To have great poets there must be great audiences too.
- Walt Whitman

Poetry is being, not doing.
- E.E. Cummings

Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.
- Robert Frost

Of our conflicts with others we make rhetoric; of our conflicts with ourselves we make poetry.
- William Butler Yeats

No man was ever yet a great poet, without being at the same time a profound philosopher. For poetry is the blossom and the fragrance of all human knowledge, human thoughts, human passions, emotions, language.
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Poetry should be great and unobtrusive, a thing which enters into one's soul, and does not startle it or amaze it with itself, but with it's subject.
- John Keats

The gap between verse and poetry is enormous. Between good poetry and good prose the gap is much narrower.
- Michael Longley

Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar.
- Edward R. Murrow

A poet's object is not to tell what actually happened but what could or would happen either probably or inevitably .... For this reason poetry is something more scientific and serious than history, because poetry tends to give general truths while history gives particular facts.
- Aristotle

A poet's work is to name the unnamable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it from
going to sleep.
- Salman Rushdie

With this pen I take in hand my selves and with these dead disciples I will grapple. Though rain curses the window let the poem be made.
- Anne Sexton

Poetry is either something that lives like fire inside you - like music to the musician . . . or else it is nothing, an empty, formalized bore
around which pedants can endlessly drone their notes and explanations.
- F. Scott Fitzgerald

Poetry is the music of the soul, and, above all, of great and feeling souls.
- Voltaire

The true philosopher and the true poet are one, and a beauty, which is truth, and a truth, which is beauty, is the aim of both.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Poetry, even when apparently most fantastic,
is always a revolt against artifice, a volt,
in a sense, against actuality.
- James Joyce

Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.
- William Wordsworth

Toilet paper poetry can be found everywhere,
every sheet looks just like every other sheet.
- Kenneth Rexroth

Writers who tailor their message to popular opinion work amid crowds where truth is subjective and always wrong. Solitary perception becomes indisputable when there is absolute and uncompromised independence
from the group, and like genuine poetry is only worthwhile when it arises within the individual, not from content set forth by its authoritative command.
- Soren Kierkegaard

Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar.
- Edward R. Murrow

Had to laugh at this one.

Thank you for sharing, some great insight!

"It matters not how oft you kneel, in attitude of prayer so true; Unless deep inside, where no one sees; Your very soul is kneeling too!" [Mary L. O'Hara]

Once You Awaken, You'll Have No Interest In Judging Those Who Sleep!

I like this from John Lennon

'My role in society, or any artist's or poet's role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all'




Some of the poetry I read on here touches the parts, and is amazing considering I've never really been into it, it makes me wonder what else I've missed in life.

Well I found these quotes at a poem critique site. It amazed me how arrogant and cruel they were to the posters. I wont be going back as they are heartless.
What warms me to people is their capacity for kindness, cruelty is easy.
Talking to myself here too. I can have 'bad moments' and be blunt.
I hope you enjoyed Mowildflower, Kastauv and Joethebricky.

Thank You For Your Kindness And Concern, Lady.



A man who owns one watch knows exactly what time it is, a man who owns two is never quite sure?



When the human mind is in doubt, it is most easily swayed by the slightest of impulses. This opens the door to many wrong decisions. Often, wrong decisions allow things to go from 'bad to worse'. Indecision is deadly. The truth is that the most dangerous place to be, is in the middle of the road. A double-minded person is unstable in all his/her ways. An 'indecisive' person allows 'instability' to creep into every sphere of his/her life. If we don't decide what is important in our own lives, we will probably end up doing only the things that are 'important to others'. "The greater the degree of wishful thinking; the greater is the degree of mediocrity!" Being 'decisive' and 'focused' and committing ourselves to the fulfillment of our dream, immensely enhances our probability of 'success'. It also closes the door to 'wrong' options.

The challenge for all of us is to 'dedicated' dreamers OR more appropriately, 'decisive' dreamers. Harry Truman once said: "Some questions cannot be answered, but they can be decided." Often, you & I may not have all the facts available about a particular given situation, but we will usually have all the facts we need, to make a 'decision'.

"If the DEVIL controls our will, HE controls our destiny. But if GOD controls our will, HE controls our destiny!". The choice is ours to make. So let's be decisive. Let's make the right decision & make this world a 'meaningful & beautiful' place to dwell in....!

Life's Lessons, as shared by 'Jonathan':


01. Often those who aren't the easiest to love are the ones who need it the most.

02. Seeing children play can make even the bluest day brighter.

03. Money is not the root of all evil, fear is.

04. The secret to happiness is the acceptance of yourself.

05. Happiness is not based on external status, it is an internal state.

06. Money can'��t make me happy, but self-sufficiency gives me the freedom to share myself creatively, without worrying about how I'��m going to pay the bills.

07. Every man has a right to choose his own destiny.

08. The path is the way.

09. Coming is going, going is coming.

10. The hardest is found in the easiest.

11. Heaven and hell exist here and now, within your own mind.

12. Life is the largest stage.

13. Music is one of the most supreme expressions of life. It is art in it'�s most transitory form. It is gone within an instant, and therefore, extremely precious.

14. Follow your gut, you'��ll thank yourself later.

15. Remember what your mother taught you, it came from the most sacred place of love that exists.

16. Never let an argument last, never hold a grudge, it will make your heart heavy.

17. Forgive those that have yet to do you wrong, and you won'��t have to worry about it should the time come.

18. Be grateful for this moment, it is all there is.

19. The source of most of your frustrations and anxiety are the result of living in the future, or the past.

20. Spend time alone with yourself every day.

21. Always go with yourself, never against yourself.

22. You have to be your own best friend.

23. If you don'��t like what someone else says to you, you can walk away. But if you don'��t like what you say to yourself, you can'��t walk away. Therefore, if you'��re going to be with yourself all the time, you might as well be nice to yourself.

24. The truth shall indeed set you free.

25. Lies only exist if we believe in them.

26. Even the most fundamental beliefs about reality are not true in themselves.
Our thinking makes them true in our experience.

27. Your thoughts create reality.

28. The biggest lie is the lie of your imperfection.

29. Being kind is more important than being right.

30. Your heart is your best compass.

31. Cherish those that you love, you never know if you'��ll see them again.

32. Your beliefs are a filter for your reality.

33. Love is the supreme expression of life, it is the essence and ground of all creation.

34. Believing in yourself is the greatest gift you can give yourself.

35. Your friends can be an elevator, or a cage.

36. The best investment you can make, is in yourself.

37. Suffering is the result of unfulfilled expectations.

38. Intentions are like seeds in our consciousness, with water and nurture, they will flower into existence. 'What thoughts, what seeds, are you nurturing?'

39. What you feel is always right, however, the root of those feelings may be based on lies.

40. The meaning of life is not found in something other than life.

41. Life is dreaming with the brain awake.

42. Creatively expressing yourself is like making love to the universe.

43. Everything is a game, or a dance, life is the ultimate game, the ultimate dance.

44. Time is a real illusion.

45. When beauty is seen as beauty, there is ugliness.

46. When the mind is clear, a dark room has its blue sky.

47. Sometimes the best answer is 'silence'.

48. We are not our bodies, we identify ourselves with our bodies, but in reality, we are the energy that moves through them.

49. When tired, sleep, when hungry, eat.

50. Division is only found in the mind, it is not present in reality.

51. Love & Compassion can heal the deepest wounds.

52. An eye for an eye makes us all blind.

53. The greatest gift you can give someone is your 'time'.

54. Practice makes the master, we are creatures of habit.

55. If you want to receive, 'give'.

56. In life, we have control only over two things: "what we think" & "what we say".

57. Your perception of others is 'a reflection of your own reality'.

58. If you believe you can, you 'can', if you believe you cannot, you 'cannot'.

59. When you are true to yourself in all your actions, your life takes on a whole new level of joy you never thought possible.

60. Devotion is the supreme symbol of love.

61. Life'��s worth is not defined by external success, but by your 'collection of experiences'.

62. Everyone is an divine artist, writing their own story each day, choose to write your story with love.

63. The meaning of life is found in the present, it is found now.

64. Sometimes your joy comes from your smile.

65. Imagine how our lives could change, if with every action, we simply asked ourselves: "Is 'this' what I want?"

66. Your level of happiness is largely related to your level of intimacy with nature.

Article - "Reflections on Expectations" [by Stewart Blackburn]


One of the greatest challenges on the path to greater pleasure, joy, and happiness is mastering expectations. There is a great deal of confusion about what expectations really are, how to use them, and above all how not to be hurt by them. As the two quotes below demonstrate, very thoughtful people can have quite contrary views on this everyday experience.

High expectations are the key to everything. - Sam Walton

Expectation is the root of all heartache. - William Shakespeare


Expectations are very curious creatures. We create them all the time but once created they take on a life of their own. We expect that when we are driving the road will continue over the hill, we expect that the food in the supermarket won't make us sick, we expect our parents to tell us the truth. And most of the time we get what we expect. But every now and again something very different happens from what we expect and it shocks us. How could he/she/they/it do this to me? This isn't what I expected at all!!! It's as though there has been a breach of contract, an unspoken deal has been broken. We get upset as though we have been personally attacked.


Expectations are not future reality. They are not contracts with the Universe. They are not something outside of us that is a part of nature. They are simply beliefs we have accepted about the future. Very often our expectations are based on what we think are probable outcomes, on the projection of patterns we see, or simply on the basis of hope. Sometimes we base our expectations on what other people have said or what we thought they said. Or our expectations are based on meanings we have created to make sense of our immediate world. But, however they come to be, we are the ones who create them. Whether consciously or not we choose these beliefs and they are our creation. And like Frankenstein's monster they can lead to unpredictable, and perhaps, disastrous results when we are not fully conscious of our creations. For instance, perhaps I love my son so much that I want him to do well in school so that he can go on to a good college. As I envision his great success in life, I create an expectation that he will study hard and get good grades. However, if he should find that what he really wants to do is spend his time surfing and hanging with his friends, I may well be very disappointed. I might be so disappointed that I withhold love to a large degree to show my disappointment and in so doing poison my relationship with the son I love so.


With this in mind it's easy to see that we often make expectations simply based on how we think the world works. And most of the time the world works the way we think it should. This leads to a very powerful understanding that if we want to change our experience, then we need to change our expectations. That is to say that conscious expectations can be used to great effect, especially when we choose to expect good things, situations and experiences that help us to feel very, very good.


But when we make our expectations unconsciously and are not aware of having done so, then the expectations are like rogue thought-forms. They have a way of creating a "reality" that may be in alignment with how we think things work but may be a far cry from how we want them to be. For instance, suppose in spite of all efforts to eradicate these notions I believe deep down that women are inferior (I don't, but follow this with me if you will). I am very likely to make assumptions that the women I work with won't be able to keep up with me in thought and action. I will expect them to be less competent. This may not be a conscious expectation, in fact, it may be contrary to my current belief system. Just the same it is a function of the beliefs that I still carry and will produce harmful expectations as long as it remains in my system.


What happens when our expectations, conscious or not, are unfulfilled? This is the source of the disappointment that expectations are famous for. What we do with that disappointment determines how much pleasure we can have in the ensuing moments. If I created my expectation as a kind of unspoken pact with another person or the universe then I'm likely to feel cheated, angry and/or hurt. Things didn't work out the way I thought they would, so someone is to blame. What's important here is not to find out why things didn't go the way they "should" have and who is responsible for that. The real question is who decided that things should go a certain way and that any other way was unacceptable. And I think we all know the answer to that one.


Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is a little like expecting a bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian. - Dennis Wholey


Once I have recognized that I am responsible for my expectations and that they are only beliefs, not some form of reality, then I am then in the position to process those feelings (and perhaps feelings from the memory of similar situations). If I created my expectation based on my understanding of how the universe works, then my disappointment may well leave me confused. The most and useful common response is to search for a deeper understanding of the ways of the world so that my new experience can be integrated into my world-view. If my disappointment is in the actions, or non-actions, of other people then we have to recognize that there is another factor involved here as well. While expectation is very powerful, it is not as powerful as free will. We can't get people to do what we want with simple expectation. We might be able to manipulate them with shame, guilt, or bribes. But their free will always override any notions of expecting them to do something. The sanest way to deal with this is to give people permission to be who they are and to do what they do, just as we give ourselves permission to be who we are and to do what we do.


Another way to deal with unmet expectations is to re-frame the experience. Suppose I expected to see a movie tonight but when I got to the theater I discovered that the movie had moved on. Besides feeling disappointed or angry, I could immediately look around for another pleasure. I could take this as a gift and look to see what else is playing or what other interesting, cool things might be around. Or I could just decide that being with myself would be the most pleasurable use of my time.


From an adventurer's standpoint letting go of most expectations is very helpful. Certainly, letting go of the expectations of how anything specifically will be experienced. If I am hiking in new territory, I'm there to experience what there is there. I may have some specifics that I desire, sights I want to see, particular experiences that are appealing, questions answered. But I am most likely to enjoy my adventure by limiting my expectations to those general ones in the nature of having fun and learning more about something. In this frame of mind disappointment easily melts away as learning always leaves room for surprises.


Expectations are a form of focus, just as intentions are. However, they are a kind of focus that disallows doubt and that is their great usefulness. Once we have become clear about what our desire is and we have chosen to have that desire met, then we put some effort towards meeting that desire and expect to have the desired result. This puts our whole being behind bringing our desire into reality and the expectation is the strongest expression of our will. It is much stronger than hope or optimism. It is a visceral kind of faith that involves the body as well as the heart and mind because it removes room for doubt. We often sabotage the creation of what we want by letting our doubts sap our energy. When we allow our focus to be dispersed by questions that start with, "What if" then some of our energy is dealing with the very opposite of what it is that we desire. Consciously expecting something to come to pass channels our energy and will like a laser beam.


But what happens when even our conscious expectation doesn't come to pass? The first thing to do is to look at what did happen. Very often what we find is that we have brought into being "the nearest equivalent" of what we had desired. Restaurants often give us an opportunity to discover new dishes when they are out of the one we initially wanted. By paying attention to the nature of our desire, the feelings that we were looking for, it usually happens that what we're seeking is right there.


If I have chosen an expectation intentionally as a way of influencing my experience and what I expected did not occur then I'm left with valuable information. I do not necessarily have an emotional response, simply that what I expected did not occur. It may well be that the nearest possible circumstance was created instead. Or it may be that a part of me felt that what I was expecting would not be in my best interest. All this leads to the point that we choose what assumptions and meanings we make about any results and that determines the experience we have at that point.


Nobody succeeds beyond his or her wildest expectations unless he or she begins with some wild expectations. - Ralph Charrell

There are four basic elements of successful (and sane) expecting.

The first is to remember that expectations are related to reality only as tools we can use to influence reality. Don't mistake them for reality itself.


Secondly, make expectations a conscious choice. If you encounter disappointment that gets under your skin, then you know it was an unconscious choice of expectation and you didn't take responsibility for it from the beginning.


Thirdly, you can expect anything you want. There are no limits to what you can imagine, what you can desire, and what you can expect to come to you. You are energizing your desire by your expectation in a very powerful way. There is no reason to hold back on influencing the world to fulfill your desires.


And finally, even with no doubt that your expectation will be fulfilled, it may not happen. Something will happen, though, and by looking at what did happen as the closest thing possible given the current circumstances, you can stay balanced, grateful, and happy.


Whatever we expect with confidence becomes our own self-fulfilling prophecy.
- Brian Tracy

What about the expectations of others? Most of us know how difficult it can be to encounter the disappointment of other people when we don't meet their expectations. As children most of us were taught that we were not supposed to disappoint other people, particularly our elders. Guilt and shame at the very least were the consequences of this disappointment. This, of course, has left many of us very aware of the expectations of others to the degree that we are afraid to disappoint anyone, even to the point of sacrificing our own happiness.


Expectations used in this way are a form of control, with the threat implicit or implied. They are intended to override our free will. As we grow into maturity we learn to assert our free will more and more but the habits of yielding to the expectations of others can be hard to break.


I do my thing and you do yours. I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, and you are not in this world to live up to mine. You are you and I am I, and if by chance we find each other, then it is beautiful. If not, it can't be helped. - The Gestalt Prayer - Fritz Perls

It is a major claiming of our freedom when we are willing to disappoint others if their expectations conflict with our own sense of well-being. Just as we need to take responsibility for our own expectations, we need to let others take responsibility for theirs. If we don't, if we take responsibility for them, then we are diminishing their ability to choose for themselves. That is to say, we are both inhibiting their free will and we are stifling their own inner guidance system, the one that lets them feel for themselves the value and virtue of any particular act or thought. In essence, we are dis-empowering them by taking responsibility for them. However, when we take responsibility for our own expectations but refuse to take responsibility for living up to another's, we are supporting everyone's self-empowerment.





[PS: I sincerely thank you, 'Lu Rosemary' for having shared this beautiful piece...]

Goodness Kaustuv my brain got overloaded at number 40 something lol.

Ladywind,

Thank you for this moving, virtual list, this causal interplay on the part of the great poets of old. I have to say I enjoyed reading those timeless written thoughts, those writings of the great ones. And of course, among the full list of comments, Walt Whitman remains to me, ' God-Like'. He remains my absolute favorite in time. He moves me most.

Thank ye, Ladywind, this was fun.

tommo / Ireland

I'd say love, poetry, music and good food is the key to endless pleasure. What say you.

BEAUTIFUL! THANKS FOR SHARING!