Elsa Barker > Quotes

“Wisdom is a tree of slow growth; the rings around its trunk are earthly lives, and the grooves between are the periods between lives. Who grieves that an acorn is slow in becoming an oak?”
― Elsa Barker, Letters From a Living Dead Man

“The joy of the struggle! That is the keynote of immortality, the keynote of power. Let this be my final message to the world. Tell them to enjoy their struggles, to thrill at the endless possibilities of combination and creation, to live in the moment while preparing for long hence, and not to exaggerate the importance of momentary failures and disappointments.
When they come out here and get their lives in perspective, they will see that most of their causes of anxiety were trivial, and that all the lights and shadows were necessary to the picture.”
― Elsa Barker, Letters from a Living Dead Man

“Очень возможно, что вы на земле работаете слишком много – более, чем это действительно необходимо. Все это множество ненужных вещей, которые вы нагромождаете вокруг себя, искусственные нужды, которые вы создаете, головокружительный темп ваших жизней, чтобы добыть все эти вещи, кажутся здесь чем-то нелепым и даже жалким. Ваша политическая экономия не более как детская игра, ваши государственные учреждения – хитроумные машины для делания ненужных вещей, большая часть вашей работы бесполезна, и вся ваша жизнь была бы почти бесплодной, если бы вы не страдали настолько, чтобы ваши души познали, хотя и против воли, что большая часть их стремлений тщетна.”
― Elsa Barker, Letters from the Afterlife: A Guide to the Other Side

“Get acquainted with your own soul. Know why you do this or that, why you feel this or that. Sit quietly when in doubt about any matter, and let the truth rise from the deeps of yourself. Examine your motives always. Do not say, “I ought to do this act for such and such a reason; therefore I do it for that reason.” Such argument is self-deception. If you do a kind act, ask yourself why. Perhaps you can find even in a kind action a hidden motive of self-seeking. If you should find such a motive, do not deny it to yourself. Acknowledge it to yourself, though you need not advertise it on the walls of your dwelling. Such a secret understanding will give you a greater sympathy and comprehension in judging the motives of others.
Strive always for the ideal; but do not label every emotion as an ideal emotion if it is not really that. Speak the truth to yourself. Until you can dare to do that you will make little progress in the quest of your own soul.”
― Elsa Barker