"We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature--trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence...We need silence to be able to touch souls."

Mother Teresa

"A quiet morning with a loving God puts the events of the
upcoming day into proper perspective."

Janette Oke

"When you tug at a single thing in nature, you find it attached to the rest of the world."

John Muir

"The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses."

Hanna Rion

“Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure."

Oprah Winfrey

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”

Confucius

“Loneliness adds beauty to life. It puts a special burn on sunsets and makes night air smell better.”

Henry Rollins

"Where others see but the dawn coming over the hill, I see the
soul of God shouting for joy."

William Blake

"God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars."

Martin Luther

"... a leaf fluttered in through the window this morning, as if supported by the rays of the sun, a bird settled on the fire escape, joy in the task of coffee, joy accompanied me as I walked...."

Anais Nin

"In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, for in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed."

Kahlil Gibran

"Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials."

Lin Yutang

"Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems."

Rainer Maria Rilke

"Never lose an opportunity for seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God's handwriting - a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

What is lovely never dies,
But passes into other loveliness,
Star dust or sea-foam, flower, or winged air.

Thomas Bailey Aldrich

I Taught Myself To Live Simply

I taught myself to live simply and wisely,
to look at the sky and pray to God,
and to wander long before evening
to tire my superfluous worries.
When the burdocks rustle in the ravine
and the yellow-red rowanberry cluster droops
I compose happy verses
about life's decay, decay and beauty.
I come back. The fluffy cat
licks my palm, purrs so sweetly
and the fire flares bright
on the saw-mill turret by the lake.
Only the cry of a stork landing on the roof
occasionally breaks the silence.
If you knock on my door
I may not even hear.

Anna Akhmatova

"Next time a sunrise steals your breath or a meadow of flowers leaves you speechless, remain that way. Say nothing and listen as heaven whispers, 'Do you like it? I did it just for you.'"

Max Lucado

"The small things of life were often so much bigger than the great things...the trivial pleasures like cooking, one's home, little poems especially sad ones, solitary walks, funny things seen and overheard."

Barbara Pym

"Just living is not enough… One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower."

Hans Christian Andersen

"After a day's walk everything has twice its usual value."

George Macauley Trevelyan