"It is not enough to teach people a specialty. Through it they may become a kind of useful machine but not a harmoniously developed personality. It is essential that the student acquire an understanding of and a lively feeling for values. They must acquire a vivid sense of the beautiful and of the morally good. Otherwise they – with their specialized knowledge – more closely resembles a well trained dog than a harmoniously developed person. People must learn to understand the motives of human beings, their illusions, and their sufferings in order to acquire a proper relationship to people around them and to the community… "Overemphasis on the competitive system and premature specialization on the ground of immediate usefulness kill the spirit on which all cultural life depends, specialized knowledge included. It is also vital to a valuable education that independent critical thinking be developed in the young human being, a development that is greatly jeopardized by overburdening with too much and with too varied subjects. Overburdening necessarily leads to superficiality." -- Albert Einstein
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Posted December
"It is true that the valley of the shadow is frightening and it is sometimes difficult to find Him Who says: “I am with you, I am thy rod and thy staff." But accept no negative whatsoever, particularly in the darkest moment, for you have been told that you are temples of the Holy Spirit, which abides in you and never leaves you nor forsakes you. That trust in the dark brings light, not resignation, which is often a negative, for humans need to believe that “when the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him." You have but to believe it! "In times of anxiety turn like a child to the simple instructions, knowing that “the Father within doth the work”, and you can do nothing but rest in that assurance. Be strong in faith, a spendthrift in love, keep a valiant heart, put on your crown and be a knight indeed! Love conquers all things.” - Letters of the Scattered Brotherhood, Pages 174–175
Posted November
"You are a light. You are the light. Never let anyone—any person or any force—dampen, dim or diminish your light. Study the path of others to make your way easier and more abundant. Lean toward the whispers of your own heart, discover the universal truth, and follow its dictates... Release the need to hate, to harbor division, and the enticement of revenge. Release all bitterness. Hold only love, only peace in your heart, knowing that the battle of good to overcome evil is already won. Choose confrontation wisely, but when it is your time don't be afraid to stand up, speak up, and speak out against injustice. And if you follow your truth down the road to peace and the affirmation of love, if you shine like a beacon for all to see, then the poetry of all the great dreamers and philosophers is yours to manifest in a nation, a world community, and a Beloved Community that is finally at peace with itself."
- John Lewis
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Posted October
It's the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance.
It's the one who won't be taken that cannot seem to give.
And the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live."
- Bette Midler
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Posted September
Try to remember the kind of September when grass was green and grain so yellow.
Try to remember the kind of September when you were a young and callow fellow,
Try to remember and if you remember then follow."
- Tom Jones
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Posted August
"The only way to have peace, is to teach peace."
- A Course in Miracles
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Posted July
"The argumentative defense of any proposition is inversely proportional to the truth contained."
- Urantia Papers
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Posted June
"Even if we act to erase material poverty, there is another greater task. It is to confront the poverty of satisfaction - purpose and dignity - that afflicts us all. Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our Gross National Product - if we judge the United States of America by that - our Gross National Product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwood and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and counts nuclear warheads and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children. Yet the Gross National Product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. It measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile."
- Robert Kennedy