#iona

know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. (stands, leans against a wall, looking out into the distance) It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going, because they were holding on to something. ↗

— J.R.R. Tolkien

#inspirational #lord-of-the-rings #truth #beauty

Do I believe in an old man in the clouds with a white beard judging us mortals with a moral code from one to ten? Good Lord no, my sweet Elly, I do not! I would have been cast out from this life years ago with my tatty history. Do I believe in a mystery; the unexplained phenomenon that is life itself? The greater something that illuminates inconsequence in our lives; that gives us something to strive for as well as the humility to brush ourselves down and start all over again? Then yes, I do. It is the source of art, of beauty, of love, and proffers the ultimate goodness to mankind. That to me is God. That to me is life. That is what I believe in. ↗

— Sarah Winman

#when-god-was-a-rabbit #art

So time over time what will change the world, no one knows? The only promise is a day to live, to give and share with one another.  See the wisdom from mistakes in our past; the promise of a new day.  ↗

— Paula Abdul

#music #philosophy #change

I didn't really work with Vin on it except we talked about it a little bit. I think it was kind of cool because we didn't think it was going to be that emotional. I don't think Vin knew I was going to be that emotional. ↗

— Brittany Snow

#because #bit #cool #emotional #except

The unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit is of great worth in God's sight. ↗

— Judith Couchman

#beauty

She could afford anything, she could give anything, but she could not share a moment of her life with anybody. She was a beautiful and a glamorous diamond with an astronomical price tag, but to a crude reality — she was still a stone, a living stone. Nothing else but a stone in an aesthetic sense. ↗

— Ravindra Shukla

#friends #glamour #inspirational #love #money

How I wish you could have known me in my strength. ↗

— Marilynne Robinson

#brave #courage #fortitude #grace #inspirational

beauty remains, even in misfortune ↗

— Anne Frank

#beauty

We might have the most beautiful words and thoughts - but it's actions that count. ↗

— Art Hochberg

#inspirational #art

He was just beautiful. She'd never known a man could be beautiful, but he definitely was. ↗