if there are any heavens my mother will(all by herself)have
one. It will not be a pansy heaven or
a fragile heaven of lilies-of-the-valley but
it will be a heaven of blackred roses
my father will be(deep like a rose
tall like a rose)
standing near my
swaying over her
(silent)
with eyes which are really petals and see
nothing with the face of a poet really which
is a flower and not a face with
hands
which whisper
This is my beloved my
(suddenly in sunlight
he will bow,
and the whole garden will bow).
—e. e. cummings (1894–1962) American Poet, Writer, Painter
Heaven is at the feet of mothers.
—Persian Proverb
When I investigate and when I discover that the forces of the heavens and the planets are within ourselves, then truly I seem to be living among the gods.
—Leon Battista Alberti (1404–72) Italian Architect, Humanist, Painter, Art Critic
Heaven will be inherited by every man who has heaven in his soul.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
The true object of all human life is play. Earth is a task garden; heaven is a playground.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
Heav’n is but the vision of fulfill’d desire. And hell the shadow from a soul on fire.
—Omar Khayyam (1048–1123) Persian Mathematician
I had a million questions to ask God: but when I met Him, they all fled my mind; and it didn’t seem to matter.
—Christopher Morley (1890–1957) American Novelist, Essayist
The ink of the scholar and the blood of a martyr are of equal value in heaven.
—The Holy Quran Sacred Scripture of Islam
Look for me in the nurseries of Heaven.
—Francis Thompson (1859–1907) English Poet, Ascetic
The intention of the Holy Ghost is to teach us how one goes to heaven, not how heaven goes.
—Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) Italian Astronomer, Physicist, Mathematician
We are as near to heaven as we are far from self, and far from the love of a sinful world.
—Samuel Rutherford (1600–61) Scottish Presbyterian Theologian, Author
We talk about heaven being so far away. It is within speaking distance to those who belong there. Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people.
—Dwight L. Moody (1837–99) Christian Religious Leader, Publisher
Heaven to me’s a fair blue stretch of sky, earth’s jest a dusty road.
—John Masefield (1878–1967) English Poet, Novelist, Playwright
No man can resolve himself into Heaven.
—Dwight L. Moody (1837–99) Christian Religious Leader, Publisher
On earth there is no heaven, but there are pieces of it.
—Jules Renard (1864–1910) French Writer, Diarist
In heaven an angel is nobody in particular.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Men are admitted into Heaven not because they have curbed and governed their passions or have no passions, but because they have cultivated their understandings. The treasures of Heaven are not negations of passion, but realities of intellect, from which all the passions emanate uncurbed in their eternal glory. The fool shall not enter into Heaven let him be ever so holy.
—William Blake (1757–1827) English Poet, Painter, Printmaker
The very strength that protects the heart from injury is the strength that prevents the heart from enlarging to its intended greatness within. The song of the voice is sweet, but the song of the heart is the pure voice of heaven.
—Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese-born American Philosopher, Poet, Painter, Theologian, Sculptor
Heaven ne’er helps the man who will not act.
—Sophocles (495–405 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
The hope of heaven under troubles is like wind and sails to the soul.
—Samuel Rutherford (1600–61) Scottish Presbyterian Theologian, Author
If people would forget about utopia! When rationalism destroyed heaven and decided to set it up here on earth, that most terrible of all goals entered human ambition. It was clear there’d be no end to what people would be made to suffer for it.
—Nadine Gordimer (1923–2014) South African Novelist, Short-Story Writer