10 IDEAS on the ART of LIVING: –
- 1. Recognize Your Freedom of Spirit:
- "Nor stony tower, nor walls of beaten brass,
Nor airless dungeon, nor strong links of iron,
Can be retentive to the strength of spirit … "
"The fault dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings." – Julius Caesar, I, ii - "So every bondman in his own hand bears
The power to cancel his captivity." – J.C, I, iii - 2. Your Thought is Creative:
- "There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so" – Hamlet, II, ii
- "You bear a gentle mind, and heav'nly blessings
Follow such creatures." – Henry VIII, II, iii - "Assume a virtue, if you have it not." – Hamlet, III, iv
- 3. Guard Your Wellness:
- " Tis in ourselves that we are thus and thus.
Our bodies are our gardens, to which our wills are gardeners … " – Othello, I, iii - "Macbeth:
Canst thou not minister to a mind's diseas'd,
pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow,
raze out the written troubles of the brain,
and with some sweet oblivious antidote
cleanse the stuff'd bosom that perilous stuff
which weighs upon the heart?
Doctor:
Therein the patient must minister to himself." – Macbeth, V, iii - 4. Seek Guidance from Within:
- " …God shall be my hope.
My stay, my guide, and lantern to my feet." – Second Part of Henry VI, II, iii - 5. When Opportunity Knocks … Open the Door! :
- "Heaven doth with us as we with torches do,
Not light them for themselves; for if our virtues
Did not go forth of us, 'twere all alike
As if we had them not … " – Measure for Measure, I, i - "The means that heaven yields must be embrac'd,
And not neglected; else, if heaven would,
And we will not, heaven's offer we refuse … " – Richard II, III, ii - "To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether it's nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?" – Hamlet, III, I, Line 56 - "Lord Jack:
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts." – As You Like It, II - 6. Act with Confidence:
- "This above all: to thine own self be true,
And is must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man." – Hamlet, I, iii - "Our doubts are traitors
And make us lose the good we oft might win
By fearing to attempt." – Measure for Measure, I, iv - 7. Release the Past:
- "What's gone and what's past help
Should be past grief." – The Winter's Tale, III, ii - "Do as the Heavens have done: forget your evil;
With them, forgive yourself." – The Winter's Tale V, i - "Deep malice makes too deep incision.
Forget, forgive; conclude and be agreed … " – Richard II, I, i - "Heat not the furnace of your foe so hot,
That it do singe yourself." – Henry VIII, I, i - "To weep is to make less the depths of grief." – Henry VI, Part III, II, i
- 8. Give Your Attention to Constructive Ideas:
- "Quick is mine ear to hear the good towards him." – Richard II, II, i
- "Juliet:
What's in a name?
That which we call a rose, by any other name
Would smell as sweet." – Romeo & Juliet, II, ii, L.2 - "This our life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything." – As You Like It, II, i - 9. Let love Motivate You:
- " … this day
Shall change all griefs and quarrels into love." – Henry V, V, ii - "Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind." – A Midsummer Night's Dream, I, i - 10. Practice the Presence:
- " … feel within me
A peace above all earthly dignities,
A still and quiet conscience … " – Henry VIII, III, ii