FIRE, COURAGE, AND
RESURRECTION — A PICTORIAL
THE SYMBOLISM OF THE PHOENIX SI APT FOR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. Brilliantly colored in reds, purples, and yellows, this radiant bird is associated with the rising sun and fire. From its own pyre it ignites with a single wing clap and then renews gloriously from its own ashes. The Northern California fires represent unprecedented challenges and opportunities, as resilient residents respond with courage, gratitude, and resolve in the face of destruction and the prospect of fresh beginnings.
Common Ground is proud to publish images and quotations that belie these fiery times and acknowledge brave neighbors and first responders.
The most tangible of all
visible mysteries—fire.
—LEIGH HUNT
When I let go of what I am, I become
what I might be.
—LAO TZU
Only those who will risk going too far can
possibly find out how far one can go.
—T. S. ELIOT
Courage is fear that
has said its prayers.
—DOROTHY BERNARD
“If you’re going through
Hell, keep going.”
—WINSTON CHURCHILL
Fire is never a gentle master.
—TRADITIONAL PROVERB
Among the notable things
about fire is that it also requires
oxygen to burn—exactly like its
enemy, life. Thereby are life and
flames so often compared.
—OTTO WEININGER
The most powerful weapon on
earth is the human soul on fire.
—FERDINAND POCH
The deed is everything,
the glory is naught.
—GOETHE
Bravery is not a quality
of the body. It is of the soul.
—MAHATMA GANDHI