Compromise is necessary so long as you never give up who you are. That isn't compromise; that's spiritual death. You have to remain true to yourself. Charles de Lint More Quotes by Charles de Lint More Quotes From Charles de Lint I do believe in an everyday sort of magic -- the inexplicable connectedness we sometimes experience with places, people, works of art and the like; the eerie appropriateness of moments of synchronicity; the whispered voice, the hidden presence, when we think we're alone. Charles de Lint nature believe art It's all a matter of paying attention, being awake in the present moment, and not expecting a huge payoff. The magic in this world seems to work in whispers and small kindnesses. Charles de Lint kindness inspirational life You've got to find yourself first. Everything else'll follow. Charles de Lint finding-yourself spiritual life I want to be magic. I want to touch the heart of the world and make it smile. I want to be a friend of elves and live in a tree. Or under a hill. I want to marry a moonbeam and hear the stars sing. I don't want to pretend at magic anymore. I want to be magic. Charles de Lint stars heart tree I don't want to live in the kind of world where we don't look out for each other. Not just the people that are close to us, but anybody who needs a helping hand. I cant change the way anybody else thinks, or what they choose to do, but I can do my bit. Charles de Lint insperational inspirational thinking Don't forget - no one else sees the world the way you do, so no one else can tell the stories that you have to tell. Charles de Lint beautiful-life healing stories But what the evil people do, that's their responsibility. The burden they have to carry. Sure, when we see 'em starting on causing some hurt, we've got to try and stop 'em, but mostly what the rest of us should be concerning ourselves with is doing right by others. Every time you do a good turn, you shine the light a little further into the dark. And the thing is, even when we're gone, that light's going to keep shining on, pushing the shadows back. Charles de Lint responsibility hurt dark We're so quick to cut away pieces of ourselves to suit a particular relationship, a job, a circle of friends, incessantly editing who we are until we fit in. Charles de Lint cutting editing jobs Look inside yourself for the answers - you're the only one who knows what's best for you. Everybody else is only guessing. Charles de Lint guessing answers looks There are people who take the heart out of you, and there are people who put it back. Charles de Lint heart friendship people If you don't believe that the world has a heart, then you won't hear it beating, you won't think it's alive and you won't consider what you're doing to it. Charles de Lint heart believe thinking Life is like art. You have to work hard to keep it simple and still have meaning. Charles de Lint hard-work simple art There are no happy endings... There are no endings, happy or otherwise. We all have our own stories which are just part of the one Story that binds both this world and Faerie. Sometimes we step into each others stories - perhaps just for a few minutes, perhaps for years - and then we step out of them again. But all the while, the Story just goes on. Charles de Lint goes-on stories years Tattoos...are the stories in your heart, written on your skin. Charles de Lint tattoo skins heart I've always been aware of the otherworld, of spirits that exist in that twilight place that lies in the corner of our eyes, of fairie and stranger things still that we spy only when we're not really paying attention to them, whispers and flickering shadows, here one moment, gone the instant we turn our heads for a closer look. But I couldn't always find them. And when I did, for a long time I thought they were only this excess of imagination that I carry around inside me, that somehow it was leaking out of me into the world. Charles de Lint eye twilight lying Remember the quiet wonders. The world has more need of them than it has for warriors. Charles de Lint warrior world needs We call them faerie. We don't believe in them. Our loss. Charles de Lint fairy loss believe It is so easy for your people to forget that everything has a spirit, that all are equal. That magic and mystery are a part of your lives, not something to store away in a child's bedroom, or to use as an escape from your lives. Charles de Lint magic children people Everything has a spirit and it's all connected. If you think about that, if you live your life by it, then you're less likely to cause any hurt. It's like how our bodies go back into the ground when we die, so that connects us to the earth. If you dump trash, you're dumping it on your and my ancestors. Or to bring it down to its simplest level: treat everything and everybody the way you want to be treated, because when you hurt someone, you're only hurting yourself. Charles de Lint live-your-life hurt thinking Beauty isn't what you see on TV or in magazine ads or even necessarily in art galleries. It's a lot deeper and a lot simpler than that. It's realizing the goodness of things, it's leaving the world a little better than it was before you got here. It's appreciating the inspiration of the world around you and trying to inspire others. Charles de Lint appreciate inspiration art
