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Quotes that Will Change Your Life Forever

They promised me, with a single mouse click,
 Quotes that will change my life forever
I asked myself; how do they measure change?
Do they know my baseline?
How do you measure forever?

Over the years, I have recorded words
That resonated with my ideals and credited the author
I turned them into epigrams and meditated upon them
Committed them to memory in case I was sent to prison
With no books to read
In those moments, I felt understood,
But, I never felt changed.
No quote ever gave me
A road to Damascus epiphany

Jesus gave us beautiful beatitudes
Stretch goals that seem unnatural
He said, blessed are the meek
I argued, “they will be mowed down” 
I heard him say,”Blessed are those that hunger and thirst after righteousness.”
I thought of Navalny and responded
They will be locked away in Siberia.
Starved, frozen and forgotten.

Mother Teresa said, “Do not worry about why problems exist in the world– just respond to people’s needs.”
My mother didn’t say it. She lived it. I witnessed it. My mother got to me first.
“Thank you, Mother Teresa”, I will agree. I saw the fruits of her caring.
George Bernard Shaw said, “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”
I answered, “Mr. Shaw, you assume that change is good regardless. I have experienced that this not so”
There was a time that Bruce Lee lived in the same city as I did.
 We smelled the same salt air and the caramelized soya sauce blowing out of café exhaust fans.
His image was painted on a wall in China Town. Bruce Lee said, “I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.” 
I’m thinking that this is easy for him to say. He has no idea what I expect of him. He expects nothing of me 
Because I do not exist for him but he certainly does for me..

I thought I shouldn’t argue with each and every quote,
Perhaps I should just drink them in and see what happens
I read all one hundred quotes that promised to change me,
Change me forever.
I ended with the wisdom of Oscar Wilde,
"Some things are too important to be taken seriously."
 On this, I will agree.
Yet I don’t see that it changes me
Now or forever.










Copyright © Jennifer Nightingale | Year Posted 2025

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Date: 3/19/2025 8:32:00 PM

Wonderful poem Jennifer! Loved it! Life itself is a quotation

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Book: Reflection on the Important Things