Free Soul

Oh, bird of my soul, fly away now, 

For I possess a hundred fortified towers. ~Rumi

I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will. ~Charlotte Bronte

Guiding Light

Light gives of itself freely, filling all available space. It does not seek anything in return; it asks not whether you are friend or foe. It gives of itself 

and is not thereby diminished. ~Michael Strassfeld

A sensible man will remember that the eyes

may be confused in two ways - by a change

from light to darkness or from darkness to 

light; and he will recognize that the same

thing happens to the soul. ~Plato

Seeking Pleasant Shores

Pleasant it is, when over a great sea the winds trouble the waters, to gaze from shore upon another's great tribulation; not because any man's troubles are a delectable joy, but because to perceive you are free of them yourself is pleasant. ~Lucretius

We live on an island surrounded by a sea of ignorance. A our island of knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance. ~John Archibald Wheeler

Reality Check

It is better to meet danger than wait for it.

He that is on a lee shore, and foresees a

hurricane, stands out to sea and encounters

a storm to avoid a shipwreck. ~Charles Caleb Colton

In order to speak about all and to all, one has

to speak of what all know and of the reality

common to us all. The sea, rains, necessity,

desire, the struggle against death...these are

the things that unite us all. ~Albert Camus

Scavenger by the Sea

Every time we walk along a beach some ancient 

urge disturbs us so that we find ourselves

shedding shoes and garments or scavenging

among seaweed and whitened timbers like

 the homesick refugees of a long war. ~Loren Eiseley

Long before we saw the sea, its spray was on our lips, and showered salt rain upon us. ~Charles Dickens

Study in the Clouds

Clouds come floating into my life, no longer

to carry rain or usher storm, but to add

color to my sunset sky. ~Rabindranath Tagore

Summer is the annual permission slip to be lazy. 

To do nothing and have it count for something. 

To lie in the grass and count the stars. 

To sit on a branch and study the clouds. ~Regina Brett

Prosperous Voyage

The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity. ~Walt Whitman

It is not the ship so much as the skillful sailing that assures the prosperous voyage. ~George William Curtis

Wonder Spell

 The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its

net of wonder forever. ~Jacques Yves Cousteau 

And when the day arrives I'll become the sky and I'll become the sea and the sea will come to kiss me for I am going home. Nothing can stop me now. ~Trent Reznor

Blessing Flight

There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more. ~Lord Byron

How blessings brighten as they take 

their flight. ~Edward Young

Fishing on the Beach

A beach is not only a sweep of sand, 

but shells of sea creatures, the sea glass, 

the seaweed, the incongruous objects 

washed up by the ocean. ~Henry Grunwald

To go out with the setting sun on an empty beach 

is to truly embrace your solitude. ~Jeanne Moreau

Nature's Liberty

Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant

of rapid growth. ~George Washington

There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that

makes human nature rise above itself, in 

acts of bravery and heroism. ~Alexander Hamilton

Sounds of Patience

The three great elemental sounds in nature are the sound of rain, the sound of wind in a primeval wood, and the sound of outer ocean on a beach. ~Henry Beston

The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. One should lie empty, open, and choice-less as a beach - waiting for a gift from the sea. ~Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Distant Fields

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy,

 if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice,

 for your soul is alive. ~Eleonora Duse

Start where you are. Distant fields always

look greener, but opportunity lies right

where you are. Take advantage of very

opportunity of service. ~Robert Collier

Playing On The Seashore

I love the beach. I love the sea. All my life 

I live within - in front of the sea. ~Rafael Nadal

I do not know what I may appear to the

world, but to myself I seem to have been

only like a boy playing on the seashore, and

diverting myself in now and then finding a

smoother pebble or a prettier shell than 

ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay

all undiscovered before me. ~Isaac Newton