Status Updates From A Handmade Life: In Search ...

to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never, in a word,to let the spiritual, unbidden, grow up through the common.
—William Channing

To live content. with small means, to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy not respectable, and wealthy not rich, to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly, to listen to the stars, and birds, to babes and sages, with an open heart;

to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived; this is to have succeeded.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson

To laugh often and to love much, to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give oneself; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;

Wisdom
Call not that riches which may be lost; virtue is our true wealth and the true reward of the possessor. It cannot be lost, and will not abandon us unless life itself first leaves us.
—Leonardo da Vinci

In seeking to build a better world, we need to be alert that our energies may be drained into side issues that miss the main problems facing society. It is so seductive-so much easier-to have an antagonist. We need to find ways to fight the problems themselves and not other people.

That which is harmful to you,
do not do to another.
That is the whole law.
All the rest is mere commentary.
—Hillel, 100 B.C.E.