Michael Ondaatje Quotes

Faith is what gets you started. Hope is what keeps you going. Love is what brings you to the end.

The state of Alabama can take my freedom, the state of Alabama can take my future, but the state of Alabama cannot take my joy.

When I think of the happiness that is in store for me, every sorrow, every pain becomes dear to me.

In bad times and in good I've never lost my sense of zest for life.

I have got a running stream of love you see. So no matter what stages.. they put us through, we'll never be blue.

We're not in control but we do have a greater hope and we do have a source of joy that isn't based on our circumstances.

The sun is still there... even if clouds drift over it. Once you have experienced the reality of sunshine you may weep, but you will never feel ice about your heart again.

It requires but a few threads of hope, for the heart that is skilled in the secret, to weave a web of happiness.

How do I wake up to joy and grace and beauty and all that is the fullest life when I must stay numb to losses and crushed dreams and all that empties me out?

There will be rough nights but joy really does come in the morning.

I also tried to leave myself alone enough to be surprised by the news. That's when it had its potency. If I approach everything with joy and hope and love, which is what we all do. Every day we get up we're hoping that today is going to be the day that's going to get you over the hump. I tried to do that as much as I could. So then when all the news happens you see what she is made out of.

In dire times you can lose joy, but you can't lose hope. Hope is your guide.

When the dark days come, many wonderful moments, those will all seem dead and empty to you. It will take practice and even hard work to find the joy sometimes.

Remember even though the outside world might be raining, if you keep on smiling the sun will soon show its face and smile back at you.

It is only in sorrow bad weather masters us; in joy we face the storm and defy it.

We all have life storms, and when we get the rough times and we recover from them, we should celebrate that we got through it. No matter how bad it may seem, there's always something beautiful that you can find.

No matter how dark the moment, love and hope are always possible.

I have plenty to look forward to, I'm sure.

No person has the right to rain on your dreams.

We must look not to the negative (the misery, the bestial in life), although we undergo it and sympathize with it, but rather to the burgeoning life around us, which is strengthened by the negative.

Courage is not the absence of despair; it is, rather, the capacity to move ahead in spite of despair.

I am still a very optimistic person. I continue to do work with joy.

Woe to the man whose heart has not learned while young to hope, to love - and to put its trust in life.

I've never been a depressive, but I felt quite close to the edge at times. But you never know what's around the corner. Mercifully, what's around the corner is joy.

It takes a great deal of strength to be an optimist.