Quotes by Donna Lynn Hope

Some people are far more cognizant than others but sensitivity has its own cross to bear and ample insight, in many cases, can bring on disquietude.

The world needs them - the ones who absorb the emotions of others, which diminishes their pain and disquietude and the world also uses them as a repository for confessions, secrets, grudges and indignation. They will leave these uncommon and intuitive individuals feeling unburdened themselves while the unusual individual will be weighed down by having taken on those burdens in addition to their own. The world needs them but what they need is something as aberrant as themselves, and that is silence, stillness and rest.

How did I learn empathy? I learned it while suffering. How did I learn about karma? Because it came back to me and I deserved it. I now know when any hurt I experience is due to circumstances outside of my control, karma, or self-imposed consequences for foolish choices. I do feel justice is served if karma humbles someone who needs it, and as anyone who has been wronged can attest, what they seem to want most is for the offending party to experience how it feels and to know in that moment exactly what they did to someone else and to be filled with remorse and hopefully, repentance.

The agony of the empath is feeling their pain but being unable to save them from it.

An empath is capable of taking on the grief of another in order to lessen their suffering. In order to not be consumed with pain, an empath should have an outlet for that pain lest they lose themselves in feeling for others.

Dont start a fight if you cant duke it out. Either win or concede but whatever you do, dont have others fight for you.

Many want to be a warrior but they dont know what a lonely, tough, or pain staking journey it is. Warriors have to fight on behalf of the defenseless, defend what is right, as well as fight believers and non-believers alike. In reality, few like warriors because they confront their own, and their own think theyre above being confronted. The warrior, you see, most often walks alone.

Hatred may keep a body warm, but it takes a lot to keep the fire stoked, so unless a person is extraordinary in some way, some people are not worth hating, just like they’re not worth loving.

Seasons of the heart. To get through what I must Im often encased in ice and for months he chips away until he can see my face and after a while, I begin to thaw. As warmth and feeling returns, my emotions continue to build until my personality is set on fire. When he leaves, the fire dwindles until there is but a flicker. Then there is stillness and winter returns.

I appreciate the beauty and balm of flowers but I have never enjoyed receiving them because then I have to watch them die, and worse...throw them away.

Its effortless to let go of self-absorbed people. Its challenging to let go of someone you care about and its exceedingly difficult to let go of an ideal and a belief in someone because what exacerbates the disappointment of finding out they werent who they presented themselves to be, is the betrayal of it.

When I say Im going to forget you I know its impossible to forget someone I once knew. What I want is to erase you from my thoughts and purge you from my memories. Im saying its what I wish for, not what is or could ever be.

As long as she is near or within his power to reach, he will be drawn to her, leaving less of him for others and thats why she had to leave. She knew, despite her own great desire, that there are consequences and responsibilities that are more important and life-altering than personal feelings.

She sat there reading; cool, calm and collected. You could ruin his life with that information, her friend reported triumphantly. The woman sighed, clearly annoyed at being interrupted. If I did he would never forget me, she replied. Besides...I dont care enough about his life to concern myself with what he does with it as long as he doesnt concern himself with thoughts of me. Her friend furrowed her brows. Why? she asked. The woman set her book down, leaned forward provocatively and said, Because then Id have to think of him too.

If they dont walk away, we have to walk away, and sometimes we do it crying.

People give up on each other long before they give up on themselves, and they do that, too.

I can only miss the true and I can only mourn the brave. Cowards make it easy to let go because youre not losing anything worth having.

She screwed me for life, he lamented to the pretty young woman he desperately wanted to love but couldnt quite fall in love with. Ive had relationships before but she was the most peculiar, infuriating and damnable thing I ever dared care for! You want to forget her, his girlfriend said painfully. She rubbed his back wishing she didnt have to compete with a menacing memory. That relationship, the strangest Ive ever known, changed me, he confided regretfully. Like an unwanted and destructive addiction. She wronged you, the red-head beside him blurted out truthfully. And she continues to wrong you because you let her. Ever since her you cant help but compare. He looked at her tenderly, his heart trying to break through ice. You want to let go but you cant let go, she continued coolly. He looked into the distance feeling the one he drew close but seeing the one out of reach. How could he let go of something, or someone, that made him feel so alive? A sweet, supportive voice knowingly broke through his thoughts, The challenge, she whispered, lies within you...

Theirs was a tug-of-war and neither could let go. Both felt the burn and still wouldnt let go. Some might call it a game for neither could admit defeat.

Im not opposed to aging - even though society is kinder on men than women when it comes to getting old. How can I look at aging as the enemy? It happens whether I like it or not and no one is set apart from growing old; it comes to us all. Youth passes from everyone, so why deny it? Im proud of my age. Im proud that Ive survived this planet for as long as I have, and should I end up withered, wrinkled and with a lifetime of great wisdom, Ill trade the few years of youth for the sophistication of a great mind...for however long it lasts.