[perfectquote]

“Everything you do right now ripples outward and affects everyone. Your posture can shine your heart or transmit anxiety. Your breath can radiate love or muddy the room in depression. Your glance can awaken joy. Your words can inspire freedom. Your every act can open hearts and minds.”

— David Deida

[minimalistquotes]

A relationship works when both partners are willing to sacrifice their old bad habits, let go of their ego, and respect each other at all times..

[rose1water]

O beloved God, how many grievances weaken my heart, how little means I have to handle them on my own. I lay my burdens before You, and complain of my ache to You alone, for my desire is for You and You alone.

— Imam Husayn (a)

[rose1water]

Thankfully, it is God’s grip on me—not my feeble grip on Him—that keeps me safe in the fold of His love.

— Diana Stone

[rose1water]

if anything is true, then it always has been true; and people who sincerely search, will touch upon the same truth in every age and every culture, using different languages, symbols, and rituals to point us in the same direction; and the direction is always toward more love and union—in ever widening circles.

— Richard Rohr

[324732]

Blessed is the one who does not interpret the silence of God as the indifference of God

Erwin W. Lutzer

[rose1water]

— Rūmi 🌸

[rose1water]

Perhaps one of the most significant events in history is the Holy Prophet's (s) mi'raj, in which the Prophet ascended to the high heavens, such that he was "only two bows' length away [from God]."

In this important meeting, the Prophet (s) asked God:

God replied:

Of all the answers God could have given, He focused on the qualities of tawakkul [reliance upon God] and ridha [contentment with His decree.] It is only when we allow our lives to unfold without resistance, anchored in the knowledge that God will always do what is wise and in our best interest, that we will begin to live the tranquil life God has always intended for us. Such a life of surrender does not protect us from pain. The nature of this world is that we will always encounter hardships. The difference is, while we experience pain, we will not fear it. We will feel secure that God is taking care of us, that this pain is necessary for our growth, and that all will be compensated beyond measure in our final abode.

[perfectquote]

“We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.”

— Thomas Fuller

[cieletat]

Please read classic science-fiction. Like, I am begging you on my hands and knees to read classic science-fiction. There is so much literary value in books that ask “what if?”

Here’s a curated list (according to me):

The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin, 1969. Genly Ai is a human diplomat sent to Gethen to convince them to join an alliance. He has to navigate the “foreignness” of the planet’s inhabitants being genderless and getting caught up in their own political turmoil. 10/10 no notes. Won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards. Preserved in The Library of Congress. An exploration of gender, identity, society, politics, and most importantly, empathy for other. Genuinely think this book would go crazy on tumblr, please read it.

“Tell them at Shath that I take back my name and my shadow.”

Dune - Frank Herbert, 1965. Paul Atreides can see the future and carries the extreme burden of his ancestry. He finds himself in a position in which he can manufacture an ideal future for the greater good, but he will have to commit to huge sacrifices to achieve it. Also won both the Hugo and the Nebula. If you saw the movies, you have maybe grasped half of what makes Dune ideal science fiction. There’s six official novels in the series, but you literally only have to read the first one to experience the full onslaught of Herbert’s ideas. He combines religion, philosophy, universal consciousness, humanism, politics, and ecology all together into something entirely unique.

“Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

Hyperion - Dan Simmons, 1989. Seven pilgrims share their stories with each other as they travel to the planet Hyperion, to look for answers to the heavy and terrible riddles they bring with them. A mysterious being on the planet is rumored to be able to grant wishes. Won the Hugo Award. What if the Canterbury Tales were set in distant space? There are four novels and several short stories in The Hyperion Cantos, but I recommend sticking to the first two. Simmons tackles heavy topics like the passage of time, the loss of memory, and mortality.

“….loyalty to those we love is all we can carry with us to the grave.”

Parable of the Sower - Octavia Butler, 1993. Lauren Olamina can literally feel the pain of others. As she travels through the post-apocalyptic US, she develops a new religion that preaches change and spreading the seeds of the Earth by traveling to and inhabiting other planets. Butler’s original novel was a finalist for the Nebula Award, but the graphic novel version (2020) did win the Hugo. This book can often be found on Banned Books lists due to the way it tackles racism, social inequality, political extremism, and environmentalism.

“All that you touch you change. All that you change changes you.”

Foundation - Isaac Asimov, 1951. The Foundation is an organization established to preserve knowledge through a foreseen Dark Age predicted to occur when the Galactic Empire collapses. The members of the association use ‘psychohistory’, the science of predicting future historical developments to make decisions through centuries of political and social turmoil. Asimov is one of the Big Three of Science Fiction for a reason. The Foundation novels span thousands of years and cover the efforts of the organization to survive societal collapse, pass down knowledge, and bridge the gap between individual actions and pre-determined results. There’s also a pretty decent adaptation on Apple TV too!

“I am afraid a monster is grown that will devour all of us. Yet we must fight him.”

Other, worthy classic sci-fi novels:

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick, 1968. The inspiration behind Blade Runner, but also majorly influential to the Matrix and Ghost in the Shell.

Neuromancer - William Gibson, 1984. The father of the cyberpunk genre.

The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury, 1950. A collection of short stories that popularized the ‘human colonies on other planets’ trope.

[perfectquote]

“Distance doesn’t separate people. Silence does.”

— Jeff Hood

[rosavaya]

“Many people seem to think it foolish, even superstitious, to believe that the world could still change for the better. And it is true that in winter it is sometimes so bitingly cold that one is tempted to say, ‘What do I care if there is a summer; its warmth is no help to me now.’ Yes, evil often seems to surpass good. But then, in spite of us, and without our permission, there comes at last an end to the bitter frosts. One morning the wind turns, and there is a thaw. And so I must still have hope.”

— Vincent Van Gogh

[anarchistmemedistro]

[mentalhealthmemesofficial]

[notthegrouch]

“If I am worth anything later, I am worth something now. For wheat is wheat, even if people think it is a grass in the beginning.” 

- Vincent van Gogh

[placeeee]

[altivyx]

[metamorphesque]

Some wounds never vanish.

Yet little by little

I learned to love my life. (Mary Oliver)

[poetic-lungs]

tremble if God forgets you tremble if God remembers you

— Eduardo C. Corral, excerpt of “Testaments Scratched into a Water Station Barrel”, from Guillotine

[julaibib]

Sufyan Ath-Thawri said:

"𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛, 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙢 𝙮𝙤𝙪."

[Hilyah Al-Awliyā (6/390)]