Would you have poetry in your life? Then you must become such an object of wonder, 
that a poet would search the world over for the perfect phrase in which to capture your essence.

Would you have beauty in your life? Then you must learn to recognize the beauty that surrounds you.
You must begin to expand your definition of what beauty is, that you may see it more readily.

Would you have love in your life? Then you must do everything in your power to become lovely,
 so that others may see what is already manifest within you.

Love, and beauty and poetry are not something for which you must search. They’re all around you.
 You are the only obstacle to what you desire. You are what is keeping them at a distance.

It’s the first lesson the poet or the lover learns; that the quality he’s seeking resides within the beloved.
From there he goes on to discover those same attributes inside many vessels of admiration. Until, at last, he learns that these powers reside in everyone – even (oh, horror of horrors) within himself.

It is the birthright of every man and woman to manifest love, from which springs all the other gifts.
And it’s the duty of every lover and poet to prostrate himself before his beloved. 
For it’s only the humble man who can create monuments to that beauty which is another.
 The lover who is not humble hasn’t the clarity necessary to complete such a work.

We all have the capability to love, and to be loved in return.
 But it’s mostly ourselves we have to blame, if we find ourselves alone in the ugly prose of what remains of our dreams.

That’s a harsh message to accept. I know.
 The taste hasn’t been at all pleasant in my life, either. 
It’s a harsh message to have to deliver.
 But it’s the truth.
 Better you hear it now, than later.

We are all of us bundles of staggering potentialities. We are all of us vessels of, and for, love.
 The person you’re currently looking at has the capacity to be such a creature, that poetry of 
exquisite beauty and the most profound meaning would pour from the meanest mouth.

Every woman has it in her that which deserves to be worshipped as a saint.
 She must simply get out of the way, that it might shine forth.
And every man has it in him to be the stuff of legends.
 It is frequently only his own ego that keeps him from this destiny.

Every person you see today has it in them to become a vision of glory.
Every single one… even if the person you’re currently looking at is only you.
Honestly… just how special did you imagine that you were?

EJ LIEDERSTEIN