We are what we think. 
All that we are arises with our thoughts. 
With our thoughts we make the world. 
Speak or act with an impure mind 
And trouble will follow you 
As the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart.

We are what we think. 
All that we are arises with our thoughts. 
With our thoughts we make the world. 
Speak or act with a pure mind 
And happiness will follow you 
As your shadow, unshakable. 
How can a troubled mind 
Understand the Way?

Your worst enemy cannot harm you 
As much as your own thoughts, unguarded.

But once mastered, 
No one can help you as much, 
Not even your father or your mother.

~ The Buddha as recorded in the Dhammapada

Stanisław Szukalski , The Prophet, 1919

Gian Lorenzo Bernini , Blessed Ludovica Albertoni, 1674

Marinus van Reymerswaele, The Triumph of Death, 1565

Ex Libris

Gustav-Adolf Mossa, Self-portrait or Psychological portrait of the artist, 1905

Kobayakawa Kiyoshi, Tipsy , 1930

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“Despair is the price one pays for self-awareness. Look deeply into life, and you'll always find despair.” ~ Irvin D. Yalom

Domenico Tintoretto, Magdalena Penitente, c1600

Mimi Mammen (aka L. Folcardy), Apsara, 1915-16

George Petty, Petty Girl, Pin Up, True Magazine, 1947

Érik Desmazières, The Temptation of St. Anthony, 1993

Alberto Vargas, Memories of Olive (Olive Thomas), 1920

Remedios Varo, Dead Leaves, 1956

The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. ~ Ernest Hemingway

Yee Sookyung , Translated Vase , 2008

Richard Lindner, Hello , 1966

“Such wounds to the heart will probably never heal. But we cannot simply sit and stare at our wounds forever.” ~ Haruki Murakami , 1Q84

Maxfield Parrish, The Young King of the Black Isles, 1906