Pain is temporary; quitting is permanent

There is always a transition period for any change and this transition period is the toughest, as it is subject to the strongest inertia. It requires an iron will to last through the transition phase and emerge for the better into the developing change. Wisdom, intelligence, confidence, dignity, perseverance, kindness, humility and honesty are the supports which the iron will must take help of to ensure survival.

Sacred Space

Your sacred space is where you find yourself again and again.
- Joseph Campbell

I came across this quote while enjoying Wodehouse in the waiting lounge of the Ahmedabad airport. It was put up in large alphabets on one of the walls and has been one the quotes closest to me since, evident from the fact that I am sharing this as the first post.
The statement provides me with that comfort that you would feel wrapped in a shawl on a wintry morning, or the soft glow of the prayer lamp, a sense of oneness between you and your life. 

The quote also arouses the conviction in me, strong feeling welling inside, that all that matters is that you are a seeker and will not rest until you find your centre in the sphere of things.

Cross the Threshold

There are many words and lines that go fleeting past you and you don't even take notice. Like scraps of paper, discarded after jotting some inconsequential point. Or sipping a casual cup of tea, unconcerned of its provenance or whether it warms and refreshes you enough. Like endless waves breaking on the shore, over eons, like clockwork and devoid of identity.
Sometimes, certain words and lines just touch you, and you let them hold you in their sway; in reality, you are rendered powerless. You find joy and an odd sense of solace in them. Because they seem to know who you are. Because they catch you just at the very precious spot in your heart where you keep yourself true, unadulterated, like a fire, burning through the mires in this carnival of a world. Just as an infant sleeps soundly in it's mother's lap, knowing it's world is complete just then, and the mother too holds her world in her hand, you embrace those words as though it spells out your world, which you cradle inside you.
Then there are some that are etched forever on your mind, an indelible mark, a permanent brand, your lifelong reminder. You adopt them as your definition, your banner, your crest. And derive strength and security from them. Your personal talisman. You are those words personified. 

Keeping those words close to me, as companions, comrades, confidantes, in times when I retreat from the wilderness of the world and seek a hideout in my own caverns, I wish to, thus, share those words which keep my flame bright and burning.
I will post those words and lines, written, spoken, sung by great men and women of our times, then, now, ever and on, which have captured my spirit, shape and inspire me to achieve what I want to achieve, reach where I want to reach and become what I want to become.