Serenity
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the things that cannot be changed,
courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other. ~ Reinhold Niebuhr
Serenity is the feeling of inner peace, calmness, and tranquillity.
- For the film, see Serenity (film)
Quotes
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- As you cannot have a sweet and wholesome abode unless you admit the air and sunshine freely into your rooms, so a strong body and a bright, happy, or serene countenance can only result from the free admittance into the mind of thoughts of joy and good will and serenity.
- James Allen, in As A Man Thinketh (1902), Ch. 3 : Effect of Thought on Health and the Body
- A man becomes calm in the measure that he understands himself as a thought-evolved being, for such knowledge necessitates the understanding of others as the result of thought. As he develops a right understanding, and sees more and more clearly the internal relations of things by the action of cause and effect, he ceases to fuss and fume and worry and grieve, and remains poised, steadfast, serene.
- James Allen, in As A Man Thinketh (1902), Ch. 7 : Serenity
- The strong calm man is always loved and revered. He is like a shade-giving tree in a thirsty land, or a sheltering rock in a storm. Who does not love a tranquil heart, a sweet-tempered, balanced life? It does not matter whether it rains or shines, or what changes come to those possessing these blessings, for they are always sweet, serene, and calm. That exquisite poise of character which we call serenity is the last lesson of culture; it is the flowering of life, the fruitage of the soul. It is precious as wisdom, more to be desired than gold — yea, than even fine gold. How insignificant mere money-seeking looks in comparison with a serene life — a life that dwells in the ocean of Truth, beneath the waves, beyond the reach of tempests, in the Eternal Calm!
- James Allen, in As A Man Thinketh (1902), Ch. 7 : Serenity
- What produced this divine serenity, subject to no moods, clouded by no depression, this perpetual Sunday of the heart? It was not merely good nature, not the accident of a happy organization. It was deeper than that. It was the perfect poise resulting from a Christian experience. It was the habit of looking to God in love and to man in love.
- James Freeman Clarke, reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 477
- The purpose of art is not the release of a momentary ejection of adrenalin but is, rather, the gradual, lifelong construction of a state of wonder and serenity.
- Attributed to Glenn Gould, 1962 in Payzant (Glenn Gould: Music and Mind), p. 64
- God, give us grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.- Reinhold Niebuhr, The Serenity Prayer (ca. 1942). This statement, or variants of it, have often been attributed to others, including St. Francis of Assisi, but without sources. Though similar prayers may have existed, the work seems to be Niebuhr's. He never copyrighted the prayer, and it has been used in many variants, including the most common variant:
"God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference".
- Reinhold Niebuhr, The Serenity Prayer (ca. 1942). This statement, or variants of it, have often been attributed to others, including St. Francis of Assisi, but without sources. Though similar prayers may have existed, the work seems to be Niebuhr's. He never copyrighted the prayer, and it has been used in many variants, including the most common variant:
- What moments divine, what rapture serene.
- Cole Porter, in "Begin the Beguine" in Jubilee (1935)
