Like the poet Po Chüyi, the Chinese scholar "utilized Confucianism to order his conduct, utilized Buddhism to cleanse his mind, and then utilized history, paintings, mountains, rivers, wine, music and song to soothe his spirit.

Whenever I came across something that influenced me, I wanted to be that. So it varied from an astronaut, airhostess, army girl, to truck driver. Once, I wanted to be a nun - my mother wanted me to change schools after that...

On a branch
floating downriver
a cricket, singing.

Palestine is ours from the river to the sea and from the south to the north. There will be no concession on an inch of the land.[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/dec/08/hamas-gaza-palestine-khaled-meshaal-israel Tens of thousands celebrate Hamas 'victory' rally as exiled leader returns]

People shed so many tears in all directions
that five other rivers have appeared in Multan.
I wanted to speak of the fire in my heart
but a hundred fiery tongues flared up in my mouth.

India chose her places of pilgrimages on the top of hills and mountains, by the side of the holy rivers, in the heart of forests and by the shores of the ocean, which along with the sky, is our nearest visible symbol of the vast, the boundless, the infinite and the sublime.

Though the river's current never fails, the water passing, moment by moment, is never the same. Where the current pools, bubbles form on the surface, bursting and disappearing as others rise to replace them, none lasting long. In this world, people and their dwelling places are like that, always changing.

Far from having become 1900 years ago a stagnant or dried-up religion, as Christian theology declares, Judaism has ever remained "a river of God full of living waters," which, while running within the river-bed of a single nation, has continued to feed anew the great streams of human civilization.

[Bai Juyi] utilized Confucianism to order his conduct, utilized Buddhism to cleanse his mind, and then utilized history, paintings, mountains, rivers, wine, music and song to soothe his spirit.

Can the river reject its fish?
Can the mother spurn her child?

The Mississippi and its paddle boats, and the rivers of Bengal and their gleaming steamers evoked a similar atmosphere of romance, of long, song-filled voyages, high winds and lonely sunsets.