β
I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.
β
β
Marilyn Monroe
β
Life is too short to waste your time on people who donβt respect, appreciate, and value you.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β
He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much;
Who has enjoyed the trust of pure women, the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children;
Who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;
Who has never lacked appreciation of Earth's beauty or failed to express it;
Who has left the world better than he found it,
Whether an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul;
Who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had;
Whose life was an inspiration;
Whose memory a benediction.
β
β
Bessie Anderson Stanley (More Heart Throbs Volume Two in Prose and Verse Dear to the American People And by them contributed as a Supplement to the original $10,000 Prize Book HEART THROBS)
β
Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.
β
β
Marcus Aurelius (Meditations)
β
Even if you cannot change all the people around you, you can change the people you choose to be around. Life is too short to waste your time on people who donβt respect, appreciate, and value you. Spend your life with people who make you smile, laugh, and feel loved.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β
Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic.
β
β
Oscar Wilde (The Picture of Dorian Gray)
β
Books should go where they will be most appreciated, and not sit unread, gathering dust on a forgotten shelf, don't you agree?
β
β
Christopher Paolini
β
There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness. We must have felt what it is to die, Morrel, that we may appreciate the enjoyments of life.
" Live, then, and be happy, beloved children of my heart, and never forget, that until the day God will deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is contained in these two words, 'Wait and Hope.
β
β
Alexandre Dumas
β
No book can be appreciated until it has been slept with and dreamed over.
β
β
Eugene Field
β
I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.
β
β
Lewis Carroll (Aliceβs Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass)
β
The two hardest tests on the spiritual road are the patience to wait for the right moment and the courage not to be disappointed with what we encounter.
β
β
Paulo Coelho (Veronika Decides to Die)
β
Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough.
β
β
Oprah Winfrey
β
The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.
β
β
Elisabeth KΓΌbler-Ross
β
She was a genius of sadness, immersing herself in it, separating its numerous strands, appreciating its subtle nuances. She was a prism through which sadness could be divided into its infinite spectrum.
β
β
Jonathan Safran Foer (Everything is Illuminated)
β
If you love a flower, donβt pick it up.
Because if you pick it up it dies and it ceases to be what you love.
So if you love a flower, let it be.
Love is not about possession.
Love is about appreciation.
β
β
Osho
β
If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.
β
β
Desmond Tutu
β
Your heart just breaks, that's all. But you can't judge or point fingers. You just have to be lucky enough to find someone who appreciates you.
β
β
Audrey Hepburn
β
You wonβt understand what I mean now, but someday you will: the only trick of friendship, I think, is to find people who are better than you areβnot smarter, not cooler, but kinder, and more generous, and more forgivingβand then to appreciate them for what they can teach you, and to try to listen to them when they tell you something about yourself, no matter how badβor goodβit might be, and to trust them, which is the hardest thing of all. But the best, as well.
β
β
Hanya Yanagihara (A Little Life)
β
At the end of the day, let there be no excuses, no explanations, no regrets.
β
β
Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
β
To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with.
β
β
Mark Twain
β
I get the feeling," Alec said, and smiled, "she hasn't forgiven me for betraying you, as she sees it."
"Good girl," said Jace with appreciation.
"I didn't betray you, idiot."
"It's the thought that counts.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
β
There is an abiding beauty which may be appreciated by those who will see things as they are and who will ask for no reward except to see.
β
β
Vera Brittain
β
Nature didn't need an operation to be beautiful. It just was.
β
β
Scott Westerfeld (The Uglies Trilogy (Uglies, #1-3))
β
I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active - not more happy - nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago.
β
β
Edgar Allan Poe
β
The only way to survive eternity is to be able to appreciate each moment.
β
β
Lauren Kate (Fallen (Fallen, #1))
β
Pick the day. Enjoy it - to the hilt. The day as it comes. People as they come... The past, I think, has helped me appreciate the present, and I don't want to spoil any of it by fretting about the future.
β
β
Audrey Hepburn
β
Forget yesterday - it has already forgotten you. Don't sweat tomorrow - you haven't even met. Instead, open your eyes and your heart to a truly precious gift - today.
β
β
Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
β
Every traveler has a home of his own, and he learns to appreciate it the more from his wandering.
β
β
Charles Dickens
β
Too much of a good thing can be wonderful!
β
β
Mae West
β
Music has always been a matter of Energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel. I have always needed Fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio.
β
β
Hunter S. Thompson
β
Hermes gazed up at the stars. 'My dear young cousin, if there's one thing I've learned over the eons, it's that you can't give up on your family, no matter how tempting they make it. It doesn't matter if they hate you, or embarrass you, or simply don't appreciate your genius for inventing the Internet--
β
β
Rick Riordan (The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #2))
β
There is more to life than simply increasing its speed.
β
β
Mahatma Gandhi
β
Do you really want to be happy? You can begin by being appreciative of who you are and what you've got.
β
β
Benjamin Hoff (The Tao of Pooh)
β
My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21. Everything since then has been a bonus."
[The Science of Second-Guessing (New York Times Magazine Interview, December 12, 2004)]
β
β
Stephen Hawking
β
Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.
β
β
Voltaire
β
I feel like my life is so scattered right now. Like it's all the small pieces of paper and someone's turned on the fan. But, talking to you makes me feel like the fan's been turned off for a little bit. Like things could actually make sense. You completely unscatter me, and I appreciate that so much.
β
β
John Green (Will Grayson, Will Grayson)
β
What I'm not sure about, is if our lives have been so different from the lives of the people we save. We all complete. Maybe none of us really understand what we've lived through, or feel we've had enough time.
β
β
Kazuo Ishiguro (Never Let Me Go)
β
I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it. People think pleasing God is all God cares about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.
β
β
Alice Walker (The Color Purple)
β
Maybe you have to know the darkness before you can appreciate the light.
β
β
Madeleine L'Engle (A Ring of Endless Light (Austin Family Chronicles, #4))
β
You need to spend time crawling alone through shadows to truly appreciate what it is to stand in the sun.
β
β
Shaun Hick
β
It is not the failure of others to appreciate your abilities that should trouble you, but rather your failure to appreciate theirs.
β
β
Confucius
β
When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be aliveβto breathe, to think, to enjoy, to loveβthen make that day count!
β
β
Steve Maraboli (Life, the Truth, and Being Free)
β
There's a sunrise and a sunset every single day, and they're absolutely free. Don't miss so many of them.
β
β
Jo Walton
β
And Iβm platonically in love with you.β
βThat was literally the boy-girl version of βno homoβ, but I appreciate the sentiment.
β
β
Alice Oseman (Radio Silence)
β
If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."
[Meditations Divine and Moral]
β
β
Anne Bradstreet (The Works of Anne Bradstreet (John Harvard Library))
β
Dance. Smile. Giggle. Marvel. TRUST. HOPE. LOVE. WISH. BELIEVE. Most of all, enjoy every moment of the journey, and appreciate where you are at this moment instead of always focusing on how far you have to go.
β
β
Mandy Hale (The Single WomanβLife, Love, and a Dash of Sass: Embracing Singleness with Confidence)
β
I say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit. I am then asked if I know of any artists who pulled that off. I reply, 'The Beatles did'.
β
β
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (Timequake)
β
As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.
β
β
John F. Kennedy
β
With endless time, nothing is special. With no loss or sacrifice, we canβt appreciate what we have
β
β
Mitch Albom (The Time Keeper)
β
The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.
β
β
Ralph Waldo Emerson
β
If we're going to the Silent City, you might want to get dressed. I mean, I appreciate the bra-and-panties look, but I don't know if the Silent Brothers will. There are only a few of the left, and I don't want them to die of excitement.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments, #4))
β
Whiskey, like a beautiful woman, demands appreciation. You gaze first, then it's time to drink.
β
β
Haruki Murakami (Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World)
β
The next time you have a quarrel with me, I'd appreciate it if you could just talk to me first before resorting to pelting me with rocks.
β
β
Susan Ee (Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days, #1))
β
Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered.
β
β
W.H. Auden (The Dyer's Hand and Other Essays)
β
Are you insinuatin' that my daughter is a liar?"
"Oh, no, not at all. I'm saying your daughter is a liar. Surely you can appreciate the difference.
β
β
Kami Garcia (Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles, #1))
β
I took a bite of cookie and chewed. βHmmm,β I said, trying not to spit crumbs. βClear vanilla notes, too-sweet chocolate chips, distinct flavor of brown sugar. A decent cookie, not spectacular. Still, a good-hearted cookie, not pretentious.β I turned to Fang. βWhat say you?β
βItβs fine.β
Some people just donβt have what it takes to appreciate a cookie.
β
β
James Patterson (The Angel Experiment (Maximum Ride, #1))
β
One of the most spiritual things you can do is embrace your humanity. Connect with those around you today. Say, "I love you", "I'm sorry", "I appreciate you", "I'm proud of you"...whatever you're feeling. Send random texts, write a cute note, embrace your truth and share it...cause a smile today for someone else...and give plenty of hugs.
β
β
Steve Maraboli
β
I think thatβs one of the biggest signs a person has maturedβknowing how to appreciate things that matter to others, even if they donβt matter very much to you.
β
β
Colleen Hoover (It Ends with Us (It Ends with Us, #1))
β
Live with intention.
Walk to the edge.
Listen Hard.
Practice wellness.
Play with abandon.
Laugh.
Choose with no regret.
Appreciate your friends.
Continue to learn.
Do what you love.
Live as if this is all there is.
β
β
Mary Anne Radmacher
β
Treat a work of art like a prince: let it speak to you first.
β
β
Arthur Schopenhauer
β
There are some questions that shouldn't be asked until a person is mature enough to appreciate the answers.
β
β
Anne Bishop (Daughter of the Blood (The Black Jewels, #1))
β
Everyone enjoys being acknowledged and appreciated. Sometimes even the simplest act of gratitude can change someone's entire day. Take the time to recognize and value the people around you and appreciate those who make a difference in your lives.
β
β
Roy T. Bennett
β
It doesn't matter if they hate you, or embarrass you, or simply don't appreciate your genius for inventing the internet-"
"You invented the internet?"
It was my idea, Martha said.
Rats are delicious, George said.
"It was my idea!" Hermes said. "I mean the internet, not the rats. But that's not the point.
β
β
Rick Riordan (The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #2))
β
You canβt save others from themselves because those who make a perpetual muddle of their lives donβt appreciate your interfering with the drama theyβve created. They want your poor-sweet-baby sympathy, but they donβt want to change.
β
β
Sue Grafton (T is for Trespass (Kinsey Millhone, #20))
β
Or at school you might have been prodded to come βout of your shellββthat noxious expression which fails to appreciate that some animals naturally carry shelter everywhere they go, and that some humans are just the same.
β
β
Susan Cain (Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking)
β
A person can learn a lot from a dog, even a loopy one like ours. Marley taught me about living each day with unbridled exuberance and joy, about seizing the moment and following your heart. He taught me to appreciate the simple things-a walk in the woods, a fresh snowfall, a nap in a shaft of winter sunlight. And as he grew old and achy, he taught me about optimism in the face of adversity. Mostly, he taught me about friendship and selflessness and, above all else, unwavering loyalty.
β
β
John Grogan (Marley and Me: Life and Love With the Worldβs Worst Dog)
β
CALVIN:
Isn't it strange that evolution would give us a sense of humor?
When you think about it, it's weird that we have a physiological response to absurdity. We laugh at nonsense. We like it. We think it's funny.
Don't you think it's odd that we appreciate absurdity? Why would we develop that way? How does it benefit us?
HOBBES:
I suppose if we couldn't laugh at the things that don't make sense, we couldn't react to a lot of life.
β
β
Bill Watterson
β
It's funny how, in this journey of life, even though we may begin at different times and places, our paths cross with others so that we may share our love, compassion, observations, and hope. This is a design of God that I appreciate and cherish.
β
β
Steve Maraboli (Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience)
β
Evil is a point of view. We are immortal. And what we have before us are the rich feasts that conscience cannot appreciate and mortal men cannot know without regret. God kills, and so shall we; indiscriminately He takes the richest and the poorest, and so shall we; for no creatures under God are as we are, none so like Him as ourselves, dark angels not confined to the stinking limits of hell but wandering His earth and all its kingdoms.
β
β
Anne Rice (Interview with the Vampire (The Vampire Chronicles, #1))
β
Because there are three classes of intellects: one which comprehends by itself; another which appreciates what others comprehend; and a third which neither comprehends by itself nor by the showing of others; the first is the most excellent, the second is good, the third is useless.
β
β
NiccolΓ² Machiavelli (The Prince)
β
Hey!" said the guy in the video. "Greetings from your friends at Camp Half-Blood, et cetera. This is Leo. I'm the..." He looked off screen and yelled: "What's my title? Am I like admiral, or captain, or-"
A girl's voice yelled back, "Repair boy."
"Very funny, Piper," Leo grumbled. He turned back to the parchment screen. "So yeah, I'm...ah..supreme commander of the Argo II. Yeah, I like that! Anyway, we're gonna be sailing towards you in about, I dunno, an hour in this big mother warship. We'd appreciate it if you'd not, like, blow us out of the sky or anything. So okay! If you could tell the Romans that. See you soon. Yours in demigodishness, and all that. Peace out!
β
β
Rick Riordan (The Son of Neptune (The Heroes of Olympus, #2))
β
I believe the simplest explanation is, there is no God. No one created the universe and no one directs our fate. This leads me to a profound realization that there probably is no heaven and no afterlife either. We have this one life to appreciate the grand design of the universe and for that, I am extremely grateful.
β
β
Stephen Hawking
β
I've always resented Hermione, because I wanted to be her so badly and she never seemed to appreciate as much as I thought she should that she got be her. She got to live at Hogwarts and be friends with Harry and kiss Ron, which was supposed to happen to me.
β
β
Rachel Cohn (Dash & Lily's Book of Dares (Dash & Lily, #1))
β
I wish we could sometimes love the characters in real life as we love the characters in romances. There are a great many human souls whom we should accept more kindly, and even appreciate more clearly, if we simply thought of them as people in a story.
β
β
G.K. Chesterton (What I Saw in America (Anthem Travel Classics))
β
Perfect! Now we're being chased by hoards of monkeys! Perhaps you would care to name their species as we're attacked, just so I can appreciate the special traits of said monkey as it kills me!"
"At least when the monkeys are harassing you, you dont have any time to harass me!
β
β
Colleen Houck (Tiger's Curse (The Tiger Saga, #1))
β
This place was truly the highest and the lowest of all worlds - the most beautiful senses, the most exquisite emotions.. the most malevolent desires, the darkest deeds. Perhaps it was meant to be so. Perhaps without the lows, the highs could not be reached.
β
β
Stephenie Meyer (The Host (The Host, #1))
β
Love is made up of three unconditional properties in equal measure:
1. Acceptance
2. Understanding
3. Appreciation
Remove any one of the three and the triangle falls apart.
Which, by the way, is something highly inadvisable. Think about it β do you really want to live in a world of only two dimensions?
So, for the love of a triangle, please keep love whole.
β
β
Vera Nazarian (The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration)
β
When a man can listen to a woman's feelings without getting angry and frustrated, he gives her a wonderful gift.
He makes it safe for her to express herself.
The more she is able to express herself, the more she feels heard and understood, and the more she is able to give a man the loving trust, acceptance, appreciation, admiration, approval, and encouragement that he needs.
β
β
John Gray (Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus)
β
You two are too cute,β the counter girl said, setting two cups piled with whipped cream on the counter. She had a sort of lopsided, open smile that made me think she laughed a lot. βSeriously. How long have you been going out?β
Sam let go of my hands to get his wallet and took out some bills. βSix years.β
I wrinkled my nose to cover a laugh. Of course he would count the time that weβd been two entirely different species.
Whoa.β Counter girl nodded appreciatively. βThatβs pretty amazing for a couple your age."
Sam handed me my hot chocolate and didnβt answer. But his yellow eyes gazed at me possessivelyβI wondered if he realized that the way he looked at me was far more intimate than copping a feel could ever be.
I crouched to look at the almond bark on the bottom shelf in the counter. I wasnβt quite bold enough to look at either of them when I admitted, βWell, it was love at first sight.β
The girl sighed. βThat is just so romantic. Do me a favor, and donβt you two ever change. The world needs more love at first sight.
β
β
Maggie Stiefvater (Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #1))
β
It's funny, but have you ever noticed that the more special something is, the more people seem to take it for granted? It's like they think it won't ever change. Just like this house here. All it ever needed was a little attention, and it would never have ended up like this in the first place.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Wedding (The Notebook, #2))
β
His eyes drifted leisurely back up to my face and he smiled at me appreciatively, βKelsey, when a man spends time with a beautiful woman, he needs to pace himself. I quirked my eyebrow at him and laughed. βYeah, Iβm a regular marathon alright.β He kissed my fingers. βExactly. A wise man never sprintsβ¦in a marathon.
β
β
Colleen Houck (Tiger's Curse (The Tiger Saga, #1))
β
... It's perfect! Locke would appreciate it."
"Bug," Calo said, "Locke is our brother and our love for him knows no bounds. But the four most fatal words in the Therin language are 'Locke would appreciate it.'"
"Rivalled only by 'Locke taught me a new trick,'" added Galo.
"The only person who gets away with Locke Lamora games ..."
"... is Locke ..."
"... because we think the gods are saving him up for a really big death. Something with knives and hot irons ..."
"... and fifty thousand cheering spectators.
β
β
Scott Lynch (The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard, #1))
β
My fore-parts, as you so ineloquently put it, have names.β
I pointed to my right breast. βThis is Danger.β Then my left. βAnd this is Will Robinson. I would appreciate it if you addressed them accordingly.β
After a long pause in which he took the time to blink several times, he asked, βYou named your breasts?β
I turned my back to him with a shrug. βI named my ovaries, too, but they donβt get out as much.
β
β
Darynda Jones (First Grave on the Right (Charley Davidson, #1))
β
Slowly, very slowly, he sat up, and as he did so he felt more alive, and more aware of his own living body than ever before. Why had he never appreciated what a miracle he was, brain and nerve and bounding heart? It would all be gone...or at least, he would be gone from it. His breath came slow and deep, and his mouth and throat were completely dry, but so were his eyes.
β
β
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7))
β
Day 24. Situation is growing worse. My captors continue to find new and horrific ways to torture me. When not working, Agent Scarlet spends her days examining fabric swatches for bridesmaid dresses and going on about how in love she is. This usually causes Agent Boring Borscht to regale us with stories of Russian weddings that are even more boring than his usual ones. My attempts at escape have been thwarted thus far. Also, I am out of cigarettes. Any assistance or tobacco products you can send will be greatly appreciated.
-Prisoner 24601
β
β
Richelle Mead (The Golden Lily (Bloodlines, #2))
β
What is success?
To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate the beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch Or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!
β
β
Ralph Waldo Emerson
β
Thunder boomed overhead. Lightning flashed, and the bars on the nearest window burst into sizzling, melted stubs of iron.
Jason flew in like Peter Pan, electricity sparking around him and his gold sword steaming.
Leo whistled appreciatively. βMan, you just wasted an awesome entrance.β
Jason frowned. He noticed the hog-tied Kerkopes. βWhat theββ
βAll by myself,β Leo said. βIβm special that way.
β
β
Rick Riordan (The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus, #4))
β
If we never experience the chill of a dark winter, it is very unlikely that we will ever cherish the warmth of a bright summerβs day. Nothing stimulates our appetite for the simple joys of life more than the starvation caused by sadness or desperation. In order to complete our amazing life journey successfully, it is vital that we turn each and every dark tear into a pearl of wisdom, and find the blessing in every curse.
β
β
Anthon St. Maarten (Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny)
β
I have a friend who's an artist and has sometimes taken a view which I don't agree with very well. He'll hold up a flower and say "look how beautiful it is," and I'll agree. Then he says "I as an artist can see how beautiful this is but you as a scientist take this all apart and it becomes a dull thing," and I think that he's kind of nutty. First of all, the beauty that he sees is available to other people and to me too, I believe. Although I may not be quite as refined aesthetically as he is ... I can appreciate the beauty of a flower. At the same time, I see much more about the flower than he sees. I could imagine the cells in there, the complicated actions inside, which also have a beauty. I mean it's not just beauty at this dimension, at one centimeter; there's also beauty at smaller dimensions, the inner structure, also the processes. The fact that the colors in the flower evolved in order to attract insects to pollinate it is interesting; it means that insects can see the color. It adds a question: does this aesthetic sense also exist in the lower forms? Why is it aesthetic? All kinds of interesting questions which the science knowledge only adds to the excitement, the mystery and the awe of a flower. It only adds. I don't understand how it subtracts.
β
β
Richard P. Feynman (The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman)
β
Calvin: Look, a dead bird!
Hobbes: It must've hit a window.
Calvin: Isn't it beautiful? It's so delicate. Sighhh... once it's too late, you appreciate what a miracle life is. You realize that nature is ruthless and our existence is very fragile, temporary, and precious. But to go on with your daily affairs, you can't really think about that...which is probably why everyone takes the world for granted and why we act so thoughtlessly. It's very confusing. I suppose it will all make sense when we grow up.
Hobbes: No doubt.
β
β
Bill Watterson (There's Treasure Everywhere (Calvin and Hobbes, #10))
β
The axiom of equality states that x always equals x: it assumes that if you have a conceptual thing named x, that it must always be equivalent to itself, that it has a uniqueness about it, that it is in possession of something so irreducible that we must assume it is absolutely, unchangeably equivalent to itself for all time, that its very elementalness can never be altered. But it is impossible to prove. Always, absolutes, nevers: these are the words, as much as numbers, that make up the world of mathematics. Not everyone liked the axiom of equalityββDr. Li had once called it coy and twee, a fan dance of an axiomββbut he had always appreciated how elusive it was, how the beauty of the equation itself would always be frustrated by the attempts to prove it. It was the kind of axiom that could drive you mad, that could consume you, that could easily become an entire life.
But now he knows for certain how true the axiom is, because he himselfββhis very lifeββhas proven it. The person I was will always be the person I am, he realizes. The context may have changed: he may be in this apartment, and he may have a job that he enjoys and that pays him well, and he may have parents and friends he loves. He may be respected; in court, he may even be feared. But fundamentally, he is the same person, a person who inspires disgust, a person meant to be hated.
β
β
Hanya Yanagihara (A Little Life)
β
A woman must continually watch herself. She is almost continually accompanied by her own image of herself. Whilst she is walking across a room or whilst she is weeping at the death of her father, she can scarcely avoid envisaging herself walking or weeping. From earliest childhood she has been taught and persuaded to survey herself continually. And so she comes to consider the surveyor and the surveyed within her as the two constituent yet always distinct elements of her identity as a woman. She has to survey everything she is and everything she does because how she appears to men, is of crucial importance for what is normally thought of as the success of her life. Her own sense of being in herself is supplanted by a sense of being appreciated as herself by another....
One might simplify this by saying: men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. This determines not only most relations between men and women but also the relation of women to themselves. The surveyor of woman in herself is male: the surveyed female. Thus she turns herself into an object -- and most particularly an object of vision: a sight.
β
β
John Berger (Ways of Seeing)
β
It is important for a husband to understand that his words have tremendous power in his wifeβs life. He needs to bless her with words. Sheβs given her life to love and care for him, to partner with him, to create a family together, to nurture his children. If he is always finding fault in something sheβs doing, always putting her down, he will reap horrendous problems in his marriage and in his life. Moreover, many women today are depressed and feel emotionally abused because their husbands do not bless them with their words. One of the leading causes of emotional breakdowns among married women is the fact that women do not feel valued. One of the main reasons for that deficiency is because husbands are willfully or unwittingly withholding the words of approval women so desperately desire. If you want to see God do wonders in your marriage, start praising your spouse. Start appreciating and encouraging her. Every single day, a husband should tell his wife, βI love you. I appreciate you. Youβre the best thing that ever happened to me.β A wife should do the same for her husband. Your relationship would improve immensely if youβd simply start speaking kind, positive words, blessing your spouse instead of cursing him or her.
β
β
Joel Osteen (Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential)
β
When my husband died, because he was so famous and known for not being a believer, many people would come up to me-it still sometimes happens-and ask me if Carl changed at the end and converted to a belief in an afterlife. They also frequently ask me if I think I will see him again. Carl faced his death with unflagging courage and never sought refuge in illusions. The tragedy was that we knew we would never see each other again. I don't ever expect to be reunited with Carl. But, the great thing is that when we were together, for nearly twenty years, we lived with a vivid appreciation of how brief and precious life is. We never trivialized the meaning of death by pretending it was anything other than a final parting. Every single moment that we were alive and we were together was miraculous-not miraculous in the sense of inexplicable or supernatural. We knew we were beneficiaries of chance. . . . That pure chance could be so generous and so kind. . . . That we could find each other, as Carl wrote so beautifully in Cosmos, you know, in the vastness of space and the immensity of time. . . . That we could be together for twenty years. That is something which sustains me and itβs much more meaningful. . . . The way he treated me and the way I treated him, the way we took care of each other and our family, while he lived. That is so much more important than the idea I will see him someday. I don't think I'll ever see Carl again. But I saw him. We saw each other. We found each other in the cosmos, and that was wonderful.
β
β
Ann Druyan
β
There is a story of a woman running away from tigers. She runs and runs and the tigers are getting closer and closer. When she comes to the edge of a cliff, she sees some vines there, so she climbs down and holds on to the vines. Looking down, she sees that there are tigers below her as well. She then notices that a mouse is gnawing away at the vine to which she is clinging. She also sees a beautiful little bunch of strawberries close to her, growing out of a clump of grass. She looks up and she looks down. She looks at the mouse. Then she just takes a strawberry, puts it in her mouth, and enjoys it thoroughly. Tigers above, tigers below. This is actually the predicament that we are always in, in terms of our birth and death. Each moment is just what it is. It might be the only moment of our life; it might be the only strawberry weβll ever eat. We could get depressed about it, or we could finally appreciate it and delight in the preciousness of every single moment of our life.
β
β
Pema ChΓΆdrΓΆn (The Wisdom of No Escape: How to Love Yourself and Your World)
β
Throw a stick, and the servile dog wheezes and pants and stumbles to bring it to you. Do the same before a cat, and he will eye you with coolly polite and somewhat bored amusement. And just as inferior people prefer the inferior animal which scampers excitedly because someone else wants something, so do superior people respect the superior animal which lives its own life and knows that the puerile stick-throwings of alien bipeds are none of its business and beneath its notice. The dog barks and begs and tumbles to amuse you when you crack the whip. That pleases a meekness-loving peasant who relishes a stimulus to his self importance. The cat, on the other hand, charms you into playing for its benefit when it wishes to be amused; making you rush about the room with a paper on a string when it feels like exercise, but refusing all your attempts to make it play when it is not in the humour. That is personality and individuality and self-respect -- the calm mastery of a being whose life is its own and not yours -- and the superior person recognises and appreciates this because he too is a free soul whose position is assured, and whose only law is his own heritage and aesthetic sense.
β
β
H.P. Lovecraft
β
Life is glorious, but life is also wretched. It is both. Appreciating the gloriousness inspires us, encourages us, cheers us up, gives us a bigger perspective, energizes us. We feel connected. But if that's all that's happening, we get arrogant and start to look down on others, and there is a sense of making ourselves a big deal and being really serious about it, wanting it to be like that forever. The gloriousness becomes tinged by craving and addiction. On the other hand, wretchedness--life's painful aspect--softens us up considerably. Knowing pain is a very important ingredient of being there for another person. When you are feeling a lot of grief, you can look right into somebody's eyes because you feel you haven't got anything to lose--you're just there. The wretchedness humbles us and softens us, but if we were only wretched, we would all just go down the tubes. We'd be so depressed, discouraged, and hopeless that we wouldn't have enough energy to eat an apple. Gloriousness and wretchedness need each other. One inspires us, the other softens us. They go together.
β
β
Pema ChΓΆdrΓΆn (Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living)
β
I went to a tattoo parlor and had YES written onto the palm of my left hand, and NO onto my right palm, what can I say, it hasn't made my life wonderful, its made life possible, when I rub my hands against each other in the middle of winter I am warming myself with the friction of YES and NO, when I clap my hands I am showing my appreciation through the uniting and parting of YES and NO, I signify "book" by peeling open my hands, every book, for me, is the balance of YES and NO, even this one, my last one, especially this one. Does it break my heart, of course, every moment of every day, into more pieces than my heart was made of, I never thought of myself as quiet, much less silent, I never thought about things at all, everything changed, the distance that wedged itself between me and my happiness wasn't the world, it wasn't the bombs and burning buildings, it was me, my thinking, the cancer of never letting go, is ignorance bliss, I don't know, but it's so painful to think, and tell me, what did thinking ever do for me, to what great place did thinking ever bring me? I think and think and think, I've thought myself out of happiness one million times, but never once into it.
β
β
Jonathan Safran Foer
β
The less you associate with some people, the more your life will improve.
Any time you tolerate mediocrity in others, it increases your mediocrity. An
important attribute in successful people is their impatience with negative
thinking and negative acting people. As you grow, your associates will
change. Some of your friends will not want you to go on. They will want you
to stay where they are. Friends that don't help you climb will want you to
crawl. Your friends will stretch your vision or choke your dream. Those that
don't increase you will eventually decrease you.
Consider this:
Never receive counsel from unproductive people. Never discuss your problems
with someone incapable of contributing to the solution, because those who
never succeed themselves are always first to tell you how. Not everyone has
a right to speak into your life. You are certain to get the worst of the
bargain when you exchange ideas with the wrong person. Don't follow anyone
who's not going anywhere.
With some people you spend an evening: with others you invest it. Be careful
where you stop to inquire for directions along the road of life. Wise is the
person who fortifies his life with the right friendships. If you run with
wolves, you will learn how to howl. But, if you associate with eagles, you
will learn how to soar to great heights.
"A mirror reflects a man's face, but what he is really like is shown by the
kind of friends he chooses."
The simple but true fact of life is that you become like those with whom you
closely associate - for the good and the bad.
Note: Be not mistaken. This is applicable to family as well as friends.
Yes...do love, appreciate and be thankful for your family, for they will
always be your family no matter what. Just know that they are human first
and though they are family to you, they may be a friend to someone else and
will fit somewhere in the criteria above.
"In Prosperity Our Friends Know Us. In Adversity We Know Our friends."
"Never make someone a priority when you are only an option for them."
"If you are going to achieve excellence in big things,you develop the habit in little matters.
Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.."..
β
β
Colin Powell
β
Closing The Cycle
One always has to know when a stage comes to an end. If we insist on staying longer than the necessary time, we lose the happiness and the meaning of the other stages we have to go through. Closing cycles, shutting doors, ending chapters - whatever name we give it, what matters is to leave in the past the moments of life that have finished.
Did you lose your job? Has a loving relationship come to an end? Did you leave your parents' house? Gone to live abroad? Has a long-lasting friendship ended all of a sudden?
You can spend a long time wondering why this has happened. You can tell yourself you won't take another step until you find out why certain things that were so important and so solid in your life have turned into dust, just like that. But such an attitude will be awfully stressing for everyone involved: your parents, your husband or wife, your friends, your children, your sister, everyone will be finishing chapters, turning over new leaves, getting on with life, and they will all feel bad seeing you at a standstill.
None of us can be in the present and the past at the same time, not even when we try to understand the things that happen to us. What has passed will not return: we cannot for ever be children, late adolescents, sons that feel guilt or rancor towards our parents, lovers who day and night relive an affair with someone who has gone away and has not the least intention of coming back.
Things pass, and the best we can do is to let them really go away. That is why it is so important (however painful it may be!) to destroy souvenirs, move, give lots of things away to orphanages, sell or donate the books you have at home. Everything in this visible world is a manifestation of the invisible world, of what is going on in our hearts - and getting rid of certain memories also means making some room for other memories to take their place.
Let things go. Release them. Detach yourself from them. Nobody plays this life with marked cards, so sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. Do not expect anything in return, do not expect your efforts to be appreciated, your genius to be discovered, your love to be understood. Stop turning on your emotional television to watch the same program over and over again, the one that shows how much you suffered from a certain loss: that is only poisoning you, nothing else.
Nothing is more dangerous than not accepting love relationships that are broken off, work that is promised but there is no starting date, decisions that are always put off waiting for the "ideal moment." Before a new chapter is begun, the old one has to be finished: tell yourself that what has passed will never come back. Remember that there was a time when you could live without that thing or that person - nothing is irreplaceable, a habit is not a need. This may sound so obvious, it may even be difficult, but it is very important.
Closing cycles. Not because of pride, incapacity or arrogance, but simply because that no longer fits your life. Shut the door, change the record, clean the house, shake off the dust. Stop being who you were, and change into who you are.
β
β
Paulo Coelho