Things we Do ~Jeanne Roy

"If you ask people what kinds of activities bring them pleasure, it's usually contact with nature, things that are creative, and relationships with people, and the things we do to live simply bring us all of those satisfactions."

~  Jeanne Roy

More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Earth_Institute

Artwork from John Liddell
 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/john-liddell-519517.html

The Smell of Manure ~ Doris Lessing

"The smell of manure, of sun on foliage, of evaporating water, rose to my head; two steps farther, and I could look down into the vegetable garden enclosed within its tall pale of reeds - rich chocolate earth studded emerald green, frothed with the white of cauliflowers, jewelled with the purple globes of eggplant and the scarlet wealth of tomatoes."

~  Doris Lessing

More at  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_Lessing

Believe in Them as Human ~ Rudy Henry Wiebe

"Understand is not the word; you are right, you can never really 'understand' about someone, anyone, even yourself. It is best to believe in them as human; feel that they are alive like you and need warmth, concern." 

~ Rudy Henry Wiebe

More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudy_Wiebe

Artwork from Vasily Nikolaevich Masiutin http://eng.printsmuseum.ru/artist/view/11/

Dry Woolen Socks ~ Richard Proenneke

“I have found that some of the simplest things have given me the most pleasure. They didn't cost me a lot of money either. They just worked on my senses. Did you ever pick very large blueberries after a summer rain Walk through a grove of cottonwoods, open like a park, and see the blue sky beyond the shimmering gold of the leaves? Pull on dry woolen socks after you've peeled off the wet ones? Come in out of the subzero and shiver yourself warm in front of a wood fire? The world is full of such things.” 

 ~ Richard Proenneke

More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Proenneke

Artwork from Miriam Macgregor  http://www.whittingtonpress.com/miriam-article.pdf

Your Work Shall be to Watch ~ James Parnell

 "A barren field, where barrenness and deadness fly away. As the spring comes on, the winter casts her coat and the summer is nigh. O, wait to see and read these things within. You that have been as barren and dead and dry without sap; unto you the Sun of Righteousness is risen with healing in his wings and begins to shine in your coasts.... O, mind the secret sprigs and tender plants. Now you are called to dress the garden. Let not the weeds and wild plants remain. Peevishness is a weed; anger is a weed; self-love and self-will are weeds; pride is a wild plant; covetousness is a wild plant; lightness and vanity are wild plants, and lust is the root of all. And these things have had a room in your gardens, and have been tall and strong; and truth, innocence, and equity have been left out, and could not be found, until the Sun of Righteousness arose and searched out that which was lost. Therefore, stand not idle, but come into the vineyard and work. Your work shall be to watch and keep out the fowls, unclean beasts, wild bears and subtle foxes. And he that is the Husbandman will pluck up the wild plants and weeds, and make defence about the vines. He will tell you what to do. He who is Father of the vineyard will be nigh you. And what is not clear to you, wait for the fulfilling."

~ James Parnell  1656 (Epistle to Friends from prison.)

More at http://www.ournottinghamshire.org.uk/page_id__898_path__0p31p34p72p.aspx

The Memory ~ John Steinbeck

“I remember my childhood names for grasses and secret flowers. I remember where a toad may live and what time the birds awaken in the summer, and what trees and seasons smelled like how people looked and walked and smelled even. The memory of odors is very rich.” 

~ John Steinbeck

More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Steinbeck

Artwork ~I can't find the name of this artist listed, but work is available from 
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/townieART?ref=l2-shopheader-name

The Moment May Come ~ H.G. Wells

"Then suddenly, in a little while, in his own time, God comes. This cardinal experience is an undoubting, immediate sense of God. It is the attainment of an absolute certainty that one is not alone in oneself. It is as if one was touched at every point by a being akin to oneself, sympathetic, beyond measure wiser, steadfast and pure in aim. It is completer and more intimate, but it is like standing side by side with and touching someone that we love very dearly and trust completely. It is as if this being bridged a thousand misunderstandings and brought us into fellowship with a great multitude of other people. . . ."Closer he is than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet."

The moment may come while we are alone in the darkness, under the stars, or while we walk by ourselves or in a crowd, or while we sit and muse. It may come upon the sinking ship or in the tumult of the battle. There is no saying when it may not come to us. . . . But after it has come our lives are changed, God is with us and there is no more doubt of God. Thereafter one goes about the world like one who was lonely and has found a lover, like one who was perplexed and has found a solution. One is assured that there is a Power that fights with us against the confusion and evil within us and without. There comes into the heart an essential and enduring happiness and courage."

~ H.G. Wells

More at  http://www.online-literature.com/wellshg/invisibleking/1/

Artwork from Dee Nickerson http://deenickerson.com/