Noke nō, noke nō! Aunty Nona Beamer, revered Hawaiian cultural expert (1923-2008) “Aunty Nona, my hānai mother, my adopted mother, used to often say “Noke nō, noke nō!” Which means persevere, persevere. Always keep going, keep moving forward despite any adversity, lumps, and bumps that occur in life. Things that…

If the success or failure of this planet, and of human beings depended on how I am and what I do? How would I be? What would I do? R. Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He was the creator of…

To refuse to engage with those who disagree is to refuse to influence history. Emily Provance, a Quaker minister who has been traveling the world compiling a collection of wisdom from Quaker communities   “One of the people that I have gotten to know as a wonderful mentor and a…

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare. It is because we do not dare that things are difficult. Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 B.C.E. – 65 A.D.) was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist   “This quote especially touches me in the time we’re in…

If you want to understand what’s most important to a society, don’t examine its art or literature. Simply look at its biggest buildings. Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) American scholar specializing in comparative mythology and religion.   “Campbell said this more than 40 years ago. At that time the biggest buildings were…

Most people guard against going into the fire, and so end up in it. Those who love the water of pleasure and make it their devotion are cheated with this reversal. The trickery goes further. The voice of the fire tells the truth saying, I am not fire. I am…

You must return with the bliss and integrate it. Joseph Campbell, Mythologist and author of Hero with a Thousand Faces   “This is a favorite quote for me, one that I hold in my heart and try to live by. It is one of the less familiar quotes by Joseph…

It is a way to attain a life without boundaries. An epigraph from Let Me Tell You What A Poem Brings by Juan Felipe Herrera   “What I love about this epigraph is it’s so absolutely accurate. We can’t live every life; we only have our own. For me this quote…

Hope is the hardest love we carry Jane Hirschfield, poet, author of The Lives of the Heart “This line from a Jane Hirschfield poem called ‘Hope is the Heart’ has been intensely on my mind for the last couple of weeks. I’ve been thinking about the planet in crisis and…

Being empathic is a complex, demanding, strong yet subtle and gentle way of being. Carl Rogers (1902-1987), psychologist and one of the founders of the humanistic approach to psychology. He was very influential in the study of empathy. “Many times you’ll hear that empathy is weak or kind of wimpy.…