La Bella Donna

poem by Amanda Nicole Martinez

German Proverb

The main thing is keeping the main thing the main thing.

Perfect

I am nobody. Nobody is perfect. Therefore I am perfect.

George Burns say

By the time you're eighty years old you've learned everything...
You only have to remember it.

Kahlil G

Of life's two prizes, beauty and truth,

I found the first in a loving heart and

the second in a laborer's hand

Kahlil G

All that spirits desire, spirits attain

Progress lies not in enhancing what is, but in advancing toward what will be

The tears that you spill, the sorrowful, are sweeter than the laughter of the snobs

When life does not find a singer to sing her heart, she give a philosopher to speak her mind

Desire is half of life; indifference is half of death

Kahlil G

Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity

Your friend is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving

Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need

Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother

And it has been known that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation

Singapore Navy

Experience knows the weather always changes. A purposeful leader ensures the calm never does.

Joy lives concealed in grief

Joy lives concealed in grief.
Look for the answer inside your question

Come out of the circle of time and into the circle of love

Heartsick, heartbroken…To know love is to know pain.
The art of knowing is knowing what to ignore.

Come out of the circle of time and into the circle of love.

O you whose lips are parched...

O you whose lips are parched, keep looking for water.

Don't look at your form, however ugly or beautiful.
Look at love and at the aim of your quest...

Whispers of the Beloved

I cannot sleep in your presence.
In your absence, tears prevent me.

Rumi

The Master who’s full of sweetness
Is so drunk with love, he’s oblivious.
“Will you give me some of your sweetness?”
“I have none,” he says, unaware of his richness.

Rumi

Looking at my life
I see that only Love
Has been my soul’s companion
From deep inside
My soul cries out:
Do not wait, surrender
For the sake of Love.
If you can’t smell the fragrance
Don’t come into the garden of Love.
If you’re unwilling to undress
Don’t enter into the stream of Truth.
Stay where you are.
Don’t come our way.

Rumi

Do you know what the music is saying?
“Come follow me and you will find the way.
Your mistakes can also lead you to the Truth.
When you ask, the answer will be given.”

Translated by Maryam Mafi and Azima Melita Koln

Plato say

your silence gives consent

Buddha say

Be lamps unto yourselves.

E B White say

Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder. Genius is more often found in a cracked pot than in a whole one.

Yoda say

Is it. It is. Much to learn you still have.

Kahlil G

Could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life,

your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy.

Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.

It is the bitter potion by which you heals yourself, so drink the remedy.

They say that if one understands himself, he understands all people.

But I say to you, when one loves people, he learns something about himself.

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.

Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; For love is sufficient unto love.

You were born together, and together you shall be for evermore

but let there be spaces in your togetherness.

And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

We were a silent, hidden thought in the folds of oblivion, and

we have become a voice that causes the heavens to tremble.

When you are the flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music.

Which of you would be a reed, dumb and silent, when all else sings together in unison?

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How do I love thee?

let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth

and breadth and height
my soul can reach.

I love thee to the level

of everyday's most quiet need,

by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely,

as men strive for Right.
I love thee with the passion

put to use in my old griefs,

and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love

I seemed to lose
with my lost saints,

I love thee with the breath,
smiles, tears, of all my life!

and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee

better after death.

Louis Armstrong

Hold me close and hold me fast
The magic spell you cast
This is la vie en rose

When you kiss me heaven sighs
And tho I close my eyes
I see la vie en rose

When you press me to your heart
I’m in a world apart
A world where roses bloom

And when you speak...angels sing from above
Everyday words seem...to turn into love songs

Give your heart and soul to me
And life will always be
La vie en rose

Rumi say

He is like a man using a candle to look for the sun

Who could be so lucky? Who comes to a lake for water and sees the reflection of moon

Knowest thou not the beauty of thine own face? 

Quit this temper that leads thee to war with thyself.

Now I am sober and there's only the hangover and the memory of love

Water in the boat is the ruin of the boat, but water under the boat is its support

Wedatama

Marma den taberi kulup
Angulah lantiping ati
Rina wengi den anedya
Pandak panduking pambudi
Bengkas kahardaning driya
Supaya dadya utami

Wedatama

Si pengung nora nglegewa
Sangsayarda denira cacariwis
Ngandhar-andhar angendhukur
Kandhane nora kaprah
Saya elok alangka longkanganipun
Si wasis waskhita ngalah
Ngalingi marang si pingging

Plato say

You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.

Buddha say

Everything is like the dew in the morning. A wise man will cross over his delusion and ignorance.

E B White say

Be obscure clearly.

Yoda say

Do or do not...there is no try.

Do the slow dance

Have you ever listened to the rain falling to the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift thrown away
Life is not a race
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

Anonymous