them. If I had to choose just one it would probably be....
The Road Not Taken
By Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
So, what's yours?
The Road Not Taken
By Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
So, what's yours?
I will draw one winner who will receive a set of Rusty Pickle Alphabet stamps, a baggie of assorted "Proverbs to Go" double-sided sayings (K&Co) and a mini journal for you to decorate.
You have until 6-3 to post :)
Hey Roni, Frost's poem is my fave too. If I were to pick another fave sentiment, it'd be "Dance like no one is watching". I know there are other lines before this. But just this line alone reminds me that I don't have to do things for others' approval. I'll dance for an audience of One.
ReplyDeleteOh I like that quote too!! It's a very good one for cards and stuff but it's even better to live by. I sometimes wish I would remember & do it more!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite changes frequently. Currently, my favorite is
ReplyDelete"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do that.
Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
~Harold Thurman Whitman
Have a great Saturday Roni!
xo,
Carmen
This Frost piece is such a classic-it has to be my favorite,too.
ReplyDeleteI have a number of quotes that really mean something to me right now but if I had to pick my favorite it would be:
ReplyDelete"Just living is not enough" said the butterfly. "one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower." Hans Christian Anderson
Sheryl H
I recently had to have my old dog Shep put to sleep. He was nearly 18 years old and it was time to let him go. We did agility together until he retired at the age of 13 - a sport he adored. Age was making it hard for him to jump clear and so for me the time had come to decide the risk of injury to Shep now outweighed the fun we had together. During our time together was my partner and teammate and taught me so much. This poem is one that I found and which in recent weeks I find echo's in my head every time I think of Shep. I would like to share it as it has become special to me.
ReplyDeleteI beleive the title is "For All Who Mourn", I am not sure who the author is.
That he was near to you
so many a year
But darkens you distress.
Would you he were
less worthy and less dear
That you might grieve the less?
He was a golden font
that freely poured
What goldenly endures,
And though that font be gone,
its bounty stored
and treasured,
Still is yours.
The past is deathless.
Souls are wells too deep
To spend their purest gains.
All that he gave to you
is yours to keep
While memory remains.
Who never had and lost
forlorn are they
Far more that you and I
Who had and have
Judge not the price we pay
For love that cannot die.
This is one of my favorites to use for sympathy cards particularly since it is from Eskimo Folklore.
ReplyDeletePerhaps they are not stars in the sky,
but rather openings where our loved ones shine down to let us know they are happy.
This was one of my favorite quotations when my children were little. It reminds us that we are a way-station in our children's life, but that we make all the difference.
ReplyDeleteOn Children, by Kahlil Gibran
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let our bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.
WOW! I just saw that Far North was on the Tim Holtz cruise to Alaska!! Yikes, how I would love to have been there, stamping and inking my brains out!
ReplyDeleteThese are just a few more quotes that I especially like. The final quote is by Kalil Gibran from his essay on Robert Frost. I included it because of the interest in Frost's poem posted here!
ReplyDeleteWhen one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.

When you finally allow yourself to trust joy and embrace it,
you will find you dance with everything.
- Emanuel
Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is just out of grasp.
But if you sit down quietly, may alight upon you.
- Nathaniel Hawthorne
Quotes by Confucius
I hear and I forget.
I see and I remember.
I do and I understand.

Wheresoever you go,
go with all your heart.
*****
A goal without a plan is just a wish.
Quotes by
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.

Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.

What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step. It is always the same step, but you have to take it.
****************
Laughing is the sensation of feeling good all over and showing it principally in one spot.
Josh Billings (1818 - 1885)
Yes, there is a Nirvanah; it is leading your sheep to a green pasture, and in putting your child to sleep, and in writing the last line of your poem.
Kahlil Gibran- From an Essay on Robert Frost
My favorite quote from way back when it was first published in the first book is:
ReplyDelete“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
~Marianne Williamson
It was used by Nelson Mandela in his 1994 inaugural speech so it is often mistaken as his quote. But it is from her first book, A Return to Love.
That is an amazing quote Phinny! And one that I had not heard before. What a unique point of view, and one that we should all take.
ReplyDeleteMy fav quote for this year:
ReplyDeleteMy life is full of mistakes, they are like pebbles that make a good road.
Beatrice Wood