December 2009
The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul.
- G. K. Chesterton
7:52 PM Dec 31st
Fragments, indeed. As if there were anything to break.
- Don Paterson
8:00 AM Dec 31st
The continuous narrative of existence is a lie. There is no continuous narrative, there are lit-up moments, and the rest is dark.
- Jeanette Winterson
8:26 AM Dec 30th
Before a person dies he should experience
the double fire,
of what he wants and shouldn't have.
- Stephen Dunn
8:00 PM Dec 29th
My genius amounts to persistence in following
Elephants through the wind.
- Robert Bly
9:01 AM Dec 29th
The whole order of things is as outrageous as any miracle which could presume to violate it.
- G. K. Chesterton
5:34 Pm Dec 28th
The only thing for certain is how complicated it all is, like a string full of knots.
- Jeanette Winterson
9:21 AM Dec 28th
In the garden of gentle sanity, May you be bombarded by coconuts of wakefulness.
- Chogyam Trungpa
9:32 AM Dec 27th
Here among the thirty thousand days of a long life, a single day stands still.
- Donald Hall
10:24 AM Dec 25th
Those who are awake live in a state of constant amazement.
- Jack Kornfield
4:02 PM Dec 24th
Perfect purity is possible if you turn your life into a line of poetry written with a splash of blood.
- Yukio Mishima
10:16 AM Dec 24th
Do not stop short of real contentment. You may as well never have been born if you remain discontented.
- Agnes Martin
7:18 AM Dec 23rd
I hear it: clarity,
a voice of such perfect clarity.
At dusk, in farewell to a mountain monk,
I bow in deep reverence to white cloud.
- Li Po
6:04 PM Dec 22nd
Associate reverently, as much as you can, with your loftiest thoughts.
- Thoreau
10:13 AM Dec 22nd
I have a head for heights it's true, but no stomach for the depths. Strange then to have plumbed so many.
- Jeanette Winterson
9:13 PM Dec 21st
My god, a moment of bliss. Why isn't that enough for a whole lifetime?
- Fyodor Dostoevsky
8:10 AM Dec 21st
To be ill adjusted to a deranged world is not a breakdown.
- Jeanette Winterson
9:13 AM Dec 20th
One in all, all in one. If only this is realized, no more worry about not being perfect.
- Hshin Hshin Ming
7:14 PM Dec 19th
We are all happy; if we only knew it.
- Fyodor Dostoevsky
4:52 PM Dec 18th
Unclose your mind. You are not a prisoner. You are a bird in flight, searching the skies for dreams.
- Haruki Murakami
7:00 AM Dec 18th
Dismiss whatever insults your soul.
- Walt Whitman
3:07 PM Dec 17th
How strange that we time our days by a ball of fire in the sky and a cold dead white ghost of a moon.
- Diane Ackerman
10:25 AM Dec 17th
Life is a horizontal fall.
- Jean Cocteau
7:04 AM Dec 17th
on the sidewalk from the east
beyond the frame
immeasurably long
another shadow falls
- Ciaran Carson
12:35 PM Dec 16th
Existence does not guarantee us destination, nor trust, nor equity, nor one moment beyond this instant's almost weightless duration.
- Jane Hirshfield
7:08 AM Dec 16th
Happiness is the light on the water. The water is cold and dark and deep.
- William Maxwell
7:19 AM Dec 15th
Ink drips from the corners of my mouth. There is no happiness like mine. I have been eating poetry.
- Mark Strand
3:00 PM Dec 14th
Happiness is a specific. Misery is a generalization. People usually know exactly why they are happy. They very rarely know why they are miserable.
- Jeanette Winterson
7:37 AM Dec 14th
Poetry's a zoo in which you keep demons and angels.
- Les Murray
5:10 PM Dec 13th
Silence is also conversation.
- W. Somerset Maugham
7:00 PM Dec 12th
Not that I want to be a god or a hero. Just to change into a tree, grow for ages, not hurt anyone.
- Czesław Miłosz
6:56 AM Dec 11th
We bundle up but trees go naked in winter.
- Diane Ackerman
6:56 AM Dec 11th
No matter how I turn
the magnificent light follows.
- Mark Nepo
beyond the fields we know
11:33 AM Dec 10th
If you read yourself as fiction, it’s rather more liberating than reading yourself as fact.
- Jeanette Winterson
7:04 AM Dec 10th
Zen pretty much comes down to three things - everything changes; everything is connected; pay attention. And really, you only need the last two - if you're paying attention, you'll find out whatever else you need to know.
- Jane Hirshfield
12:00 PM | 12:01 PM Dec 9th
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don't go back to sleep.
- Rumi
6:52 AM Dec 9th
Although wherever you are going is always in front of you, there is no such thing as straight ahead.
- Jeanette Winterson
11:00 AM Dec 8th
I dreamed I was a single moment in a single day. A note struck and vanished. A sounding. A reckoning. Gone.
- Jeanette Winterson
7:27 AM Dec 8th
There are no classes in life for beginners; right away you are always asked to deal with what is most difficult.
- Rainer Maria Rilke
7:41 AM Dec 7th
When I look at my life I realize that the mistakes I have made, the things I really regret, were not errors of judgment but failures of feeling.
- Jeanette Winterson
5:12 PM Dec 6th
Music brings a warm glow to my vision, thawing mind and muscle from their endless wintering.
- Haruki Murakami
9:33 AM Dec 6th
The wind gone. I can hear my breathing.
I can hear the lateness of the hour
by what isn't moving.
- Stephen Dunn
8:30 PM Dec 5th
I obey traffic signals. I am cordial to strangers, I answer my mail promptly. I keep a balanced checking account. Why can’t I live forever?
- David Ignatow
11:41 AM | 11:42 AM Dec 4th
Believing love is work is certainly better than believing it's effortless, ceaseless bliss.
- Eric LeMay
7:18 AM Dec 4th
Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid.
- Frederick Buechner
7:00 AM Dec 3rd
I am who I am. A coincidence no less unthinkable than any other.
- Wislawa Szymborska
5:59 AM Dec 2nd
The moon has stepped back like an artist gazing amazed at a work
That points at him amazed.
- Ted Hughes
6:03 AM Dec 1st
- G. K. Chesterton
7:52 PM Dec 31st
Fragments, indeed. As if there were anything to break.
- Don Paterson
8:00 AM Dec 31st
The continuous narrative of existence is a lie. There is no continuous narrative, there are lit-up moments, and the rest is dark.
- Jeanette Winterson
8:26 AM Dec 30th
Before a person dies he should experience
the double fire,
of what he wants and shouldn't have.
- Stephen Dunn
8:00 PM Dec 29th
My genius amounts to persistence in following
Elephants through the wind.
- Robert Bly
9:01 AM Dec 29th
The whole order of things is as outrageous as any miracle which could presume to violate it.
- G. K. Chesterton
5:34 Pm Dec 28th
The only thing for certain is how complicated it all is, like a string full of knots.
- Jeanette Winterson
9:21 AM Dec 28th
In the garden of gentle sanity, May you be bombarded by coconuts of wakefulness.
- Chogyam Trungpa
9:32 AM Dec 27th
Here among the thirty thousand days of a long life, a single day stands still.
- Donald Hall
10:24 AM Dec 25th
Those who are awake live in a state of constant amazement.
- Jack Kornfield
4:02 PM Dec 24th
Perfect purity is possible if you turn your life into a line of poetry written with a splash of blood.
- Yukio Mishima
10:16 AM Dec 24th
Do not stop short of real contentment. You may as well never have been born if you remain discontented.
- Agnes Martin
7:18 AM Dec 23rd
I hear it: clarity,
a voice of such perfect clarity.
At dusk, in farewell to a mountain monk,
I bow in deep reverence to white cloud.
- Li Po
6:04 PM Dec 22nd
Associate reverently, as much as you can, with your loftiest thoughts.
- Thoreau
10:13 AM Dec 22nd
I have a head for heights it's true, but no stomach for the depths. Strange then to have plumbed so many.
- Jeanette Winterson
9:13 PM Dec 21st
My god, a moment of bliss. Why isn't that enough for a whole lifetime?
- Fyodor Dostoevsky
8:10 AM Dec 21st
To be ill adjusted to a deranged world is not a breakdown.
- Jeanette Winterson
9:13 AM Dec 20th
One in all, all in one. If only this is realized, no more worry about not being perfect.
- Hshin Hshin Ming
7:14 PM Dec 19th
We are all happy; if we only knew it.
- Fyodor Dostoevsky
4:52 PM Dec 18th
Unclose your mind. You are not a prisoner. You are a bird in flight, searching the skies for dreams.
- Haruki Murakami
7:00 AM Dec 18th
Dismiss whatever insults your soul.
- Walt Whitman
3:07 PM Dec 17th
How strange that we time our days by a ball of fire in the sky and a cold dead white ghost of a moon.
- Diane Ackerman
10:25 AM Dec 17th
Life is a horizontal fall.
- Jean Cocteau
7:04 AM Dec 17th
on the sidewalk from the east
beyond the frame
immeasurably long
another shadow falls
- Ciaran Carson
12:35 PM Dec 16th
Existence does not guarantee us destination, nor trust, nor equity, nor one moment beyond this instant's almost weightless duration.
- Jane Hirshfield
7:08 AM Dec 16th
Happiness is the light on the water. The water is cold and dark and deep.
- William Maxwell
7:19 AM Dec 15th
Ink drips from the corners of my mouth. There is no happiness like mine. I have been eating poetry.
- Mark Strand
3:00 PM Dec 14th
Happiness is a specific. Misery is a generalization. People usually know exactly why they are happy. They very rarely know why they are miserable.
- Jeanette Winterson
7:37 AM Dec 14th
Poetry's a zoo in which you keep demons and angels.
- Les Murray
5:10 PM Dec 13th
Silence is also conversation.
- W. Somerset Maugham
7:00 PM Dec 12th
Not that I want to be a god or a hero. Just to change into a tree, grow for ages, not hurt anyone.
- Czesław Miłosz
6:56 AM Dec 11th
We bundle up but trees go naked in winter.
- Diane Ackerman
6:56 AM Dec 11th
No matter how I turn
the magnificent light follows.
- Mark Nepo
beyond the fields we know
11:33 AM Dec 10th
If you read yourself as fiction, it’s rather more liberating than reading yourself as fact.
- Jeanette Winterson
7:04 AM Dec 10th
Zen pretty much comes down to three things - everything changes; everything is connected; pay attention. And really, you only need the last two - if you're paying attention, you'll find out whatever else you need to know.
- Jane Hirshfield
12:00 PM | 12:01 PM Dec 9th
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don't go back to sleep.
- Rumi
6:52 AM Dec 9th
Although wherever you are going is always in front of you, there is no such thing as straight ahead.
- Jeanette Winterson
11:00 AM Dec 8th
I dreamed I was a single moment in a single day. A note struck and vanished. A sounding. A reckoning. Gone.
- Jeanette Winterson
7:27 AM Dec 8th
There are no classes in life for beginners; right away you are always asked to deal with what is most difficult.
- Rainer Maria Rilke
7:41 AM Dec 7th
When I look at my life I realize that the mistakes I have made, the things I really regret, were not errors of judgment but failures of feeling.
- Jeanette Winterson
5:12 PM Dec 6th
Music brings a warm glow to my vision, thawing mind and muscle from their endless wintering.
- Haruki Murakami
9:33 AM Dec 6th
The wind gone. I can hear my breathing.
I can hear the lateness of the hour
by what isn't moving.
- Stephen Dunn
8:30 PM Dec 5th
I obey traffic signals. I am cordial to strangers, I answer my mail promptly. I keep a balanced checking account. Why can’t I live forever?
- David Ignatow
11:41 AM | 11:42 AM Dec 4th
Believing love is work is certainly better than believing it's effortless, ceaseless bliss.
- Eric LeMay
7:18 AM Dec 4th
Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid.
- Frederick Buechner
7:00 AM Dec 3rd
I am who I am. A coincidence no less unthinkable than any other.
- Wislawa Szymborska
5:59 AM Dec 2nd
The moon has stepped back like an artist gazing amazed at a work
That points at him amazed.
- Ted Hughes
6:03 AM Dec 1st
