Hemingway

In the late summer that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains. In the bed of the river there were pebbles and boulders, dry and white in the sun, and the water was clear and swiftly moving and blue in the channels. Troops went by the house and down the road and the dust they raised powdered the trees.

—Opening passage of A Farewell to Arms

To be happy

To Be Happy

Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To speak of health, happiness, and prosperity to every person that you meet.
To make all your friends aware of the special qualities within them.
To look at the sunny side of every thing and
   let your optimism work to make your dreams come true.
To think, work for, and expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others, as you are about your own.
To forget past mistakes and press on towards a greater future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times, as a smile radiates warmth and love.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself
  that you have no time left to criticize others.
To be too wise for worry, too tolerant for anger, and too courageous for fear.
To Be Happy.

If only, if only

“If only, if only…”
The moon speaks no reply,
Reflecting the sun and all that’s gone by.
Be strong, my weary wolf;
Turn around boldly.
Fly high, my baby bird—
My angel, my only.

“If only, if only,”
The woodpecker sighs,
“The bark on the trees was as soft as the skies.”
While the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely;
Crying to the moon,
“If only, if only…”