“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” -Edwin Hubbell Chapin (1814 - 1880): as quoted in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert: “Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers” (1895)
“When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile.” -Author Unknown
“Every piece of the Universe, even the tiniest little snow crystal, matters somehow. I have a place in the pattern, and so do you . . .” -T. G. Barron (Thomas Archibald Barron (born 1952))
“Have you ever heard the expression, “Words wound”? It is true, they do. Words can crush, destroy, disparage. But, the right words can also reassure, calm, guide, uplift, validate . . . words can do wonders.” -David Hugh Beaumont (born 1966)
“Life is terribly deficient in form. Its catastrophes happen in the wrong way and to the wrong people.” -Oscar Wilde (Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills ‘Oscar’ Wilde (1854 - 1900))
Whatever your conditions, you will find comfort in words. Let us share some good words here, making this a place you can turn to when you need something to occupy your mind and lessen the bad memories, worries, doubts, and fears; something to hold onto in the mind when the nightmares and flashbacks and panic and anxiety and loneliness and frustrations come.
“The sunniest lives have seasons of shadow.” -Author Unknown
“Not all scars show, not all wounds heal. Sometimes you can’t always see the pain someone feels.” -Jennifer Shin
A wretched soul, bruis’d with adversity,
We bid be quiet, when we hear it cry;
But were we burthen’d with like weight of pain,
As much, or more, we should ourselves complain.
-William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616): “The Comedy of Errors” (1594), ‘Adriana,’ act I, scene ii
Would you commit just one positive thought to memory today? Repeat it a few times, try to remember it a few times, and it can be yours forever.
“Broken wings mend in time, and you will fly again.” -Author Unknown
“Courage is the price that Life exacts for granting peace.” -Amelia Earhart (Amelia Mary Earhart (1897 - 1937))
“The scars you can’t see are the hardest to heal.” -Astrid Alauda (pseudonym of Terri Guillemets (born 1973))
“Let your heart feel for the distress and affliction of everyone.” -George Washington (1732 - 1799)
“When tragic things begin to seem funny, health has begun.” -Author Unknown
“Someone’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality.” -Author Unknown: originally said to Les Brown (Leslie Calvin ‘Les’ Brown (born 1945)) by one of his high school teachers
“The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it.” -Author Unknown
“Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.” -J. M. Barrie (James Matthew Barrie (1860 - 1937))
“A new wound makes all the old ones ache again.” -Mignon McLaughlin (1913 - 1983): “The Neurotic’s Notebook” (1960)
“I would like to learn, or remember, how to live.” -Annie Dillard (born 1945 as Meta Ann Doak): “Teaching a Stone to Talk” (1982), page 15
“Don’t let a bad day make you feel like you have a bad life.” -Author Unknown
“It is easy to look at people and make quick judgements about them, their presents and their pasts, but you would be amazed at the pain and tears a single smile can hide. What people show to the world is only a tiny facet of the iceberg hidden from sight. And more often than not, it is lined with cracks and scars that go all the way through to the foundation of their souls. Never judge in haste; learn to understand, respect, and acknowledge the feelings of others.” -Author Unknown
“The world is round, and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning.” -Ivy Baker Priest (1905 - 1975)
“Find a place inside where there’s joy, and the joy will burn out the pain.” -Joseph Campbell (1904 - 1987)
“Strong people are made by opposition, like kites that go up against the wind.” -Frank Harris (1856 - 1931)
“Whatever you do in this world, no matter how good it is, you will never be able to please everybody. All you can strive for is to do the best it is humanly possible for you to do.” -Jeri Ferris: “What I Had Was Singing: The Story of Marian Anderson” (1994)
I am you, contacting you from the future, to tell you that everything will be okay if you will just try to do your best today.
“Associate reverently, and as much as you can, with your loftiest thoughts.” -Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862)
“Don’t accept that others know you better than yourself.” -James Allen (1864 - 1912)
“The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love.” -Hubert Humphrey (Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Junior (1911 - 1978))
“Don’t despair; even the Sun has a sinking spell every night, but it rises again in the morning.” -Author Unknown
“I’ve seen what a good laugh can do. It can transform tears into hope.” -Bob Hope (Leslie Townes ‘Bob’ Hope (1903 - 2003))
“All service ranks the same with God.” -Robert Browning (1812 - 1889)
“There is a truth deep down inside of you that has been waiting for you to discover it, and that truth is this: You deserve all the good things life has to offer.” -Rhonda Byrne (born 1951 as Rhonda Izon)
“When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something’s suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful.” -Barbara Bloom (born 1951)
“When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile.” -Author Unknown
“Every piece of the Universe, even the tiniest little snow crystal, matters somehow. I have a place in the pattern, and so do you . . .” -T. G. Barron (Thomas Archibald Barron (born 1952))
“Have you ever heard the expression, “Words wound”? It is true, they do. Words can crush, destroy, disparage. But, the right words can also reassure, calm, guide, uplift, validate . . . words can do wonders.” -David Hugh Beaumont (born 1966)
“Life is terribly deficient in form. Its catastrophes happen in the wrong way and to the wrong people.” -Oscar Wilde (Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills ‘Oscar’ Wilde (1854 - 1900))
Whatever your conditions, you will find comfort in words. Let us share some good words here, making this a place you can turn to when you need something to occupy your mind and lessen the bad memories, worries, doubts, and fears; something to hold onto in the mind when the nightmares and flashbacks and panic and anxiety and loneliness and frustrations come.
“The sunniest lives have seasons of shadow.” -Author Unknown
“Not all scars show, not all wounds heal. Sometimes you can’t always see the pain someone feels.” -Jennifer Shin
A wretched soul, bruis’d with adversity,
We bid be quiet, when we hear it cry;
But were we burthen’d with like weight of pain,
As much, or more, we should ourselves complain.
-William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616): “The Comedy of Errors” (1594), ‘Adriana,’ act I, scene ii
Would you commit just one positive thought to memory today? Repeat it a few times, try to remember it a few times, and it can be yours forever.
“Broken wings mend in time, and you will fly again.” -Author Unknown
“Courage is the price that Life exacts for granting peace.” -Amelia Earhart (Amelia Mary Earhart (1897 - 1937))
“The scars you can’t see are the hardest to heal.” -Astrid Alauda (pseudonym of Terri Guillemets (born 1973))
“Let your heart feel for the distress and affliction of everyone.” -George Washington (1732 - 1799)
“When tragic things begin to seem funny, health has begun.” -Author Unknown
“Someone’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality.” -Author Unknown: originally said to Les Brown (Leslie Calvin ‘Les’ Brown (born 1945)) by one of his high school teachers
“The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it.” -Author Unknown
“Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.” -J. M. Barrie (James Matthew Barrie (1860 - 1937))
“A new wound makes all the old ones ache again.” -Mignon McLaughlin (1913 - 1983): “The Neurotic’s Notebook” (1960)
“I would like to learn, or remember, how to live.” -Annie Dillard (born 1945 as Meta Ann Doak): “Teaching a Stone to Talk” (1982), page 15
“Don’t let a bad day make you feel like you have a bad life.” -Author Unknown
“It is easy to look at people and make quick judgements about them, their presents and their pasts, but you would be amazed at the pain and tears a single smile can hide. What people show to the world is only a tiny facet of the iceberg hidden from sight. And more often than not, it is lined with cracks and scars that go all the way through to the foundation of their souls. Never judge in haste; learn to understand, respect, and acknowledge the feelings of others.” -Author Unknown
“The world is round, and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning.” -Ivy Baker Priest (1905 - 1975)
“Find a place inside where there’s joy, and the joy will burn out the pain.” -Joseph Campbell (1904 - 1987)
“Strong people are made by opposition, like kites that go up against the wind.” -Frank Harris (1856 - 1931)
“Whatever you do in this world, no matter how good it is, you will never be able to please everybody. All you can strive for is to do the best it is humanly possible for you to do.” -Jeri Ferris: “What I Had Was Singing: The Story of Marian Anderson” (1994)
I am you, contacting you from the future, to tell you that everything will be okay if you will just try to do your best today.
“Associate reverently, and as much as you can, with your loftiest thoughts.” -Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862)
“Don’t accept that others know you better than yourself.” -James Allen (1864 - 1912)
“The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love.” -Hubert Humphrey (Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Junior (1911 - 1978))
“Don’t despair; even the Sun has a sinking spell every night, but it rises again in the morning.” -Author Unknown
“I’ve seen what a good laugh can do. It can transform tears into hope.” -Bob Hope (Leslie Townes ‘Bob’ Hope (1903 - 2003))
“All service ranks the same with God.” -Robert Browning (1812 - 1889)
“There is a truth deep down inside of you that has been waiting for you to discover it, and that truth is this: You deserve all the good things life has to offer.” -Rhonda Byrne (born 1951 as Rhonda Izon)
“When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something’s suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful.” -Barbara Bloom (born 1951)
“The Japanese word ‘kintsukuroi’ means ‘to repair with gold.’ Kintsukuroi is the art of repairing broken pottery with gold or silver lacquer. The breakage and repair become part of the history of the object, making it more beautiful with its imperfections . . . like so many people’s lives.” -David Hugh Beaumont (born 1966)
“Life wounds all of us, to greatly varying degrees.” -Author Unknown
“Submarine navigators tell us that no storms ever reach very deep into the ocean. The water is perfectly calm a hundred feet down, no matter how high the breakers may rise on the surface. There is a quietude in the depths that no surface storms can disturb. This is possible, too, in human lives - there can be serenity and peace within, undisturbed by the storms of the world.” -Author Unknown: as published in “The Morning Herald” (14 April 1959), page 4; newspaper of Uniontown, Pennsylvania, United States of America
“When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.” -Charles A. Beard (Charles Austin Beard (1874 - 1948))
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts.” -Winston Churchill (Winston Leonard Spenser Churchill (1874 - 1965))
“After the darkness, light.” [translation to English]
“Post tenebras lux.” [original Latin]
-John Calvin (1509 - 1564)
“In the depths of Winter I finally learned there was in me an invincible Summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger - something better, pushing right back.” -Albert Camus (1913 - 1960): “Lyrical and Critical Essays” (1968)
“God will not look you over for medals, degrees, or diplomas, but for scars.” -Elbert Hubbard (Elbert Green Hubbard (1856 - 1915))
“Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic, capable of both inflicting injury and remedying it.” -J. K. Rowling (Joanne Kathleen ‘Jo’ Rowling (born 1965)): “Harry Potter,” line spoken by character Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
“You live through the darkness from what you learned in the light.” -Hope MacDonald (born 1928): “When Angels Appear” (1983)
“I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.” -Agatha Christie (Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie (1890 - 1976))
“A sorrow shared is but half a trouble, and a joy that’s shared is a joy made double.” -Arthur Donne
“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it to anyone else.” -Charles Dickens (Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812 - 1870))
“Look well into yourself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if you will always look there.” -Marcus Aurelius (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus (C.E. 121 - C.E. 180))
“I can stick up for myself. I can be on my own side.” -Nola Langner (Nola Langner Malone (1930 - 2003)): “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” (1983)
“Time alone does not heal our wounds.” -Author Unknown
“I always try to turn my personal struggles into something helpful for others.” - Henri Nouwen (Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen (1932 - 1996))
“Every winner has scars.” -Robert N. C. Nix (Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Junior (1928 - 2003))
“Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.” -Author Unknown
“Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps, then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer, one distant day in the future.” -Rainer Maria Rilke (René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)): letter (16 July 1903) to Franz Xaver Kappus
“Scars remind us of where we’ve been. They don’t have to dictate where we’re going.” -Author Unknown: “Criminal Minds,” Season 5, Episode 10 (9 December 2009); line spoken by fictional character David Rossi
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” -Helen Keller (Helen Adams Keller (1880 - 1968))
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” -Leo Buscaglia (Felice Leonardo ‘Leo’ Buscaglia, also known as Leo F. Buscaglia (1924 - 1998))
“It takes courage to live a life, any life.” -Erica Jong (Erica Mann Jong (born 1942))
“The mind which does not wholly sink under misfortune rises above it more lofty than before, and is strengthened by affliction.” -Richard Chenevix (1774 - 1830): “An Essay Upon National Character” (1832), book I, part II, chapter III
“I guess my life hasn’t always been happy, or easy, or exactly what I want. At a certain point, I just have to try not to think too much about certain things, or else they’ll break my heart.” -Jonathan Franzen (Jonathan Earl Franzen (born 1959))
“Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake.” -Victor Hugo (Victor Marie Hugo (1802 - 1885))
“We’re all a little broken, but last time I checked, broken crayons still color.” -Trent Shelton (Trent Simmons Shelton (born 1984))
“The strength will with the burden grow.” -Tom Taylor (1817 - 1880): “Abraham Lincoln” (1865), stanza 9, line 1, as quoted in the “London Punch” and in Edmund Clarence Stedman: “A Victorian Anthology” (1895); type of work: poem
“How people treat you says nothing about you, but everything about them.” -Author Unknown
“Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.” -Kahlil Gibran (1883 - 1931)
“Extraordinary people survive under the most terrible circumstances and they become more extraordinary because of it.” -Robertson Davies (William Robertson Davies (1913 - 1995))
“The prettiest smiles hide the deepest secrets. The prettiest eyes have cried the most tears. And the kindest hearts have felt the most pain.” -Author Unknown
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” -Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (1926 - 2004)
“Cast your stones, cast your judgement, you don’t make me who I am.” -Author Unknown
“The strongest people are not those who show strength in front of us but those who win battles we know nothing about.” -Author Unknown
“Those who have suffered understand suffering and therefore extend their hand.” -Pattie Smith (Patricia Lee ‘Pattie’ Smith (born 1946))
Strength is born
In the deep silence of long-suffering hearts;
Not amidst joy.
-Felicia Hemans (1793 - 1835): “The Siege of Valencia” (1823)
“From every wound there is a scar, and every scar tells a story. A story that says, ‘I survived.’” -Craig Scott
“Bad things happen but that does not mean that you stop living or that you stop trying. Bit by bit you find the strength, the will, and the courage to begin again.” -Author Unknown
“The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.” -Ernest Hemingway (Ernest Miller Hemingway (1899 - 1961))
“It gets easier.” -Author Unknown
“I’ve got dreams in hidden places and extra smiles for when I’m blue.” -Author Unknown
“The challenges of life never cease, but our ability to face them gets better as time goes by.” -David Hugh Beaumont (born 1966)
Now go have the best imaginable day . . . and continue to MFOL!
“Life wounds all of us, to greatly varying degrees.” -Author Unknown
“Submarine navigators tell us that no storms ever reach very deep into the ocean. The water is perfectly calm a hundred feet down, no matter how high the breakers may rise on the surface. There is a quietude in the depths that no surface storms can disturb. This is possible, too, in human lives - there can be serenity and peace within, undisturbed by the storms of the world.” -Author Unknown: as published in “The Morning Herald” (14 April 1959), page 4; newspaper of Uniontown, Pennsylvania, United States of America
“When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.” -Charles A. Beard (Charles Austin Beard (1874 - 1948))
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts.” -Winston Churchill (Winston Leonard Spenser Churchill (1874 - 1965))
“After the darkness, light.” [translation to English]
“Post tenebras lux.” [original Latin]
-John Calvin (1509 - 1564)
“In the depths of Winter I finally learned there was in me an invincible Summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger - something better, pushing right back.” -Albert Camus (1913 - 1960): “Lyrical and Critical Essays” (1968)
“God will not look you over for medals, degrees, or diplomas, but for scars.” -Elbert Hubbard (Elbert Green Hubbard (1856 - 1915))
“Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic, capable of both inflicting injury and remedying it.” -J. K. Rowling (Joanne Kathleen ‘Jo’ Rowling (born 1965)): “Harry Potter,” line spoken by character Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
“You live through the darkness from what you learned in the light.” -Hope MacDonald (born 1928): “When Angels Appear” (1983)
“I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.” -Agatha Christie (Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie (1890 - 1976))
“A sorrow shared is but half a trouble, and a joy that’s shared is a joy made double.” -Arthur Donne
“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it to anyone else.” -Charles Dickens (Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812 - 1870))
“Look well into yourself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if you will always look there.” -Marcus Aurelius (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus (C.E. 121 - C.E. 180))
“I can stick up for myself. I can be on my own side.” -Nola Langner (Nola Langner Malone (1930 - 2003)): “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” (1983)
“Time alone does not heal our wounds.” -Author Unknown
“I always try to turn my personal struggles into something helpful for others.” - Henri Nouwen (Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen (1932 - 1996))
“Every winner has scars.” -Robert N. C. Nix (Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Junior (1928 - 2003))
“Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.” -Author Unknown
“Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps, then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer, one distant day in the future.” -Rainer Maria Rilke (René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)): letter (16 July 1903) to Franz Xaver Kappus
“Scars remind us of where we’ve been. They don’t have to dictate where we’re going.” -Author Unknown: “Criminal Minds,” Season 5, Episode 10 (9 December 2009); line spoken by fictional character David Rossi
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” -Helen Keller (Helen Adams Keller (1880 - 1968))
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” -Leo Buscaglia (Felice Leonardo ‘Leo’ Buscaglia, also known as Leo F. Buscaglia (1924 - 1998))
“It takes courage to live a life, any life.” -Erica Jong (Erica Mann Jong (born 1942))
“The mind which does not wholly sink under misfortune rises above it more lofty than before, and is strengthened by affliction.” -Richard Chenevix (1774 - 1830): “An Essay Upon National Character” (1832), book I, part II, chapter III
“I guess my life hasn’t always been happy, or easy, or exactly what I want. At a certain point, I just have to try not to think too much about certain things, or else they’ll break my heart.” -Jonathan Franzen (Jonathan Earl Franzen (born 1959))
“Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake.” -Victor Hugo (Victor Marie Hugo (1802 - 1885))
“We’re all a little broken, but last time I checked, broken crayons still color.” -Trent Shelton (Trent Simmons Shelton (born 1984))
“The strength will with the burden grow.” -Tom Taylor (1817 - 1880): “Abraham Lincoln” (1865), stanza 9, line 1, as quoted in the “London Punch” and in Edmund Clarence Stedman: “A Victorian Anthology” (1895); type of work: poem
“How people treat you says nothing about you, but everything about them.” -Author Unknown
“Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.” -Kahlil Gibran (1883 - 1931)
“Extraordinary people survive under the most terrible circumstances and they become more extraordinary because of it.” -Robertson Davies (William Robertson Davies (1913 - 1995))
“The prettiest smiles hide the deepest secrets. The prettiest eyes have cried the most tears. And the kindest hearts have felt the most pain.” -Author Unknown
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” -Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (1926 - 2004)
“Cast your stones, cast your judgement, you don’t make me who I am.” -Author Unknown
“The strongest people are not those who show strength in front of us but those who win battles we know nothing about.” -Author Unknown
“Those who have suffered understand suffering and therefore extend their hand.” -Pattie Smith (Patricia Lee ‘Pattie’ Smith (born 1946))
Strength is born
In the deep silence of long-suffering hearts;
Not amidst joy.
-Felicia Hemans (1793 - 1835): “The Siege of Valencia” (1823)
“From every wound there is a scar, and every scar tells a story. A story that says, ‘I survived.’” -Craig Scott
“Bad things happen but that does not mean that you stop living or that you stop trying. Bit by bit you find the strength, the will, and the courage to begin again.” -Author Unknown
“The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.” -Ernest Hemingway (Ernest Miller Hemingway (1899 - 1961))
“It gets easier.” -Author Unknown
“I’ve got dreams in hidden places and extra smiles for when I’m blue.” -Author Unknown
“The challenges of life never cease, but our ability to face them gets better as time goes by.” -David Hugh Beaumont (born 1966)
Now go have the best imaginable day . . . and continue to MFOL!
