Ego, a photo by aftab. on Flickr.
'The irony with this battle was that there were principles I would have to abandon in order to survive.
Instead of persisting on my own, I would have to give myself over - to seek help.
Ego can destroy. At our most desperate point in life our ego will not save us.'
from Broken Open
by Craig Hamilton with Neil Jameson
Bantam Books 2004
http://www.craig-hamilton.com/
perseverance, a photo by withrow on Flickr.
'I have an aim, which compels me to go on living and for the sake of which I must cope with even the most painful of matters. Without this aim I would take things much more lightly - that is, I would stop living.'
Friedrich Nietzsche, letter to Franz Overbeck, summer 1883
Mindfulness, a photo by jah~ on Flickr.
'They (the Stoics) argued that happiness was not something guaranteed by other people or things.
These are changeable and out of our control.
All that we can be sure of is our own soul: for good or ill, all happiness is prefaced on this preparedness.
It takes mindfulness, discipline, honesty.'
by Dr Damon Young, philosopher at the University of Melbourne, and author of Distraction.
from The Saturday Age, 30-31 December 2011, p. 17
Finishing Touch on Dumped Furnitures, a photo by Ikhlasul Amal on Flickr.
'Stock your mind, stock your mind.
It is your house and treasure and no one in the world can interfere with it.
If you won the Irish Sweepstakes and bought a house that needed furniture would you fill it with bits and pieces of rubbish?
Your mind is your house and if you fill it with rubbish from the cinemas it will rot in your head.
You might be poor, your shoes might be broken, but your mind is a palace.'
Put Your Best Foot Forward, a photo by dawn_perry on Flickr.
'If a person
wants to stand on her own two feet, I recommend undertaking the care and
feeding of something. It could be children or it could be houseplants,
you know? By doing that you come to understand your own limitations.
That's where it starts.' p. 41
'...
if a person hasn't ever experienced true despair, she grows old never
knowing how to evaluate where she is in life; never understanding what
joy really is.' p. 41
'Again and again I will suffer; again and again I will get back on my feet. I will not be defeated. I won't let my spirit be destroyed.'
From Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
Translated by Megan Backus, 1993
Faber and Faber, London
http://www.yoshimotobanana.com
http://yoshibanana.blogspot.com.au/
Happiness in motion, a photo by atiretoo on Flickr.
'Happiness as a byproduct of living your life is a great thing, but happiness as a goal is a recipe for disaster.'
Barry Schwartz, Professor of Social Theory and Social Action, Swarthmore College
'Why are so many young men afflicted with depression and what needs to be done?
One answer, as argued by American Holocaust survivor and author of
The Uses of Enchantment: the meaning and importance of fairy tales, Bruno Bettelheim, begins with education.
Forget
much of contemporary children's literature with its social realism
about broken homes, drug addiction and peer-group pressure: for
Bettelheim, traditional fairytales and archetypal myths teach about
overcoming adversity, dealing with uncertainty and loss and being brave
enough to confront impossible odds.'
KEVIN DONNELLY
From:
The Australian, 27 July, 2013
Tear gas, a photo by Plenty's Paradox on Flickr.
'What need is there to weep over parts of life?
The whole of it calls for tears.'
Seneca
Snow Ghosts On Polar Peak, a photo by DCZwick on Flickr.
'The Origin' p. 9
'Emptiness
is silence ... It is the quiet that falls with the snow, when the
fields of labour are covered in white and trees have withdrawn into
patience. That quietness is not the cessation of shouts, pounding feet,
and pumping arms, but their origin. It is the source of day and the
origin of spring. Silence is not the end. It is the beginning ...
Only after silence breaks into sound does emptiness become all things.'
http://www.dengmingdao.com/
