By a Simple Smile

"I have witnessed the softening of the hardest of hearts by a simple smile."--Goldie Hawn

The More You Understand

"There is one purpose to life and one only: to bear witness to and understand as much as possible of the complexity of the world - its beauty, its mysteries, its riddles. The more you understand, the more you look, the greater is your enjoyment of life and your sense of peace."--Anne Rice

Excellent Schoolmasters

Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.--John Lubbock

A Thousand Winds that Blow

Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.—Mary Frye

As the Round Earth Rolls

"This grand show is eternal.
It is always sunrise somewhere:
the dew is never all dried at once:
a shower is forever falling, vapor is ever rising.
Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming,
on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn,
as the round earth rolls."--John Muir

Teach Me

Earth teach me to forget myself as melted snow forgets its life. Earth teach me resignation as the leaves which die in the fall. Earth teach me courage as the tree which stands all alone. Earth teach me regeneration as the seed which rises in the spring.--William Alexander

Point Your Arrow at a Star

Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it.
Plan more than you can do, then do it.
Point your arrow at a star, take your aim and there you are.
Arrange more time than you can spare, then spare it.
Take on more than you can bear, then bear it.
Plan your castle in the air then build a ship to take you there.--Author unknown

Nature's Sweet Charm

"Life's simplest things are love, and kindly friends, Nature's sweet charm of earth and sea and sky; gladness of soul that with right living blends -- home's dear content, so cheap that all may buy."--Ripley D. Saunders