Inner Freedom: A Spiritual Journey for Prison Inmates (2008)
Gautama Buddha (-563–-483 BC) philosopher, reformer and the founder of Buddhism
From The Teaching of Buddha http://www.bdk.or.jp/english/about/popularization/buddhist-scriptures.html, by Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai (Society for the Promotion of Buddhism), Pg 132. It is a paraphrased version of Section 10 of the Sutra of Forty-two Sections <br class="br">Unclassified
Constantine P. Cavafy (1863–1933) Greek poet
"Candles" [Κεριά], as translated by Manolis, in Constantine P. Cavafy: Poems (2008) edited by George Amabile
“Everybody is a candle, true. But not everybody is lit.”
Harbhajan Singh Yogi (1929–2004) Indian-American Sikh Yogi
The Eight Human Talents (2001)
“All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.”
Francis of Assisi (1182–1226) Catholic saint and founder of the Franciscan Order
“I have lit my treasured candles,
one by one, to hallow this night.”
Anna Akhmatova (1889–1966) Russian modernist poet
Poem without a Hero (1963)
Context: I have lit my treasured candles,
one by one, to hallow this night.
With you, who do not come,
I wait the birth of the year.
Dear God!
the flame has drowned in crystal,
and the wine, like poison, burns
Old malice bites the air,
old ravings rave again,
though the hour has not yet struck.
“Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.”
Anne Frank (1929–1945) victim of the Holocaust and author of a diary
As quoted in 7 Laws of Human Nature: The Oneness of Universal Love (2017) by Conrad Spainhower and other self-help books and quotation sites.
Disputed
“For nowadays the world is lit by lightning! Blow out your candles, Laura -- and so goodbye….”
Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie
Tom, Scene Seven
Source: The Glass Menagerie (1944)
Context: Oh, Laura, Laura, I tried to leave you behind me, but I am more faithful than I intended to be! I reach for a cigarette, I cross the street, I run into the movies or a bar, I buy a drink, I speak to the nearest stranger — anything that can blow your candles out! — for nowadays the world is lit by lightning! Blow out your candles Laura — and so goodbye…
George Carlin (1937–2008) American stand-up comedian
Books, When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops? (2004)
“It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.”
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States
Variant: Light a candle instead of cursing the darkness.
Source: This is My Story
