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

"When you are compassionate with yourself, you trust in your soul, which you let guide your life. Your soul knows the geography of your destiny better than you do." -John O'Donahue

Vocation at its deepest level is "This is something I can't not do, for reasons I'm unable to explain...and don't fully understand myself but that are nonetheless compelling." -Parker Palmer

"From that hour, I was certain that existence is meaningful and that, therefore, my life, in self-surrender, had a goal. Led by Ariadne's thread of my answer through the labyrinth of Life, I came to a time and place where I realized that the Way leads to a triumph which is a catastrophe, and to a catastrophe which is a triumph, that the price for committing one's life would be reproach, and that the only elevation possible to man lies in the depths of humiliation. After that, the word 'courage' lost its meaning, since nothing could be taken from me."    -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

"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

"Courage? On the level where the only thing that counts is a man's loyalty to himself, the word has no meaning. Was he brave? No, just logical." -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

Help Me - Johnny Cash