Thus saith the Lord; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,
And say, Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:
Thus saith the Lord; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place. Jeremiah 22:1-3
Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Matthew 6:25
Straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Matthew 7:14
He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. Matthew 10:39
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Matthew 16:25&26
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. Luke 9:24
Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.
Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. Romans 12:8-17
Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeared for a little time, and then vanisheth away. James 4:14
To me it is so simple that life should be lived on the edge of life. You have to exercise rebellion. To refuse to taper yourself to rules. To refuse your own success. To refuse to repeat yourself. To see every day, every year, every idea as a true challenge. And then you live your life on a tightrope. Philippe Petit, Man on Wire, wire-walked between Twin Towers August 1974
One must live life dangerously! Mrs Dalloway 1997 starring Venessa Redgrave & Sarah Badel & Amelia Bullmore & Phyllis Calvert & Alan Cox & Oliver Ford Davies & Rupoert Graves & Robert Hardy & Lena Headey & Michael Kitchen & Robert Portal et al, director Marleen Gorris
Life is like a sleigh ride – unless you’re the lead dog, you’re always looking up someone else’s arse. Alan Bleasdale, GBH starring Robert Lindsay & Lindsay Duncan & Michael Palin & Julie Walters & Tom Georgeson & Andrew Schofield & Jane Danson & David Ross et al, director Robert Young, Jim to Mervin the Militant guy, Channel 4 1991
I know what it’s like to be hated and despised. ibid.
What is the point of living our lives when, when you get up in the morning and it’s all downhill from then on? Boys from the Blackstuff e3: Shop thy Neighbour, BBC 1982
There’s nowhere left to go. Alan Bleasdale, Boys from the Blackstuff e4: Yosser’s Story, Yosser to rozzer
Is this all there is? Down to this. For the rest of my life. Eh? ibid. Yosser in rozzers’ car
Most of us either talk to ourselves or through our arse. ibid.
George: Just be yourself.
Yosser: But what happens if you don’t like yourself? Alan Bleasdale, Boys from the Black Stuff e5: George’s Last Ride
Sex and death – that’s all there is. The Casual Vacancy, BBC 2015
Now every mortal has pain
and sweat is constant,
but if there is anything dearer than being alive,
it’s dark to me.
We humans seem disastrously in love with this thing
(whatever it is) that glitters on the earth –
we call it life. We know no other.
The underworld’s a blank
and all the rest just fantasy. Anne Carson, Grief Lessons: Four Plays by Euripides
There’s something about knowing life is finite that makes it so precious. Ethan Hawke
Life is tough, but it’s tougher if you’re stupid. John Wayne
My mom always said, Life was like a box of chocolates: you never know what you’re gonna get. Forrest Gump ***** 1994 starring Tom Hanks & Robin Wright & Gary Sinise & Mykelti Williamson & Sally Field & Haley Joel Osment & Peter Dobson & Dick Cavett & Sam Anderson & Geoffrey Blake & Siobhan Fallon et al, director Robert Zemeckis
What is the point of worrying oneself too much about what one could or could not have done to control the course one’s life took? Surely it is enough that the likes of you and I at least try to make our small contribution count for something true and worthy. And if some of us are prepared to sacrifice much in life in order to pursue such aspirations, surely that in itself, whatever the outcome, cause for pride and contentment. Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
But what is the sense in forever speculating what might have happened had such and such a moment turned out differently? One could presumably drive oneself to distraction in this way. In any case, while it is all very well to talk of ‘turning points’, one can surely only recognize such moments in retrospect. Naturally, when one looks back to such instances today, they may indeed take the appearance of being crucial, precious moments in one’s life; but of course, at the time, this was not the impression one had. Rather, it was as though one had available a never-ending number of days, months, years in which to sort out the vagaries of one’s relationship with Miss Kenton; an infinite number of further opportunities in which to remedy the effect of this or that misunderstanding. There was surely nothing to indicate at the time that such evidently small incidents would render whole dreams forever irredeemable. ibid.
‘This is a bloody life, ain’t it?’ Harlow said, bitterly. ‘Workin’ our guts out like a lot of slaves for the benefit of other people, and then as soon as they’ve done with you, you’re chucked aside like a dirty rag.’ Robert Tressell, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist
He had been working like a slave all his life and there was nothing to show for it – there was never anything to show for it. He thought of the man who had killed his wife and children. The jury had returned the usual verdict, ‘Temporary Insanity’. It never occurred to these people that the truth was that to continue to suffer hopelessly like this was evidence of permanent insanity. ibid.
I don’t really give a damn. What I would really like to do is be faceless and bodyless and be left alone. Klute 1971 starring Jane Fonda & Donald Sutherland & Charles Cioffi & Roy Schneider & Dorothy Tristan & Rita Game & Nathan George & Vivian Nathan & Morris Strassberg & Barry Snider & Betty Murray & Jane White & Shirley Stoler & Fred Burrell & Jean Stapleton & Robert Milli et al, director Alan J Pakula
The most fortunate of us all in our journey through life frequently meet with calamities and misfortunes which greatly afflict us. To fortify our minds against the attacks of these calamities and misfortunes should be one of the principal studies and endeavours of our lives. Thomas Jefferson
It is a curious sensation: the sort of pain that goes mercifully beyond our powers of feeling. When your heart is broken, your boats are burned: nothing matters any more. It is the end of happiness and the beginning of peace. George Bernard Shaw
What kind of shit is this? Southpaw 2015 starring Jake Cyllenhaal & Rachel McAdams & Forest Whitaker & Oona Laurence & Curtis 50 Cent Jackson & Skylan Brooks & Naomie Harris & Victor Ortiz & Beau Knapp & Miguel Gomez & Malcolm Mays et al, director Antoine Fuqua, trainer