Joy is the holy fire that keeps our purpose warm and our intelligence aglow

Joy is the holy fire that keeps our purpose warm and our intelligence aglow

How fading are the joys we dote upon!
Like apparitions seen and gone;
But those which soonest read more

How fading are the joys we dote upon!
Like apparitions seen and gone;
But those which soonest take their flight
Are the most exquisite and strong;
Like angel's visits short and bright,
Mortality's too weak to bear them long.

Joy makes us giddy, dizzy.
[Ger., Die Freude macht drehend, wirblicht.]

Joy makes us giddy, dizzy.
[Ger., Die Freude macht drehend, wirblicht.]

Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.

Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.

Great joy, especially after a sudden change of circumstances, is apt to be silent, and dwells rather in the heart read more

Great joy, especially after a sudden change of circumstances, is apt to be silent, and dwells rather in the heart than on the tongue.

Joy is not in things; it is in us

Joy is not in things; it is in us

Joy has this in common with pain, that it robs people of reason.

Joy has this in common with pain, that it robs people of reason.

There's a hope for every woe,
And a balm for every pain,
But the first joys of read more

There's a hope for every woe,
And a balm for every pain,
But the first joys of our heart
Come never back again!

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. read more

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.