Sa`di: Pull the Cotton of Neglect out of your Ear

Prayer

I beg you by Your truth to shut my eyes on the false
And by your light, not to burn me with your fire tomorrow
I am so helpless that my face is on the earth
And the dust of my sins rise up to heavens
O cloud of blessing let your rain fall once
For no dust can remain in the face of rain
In Your realm there is no place for me, for my sins
And there is no other realm to go to
You know well what is in the mind of dumb
And only You can lay poultice on the hearts of the weary


Anecdote 3

How well said the honest and poor dervish
When he repented at night and broke the vow at down:
“If He accepts the repentance, it remain intact
For our promises are weak and inconstant.”

Philosophy

God’s friends are for this reason elevated
That they receive many blows on the head from people.

Anecdote 22

My wise man, don’t be afraid of the reason
Why the doctor sends you bitter medicine
Take whatever a friend sends you

Philosophy

Attachment is a barrier and a futile tie
So when you loosen the bonds, you attain your goal

Advice

Do not be subservient to the lustful self
Which chooses a different Mecca every hour
Contentment exalts you , O man of intelligence,
While a covetous man’s head can never rise from shame
Greed pours sweat of disgrace on greatness
And to gain, an armful of pears is lost
As you can quench your thirst with the water of the stream
Why should you disgrace yourself for a bit of snow?
Affluence may bring you fortitude
But need will drive you to various doors
My Lord, shorten the arm of greed
You have no need of a long sleeve
One who has rolled p his scroll of avidity
Should never write “Your slave” or “your servant”
Expectation will drive you away from every gathering
Expel it yourself so that you are not driven away

Anecdote 8

I do not where I came across it in a book
That a man saw Satan in a dream
He looked graceful in stature, and handsome as a houri
His face shining as brightly as the sun
The man approached and said: “Is it truly you?”
I never saw an angel as fair as you
How is it that in spite of such a fine moon-like beauty
You are considered by the world as ugly as a dark night?
Why has the painter portrayed you in the royal hall
As a fierce, hideous and corrupt creature?
They all thought of you as having a horrible sight
And drew an ugly image of you in public baths!
The poor Devil on hearing those words
Cried and groaned with affliction and said:
“My dear man, that picture is not my real image
But unfortunately the enemy handles the bush
I drove them out of paradise
So in hostility they consider me ugly

Anecdote 16

Someone caviled at the Ghazna king, saying:
“It’s amazing, but Ayaz has no comeliness to speak of
A flower which has neither color nor odour
Would be strange if a nightingale fell in love with it”
Someone related this matter to Mahmood
Who displayed great sighs of uneasiness at this
Saying: “My friend, my love for him is for his character
Ant not for a handsome face or fine figure”

Anecdote 19

One night a fire was started by some people
And half of the town of Bagdad was burnt down
Someone said: “Thank God that with such a dust and smoke
My shop was not damaged at all”
A man of the world told him: “You capricious man!
Were you concerned about yourself only?
Does it please you to see a town burnt down
And feel happy that your shop is safe?”

Anecdote 23
A bully of a man once fell into a well
Who by his roughness made even a lion turn female
He who has evil thoughts for
People, get nothing but evil,
And when he is down, no one is as helpless as he
He cried and moaned all night without sleeping a wink
When suddenly someone threw a stone on his head and said:
Did you ever come to anyone’s relief
That now you are imploring for relievers?
All your life you sowed the seed of injustice
So look and see what you are in consequence reaping
Who is willing to place a poultice on your sore spirit
While every heart is crying with pain for your inflicted wounds?
You dug pits for us people to fall into
So, of necessity you have fallen headlong into it”

Philosophy

Two persons dig wells for the high and low
One is of good disposition, the other ignominious
The former intends to refresh people`s dry throats
But the latter hopes for the people to fail into it
If you do devil , do not expect goodness in return
For a tamarisk tree can never bear grapes
I don not think that you who have sown barey in autumn
Can reap wheat in harvest time
If you nourish the bitter infernal tree ot your heart`s desire
Do not ever expect to enjoy any fruit of it
The oleander branch cannot offer you dates
You can only reap what you have sown

Addressed to Abu- Bakr Sa`d

As long as you can, don`t exempt yourself from kindness
For when you grant kindness, you receive it in return
When you show favour, do not feel selfish
Thinking of yourself as a master and others as inferiors
If time has dealt people with its sword
Isn’t that sword still unsheathed?
If your eyes are many people who gaze at yours
I have called generosity the quality of leaders
I was wrong, it’s the characteristics of prophets

Counsel

If you desire the night of the grave as bright as day
Kindle the light of your deeds in this world
The man who nourishes the palm is in a fever
Lest his tree does not produce dates
There are some covetous people who wrongly suppose
That wi5thout sowing grains they can get a harvest
Sa`di enjoyed the fruit , for, he hope for a harvest

Anecdote 8

Do you know what someone said in Neshaboor
When his son did not perform his rite of evening prayer?
“Do not expect, my son, that anyone
Could attain a goal without effort
When a swift- footed camel refuses to move
It is as useless a creature as a nonentity
Fear loss and covet profit
For, those who are at ease receive no benefit”

Anecdote 1

A drop of rain fell from the clouds
And on seeing the wide sea it felt ashamed
Sying: “What am I where there is a sea?
If the sea exists , then I am truly nothing
As it regarded itself with scorn
A shell received it whit all its heart
Heavens exalted it to such a high rank
That it turned into a royal pearl
It found eminence by confessing lowliness
And knocked at the door of nothingness to find existence
A select man of intelligence is modest,
As a branch laden with fruit bends low to the earth

On Humanity

God created you from pure clay
Therefore, O creature, be humble like clay
Do not be greedy, destructive and perverse
You were mad from clay, so be not like fire
W2hen dreadful fire rises in revolt
Poor clay falls low helplessly
When the fromer showed pride, and the latter humility
A monster was made of that one, and a human being of this

Philosophy

The reason why such great men are Awe-stricken
Is because they have not been in the king’s court
You ignorant man are apparently still in the village
When you consider yourself great and titled
Never was a word spoken by the elegant
For which Sa`di did not cite a parable

Addressed to A bu-Bakr Sa`d

You can learn good conduct from the wise
But very little from an ignorant caviler
Hear of your true character from your enemy
For in a friend’s eye whatever you do seems good
Eulogists are not your true friends
Those who reproach you really love you
It is wrong to offer a sick man sugar
What he needs badly is bitter medicine
A morose person can give you a better rebuke
Than jocular and good-humored friend’s
No one can offer you better advice than this
And if you are wise, one hint is enough

Anecdote 21

Once a man sitting on a branch was sowing the thick end
The garden –owner looked and saw him
And said: “this foolish action of the man
Is going to hurt him more than it does me”


Source: The Orchard (Boostan of Sa`di) translated by Dr. Alaedin pazargadi

By Fahime

The Green heritage of the Ancients

The colorful blossoms of the trees, pleasant song of birds, the charming pat of wind that has sprinkled the perfume of the fresh nature and flowers notify us of the arrival of another spring. The nature is the symbol of magnitude of God. In spring, it puts on green and vivacious clothing. In other words, it changes to educate us how to change. Obviously, human being has lost himself in this era. He needs some hints to become conscious of the aim of his creation, the existence of God and all of his gifts. Although spring is repeated every year, this repetition makes human ponder deeply about himself, his action, and his way of living. Iran has been the country of different feasts and traditions so far. In other words, the desire of happiness and being cheerful has been embedded in Iranian’s heart. One of the most important ancient feasts in spring is Nowruz festivities. The deity feature of this celebration is conversion and change. It seems as if it has learned this from spring. There are a wide variety of ancient costumes and traditions in different towns and villages for this feast. In addition, there are many myths about the advent of it.

This ancient celebration is superior to the other feasts because the equality of the name of the month and the day does not matter in this feast. Each year, it begins with chaos, excitement, and commotion but it is not odd and surprising. It is interesting to know that these disorders, commotions, and disarrangements are the manifestation and tradition of this feast. The ancient Iranian believed that agitation and disorder were the basic and root of order and arrangement. Most of the costumes are based on this principle. For example, in “spring – cleaning” at first every thing is in disarrangement then every thing is organized, ordered and cleaned. Some times, they made this disorder deliberately. For example, according to the custom of the “return of the departed,” they believed that the departed would return in Nowruz. Because of this, some men with black mask as symbols came and went in markets and alleys to mix up the span between death and life and erase the annual order. The remnant of this custom is the adventure of “Haji Firooz” whose black face is the symbol of coming of the world of the departed. “Mir Noroozi” was another custom for having fun and amusements .They replaced the position of the master with the position of the slave for fun. The other prevalent custom was “spring- cleaning” .They painted and cleaned the house and replaced old furniture with new ones. The reason was that they believed that the departed`s soul would return in their houses and get happy of the clean house and happy men. In addition, they knew the pitcher as the container of the annual dirt, corruption, and sorrow. In some parts of Iran, the women cooked the best foods and scattered on the graves. Also, they sow seeds such as wheat, barley, rice, bean, pea and corn to bring bliss and fertility. The other custom that was held in the last Wednesday of the year was called “chaharshanbe soori” in Persian. This Persian word means red Wednesday. In this day, people were very happy and decorated the markets and alleys with colorful lamps. In the evening, they put three or seven bushes or the old clothes and ignited them in the streets and deserts. Then, they jumped over the fire and song some poems with the theme of desiring bliss, health, fertility, and cleanliness. They did not extinguish the fire until it turned to ashes. Because they believed that it’s ashes was sacred. On the other hand, the young went to the roof of their neighbour`s house and threw a long shawl into the house from the opening of the room. The owner had to put a gift in the shawl. Of course, this custom was related to the desire of bliss and respect to the departed. The young girls and women did the other custom. In this custom, they wanted the departed to unlock the locks of their life with the key that was under their feet. They stood in the crossroad because it was the symbol of the rout of passing difficulties. Then, they put the key that was the symbol of solving their problems under their feet. At last, they listened secretly to the passersby’s conversation and in the first passersby’s conversation found or guess the solution of their problems. The most precious and common custom was the “tablecloth of Haftsin” They put things on the tablecloth which every one was the symbol of some thing. There were water and glass as the symbol of bliss and brightness, candle as the symbol of resistance of light and heat, the egg as the symbol of breed and embryo, the mirror as the symbol of purity and transparency, apple as the symbol of being secret of love, coin as the symbol of bliss and wealth, fish as the symbol of the name of the last month of the year, bread and Holy Book. Some of the Islamic historian believed that the first day of the New Year had been the start of the caliphate of Imam Ali and the creation of Adam. All of these effects have introduced this feast not only as an ancient and fascinating one but also as a sacred and religious feast. (www.iranianebastan.blogsky.com).

We are the inheritors of Nowruz Festivities and it’s customs. These days, noisy houses, and streets indicate the people who are preparing themselves to embrace another spring and welcome the New Year. Excitement, agitation, and ecstasy have run in the people’s vessels and blood and have brought back to life a new hope and new birth. The mothers attempt to clean the house as much as they can. In addition, the fathers try hard to buy necessary things for the feast and probably ticket for traveling. The children are look forward to having new clothes and taking New Year’s gratuity. In the last hours and moments of the year when the hands of clock goes near the New Year, all of the members of family gather around “ Haftsin Tablecloth”. They read Quran and pray bliss, happiness, and health for all of the people. Above all, a strange feeling overwhelms their hearts because the New Year turns another page of their life and opens a new blank page before their eyes in no time. Most of them are in thought of their deeds in the pervious year and plan new project for the New Year. Some of them complain about the seconds and minutes that tiptoe hastily. In the turn of the year, they congratulate their family, relatives, friends and neighbours on the New Year and crave them an excellent year. One of the best and the holiest convention is visiting each other in this ancient feast. At first, the young visit the old for respect. In addition, the people who had cut their friendship clean their hearts of vengeance and hostility and visit each other openly and the others secure their friendship by exchanging of visits. Altogether, this feast is full of kindness, friendship, and joy. The seasonings of all this humanities are delicious candy, sweets, meals, and colorful and tasty assorted nuts with extreme elation and pleasure.



God has started the life of the earth by spring to be a lesson for men. Spring means a new birth so it reminds us to be born and begin again. It is a good chance to clean our souls completely of dirties like our house and build a pure soul. Nowruz festivities present us many good things. It is a chance for rest, relaxation, recreation, revival of ancient customs and traditions, traveling and experiencing unknown things, planning to make up our pervious neglects and disregard, purification of soul and ourselves and making a fresh and pure self. Because of all of these, it is a rational decision to use and love it as much as we can and not to waste it aimlessly.


By Fahime

The Golden Keys to unlock the Locks of Life

Quotations For Love
1 - Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give. Roosevelt, Eleanor
2 - The giving and receiving of pleasure is a need and an ecstasy. Gibran, Kahli
3 - If you just set people in motion they'll heal themselves. Roth Gabrielle
4 - If anything is sacred the human body is sacred. Whitman, Walt
5 - Every blade of grass has its Angel that bends over it and whispers, "Grow, Grow"The Talmud
6 - Nobody sees a flower-really-it is so small it takes time-we haven't time-and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time. O'Keefe, Georgia
7 - Fear grows out of the things we think; it lives in our minds. Compassion grows out of the things we are, and lives in our hearts. Garrison, Barbara
8 - We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects. Melville, Herman
9 - Love is the beauty of the soul. St. Augustine
10 - He who has a thousand friends has not a friend to spare, And he who has one enemy will meet him everywhere. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Quotations For Aspirations

1 - It's time to start living the life you've imagined. James, Henry
2 - In your heart, keep one still, secret spot where dreams may go and sheltered so may thrive and grow. Driscoll, Louise
3 - Your aspirations are your possibilities. Johnson, Samuel
4 - Be careful what you set your heart on, for it will surely be yours. Emerson, Ralph Waldo
5 - The best is yet to be. Browning, Robert
6 - Beware how you take away hope from any human being. Holmes, Oliver Wendell
7 - Goals that are not written down are just wishes. Anonymous
8 - There are only two ways to live your life. One as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. Einstein, Albert
9 - There comes a moment when you realize that virtually anything is possible- that nothing is too good to be true. Yamoda, Kobi
10 - Trust in dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.Gibran, Kahlil Nothing is more sad than the death of an illusion.Arthur Koestler
For Courage
1 - Every exit is an entry somewhere else. Stoppard, Tom
2 - One sees great things from the valley, only small things from the peak. Chesterton, G. K.
3 - The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely. Jung, Carl
4 - To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive. Stevenson, Robert Louis
5 - Stop thinking and talking about it and there is nothing you will not be able to know.
Zen Paradigm

6 - It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult. Seneca
7 - There is the risk you cannot afford to take, and there is the risk you cannot afford not to take. Drucker, Peter
8 - With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity. Nair, Keshavan 9 - I need to take an emotional breath, step back and remind myself who's actually in charge of my life. Knowlton, Judith
10 - You must do the thing you think you cannot do. Roosevelt, Eleanor
Quotations For Creativity

1 - Creativity is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom while discouragement often nips it at the bud.Osborn, Alex
2 - It takes a lot of time to be a genius, you have to sit around so much doing nothing, really doing nothing.Stein, Gertrude
3 - Sit down before fact as a little child, be prepared to give up every conceived notion, follow humbly wherever and whatever abysses nature leads, or you will learn nothing.Huxley, Thomas
4 - The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. Proust, Marcel
5 - People only see what they are prepared to see.Emerson, Ralph Waldo
6 - The man who has no inner life is a slave to his surroundings.Amiel, henri-Frederic
7 - Water which is too pure has no fish
Ts'ai Ken T'an
8 - Everywhere I go I find a poet has been there before me.Freud, Sigmund
9 - But words are things, and a small drop of ink, falling, like dew, upon a thought produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions think.Lord Byron 10 - "The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention."Julia Cameron
Quotations For Dreams

1 - If you can imagine it you can create it. If you can dream it, you can become it.Ward, William Arthur
2 - When making your choice in life, do not neglect to live.Johnson, Samuel
3 - Dwell as near as possible to the channel in which your life flows.Thoreau, Henry David
4 - Life is a cup to be filled not drained.Anonymous
5 - Expect your every need to be met, expect the answer to every problem, expect abundance on every level, expect to grow spirituallyCaddy, Eileen
6 - Magic has often been thought of us the art of making dreams come true; the art of realizing visions. Yet before we can bring birth to the vision we have to see it.Starhawk
7 - Your own words are the bricks and mortar of the dreams you want to realize. Your words are the greatest power you have. The words you choose and the use establish the life you experience.Croquette Sonia

8 - Where allis but dream, reasoning and arguments are of no use, truth and knowledge nothing. * John Locke
9 - In bed my real love has always been the sleep that rescued me by allowing me to dream. * Luigi Pirandello
10 - You see things; and you say "Why?" But I dream things that never were; and I say "Why not?" * George Bernard Shaw
Quotations For Happiness

1 - In the woods is perpetual youthEmerson, Ralph Waldo
2 - It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end. LeGuin, Ursula
3 - The moment one gives close attention to any thing, even a blade of grass it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.Miller, Henry
4 - To affect the quality of the day; that is the art of life.Thoreau, Henry David
5 - An intellectual improvement arises from leisure.Johnson, Samuel
6 - He who knows enough is enough will always have enough.Lao -tzu
7 - To keep the body in good health is a duty. . . otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.Buddha
8 - It is one of the beautiful compensations of life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.Emerson, Ralph Waldo
9 - Give light, and the darkness will disappear of itself.Erasmus
1- 0 Kindness is the noblest weapon to conquer with.American
Quotations For Joy

1 - Nothing is so bitter that a calm mind cannot find comfort in it.Seneca
2 - Such as are your habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of your mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts
Aurelius, Marcus
3 - It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the more important.Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan
4 - It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues. Lincoln, Abraham
5 - The only joy in the world is to begin.Pavese, Cesare
6 - Celebrate the happiness that friends are always giving, make every day a holiday and celebrate just living.Bradley, Amanda
7 - The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.Dickinson, Emily
8 - If you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the momentO'Keefe, Georgia
9 - The reason angels can fly is that they take themselves so lightly.Chesterton G. K.
10 - Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast-you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.Cantor, Eddie
Quotations for Life

1 - We were not sent into this world to do anything into which we can not put our heart.Ruskin, John
2 - Life is a promise; fulfill it.Mother Theresa
3 - An age is called Dark, not because the light fails to shine, but because people refuse to see it.Michener, James
4 - Great minds have purposes, little minds have wishesIrving, Washington
5 - The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo
6 - The purpose of life is to live a life of purposeLeider, Richard
7 - If you can not find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it? Dogen Belief consists in accepting the affirmations of the soul; unbelief, denying them.Emerson, Ralph Waldo
8 - "I have done my best." That is about all the philosophy of living one needs.Yutang, Lin
9 - Develop an interest in life as you see it; the people, things, literature, music-the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself.Miller, Henry 10 - Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve.King, Martin Luthera

Quotations For Persistence

1 - There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.Shakespeare, William
2 - What doesn't kill me makes me stronger.Camus, Albert
3 - Keep sowing your seed, for you never know which will grow-perhaps it all will.Ecclesiasties
4 - We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.Miyazawa Kenji
5 - Patience is the companion of wisdom St. Augustine 6 - No man can reveal to you ought, but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge. Gibran, Kahlil
7 - If you wait for tomorrow, tomorrow comes. If you don't wait for tomorrow comes.Senegalese proverb

8 - The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook. James, William
9 - Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify.Thoreau, Henry David 10 - A knowledge of the path cannot be substituted for putting one foot in front of the other.Richards
On this shrunken globe, men can no longer live as strangers. "
Adlai E. Stevenson
"A snowflake is one of God's most fragile creations, but look what they can do when they stick together!"
Author Unknown
""Independence"... [is] middle-class blasphemy. We are all dependent on one another, every soul of us on earth. "
G.B. Shaw, Pygmalion, 1912
"I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can." George Bernard Shaw


"Each of us is a being in himself and a being in society, each of us needs to understand himself and understand others, take care of others and be taken care of himself."
Haniel Long

"Every individual has a place to fill in the world and is important in some respect whether he chooses to be so or not." Nathaniel Hawthorne


"A man is called selfish not for pursuing his own good, but for neglecting his neighbor's."
Richard Whately

"The great secret that all old people share is that you really haven't changed in seventy or eighty years. Your body changes, but you don't change at all. And that, of course, causes great confusion."
Doris Lessing

"If confusion is the first step to knowledge, I must be a genius."
Larry Leissner"Today, if you are not confused, you are just not thinking clearly."

"Today, if you are not confused, you are just not thinking clearly." U. Peter


"Perfect courage means doing unwitnessed what we would be capable of with the world looking on." François, Duc de La Rochefoucauld, Maxims, 1678

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. "Franklin Delano Roosevelt

"Bravery is being the only one who knows you're afraid. "Franklin P. Jones

"I do not ask to walk smooth paths nor bear an easy load.I pray for strength and fortitude to climb the rock strewn road.Give me such courage and I can scale the hardest peaks alone,And transform every stumbling block into a stepping stone." Gale Brook Burket

"Because a fellow has failed once or twice, or a dozen times, you don't want to set him down as a failure till he's dead or loses his courage--and that's the same thing. " George Lorimer

"Fear and love can never be experienced at the same time. It is always our choice as to which of these emotions we want." Gerald Jampolsky

"Whatever your sex or position, life is a battle in which you are to show your pluck, and woe be to the coward. Whether passed on a bed of sickness or a tented field, itis ever the same fair play and admits not foolish distinction. Despair and postponement are cowardice and defeat. Men were born to succeed, not to fail." Henry David Thoreau

"No one has yet computed how many imaginary triumphs are silently celebrated by people each year to keep up their courage. " Henry S. Haskins

The worst sorrows in life are not in its losses and misfortunes, but its fears. " A. C. Benson

"The only real progress lies in learning to be wrong all alone. "Albert Camus

"The hardest thing you can do is smile when you are ill, in pain, or depressed. But this no-cost remedy is a necessary first half-step if you are to start on the road to recovery."
Allen Klein Quotations to Cheer You Up
"There are two ways of being creative. One can sing and dance. Or one can create an environment in which singers and dancers flourish." Warren Bennis

"Genius...means little more than the faculty of perceiving in an unhabitual way." William James
"It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation Herman Melville

"The creative person is willing to live with ambiguity. He doesn't need problems solved immediately and can afford to wait for the right ideas. "Abe Tannenbaum

"Be brave enough to live creatively. The creative is the place where no one else hasever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You can't get there by bus, only by hard work, risking, and by not quite knowing what you're doing. What you'll discover will be wonderful: yourself." Alan Alda

"Men must live and create. Live to the point of tears." Albert Camus

"I believe that none of us ever fails at anything. Every time we create something we are successful at creation. However, we do make some poor choices about what we create. "
Anonymous
"If you are going to be original, you are going to be wrong a lot." Anonymous

"We are the music makers.We are the dreamers of dreams,Wandering by lone sea-breakers,And sitting by desolate streams;--World-losers and world-forsakers,On whom the pale moon gleams:Yet we are the movers and shakersOf the world for ever, it seems." Arthur O'Shaughnessy Ode

"It is important to do what you don't know how to do. It is important to see your skills as keeping you from learning what is deepest and most mysterious. If you know how to focus, unfocus. If your tendency is to make sense out of chaos, start chaos."
Carlos Casteneda
"The whole difference between construction and creation is exactly this: that a thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is loved before it exists." Charles Dickens


Crises refine life. In them you discover what you are." Allan K. Chalmers

"In a crisis, don't hide behind anything or anybody. They're going to find you anywayBear Bryant

"In prehistoric times, mankind often had only two choices in crisis situations: fight or flee. In modern times, humor offers us a third alternative; fight, flee - or laugh." Robert Orben

All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move." Proverb, Arabian

"Wearing overalls on weekdays, painting somebody else's house to earn money? You're working class. Wearing overalls at weekends, painting your own house to save money? You're middle class"Sutton, Lawrence

It is impossible for a man to be cheated by anyone but himself." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"It is the nature of ambition to make men liars and cheats, to hide the truth in their breasts, and show, like jugglers, another thing in their mouths." Sallust

"If you don't quit, and don't cheat, and don't run home when trouble arrives, you can only win." Shelley Long

"People go through four stages before any revolutionary development:1. It's nonsense, don't waste my time.2. It's interesting, but not important.3. I always said it was a good idea.4. I thought of it first." Arthur C. Clarke

"The main dangers in this life are the people who want to change everything or nothing."
Astor, Lady Nancy
"That things are changed, and that nothing really perishes, and that the sum of matter remains exactly the same, is sufficiently certain."
Bacon, Francis
"Everybody wants to do something to help, but nobody wants to be the first." - Bailey, Pearl
"Most of us are about as eager to be changed as we were to be born, and go through our changes in a similar state of shock."
Baldwin, James
"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." Baldwin, James

"When you're through changing, you're through." Barton, Bruce

"The things that have come into being change continually. The man with a good memory remembers nothing because he forgets nothing." Bastos, Augusto Roa

"Change your life today. Don't gamble on the future, act now, without delay." Beauvoir, Simone De

Seek not to change the world, but choose to change your mind about the world."
A Course In Miracles

"Change means movement. Movement means friction. Only in the frictionless vacuum of a nonexistent abstract world can movement or change occur without that abrasive friction of conflict." Alinsky, Saul


What to do if you find yourself stuck in a crack in the ground underneath a giant boulder you can't move, with no hope of rescue. Consider how lucky you are that life has been good to you so far. Alternatively, if life hasn't been good to you so far, which given your current circumstances seems more likely, consider how lucky you are that it won't be troubling you much longer." Adams, Douglas

If we do not rise to the challenge of our unique capacity to shape our lives, to seek the kinds of growth that we find individually fulfilling, then we can have no security: we will live in a world of sham, in which our selves are determined by the will of others, in which we will be constantly buffeted and increasingly isolated by the changes round us." O'Neil, Nena

"Accept the challenges, so you may feel the exhilaration of victory." Patton, George S.

"Never underestimate your problem or your ability to deal with it." Schuller, Robert H.

"It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out; it's the grain of sand in your shoe." Service, Robert W.

"To be tested is good. The challenged life may be the best therapist." Sheehy, Gail

"Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are." Bernice Johnson Reagon

"If you want to see something done, just tell some human beings it can't be done. Make it known that it's impossible to fly to the moon, or run 100 meters in 9.9 seconds, or solve Fermat's Last Theorem. Remind the world that no one has ever hit 62 home runs in a season or stuffed 18 people into a Volkswagen. Dangle the undoable in front of the world. Then, consider it done." Merrill Lynch advertisement

"When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure. "Peter Marshall

"Troubles are usually the brooms and shovels that smooth the road to a good man's fortune." St. Basil

Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in awhile, or the light won't come in." Alan Alda

Words are the most powerful thing in the universe... Words are containers. They contain faith, or fear, and they produce after their kind." Charles Capps

The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment." - Dorothy Nevill
"In a sense, words are encyclopedias of ignorance because they freeze perceptions at one moment in history and then insist we continue to use these frozen perceptions when we should be doing better." Edward de Bono Serious Creativity

Our major obligation is not to mistake slogans for solutions. "Edward R. Murrow

"A word is deadWhen it is said,Some say.I say it justBegins to liveThat day."
Emily Dickinson A Word is Dead
"But words are things, and a small drop of ink,Falling like dew, upon a thought, producesThat which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think
George Gordon Byron
If words are to enter men's minds and bear fruit, they must be the right words shaped cunningly to pass men's defenses and explode silently and effectually within their minds. "J. B. Phillips

"However many holy words you read,However many you speak,What good will they do youIf you do not act on upon them?"
Buddha
"Watch your thoughts, they become your wordsWatch your words, they become your actionsWatch your actions, they become your habitsWatch your habits, they become your characterWatch your character, it becomes your destiny."
Anonymous
Life is rather like a tin of sardines, we're all of us looking for the key." Alan Bennett

"Patience is the key to paradise- Albanian Proverb
"Know thyself. A maxim as pernicious as it is ugly. Whoever studies himself arrest his own development. A caterpillar who seeks to know himself would never become a butterfly." Gide, Andre

"All knowledge is ambiguousHabgood, J. S.
Say oh wise man how you have come to such knowledge? Because I was never ashamed to confess my ignorance and ask others." Herder, Johann Gottfried Von



"Knowledge, without common sense, says Lee, is folly; without method, it iswaste; without kindness, it is fanaticism; without religion, it is death. But with common sense, it is wisdom with method, it is power; with clarity, it is beneficence; with religion, it is virtue, and life, and peace." Farrar, Austin

"Knowledge is a treasure, but practice is the key to it." Fuller, Thomas

You have to believe in God before you can say there are things that man was not meant to know. I don't think there's anything man wasn't meant to know. There are just some stupid things that people shouldn't do." Cronenberg, David

"We don't know one-millionth of one percent about anything." Edison, Thomas A.

"A man of knowledge lives by acting, not by thinking about acting." Castaneda, Carlos

"Be sincere and true to your word, serious and careful in your actions; and you will get along even among barbarians, But if you are not sincere and untrustworthy in your speech, frivolous and careless in your actions, how will you get along even among your own neighbors? When stand, see these principles in front of you; in your carriage see them on the yoke. Then you may be sure to get along." Confucius The Analects


"What's terrible is to pretend that the second-rate is first-rate. To pretend that you don't need love when you do; or you like your work when you know quite well you're capable of better." Doris Lessing

"A lie has speed, but truth has endurance. "Edgar J. Mohn

"Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be, because sooner or later, if you are posing, you will forget the pose, and then where are you?" Fanny Brice

"Dare to be true: nothing can need a lie: A fault, which needs it most, grows two thereby." George Herbert

"I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an Honest Man. " George Washington Maxim


In the darkest night to be certain of the dawn ... to go through Hell and to continue to trust in the goodness of God--this is the challenge and the way." Abraham Joshua Heschel A Passion for Truth

"In the depths of winter, I finally learnt in me there was an invincible summer." Albert Camus

"Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don't give up."
Anne Lamott Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
"No matter how difficult life can be the most important thing is to live it with hope." Anonymous"

When the world says, Give up Hope whispers, Try it one more time." Author Unknown

"You've gotta have hope. Without hope life is meaningless. Without hope life is meaning less and less. Author Unknown

"When you say a situation or a person is hopeless, you're slamming the door in the face of God." Charles L. Allen


Surely God would not have created such a being as man, with an ability to grasp the infinite, to exist only for a day! No, no, man was made for immortality." Abraham Lincoln

"I dreamt that I dwelt in marble halls, With vassals and serfs at my side, And of all who assembled within those walls, That I was the hope and the pride."
"The smaller the head, the bigger the dream."
Austin O'malley
To be ignorant of one's ignorance is the malady of ignorance. "A. Bronson Alcott

"He was so learned that he could name a horse in nine languages; so ignorant that he bought a cow to ride on". Franklin, Benjamin
"Never follow the crowd." Bernard M. Baruch

"Follow your own star!" Dante (alighieri)

"1. The information we have is not what we want.2. The information we want is not what we need.3. The information we need is not available."
Finagle's New Laws of Information in 1,001 Logical Laws by Peers
"I find that a great part of the information I have was acquired by looking up something and finding something else on the way."
Franklin P. Adams
"The telephone book is full of facts, but it doesn't contain a single idea." Mortimer J. Adler

"Where is the Life we have lost in living?Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?"
T.S. Eliot

"The greatest gifts you can give your children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence." Denis Waitley

"Independence is essential for permanent but fatal to immediate success." Samuel Butler

"He who binds himself to a joy Does the winged life destroy; But he who kisses the joy as it flies Lives in eternity's sunrise." William Blake

When childhood dies, its corpses are called adults and they enter society, one of the politer names of hell. That is why we dread children, even if we love them, they show us the state of our decay. "Brian Aldiss

"Happy is he who still loves something he loved in the nursery: He has not been broken in two by time; he is not two men, but one, and he has saved not only his soul but his life." G.K. Chesterton

When I grow up I want to be a little boy. "Joseph Heller, Something Happened, 1974

"Whatever you do, don't do it halfway." Beamon, Bob

"Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way." Booker T. Washington

"Experience is a comb which nature gives us when we are bald." Proverb

www.quotationlibrary.com
www.gifts-greeting-card.com

by Fahime

A prayer for the new year

Living God, we acknowledge you as Lord of both morning and night.
You have ordained the evening stars and moon's glow to bring
the serene silences of night's reflection and rest.
You have caused the night's fast to be broken by a flaming Eastern sun,
with the splendors of a new day vividly coloring the sky.

In the stillness of night and at the close of another year in our earthly pilgrimage,
we long for your peace and freedom from our inadequacies.
With the rising sun and the dawn of a New Year,
we are renewed and vow to act on the night's resolutions.
Yet, Holy Creator, we know that you, alone,
have ordered the days and nights and seasons;
and you, alone, are our strength.
In the name of Jesus Christ whose coming we continuously celebrate, we humbly make this petition for the New Year: Like sun and day, shine in our hearts;
Like moon and night, give us loving peace;
Guide us every step of the way on our path to wholeness in you.
Amen.

By fahime

Hymn source: Latin tr. By Anne K. LeCroy (The Episcopal Hymnal 1982, #32)
© 2005 Suzanne Matheny. 

Imam Ali's sayings: part2

Failures are often the results of timidity and fears; disappointments are the results of bashfulness; hours of leisure pass away like summer-clouds, therefore, do not waste opportunity of doing good.

If someone's deeds lower his position, his pedigree cannot elevate it.

There are people who worship Allah to gain His Favors, this is the worship of traders; while there are some who worship Him to keep themselves free from His Wrath, this is the worship of slaves; a few who obey Him out' of their sense of gratitude and obligations, this is the worship of free and noble men.

Narges

Iran :The limpid and Roaring Ocean

Human’s mental and physical puberty encourages him to seek for his identity. One of the prominent yardsticks which clarifies a piece of his identity is the complete perception of the characteristics and history of his country and town. Every man’s hometown forms his personality. In so many words, the values, longings, and ideals of every hometown act as a mould that shape and characterize the moral values, cultural and spiritual condition of the inhabitants. I live in Iran where is known as the cradle of civilization, liberty and intrepidity. I am proud of the knowledge, culture, traditions, and complete religion of my country.

I am always proud of being Iranian because I am aware of the brilliant historical background of my country. When I turn over the pages of the thick album of my country, I find myself debtor of the valorous heroes and heroines. In other words, they fought to raise the flag of this country throughout the world independently. Although Iran was the target of savage attacks of exploiters and colonialists, valor Iranians passed all of these crisises successfully and honorably. Iranians are the volcano of anger against the colonialists and the sea of generosity for oppressed and deprived men. I am proud of walking on the soil which has been made of the daring myrtyre`s blood. They were magnanimous and memorable men whose resistance presented the grandeur, esteem, respect, and unity to this country and guaranteed them. All of the bygone and contemporary historians have confessed that in every period of this country the buds of bravery have sprout in Iranian’s heart and have turned to corpulent trees that have not bent against any powerful destroyer whirlwind.

This Asian part of the world has trained the most prominent Scientifics, poets, writes, scholars, artist, and artisans. All of their services, traces, and effects have been remarkable, rare, and useful around the world. In other words, they have been the bright stars whose light has bestowed enlightenment and intelligence to all of the truth seekers in the dark world of ignorance. I feel joy when I hear that Muhammad Mustafa, the seal of prophets, has said that the men of Fars (Persian) would find access to the faith and knowledge even if they were far in the Pleiades. Our holy Quran has repeated several times that the best kind of jehad and worship is spending day and night in teaching and learning. In addition, the themes of the Iranian literature advise us to learn since being in cradle up to being in deathbed.
We have chosen Islam religion as our infinite ideal and immortal shelter. Because of being royal to it’s orders, we don’t give up the dagger of oppression, infamy and servitude. All of us are trying to claw the strong rope of Islam to ascend the huge mountain of self-discovery and faith.

Iran has the most complete culture and traditions. Iranian have been decorated with the meritorious description such as kindness, hospitality, truthfulness, and generosity. Although there is one language but there are several pleasant accents which are related to different towns and villages of the country. Relatively, each town and village has it’s own culture and traditions. In spite of these variety and difference, they know themselves as iron chains which nothing can destroy their unity. Of course, all of these cultures and traditions end in the vast ocean of the original culture. The Iranian historical buildings, museums, noble architecture are dazzling for foreigner eyes. We can find the trace of Islam and Iranian culture in their design and color. Iranian classical and contemporary literatures are so instructive, noble, inspiring and pleasant that all the world choose them as the model of their living, thinking and writing. All of their heroes, heroines and themes symbolize the culture of the community and it’s inhabitants. Altogether, all of the mentioned things are the small samples of the running Iranian’s culture. Above all, all of them are full of spiritual meanings.

Geographically, Iran has vast varieties in weather and product. Because of this, unique, eye – catching and diversified landscapes in each area have displayed prominently the beauty of the intact and virgin nature of Iran.

I have identified my identity because I have known my country and country fellows. In addition, I have realized my duty to my country and I have found my path to walk in. On the other hand, I have understood that I belong to the land of courage lions. In other words, the heroe`s blood have been running in the contemporary men’s vessels yet. I must try to make up the live or dead heroes`s self-sacrifice as much as I can. The eternal myths and the live martyrs of my country have taught me how to live, act against mischief and die. Above all, they have guided me to serve people as much as I can. They have made and kept this land and it is my turn to do my best to develop it. It is my duty to raise Iranian’s name and country by doing as much as I can. The heroes have left the footsteps and I should pursuit them to get where they lead to. I must be the guard of the soil and values of my country. In other words, I should not let the filthy enemy walk on the pure and holy soil of my country.

by Fahime

Cook the Fried Eggs of Your Life in This Frying pan

Admonish your friend in private, praise him in public
Every advantages has its disadvantages
Affection blinds reason
Anger punishes itself so when angry, count a hundred
An anchor of a ship is always at sea but never learn to swim
The higher the ape goes, the more he shows his tail
Ask no question and you will be told no lies
Better an ass that carries me than a horse that throws me
The bait hides the hook
Barking dog seldom bite
Beauty is but skin deep
Where the bee makes honey, the spider makes poison
Bend while it is a twig
Best cloth may have a moth in it
If you cannot bite, never show your teeth
A room without books is a body without soul
If the blind lead the blind both fall into the pit
Curse and be cursed
Cut off a dog’s tail and he will still be a dog
Nothing is easy to the unwilling
There is no good where every one would be a Lord
Old chains call less than the new
Recoil a little to leap the better
There is remedy for all things but death
It is a silly fish that is caught with the same bait
A watched pot is long in boiling
Zeal without knowledge is a runaway horse



By Fahime

Source: 1001 Famous proverbs And Sayings by P.L STEPHEN

Imam Ali(Salaam be upon him)’s sayings part 1

Like your body your mind also gets tired so refresh it by wise sayings.

I want to teach you five of those things which deserve your greatest anxiety to acquire them: Have hope only in Allah. Be afraid of nothing but sins. If you do not know a thing never feel ashamed to admit ignorance. If you do not know a thing never hesitate or feel ashamed to learn it. Acquire patience and endurance because their relation with true faith is that of a head to a body, a body is of no use without a head, similarly true faith can be of no use without attributes of resignation, endurance and patience.

He is the wisest and the most knowing man who advises people not to lose hope and faith in the Mercy of Allah and not to be too sure and over-confident of immunity from His Wrath and Punishment.

by Narges

The Password of God`s kingdom

GOD resembles a sun and is the source of the immortal and infinitive powerful light. He is the only light who shines in the sky of our life in all of the moments. Human is a kind of ignorant creature .In a shiny day, he stares at sun directly and voraciously to see sun but his eyesight limitation is a barrier to do this by unarmed eyes. As a result of this, he see just it’s light during the day and in cloudy day or night, he claims that there is no sun in the sky because there is no light. He is ignorant of the existence of sun which shines even at night. Unfortunately, he doesn’t comprehend it’s vital role in his life unless he deprives of this living source but it maybe have become too late. Life is a battlefield and has a lot of upside and downside. When the dark clouds of problems have covered the sky of his life, human resembles a blind man who is looking for his stick in a vast desert. He tries every superficial and material way to find a hand to help but he cannot. In another words, he has ignored his inside and The Lord who has made a room in his heart. He never feels full or gets content of the earthy love, joy and peace. GOD is the fountain of immortal love and help for us. If human believes that GOD lives in himself forever, he does not deny the existence of GOD in critical moment because of he knows that he is not so perfect to understand God’s will. If he experiences and feels GOD, he will fall in love with GOD. Then nothing can annihilate this real amorous and mystical relationship. How enjoyable it is that his hellish and earthy life turns into the heavenly moments which has been perfumed with GOD`S existence. The roaring waves of GOD`S love submerge human in the never-ending and profound sea of real immortal tranquility, joy and devotion forever. A child never scares of the roaring sea when he is with his mother .So, if you are really ready to meet GOD, let`s be a child whose mother is The Lord. Let us stand in the shore to be patted by the waves of our mother’s will and do ourselves deity
by Fahime

Much Ado for Nothing

Let us imagine the human beings whom are temporary inhabitants of this vast world.
Probably, the common images in our minds are the anxious, fretful, and tortured men who are parallel to restless and infirm babies in broken cradles. The 20th century has presented civilization as well as anxiety and nervous breakdown. Most of the contemporary men feel a gap in their souls and hearts. Nowadays, the shadow of fear and nervousness has made them eager of some thing that heals their anxious and restless souls. Have we ever asked ourselves why we are so worry? I am sure that most of the reasons are included in reaching to any kind of success and destruction of misery. what are the definitions of success and misery in your mind? Have you ever thought of their value? Do you know how much they cost? Unfortunately, most humans are unable to comprehend the value of things. Surely, the answer is less than the price that we are paying for them. We are paying the finite moments of our life and health that are the most precious of God carelessly. What will be the benefit of gaining all of the favorite items of our fancy successes and wishes list if gastric ulcer, heart attack and high blood pressure bite our health? Every day is a new birth for a wise man. On the contrary, a foolish man wastes “today” by regretting the bitter memories that are related to the “past time” and vague anxiety of the “future time”. Does he know that all of his favorite successes and whishes have been imbedded in the short and transient way of the “present time”? Zounds! How late we understand the real meaning of life. Life is the moments and hours of the “present time” which we pray to God for spending them as fast as possible. It is a blunder to evaluate the hidden and vague matters of the far future and ignore the present time that has been presented to us. The main reason of all of the mental and physical pains is in our insights and attitudes that make our life. We are as we think so we should accept our uniqueness in the world. This feeling brings coolness and removes anxiety that is a barrier for reaching success.The reasonable coolness let us know ourselves and try to use our hidden potentials. Scientists believe that humans just use ten percent of their brains and ability and the rest is not active. We must accept ourselves as we are and be thankful for what we are bestowed. On the other hand, it is a good advice to give up the incurable pains, trust in God, and accept them. Milton says that misfortune is in tolerance of being blind not being blind in it self. In addition, how good it is to learn not to feel offence against ingratitude. If we believe that our good service to people is not only to them but also to inner self-content, we will overcome the offence and anxiety. Let`s wash our hearts of all of the revenges and feel peace in our souls. Let`s be ready for the worst results of our works then we experience relaxation. Relaxation make us evaluate the problems and find it`s resolution. Let`s remind ourselves every day that every man can spend the day with joy, pleasure, love and purity. The real happiness is in believing God, resting well, smiling, and having fun in our life.

By Fahime