Ralph Waldo Emerson 1823-1884 ~ Alan Block & Hecht 1930-2002 ...Walkin' After Midnight ~ Patsy Cline 1932-1963

But if a man would be alone, let him look at the stars...
The stars awaken a certain reverence, because though always present,
They are inaccessible; but all natural objects make a kindred impression,
When the mind is open to their influence, nature never wears a mean appearance.
Neither does the wisest of men extort her secret, and lose his curiousity by
Finding out all her perfection. Nature never became a toy to a wise spirit.
The flowers, the animals, the mountains reflected the wisdom of his best hour,
As much as they had delighted the simplicity of his childhood.

Friedrich Nietzsche 1844-1900 ~ JJ Cale 1947- ...Cloudy Day

O man, take care! What does the deep midnight declare?
"I was asleep — from a deep dream I woke and swear:
The world is deep, deeper than day had been aware.
Deep is its woe — joy — deeper yet than agony:
Woe implores: Go! But all joy wants eternity —
Wants deep, wants deep eternity"

Lao Tzu 600-531 BC ~ The Alan Parsons Project (Alan Parsons 1948- & Eric Woolfson 1945-2009) ...I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You

The reason why the universe is eternal
Is that it does not live for itself;
It gives life to others as it transforms.

Mahadeviyakka 12c ~ Harry Nilsson 1941-1994 ...Coconut

When I entered a rock, you too entered the rock;
When I entered a mountain, you too entered the mountain;
Hurray for life! You came following me, Lord
Who is as white as jasmine, what else shall I do?

Helen Keller 1880-1968 ~ Bob Dylan 1941- ...It Takes Alot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry ~ Grateful Dead

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.
To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits
In the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.

Lord Byron 1788-1824 ~ Rolling Stones (Mick Jagger 1943- & Keith Richards 1943- ) ...Sympathy For The Devil ~ Sandie Shaw 1947-

History is the devil's scripture.

Ernest Hemingway 1899-1961 ~ Moby 1965- ...Walk With Me ~ Lizz Wright 1980-

The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places.

Josiah Royce 1855-1916 ~ John Prine 1946- ...Jesus The Missing Years

Of this our true individual life,
Our present life is a glimpse,
A fragment, a hint, and in its best
Moments a visible beginning.

Emily Dickinson 1830-1886 ~ Alfred Brumley...I'll Fly Away ~ Steve Goodman 1948-1984

Love is anterior to life, posterior to death,
Initial of creation and the exponent of breath.

Albert Einstein 1879-1955 ~ The Beatles (Paul McCartney 1942- & John Lennon 1940-1980) ...A Day In The Life ~ Neil Young 1945-

There are only two ways to live your life.
One is as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is as though everything is a miracle.

Williams James 1842-1944 ~ John Hiatt 1952- ...Master Of Disaster

Our lives are like islands in the sea
Or like trees in the forest
Which co-mingle their roots
In the darkness underground.

Rabindranath Tagore 1861-1941 ~ Janis Ian 1951- ...Stars

The stars are not afraid to appear like fireflies.

Louise Scott ~ Mannfred Mann ...Bare Hugg

When divers press too far into that world of underwater light - as never seen -
Translucent hands will beckon, fingers curled, and seaweed's tentacles
Embrace with green that subtly coils in ever tightening grip,
Music of sirens singing in their ears of treasure glinting from a sunken ship,
Spilling from rusty coffers lost for years. Then in that perilous
Moment they must choose between reality and dream, when they may yield to
Bright allurement there and lose all memory of sky, or turn away.
There will be some with secrets wise to keep who came too close to rapture of the deep.

John Keats 1795-1821~ Blind Faith (Steve Winwood 1948- ) ...Sea Of Joy

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep a bower quiet for us,
And a sleep full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing a flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days, of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkened ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all, some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon, trees old, and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils with the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make 'gainst the hot season; the mid-forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms: and such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead; all lovely tales that we have heard or read:
An endless fountain of immortal drink, pouring unto us from the heaven's brink...

Billy Strayhorn 1915-1967 ...A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing ~ Brad Smith & Anna Fan

A flower is a lovesome thing
A luscious, living, lovesome thing
A daffodil, a rose, no matter where it grows
Is such a lovely lovesome thing
A flower is the heart of spring
That makes the rolling hillsides sing
The gentle winds that blow
Blow gently for they know
A flower is a lovesome thing
Flaming with the breeze
Swaying with the trees
In the silent night
Or in the misty light
Such a miracle
Azaleas drinking pale moonbeams
Gardenias floating through daydreams
Wherever they may grow
No matter where you go

Henry David Thoreau 1817-1862 ~ Mountain (Felix Pappalardi 1939-1983 & Gail Collins Pappalardi 1941- ) ...Nantucket Sleighride

Be not the slave of your own past. Plunge into the sublime seas,
Dive deep and swim far, so you shall come back with self-respect, with new power,
With an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.

Plato 428-328 BC ~ Shelby Lynne 1970- ...Black Light Blue

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark;
the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.

Rabindranath Tagore 1861-1941 ~ Cat Stevens 1948- ...How Can I Tell You

The fish in the water is silent, the animal on the earth is noisy,
The bird in the air is singing, but Man has in him...
The silence of the sea, the noise of the earth and the music of the air.

Blaise Pascal 1623-1662 ~ T-Bone Walker 1910-1975 ...Stormy Monday ~ Eva Cassidy 1963-1996

The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.