“I want to think again of dangerous and noble things. I want to be light and frolicsome. I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing, as though I had wings.”
— Mary Oliver
“To be alive: not just the carcass But the spark. That’s crudely put, but. . .
If we’re not supposed to dance, Why all this music.”
— Gregory Orr
“The healthiest response to life is joy.”
— Deepak Chopra
“Remember that your natural state is joy.”
— Wayne Dyer
“Live in joy. Even among those who hate. Live in health, Even among the afflicted. In peace, Even among the troubled. Look within. Be still. Free from fear and attachment, Know the sweet joy of the way.”
— Buddha
“Inside of everyone is a great shout of joy waiting to be born.”
— David Whyte
“Joy is a sign of generosity. When you are full of joy, you move faster and want to go about doing good to everyone.”
— Mother Teresa
“If to say it once And once only, then still To say: Yes.
And say it complete, Say it as if the word Filled the whole moment With its absolute saying.
Later for ‘but,’ Later for ‘if,’ Now, Only the single syllable That is the beloved, That is the world.”
— Gregory Orr
“Someone dancing inside us learned only a few steps: the “Do-Your-Work” in 4/4 time. the “What-Do-You-Expect” waltz. He hasn’t notice yet the woman standing away from the lamp, the one with dark eyes who knows the rhumba and strange steps in jumpy rhythms from the mountains in Bulgaria. If they dance together, something unexpected will happen. If they don’t, the next world will be a lot like this one.”
— Bill Holm
“Every object, every being, is a jar full of delight.”
— Rumi
“Find a place inside where there’s joy, and the joy will burn out the pain.”
— Joseph Campbell
“I hear bells ringing that no one has shaken, inside ‘love’ there is more joy than we know of, rain pours down, although the sky is clear of clouds, there are whole rivers of light. The universe is shot through in all parts by a single sort of love.”
— Kabir
“The soul is here for its own joy.”
— Rumi
“Wanting Sumptuous Heavens
No one grumbles among the oyster clans, And lobsters play their bone guitars all summer. Only we, with our opposable thumbs, want Heaven to be, and God to come, again. There is no end to our grumbling; we want Comfortable earth and sumptuous Heaven. But the heron standing on one leg in the bog Drinks his dark rum all day, and is content.”
— Robert Bly
“Shake out your qualms. Shake up your dreams. Deepen your roots. Extend your branches. Trust deep water and head for the open, even if your vision shipwrecks you. Quit your addiction to sneer and complain. Open a lookout. Dance on a brink. Run with your wildfire. You are closer to glory leaping an abyss than upholstering a rut. Not dawdling. Not doubting. Intrepid all the way Walk toward clarity. At every crossroad Be prepared to bump into wonder. Only love prevails. En route to disaster insist on canticles. Lift your ineffable out of the mundane. Nothing perishes; nothing survives; everything transforms! Honeymoon with Big Joy!”