"Technique and ability alone do not get you to the top - it is the willpower that is the most important. This willpower you cannot buy with money or be given by others - it rises from your heart." — Junko Tabei, Japanese mountain-climber, born September 22, 1939
"Don’t search for heaven and hell in the future. Both are now present. Whenever we manage to love without expectations, calculations, negotiations, we are indeed in heaven. Whenever we fight, hate, we are in hell." — Shams Tabrizi, Persian Muslim, spiritual instructor of Rumi, born 1185
"The real dirt is not outside, but inside, in our hearts. We can wash all stains with water. The only one we can’t remove is the grudge and the bad intentions sticking to our hearts." — Shams Tabrizi, Persian Muslim, spiritual instructor of Rumi, died 1248
"Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark." — Rabindranath Tagore, Bengali polymath, born May 7, 1861
"I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy." — Rabindranath Tagore, Bengali polymath, born May 7, 1861
"Love does not claim possession, but gives freedom." — Rabindranath Tagore, Bengali polymath, died August 7, 1941
"You got to crack the code. If you crack the code, you can go on to Tango." — Anu Tali, Estonian conductor, born June 18, 1972
"One should not appoint a leader over a community unless he has a basket of reptiles hanging behind him (i.e.: shameful things in his past), so that if he becomes arrogant, people may say to him: look behind you." — The Talmud, Bavli, Yona 22b
"You don’t see things as they are. You see things as you are." — The Talmud, Central text of Rabbinic Judaism
"The Talmud records a debate: when praying should one concentrate on earth or heaven? The issue is resolved by teaching that one who prays directs his eyes below and his heart above." — The Talmud, Central text of Rabbinic Judaism
"Into the well from which you have drunk, do not throw any stones." — The Talmud, Central text of Rabbinic Judaism, (Babylonian), Bava Kama 92b)
"Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, grow, grow." — The Talmud, Central text of Rabbinic Judaism