to be whittled and sandpapered...

We are not on this earth to accumulate victories, things and experiences, but to be whittled and sandpapered until what's left is who we truly are.

Arianna Huffington
from On Becoming Fearless: In Love, Work and Life

perseverance...

The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't.

Henry Ward Beecher

growing unevenly...

We do not grow absolutely chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present and future mingle and pull us backward, forward or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.

Anais Nin

dreaming together...

If you dream alone, it's just a dream. When we dream together, it's reality.

Brazilian folk song

thank you...

i thank you god for this amazing day
for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;
and for everything which is natural which
is infinite which is yes.

e.e. cummings

a vision with a task...

A vision without a task is but a dream. A task without a vision is but drudgery. A vision joined with a task is the hope of the world.

Anonymous