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I Dare You – February 2025

Quotes We Remember


Have you ever repeated a quote or a saying as though it were a mantra? You woke up thinking about it and voiced it as a prayer. Did you go to bed at night whispering it under your covers? Is it a quote that one can identify with? Does it capture part of your personality? What is your favorite quote or saying? Do you live by its meaning? Has it followed you through the years? Where did you find or hear the quote? Is your quote from a certain time period? Does it reflect your culture, your upbringing, or that of your ancestors? Who created the quote? Did you? What influenced you to write it down or repeat the words someone else said or wrote? Good quotes can inspire, motivate, or convey a meaningful idea, which can influence a positive outcome in your disposition by stimulating your mind.


Kait
“Hakuna Matata” is a Swahili phrase from the Bantu language in East Africa, meaning basically: No worries, or no trouble. It is what it is. The phrase is often used to encourage people to live in the moment and not worry about the future. It became popular after being featured in a song in the 1994 Disney movie The Lion King. You should not have to worry about anything in life. In high school, I said it all the time because the teacher would say, “You have more work to do.”


Martin
“Service to others is the rent we pay for the time we have on Earth.” A beautiful sentiment. Everything is consuming. We spend our life consuming life without recognizing it. No way can we pay it back, but we can start by recognizing others for their service. We have been fed, we owe, we are blessed. Notice giving friendship, blessing others—it’s a comfort to be doing it on purpose. This explains my passion for service to other people, giving out what I did not get as a child.
Ronnie
“Snooze, you lose.” I sure snoozed and lost her, and that was one of her sayings—the first woman I fell in love with when I was 17 years old. It’s an action saying: Go for it before it’s gone. I wanted to ask Sally to a dance. I asked a day late. She tells me, “I would have rather gone with you.” I never went to the dance. I did not have a second choice.

Jenny
I made a record around this spiritual quote and it helped me function. I wrote music to it, to help me remember it. When you put quotes to music, it helps you remember them. Mirabai Starr translated it for me, and it became a mantra for me. Saint Teresa of Avila was a Carmelite nun and a Spanish mystic. She was a religious reformer and the foundress of the Discalced Carmelites in the 1500s. She wrote this passage:
“Let nothing disturb you
Let nothing upset you
Everything passes
God alone is unchanging.”
She believed God was within you. The Carmelites’ primary ministry is prayer. They live a life of service to others, following vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Their main values are contemplation, community, and service. She was an empowered woman when it was not safe to be one, going back to basics, back to our spiritual nature, while caring for the community.


Bernie
“More will be revealed.” I use it all the time; it’s so simple. I took it to heart years ago. There is a divine plan; it will be shown to you, even though you don’t know what is going to happen. It was very reassuring, deceptively simple. Twenty years ago, six men and I started a support group. We were from 30 to 60 years old. We had enough wisdom to come together as a group, and everybody takes a turn to get to the core of what they are feeling. We still meet every Monday evening to discuss what has been revealed or could be.


Percy
“Be the change you want to see in the world.” Mahatma Gandhi is credited with saying this. It encourages people to take responsibility for creating positive change in their world and beyond. It stops us from judging others, replaces whining about others with reflecting on ourselves, and stirs us into action to make a change, a difference. The change I want to see in the world is for humans to surrender to their questing of spirituality. I stay true to this to encourage those around me. To be responsible for industrial and technical change in the world and its negative effect on the world. Surrender to the attachment of needing an answer, which can only polarize you to other beliefs that may lead to your answer.


Nicole
The most recent quote was in a letter: “To advance, first retreat.” It was in a handwritten letter I wrote, faking out one of my teachers. He taught me all the lessons in that year. I wanted to thank him for teaching me the value of it. Everything has to be moving forward in a linear fashion, but sometimes retreating, pulling back, and giving space is the way.


Kenz
“It’s better to listen than to be heard. It’s better to understand than to be understood.” This sums up my whole life philosophy. Just because you never will understand people doesn’t mean it is not worth trying.

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