A short quotation can give you something to consider when life feels hurried or uncertain. You might read it as spiritual reflection, a literary image or a prompt for an ordinary decision. Choose a line that leaves room for your own experience rather than making you feel that you should be further along.
These four passages offer different starting points: hope, simplicity, personal choice and care. Read one slowly, then ask what it brings to mind in your life today.
On this page
1. Hope can be small
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
— Emily Dickinson, Hope is the thing with feathers (254).
The opening image gives hope a small, living form. You might take it as permission to notice a modest possibility without pretending everything is fine. A message from a friend, a plan for tomorrow or a moment of interest can matter even while something difficult remains unresolved.
Try this: Write down one thing you would like to remain open to this week. You do not have to feel certain that it will happen.
2. Make room for what matters
Our life is frittered away by detail.
— Henry David Thoreau, Walden, “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For.”
This line can invite a look at the small demands filling a day. Some details are essential: caring for someone, earning a living or keeping an appointment. Others may be habits or expectations you could reconsider.
Try this: Choose one nonessential task to postpone, simplify or decline. Use the space for something you value, including rest. A simpler day does not have to become another ambitious project.
3. Notice what you can influence
Some things are in our control and others not.
— Epictetus, The Enchiridion, section 1.
Use this distinction as a question rather than a demand for complete control over your mind. Feelings and automatic thoughts may arrive uninvited. You may still have a choice about asking a question, setting a limit or seeking help.
Try this: Put one concern into two columns: “What I can try” and “What I cannot decide for someone else.” Choose a manageable action from the first column. You can care about the second without accepting responsibility for it.
4. Let care become an action
Work is love made visible.
— Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet, “On Work.”
One way to reflect on this line is to look for care in ordinary actions: preparing something for a friend, repairing an item or keeping a promise. Your contribution does not need an audience to have meaning.
Try this: Choose one kind action that fits your capacity. Include yourself in that care. Your worth does not depend on being useful, productive or available all the time.
Use a quotation in your own way
Copy a line into a notebook, read the passage around it or discuss it with someone you trust. Ask what feels useful, what does not fit and what you might do differently because of the reflection.
You can disagree with a famous writer. You can also put a quotation aside when it feels pressuring or dismissive. A thoughtful line should leave room for your circumstances, beliefs and need for support.