O Captain, My Captain!

BY WALT WHITMAN

O captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won.
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;


                But O heart! Heart! Heart!
                O the bleeding drops of red,
                Where on the deck my Captain lies,
                Fallen cold and dead.

The Prophet: On Love

BY KAHLIL GIBRAN

When love beckons to you, follow him, though his ways are hard and steep. And when his wings enfold you yield to him, though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you. And when he speaks to you believe in him, though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden. 

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning. Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun, so shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth. 

The Credenda from The Gift of Acabar

I was not born a bookworm. I got the habit of reading thanks to my SPED English  back in elementary school where I had to do book reports often. (I was part of an "experimental Accelerated class".)  I am thankful that the love of books was instilled on me early on. If there's an indulgence I will not have second thoughts splurging on, then that would be buying books! I will never trade the smell of pages after pages of a trade paperback to E-books and Kindle.

I do not like putting highlights on my books, I find them dirty. So I do take the extra effort of actually writing favorite quotations from all the books I have read in a notebook. The other day, I went through some old journals, and came across some notes I made from the book The Gift of Acabar by Og Mandino. I read it in high school, and it's actually timely to be reading a part of it again.

Here it goes.

Desiderata

BY MAX EHRMANN

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.