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

"You wake from dreams of doom and--for a moment--you know: beyond all the noise and gestures, the only real thing, love's calm and unwavering flame in the half-light of an early dawn."  -Dag Hammarskjold

"It merely happens to one man and not to others...but he can take no credit to himself for the gifts and responsibility assigned to him...destiny is something not to be desired and not to be avoided...it is a mystery, not contrary to reason, for it implies that the world, and the course of human history, have meaning."  -Dag Hammarskjold

"Concerning the hardness of the heart--and its littleness--Let me read with open eyes the book my days are writing--and learn."  -Dag Hammarskjold

You dare your yes--and experience a meaning. You repeat your yes--and all things acquire a meaning. When everything has a meaning, how can you live anything but a yes. -Dag Hammarkjold

"All first-hand experience is valuable, and he who has given up looking for it will one day find that he lacks what he needs: a closed mind is a weakness, and he who approaches persons, or painting, or poetry without the youthful ambition to learn a new language and so gain access to someone else's perspective on life, let him beware." -Dag Hammarskjold

"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

"Destined...a reward--or a price--to be committed to a task in comparison with which nothing I could seek for myself is of any value." -Dag Hammarskjold