Comfort Zones Quotes

I like being alone. I have control over my own shit. Therefore, in order to win me over, your presence has to feel better than my solitude. You're not competing with another person, you are competing with my comfort zones. ~ Horacio Jones

Comfort zones don't have to be comfortable
they're just familiar. It's where you feel like you belong. And, where you feel you belong is where you will stay. ~ Lysa TerKeurst

Apart from boosting our long-term economic strength like other Asian economic powers, Philippine companies expanding overseas and going beyond our comfort zones, or going to some uncharted territories, will help sharpen our management skills. ~ Andrew Tan

Comfort zones are plush lined coffins. When you stay in your plush lined coffins, you die. ~ Stan Dale

I don't like comfort zones. Having never had any drama training, I don't really have a technique, so I'm continually learning new things. I like being frightened, and always having to start from scratch. ~ Lea Seydoux

Change requires leaving our comfort zones and plunging headfirst into uncomfortable situations. It's true this causes some pain and discomfort for a moment, but it's the quickest path to generating long-term fulfillment. ~ Yehuda Berg

Comfort zones are deadly zones because you lose your true potential of what you can be, you start going with the status quo. ~ Greg Plitt

For me, every human is a little bit an exaggerated version of a real human - in most cases, they are versions of myself. I am someone deeply motivated by extremes - the poles not only become home for me, but they also become, strangely, my comfort zones. ~ Porochista Khakpour

I feel that we are often taken out of our comfort zones, pushed and shoved out of our nests, because if not, we would never know what we could do with our wings, we would never see the horizon and the sun setting on it, we would never know that there's something far better beyond where we are at the moment. It can hurt, but then later you say "thank you." I have been pushed and shoved and have fallen out and away, so very, very, many, many times! And others around me have not! But then, the others haven't seen what I have seen or felt what I have felt or been who I have been, they can't become what I have become. I am me. ~ C. JoyBell C.

We all are actors. The moment we step out of our comfort zones, the moment we are interacting with another, the actor in us comes alive. ~ Ama H. Vanniarachchy

Magic and mystery lies on the edge, just outside the comfort zone. ~ Amit Ray

Are we prepared to leave our comfort zones to reach a better place? ~ Carlos A. Godoy

People who have their dreams fulfilled are those who go outside their comfort zones to fight for their dreams. ~ Clement Ogedegbe

I like extreme situations: people pushed out of their comfort zones; the civil veneer stripped off. ~ Sarah Hall

If your prayer is not enticing you outside your comfort zones, if your Christ is not an occasional "threat," you probably need to do some growing up and learning to love. ~ Richard Rohr

I don't think people should do anything to be popular. But maybe within reason they can step out of their comfort zones and do things to be more 'accessible'. Like taking drugs or drinking heavily to be cool. ~ Lindsay Lohan

What holds us back in life is the invisible architecture of fear. It keeps us in our comfort zones, which are, in truth, the least safe places in which to live. Indeed, the greatest risk in life is taking no risks. But every time we do that which we fear, we take back the power that fear has stolen from us - for on the other side of our fears lives our strength. ~ Anonymous

By replacing fear of the unknown with curiosity we open ourselves up to an infinite stream of possibility. We can let fear rule our lives or we can become childlike with curiosity, pushing our boundaries, leaping out of our comfort zones, and accepting what life puts before us. ~ Alan Watts

Cancer forced me out of my comfort zone. But the reality is that in life, there are no true comfort zones. Life comes at us in ways that we can't predict or control. ~ Robin Roberts

We are now forced to actively pursue our struggles. If we do not go out of our way to stretch our comfort zones and grow, no one nor nature will do it for us. ~ Chris Matakas

The roles that push you out of your comfort zones are the ones in which you learn a great deal and really empower yourself. ~ Ruzwana Bashir

I have found, that we often must realise, that we cannot be angry at people for simply not being capable of stepping out of their comfort zones to be decent human beings. You are born with this wild respect for people and you think it's all equal. And that's what hurts. Because it's not all equal, not all people are going to show up for you, not all people are going to do the decent thing for you, even if it's something that would be so easy for you to do. You can never make your standard into the standard for everyone. Some people are just frogs in a mud puddle, and really, they're actually perfectly fine with that! ~ C. JoyBell C.

We must intentionally push ourselves out of our comfort zones if we are to make any significant progress on this side of life. ~ Sunday Adelaja

I feel that people need to be jolted out of their comfort zones. ~ Saul Williams

Let's think back for a moment to the boring sermon. Sometimes the sermon we hear is boring because it went on for too long (or it was not long enough) to engage the listeners. One of the most culturally sensitive areas of human life is this area of time. What various people and cultures consider "late" and "too long" varies widely. In the United States, African-American and Hispanic Christians have services in which singing, prayer, and preaching go on at least 50 percent longer than the attention spans and comfort zones of most Anglo people. Anyone who leads worship services will, then, unavoidably be contextualizing toward some people and away from others. ~ Timothy Keller

During negotiations nothing is gained by attacking people's comfort zones. ~ Alan Sugar

Growing up in your life means constantly getting yourself out of your comfort zone. ~ Nitin Namdeo

This, I thought, is why we have comfort zones, because they are comfortable. What can possibly be gained by leaving them? ~ David Nicholls

We're just breaking through three comfort zones at a time. I feel off-balance. ~ C.D. Reiss

By talking others out of their dreams, critical people excuse themselves for staying in their comfort zones. ~ John C. Maxwell

Most of us die with our music underplayed ... We should try to step out of our comfort zones and do the things we're capable of. ~ Mary Kay Ash

Miney smiles in that way she does when she's about to force me to do something scary. She's like Trey that way. Always pushing me out of what she calls "my comfort zone," which I'll never understand. Why would you purposely make yourself uncomfortable? ~ Julie Buxbaum

You're going to bend, and so am I. We're going to compromise, negotiate, and distract each other. Being together means our priorities are going to change. That's what happens when you make space for another person. Comfort zones will be stretched. ~ Penny Reid

If we never get out of our comfort zones we can't grow into the places God has prepared for us. ~ Seth Barnes

Our lives should have depth, which means pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones and not taking the easy way out all the time. ~ Marie Tillman

Comfort zones are most often expanded through discomfort. ~ Peter McWilliams

My so-called 'reservations' and personal comfort zones can't define my work. That's not being professional. I feel that even if an actor is cast for the lead role or for any other part in the film, it is his job to do the film and not create an issue. ~ Shahid Kapoor

The thing about the Air Force or any branch of the military is that all of us were plucked away from our homes and our comfort zones and our families. So there was a solidarity in the military, a brotherhood. ~ Jon Huertas

I have so much respect for the emotionally brave. The ones who put in the emotional work and take the real risks of being vulnerable and removing masks. It's easy to make chitchat, but it's hard to speak about what's really under the surface. It's easy to joke, but difficult to cry. It's easy to numb, but hard to feel.
Ironically the real victims of emotional laziness are the people themselves. They end up choosing their emotional comfort zones over happiness. So in the end, they may not be 'uncomfortable' anymore; but they are also miserable. ~ Yasmin Mogahed

"Stepping outside your comfort zone is supposed to feel uncomfortable because we're in new and unfamiliar territory. Being uncomfortable is a sign of success, NOT of failure! So if we are uncomfortably outside our comfort zones, then than means we are growing!!! And THAT is cause for celebration!" (modified from a passage in Roz Savage's "Rowing the Atlantic") ~ Roz Savage

A leap of faith means hurdling into the unknown, and believing in our hearts that we will make it to the other side, despite not yet knowing what the other side is going to look like. It is taking bold action in spite of the fact that this action is forcing us out of our familiar territory, and our comfort zones. It also means taking action even though we cannot foresee the results or consequences of our choice. To do this requires both faith and courage! ~ Amanda Harvey

I cherish each director that I have. I want to be maneuvered out of my comfort zones. I don't have the time to prepare. ~ Vera Farmiga

Ego likes comfort zones, safety, familiarity, boundaries, limits, a god who stays put in a box, and the known vs. the unknown. Ego can be a wimp. Unlike what most people believe, ego is not about too much confidence. Ego is about not enough confidence - confidence in the divine part of ourselves. ~ Janet Rebhan

Scientists must venture outside their comfort zones to show the public how cool - and how important - their work really is. ~ Francis Collins

My approach to creating content is focused on pulling people out of their intellectual comfort zones. I'm interested in presenting ideas in unique ways that challenge people to question their assumptions. ~ Jason Silva

Comfort zones are overrated. When you embrace the unfamiliar and uncomfortable in all areas of life, your progress will start soaring. ~ Francis Shenstone

Normally, I rely heavily on my director to massage me out of my actor comfort zones. ~ Vera Farmiga

I know what my comfort zones are. But without a back-up, I will never step out of my comfort zone. I don't go bungee jumping; I won't jump from the third floor without a safety net. I don't do such things. That's not my personality type. ~ Kajol

Even though we can reach for the outer limits of our temperaments, it can often be better to situate ourselves squarely inside our comfort zones ...
Once you understand introversion and extroversion as preferences for certain levels of stimulation, you can begin consciously trying to situate yourself in environments favorable to your own personality
neither overstimulating nor understimulating, neither boring nor anxiety-making. You can organize your life in terms of what personality psychologists call "optimal levels of arousal" and what I call "sweet spots," and by doing so feel more energetic and alive than before. ~ Susan Cain

Adventure lives a whisper beyond our comfort zones, just half a breathe after No turns into Yes. ~ Tyler Knott Gregson

Limitations, boundaries, comfort zones, knowing when to stop, the point beyond which we do not go without hurting or getting hurt. All are created equal in order to keep us from destroying others and ourselves in the endless pursuit of happiness. Without a few basic guidelines for living happily ever after, the capacity to get lost, seriously hurt, or killed greatly magnifies. ~ Karol Jackowski

The disease of addiction, for all the pain and damage it causes, is an invitation to see this prodigal God in action. The question is, will we? Will we as the church step out of our comfort zones into uncharted territory that will at times be unpredictable and even scary for us? Or will we, like the older son, gloat, sulk and stomp off in resentment? Would we rather be party poopers or partygoers, estranged children or reconciled ones? ~ Jonathan Benz

Sometimes we have to step out of our comfort zones. We have to break the rules. And we have to discover the sensuality of fear. We need to face it, challenge it, dance with it. ~ Kyra Davis

People are willing to be brave when they admit their smallness within the enormity of the world, and the best way to understand our smallness is to leave our comfort zones and start exploring, one foot in front of the other. ~ Tsh Oxenreider

We're best friends, kissing the exact same way we do everything else; we take liberties, we go too far, we blur and redraw the borders of our comfort zones. ~ R.S. Grey

Second letter: Embrace your fear

What holds us back in life is the invisible architecture of fear. It keeps us in our comfort zones, which are, in truth, the least safe place in which to live. Indeed the greatest risk in life is taking no risk. But every time we do that which we fear , we take back the power that fear has stolen from us - for on the other side of fear lives our strength. Every time we step into the discomfort of growth and progress, we become more free. The more fears we walk through, the more power we reclaim. In this way, we grow both fearless and powerful, and thus are able to live the lives of our dreams. ~ Robin S. Sharma

Genius is only gifted to the few who are ready to go beyond their comfort-zones. Those who are not satisfied only with the theoretical ideologies. ~ Mwanandeke Kindembo

We all have a soul purpose. I can't be everything that the world needs, even if i dabble between all the crafts that shape me. I can be the expressive queen i am though, crumbling all the comfort zones this world has tried to build around me; to stop the evolution of my spirit. One day i am a calm breeze, the next i am a wild hurricaine - i am so deeply passionate, you'll feel me without a single hello. ~ Nikki Rowe

Bad habits are like comfort zones; easier to get into, but harder to get out of. ~ Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha

Creativity takes courage. Not just once, but consistently. Without courage we cannot be creative. Without feeling fear at some point we will not reach our creative potential. From first putting paint on paper through to selling our work on a worldwide stage there is plenty to be scared of. But this is where creativity lives – on the edge of our comfort zones. ~ Lucy H. Pearce

Comfort zones are overrated. They make you lazy. ~ Melina Marchetta

It's funny, humans tend to hatch our most challenging goals and dreams, the ones that demand the our greatest effort yet promise absolutely nothing, when we are tucked into our comfort zones. ~ David Goggins

Occasionally, he would exclaim over a view or regard with admiration some passing marvel of nature, but mostly to him hiking was a tiring, dirty, pointless slog between distantly spaced comfort zones. ~ Bill Bryson

To simply hold a book, to imagine what it might say, would be a comfort. ~ J.R. Moehringer

Gilead was the kind of town where dogs slept in the road for the sun and the warmth that lingered after the sun was gone, and the few cars that there were had to stop and honk until the dogs decided to get up and let them pass by. They'd go limping off to the side, lamed by the comfort they'd had to give up, and then they'd settle down again right where they were before. It really wasn't much of a town. ~ Marilynne Robinson

He is your Father, and His role is to protect you; He will comfort you and guide you. He will feed you; He will carry you when you are weak. He will seek you out when you go astray; He will help you in times of trouble. He will not let your enemies go unpunished; He will cherish you like a father cherishes his daughter. When you fall, He will pick you up; when you don't understand, He will always understand.

When you feel like life is weighing you down, He will lift you up. When you feel like giving up, He will encourage you to keep going. When you are sad, He will lighten your spirits. When you need advice, His line is open 24-7. When you feel unsafe, He will be your safety; when you are worried, He will be an ear to your concerns. When you feel burdened, offer your burden to Him and He will take it. Where you have been burnt, He will make you beautiful; where you hurt, He will heal. Whenever you feel lonely, He will always be with you.

Where others have not supported you, He will support you. When you feel discouraged, He will be your encouragement. Where you don't know, He will tell you when the time is right. When you feel unloved, remember that He has always loved you.

You see limitations; God sees opportunities. You see faults; God sees growth. You see problems; God sees solutions. You see limitations; God sees possibilities. You see life; God sees eternity. ~ Corallie Buchanan

Need-love cries to God from our poverty; Gift-love longs to serve, or even to suffer for, God; Appreciative love says: "We give thanks to thee for thy great glory." Need-love says of a woman "I cannot live without her"; Gift-love longs to give her happiness, comfort, protection – if possible, wealth; Appreciative love gazes and holds its breath and is silent, rejoices that such a wonder should exist even if not for him, will not be wholly dejected by losing her, would rather have it so than never to have seen her at all." p.17 ~ C.S. Lewis

I rested my head deeper into the terrycloth and closed my eyes. Only on sand like this did I ever feel like I could sleep forever, did I feel that sleep could be a destination. The comfort was limitless and I knew I was mouthing the words Fantastic, so good, fantastic, so good but couldn't help it. ~ Dave Eggers

At the start of the journey, I thought I was walking into the wreckage of Christianity. My impression now was of how much remained, holding tight to its decayed inheritance. Despite the decline of religion in Europe, it was still possible to cross the continent like a medieval pilgrim: traveling on foot, stopping at shrines, and supported by charity. Still possible to find comfort in pilgrim rites, even if the belief was gone. So maybe decline was also evidence of endurance, and loss the price we pay for surviving. ~ Guy Stagg

Many of the people who consented to talk about their private lives in front of millions of television viewers would say that they were sharing their stories as a way to give comfort [to] fellow sufferers, to raise public awareness, to give a voice to their pain. None of them would ever admit that it was all about ratings and voyeurism and lurid, grotesque curiosity. ~ Elizabeth Wurtzel

Don't be too comfortable with employment; discover yourself and see what you can achieve for yourself ~ Sunday Adelaja

Blind belief is a comfort; it is the frame that puts the rest of the world into context. It allows us to block out the things that don't make sense, that which frightens us. It narrows our vision so that the world does not feel so large. Would it comfort you to have the frame of superstition? To believe that if you say the right words and sacrifice the right things, then your world will stay exactly as it is? Or do you wish to choose what you believe, what you trust and understand? ~ Cora Carmack

All food, comfort, energy, shelter, space, fuel and sustenance gravitates naturally and easily away from those who need it most and towards those who need it least. ~ Iain M. Banks

Books had always been a comfort to her. More than comfort. There were times when reading came close to an addiction.

When things had been tough at home, Harriet's solution had been to remove herself from life and disappear. She'd chosen to be invisible. Sometimes physically, by hiding under the table, but sometimes psychologically by diving into a literary world unlike her own.

As a child she'd liked to sink into the pages and lose herself for hours at a time. When she was reading, she didn't just leave her own life behind, she stepped into someone else's. There were times when she'd read for hours without noticing the passage of time or the onset of darkness. When it grew too dark to read, she simply switched on her flashlight and read under the covers so that she didn't disturb her sister, who was sleeping in the next bed. At school, she carried her book around. When things were difficult, the weight of her bag would comfort her. It helped just to know the book was there, waiting for her. At various points in the day she'd feel the edges bump against her thigh, reminding her of its existence. It was like having a friend close by, telling her I'm still here and we can spend time together later.

Even now, more than a decade on from that difficult time of her life, she found herself instinctively reaching for a book when she was stressed. Comfort was different things to different people. To some it was a bar of chocolate or a glass of wine, a r ~ Sarah Morgan

It wasn't until the jet engine came into being and that engine was coupled with special airplane designs - such as the swept wing - that airplanes finally achieved a high enough work capability, efficiency and comfort level to allow air transportation to really take off. ~ Joe Sutter

I have witnessed firsthand the anguish of this humanitarian tragedy - in Palestine, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, and other conflict and post-conflict zones. The destruction of lives and hopes, the emotional trauma, and the economic, social, and political marginalization of the displaced, the human insecurity, with real and potentially devastating consequences over generations, in ever-widening arenas of conflict. We can and must ensure the human rights of the displaced. That begins by making their voices heard. ~ Queen Noor Of Jordan

Where are You Now? I was there whilst you cried,

I was there to comfort you with smile,

I was there to give you a hand,

when all faith was lost.



I was there to open doors of opportunities,

I was there to share my passion for life,

I was there to feed you,

when you were hungry.



I was there to listen to your turmoil,

I was there to lift your spirit

when you were broken.

I was there when you were ill and alone.



I was there when you were betrayed,

lied to and ridiculed.

I was there to understand,

to care and to share.



I was there …

to play, to sing, to dance,

to write, to love, to create and innovate.

I was there …



Where are you now? …

by Natasha Parker ~ Luisa Natasha Parker

I used humor as survival, as a weapon and as comfort. ~ Joel McHale

Over the last few years, my comfort level with how I look has improved. My age has helped. You get used to yourself and accept yourself. ~ Lynn Redgrave

In a guerrilla war, the line between legitimate and illegitimate killing is blurred. The policies of free-fire zones, in which a soldier is permitted to shoot at any human target, armed or unarmed, further confuse the fighting man's moral senses. ~ Philip Caputo

That's exactly what I'm driving at. 'Basterds' was interesting because it was, in a way, unfamiliar. I thought well, OK. Let's leave the comfort zone and just risk it. Why not? Because, exactly as you said, in a way, by taking that risk, I make up a little bit for my ignorance in the subject, or rather, the genre. ~ Christoph Waltz

Nostalgia is a lane of calm comfort, charming even a complacent heart! ~ Balroop Singh

I think now that this obsession with identifying racism, which I saw so often among Somalis too, was really a comfort mechanism, to keep people from feeling personally inadequate and to externalize the causes of their unhappiness. ~ Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Sentiments of your parents' throw pillows. You're arguing that the fragile, rare thing is beautiful simply because it is fragile and rare. But that's a lie, and you know it." "You're a hard person to comfort," Augustus said. "Easy comfort isn't comforting," I said. "You were a rare and fragile flower once. You remember." For a moment, he said nothing. "You do know how to shut me up, Hazel Grace." "It's my privilege and my responsibility," I answered. ~ John Green

Because women tend to turn their anger inward and blame themselves, they tend to become depressed and their self-esteem is lowered. This, in turn, causes them to become more dependent and less willing to risk rejection or abandonment if they were to stand up for themselves by asserting their will, their opinions, or their needs.

Men often defend themselves against hurt by putting up a wall of nonchalant indifference. This appearance of independence often adds to a woman's fear of rejection, causing her to want to reach out to achieve comfort and reconciliation. Giving in, taking the blame, and losing herself more in the relationship seem to be a small price to pay for the acceptance and love of her partner.

As you can see, both extremes anger in and anger out-create potential problems. While neither sex is wrong in the way they deal with their anger, each could benefit from observing how the other sex copes with their anger. Most men, especially abusive ones, could benefit from learning to contain their anger more instead of automatically striking back, and could use the rather female ability to empathise with others and seek diplomatic resolutions to problems. Many women, on the other hand, could benefit from acknowledging their anger and giving themselves permission to act it out in constructive ways instead of automatically talking themselves out of it, blaming themselves, or allowing a man to blame them. Instead of giving in to keep the peace, it w ~ Beverly Engel

I want to be in the arena. I want to be brave with my life. And when we make the choice to dare greatly, we sign up to get our asses kicked. We can choose courage or we can choose comfort, but we can't have both. Not at the same time. Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it's having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome. Vulnerability is not weakness; it's our greatest measure of courage. A lot of cheap seats in the arena are filled with people who never venture onto the floor. They just hurl mean-spirited criticisms and put-downs from a safe distance. The problem is, when we stop caring what people think and stop feeling hurt by cruelty, we lose our ability to connect. But when we're defined by what people think, we lose the courage to be vulnerable. Therefore, we need to be selective about the feedback we let into our lives. For me, if you're not in the arena getting your ass kicked, I'm not interested in your feedback. ~ Brene Brown

Faustus: Stay, Mephistopheles, and tell me, what good will
my soul do thy lord?
Mephistopheles: Enlarge his kingdom.
Faustus: Is that the reason he tempts us thus?
Mephistopheles: Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris.
(It is a comfort to the wretched to have companions in misery) ~ Christopher Marlowe

You start to die the moment you are born. The whole of life is cutting through the pack with death. So take it easy. ~ Ian Fleming

Network Marketing is a flexible, credible and exciting way to build a business and change your life. But it isn't a get rich quick scheme that will transform your life overnight with no effort or commitment on your part. People fail in Network Marketing just as they do in every part of life because they fear their own dreams, they fail to plan and they allow apathy and self-doubt to keep them firmly stuck in their comfort zone. ~ Dave O'Connor

In other words, I heard life going on, and it was a comfort. ~ Anthony Burgess

Things like "Everything happens for a reason" and "You'll become a stronger/kinder/more compassionate person because of this" brings out rage in grieving people. Nothing makes a person angrier than when they know they're being insulted but can't figure out how.
It's not just erasing your current pain that makes words of comfort land so badly. There's a hidden subtext in those statements about becoming a better, kinder, and more compassionate because of your loss, that often-used phrase about knowing what's "truly important in life" now that you've learned how quickly life can change.
The unspoken second half of the sentence in this case says you needed this somehow. It says that you weren't aware of what was important in life before this happened. It says that you weren't kind, compassionate, or aware enough in your life before this happened. That you needed this experience in order to develop or grow, that you needed this lesson in order to step into your "true path" in life.
As though loss and hardship were the only ways to grow as a human being. As though pain were the only doorway to a better, deeper life, the only way to be truly compassionate and kind. ~ Megan Devine

It is a rather amazing fact that, of the very many dimensions along which the genital activity of one person can be differentiated from that of another (dimensions that include preference for certain acts, certain zones or sensations, certain physical types, a certain frequency, certain symbolic investments, certain relations of age or power, a certain species, a certain number of participants, and so on) precisely one, the gender of the object choice, emerged from the turn of the century, and has remained, as THE dimension denoted by the now ubiquitous category of 'sexual orientation. ~ Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick

When a group of people are forced to navigate a minefield together, everyone feels a grudging sense of comfort when someone else gets blown up. Though there may be other unseen landmines left in the ground, each death creates a safe spot. A landmine cannot explode twice in the same place. Sure, the explosion robs the survivors of a comrade. Still, each death makes everyone's next step marginally safer. So everyone keeps walking with grief on their faces, and relief in their hearts. Their own deaths are further postponed by the end of another life. ~ Taona Dumisani Chiveneko

Your Joan of Arcs and Supermans don't come around too often. Mostly, the world is made up of people like me, plodding along. It's what most people do - plod, plod, plod. While it kills me to come to grips with the fact that I'm like everyone else, that pain is outweighed by the comfort I get from being a member of the human race. ~ Douglas Coupland

Little Phoebe was one of those persons who possess, as their exclusive patrimony, the gift of practical arrangement. It is a kind of natural magic that enables these favored ones to bring out the hidden capabilities of things around them; and particularly to give a look of comfort and habitableness to any place which, for however brief a period, may happen to be their home. A wild hut of underbrush, tossed together by wayfarers through the primitive forest, would acquire the home aspect by one night's lodging of such a woman, and would retain it long after her quiet figure had disappeared into the surrounding shade. ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

When I'm dead and no longer the threat. My comfort is that all the great artists since the beginning of time have always been completely misunderstood and never fully appreciated until they were dead. ~ Madonna Ciccone

Statement Preliminary to the Invention of Solace

Whether they bend as compliantly as black leaves
Curved and hanging in the heavy dew in the grey dawn,
Or whether they wait as motionless as ice-coated
Insects and spears of roots on a northern cliff;

Whether they tighten once like the last white edge
Of primrose taken suddenly skyward
By a gust of frost, or swallow as hard as stones
Careened and scattered by a current of river;

Whether they mourn by the bright light of grief
Running like a spine of grass straight through the sound
Of their songs, or whether they fall quietly
Through indefinite darkness like a seed of sorrel
Bound alive beneath snow;

whether they mourn in multitudes, blessed
like a congregation of winter forest moaning for the white
drifting children of storms they can never remember,
or whether they grieve separately, divided
even from themselves, parted like golden plovers blown
and calling over a buffeted sea;

something must come to them, something as clear and fair
and continuous as the eye of the bluegill open in calm water,
something as silent as the essential spaces of breath
heard inside the voice naming all of their wishes,

something touching them in the same way the sun deep
in the pit of the pear touches the spring sky by the light
of its own leaf. A comfort understood like that Pattiann Rogers