of poems and quotations

there are some moments in my life that i find solace reading poems and quotations. they helped me in so many ways than one when i was down on my knees. during my first three years of marriage, when i felt i was grasping at straws, i always turn on my favorites lines and recited it even in my sleep. in my waking hours, i always think of those famous authors and writers and be in awe of their talents. now, even when i am contented, fullfilled and happy with my life, i still browse on my compilation and it always bring an innate joy in me and i feel at peace with the world. when you think that the going gets tough, try reading invictus by william ernest henley. it will sure make you change your perspective.
i am so thankful to my English Literature teacher in high school, Mrs. Patria Velez, for the influence. she made us read, memorize, internalize and analyze every poem and odes you can think of. when you are in high school you have the tendency to be dreamy and starry eyed. that was the result of reading mills and boon. if she catches us reading one, she will always reprimand us. even nancy drew and the hardy boys was a taboo. she gave us a list of reading materials that was worth our while. so in general she taught us how to appreciate the english language.
i have lots of favorite poets and authors. one is the irish william butler yeats.
then walt whitman of the "oh captain my captain" fame. compilation of his work the leaves of grass was immortalized in the movie with honors. remember the scene where the principal characters, reading the book to the dying joe pesci? it still give me goosebumps when i recreate the said setting in my mind. then how can you forget the scene in the notebook where a father and son was reading whitman and yeats respectively? i like the works of machiavelli. thoreau, socrates, horace and of course shakespeare.
i like to share some of my favorite quotations and passages to wit;

" it takes two to speak the truth. one to speak and another to hear". Thoreau
" nothing is beautiful from every point of view". Horace
" true beauty springs from the heart and dwells in the eyes". Mcnaught
" birth is nothing where virtue is not". Moliere
" the past is just a prologue". Shakespeare
" the greatest glory is not on never falling but in rising every
time you fall. Old chinese proverb

a passage of the novel by antoine de saint-exupery entitled the little prince and i quote." and here is my secret, a very simple secret: it is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye".

in closing, this is what i think defines me most. in every step i make, in every thing i do, i always utter these words in my heart and in my mind. " my bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep; the more i give to thee the more i have for both are infinite". william shakespeare