Unclear Mirror Quotes

A man is born; his first years go by in obscurity amid the pleasures or hardships of childhood. He grows up; then comes the beginning of manhood; finally society's gates open to welcome him; he comes into contact with his fellows. For the first time he is scrutinized and the seeds of the vices and virtues of his maturity are thought to be observed forming in him. This is, if I am not mistaken, a singular error. Step back in time; look closely at the child in the very arms of his mother; see the external world reflected for the first time in the yet unclear mirror of his understanding; study the first examples which strike his eyes; listen to the first word which arouse with him the slumbering power of thought; watch the first struggles which he has to undergo; only then will you comprehend the source of the prejudices, the habits, and the passions which are to rule his life.

The frame of the mirror was a deep mahogany and carved with an intricate design of what appeared in the dim light to be leaves and vines. The mirror’s surface was clouded with dust and age, so much that Quinn could not even see his own reflection. On impulse, he rubbed a small circle with the back of his wrist but beneath the dust the glass was still milky and unclear. ~ "The Mirror

No matter what you've been through, you must never forget your past. But remember that is all it is... the past. The events may have left scars... but they have also made you the person you are today. So glance back by all means, focus on the positives. Understand how you have become the person you see staring back from the mirror. But like travelling any journey, glancing back for too long will mean you miss where you are now and before you know it present moments are also past and with them maybe opportunities. Look firmly to the future even when the direction you're travelling in looks unclear, face it head on, always remembering your past, just not living in it.

Even an unclear picture, a lack of contact with other people in the days or weeks before death, can itself be telling, "Most people tend to be surprised by the suicide. But as they're talking to someone like myself about it later on, it turns out they had more information than they knew they had. They saw things but never put it together." I've heard these kinds of rearview mirror insights from the loved ones of a suicide victim and they are heartbreaking.