It is more difficult to contend with oneself than with the world.
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0017 And Where The Joy
This, then, the question
for those whom it may concern –
to find a celebration in oneself
that, as outer is, so inner;
that all truth rests within oneself –
for where else can it be found?
to love oneself – for oneself must be loveable,
or none other could be loved for true;
to know all happiness to be within;
to celebrate all this; the world a constant joy;
to find this celebration in oneself.
poem by Michael Shepherd

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Easy and Difficult
Easy and Difficult
Easy to get a place in someone’s address book
Difficult is to get a place in someone’s heart
Easy is to judge the mistakes of others
Difficult is to recognize our own mistakes
Easy is to talk without thinking
Difficult is to control the tongue
Easy is to hurt someone who loves us
Difficult is to heal the wound
Easy is to forgive others
Difficult is to ask for forgiveness
Easy is to set rules
Difficult is to follow them
Easy is to dream every night
Difficult is to fight for a dream
Easy is to show victory
Difficult is to accommodate defeat with dignity
Easy is to admire a full moon
Difficult is to see the other side
Easy is to stumble on a stone
Difficult is to get up
Easy is to enjoy life every day
Difficult is to give its real value
Easy is to pray every night
Difficult is to find God in small things
Easy is to promise something to someone
Difficult is to fulfill the promise
Easy is to say we love
Difficult is to show it every day
Easy is to criticize others
Difficult is to improve oneself
Easy is to make mistakes
Difficult is to learn from them
Easy is to weep for lost love
Difficult is to take care of it so as not to lose it
Easy is to think about improving
Difficult is to stop thinking and putting it into action
Easy is to think bad of others
Difficult is to give them the benefit of doubt
Easy is to receive
Difficult is to give
poem by Bashyam Narayanan

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Just Be You
When one looks at history
We can either
Learn from the past
To adapt to the present
So you can
Face tomorrow's mysteries
The age old question
We all ask
Can we better ourselves?
To better oneself
You must be brave
To better oneself
You must know love
To better oneself
You must be strong
To better oneself
You must believe
To better oneself
You must learn to share
To better oneself
Just be you
After learning all
Of life's mysteries
One must discover
To be true to
Thine own self
Just be you
poem by Kaila George

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To make oneself hated is more difficult than to make oneself loved.
quote by Pablo Picasso

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To become oneself, with all one's strength. Difficult. A bomb, a speech, a rifle shot -- and the world can look a different place. And then where is this self
quote by Christa Wolf

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Self indulgences.
The one who talks much of oneself
Is doing so to conceal as much oneself.
The one who curses much oneself
Is doing so to get pity for oneself.
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar

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There is nothing more natural than to consider everything as starting from oneself, chosen as the center of the world; one finds oneself thus capable of condemning the world without even wanting to hear its deceitful chatter.
quote by Guy Debord

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Josh Billings said, It is not only the most difficult thing to know oneself, but the most inconvenient one, too. Human beings have always employed an enormous variety of clever devices for running away from themselves, and the modern world is particularly rich in such stratagems.
quote by John W. Gardner

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Religion promotes the divine discontent within oneself, so that one tries to make oneself a better person and draw oneself closer to God.
quote by Cyril Cusack

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Nothing is so difficult as not deceiving oneself.
quote by Ludwig Wittgenstein

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Love is the difficult realization that something other than oneself is real.
quote by Iris Murdoch

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I Need The Quiet And The Silence
I need the quiet and the silence
The pain is too much
I need to hear nothing but quiet
So I can contend with the pain
It hurts
It aches
And I need to give my mind the strength
To contend with it-
Quiet and more quiet
And I will try to contend with it
Though I don't know if I can.
poem by Shalom Freedman

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Love is the extremely difficult realization that something other than oneself is real.
quote by Iris Murdoch

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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What's so difficult...
What's so difficult,
About the word,
No.
What's so difficult,
About our,
Relationship.
What's so difficult,
About,
Us.
What's so difficult,
About the words,
Stay away.
What's so difficult,
About,
Don't talk to me.
What's so difficult...
poem by Dragon Crenshaw

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One Cannot Live Another Person's Life/ Even By Envying Them
ONE CANNOT LIVE ANOTHER PERSON’S LIFE
One cannot live another person’s life
Even by envying them-
Those who have more than I have
Those who have more and better
Those who were greater at what I most wanted to be
Those who have lived longer and happier
Those who outdid me in every day
They have their own lives and stories
And must contend with what they have to contend with-
I must contend not with their stories but only with mine-
poem by Shalom Freedman

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One of the most difficult things to contend with in a hospital is that assumption on the part of the staff that because you have lost your gall bladder you have also lost your mind.

To busy oneself with what is futile when one can do something useful, to attend to what is simple when one has the mettle to attempt what is difficult, is to strip talent of its dignity.
quote by Jose Marti

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Life Is Difficult
Life is difficult-
Surprises are not always what we hoped they would be-
People misunderstand us-
We imagine we are kind
And they understand us differently-
Some problems never get solved
Some remain lingering for years-
There are cruel people in the world
Stupid ones also-
The fair do not always get the prize
The pushers push push push the good guys aside-
We see the Evil grinning and we cannot touch them-
All kinds of Hopes we have are disappointed-
Rejection is the Fate of everyone at one time or another
One has to try and try and try
And often that is not enough-
Life is difficult
And after a certain age is more difficult
And when young is also difficult-
Life is difficult in some time or some way for all of us
It just is-
Life is difficult
And even when it seems not to be
There is another time coming-
Life is difficult
And so long as we live
It will be.
poem by Shalom Freedman

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I Need A Poem For The Evening
I need a poem for the evening
The day has been difficult
Visiting two very sick friends and the wife of one on the edge of breakdown
Being in a crowd of one’s own people and feeling oneself a stranger
Praying at the Kotel in gratitude and yet wondering if the prayer real
Wondering how life could go so wrong for those I know of my own age
When it hasn’t for me yet
Praying to God
And wondering why God should listen to me
Life is difficult
Suffering is real
Disappointment is endemic in the human condition
I can still write a poem
Even if it is an unhappy one.
poem by Shalom Freedman

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Find It. Your Purpose
Find it.
Your purpose.
Once it has been discovered,
Do not let it be undermined.
Your purpose.
It is difficult to be oneself,
And declare oneself to 'be'.
It is much easier to locate acceptance,
When approval from others...
Does not threaten,
A routine enjoyed with unchanged beliefs.
Find it.
Your purpose.
Once it has been discovered,
Do not let it be undermined.
Your purpose.
And once it is recognized...
Be prepared to be criticized.
Be prepared to be humble too...
When a strength felt opens your eyes.
But never be apologetic,
For those steps you make.
Moving forward has been known,
To cause many heartache.
But find it,
You must...
Your purpose.
And trust that it is...
Your purpose!
And...
Once it has been discovered,
Do not let it be undermined.
Once it has been discovered,
Your purpose...
Will open and broaden your mind.
Finding one's purpose,
Does this every time!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

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