love thursday: the meaning of life

I keep going back to the amazing quotations that you all left for me this week -- there are some real nuggets of inspiration there.  One of them in particular, left by Durga, struck me:  

"To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children ... to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition ... to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived:  this is to have succeeded."

~  Ralph Waldo Emerson

It occurs to me that this quote isn't so much about success as it is about living in lovingkindness.  To me, at their core, this is what all the religious tomes, spiritual teachers, parents, ethicists, mentors and true leaders keep trying to tell us. 

This, really, is what it's all about.

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Happy Love Thursday, all.  Please leave your stories or links to your images and words of love in the comments below.

May you laugh often and much today.

Song:  Crazy little thing called love by Queen

Image: Photographed with Nikon D300 and 60mm micro lens