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“We artists know how to address transformation--
how to grow empathy, passion, and collectivity--

Spirituality knows how to address transformation--
but not with formal systems--

Systems breed safety--
follow this and you will be this,
do this and you will do that,
get here and you will get there.
�
But empathy, passion, and collectivity grow
from the recognition that we are not safe,
that no one is safe,
that our only hope is to care for ourselves
and each other,
and that we must each figure out our own way
to do that.”
― Shellen Lubin

“No," she said. "No. It's only a bad time. A terrible time, but not everyone will die. And there will be wonderful times after this. The Renaissance and class reforms and music. Wonderful times. There will be new medicines, and people won't have to die from this or smallpox or pneumonia. And everyone will have enough to eat, and their houses will be warm even in the winter." She thought of Oxford, decorated for Christmas, the streets and shops lit. "There will be lights everywhere, and bells that you don't have to ring.”
― Connie Willis, Doomsday Book

“Like the robin, we sometimes sing to show how strong we are, and we sometimes sing in hope of better times. We sing either way.”
― Katherine May, Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times

“Gratitude creates hope, and hope activates the law of attraction. ”
― Sukant Ratnakar, Quantraz

“I care not for the end, only for the path taken.”
― Kian N. Ardalan, Eleventh Cycle

“Yes I know: the thread you have to keep finding, over again, to follow it back to life; I know. Impossible, sometimes.”
― Jean Valentine, Door in the Mountain: New and Collected Poems, 1965-2003

“Poets may be the “unacknowledged legislatorsâ€� but I don’t know if we’re that important. My fear overwhelms me at times; I gave you my fear, a withered gift. You are the true poet of the family. You gave me the cry of a baby in its mother’s arms, cotton candy at the circus, John Cage exhibits at the museum, lying under the light of the full moon. You gave me Fellini films and old Romances, a glass of Burgandy in a darkened restaurant where lovers cling to hope of passion and contentment. You gave me hope and love, but most of all, you gave me poetry.”
― Scott C. Holstad, Places

“The more I see you, the more I fall in love with you. Every time, in a million different ways.

WOULD YOU MIND MAKING ME THE BEAT OF YOUR HEART?”
― Zaishah, All Is Not Lost: Journey To Yourself

“Patience. That's what this glass and silver and shell had taught her over the years. Patience was what wore old broken bottles into bits of color and light. Patience what created those shells, wore them away again, tossed them onto the shore.... And patience had rewarded her here too.”
― Roseanna M. White, Yesterday's Tides

“Moreover, their bearing was firmer and more confident than ever; excessive sacrifice is a support. They had hope no longer, but they had despair. Despair, final arm, which sometimes gives victory. Virgil has said so. Supreme resources spring from extreme resolutions. To embark in death is sometimes a means of escaping a shipwreck and the coffin lid becomes a plank of safety.”
― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

“Sometimes, when I'm careless, I think survival is easy: you just keep moving forward with what you have, or what's left of what you were given, until something changes - or you realize, at last, that you can change without disappearing, that all you had to do was wait until the storm passes you over and you find that - yes - your name is still attached to a living thing.”
― Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

“Never think that the existence of hope is dependent upon your ability to see it.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough

“The nature of hope is such that it will grow in direct proportion to our lack of belief in it.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough

“A memoir in which the author shares his impressive journey of emigrating to the United States to escape a difficult life in an impoverished Nigerian village.
Born into an extremely poor family in Nigeria, ‘Deji Ayoade had early memories of wanting to come to America to do better for himself. For years, he dreamed about having a bright future in the United States. At seven, he promised his mother that one day he would be a doctor in America and take her and his siblings away from their dangerous and impoverished existence. By the age of thirty-three, ‘Deji had been in the United States for five years and was living his dream. He had earned a master’s degree, married and had a child, been recruited into the Navy, and become a US citizen. He makes good on the promise to his mother and brings her, his sister, and his sister’s baby to the United States.

UNDERGROUND: A Memoir of Hope, Faith, and the American Dream is a well-structured, compelling memoir written by a determined man with big dreams, ambitious goals, and the strength to never lose sight of where he is headed. Commitment, intelligence, and drive contribute to his fulfilling what he deems to be his purpose in life. His accomplishments in the armed services are nothing short of admirable. Ayoade draws readers into the 1980s culture of the poorer regions of Nigeria with vivid descriptions of the sights, sounds, and smells of areas in which they lived. His credible recreation of scenes reveals insight into the civilization that had considerable influence on him. Family dynamics also play a significant role in Ayoade’s life. His recollection of his father’s contradictory behaviors both confuse and enlighten him. His fond memories of his grandmother—the family member he trusted the most—are heartfelt and touching.

While coming to the United States offers many positive experiences for Ayoade, it doesn’t come without problems, and one that the author talks about with deep emotion and candidness is racism. Thoughtful in the way he acknowledges possible differences of perspectives, he describes how it feels to be looked at differently. One scene in particular demonstrates just how prejudiced and insensitive people can be when it comes to racial biases. Ayoade writes from the heart with emotion and honesty that demonstrate his passion for what he does in life. His ability to weave together a cohesive story from so many disparate fragments is remarkable. His religious faith and commitment to never-ending improvement for himself are inspiring and a basis for being a role model for others.

UNDERGROUND: A Memoir of Hope, Faith, and the American Dream–author ‘Deji Ayoade’s reflections on overcoming enormous obstacles and emigrating from Nigeria to the United States–is candid, heartwarming, and inspirational.”
― IndieReader

“There will be days it is loud, and others it is heavy. For every summer solstice there is darkness on the other side of the world. There will be days that staying alive will be an all consuming challenge. And accepting love an act of tremendous courage. Asking for help even more so. Days of loneliness and doubt will compound and maybe there will be whole months when I cannot see the sky and all the perspective I have now is lost in the crush. There will be peaks and dales, rivers and roads but I will do my best to keep walking out of the darkness. I will let it all happen to me, beauty and terror and love and hate and ugliness and anger and fear. I know that no feeling is final and the fear only wins when I stop fighting. I will push through it all and see you on the other side. I'll see myself on the other side. Until then I will do my best to keep breathing.”
― Mackenzi Lee

“I suppose that’s what I finally learned from this whole mess—that you need other people to move forward. You can’t do it on your own, and there are always people around who want to help, including people that have been through much worse.”
― Caleb Pinkerton, The Suicide Journal

“Faith is the engine; Hope is the gas; Love is the car (1 Corinthians 13:13)”
― Todd Stocker

“If you fall in love and then break up, it can leave you in an addictive cycle of obsessive thinking, craving, and emotional upheaval. But there’s hope–there are skills you can learn and use to help let go of your ex and create your next great life adventure.”
― Dr. Cortney Warren

“There is a lot more power behind hope than you might realise.”
― Chris Jankulovski

“We believe what we want to believe."
page 109”
― Margi Preus, Windswept

“Don’t be anxious to move along with your wrinkles. They just indicate that you’ve reached the next level.”
― Bhuwan Thapaliya

“HOPE
Is our anchor
Keeps us alive
Keeps us moving forward
Keeps us strong
Keeps us believing for a brighter future
Keeps us hoping for more strength
Keeps us praying for change
Keeps us growing in faith”
― Euginia Herlihy

“People who tell you that you can’t make a difference in this world aren’t negative; they just don’t understand people who can’t tolerate all the woeful things surrounding them.”
― Bhuwan Thapaliya

“If I can’t get your love, time, money, hope, and positivity, don’t thrash me with your desperation, anxiety, negativity, criticism, or unsolicited advice. ”
― Sukant Ratnakar, Quantraz

“This is the place where I want to be young
To breathe the beginning breath
Through newborn lungs
To run barefoot chasing butterflies
To sleep beneath wondrous skies
To stand on stony mountains
Far above the birch and pine
Looking down at all about me
I’ll call this world mine
�..
When the wild wind sings
I will hear its song
That beckons to my heart,
Tells me that I belong
And all these hills and every tree
Become a part of my story
�..
Yet, as the pages of a story grow
Characters learn, develop, go
May it be granted, if I leave
If I change in any way
That this place will always remain
The same as I saw it today
�..
If my feet wander
If life’s paths take me far
Time may alter youthful face
But let not it change a tree or star
Let not it touch a leaf
Nor a river, nor a stream
Or raise a cloak of shadow
Over even one sunbeam
The years may not lift their hand
To crumble any stone
Or free their feet to trample
Fields where flowers have grown
�..
If I tarry long
The song will bring me back
If in the journey I am lost
The wind will steer my track
I will be changed when I come
Grey hair and marred face
But the hills will recall
That I am one with this place
Standing, just the way I used to
Upon the mountain height
Breathing, just the way I once did
The crisp, star filled night
And praying, just the way I always have
That I might be young here.�


â€� ‘Where I Want to Be Young”
― Kya Rayne, One Bird Singing

“Learn to find solitude in loneliness. Always find beauty in all tears, happiness in sadness, hope in every sad fate and bravery in every fear.”
― Bea C. Pilotin, The Whys Of Us

“I beg you, friend, be happy. I have the vague sense that on your capacity to be happy hangs our only hope.”
― Milan Kundera, Slowness

“Maybe the hope i bear is just an illusion that will never be. Please let there be dry rivers, i will fill them with tears.”
― Sivi le poète, Je parsâ€� mais je reviendrai

“Hope is the anchor of the soul; keep it strong, and it will keep you steady.”
― Shree Shambav, Journey of Soul - Karma

“Where there is No Vision, There is no Hope”
― George Washington Carver