"There’s a lot of things you need to get across this universe. Warp drive… wormhole refractors… You know the thing you need most of all? You need a hand to hold." — 10th Doctor Doctor Who, "Fear Her"
"We realize that every day is a gift. To become who we are and share what we do is a gift. To help one another is a gift." — Lonnie Kauk Alpinist Magazine, Issue 66, "Magic Line"
"Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you’re there. It doesn’t matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that’s like you after you take your hands away. The difference between the man who just cuts lawns and a real gardener is in the touching, he said. The lawn-cutter might just as well not have been there at all; the gardener will be there a lifetime." — Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451
"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader." — John Quincy Adams
"You are not a terrible person for wanting to break up with someone you love. You don’t need a reason to leave. Wanting to leave is enough. ... Be brave enough to break your own heart." — Cheryl Strayed Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar
"I am here for you. Sometimes ... our loved one is sitting beside us but we have forgotten all about [them]. ... Our loved one is there physically but it’s as if [they're] not truly there. To love someone, you need to be there one hundred percent. The mantra “I am here for you” says that I care about you, I enjoy being in your presence. It helps the other person to feel supported and happy. ... We think that our loved one will be with us forever and we forget how precious [their] presence is in this moment. Once we’re really there for the other person, that person becomes something very real. When the other person is real, [they are] a wonderful manifestation of life and we need to let [them] know that, for [their] happiness and for our own." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Fight
"Many arguments and conflicts come about because we are so sure of our own thoughts and perceptions." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Fight
"Learn to nourish yourself and your loved ones with joy. Sometimes a kind word or two are enough to help them blossom like a flower. ... Our loved ones and relationships are like flowers that need regular watering to stay fresh and alive. If we do not water the other person’s flowers, our love or the relationship may wilt or die." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Fight
"When someone says something unkind to us and we don’t understand why, we may become upset. A knot is tied inside. ... We can learn the skill of recognizing a knot the moment it is tied in us, and we can find ways to untie it. If we give it our full attention as soon as it forms, while still loosely tied, untying it will be easy. Otherwise, it grows tighter and stronger with time and is more difficult to loosen. ... When you are in a new relationship, both people are still light, and have few knots. Misunderstandings are easy to clear up right away. But when we let things build up, many knots accumulate and we don’t know where to begin untying them. To protect each other’s happiness, we need to become aware of and communicate about our internal knots as soon as they arise." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Fight
"When we’re overcome by strong emotions we’re like a tree in a storm, with its top branches and leaves swaying in the wind. But the trunk of the tree is solid, stable, and deeply rooted in the earth. When we’re caught in a storm of emotions, we can practice to be like the trunk of the tree. We don’t stay up in the high branches. We go down to the trunk and become still, not carried away by our thinking and emotions." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Fight
"When you feel upset or angry, it’s important not to do or say anything. We need to calm down first. Don’t speak or act with the energy of anger in you. Just come back to your body and your breathing." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Fight
"It was as though my interpretation of reality wasn’t valid unless someone else confirmed it." — Jan Redford End of the Rope: Mountains, Marriage, and Motherhood
"Just because we have observed or experienced something doesn’t mean we should speak about it if doing so will make others suffer. When we see someone suffer because of something we have said, we say, “Well, I was only telling the truth.” It may have been the truth, but it may also have been unskillful and hurtful. Loving speech requires telling the truth in such a way that it benefits others, the world, and ourselves. When we tell the truth, we do so with compassion; we speak in such a way that the hearer can accept what we’re saying." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Fight
"When we want to prove a point, we may be tempted to twist the truth or say something that is only partially true. We may exaggerate by intentionally making something out to be greater or more extreme than it is. We may add, embellish, or invent details to prove we are right." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Fight
"In Buddhism, we speak of all the various potential states of mind as seeds. ... We aren’t necessarily aware of these seeds, but they are there in the lower level of our consciousness. The seeds contain the potential for all the different emotions, thoughts, and perceptions we may have. If something triggers one of the seeds—for example if someone says something unkind that waters your seed of anger—the seed of anger will come up and manifest in the upper level of consciousness, our mind. ... If you allow anger to stay there for a long time, then the seed of anger will be strengthened in the lower level of consciousness. It will become more important and will arise more easily. If you get angry every day, your seed of anger will grow bigger and bigger, and it will be much more difficult for compassion to grow.
" — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Fight
"Sometimes when we attempt to listen to another person, we can’t hear them because we haven’t listened to ourselves first. Our own strong emotions and thoughts are so loud in our heart and in our head, crying out for our attention, that we can’t hear the other person. Before we listen to another, we need to spend time listening to ourselves. ... We practice to calm ourselves before we express what is in our heart, and we choose our words carefully so the other person can accept what we say and can understand us better." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Fight
"We can only understand another person when we’re able to truly listen to them. When we can listen to others with deep compassion, we can understand their pain and difficulties. But when we’re angry, we can’t listen to others or hear their suffering." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Fight
"Mindfulness does not fight anger; it recognizes it and says hello. ... This is not an act of suppression or of fighting. It is an act of awareness. ... Any peace talks should begin with making peace with ourselves. First we need to recognize our anger, embrace it, and make peace with it. You don’t fight your anger, because your anger is you." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Fight
"If we can take care of our own anger instead of focusing on the other person, we will get immediate relief." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Fight
"Being able to pause is the greatest gift. It gives us the opportunity to bring more love and compassion into the world rather than more anger and suffering." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Fight
