Remember to be gentle with yourself and others. We are all children of chance and none can say why some fields will blossom while others lay brown beneath the August sun. Kent Nerburn More Quotes by Kent Nerburn More Quotes From Kent Nerburn Great joys make us love the world. Great sadnesses make us understand the world. Kent Nerburn remembrance sadness healing It is not our task to judge the worthiness of our path; it is our task to walk our path with worthiness. Kent Nerburn tasks judging path Our actions in this world, and our ability to rise above the limits of our own self-interest, live on far beyond us and play their humble part in shaping a world of spirituality and peace. Kent Nerburn self humble play The human being is a surprisingly resilient organism. We are impelled toward health not sickness. Your spirit, as surely as your body, will try to heal....So you should not fear tragedy and suffering. Like love, they make you more a part of the human family. From them can come your greatest creativity. They are the fire that burns you pure. Kent Nerburn like-love creativity fire Giving is a miracle that can transform the heaviest of hearts. Two people, who moments before lived in separate worlds of private concerns, suddenly meet each other over a simple act of sharing. The world expands, a moment of goodness is created, and something new comes into being where before there was nothing... But true giving is not an economic exchange; it is a generative act. It does not subtract from what we have; it multiplies the effect we can have in the world. Kent Nerburn simple heart two Our brightest dreams and our greatest fears are just over the horizon. Kent Nerburn horizon greatest-fear dream You want to know how to be like indians? Live close to the earth. Get rid of some of your things. Help each other. Talk to the creator. Be quiet more. Listen to the earth instead of building things on it all the time. Kent Nerburn building-things earth want Love has its own time, its own season, and its own reasons from coming and going. You cannot bribe it or coerce it or reason it into staying. You can only embrace it when it arrives and give it away when it comes to you. Kent Nerburn wisdom wise love Forgiveness is an embrace, across all barriers, against all odds, in defiance of all that is mean and petty and vindictive and cruel in this life. Kent Nerburn embrace odds mean We are born male. We must learn to be men. Remember, strength is a force. It is an attribute of the heart. Its opposite is not weakness and fear, but confusion, lack of clarity, and lack of sound intention. If you are able to discern the path with heart and follow it even when at the moment it seems wrong, then and only then are you strong. Remember the words of Tao te ching. "The only true strength is a strength that people do not fear." Strength based in force is a strength people fear. Strength based in love is a strength people crave. Kent Nerburn strong fear heart The true measure of your education is not what you know, but how you share what you know with others. Kent Nerburn live-with-passion share knows In times past there were rituals of passage that conducted a boy into manhood, where other men passed along the wisdom and responsibilities that needed to be shared. But today we have no rituals. We are not conducted into manhood; we simply find ourselves there. Kent Nerburn responsibility boys past When all the words have been written, and all the phrases have been spoken, the great mystery of life will still remain. We may map the terrains of our lives, measure the farthest reaches of the universe, but no amount of searching will ever reveal for certain whether we are all children of chance or part of a great design. And who among us would have it otherwise? Who would wish to take the mystery out of the experience of looking into a newborn infant's eyes? Kent Nerburn design eye children Money is central to our lives. Yet money is not of central importance. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the lasting values that make life worth living. Kent Nerburn importance lasting life We may not all live holy lives, but we live in a world alive with holy moments. Kent Nerburn alive may world When you are here, you are here. When you are gone, you are gone. It isn't a problem to be gone, so long as you are really here when you're here. Kent Nerburn gone attention long It is much easier to become a father than to be one. Kent Nerburn father-son fathers-day dad It is not easy for a man to be as great as a mountain or a forest. But that is why the creator gave them to us as teachers. Now that I am old I Iook once more toward them for lessons, instead of trying to understand the ways of men. They tell me to be patient. They tell me I cannot change what is, I can only hope to change what will become. Let the grasses grow over our scars, they say, and let flowers bloom over our wounds. Kent Nerburn flower change teacher Life is an endlessly creative experience, and we are shaping ourselves at every moment by every decision we make. Kent Nerburn decisions-we-make creativity choices The Buddhists have a story about blind men trying to describe an elephant by feeling it's various parts, and each describes the elephant according to the part he touched. That is the way we can hope to know God. Kent Nerburn buddhist elephants men
