The future

But the future must be met, however stern and iron it be. 

--Elizabeth Gaskell

Our earthly trials

I daresay it seems foolish; perhaps all our earthly trials will appear foolish to us after a while; perhaps they seem so now to angels. But we are ourselves, you know, and this is now, not some time to come, a long, long way off. And we are not angels, to be comforted by seeing the ends for which everything is sent.

--Elizabeth Gaskell

Thankful

As she realized what might have been, she grew to be thankful for what was.

--Elizabeth Gaskell

Rightly

How easy it is to judge rightly after one sees what evil comes from judging wrongly!

--Elizabeth Gaskell

Deeds

Good actions ennoble us, and we are the sons of our deeds.

--Miguel de Cervantes

Friendship

Friendship is not a reward for our discrimination and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each the beauties of all the others. They are no greater than the beauties of a thousand other men; by friendship God opens our eyes to them. They are, like all beauties, derived from Him, and then, in a good friendship, increased by Him through the friendship itself, so that it is His instrument for creating as well as for revealing.

--C.S. Lewis

Blessed

Blessed is the influence of one truly loving human soul on another.

--George Eliot

Patience

The principle part of faith is patience.

--George MacDonald

Gratitude

Gratitude is the memory of the heart. 

 --Jean Baptiste Massieu

Gifts

To be rich in admiration and free from envy, to rejoice greatly in the good of others, to love with such generosity of heart that your love is still a dear possession in absence or unkindness - these are the gifts which money cannot buy.

--Robert Louis Stevenson

Safe

Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away.

--George Eliot

I will always sing

 I will always sing, even if I must gather my roses in the very midst of thorns – and the longer and sharper the thorns the sweeter shall be my song. – St. Thérèse of Lisieux

Feast of the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ

We beseech Thee, therefore, help Thy servants, whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy Precious Blood.

Waiting

. . . But the faith and the hope and the love are all in the waiting.

--T.S. Eliot

Love

Love flies, runs, and leaps for joy; it is free and unrestrained. Love gives all for all, resting in One who is highest above all things, from whom every good flows and proceeds. 

--Thomas a Kempis

From hope to hope

The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure, but from hope to hope.

--Samuel Johnson

Repose

Travelers repose and dream among my leaves.

--William Blake

Perseverance

Perseverance, dear my lord,  Keeps honor bright.

--William Shakespeare

Joy

The gloom of the world is but a shadow; behind it, yet within our reach, is Joy.

--Fra Giovanni

Duty

There is one thing . . . which a man can always do if he chooses, and that is his duty: not by manoeuvring and finessing, but by vigour and resolution. 

 --Mr. Knightley in Jane Austen's Emma

Winds

You wouldn't abandon ship in a storm just because you couldn't control the winds.  

--Saint Thomas More 

Some things

There are some things you learn best in calm,
and some in storm.
- Willa Cather

Some day

Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.

--A.A. Milne

One dream

If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again.

-- Flavia

There

There is no such thing as loving or believing too much.

--Flavia