Quotes from " From Beginning to End: The Rituals of Our Lives"

I liked Robert Fulghum's "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten" bestseller, so when he came out with this volume "From Beginning to End", I quickly snapped a copy. This book talks about rituals, transformations and transitions, the very same issues I was coming to terms with in my personal life in May 1995 when I bought it. Here are the highlighted sentences and passages in my copy:

On Elemental Religious Questions:

"Every human being asks the elemental religious questions: Who am I? What am I doing here? Where did I come from before birth and what happens after I die? What's right and wrong and how do I know? What is the meaning of life, and how do I give meaning to my life? How do I account for the awesome, mysterious majesty of the universe, and what's my place in the scheme of things?"

On Personal Habits:

"...habits are sacred because they give deliberate structure to our lives. Structure gives us a sense of security. And that sense of security is the ground of meaning."

On Crossing Thresholds:

"Only with the passage of time, the accumulation of information about the similar experiences of others, and the opportunity to fit a given moment into the overall scheme of one's life does a threshold experience become understood."

On Life:

"Life is nothing but moments of crossing over."

On First Times:

"There are no parties or gifts or certificates to mark these times. Most often, nobody else knows or takes notice."

On Rites of Passage:

"The most powerful rites of passage are reflective--when you look back on your life again and again, paying attention to the rivers you have crossed and the gates you have opened and walked on through, the thresholds you have passed over."

On Reunions:

"It is not about high school. It is about Who am I? and What has become of me?"

* * *

"...you should go at least once. Go and see who you were or else you will never fully understand who you are and who you yet may become."

* * *

"Revisiting the music of one's youth is part of the reunion with self."

On Memories:

"The sweetest memories are seldom the result of planning."

On Celebrations:

"It never makes sense to wait until your life is in a state of grace to celebrate its joys and passages. Never hestitate to celebrate."

On Revival:

"All our exits may become entrances."

--Robert Fulghum

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