Vertical-align image

This is pure CSS, vertically aligns the image, and also resizes the image down if it's taller (or wider) than the containing box. Ergo, the box and image can both be any size without breaking the vertical alignment. Also, you may want to add a left margin to the <p> tags to keep them from being hidden by the image.

CSS

/* Positioning */
.absoluteCenterWrapper {
    position: relative; /* Contains the image in the div */
}
.absoluteCenter { /* Aligns image vertically */
    margin: auto;
    position: absolute;
    top: 0;
    bottom: 0;
}
.absoluteCenterWrapper p { /* Pushes <p> to edge of image */
    margin-left: 101px; /* Width of image */
}
.absoluteCenter { /* Specifies width of image to avoid overlap if image changes */
    width: 101px; /* Width of image */
}

/* Sizing - resizes down to avoid cutting off */
.absoluteCenter {
    max-height: 100%;
    max-width: 100%;
}

/* Making it "pretty" */
.absoluteCenterWrapper { margin: 1em; padding: 0.001em; /* <- Hack to contain margins */ outline: 1px solid red; }
.absoluteCenterWrapper p { margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 1em;}

<div class="absoluteCenterWrapper">
 <img class="absoluteCenter" src="data:image/png;base64,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">
 <p>Paragraph goes here.</p>
 <p>Paragraph goes here.</p>
</div>
<div class="absoluteCenterWrapper">
 <img class="absoluteCenter" src="data:image/png;base64,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">
 <p>Paragraph goes here.</p>
 <p>Paragraph goes here.</p>
 <p>Paragraph goes here.</p>
</div>

Try setting the line-height attribute of the p element to the height of the image, eg:

div p {
  line-height: 18px;
}

Edit: Just realised I misread the question and missed the fact the p would be multi-line. One option to try is removing the img element altogether and setting it as the background-image of the p instead, with a background-position of left, center. Something like:

div p {
  background: transparent url(path/to/img) no-repeat left center;
  padding-left:30px; /* Set based on width of image */
}

Give the image display: block, float: left and vertical-align: middle. Or, give it a line height equal to that of the containing element.

the CSS vertical-align attributes only works on table cells and inline elements. Since the paragraph tag specifies a block element by default, it does nothing. In order for your text to be aligned as you describe, you either have to separate your div into two containers or use a table. Here's a good page to help you understand a little bit better: Understanding vertical-align

Vertical-align image

CSS

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