T. S. Monk Quotes

It's your time to live, don't mess it up.

Yes, the more I go through life I realize that there's really no separation between practice and art at all. The two things more and more become one rather than two different aspects of my life.

When you start worrying about form, then you're not in the moment.

I have, I think, afforded every opportunity that could be reasonably expected, to judge of my credibility.

I often remembered also that I had been told, that we shall have as many devils biting us, if we go to hell, as we have unconfessed sins on our consciences.

We were constantly hearing it repeated, that we must never again look upon ourselves as our own; but must remember, that we were solemnly and irrevocably devoted to God.

We are so limited, you have to use the same word for loving Rosaleen as you do for loving Coke with peanuts. Isn't that a shame we don't have many more ways to say it?

There is nothing perfect...only life.

I realized it for the first time in my life: there is nothing but mystery in the world, how it hides behind the fabric of our poor, browbeat days, shining brightly, and we don't even know it.

You can go other places, all right - you can live on the other side of the world, but you can't ever leave home

And when you get down to it, Lily, that is the only purpose grand enough for a human life. Not just to love but to persist in love.

I think there must be a place inside of us where dreams go and wait their turn.

I believe in the goodness of imagination.

I really believed that the priests were acquainted with my thoughts; and often stood in great awe of them. They often told me they had power to strike me dead at any moment.

Standing near the door, we dipped our fingers in the holy water, crossed and blessed ourselves, and proceeded up to the sleeping-room, in the usual order, two by two.

So far as I know, there were no pains taken to preserve secrecy on this subject; that is, I saw no attempt made to keep any of the inmates of the Convent in ignorance of the murder of children.

The True Self is not our creation, but God's. It is the self we are in our depths. It is our capacity for divinity and transcendence.

Grandmotherhood initiated me into a world of play, where all things became fresh, alive, and honest again through my grandchildren's eyes. Mostly, it retaught me love.

It was the in-between time, before day leaves and night comes, a time I’ve never been partial to because of the sadness that lingers in the space between going and coming.

I sit in my new room and write everything down. My heart never stops talking.

Stopping is a spiritual art. It is the refuge where we drink life in.

So few people know what they're capable of.

Honeybees depend not only on physical contact with the colony, but also require it's social companionship and support. Isolate a honeybee from her sisters and she will soon die.

We walked along the river with the words streaming behind us like ribbons in the night.

We can't think of changing our skin color. Change the world - that's how we gotta think.

My music is very, very precise. It's very rigorous. The forms are much more intricate than you would imagine.

Did you know there are thirty-two names for love in one of the Eskimo languages?" August said. "And we just have this one. We are so limited, you have to use the same word.

I find my inspiration in myself.

People in general would rather die than forgive. It's THAT hard. If God said in plain language. "I'm giving you a choice, forgive or die," a lot of people would go ahead and order their coffin.

It is the peculiar nature of the world to go on spinning no matter what sort of heartbreak is happening.

Someone who thinks death is the scariest thing doesn't know a thing about life.

Jazz is my adventure.

I eventually found that the soul is more than an immortal commodity to win and save. It is the repository of the inner divine, the truest part of us.

Whatever else you do, listen to your Deepest Self. Love Her and be true to Her, speak Her truth, always.

People, in general, would rather die than forgive. It's that hard.

Be-bop wasn't developed in any deliberate way.

You have untold strengths and resources inside. You have your glorious self.

Everything is created twice, first in the mind and then in reality.

When mountain-climbing is made too easy, the spiritual effect the mountain exercises vanishes into the air.

You live and then you die, I thought. It's good to have some good times.

I realize that I can be with someone, but on a deeper level I'm not available to them at all. I have attention deficit disorder of the soul.

The philosophy of jazz represents tolerance, teamwork and inclusion. That's what America is about. The music reflects that.

Every little thing wants to be loved.

You gotta imagine what's never been.

When it comes to religion today, we tend to be long on butterflies and short on cocoons. Somehow we're going to have to relearn that the deep things of God don't come suddenly.

I know you've run away - everybody gets the urge to do that some time - but sooner or later you'll want to go home.

He came in shouting 'goal of the season' - typical Jonjo. He's got that in the locker.

I am definitely one of those girls who want to get married. I have two sisters and they are both married with kids, and I'm like, 'Oh, I want that.'

Others too would occasionally entertain and privately express such doubts; though we all had been most solemnly warned by the cruel murder of Saint Francis.

Journal became a sanctuary where I could pour out in honesty my pain and joy. It recorded my footsteps and helped me understand where I was standing, where I had been, and even where God pointed.