Favorite Inspirational Quotes

from “Ode on a Grecian Urn”

O Attic shape! Fair attitude! With brede
Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden weed;
Thou, silent form dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: cold pastoral!
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say’st
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,” - that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

John Keats

What comes to mind strangely enough is a quote made by Captain James T. Kirk in one episode: “Beauty survives.” This part of Keat’s poem seems to be saying this Grecian urn, which is a beautiful thing, will survive beyond this present generation as it has many in the past and many more to come in the future.

Keats says that beauty equates to truth and that is all we need to know. But beauty is also in the eye of the beholder, so what is beautiful to you may not be beautiful to me. Thus my truth is different from yours if we follow this poem’s logic.

I would like to think there are things we all consider beautiful such as a colorful sunset or a young child’s laughter. That would mean there are universal truths.

Perhaps it is up to each of us to decide what our truth/beauty is, what our core values are, and hold tight to that. Then take time each day to behold what is beautiful and be grateful for it. Each of us make it part of our life.