"No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings." — William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1793)

"The finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can be preserved only by the most delicate handling." — Henry David Thoreau, Walden (1854)

"One who meditates consistently, even if not yet enlightened, has already surpassed the wisdom of all worldly paths." — Hakuin Ekaku, Orategama (c. 18th century)

"Nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it." — Michel de Montaigne, Essays (1580)

"Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness." — Zhuangzi, The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu (c. 3rd century BC)

"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, there is a rapture on the lonely shore." — Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1818)

"To a mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders." — Zhuangzi, Inner Chapters (c. 300 BC)

"There is no fire like passion, no shark like hatred, no snare like folly, no torrent like greed." — The Buddha, Dhammapada (c. 3rd century BC)

"Man is involved in karma when he interferes with the world in such a way that he is compelled to go on interfering, when the solution of a problem creates more problems." — Alan Watts, The Way of Zen (1957)

"A higher power that rules our destiny has taken charge of our lives. Why should we concern ourselves about what is to come?" — Ramana Maharshi, Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi (1955)

"Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now take what's left and live it properly." — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book VII (c. 170 AD)