“Experience, which destroys innocence, also leads one back to it.” – James Baldwin
“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”
– Lao Tzu
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“Through our own recovered innocence we discern the innocence of our neighbours.” – Henry David Thoreau
“No man is great enough or wise enough for any of us to surrender our destiny to. The only way in which anyone can lead us is to restore to us the belief in our own guidance.”
– Henry Miller
“This is the age of the individual and there is no reason to believe that this focus of mankind is likely to change in the foreseeable future. Hence, the mission is to put individualism inside a wide context and to give it meaning and a sense of direction; to empower it – but authentically this time.”
– Shai Tubali
“Adversity draws men together and produces beauty and harmony in life’s relationships, just as the cold of winter produces ice-flowers on the window-panes, which vanish with the warmth.” – Soren Kierkegaard
“Art is the material evidence that reminds us of our culture – of who we are.” – Mary Schmidt Campbell
“Let not the shining thread of hope become so enmeshed in the web of circumstances that we lose sight of it.”
– Charles W. Chestnutt
“When Opportunity meets Preparation she greets her with open arms and they both say in unison, ‘Let’s do this!’”
– Sanjo Jendayi
“Home is not where you live but where they understand you.” – Christian Morgenstern
“It is not necessarily those lands which are the most fertile or most favored climate that seem to me the happiest, but those in which a long stroke of adaptation between man and his environment has brought out the best qualities of both.”
– T. S. Eliot
“If we are to preserve culture we must continue to create it.”
– Johan Huizinga
“I had acceptance at a very early age from the community, and that does a lot. The people that accepted me didn’t necessarily know about art, but they encouraged me.” – Jacob Lawrence
“Freedom is a state of mind: a spiritual unchoking of the wells of human power and superhuman love.” – W.E.B. Du Bois
“Wisdom is not taught; systems are taught. Wisdom comes from experiencing life.” – James Kavanaugh
“It is the family that gives us a deep private sense of belonging. Here we first begin to have our self defined for us.” – Howard Thurman
“I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.”
– Langston Hughes
“She didn’t need to understand the meaning of life; it was enough to find someone who did, and then fall asleep in his arms and sleep as a child sleeps, knowing that someone stronger than you is protecting you from all evil and all danger.” – Paulo Coelho
“It takes a deep commitment to change and an even deeper commitment to grow.” – Ralph Ellison
“Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient” – Steve Maraboli
“Or maybe the purpose of being here, wherever we are, is to increase the durability and the occasions of love among and between peoples.” – June Jordan
“I had a heritage, rich, and nearer than the tongue which gave it voice. My mind resounded with the words and my blood raced to the rhythm.” – Maya Angelou
Our offices will be closed Wednesday, December 25 – Wednesday, January 1, and will re-open on Thursday, January 2, 2020.
For Bonita House clients, with urgent needs, please call:
(510) 923-1099 and press “9” to speak with a staff member
To establish or change mental health services, call ACCESS (Acute Crisis Care and Evaluation for System wide Services): 1-800-491-9099
If you are experiencing an emotional crisis, please call the Crisis Line at
1-800-273-TALK (8255),
or go to the nearest Emergency Room.