Five (or seven) Quotes and a Prayer from Howard Thurman

November 18, 1899 – April 10, 1981

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

 “There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. It is the only true guide you will ever have. And if you cannot hear it, you will all of your life spend your days on the ends of strings that somebody else pulls." 

“During times of war, hatred becomes quite respectable, even though it has to masquerade often under the guise of patriotism.” 

"It is very easy to sit in judgement upon the behavior of others, but often difficult to realize that every judgement is a self-judgement."

“Often, to be free means the ability to deal with the realities of one's own situation so as not to be overcome by them.” 

“And this is the strangest of all paradoxes of the human adventure; we live inside all experience, but we are permitted to bear witness only to the outside. Such is the riddle of life and the story of the passing of our days.”

“There must be always remaining in every life, some place for the singing of angels, some place for that which in itself is breathless and beautiful.”

Lord, open unto me
Open unto me – light for my darkness.
Open unto me – courage for my fear.
Open unto me – hope for my despair.
Open unto me – peace for my turmoil.
Open unto me – joy for my sorrow.
Open unto me strength for my weakness.
Open unto me – wisdom for my confusion
Open unto me - forgiveness for my sins.
Open unto me – love for my hates.
Open unto me – thy Self for my self.
Lord, Lord, open unto me!

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