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Inspirational Quotes

Megan Mcdonough

This morning I went to add a new saying to my “favorite quotes” folder and found that the file was gone. I’ve been adding to that document for over a decade, collecting all the sayings that touched my heart, gave me inspiration, or provided a new perspective. Now the inspirational document is gone—probably accidentally erased when I was cleaning up the hard drive. It’s like a metaphor for life. Sometimes we lose inspiration.

I am not happy about the loss of the document. Maybe I’ll search through my backups and see if it was somehow captured there, although that just feels like too much of a distraction right now.

But then inspiration struck…

Why not ask my readers to share their favorite quotes? That way, I can start a whole new document, and we can share as a community our favorite quotes that inspires us. We’ll all benefit!

To share your favorite quotes and sayings, just hit the reply button below.

Inspiration strikes at odd times, and often when you’re feeling low (like when data is lost). The loss forces you to think differently, to try a new approach, to consider a way around the obstacle. I had no idea I was going to write this blog post until inspiration struck with the loss of my inspirational document (that irony is not lost on me).

Following your inspiration when it arises ensures that more will come. Why would inspiration visit if it kept hitting a brick wall?

The quote I was getting ready to add to my lost document came from a good friend and business colleague, Leslie Nolen. Leslie had sent me a beautiful card when my sister passed away with the Sufi quote:

The heart weeps for what it has lost;
The soul laughs for what it has gained.

That will be the first quote in my new “favorite sayings” folder. How about helping me build that new inspirational document? What’s your favorite quote?

[tags]inspirational quotes, favorite quote, inspiration, Sufi quote, favorite sayings[/tags]

Author: Megan Mcdonough

People with big ideas face a constant challenge: how to transform that vision into a new and better reality. Whether it’s change in your personal life or success in your business, vision needs action (and rest) to manifest.

15 Responses to “Inspirational Quotes”

  1. Here’s a keeper from a friend of mine that showed up in my inbox today:

    All is Well

    Death is nothing at all,
    I have only slipped into the next room
    I am I and you are you
    Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
    Call me by my old familiar name,
    Speak to me in the easy way which you always used Put no difference in your tone, Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
    Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
    Let my name be ever the household word that it always was, Let it be spoken without effect, without the trace of shadow on it.
    Life means all that it ever meant.
    It is the same as it ever was, there is unbroken continuity.
    Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
    I am waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, Just around the corner.
    All is well.

    By Henry Scott Holland (1847-1918)
    Canon of St Paul’s Cathedral

  2. Funny thing, I too collected quotes for years. It was a habit I picked up from my dad who’s been doing the same for as long as I can remember (although that’s not saying a lot LOL 😉

    He writes them down in his notebooks and journals. Something I know you have an entire shelf full as you confessed to in a previous post. Maybe writing them down would prevent the future loss of greatness and inspiration.

    Actually, a few years ago, my dad gave me a real treasure for Christmas. He actually collected and consolidated the very best of all these quotes, passages and what he likes to refer to as “Universal Truths”, and wrote them all down in a beautiful bound book with mounted photos from his travels (he’s also a photographer).

    After reading your post, I ran to grab the book to see if I could find a gold nugget to share, however they are almost all long passages at either a full page or multiple paragraphs. Save one in particular…

    “Hang out a lot with awakened beings. Humans, trees, mountains, rivers and oceans.”

    Looking forward to seeing what others have to share.

  3. Thanks Segovia! I love what your Dad gave you–how very sweet and thoughtful. It’s a gift from the heart….

  4. Andria Davis says:

    “There are no mistakes, only lessons.” From a fortune cookie 🙂

  5. Jean Fraser says:

    Hi Megan,

    I couldn’t pick just one..

    “We turn not older with years but newer every day.”
    Emily Dickinson

    “Ask not what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive…then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
    Howard Thurman

    “We always know what to do when we are in touch with life as it is.”
    Charlotte Joko Beck

    Thanks for this, Megan – a nice way to start the day.

  6. Hi Andria,

    I thoroughly enjoyed looking through your website and seeing the wonderful yoga work you do. It makes me want to get outside instead of sitting of front of this computer!!

    Thanks for the quote. This little fortune cookies are packed with wisdom…

    Hi Jean,

    As always, a pleasure to hear from you. How’s the new dog? We just got a new black lab named Onyx. What a sweetheart she is! Thanks for the quotes. My favorite is the one by Charlotte. That’s good for me to keep in mind when I am working feverishly to try and figure out what to do!

  7. Jean Fraser says:

    Megan,

    Wow, you have a good memory. My dog Lucy is ever more wonderful by the day. She has the inquisitive look at the moment, becauseI did have to get the dreaded suitcase out, as tomorrow I am traveling for the first time to present at a conference. I’ll say one thing about the process so far: The devil is in the details. Congratulations on your new addition of Onyx! A beautiful name. I look forward to the sneak peek – many thanks.

    Here’s one more. “All life requires a rhythm of rest. If we do not rest, we forget who we are.” Wayne Muller

    Best,
    Jean

  8. Leslie Nolen says:

    Megan, I also like the quote you’ve got at http://www.mindfulmarketing.net – my paraphrase: “Nothing wrong with castles in the air – as long as you add a foundation.”

    One of my all-time fave quotes is just a variation on that theme: “Hope is not a plan.”

    And from Henry Ford: “A business that makes nothing but money is a poor kind of business.”

    And last but not least: “COOKIES!!! UMM-NUM-NUM-NUM-NUM!!!” – Cookie Monster

  9. Hope your presentation went well, Jean! Thanks for the quote as well, love that one…

  10. Too funny Leslie, thanks for including a little fun with the Cookie Monster quote. Luv it!

  11. Rick Widdifield says:

    Hi Megan, Well, you asked…I’ve got more but don’t want to dump them all on you at once:

    “Moments of transcendence, intervals of yearning” –unknown

    Yoga is like music. The rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind, and the harmony of the soul create the symphony of life – B.K.S. Iyengar

    “Breathe, Relax, Feel, Watch, Allow”
    –Stephen Cope

    “Nobody sees a flower –really — it is so small it takes time —
    we haven’t time — and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.”
    –Georgia O’Keeffe

    “Love is metaphysical gravity.” (R. Buckminster Fuller)

    If you’re never scared or embarrassed or hurt, it means you never take any chances. –Julia Sorel 1926

    Life Shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage. –Anais Nin

    Meditation is just support to encourage us to let go of ego and just be with things as they are.
    Tishan

    The greatest cost of the specialization of technological life — and out of which all other damages are birthed — is arguably our separation from the practical and enriching sense of ourselves as embodied beings. When
    we are alienated from the wisdom of the body, our lives become theoretical and abstract, and we are distanced from the direct, felt sense of living.”–Richard Strozzi-Heckler

    Everyone of us is basically uninformed but not stupid. We just learn at different speeds and in different ways. So Just slow down. Have a cup of tea. Relax. You don’t understand everything overnight. It’s OK! –Tasogare Shinju

    May we all be happy
    May we all be safe
    May we all be free from suffering
    May we all be at peace.

    “I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.” –Frank Lloyd Wright

    “Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.” –Groucho Marx

  12. HI Megan,
    I have a big folder full of quotes. These come from a document I call Inspiration. Hard to chose one. Good things come in threes. Blessings for a Happy New Year!

    “Live like there’s no tomorrow,
    Love like you’ve never been hurt, and
    Dance like no one is watching.”

    “People think I’m disciplined. It is not discipline. It is devotion. There is a great difference.”
    Luciano Pavarotti

    “There are only two ways to live your life.
    One is as though nothing is a miracle.
    The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
    Albert Einstein

  13. Catherine Reid says:

    Hi Megan,

    Because you’ve given so much to the yoga community, and to me, I’m sending you my whole file of inspirational quotes. Like you, I’ve been collecting it for years. I like to read one as my students settle into Savasana.

    Enjoy,
    Catherine Reid

    P.S. I couldn’t figure out how to attach it to this post, so I’m sending it in a separate email.

  14. Thanks Rick and Mary Lou for those additions to the inspiration file! I especially related to the technology quote (feel that in my body when I spend too much mental time on the laptop), calling nature God, and the difference between discipline and devotion. Wonderful!

    I came across another today I thought you all would appreciate:

    Great hearts steadily send forth the secret forces that incessantly draw great events. –Ralph Waldo Emerson

    Thanks for sharing from your great heart:-)

    Megan

  15. Catherine, what a wonderful gift and very kind words! Here’s one that touches my heart today:

    I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble. -Helen Keller

    Thank you for sharing that inspirational file.

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