Why do you fear to question me?

Why do you fear to question me? 

I am the great answerer of questions―

Though my answers are often symbols, yet words themselves are only symbols.

I have not visited you for a season, for when I am around, you can think of nothing else, and it is well that you should think of those who have trodden the path you are treading.

You can pattern your ways on those of others―you can hardly pattern your ways on mine.

I am a light in the darkness―my name you do not need to know―

A name is a limitation, and I refuse to be limited.

In the ancient days of the angels, I refused to enter the forms of my own creation, except to play with them.

There is a hint for you if you like hints.

He who is held by his own creations becomes a slave. 

That is one of the differences between me and you.

What earthly father can escape his children? 

What earthly mother wishes to?

But I! 

I can make a rose to bloom, then leave it for another to enjoy.

My joy was in the making. 

It would be dull for me to stay with a rose until its petals fell.

The artist who can forget his past creations may create greater and greater things.

The joy is in the doing―not in the holding fast to that which is done.

Oh, the magic of letting go! 

It is the magic of the gods.

There are races of men to whom I have revealed myself. 

They worship me.

You need not worship me, for I do not require worship.

That would be to limit myself to my own creations if I needed anything from the souls I have touched with my beauty.

Oh, the magic of letting go!

The magic of holding on?

Yes, there is magic in holding on to a thing until it is finished and perfect―

But when a thing is finished―whether it be a poem―a love―or a child, let it go.

In that way, you are free again, and may begin another. 

It is the secret of eternal youth.

Never look back with regret―look back only to learn what is behind you.

Look forward always―it is only when you cease to look forward to things that you begin to grow old. You settle down.

I have said to live in the moment―that is the same thing seen from another side.

The present and the future are playfellows―you do not play when you study the past.

I am the great playfellow of men.

―The Beautiful Being