Outside his office my father had a framed copy of a letter written by Abraham Lincoln to his son's teacher, translated into Pashto. It is a very beautiful letter, full of good advice. Teach him, if you can, the wonder of books. . . But also give him quiet time to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun, and the flowers on a green hillside, it says. Teach him it is far more honorable to fail than to cheat.
'Tis always morning somewhere, and aboveThe awakening continents, from shore to shore,Somewhere the birds are singing evermore.
Women and birds are able to see without turning their heads, and that is indeed a necessary provision for they are both surrounded by enemies.
Birds I am fine with - spiders are an entirely different matter.
I speculate over some of the Anglo nomenclature of birds: Wilson's snipe, Forster's tern. . . : What natural images do these names conjure up in our minds? What integrity do we give back to the birds with our labels.
As I said in my last book, birds are mean. They're the only pet that, when they escape, the owners are relieved. You can tell a species is evil by doing this simple math. If my blond lab Molly was the size of T-Rex, that would just mean more kibble, more work for the gardener in the backyard, and a harder time moving her to my wife's side of the bed at night. If birds were the size of a T-Rex, the streets would be littered with human remains.
What molting time is to birds, so adversity or misfortune is. . . for us humans.
The girl dreams she is dangerously ill. Suddenly birds come out of her skin and cover her completely. . . Swarms of gnats obscure the sun, the moon, and all the stars except one. That one start falls upon the dreamer.
As long as I live, I'll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing.
Give me spots on my apples, but leave me the birds and the bees, please.
Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, writers will go to stupefying lengths to get the infernal roar of words out of their skulls and onto paper.
All I know of birds to this date is that sparrows are the ones that are not pigeons.
One can't teach a cat not to catch birds
Birds, it must be admitted, are the most exciting and most deserving of the vertebrates; they are perhaps the best entre into the study of natural history, and a very good wedge into conservation awareness.
Grandmother walked up over the bare granite and thought about birds in general. It seemed to her no other creature had the same dramatic capacity to underline and perfect events - the shifts in the seasons and the weather, the changes that run through people themselves.
Birds make their nest in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours.
Without birds, trees would be very lonely and men too!
You grimy as birds shittin' on the top of ya Fords.
Compassion is the basis of all truthful relationship: it means being present with love-for ourselves and for all life, including animals, fish, birds, and trees. Compassion is bringing our deepest truth into our actions, no matter how much the world seems to resist, because that is ultimately what we have to give this world and one another.
You only need to walk in mindfulness, making peaceful, happy steps on our planet. Breathe deeply, and enjoy your breathing. Be aware that the sky is blue and the birds' songs are beautiful. Enjoy being alive and you will help the living Christ and the living Buddha continue for a long, long time.