By night, the Vietnamese city of Hoi An is transformed into a dazzling paradise with brilliant silk lanterns, paper luminaries, and warm candlelight.
With the sky cloaked in darkness, we strolled by the Thu Bon River and watched as the colorful luminaries danced on the water. Vendors of all ages sold them along the water’s edge to visitors who passed by to admire the night’s splendor.
If you plan to visit Hoi An and are feeling romantic when you do, consider taking an evening boat ride on one of the small vessels. The locals are eager to rent them for half an hour or more. From there, you can send a delicate luminary or two off on a midnight journey.
Enjoy some “light” wisdom while taking a virtual stroll through the lantern-adorned streetscapes pictured here.
“Light is the symbol of truth.”
James Russell Lowell
“It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
“Knowledge is love and light and vision.”
Helen Keller
“Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue.”
Buddha
“Beyond a doubt truth bears the same relation to falsehood as light to darkness.”
Leonardo da Vinci
“There are two kinds of light – the glow that illumines, and the glare that obscures.”
James Thurber
“Moonlight is sculpture.”
Nathaniel Hawthorne
“We cannot hold a torch to light another’s path without brightening our own.”
Ben Sweetland
“We are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light.”
Evelyn Dunbar
“There are two ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.”
Edith Wharton
“An age is called ‘dark,’ not because the light fails to shine but because people refuse to see it.”
James Michener
“The stars are the street lights of eternity.”
Unknown
“Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.”
Kahlil Gibran
“I will love the light for it shows me the way. Yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars.”
Og Mandino
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within.”
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
“The hero is the one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by. The saint is the man who walks through the dark paths of the world, himself a light.”
Felix Adler
“In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary.”
Aaron Rose
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Photography & text © Tricia A. Mitchell, unless otherwise attributed. All Rights Reserved.
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