Mystery and Art of Living

"The mystery and art of living are as grand as the sweep of a lifetime and the lifetime of a species. And they are as close as beginning, quietly, to mine whatever grace and beauty, whatever healing and attentiveness, are possible in this moment and the next and the next one after that."

-  Krista Tippett (1960 - )

Becoming Wise:
An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living

Indefinite Meaning

"We can express our feelings regarding the world around us either by poetic or by descriptive means. I prefer to express myself metaphorically. Let me stress: metaphorically, not symbolically. A symbol contains within itself a definite meaning, certain intellectual formula, while metaphor is an image. An image possessing the same distinguishing features as the world it represents. An image — as opposed to a symbol — is indefinite in meaning. One cannot speak of the infinite world by applying tools that are definite and finite. We can analyse the formula that constitutes a symbol, while metaphor is a being-within-itself, it's a monomial. It falls apart at any attempt of touching it."

- Andrei Tarkovsky (1932 - 1986)

Life is a Secret

"The deeper we look into nature, the more we recognize that it is full of life, and the more profoundly we know that all life is a secret and that we are united with all life that is in nature. Man can no longer live his life for himself alone. We realize that all life is valuable and that we are united to all this life.  From this knowledge comes our spiritual relationship with the universe."

- Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965)

Limit of Our Sight

"Life is eternal,

love is immortal

and death is only a horizon.
Life is eternal as we

move into the light
and the horizon is nothing
save the limit of our sight."

- Carly Simon

Built on Opposites

"All being, it seemed, was built on opposites, on division. Man or woman, vagabond or citizen, lover or thinker — no breath could both be in and out, none could be man and wife, free and yet orderly, knowing the urge of life and the joy of intellect. Always the one paid for the other, though each was equally precious and essential."

- Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)

Narcissus and Goldmund

Mind

"Matter and energy

seem granular in structure,

and so does 'life,'

but not so mind."

- Erwin Schrödinger (1887 - 1961)

Dream Before the Awakening

"It is possible to believe

that all the past is but

the beginning of a beginning,

and that all that is and

has been is but the

twilight of the dawn.

It is possible to believe

that all the human mind

has ever accomplished is

but the dream

before the awakening."

- H. G. Wells (1866 - 1946)