Quotes about Serenity

Clarity Brings Serenity (TM)

I am a glorious child of God. I am joyful, serene, positive, and loving.

Dove that ventured outside,        flying far from the dovecote:
housed and protected again,     one with the day, the night,
knows what serenity is,              for she has felt her wings
pass through all distance and fear       in the course of her wanderings.

The doves that remained at home,     never exposed to loss,
innocent and secure,               cannot know tenderness;
only the won-back heart              can ever be satisfied: free,
through all it has given up,                to rejoice in its mastery. 

Being arches itself                 over the vast abyss.
Ah the ball that we dared,     that we hurled into infinite space,
Doesn’t it fill our hands            differently with its return:
heavier by the weight             of where it has been.

Patience expands your capacity to love and feel peace.

You find peace by coming to terms with what you don’t know.

Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain. And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy; And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields. And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.

When force of circumstance upsets your equanimity, lose no time in recovering your self-control, and do not remain out of tune longer than you can help. Habitual recurrence to the harmony will increase your mastery of it. (6:11)

 "We are average Americans.  All sections of this country and many of its occupations are represented, as well as many political, economic, social and religious backgrounds.  We are people who normally would not mix.  But there exists among us a fellowship, a friendliness, and an understanding which is indescribably wonderful."

Mal: "And Kaylee, what the hell's goin' on in the engine room? Were there monkeys? Some terrifying space monkeys maybe got loose?"

For me, an American Dream, if you read Theodore Dreiser, or you read other people who have written about what they consider the American Dream, it always has to do with monetary success, or poor boy makes good, or that kind of thing. To me that's not what it's all about. It's about, actually, when you get to be my age, having kind of a serenity about your life, and a good feeling about what you have done and what you can still do.

And also, believing all the time that there is the freedom to do what you want to do. The ability, in your walking existence, to go out your front door and not be obstructed in any way. But there are always limitations, and there are limitations that are set by geographical boundaries, territorial boundaries, political boundaries that you have to live with and you have to understand those.

We're not so free that we don't have to listen to rules, and laws, and regulations. Those are important. But the spirit, the freedom of the spirit, that's what I think of American Dream, that we are free here to do what we want to do, what we set out to do.

There is certainly something in angling that tends to produce a serenity of the mind.

"To him whom contemplates a trait of natural beauty, no harm nor despair can come.  The doctrines of despair, spiritual or political servitude, were never taught by those who shared the serenity of Nature.  For each phase of Nature, though not invisible, is yet not too distinct or obtrusive.  It is there to be found when we look for it, but not too demanding of our attention."

When I consider the hour that will come

In which my spirit will be one with God,

It is then that my joy will be complete;

It is then that I will see the whole creation.

All of its secrets will be revealed to me

And my knowledge will be prefect:

The galaxies will be at arm's distance,

I will touch the stars with my bare hands;

The beauty of every flower, mountain and valley

No longer will be a secret,

And every creature will reveal to me

The immense, awe-inspiring world

Created by God's loving hand.

And as I stroll on the bottom of the oceans,

Ride a comet through a million stars,

Or watch a flower grow,

I will look in the eyes of other angels

To meet in them the same beatitude

In which my spirit rejoices.

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.

Take me and cast me where you will; I shall still be possessor of the divinity within me, serene and content.

Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife
and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people's approval
and you will be their prisoner.

Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.

In peace there is profundity
from which the highest respect arises
from respect comes power and command
therefore observe peace.
                                                           

Serenity is not freedom from the storm but peace within the storm.

In a moment we lost our minds here
and lay our spirits down.
Today we lived a thousand years,
all we have is now.

Enter the day invigorated with the essence of possibility,
go through it energized with a sense of purpose and joy
and end it with the serenity of completion.
~ Darina Stoyanova ~

But an old age serene and bright, And lovely as a Lapland night, Shall lead thee to thy grave.

Calmness comes from within. It is the peace and restfulness of the depths of our nature. The fury of storm and of wind agitate only the surface of the sea; they penetrate only two or three hundred feet; below that is the calm, unruffled deep. To be ready for the great crises of life we must learn serenity in our daily living. Calmness is the crown of self-control.

So be my passing! My task accomplished and the long day done, My wages taken, and in my heart Some late lark singing, Let me be gathered in the quiet west, The sundown splendid and serene, Death.

In positive terms, we can state that psychological maturity entails finding greater satisfaction in giving than in receiving; having a capacity to form satisfying and permanent loyalties; being primarily a creative, contributing person; having learned to profit from experience; having a freedom from fear (anxiety) with a resulting true serenity and not a pseudo absence of tension; and accepting and making the most of unchangeable reality when it confronts one.

Philosophy is harmonized knowledge making a harmonious life; it is the self-discipline which lifts us to serenity and freedom. Knowledge is power, but only wisdom is liberty.

The Art of Success . . . Success is ninety-nine percent mental attitude. It calls for love, joy, optimism, confidence, serenity, poise, faith, courage, cheerfulness, imagination, initiative, tolerance, honesty, humility, patience, and enthusiasm. . . . Success is having the courage to meet failure without being defeated. It is refusing to let present loss interfere with your long-range goal. . . . Success is relative and individual and personal. It is your answer to the problem of making your minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years add up to a great life.

Boredom is the feeling that everything is a waste of time; serenity, that nothing is.

In every country where man is free to think and to speak, difference of opinion will arise from difference of perception, and the imperfection of reason; but these differences, when permitted, as in this happy country, to purify themselves by free discussion, are but as passing clouds overspreading our land transiently, and leaving our horizon more bright and serene.

Full many a gem of purest ray serene The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear; Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

All finite things reveal infinitude: The mountain with its singular bright shade Like the blue shine on freshly frozen snow, The after-light upon ice-burdened pines; Odor of basswood upon a mountain slope, A scene beloved of bees; Silence of water above a sunken tree: The pure serene of memory of one man,- A ripple widening from a single stone Winding around the waters of the world.