“It’s The Way You Carry It”
“I am sometimes amazed at what we did not fully grasp in kindergarten. In the years I was a parish minister I was always taken aback when someone came to me and said, ‘I’ve just come from the doctor and he told me I have only a limited time to live’. I was always tempted to shout ‘WHAT? You didn’t know? You had to pay a doctor to tell you – at your age? Where were you the week in kindergarten when you got the little cup with the cotton and water and seed? Life happened – remember? A plant grew up and the roots grew down. A miracle. And then a few days later the plant was dead. DEAD. Life is short. Were you asleep that week or home sick or what?” (Robert Fulghum)
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“Time to Die –
A Zen teacher had a rare and priceless teacup.
One day, his precocious student accidentally broke the cup.
Hearing the footsteps of his teacher, the student held the pieces of the cup behind his back.
When the master appeared, he asked: ‘Why do people have to die?’ ‘This is natural,’ explained the teacher.
‘Everything has to die and has just so long to live.’
The student showed the shattered cup, saying,
‘It was time for your cup to die.’” (Traditional Zen Koan)
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“There is some kind of a sweet innocence in being human – in not having to be just happy or just sad – in the nature of being able to be both broken and whole, at the same time.” (C. JoyBell C.)
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“Sometimes I lie awake at night and I ask, “Is life a multiple choice test or is it a true or false test?” … Then a voice comes to me out of the dark and says, ‘We hate to tell you this but life is a thousand word essay.’ (Charles M. Schulz)
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“Others may argue about whether the world ends with a bang or a whimper. I just want to make sure mine doesn’t end with a whine.” (Barbara Gordon)
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“It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” (Lena Horne)
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Catalyst Quotes 