James Oppenheim
If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?”
-Stephen Levine
Tag Archives: nature
“Some of us are like wheelbarrows – only useful when pushed and very easily upset.”
– Jack Herbert
the get in the wheelbarrow story (belief, trust, faith, commitment, courage, conviction)
The story goes: upon completing a highly dangerous tightrope walk over Niagara Falls in appalling wind and rain, ‘The Great Zumbrati’ was met by an enthusiastic supporter, who urged him to make a return trip, this time pushing a wheelbarrow, which the spectator had thoughtfully brought along.
The Great Zumbrati was reluctant, given the terrible conditions, but the supporter pressed him, “You can do it – I know you can,” he urged.
“You really believe I can do it?” asked Zumbrati.
“Yes – definitely – you can do it.” the supporter gushed.
“Okay,” said Zumbrati, “Get in the wheelbarrow…”
God is good, but never dance with a lion.
Zimbabwean
A cat is a lion in a jungle of small bushes.
Grow old with me! The best is yet to be.
– Robert Browning
Better fish in di sea dan wha get ketch
There’s always a better lover than your current one.
One day an Eskimo sitting in his kayak got chilly; but when he lit a fire in the craft, it sank, proving that you can’t have your kayak… and heat it too.
http://www.oklahomaroadtrips.com/Paddler-Quotes.htm
My favourite little journey was white water rafting. Have ya been? If you haven’t been, just take an ice cold shower and hit yourself with a bag. It’s the same thing.
A man who is trampled to death by an elephant is a man who is blind and deaf.
http://www.motherlandnigeria.com/proverbs.html
Meyek olenkaina ilala lenyena
The elephant does not get tired of its tusks
Meaning: one carries his burden without flinching.
The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks.
Tennessee Williams
http://www.quotegarden.com/flowers.html
Stars will blossom in the darkness, Violets bloom beneath the snow.
Julia C.R. Dorr
THE CRAB DOES NOT BITE,IT IS ITS HANDSHAKE THAT HURTS
http://www.ocean-anaedo.org/Pages/IdiomsProverbs.aspx
A crab doesn’t give birth to a bird.
http://www.friendsoftafo.org/proverbs.htm
When the lamps in the house are lit it is like the flowering of lotus on the lake.
Chinese
http://www.special-dictionary.com/proverbs/keywords/lake/
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.
William Butler Yeats
The Lake Isle of Innisfree
Contemplation seems to be about the only luxury that costs nothing.”
― Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle
Bodies are cleansed by water; the mind is purified by truth. Manu
Serenity Prayer God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
May you find serenity and tranquility in a world you may not always understand. May the pain you have known and the conflict you have experienced give you the strength to walk through life facing each new situation with courage and optimism. Always know that there are those whose love and understanding will always be there, even when you feel most alone. May you discover enough goodness in others to believe in a world of peace. May a kind word, a reassuring touch, and a warm smile be yours every day of your life, and may you give these gifts as well as receive them. Remember the sunshine when the storm seems unending.
I am not a teacher but an awakener.
– Robert Frost
Where there is great doubt, there will be great awakening; small doubt, small awakening, no doubt, no awakening.
The bird of paradise alights only upon the hand that does not grasp.
-John Berry
The birds are moulting. If only man could moult also – his mind once a year its errors, his heart once a year its useless passions.
James Allen
A chattering bird builds no nest.
Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn’t people feel as free to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them?
– Rose Kennedy
The day one has plenty to eat, it is the elders who come to the rescue. The day one has nought to eat, it is the elders who come to the rescue
(Nigeria)
E. W. Howe
If a friend is in trouble, don’t annoy him by asking him if there’s anything you can do. Think of something appropriate and do it.
No good fish goes anywhere without a porpoise.
Lewis Carroll
When porpoises and whales spout about ships at sea, storm may be expected.
It is much easier to earn a lot of money than to find a bosom friend.
http://www.hanban.com/chinese-culture/chinese-proverbs/chinese-proverbs-friendship.html
MEMBER’S POEM: A FRIEND
A faithful friend is hard to find’
Who’ll stand through thick and thin, ]
But my ‘ ‘dog, ‘Dutch,
‘ is just ‘the kind
Who’d do that sort of thing.
She’s just a ‘Cairn terrier pup,
‘ As full of mischief as can, be.
With ears and tail cocked up so bold
As straight as one can see.
Two gleaming eyes, a cold, ‘wet ‘nose,
She stands there all agog,
A tiny bark, a wagging- tail
And that is ‘Dutch,’ my dog.
Good advice once was worth a camel; now that it is free of charge, no one takes it. Lebanese
http://creativeproverbs.com/cgi-bin/sql_search3cp.cgi?boolean=and&field=all&frank=all&keyword=camel
- At twenty a man will be a peacock, at thirty a lion, at forty a camel, at fifty a serpent, at sixty a dog, at seventy a monkey, and at eighty nothing.
Spanish
I once started out to walk around the world but ended up in Brooklyn, that Bridge was too much for me.”
― Lawrence Ferlinghetti, A Coney Island of the Mind
My father worked at Coney Island. He had a concession on the boardwalk, where you knock over milk bottles with baseballs, which I could never do for my entire childhood. There was a tidal wave at Coney Island when I was a child. Ripped up the boardwalk and did about a million dollars worth of damage, houses and everything. The only thing left standing was those little milk bottles.
“If a dog will not come to you after having looked you in the face, you should go home and examine your conscience.”
– Woodrow Wilson
“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door, the scream of fire engines, or the realization that today is the Monday which on Friday night was a comfortably long way off.
A dog’s wet nose is not strictly speaking the worst of the bunch, but it has it’s own peculiar dreadfulness which connoisseurs of the ghastly and dog owners everywhere have come to know and dread. It’s like having a small piece of defrosting liver pressed lovingly against you.”
― Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures
One doesn’t shear the naked sheep.
Russian
You can shear a sheep many times but you can skin him only once.
Then their little ferret faces Are peeking out to see That what they’ve stolen most Is the very heart of me!
http://www.angelfire.com/pa/adella/poem/poem3.html
A Trip Across The Sea
If I had to pick but one thing To take across the sea I think I’d pick a ferret To go along with me
A ferret is more precious Than any other thing They can make you feel complete And get your soul to sing
And when that ferret and I Set sail across that sea We’ll fear no squall nor storm Together strong we’ll be
http://www.kwflatbed.com/ferretpoems.html
Dragons beget dragons, and phoenixes, phoenixes; and the offspring of mice will know how to chew holes. Chinese
May you touch dragonflies & stars, dance with fairies & talk to the moon. May you grow up with love and a gracious heart and always know how loved you are.
If you want a kitten, start out by asking for a horse.
Cats always know whether people like or dislike them. They do not always care enough to do anything about it.
– Winifred Carriere
The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears.
Native American Proverb
http://blog.gaiam.com/quotes/authors/native-american-proverb
My eyes are an ocean in which my dreams
are reflected
– Anna M. Uhlich
THE OLD PROVERBIAL RECOVERY 