Within Our Reach is Joy

Topic: Joy & Happiness

No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in today. Take heaven! No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present little instant. Take peace! The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy. There is radiance and glory in the darkness, could we but see. And to see, we have only to look. I beseech you to look!
Life is so generous a giver. But we, judging its gifts by the covering, cast them away as ugly, or heavy or hard. Remove the covering and you will find beneath it a living splendor, woven of love by wisdom, with power.

Fra Giovanni Giocondo

Giovanni Giocondo was born around 1433 in Venice, Italy. A Franciscan friar, he was accomplished in architecture, engineering, antiquarian studies, archaeology, and classical scholarship. His work as a teacher further broadened his impact.

In 1496, he was invited to France by the King, where he served as royal architect. He designed two significant bridges in Paris, the Pont Notre-Dame and the Petit Pont. These works of engineering are lasting symbols of his skill and vision.

The attribution of the Christmas Eve letter (1513) to Contessina Allagia degli Aldobrandeschi is usually given to Giovanni Giocondo, although it is not universally confirmed. Giocondo passed away in 1515, but his diverse contributions continue to speak to us today.

(c.1433-1515) Christianity

Giocondo, Fra Giovanni. “Within Our Reach Joy.” Bartleby, Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989.

Fra Giovanni Giocondo

Theme: Joy