Quotable Quotes

Perhaps I have done a similar post in the past.  I can vaguely remember taking pictures of some of the quotes around my house but not sure when or why so my apologies if this is a repeat.  Hopefully there is something different in the text even if the quotes are the same.

Last week when I sent out my email about a new blog post, I added a new quote that I had recently read on Facebook.  I liked it and thought it was appropriate for the current times we live in when people can't seem to be kind and respectful to people who don't share their same point of view.

Here is that quote:

"Peacemaking doesn't mean passivity. It is the act of interrupting injustice without mirroring injustice, the act of disarming evil without destroying the evildoer, the act of finding a third way that is neither fight nor flight but the careful, arduous pursuit of reconciliation and justice. It is about a revolution of love that is big enough to set both the oppressed and the oppressors free. -from the book "Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals"

My sister Valerie liked the quote and asked if she could post it on Facebook.  Of course I agreed, saying that I nor the person I got it from "own" the quote.  For some reason that started me thinking about quotes and how much I enjoy words--put together well.

Another favorite quote:

"I will go forward...I will smile at the rage of the tempest, and ride fearlessly and triumphantly across the boisterous ocean of circumstance...and the 'testimony of Jesus' will light up a lamp that will guide my vision through the portals of immortality."   Eliza R. Snow

Isn't that an awesome and powerful way to approach life!!

So I decided that I needed to document the quotes and words I have around my house....and that turned out to be a much bigger project that I first thought.  I mean, I know I had several but it is quite another thing when you start taking pictures of them all.  I really do need to diversify my "home decor" style.  However as I looked at each one this afternoon, they each still touch my heart and in my day to day living, they serve as reminders of the values and thoughts that are important to me. (The statements are about the quote which follow them.)

Starting at my computer desk, this quote has been taped inside one of the bookshelves where I can see it any time I am at the computer:

There is no power in the universe that can come between us
and the celestial kingdom, except our own power.

 This was my first real quote--meaning the first quote that I heard in the middle of a talk and loved it.  It was at a BYU devotional when I was a student in the early 1970's.  Immediately when I heard it, I wrote it down and was determined that it would appear on my wedding announcements...and it did....then later on this quote board and also on a collage of our 2010 family pictures.

I lift thee and thou life me, and we (all) ascend together."

This is in my family history.sewing, and exercise room downstairs-- This was a "popular" quote a number of years ago.  Looking at this quote causes me to reflect on those moments "that took my breath away"--The Great Wall of China, double rainbows in the sky, waterfalls, and streams, sunsets, and falling stars, children at play, new babies,....and the list can go on and on.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by  the
moments that take our breath away.

This quote is in the same room and sits on top of my desk in there.  Ben chose this quote for his bedroom one time and when he didn't want it any more, I snatched it.  This is a critical truth.

I saw this quote first at the home of our friends, Kent and Vicki Fox, and got the name of the person who had done it.  This was my first formal "quote on a board".  It comes from Harry Potter and one of the reasons I like it (other than it is a very important concept for everyone to learn) was that when I was reading Harry Potter I was actually struck by this quote in the book.  Usually I read fiction very quickly to follow the story line that I can miss things like this.  And, yes, we have had people ask us who Professor Dumbledore is?

It is not our abilities that show what we
truly are:  It is our choices.

In my entry way:  (and I actually did this little piece of embroidery)

Also in my entry way.  I usually put this out at Thanksgiving time, but when I cleaned up Christmas decorations, I decided that I wanted it out again

In our bedroom, this is one of the newest ones I have.  Again it is a "popular" one but when I redid our bedroom wall, I thought it was the perfect thing to look at when we went to bed or woke up in the morning.  Gary even commented that he liked it.  (And ours is my very favorite love story, too.)

BYU alumni or students will recognize this next quote as being at one of the entrances into the BYU campus.  This reminds me of BYU and all that I learned there but its meaning goes beyond that. There are many places we enter--our homes, the Church, the Chapel, the temple--to learn but then we must exit (go forth) to serve others.  That is the plan.  We do not gain knowledge for ourselves but to serve others.

In the master bedroom on the mirror:   My sister Valerie did this lettering as well as many of the other quotes I have in my house.

Also posted on my bathroom mirror is the full version of "The Living Christ".  A bit longer than a quote, but I once memorized it including those who signed it.  That was a very special experience and even now looking at it reminds me of some of those special moments.  If you have never done that, I highly recommend it.  (And that reminds me that I also have "The Family:  A Proclamation to the World" in my hallway. No picture--I never memorized that.)

Over the stairs going downstairs-- you can't see it in the picture but over the base of the "H" it says est. 1978.  The year we were married.

When I was Relief Society president in the Walnut Grove Ward, we made these blocks and gave them to the new families as they moved into the ward.  We had a lot of new people moving in at that time. For Christmas one year I made one for each of the members of my presidency.

I told you that I have a lot of quotes and they keep coming.

This hangs in the small hallway heading to the garage.  I got this thinking it might be good for an office someday but once I hung it here, I wanted to keep it there--Happy hearts are worth keeping and having even in the busy and hard times.

 This is our Hall Family Motto--It is on the wall in our mud room.

 In my laundry room:  This is a famous quote from Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley.

 This is also in my laundry room as well.  It is a picture with the following quote:

"By small and simple things are great things'
brought to pass."

 Not a quote, but words...words are everywhere!

I found this little quote a number of years ago and how true are these words.  I say this to myself many times when life is difficult.  Each day comes with those blessings as well as the troubles.  Just look!

I first made a block with this quote (actually a scripture in this case) and decided that it was an important message for me so I made another one for me.  Sits on our bathtub in the master bedroom.

 

If you know me, you know that this is true.

the beach feeds my soul.

 In our entry hall niche--

Sometimes it only takes a word---on our kitchen wall

This is a quote which my mom also had in her house when I was growing up.  My mom loved words too!  This reminds me each night (well, most nights) that I want to make that run through the house and put things back in somewhat of an order....because tomorrow there will be new messes....
(this is a twist from a scripture which uses the word "evil" instead of "mess".)

"Sufficient each day is the mess therein."

I have had this hanging in my kitchen for almost 18 years.  It is a list of "Simple Pleasures" and if I found myself too busy or too stressed, I will read parts of it just to remind myself to enjoy the moment and enjoy the simple things of life.

Jessica and Elessia made this for me for Christmas and I have kept it out for the winter season, I guess if you are going to have snow, you need to appreciate it.

This one hangs in our powder room.  It is a couple of lines from the Robert Frost poem.  My mom loved this poem and I believe she memorized it when I was younger.  I have loved this poem for a long time and so when I saw this which includes the lines in English and Chinese, I had my friend who had done it make me one as well.  (Thanks to Dan and Eileen Bradford.)

Two roads diverged in a wood...
I took the one less traveled by...
and that has made all the difference.

And for the final one:  Gary and Jena bought this for our game room (although more to make fun of my loyalty to the 49ers)

Let's go SF
they haven't been doing well for the past
several years

And there you have it and there are probably more I forgot in my trip around my house.  Some I bring out at different times or holidays.  It is crazy.  But I like it.  They are meaningful to me and they touch my life at odd moments now and then.

(Is there such a thing as a "quote hoarder?)

And as I reread this I remembered about Jena's quote in her room (Never ever give up. Dream Do Come True) and two in Gary's office (Think, Think, Think) and (Grow old with me.  The best is yet to come).

It is really out of control over here.