The Royal Mountain

"Looking upon myself from the perspective of society, I am an average person. Facing myself intimately, immediately, I regard myself as unique, as exceedingly precious, not to be exchanged for anything else. No one will live my life for me, no one will think my thoughts for me or dream my dreams. In the eyes of the world, I am an average man. But to my heart I am not an average man. To my heart I am of great moment. The challenge I face is how to actualize the quiet eminence of my being." -Abraham Joshua Heschel

Tired And lonely, So tired The heart aches. Meltwater trickles Down the rocks, The fingers are numb, The knees tremble. It is now, Now, that you must not give in. On the path of the others Are resting places, Places in the sun Where they can meet, But this Is your path. And it is now, Now, that you must not fail. Weep If you can, Weep But do not complain. The way chose you. And you must be thankful. -Dag Hammarskjoldb

Humility is just as much the opposite of self-abasement as it is of self-exaltation. To be humble is not to make comparisons. Secure in its reality, the self is neither better nor worse, bigger nor smaller, than anything else in the universe. It is--is nothing, yet at the same time one with everything. It is in this sense that humility is absolute self-effacement. To be nothing in the self-effacement of humility, yet, for the sake of the task, to embody its whole weight and importance in your bearing, as the one who has been called to undertake it. To give to people, works, poetry, art, what the self can contribute, and to take, simply and freely, what belongs to it by reason of its identity. Praise and blame, the winds of success and adversity, blow over such a life without leaving a trace or upsetting its balance. Towards this, so help me, God--    -Dag Hammarskjold

"Did you choose your words carefully enough, what impression did you make, did they think you were trying to be ingratiating, etc.? It is questions like these which keep you awake. Are you no longer confident that your instinctive reactions will guide you right? If so, you know why. You have allowed your hunger for 'justice' to make you self-conscious, so that, in the performance of your task, you no longer forget yourself. So, and only so, can you be wounded by the opinions of the crowd." -Dag Hammarskjold

Anxious for the good opinion of others, and jealous of the possibility that they may become 'famous', you have lowered yourself to wondering what will happen in the end to what you have done and been. How dead can a man be behind a façade of great ability, loyalty--and ambition! Bless your uneasiness as a sign that there is still life in you.  -Dag Hammarskjold

"This is a freedom in the midst of action, a stillness, in the midst of other human beings. The mystery is a constant reality to him who, in this world, is free from self-concern, a reality that grows peaceful and mature before the receptive attention of assent. In our era, the road to holiness necessarily passes through the world of action." -Dag Hammarkjold

"Do you still need to evoke memories of a self-imposed humiliation in order to extinguish a smoldering self-admiration? To be pure in heart, among other things, means to have freed yourself from all such half-measures: from a tone of voice which places you in the limelight, a furtive acceptance of some desire of the flesh which ignores the desire of the spirit, a self-righteous reaction to others in their moments of weakness. Look at yourself in that mirror when you wish to be praised--or to judge. Do so without despairing." -Dag Hammarskjold