Victoria Moran Quotes

You give up on what you need to be doing because you forget that you're worth it. This is why most people aren't leading exemplary lives ... You have to believe in yourself so much that you're willing to do what's uncomfortable, time-consuming, inconvenient, and on occasion seemingly impossible. When you don't believe in yourself this much, pretend.

Because I was more often happy for other people, I got to spend more time being happy. And as I saw more light in everybody else, I seemed to have more myself. (250)

My most firmly held value is what Albert Schweitzer termed 'reverence for life.' I take this seriously; many would say that because I extend it to nonhumans, I take it too far.

We all live with blinders on. They come with having a personal vantage point.

In fact, just heading toward veganism lifts a not insignificant burden from the earth. According to food pundit Michael Pollan, who's not a vegetarian, if everybody did even "Meatless Monday," it would be the environmental equivalent of taking 20 million midsize cars off the road.

I'm not perfect, but what's wonderful about eating a plant-based diet is, I don't have to be.

Our society on a whole is trained to see young women. There are proportionally far more of them on magazine covers, on TV, and in films than int the actual population. As a result, we have a citizenry taught to see the young and ignore the not-so-young. It isn't conscious; it's Pavlovian. (13)

In this moment, there is plenty of time. In this moment, you are precisely as you should be. In this moment, there is infinite possibility. (17)

A simple life is not seeing how little we can get by with - that's poverty - but how efficiently we can put first things first ... When you're clear about your purpose and your priorities, you can painlessly discard whatever does not support these, whether it's clutter in your cabinets or commitments on your calendar. (148)

As a society, we need to get lots more flexible about what constitutes beauty. It isn't a particular hair color or a particular body type; it's the woman who grew the hair and lives in the body. Keeping this in mind can only make things better. (341)

Follow the tugs in your heart. I think that everyone gets these gentle urges and should listen to them. Even if they sound absolutely insane, they may be worth going for.

Evolution happens in nature and in individuals. I want to participate actively in its happening within me.

[G]rowing into your future with health and grace and beauty doesn't have to take all your time. It rather requires a dedication to caring for yourself as if you were rare and precious, which you are, and regarding all life around you as equally so, which it is. (267-268)

Self-doubt is the greatest enemy of any new good habit.

You're supposed to be using your gifts and fulfilling your dreams, at every age.

I realize that I'm a mature woman and one of these days, incredible diet or not, I'll be a little old lady.

Yoga will always be transformational, even when it stops being cool. (350)

Growing into your future ... requires a dedication to caring for yourself as if you were rare and precious, which you are, and regarding all life around you as equally so, which it is.

There are some things that money can't buy: peace of mind, for starters, and lean muscle mass. Neither the Queen of England nor the founder of Microsoft can put in an order for either one.

A twenty-three-year-long study in Ohio determined that people who saw growing older as something positive lived a whopping seven and a half years longer than those who didn't. (356)

Let other people do it their way. What other people do is irrelevant.

•Judge less–or at least later.
•Give new ideas and images a chance.
•Understand that everyone has his own truth or her own.
•Remember: you are not married to any belief, opinion, or ideology.
•Expect to discover something delicious every day. (260)

I have to strive to go two steps forward and realize that, sometimes, there will be one step back.

At forty-three, I bought my first house. I'd wanted one like crazy. A house meant family, a happy childhood for my litttle girl and for the little girl self inside me ... I was soon overwhelmed by the upkeep and overcome by the yardwork ... In the bright light of closing, it was obvious: it was never a house I wanted; it was what a house symbolized to me. (254)

'Make your plate look like a Christmas tree,' I tell people, 'mostly green with splashes of other bright colors.'

You want to live a life in which the things you have traded your hard-earned money for are quality items that really do uplift your life.

By itself, tofu is like wet foam rubber, but you'd no more eat it by itself and expect fine dining than you would stare at a blank canvas and expect to see fine art.

I'm a big believer in living life as an extended working vacation.

If you only knew who you really are, you'd be starstruck

In the past, I used to argue with those who didn't share my views. I felt this incredible need to 'make my point.' Now I live my life and do my best to be an example of what seems right to me.

I suppose I am one: an activist - for animals and a vegan lifestyle. I hear that word, however, and look around to see if someone is indeed referring to me.

I am an urban vegan. I love the glossy pages of 'Vogue,' even though I won't purchase the leather shoes and bags I see there, and being reminded that the fur trade even exists breaks my heart.

In terms of days and moments lived, you'll never again be as young as you are right now, so spend this day, the youth of your future, in a way that deflects regret. Invest in yourself. Have some fun. Do something important. Love somebody extra. In one sense, you're just a kid, but a kid with enough years on her to know that every day is priceless. (418)

I could be a vegan in sackcloth and flip-flops, but I find fabulous boots with periwinkle cuffs a far preferable option.

Compassion in action may be the glorious possibility that could protect our crowded, polluted planet ...

What isn't scary can do you in.
Snacking doesn't intimidate anybody. Neither does watching TV. Or sitting in a movie with a large drink and so much popcorn that it comes in a tub.
Driving to work and parking in the garage doesn't upset any applecarts, but riding your bike and asking for a place to lock it up just might.
Suggesting to your boyfriend that you'd like to go to the soup-and-salad place instead of the he-man chuck-wagon could be awkward ... [but] you are committed to living fully. You are going to take care of you, no matter who suggests that you're selfish or full of yourself.
Living well will give you the emotional energy you need to fulfill your destiny.

I realized I could only play-act at the spiritual life as long as my appetites were stronger than my empathy.

Taking B12 is the price of getting to be vegan, the way wearing a helmet is the price of getting to ride a motorcycle and giving up alcohol for nine months is the price of getting to have a baby.

Gandhi was a David with no material weapon.. not even a slingshot.

You know how we're thinking about food these days, less in terms of carbs and calories than in terms of color, vivacity, and life force? We can do the same with time. Then it's no longer about having enough of it but about infusing color and vivacity and life force into every moment. (279)

Your body has something in the neighborhood of 40 trillion cells - quite a consulting committee. Call on it when you're confused or undecided. Relax quietly and ask your body what it has to say.

Just because you're grown up and then some doesn't mean settling into the doldrums of predictability. Surprise people. Surprise yourself. (281)

I need a spiritual connection - I can make changes, but I can't make miracles - and I need people around me who'll support me and believe in me and tell me the truth and not let me deceive myself into avoiding the what's scary and hard and necessary.

If you give a small child a bunny and an apple, and she eats the bunny and plays with the apple, I'll buy you a car.

Moderation is actually the flip side of dieting, that is, imposed deprivation.

Middle school is for being like everyone else; middle age is for being like yourself. (430)

Happiness comes from accepting the present situation, whether it's something you wish to savor as long as possible or change as quickly as you can. Neither is possible without acceptance as the starting point, because without acceptance, you are living on the periphery of your life. There at the edges, you can't fully enjoy the god stuff or do anything about the rest

Vegetarian is like raising a kid Mennonite. It's difficult but not that different. Raising your kid vegan is like being Amish. A totally different world.

As I see it, a green salad is an open invitation to carrots, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, and the sprouts that grow in jars on my kitchen counter.

You'll get younger not from what you read but from what you apply in your life. (192)

What is so priceless about being the selves we were created to grow into is that it's impossible to do it wrong.

To the people who love you, you are beautiful already. This is not because they're blind to your shortcomings but because they so clearly see your soul. Your shortcomings then dim by comparison. The people who care about you are willing to let you be imperfect and beautiful, too. (20)

The idea that everything is purposeful really changes the way you live. To think that everything that you do has a ripple effect, that every word that you speak, every action that you make affects other people and the planet.

Life has its rhythm ad we have ours. They're designed to coexist in harmony, so that when we do what is ours to do and otherwise let life be, we garner acceptance and serenity. (285)

It simply feels right to me to blend the glittery delights of New York City with a largely raw vegan diet - with the soul-deep conviction that animals are not ours to eat, wear, exploit or experiment on.

Life would be very dreary if there were no magic. If the real world were only that veil of tears, I just don't think could get up in the morning.

The idea that somebody is going to come in and make your debt go away and all be well for the future is really a fantasy.

What I have to work with is the life that's ahead of me right this minute.

Recreational shopping is the shortest distance between two points: you and broke.

Did your mom ever tell you, 'If you can't say something nice, don't say anything'? She was right–and talking nicely also applies when you're talking to yourself, even inside your head. (339)

Sometimes customizing is necessary because of an injury or the inability to do, for a short or long period, the kind of exercise you formerly did. When you're used to customizing for fun, doing it under duress won't seem like such an imposition. Either way, experiment until you find activities that make you happy as well as healthy. Choose your exercise using the same criteria you'd apply to choosing a date
that is, attractive to you and able to hold your interest for an hour.

Being vegan is a glorious adventure. It touches every aspect of my life - my relationships, how I relate to the world.

I don't eat animals. I rescue strays and take injured pigeons to the wildlife rehab. I carry spiders and wasps outside in a cup covered with a 3x5 card. It would only follow that I'd take pause when contemplating the abrupt and apparently brutal ending of a tiny human being's life, or even a potential human being's life.

[T[his isn't just "another day, another dollar." It's more like "another day, another miracle." (213)