Reading Archives (Author)

For the Traveler

John O'Donohue

Every time you leave home, Another road takes you Into a world you were never in.   New strangers on other paths await. New places that have never seen you Will startle a little at your ent...

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114K reads, 42 comments

Rediscovering the Art of Reverence

John O'Donohue

What you encounter, recognize or discover depends to a large degree on the quality of your approach. Many of the ancient cultures practiced careful rituals of approach. An encounter of depth and spiri...

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8K reads, 10 comments

Kindness: The First Gift

John O'Donohue

There is a kindness that dwells deep down in things; it presides everywhere, often in the places we least expect. The world can be harsh and negative, but if we remain generous and patient, kindness i...

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47K reads, 20 comments

The Most Subversive Invitation

John O'Donohue

Humans have an uncanny ability to domesticate everything they touch. Eventually, even the strangest things become absorbed into the routine of the daily mind with its steady geographies of endurance, ...

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10K reads, 12 comments

For an Addict

John O'Donohue

  On its way through the innocent night the moth is ambushed by the light, becomes glued to a window where a candle burns its whole self, its dreams of flight and all desire trapped in one...

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26K reads, 8 comments

A Blessing for One Who is Exhausted

John O'Donohue

When the rhythm of the heart becomes hectic, Time takes on the strain until it breaks; Then all the unattended stress falls in On the mind like an endless, increasing weight, The light in the mi...

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197K reads, 31 comments

The Mystery Never Leaves You Alone

John O'Donohue

It is strange to be here. The mystery never leaves you alone. Behind your image, below your words, above your thoughts, the silence of another world waits. A world lives within you. No one else can br...

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18K reads, 9 comments

A Blessing for One Who is Exhausted

John O'Donohue

When the rhythm of the heart becomes hectic, Time takes on the strain until it breaks; Then all the unattended stress falls in On the mind like an endless, increasing weight, The light in the ...

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25K reads, 11 comments

Beyond Endings

John O'Donohue

Endings seem to lie in wait. Absorbed in our experience we forget that an ending might be approaching. Consequently, when the ending signals its arrival, we can feel ambushed. Perhaps there is an inst...

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12K reads, 4 comments

Receiving Each Day as an Invitation

John O'Donohue

Each new day is a path of wonder, a different invitation. Days are where our lives gradually become visible. Often it seems that we have to undertake the longest journey to arrive at what has been ne...

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40K reads, 15 comments

The Integrity of True Beauty

John O'Donohue

Thought is an amazing thing: it can be a mirror, a lens, a bridge, a wall, a window, a ladder or a house. There is nothing in the world that has the cutting edge of a new thought.  It is fascinat...

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15K reads, 4 comments

From Sincerity to Authenticity

John O'Donohue

One of the most vulnerable living forms in creation is human. At this moment, there are people in a doctor's office getting news that will change their lives forever. [...] There are people having acc...

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55K reads, 21 comments