“Alchemy may be compared to the man who told his sons that he had left them gold, buried somewhere in his vineyard; while they by digging found no gold, but by turning up the mould about the roots of the vines procured a plentiful vintage. So the search and endeavours to make gold have brought many useful inventions to light.”

De Augmentis Scientiarum by Francis Bacon (1561 – 1626), philosopher, born on this day

“Ask yourself the following first thing in the morning:
What am I lacking in attaining freedom from passion?
What for tranquility?
What am I? A mere body, estate-holder, or reputation? None of these things.
What then? A rational being.
What then is demanded of me? Meditate on your actions.
How did I steer away from serenity?
What did I do that was unfriendly, unsocial, or uncaring?
How did I fail to do in all these things?”

Discourses, 4.6.34 – 35 by Epictetus (c.50 – 135), Greek Stoic philosopher

“Only one thing is certain. People get out of life exactly what they put into it.”

From The Searching Spirit by Joy Adamson (1910 – 1980), naturalist, born on this day

“Perhaps the biggest obstacle to loving yourself and living your Spirit is the belief that you can only do so when all your problems are solved, all your worries are alleviated, and all your concerns and fears have disappeared. The truth is, this will never happen. We’re not here to get over our humanness, but rather to accept and make peace with it… and remember our Divine nature.”

Sonia Choquette

“By the time it came to the edge of the Forest the stream had grown up, so that it was almost a river, and, being grown-up, it did not run and jump and sparkle along as it used to do when it was younger, but moved more slowly. For it knew now where it was going, and it said to itself, “There is no hurry. We shall get there some day.”

From The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne (1882 – 1956), born on this day

“My heart,
sing the song of longing like a nightingale.
The sound of your voice casts a spell
on every stone, on every thorn.
First,
lay down your head,
then one by one let go
of all distractions.
Embrace the Light and let it guide you,
beyond the winds of desire.
There,
you will find a spring
and nourished by its sweet waters
like a tree
you will bear fruit forever.”

From The Hidden Music by Rumi, translated by Dina Al – Mahdy

“Old and new are the perennial poles of all feeling and sense of orientation in the world. We cannot do without the old, because in what is old is invested all our past, our wisdom, our memories, our sadness, our sense of realism. We cannot do without faith in the new, because in what is new is invested all our energy, our capacity for optimism, our blind biological yearning, our ability to forget — the healing ability that makes reconciliation possible.

We are told we must choose — the old or the new. In fact, we must choose both. What is a life if not a series of negotiations between the old and the new? It seems to me that one should always be seeking to talk oneself out of these stark oppositions.”

Susan Sontag (1933 – 2004), writer, born on this day

“Why should there be hunger and privation in any land, in any city, at any table, when men has the resources and the scientific know-how to provide all mankind with the basic necessities of life?

There is no deficit in human resources; the deficit is in human will.”

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 – 1968), born on this day

“The touch, sure and light, fixing something of the passing moment.. ..memory is the true, imperishable life, that which has sunk without trace and been forgotten was not worth experiencing, the sweet hours, and the great and dread, are immutable. Dreams are life itself – and dreams are more true than reality; in them we behave as our true selves – if we have a soul it is there.”

Berthe Morisot (1841 – 1895), impressionist painter, born on this day

“The white herons invisible in the snow. The beer can crushed by the roadside.
The crunch of your shoes in the snow, magnified by the winter stillness. The devastation wrought be an ice storm, throwing cars and lives off the road.
The crackle of icicles as a squirrel runs along a tree branch.
Is it all equally precious? Can we embrace both the beautiful and the terrible? What do we gain from it? Robert Penn Warren writes, “We must try to love so well the world that we may believe, in the end, in God.””

From Earth Bound: Daily Meditations For All Seasons by Brian Nelson