Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Some of my favorites...

So this time of the year always makes me reflect on life and all it's dealings. There are a number of quotes from famous people or Bible verses that play in my head often and some friends can tell you, I can spit them out (mostly) verbatim at any given time. They each mean something to me or meant something to me during a time so I'd like to share and hope you enjoy...

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. -Hebrew 11:1
This is possibly my favorite Bible verse. As a high school graduation present, my mother gave me dog tags (really nice ones actual silver and diamond, not the mall version) with this verse and Matthew 17:20 on it...the tags were eventually stolen when someone broke into my apartment in college. I wonder if they know what they got...

"Bitterness is like cancer. It eats away at the host. But anger is like fire, it burns it all clean." -Maya Angelou
On my list you'll see a bunch of Maya quotes...her words have touched me deeply many times. I especially love this quote because in life we are always told that anger is a stupid emotion but this embodies the importance of anger. It also implies that although SOME anger is good, too much anger will burn you down :)

"Herein lies the tragedy of the age: Not that men are poor,- all men know something of poverty. Not that men are wicked,- who is good? Not that men are ignorant, -what is truth? Nay, but that men know so little of men." -W.E.B DuBois, Souls of Black Folk
I've mentioned in my first or maybe second post that DuBois's Souls of Black Folk changed my life and this line definitely stuck out to me. DuBois wrote this in the 19th century about race but I think it still rings true today. In the age of social media we're soooo judgmental of others. I've seen some mentions of Kim Kardashian, they included death threats and death wishes...it was horrible. No matter how you feel about her or her fame, she's still a person. That's just one example but I'm sure we could all list more...men know so little of men.

"I don't mind living in a man's world as long as I can be a woman in it." -Marilyn Monroe
Enough said. You may be confused on why I included her in the same company of the others...but I really do think she was a rather complex person and more than the character she played. She just got confused on which her was the character lol.

"I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles." -Audrey Hepburn
Enough said.

"They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God." -Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
I love Zora...I could quote almost this whole book but you should just read it if you haven't already. I love this quote because so often I've found myself in this very position.

"Love is or it ain't. Thin love ain't love at all." -Toni Morrison, Beloved
Word, Toni...word.

"I thought I was going to be a bum for the rest of my life." -Jean-Michel Basquiat
I find this extremely ironic...mostly because he was basically a bum in his life. It wasn't until postmortem that he became "thee" Basquiat

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate can not drive out hate: only love can do that." -Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
I would be remiss not to include at least one of his sayings in this list. Although during his struggle I would have taken the more "Malcolm X approach" but nonetheless this is something to remember in daily life because it's absolutely true.

"By any means necessary." - associated with Malcolm X but originally Jean-Paul Sarte
Amen my brotha.

When everything seems to be set
to show me off as a man of intelligence,
the fool I keep concealed on my person
takes over my talk and occupies my mouth.
-Pablo Neruda, "We Are Many"
Haven't we all felt like that? I love this poem...you all should read it if you haven't!

"Drink my wine and talk to me." -Calvin J. Clemmons
My granddaddy used to say this all the time! It (obviously) implies having a conversation over wine, which if you ever knew or were invited to my grandparents' home they'd have a beverage and plenty of conversation waiting for you. When he said it, he always had such a huge smile and excitement in his voice! Growing up my grandparents lived in Texas so I can remember coming out from school and him being there to pick me and my cousins up, this was always his greeting. I would love to hear him say it again.

I could go on and on and on and on trust me. But I think it's best to end on this note. I'm realizing with each line how frickin sappy I am!! lol. Hope you like them and share some of yours with me!