Overcoming Obstacles Quotes

We've searched our database for all the quotes and captions related to Overcoming Obstacles. Here they are! All 100 of them:

β€œ
Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost.
”
”
Helen Keller
β€œ
People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, make them.
”
”
George Bernard Shaw (Mrs. Warren's Profession)
β€œ
I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.
”
”
Booker T. Washington (Up from Slavery: An Autobiography)
β€œ
The true hero is flawed. The true test of a champion is not whether he can triumph, but whether he can overcome obstacles - preferably of his own making - in order to triumph.
”
”
Garth Stein (The Art of Racing in the Rain)
β€œ
Always listen to experts. They'll tell you what can't be done, and why. Then do it.
”
”
Robert A. Heinlein (Time Enough for Love)
β€œ
yet love can move people to act in unexpected ways and move them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with startling heroism
”
”
Khaled Hosseini (A Thousand Splendid Suns)
β€œ
The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.
”
”
Molière
β€œ
Faith is not for overcoming obstacles; it is for experiencing themβ€”all the way through!
”
”
Richard Rohr (Radical Grace: Daily Meditations)
β€œ
I am more than my scars.
”
”
Andrew Davidson (The Gargoyle)
β€œ
Encourage yourself, believe in yourself, and love yourself. Never doubt who you are.
”
”
Stephanie Lahart (Overcoming Life's Obstacles: Enlighten-Encourage-Empower)
β€œ
Convince your enemy that he will gain very little by attacking you; this will diminish his enthusiasm
”
”
Sun Tzu
β€œ
Well, if it can be thought, it can be done, a problem can be overcome,
”
”
E.A. Bucchianeri (Brushstrokes of a Gadfly, (Gadfly Saga, #1))
β€œ
A challenge only becomes an obstacle when you bow to it.
”
”
Ray A. Davis
β€œ
Those who don't know how to suffer are the worst off. There are times when the only correct thing we can do is to bear out troubles until a better day.
”
”
Ming-Dao Deng (Everyday Tao: Living with Balance and Harmony)
β€œ
If you are faced with a mountain, you have several options. You can climb it and cross to the other side. You can go around it. You can dig under it. You can fly over it. You can blow it up. You can ignore it and pretend it’s not there. You can turn around and go back the way you came. Or you can stay on the mountain and make it your home.
”
”
Vera Nazarian (The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration)
β€œ
There are going to be times when you learn more about the world you’re entering and feel defeated when you see the gap between the ideal and the reality… But that’s something we’ll all face. The people that face those obstacles and overcome them are people whose dreams come true.
”
”
Tsugumi Ohba (Bakuman, Volume 3: Debut and Impatience (Bakuman, #3))
β€œ
Christ did not die to forgive sinners who go on treasuring anything above seeing and savoring God. And people who would be happy in heaven if Christ were not there, will not be there. The gospel is not a way to get people to heaven; it is a way to get people to God. It's a way of overcoming every obstacle to everlasting joy in God. If we don't want God above all things, we have not been converted by the gospel.
”
”
John Piper (God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God's Love as the Gift of Himself)
β€œ
Never trust someone that claims they care nothing of what society thinks of them. Instead of conquering obstacles, they simply pretend they don't exist.
”
”
Tiffany Madison
β€œ
Plant seeds of expectation in your mind; cultivate thoughts that anticipate achievement. Believe in yourself as being capable of overcoming all obstacles and weaknesses.
”
”
Norman Vincent Peale
β€œ
She followed slowly, taking a long time, As though there were some obstacles in the way; And yet: as though, once it was overcome, She would be beyond all walking, and would fly.
”
”
Rainer Maria Rilke
β€œ
I am convinced that knowledge is power - to overcome the past, to change our own situations, to fight new obstacles, to make better decisions.
”
”
Ben Carson (Think Big: Unleashing Your Potential for Excellence)
β€œ
Nothing [...] will ever be attempted, if all possible objections must be first overcome.
”
”
Samuel Johnson (The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia)
β€œ
He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.
”
”
Shannon L. Alder
β€œ
If God closes a door AND a window, consider the fact that it might be time to build a whole new house.
”
”
Mandy Hale (The Single Woman: Life, Love, and a Dash of Sass)
β€œ
Success is not measured by the position one has reached in life, rather by the obstacles one overcomes while trying to succeed
”
”
Booker T. Washington
β€œ
Make the present moment your friend rather than your enemy. Because many people live habitually as if the present moment were an obstacle that they need to overcome in order to get to the next moment. And imagine living your whole life like that, where always this moment is never quite right, not good enough because you need to get to the next one. That is continuous stress.
”
”
Dan Harris (10% Happier)
β€œ
It was so risky and so scary, and yet at the same time, so beautiful. Maybe the truth was, it shouldn't be easy to be amazing. Then everything would be. It's the things you fight for and struggle with before earning that have the greatest worth. When something's difficult to come by, you'll do that much more to make sure it's even harder -if not impossible- to lose.
”
”
Sarah Dessen (Along for the Ride)
β€œ
You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you have to overcome to reach your goals.
”
”
Booker T. Washington
β€œ
Maybe that’s what growing up was really all about. Adults always say how complicated life gets as we age, but really, I think we just look for bigger challenges to overcome. Our biggest fears stretch from sleeping without our beloved teddy bear to finding out that we have no purpose in life. Did time, maturity, and overcoming obstacles offer the kind of contentment so evident in Orvin? Or did we just simply give up and surrender to the life we were already living?
”
”
Renee Carlino (Before We Were Strangers)
β€œ
SEX is designed for people who like overcoming obstacles.
”
”
Philip Larkin
β€œ
Your strength will be found when you stop struggling with yourself, instead of thinking everyone is a struggle worth overcoming. Every obstacle in life is a lesson that teaches us, not others.
”
”
Shannon L. Alder
β€œ
Some fish love to swim upstream. Some people love to overcome challenges.
”
”
Amit Ray (Walking the Path of Compassion)
β€œ
The pressure of adversity is the most powerful sustainer of accountability. It's as though everything you do is multiplied by 50 in order to surpass those with a head-start. I was never capable of slacking when at the threshold of failure.
”
”
Criss Jami (Killosophy)
β€œ
Take a limitation and turn it into an opportunity. Take an opportunity and turn it into an adventure by dreaming BIG!
”
”
Jo Franz
β€œ
You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere, and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost. What I am looking for is not out there, it is in me.
”
”
Helen Keller
β€œ
Today's tears water tomorrow's gardens.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
β€œ
In this box are all the words I know…Most of them you will never need, some you will use constantly, but with them you may ask all the questions which have never been answered and answer all the questions which have never been asked. All the great books of the past and all the ones yet to come are made with these words. With them there is no obstacle you cannot overcome. All you must learn to do is to use them well and in the right places.
”
”
Norton Juster (The Phantom Tollbooth)
β€œ
There’s no such thing as a painless lesson, they just don’t exist. Sacrifices are necessary; you can’t gain anything without losing something first. Although, if you can endure that pain, and walk away from it you’ll find that you now have a heart strong enough to overcome any obstacle. Yea, a heart made fullmetal.
”
”
Hiromu Arakawa
β€œ
No one else knows exactly what the future holds for you, no one else knows what obstacles you've overcome to be where you are, so don't expect others to feel as passionate about your dreams as you do.
”
”
Germany Kent
β€œ
If you expect life to be easy, challenges will seem difficult. If you accept that challenges may occur, life will be easier.
”
”
Rob Liano
β€œ
The tests we face in life's journey are not to reveal our weaknesses but to help us discover our inner strengths. We can only know how strong we are when we strive and thrive beyond the challenges we face.
”
”
Kemi Sogunle
β€œ
The most important reason for your β€œno” is that you need your downtime so you won’t behave like a jerk because you’re depleted. And you don’t want to battle an appetite spiked by the stress of overcommitment. But that’s your secret; others don’t need that information. So just smile, say no, thank you, and keep moving.
”
”
Holly Mosier
β€œ
Wanting something is not enough. You must hunger for it. Your motivation must be absolutely compelling in order to overcome the obstacles that will invariably come your way.
”
”
Les Brown
β€œ
Mary’s childhood was rough. She was frequently beaten and chastised by the nuns who served as her protectors and brutalized by the older girls in the orphanage. Oh how I wept those first few years of my life. My tears came like tropical storms. Every pore in my body wept. I heaved and shuddered and sighed. Everything around me seemed dark and terrifying.
”
”
Maria Nhambu (Africa's Child (Dancing Soul Trilogy, #1))
β€œ
Don’t run from your weakness, you will only give it strength.
”
”
Stephen Richards
β€œ
BELIEVE in yourself even if nobody else does!
”
”
Stephanie Lahart (Overcoming Life's Obstacles: Enlighten-Encourage-Empower)
β€œ
Strength doesn't come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn't.
”
”
Rikki Rogers
β€œ
It is only by prudence, wisdom, and dexterity, that great ends are attained and obstacles overcome. Without these qualities nothing succeeds.
”
”
NapolΓ©on Bonaparte
β€œ
Success isn't measured by what you achieve, it's measured by the obstacles you overcome.
”
”
Ethan Hawke (Ash Wednesday)
β€œ
And you think you're on the brink of madness, you think that this moment is going to be when you finally snap, but it's not. "How do you know that?" "Because it gets easier every time. Eventually you learn to exist on the precipice of insanity.
”
”
R.F. Kuang (The Dragon Republic (The Poppy War, #2))
β€œ
To believe in a child is to believe in the future. Through their aspirations they will save the world. With their combined knowledge the turbulent seas of hate and injustice will be calmed. They will champion the causes of life's underdogs, forging a society without class discrimination. They will supply humanity with music and beauty as it has never known. They will endure. Towards these ends I pledge my life's work. I will supply the children with tools and knowledge to overcome the obstacles. I will pass on the wisdom of my years and temper it with patience. I shall impact in each child the desire to fulfill his or her dream. I shall teach.
”
”
Henry James
β€œ
The difference between a stumbling block and a stepping stone is how high you raise your foot.
”
”
Benny Lewis (Fluent in 3 Months: How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak Any Language from Anywhere in the World)
β€œ
No longer will I doubt my abilities...I will give myself a chance.
”
”
Stephanie Lahart (Overcoming Life's Obstacles: Enlighten-Encourage-Empower)
β€œ
When something poses as obstacle to you,surmount it and use it as a miracle to move on to greater height.
”
”
Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha (Overcoming the Challenges of Life)
β€œ
Always follow your dreams, even if they lead you down a few dark alleys.
”
”
Teresa Mummert
β€œ
Without being push to the wall, we will have remained in our comfortable zone. But this circumstance challenges us to find the courage to move on.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (On Eagles Wings:Rise)
β€œ
The courage to live brings its own rewards.
”
”
Rachel L. Schade (Silent Kingdom (Silent Kingdom, #1))
β€œ
When people try to bury you, remind yourself you are a seed.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
β€œ
I honor you for every time this year you: got back up vibrated higher shined your light and loved and elevated beyond β€”the call of duty.
”
”
Lalah Delia
β€œ
When all seems to be against you, remember, a ship sometimes has to sail against the current, not with it.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
β€œ
Many times we are our worst enemy. If we could learn to conquer ourselves, then we will have a much easier time overcoming the obstacles that are in front of us.
”
”
Stephan Labossiere
β€œ
The true hero is flawed. The true test of a champion is not whether he can triumph, but whether he can overcome obstacles--preferably of his own making--in order to triumph. A hero without a flaw is of no interest to an audience or to the universe, which, after all, is based on conflict and opposition, the irresistible force meeting the unmovable object.
”
”
Garth Stein (The Art of Racing in the Rain)
β€œ
Each day offers you an opportunity to overcome obstacles and fears in your life. Those victories, however small they appear, are significant and don’t need to be measured against or compared with those of someone else. They stand on their own as important measures of your own personal capabilities.
”
”
Steve Pemberton (The Lighthouse Effect: How Ordinary People Can Have an Extraordinary Impact in the World)
β€œ
Overcoming what frightens you the most strengthens you the most.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
β€œ
Life is going to beat you up, it wouldn't be fair if you didn't throw some punches back at it
”
”
Bradley Bowman
β€œ
No matter what, I would never let the people who wanted me to break see how much damage they had inflicted.
”
”
Rachel L. Schade (Silent Kingdom (Silent Kingdom, #1))
β€œ
To engage in a battle, one must know oneself, believe in oneself, and overcome one's own obstacle
”
”
Yuu Watase
β€œ
Some people will just go with the flow of things and sway in life, while others will fight against the currents and go upstream to reach their destiny.
”
”
Anthony Liccione
β€œ
and I particularly loved biographies because they were about people who had to overcome obstacles or prejudices to get ahead. They made me think I could make it when nobody else believed in me, when even I didn’t believe in myself.
”
”
Yeonmi Park (In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom)
β€œ
Success is not to be measured by the position someone has reached in life, but the obstacles he has overcome while trying to succeed.
”
”
Booker T. Washington
β€œ
Be like seeds; do not see dirt thrown at you as your enemy, but as ground to grow.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
β€œ
When you fight for what you believe in, you come across a lot of obstacles. People who don't agree with you, people who agree with you but only some bits, people who delight in ripping you down, people who are threatened by the strength of your belief. But I was beginning to realise, the biggest hurdle to overcome was the hurdle of yourself.
”
”
Holly Bourne (What's a Girl Gotta Do? (The Spinster Club, #3))
β€œ
The witch reached into the picnic basket and pulled out a light brown chamois bag about the size of a playing card. β€œMaybe this will help you. It’ll boost your self-esteem.” Now we’re getting somewhere. Riley took the bag and opened it. She looked to the bottom to find … nothing. β€œAh, it’s empty.” β€œOf course,” Ayden replied. β€œIt’s up to you to fill it. Find things that mean something to you, that represent times where you’ve overcome an obstacle, learned something important. Put those items in the bag and they’ll help you find your strength.
”
”
Jana Oliver (Forsaken (The Demon Trappers, #1))
β€œ
Are we not all books waiting for someone to pick us up and read the pages that people missed?
”
”
Shannon L. Alder
β€œ
Failure prepares us to meet life challenges as we face each obstacle and overcome them by earning the crown from the cross we bear.
”
”
Charlena E. Jackson (No Cross No Crown)
β€œ
I squeezed my eyes shut and took several deep breaths, trying not to smell Jace in front of me, not to taste him on my lips. But it was useless. In that moment, Jace was everywhere. He was in my mind, he was in my heart, and he was in my memory. He smelled good. He tasted good. And the blissful aftershock still throbbing in my most sensitive places felt wonderful, when everything else in my life was an obstacle to be overcome.
”
”
Rachel Vincent (Prey (Shifters, #4))
β€œ
Without difficulties, life would be like a stream without rocks and curves – about as interesting as concrete. Without problems, there can be no personal growth, no group achievement, no progress of humanity. But what mattes about problems is what one does with them.
”
”
Benjamin Hoff (The Te of Piglet)
β€œ
A very wise person once told me, β€œWhen it comes to overcoming obstacles, there are three kinds of people. The first kind sees most obstacles as insurmountable and walks away. The second kind sees an obstacle and says, I can overcome it, and starts to dig under, climb over, or blast through it. The third type of person, before deciding to overcome the obstacle, tries to find a viewpoint where what is on the other side of the obstacle can be seen. Then, only if the reward is worth the effort, does he attempt to overcome the obstacle.
”
”
W. Timothy Gallwey (The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance)
β€œ
The magic beauty of simultaneity, to see the loved one rushing toward you at the same moment you are rushing toward him, the magic power of meeting, exactly at midnight to achieve union, the illusion of one common rhythm achieved by overcoming obstacles, deserting friends, breaking other bonds - all this was soon dissolved by his laziness, by his habit of missing every moment, of never keeping his word, of living perversely in a state of chaos, of swimming more naturally in a sea of failed intentions, broken promises, and aborted wishes
”
”
AnaΓ―s Nin (The Four-Chambered Heart: V3 in Nin's Continuous Novel)
β€œ
Her feelings of fear and helplessness had reached such a pitch that they were suddenly transformed into their opposites. Having overcome them, she felt corageous and self-confident enough to tackle any power on earth; more precisely, she had ceased to worry about herself.
”
”
Michael Ende (Momo)
β€œ
It’s up to you to fill it. Find things that mean something to you, that represent times where you’ve overcome an obstacle, learned something important. Put those items in the bag and they’ll help you find your strength.’ β€˜I’m not sure if that’s going to help much.’ Unless I put a brick in it and nail Brandy between the eyes.
”
”
Jana Oliver (Forsaken (The Demon Trappers, #1))
β€œ
The true test of a warrior is how your 'stance' holds up after any 'circumstance'. Meaning, even after the stormiest weather, a true warrior will still reflect the brilliant rays of the magnificent sun through both his or her eyes. You may get hit by sudden lightning or take severe beatings from the cruel wind, but you will always get back up and stand strong on your feet again, soak in the sunlight, and be prepared to get hit by even the most merciless hail - time and time again.
”
”
Suzy Kassem (Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem)
β€œ
To have a different life you have be a different person. You have to do what you haven't done. You have to become the person that fits that dream. But most of all, you have to realize that if you don't step into your story it becomes the moral of the story. Your inaction is a lesson you leave to your kids-- I was too afraid to change.
”
”
Shannon L. Alder
β€œ
I don’t believe in the Law of Attraction. There were things I wanted in my life that no amount of positive thinking was going to make it a reality for me. However, I have learned to believe in the Law of Tough Love. Life has thrown a dozen tragedies at me. I did what any Christian would do--prayed for the outcome I wanted, but God was tough and only gave me what I needed. I now realize that life is not about fulfilling a wish list; rather a need list. Good and bad experiences are on the horizon. How else does a person change, grow and evolve? And just like any warrior woman, I won’t simply survive-- but thrive!
”
”
Shannon L. Alder
β€œ
On the road to success there is absolutely no room for criticism of self or others. Insecurity and fear masquerade as jealousy and judgment. Finding faults in others wastes time as we attempt to remove the bricks from other people’s foundations – time that could be better spent building our own. And worrying about what other people think about us also wastes the time that could be better spent expanding upon what we have built.
”
”
Alaric Hutchinson (Living Peace: Essential Teachings For Enriching Life)
β€œ
Whenever we doubt our own ability to achieve, it is worthwile pondering the obstacles that others have overcome. To name a few... *Napoleon overcame his considerable handicap, his tiny stature, to lead his conquering armies across Europe. *Abraham Lincon failed in business aged 31, lost a legislative race and 32, again failed in business at 34, had his sweetheart die when he was 35, had a nervous breakdown at 36, lost congressional races aged 43, 46 and 48, lost a senatorial race at 55, failed in his efforts to become vice president of the U.S.A aged 56 and lost a further senatorial contest at 58. At 60 years of age he was elected president of the U.S.A and is now remembered as one of the great leaders in world history. *Winston Churchill was a poor student with a speech impediment. Not only did he win a Nobel Prize at 24, but he became one of the most inspiring speakers of recent times. It is not where you start that counts, but where you choose to finish.
”
”
Andrew Matthews (Being Happy!)
β€œ
The Lord gives us a spirit of hope and a feeling of comfort and confidence that we can overcome the obstacles we face. He has shown the way to gain strength during our struggles. With His assistance, we have the ability to succeed. Listen to His words of counsel and comfort: 'Fear not, little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world and none of them that my Father hath given me shall be lost.
”
”
L. Lionel Kendrick
β€œ
There are no obstacles which our Savior’s love cannot overcome. The High Places of victory and union with Christ can be reached by learning to accept, day by day, the actual conditions and tests permitted by God, by laying down of our own will and accepting His. The lessons of accepting and triumphing over evil, of becoming acquainted with grief, and pain, and of finding them transformed into something incomparably precious; these are the lessons of the allegory in this book.
”
”
Hannah Hurnard (Hinds Feet on High Places)
β€œ
The most savory grape, the one that produces the wines with best texture and aroma, the sweetest and most generous, doesn't grow in rich soil but in stony land; the plant, with a mother's obstinacy, overcomes obstacles to thrust its roots deep into the ground and take advantage of every drop of water. That, my grandmother explained to me, is how flavors are concentrated in the grape.
”
”
Isabel Allende (Portrait in Sepia)
β€œ
A person can make himself happy, or miserable, regardless of what is actually happening β€œoutside,” just by changing the contents of consciousness. We all know individuals who can transform hopeless situations into challenges to be overcome, just through the force of their personalities. This ability to persevere despite obstacles and setbacks is the quality people most admire in others, and justly so; it is probably the most important trait not only for succeeding in life, but for enjoying it as well.
”
”
MihΓ‘ly CsΓ­kszentmihΓ‘lyi (Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience)
β€œ
Before your reach your destination, you'll find yourself going through the wilderness. There's some survival skills that you'll need master through the wilderness journey. While in the wilderness, your faith will be tried and tested. You'll become humble. Your vision for your life will get clearer. You're in training for your purpose. You'll lose some friends, because there's some folks who are only with you because of where they think your journey will lead THEM. Don't worry, they're a little confused... but it was meant for them to get lost during this phase. Walk on. Continue on your journey. Soon, you'll be approaching the mountain. Get ready to climb!
”
”
Yvonne Pierre (The Day My Soul Cried: A Memoir)
β€œ
The misery that oppresses you lies not in your profession but in yourself! What man in the world would not find his situation intolerable if he chooses a craft, an art, indeed any form of life, without experiencing an inner calling? Whoever is born with a talent, or to a talent, must surely find in that the most pleasing of occupations! Everything on this earth has its difficult sides! Only some inner driveβ€”pleasure, loveβ€”can help us overcome obstacles, prepare a path, and lift us out of the narrow circle in which others tread out their anguished, miserable existences!
”
”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
β€œ
One who is content with what he has, and who accepts the fact that he inevitably misses very much in life, is far better off than one who has much more but who worries about all he may be missing . . . the relative perfection which we must attain to in this life if we are to live as sons of God is not the twenty-four-hour-a-day production of perfect acts of virtue, but a life from which practically all the obstacles to God's love have been removed or overcome. One of the chief obstacles to this perfection of selfless charity is the selfish anxiety to get the most out of everything, to be a brilliant success in our own eyes and in the eyes of other men. We can only get rid of this anxiety by being content to miss something in almost everything we do. We cannot master everything, taste everything, understand everything, drain every experience to its last dregs. But if we have the courage to let almost everything else go, we will probably be able to retain the one thing necessary for usβ€” whatever it may be. If we are too eager to have everything, we will almost certainly miss even the one thing we need. Happiness consists in finding out precisely what the "one thing necessary" may be, in our lives, and in gladly relinquishing all the rest. For then, by a divine paradox, we find that everything else is given us together with the one thing we needed.
”
”
Thomas Merton (No Man Is an Island)
β€œ
What is it that constitutes virtue, Mrs. Graham? Is it the circumstance of being able and willing to resist temptation; or that of having no temptations to resist? - Is he a strong man that overcomes great obstacles and performs surprising achievements, though by dint of great muscular exertion, and at the risk of some subsequent fatigue, or he that sits in his chair all day, with nothing to do more laborious than stirring the fire, and carrying his food to his mouth? If you would have your son to walk honourably through the world, you must not attempt to clear the stones from his path, but teach him to walk firmly over them - not insist upon leading him by the hand, but let him learn to go alone.' 'I will lead him by the hand, Mr. Markham, till he has strength to go alone; and I will clear as many stones from his path as I can, and teach him to avoid the rest - or walk firmly over them, as you say; - for when I have done my utmost, in the way of clearance, there will still be plenty left to exercise all the agility, steadiness, and circumspection he will ever have. - It is all very well to talk about noble resistance, and trials of virtue; but for fifty - or five hundred men that have yielded to temptation, show me one that has had virtue to resist. And why should I take it for granted that my son will be one in a thousand? - and not rather prepare for the worst, and suppose he will be like his - like the rest of mankind, unless I take care to prevent it?
”
”
Anne BrontΓ« (The Tenant of Wildfell Hall)
β€œ
The ones whose light will remain with me long after they have burnt out are the ones that had grace. Because it's rare that the gift comes with grace. Some of the biggest arseholes I've ever met are the most gifted. Because it's "pretty girl" syndrome. Being gifted is like being born beautiful. You don't have to work a day in a year in your life for it. You were born with it. In one sense, it's like blue blood, money, gift, or beauty. They are the things that should make you the most humble, because they are not the things you have earned. They are the things you were given. Yet, it is my experience that they male people the most spoiled. And the people who work the hardest, and who have overcome the most obstacles on their life, who have reason to beat their breasts are the most humble, sometimes. I can't get over that. it's bewildering to me. To make it through success and still have manners, to still have curiosity, intellectual curiosity, to still have some grace, to keep your dignity, that is really... rare.
”
”
Bono (Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas)
β€œ
Moreover, probably owing to excessive self-consciousness, perhaps as the result of the generally unfortunate cast of my personality, there existed between my thoughts and feelings, and the expression of those feelings and thoughts, a sort of inexplicable, irrational, and utterly insuperable barrier; and whenever I made up my mind to overcome this obstacle by force, to break down this barrier, my gestures, the expression of my face, my whole being, took on an appearance of painful constraint. I not only seemed, I positively became unnatural and affected. I was conscious of this myself, and hastened to shrink back into myself. Then a terrible commotion was set up within me. I analysed myself to the last thread, compared myself with others, recalled the slightest glances, smiles, words of the people to whom I had tried to open myself out, put the worst construction on everything, laughed vindictively at my own pretensions to 'be like every one else,'β€”and suddenly, in the midst of my laughter, collapsed utterly into gloom, sank into absurd dejection, and then began again as beforeβ€”went round and round, in fact, like a squirrel on its wheel. Whole days were spent in this harassing, fruitless exercise.
”
”
Ivan Turgenev (Diary of a Superfluous Man)
β€œ
Just try to keep your mind in the present. Whatever arises in the mind, just watch it and let go of it. Don't even wish to be rid of thoughts. Then the mind will return to its natural state. No discriminating between good and bad, hot and cold, fast and slow. No me and no you, no self at allβ€”just what there is. When you walk there is no need to do anything special. Simply walk and see what is there. No need to cling to isolation or seclusion. Wherever you are, know yourself by being natural and watching. If doubts arise, watch them come and go. It's very simple. Hold on to nothing. It's as though you are walking down a road. Periodically you will run into obstacles. When you meet defilements, just see them and overcome them by letting them go. Don't think about the obstacles you've already passed; don't worry about those you have not yet seen. Stick to the present. Don't be concerned about the length of the road or the destination. Everything is changing. Whatever you pass, don't cling to it. Eventually the mind will reach its natural balance where practice is automatic. All things will come and go of themselves.
”
”
Ajahn Chah (A Still Forest Pool: The Insight Meditation of Achaan Chah (Quest Book Book 0))
β€œ
I am the interpretation of the prophet I am the artist in the coffin I am the brave flag stained with blood I am the wounds overcome I am the dream refusing to sleep I am the bare-breasted voice of liberty I am the comic the insult and the laugh I am the right the middle and the left I am the poached eggs in the sky I am the Parisian streets at night I am the dance that swings till dawn I am the grass on the greener lawn I am the respectful neighbour and the graceful man I am the encouraging smile and the helping hand I am the straight back and the lifted chin I am the tender heart and the will to win I am the rainbow in rain I am the human who won’t die in vain I am Athena of Greek mythology I am the religion that praises equality I am the woman of stealth and affection I am the man of value and compassion I am the wild horse ploughing through I am the shoulder to lean onto I am the Muslim the Jew and the Christian I am the Dane the French and the Palestinian I am the straight the square and the round I am the white the black and the brown I am the free speech and the free press I am the freedom to express I will die for my right to be all the above here mentioned And should threat encounter I’ll pull my pencil
”
”
Mie Hansson (Where Pain Thrives)
β€œ
It is lonely behind these boundaries. Some people-particularly those whom psychiatrists call schizoid-because of unpleasant, traumatizing experiences in childhood, perceive the world outside of themselves as unredeemably dangerous, hostile, confusing and unnurturing. Such people feel their boundaries to be protecting and comforting and find a sense of safety in their loneliness. But most of us feel our loneliness to be painful and yearn to escape from behind the walls of our individual identities to a condition in which we can be more unified with the world outside of ourselves. The experience of falling in love allows us this escapetemporarily. The essence of the phenomenon of falling in love is a sudden collapse of a section of an individual's ego boundaries, permitting one to merge his or her identity with that of another person. The sudden release of oneself from oneself, the explosive pouring out of oneself into the beloved, and the dramatic surcease of loneliness accompanying this collapse of ego boundaries is experienced by most of us as ecstatic. We and our beloved are one! Loneliness is no more! In some respects (but certainly not in all) the act of falling in love is an act of regression. The experience of merging with the loved one has in it echoes from the time when we were merged with our mothers in infancy. Along with the merging we also reexperience the sense of omnipotence which we had to give up in our journey out of childhood. All things seem possible! United with our beloved we feel we can conquer all obstacles. We believe that the strength of our love will cause the forces of opposition to bow down in submission and melt away into the darkness. All problems will be overcome. The future will be all light. The unreality of these feelings when we have fallen in love is essentially the same as the unreality of the two-year-old who feels itself to be king of the family and the world with power unlimited. Just as reality intrudes upon the two-year-old's fantasy of omnipotence so does reality intrude upon the fantastic unity of the couple who have fallen in love. Sooner or later, in response to the problems of daily living, individual will reasserts itself. He wants to have sex; she doesn't. She wants to go to the movies; he doesn't. He wants to put money in the bank; she wants a dishwasher. She wants to talk about her job; he wants to talk about his. She doesn't like his friends; he doesn't like hers. So both of them, in the privacy of their hearts, begin to come to the sickening realization that they are not one with the beloved, that the beloved has and will continue to have his or her own desires, tastes, prejudices and timing different from the other's. One by one, gradually or suddenly, the ego boundaries snap back into place; gradually or suddenly, they fall out of love. Once again they are two separate individuals. At this point they begin either to dissolve the ties of their relationship or to initiate the work of real loving.
”
”
M. Scott Peck (The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth)
β€œ
Of course," agreed Basil, "if you read it carelessly, and act on it rashly, with the blind faith of a fanatic; it might very well lead to trouble. But nature is full of devices for eliminating anything that cannot master its environment. The words 'to worship me' are all-important. The only excuse for using a drug of any sort, whether it's quinine or Epsom-salt, is to assist nature to overcome some obstacle to her proper functions. The danger of the so-called habit-forming drugs is that they fool you into trying to dodge the toil essential to spiritual and intellectual development. But they are not simply man-traps. There is nothing in nature which cannot be used for our benefit, and it is up to us to use it wisely. Now, in the work you have been doing in the last week, heroin might have helped you to concentrate your mind, and cocaine to overcome the effects of fatigue. And the reason you did not use them was that a burnt child dreads fire. We had the same trouble with teaching Hermes and Dionysus to swim. They found themselves in danger of being drowned and thought the best way was to avoid going near the water. But that didn't help them to use their natural faculties to the best advantage, so I made them confront the sea again and again, until they decided that the best way to avoid drowning was to learn how to deal with oceans in every detail. It sounds pretty obvious when you put it like that, yet while every one agrees with me about the swimming, I am howled down on all sides when I apply the same principles to the use of drugs.
”
”
Aleister Crowley (Diary of a Drug Fiend)