Quote Archive

I include a quote in just about every newsletter I send out. This is the history of quotes, starting with the most recent and dating back to August 2005. You can sign up for the Yoga with Delana newsletter on the Contact Page.

"I discovered a long time ago that if I helped people get what they wanted, I would always get what I wanted, and I would never have to worry."
- Anthony Robbins

"You must learn to be still in the midst of activity and to be vibrantly alive in repose."
- Indira Gandhi

"Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts."
- Rachel Carson

“You are your own teacher. Looking for teachers can’t solve your own doubts. Investigate yourself to find the truth - inside, not outside. Knowing yourself is most important.”
- Ajahn Chah

"It was necessary to review the configurations of these many new events in order to fit them to himself, then cherish and praise them - lest they swallow him up."
-Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land

"You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen."
-Paulo Coelho

"From nowhere we came; into nowhere we go. What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset."
-Last words of Siksika Nation chief, Isapo-Muxika (Crowfoot)

"Ring the bells that still can ring.
Forget your perfect offering.
There is a crack in everything.
That's how the light gets in."
-Leonard Cohen

"When jarred unavoidably by circumstances, revert at once to yourself."
- Marcus Aurelius

"Ten thousand flowers in spring, the moon in autumn, a cool breeze in summer, snow in winter. If your mind isn't clouded by unnecessary things, this is the best season of your life."
- Wu-Men

"Keep it conscious so that each moment is an arrival to somewhere."
- Scott Blossom

"If we practice the science of yoga, which is useful to the entire human community and which yields happiness both here and hereafter – if we practice it without fail, we will then attain physical, mental and spiritual happiness, and our minds will flood towards the Self."
- Sri K. Pattabhi Jois

"Connecting the mind and body is not just a health strategy. It is a movement of consciousness that can change the world."
- Matthew Sanford

"Before embarking on important undertakings, sit quietly, calm your senses and thoughts, and meditate deeply. You will then be guided by the great creative power of Spirit."
- Paramahansa Yogananda

"Be even-tempered in success and failure; for it is this evenness of temper which is meant by yoga. Work done with anxiety about results is far inferior to work done without such anxiety, in the calm of self-surrender."
- The Bhagavad Gita

"O Snail
Climb Mount Fuji,
But slowly, slowly!"
-Issa

"Be to yourself as you would to your friend."
-William Shakespear

"One doesn't become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the the darkness conscious."
-Carl Gustav Jung

"Do what you can, with what you've got, in the place where you are, in the time that you have."
-From an African boy living with AIDS

"In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, [imagination] is the power that enables us to empathize with humans whose experiences we have never shared."
-J K Rowling

"Everything that happens to you is your teacher. The secret is to learn to sit at the feet of your own life and be taught by it."
-Polly Berrien Berends

"We are called upon to move quickly and boldly to shake off complacency, throw aside old habits and rise, clear-eyed and alert, to the necessity of big changes. Those who, for whatever reason, refuse to do their part must either be persuaded to join the effort or asked to step aside."
-Al Gore

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"The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in time of great moral crises, maintain their neutrality."
-Dante (1265-1321)

"In spiritual life there is no room for compromise. Awakening is not negotiable; we cannot bargain to hold on to things that please us while relinquishing things that do not matter to us. A lukewarm yearning for awakening is not enough to sustain us through the difficulties involved in letting go. It is important to understand that anything that can be lost was never truly ours, anything that we deeply cling to only imprisons us."
-Jack Kornfield

"Trust in Allah, but tie up your camel."
-Sign at the entrance to an airbase in Skardu, Baltistan, Pakistan (quoted in Three Cups of Tea by David Oliver Relin)

“Every great emotional advance I’ve made in my life, every maturing advance, has been at its core about one thing. It’s been about accepting the truth over what I wished were true.”
-Julia Sweeney

"The old people came literally to love the soil, and they sat or reclined on the ground with a feeling of being close to a mothering power. Their teepees were built upon the earth, and their altars were made of earth. The soil was soothing, strengthening, cleansing and healing. That is why the old Indian still sits upon the earth instead of propping himself up and away from its life giving forces. For him, to sit or lie upon the ground is to be able to think more deeply and to feel more keenly. He can see more clearly into the mysteries of life and come closer in kinship to other lives about him."
-Chief Luther Standing Bear

"It's easy enough to pray when you're in distress, but continuing to pray even when your crisis has passed is like a sealing process, helping your soul hold tight to its good attainments."
-Elizabeth Gilbert Eat, Pray, Love

"Constantly think of the Universe as one living creature, embracing one being and one soul; how all is absorbed into the one consciousness of this living creature; how it compasses all things with a single purpose, and how all things work together to cause all that comes to pass, and their wonderful web and texture."
-Marcus Aurelius

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"All of us are meant to be contemplatives. Frequently we assume that this is reserved for some rare monastic life . . . [but] each one of us wants and needs to give ourselves space for quiet . . . Be still, be quiet, and then you begin to see with the eyes of the heart."
-Desmond Tutu

"Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see."
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

"There is no satisfaction of desires."
-The Buddha

"Carefully watch your thoughts, for they become your words. Manage and watch your words, for they will become your actions. Consider and judge your actions, for they have become your habits. Acknowledge and watch your habits, for they shall become your values. Understand and embrace your values, for they become your destiny."
-Mahatma Gandhi

"If you don't know yoga, you don't know squat!"
-Rocky Thompson (my dad)

"Love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whoever loves much, performs much, and can accomplish much, and that which is done in love is well done."
-Vincent van Gogh

"An artist cannot fail; it is a success to be one."
-Charles Horton Cooley

"Fire, though potentially present in firewood, is not seen until one stick is rubbed against another. The true Self, is that fire; it is realized by constant awareness of the sacred mantra Om. Let your individual personality be one stick and Om the other. Thus, you will realize your real nature hidden within, just as fire is hidden in wood."
-Svetasvatara Upanishad

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"This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people . . . re-examine all you have been told . . . dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem."
-Walt Whitman

"Democracy is not something you believe in or a place to hang your hat, but it's something you do. You participate. If you stop doing it, democracy crumbles."
-Abbie Hoffman, 1936-1989

"The mind is everything; what you think, you become."
-Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha

"It is our collective and individual responsibility to protect and nurture the global family, to support its weaker members and to preserve and tend to the environment in which we all live."
-His Holiness, the Dalai Lama

"Be a good animal. True to your instincts."
-D.H. Lawrence, English novelist and poet

"Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their views, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and of service to your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a stranger if in a lonely place. Show respect to all people, but grovel to none. When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies in yourself.
When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home."
-Chief Tecumseh, Shawnee Nation Statesman

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"They must change often, who would be constant in happiness."
-Confucius

"The Master gives himself up to whatever the moment brings."
-Tao Te Ching

"Better than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings peace."
-Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha

"Learn your lessons quickly and move on."
-Eileen Caddy

"Consciousness plus thoughts is the mind.
Consciousness minus thoughts is God."
-Yoga Vasishtha

"To see the preciousness of all things, we must bring our full attention to life"
-Jack Kornfield

"We love music because it resembles the sphere-sounds of union. We have been part of an oceanic harmony before, so these moments of treble and bass keep our remembering fresh."
-Rumi

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"The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves. Banish the word struggle from your attitude and vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration. We are the ones we have been waiting for."
-A message from the Hopi Elder Council

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn."
-John Muir

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
-Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

"I was a Republican - until they lost their minds."
-Retired pro basketball player, Charles Barkley, on becoming a Democrat

"[Yoga] means a poise of the soul which enables one to look at life in all its aspects evenly."
-Mahadev Desai

"The Sun is God. Everyone can see that."
-Pueblo Chief Mountain Lake, speaking to Carl Jung, in response to Jung's description of the European notion of God

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"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."
-William Shakespeare

"Go in and in. Be the space between two cells, the vast, resounding silence in which spirit dwells...
Go in and in, and turn away from nothing that you find."
-Danna Faulds

"Under the darkest thing you know, there is a light; there is a fire; there is an everlasting glow."
-Tina Malia

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time we are given."
-Gandalf to Frodo, in the movie The Fellowship of the Ring

"The subject tonight is Love.
And for tomorrow night as well.
As a matter of fact,
I know of no better topic
For us to discuss
Until we all die."
-Hafiz

"Think in a vocabulary of oneness."
-Caroline Myss, Anatomy of the Spirit

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"Forget the future. I'd worship someone who could do that!"
-Rumi

"When you do what you love, love is what you do."
-Kristin Ray

"Stillness is at the core of your being. As you get in touch with it you learn that you are part of God . . . The creative God Force will then guide you through life and help you make your most important decisions."
-Erich Schiffman

"Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity."
-Tao Te Ching

"You must be true to your own way until at last you actually come to the point where you see it is necessary to forget all about yourself."
-Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

"A small seed of your own understanding is worth more than a forest of theories offered by others."
-Vernon Howard

"There is a way of breathing that's a shame and a suffocation. And there's another way of expiring, a love breath, that lets you open infinitely."
-Rumi

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© - Delana Thompson - All Rights Reserved