50 SOUL QUOTES THAT HAVE TOUCHED MY LIFE

You may notice that I often begin my posts with life quotes.

I do this because it sets the tone for the message I'm hoping to share.

And because there are so many eloquent writers who express an idea far more elegantly than I am able to do.

Quotes are bite-sized nuggets of wisdom and inspiration that, in this age of information overload, provide a moment's peaceful respite and reflection. A well-timed quote can unlock doorways in our hearts and minds, providing just what we need to know at the moment we read it.

There are so many soul quotes that have touched my life. I thought I'd share a few of them with you here.

On Love

1.      “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” ~Lao Tzu

2.     “You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”~Dr. Seuss

3.     “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” ~Rumi

4.     “Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself. Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; For love is sufficient unto love.” ~Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

5. “People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life.” Elizabeth Gilbert; Eat, Pray, Love

On Life Passion

5.     “The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.”  ~Field Marshal Ferdinand Foch

6.     “Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music.” ~Angela Monet

7.     “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ~Howard Thurman

8.     “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ~Howard Thurman

9.     We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” ~E.M. Forster

10. 10. “The world is full of people who have stopped listening to themselves or have listened only to their neighbors to learn what they ought to do, how they ought to behave, and what the values are they should be living for.” ~Joseph Campbell

On Beauty

11.   “Beauty awakens the soul to act.”  ~Dante Alighieri

12“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.”  ~Ashley Smith

     

      13. “I don't think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains.” ~Anne Frank

14. “Beauty saves. Beauty heals. Beauty motivates. Beauty unites. Beauty returns us to our origins, and here lies the ultimate act of saving, of healing, of overcoming dualism.”  ~Matthew Fox

15. “Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened. Don't open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.” ~Rumi, Spring Giddiness

On Facing Fear

16. “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thingyou think you cannot do.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

17. “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” ~Ambrose Redmoon

18. “Perhaps the most important thing we can undertake toward the reduction of fear is to make it easier for people to accept themselves, to like themselves.” ~Bonaro W. Overstreet

19. “Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive — the risk to be alive and express what we really are.”  ~Don Miguel Ruiz

Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive — the risk to be alive and express what we really are.  ~Don Miguel Ruiz

20. “Fear arises through identification with form, whether it be a material possession, a physical body, a social role, a self-image, a thought, or an emotion. It arises through unawareness of the formless inner dimension of consciousness or spirit, which is the essence of who you are. You are trapped in object consciousness, unaware of the dimension of inner space which alone is true freedom.” ~Eckhart Tolle

On Happiness

21. “The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.” ~Anne Frank

22. “Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.” ~Abraham Lincoln 

23. “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” ~Dalai Lama

24. “Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.” ~Thomas Merton

25. “True happiness . . . is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.” ~Helen Keller

On Peace

26. “The most valuable possession you can own is an open heart. The most powerful weapon you can be is an instrument of peace.” ~Carlos Santana

27. “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”  ~Mother Teresa

28. “Through my love for you, I want to express my love for the whole cosmos, the whole of humanity, and all beings. By living with you, I want to learn to love everyone and all species. If I succeed in loving you, I will be able to love everyone and all species on Earth… This is the real message of love.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh, Teachings on Love

29. “Make peace with the universe. Take joy in it. It will turn to gold. Resurrection will be now. Every moment, a new beauty.” ~Rumi

30. “Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.” ~John F. Kennedy

On Personal Growth

31. “The only journey is the journey within.” ~Rainer Maria Rilke

32. “Fear less, hope more, eat less, chew more, whine less, breathe more, talk less, say more, hate less, love more, and good things will be yours.” ~Swedish Proverb

Fear less, hope more, eat less, chew more, whine less, breathe more, talk less, say more, hate less, love more, and good things will be yours. ~Swedish Proverb

33. “You and I are essentially infinite choice-makers. In every moment of our existence, we are in that field of all possibilities where we have access to an infinity of choices.” ~Deepak Chopra

34. “Maturity includes the recognition that no one is going to see anything in us that we don't see in ourselves. Stop waiting for a producer. Produce yourself.” ~Marianne Williamson

35. “Be not the slave of your own past. Plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep and swim far, so you shall come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

On Work

36. “Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” ~Theodore Roosevelt

37. “Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.” ~Khalil Gibran, The Prophet

38. “Perhaps the very best question that you can memorize and repeat, over and over, is, “what is the most valuable use of my time right now?” ~ Brian Tracy

39. “What we really want to do is what we are really meant to do. When we do what we are meant to do, money comes to us, doors open for us, we feel useful, and the work we do feels like play to us.” ~Julia Cameron

40. “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” ~Stephen King

On Change

41. “If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living.” ~Gail Sheehy

42. “To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.” ~Henri Bergson

To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly. ~Henri Bergson

43. “You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage — pleasantly, smilingly, non-apologetically — to say ‘no' to other things. And the way to do that is by having a bigger ‘yes' burning inside.” ~Stephen Covey

44. “A year from now you will wish you had started today.” ~Karen Lamb

45.  “Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.” ~Marilyn Monroe

On You

46. “You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” ~A.A. Milne

47. “One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.” ~Unknown

48.  “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” ~Steve Jobs

There’s nothing more badass than being who you are. ~Darren Criss

49. “There’s nothing more badass than being who you are.” ~Darren Criss

50. “It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.” ~Oriah Mountain Dreamer