Shabkar Tsodruk Rangdrol (1781-1851), the great Tibetan yogi who espoused the ideals of vegetarianism.

Man -
If you have any self-respect,
A heart in your chest,
Brains in your head, and
Some sympathy for yourself,
Regret your past actions and
Improve your whole behavior.
It’s time! It’s very late!
- Shabkaru

To change one’s life:  Start immediately.  Do it flamboyantly.  No exceptions.  ~William James

Why must conversions always come so late?  Why do people always apologize to corpses?  ~David Brin

When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall,
Then how should I begin
To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways?
-The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot

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Do I remember at every moment that I am dying & everyone & every thing else is [also]  & so treat all beings at all times with compassion?  Has my understanding of death & impermanence become keen & so urgent that I am devoting every second to the pursuit of enlightenment?  If [we] can answer ‘yes’ to both of these, then [we] have really understood impermanence. -Sogyal Rinpoche



Scale back your long hopes
to a short period. While we speak, envious time will have {already} fled
Seize the day, trusting as little as possible in the future.

-Horace

Each day comes bearing its own gifts.  Untie the ribbons.  ~Ruth Ann Schabacker

Gather ye rose-buds while ye may;
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying.
~Robert Herrick

If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say?  And why are you waiting?  ~Stephen Levine