John O'Donohue Quotes

“We do not need to grieve for the dead. Why should we grieve for them? They are now in a place where there is no more shadow, darkness, loneliness, isolation, or pain. They are home.”

“The Celtic mind was not burdened by dualism. It did not separate what belongs together”

“We do not need to go out and find love; rather, we need to be still and let love discover us.”

“So at the end of this day, we give thanks
For being betrothed to the unknown.”

“If you try to view yourself through the lenses that others offer you, all you will see are distortions; your own light and beauty will become blurred, awkward, and ugly. Your sense of inner beauty has to remain a very private thing.”

“All through your life your soul takes care of you… your soul is alive and awakened, gathering, sheltering and guiding your ways and days in the world. In effect, your soul is your secret shelter.”

“Real intimacy is a sacred experience. It never exposes its secret trust and belonging to the voyeuristic eye of a neon culture. Real intimacy is of the soul, and the soul is reserved.”

“The secret and the sacred are sisters. When the secret is not respected, the sacred vanishes. Consequently, reflection should not shine too severe or aggressive a light on the world of the soul.”

“All you can ever achieve is a sense of your soul. You gain little glimpses of its light, colors, and contours. You feel the inspiration of its possibilities and the wonder of its mysteries.”

“When you steal a people's language, you leave their soul bewildered.”

“One of the most beautiful gifts in the world is the gift of encouragement. When someone encourages you, that person helps you over a threshold you might otherwise never have crossed on your own.”

“Many of us have made our world so familiar that we do not see it anymore. An interesting question to ask yourself at night is, What did I really see this day?”

“the search for meaning is really the search for the lost chord. When the lost chord is discovered by humankind, the discord in the world will be healed and the symphony of the universe will come into complete harmony with itself.”

“The eternal world and the mortal world are not parallel, rather they are fused.”

“TO COME HOME TO YOURSELF May all that is unforgiven in you Be released. May your fears yield Their deepest tranquillities. May all that is unlived in you Blossom into a future Graced with love.”

“There is the solitude of suffering, when you go through darkness that is lonely, intense, and terrible. Words become powerless to express your pain; what others hear from your words is so distant and different from what you are actually suffering.”

“The ego is the false self-born out of fear and defensiveness.”

“Your noble friend will not accept pretension but will gently and very firmly confront you with your own blindness. Such friendship is creative and critical; it is willing to negotiate awkward and uneven territories of contradiction and woundedness.”

“It could be a meeting on the street, or a party or a lecture, or just a simple, banal introduction, then suddenly there is a flash of recognition and the embers of kinship glow. There is an awakening between you, a sense of ancient knowing.”

“Unfinished Poem
I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.”

“Inspiration is always a surprising visitor.”

“It is lovely to meet an old person whose face is deeply lined, a face that has been deeply inhabited, to look in the eyes and find light there.”

“You are as young as you feel. If you begin to feel the warmth of your soul, there will be a youthfulness in you that no one will be able to take away from you.”

“Each of us is an artist of our days; the greater our integrity and awareness, the more original and creative our time will become.”

“May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.”

“When one flower blooms spring awakens everywhere”

“When time is reduced to linear progress, it is emptied of presence.”

“Nature is the direct expression of the divine imagination.”

“Your soul is the priestess of memory, selecting, sifting, and ultimately gathering your vanishing days toward presence.”

“May all that is unlived in you blossom into a future graced with love.”

“… to gaze into the face of another is to gaze into the depth and entirety of his life.”

“The duty of priviledge is absolute intregity”

“The way you look at things is the most powerful force in shaping your life.”

“Consumerism is the worship of the god of quantity; advertising is its liturgy. Advertising is schooling in false longing.”

“Grace is the permanent climate of divine kindness; the perennial infusion of springtime into the winter of bleakness.”

“We do not need to operate according to the idea of a predetermined program for our lives.”

“… the only difference between a young person at the height of their exuberance and a very old person who is frail and physically wasted is time.”

“… we are custodians of deep and ancient thresholds. In the human face you see that potential and the miracle of undying possibility.”

“Take time to see the quiet miracles that
seek no attention”

“The wounds of the spirit heal and leave no scars.”