Friday, April 19, 2013

A-Z blogging challenge:
Q is for Quotations


I have a feeling a lot of people will do Quotations for Q day... just a hunch. I thought about Quinoa, I really did. And Questions. But I settled on Quotations, and went scrounging for some of my favorites. You may have seen some of these on the blog before, but I find repeating is helpful--I can put a quote aside for a period of time... a month... a year... and when I see it again, it can have a different connotation for me, come at me from a different angle, and I nod my head, again.

Here are a few quotations that are meaningful to me:

If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished? -Rumi

Both abundance and lack exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend ... when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that's present--love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature and personal pursuits that bring us pleasure--the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience Heaven on earth.
-Sarah Ban Breathnach

Deliver me from all evildoers that talk nothing but sickness and failure. Grant me the companionship of men who think success and men who work for it. Loan me associates who cheerfully face the problems of a day and try hard to overcome them. Relieve me of all cynics and critics. Give me good health and the strength to be of real service to the world, and I'll get all that's good for me, and will give what's left to those who want it.
-William Feather

I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naive or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman.” -Anais Nin

Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in one's own sunshine.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

There is no circumstance, no trouble, no testing, that can ever touch me until, first of all, it has gone past God and past Christ, right through to me. If it has come that far, it has come with a great purpose.
-Alan Redpath

In any situation, the best thing you can do is the right thing; the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing; the worst thing you can do is nothing. -Theodore Roosevelt

If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment.
-Henry David Thoreau

Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.
-Etty Hillesum

Do you enjoy/appreciate quotations, or do you find them just regurgitated words passed around like leftovers? I'm curious--I know people in both camps.

And if you have a favorite quotation, I'd love to hear it!



What's this A-Z business about? Check out my kick-off post. And stay tuned for the random joy and nonsense I concoct during the month of April!

12 comments:

  1. You know that your dad loves quotes. I have many favourites.

    But one of my all time favourites is from the movie "Why Man Creates" by Saul Bass. In it one snail says to another:

    "Have you ever thought that radical ideas threaten institutions, then become institutions, and in turn reject radical ideas which threaten institutions?" to which the other snail replies "No." and the first says dejectedly, "Gee, for a minute I thought I had something."

    The film was made in 1968 and I saw it at PUC while an art major there. No film ever made such a profound impression on me. It truly is a classic.

    In 2002, this film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

    There is a most impressive review on Wikipedia.

    Trivia on the animated film... Although uncredited, George Lucas, who was studying film at USC at the time, was the second unit cameraman on this film. Now that's a creative guy!

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    1. See, all this time I never knew (or remembered) that that quote comes from a movie. Good to know! That quote is one I will always associate with you, of course!

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  2. Rumi and Emerson...

    Those are your two quotes that say what I mean...

    I vacillate between liking quotes and feeling it is overdone. When I find a quote written so well that it expresses exactly what needs to be said, written with a great choice of words, I do like to use them.

    But on the other hand, I want to learn to better think things through so that I can express what is in my heart...

    Alas and alack, I will probably be using quotes for the rest of my life!

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    1. I am with you on the overdone vs. "oh, that said it so well." I always enjoy finding one that I haven't ever heard before, and that speaks to me.

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  3. I love quotes! There are way too many to choose a favorite. I haven't seen another post on quotations all day. I planned a post on quiet, but saw one even before I got started, so I ended up with queasy instead. :)
    #1229
    A to Z April Blogging Challenge

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    1. I am going to have to check out your queasy post, Debra! I have another blog friend who did quiet... maybe quotes wasn't as popular as I thought? I haven't been looking around today, but will do some blog roaming tomorrow.

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  4. In the end it was only mine and your's I found on quotes yesterday, and that space between breaths is holy. Also Sherilee I have enjoyed your blog so much so I have nominated you for a Leibster award check out my R for Receive post for all the details.. you don't have to accept it but you meet the criteria and I want more people to find you :)

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    1. I did come and tell you on your blog how much I appreciate the Leibster, but I didn't here! I will work on it as soon as A-Z wraps up... soon! Actually enjoying it so much, still, I think I'll miss it when it's over...

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  5. I love quotations! Am kinda addicted to them, honestly. But they just say so much. I had Q for Quick but did do P is for Proverb. :-)

    I really like this one you have above, "If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished? -Rumi"

    Bradley Charbonneau's Pass the Sour Cream A-Z Challenge.

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    1. I love your blog name, Bradley. I always appreciate it when the sour cream is passed.

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  6. Q: I can't even begin to choose a favorite quote. I'm a big fan of the charming and sometimes poignant Curly Girl Design stuff, though... one of my recent favorites is "A good cook knows that it's not what is on the table that matters, it's what is in the chairs."

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