Inspiring Quotations

[mspath]

"The end of one journey is simply the start of another. You have to see what you missed the first time, see again what you already saw, see in springtime what you saw in summer, in daylight what you saw at night, see the sun shining where you saw the rain falling, see crops growing, the fruit ripen, the stone which has moved, the shadow that was not there before. You have to go back to the footsteps already taken, to go over them again or add fresh ones alongside them.You have to start the journey anew. Always"
Jose Saramago, A Journey to Portugal

 

[John Finn]

"Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason." Jerry Seinfeld

 

[MaryLynn]

"Awe. The sense that you are very small compared to the work of God or Nature.
John Muir

That is why I love the meseta.

 

[SafariGirl]

Hi p3nny,
I love any quotes or texts from the late John O Donoghue and his book Anam Cara.

"Your soul knows the geography of your destiny and the map of your future. Trust this side of yourself. It will take you where you need to go but it will also teach you a kindness of rhythm in your journey"

― John O'Donohue, Anam Cara Book of Celtic Wisdom
Anam Cara refers to the Celtic spiritual belief of souls connecting and bonding.

In Celtic Spiritual tradition, it is believed that the soul radiates all about the physical body, what some refer to as an aura. When you connect with another person and become completely open and trusting with that individual, your two souls begin to flow together. Should such a deep bond be formed, it is said you have found your Anam Cara or soul friend.
Your Anam Cara always accepts you as you truly are, holding you in beauty and light. In order to appreciate this relationship, you must first recognize your own inner light and beauty. This is not always easy to do. The Celts believed that forming an Anam Cara friendship would help you to awaken your awareness of your own nature and experience the joys of others.

According to John O'Donahue, an accomplished Irish poet, philosopher and Catholic priest, "...You are joined in an ancient and eternal union with humanity that cuts across all barriers of time, convention, philosophy and definition. When you are blessed with an anam cara, the Irish believe, you have arrived at that most sacred place: home."

John died very young and is now buried in an old graveyard on the edge of the Burren facing the wild Atlantic Ocean in a little village called Fanore, County Clare. I love to visit there and think of him often.

Heading off on my 1st Camino tomorrow leaving Dublin in the morning with a tingle of excitement and a little fear. But looking forward to meeting everyone in SJPP and 30 days of discovery.

Buen Camino
Ger

Beautiful...thanks for sharing.

 

[MichelleElynHogan]

"Which way is the Sun? I am going the other direction." - Michelle Hogan (stated one morning in late August, 2016 on the CF). A quote gushing with intention and soulful finality.

 

[wtrimble]

Walt Whitman's "Song of the Open Road" is very quotable and his topic is very Camino-like. Here is the last stanza, but please go and read the whole thing at this link
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48859/song-of-the-open-road

Let the paper remain on the desk unwritten, and the book on the shelf unopen’d!
Let the tools remain in the workshop! let the money remain unearn’d!
Let the school stand! mind not the cry of the teacher!
Let the preacher preach in his pulpit! let the lawyer plead in the court, and the judge expound the law.

Camerado, I give you my hand!
I give you my love more precious than money,
I give you myself before preaching or law;
Will you give me yourself? will you come travel with me?
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?

 

[hecate105]

I have never read all the above poem - brilliant!!!!!

 

[Katherine Radeka]

Pilgrim's Credo:

I am not in control.
I am not in a hurry.
I walk in faith and hope.
I greet everyone I meet with peace.
I take only what God gives me.

---Murry Bodo, OFM

 

[Lurch]

“Don’t much like quitters, son”. John Wayne

 

[crackmrmac]

I love mountains. I feel that mountains are huge contemplatives. They are there and they are in the presence up to their necks and they are still in it and with it and within it. One of the lovely ways to pray is to to take your body out into the landscape and to be still in it. Your body is made out of clay, so your body is actually a miniature landscape that has got up from under the earth and is now walking on the normal landscape. If you go out for several hours into a place that is wild, your mind begins to slow down, down, down. What is happening is that the clay or your body is retrieving its own sense of sisterhood with the great clay of the landscape.
fromWalking on the Pastures of Wonder
by John O’Donohue

 

[MaryLynn]

Thank you! I love his writing. Another reminder of how we are all connected.

 

[bernhugo]

From a plate that I saw.
"A balanced diet is a cupcake in each hand".

 

[Icacos]

From one of my favourite novelists; pertinent not just to the camino, but life in general.

Viewed from the standpoint of happiness, faith is a strong staff for the traveller to lean upon, and the march becomes easier when one is fortunate enough to possess it.

Émile Zola, 1840 - 1902

 

[bernhugo]

On a much lighter note.
"A fridge picker wear big knockers"

 

[ButchFeldhaus]

Pilgrim's Credo:

I am not in control.
I am not in a hurry.
I walk in faith and hope.
I greet everyone I meet with peace.
I take only what God gives me.

---Murry Bodo, OFM

Fr. Murry was my High School English teacher at St. Francis Seminary in the early 70's. He was, and is, an amazing man.

 

[ButchFeldhaus]

Pilgrim's Credo:

I am not in control.
I am not in a hurry.
I walk in faith and hope.
I greet everyone I meet with peace.
I take only what God gives me.

---Murry Bodo, OFM

Fr. Murry was my High School English teacher at St. Francis Seminary in the early 1970's. He is, and was, an amazing man.