"The purest ...."

The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love colour the most.

John Ruskin

"Possessing by letting go ...."

Possessing by letting go of things was a secret of ownership unknown to youth.

Yukio Mishima

"Gratitude bestows reverence ...."

Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.

John Milton

"An aged man ...."

An aged man is but a paltry thing,

A tattered coat upon a stick, unless

Soul clap its hands and sing

William Butler Yeats

"The complete life ...."

The complete life, the perfect pattern, includes old age as well as youth and maturity. The beauty of the morning and the radiance of noon are good, but it would be a very silly person who drew the curtains and turned on the light in order to shut out the tranquility of the evening. Old age has its pleasures, which, though different, are not less than the pleasures of youth.

W Somerset Maugham