Life Perspective Quotes

Everything that happens, happens at the only possible time it can happen, and it is always at exactly the right time. We cannot get to an appointment before we arrive - or after. It is only at the instant of our arrival that we can arrive, and that is always at exactly the right moment, the perfect moment, the only possible moment. ~ Wu Wei

He [Wordsworth] invited his readers to abandon their usual perspective and to consider for a time how the world might look through other eyes, to shuttle between the human and the natural perspective. Why might this be interesting, or even inspiring? Perhaps because unhappiness can stem from only having one perspective to play with. ~ Alain De Botton

There is wonder in everything, the only thing you need to change to see it is your perspective. ~ Taylor Schake

No mountain is of any appreciable height to break the curve of the sphere. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

The fear of appearances is the first symptom of impotence. ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky

A big thing will remain a big thing until a bigger thing will occur. ~ TPK

The importance of humor is primarily to puncture fixed ideas - to make us step back and realize that our situation, whatever it may be, is, in the grand scheme of things, always contingent and arbitrary and ephemeral. And that helps us to deal with our emotions and to keep going. Holding on to one perspective, on the other hand, whether it takes the form of grief or anger or a particular political standpoint, is often destructive to us and to those around us ~ Paul Murray

And then she began to cry, and when I asked her why she was doing that, she said it was because I was to have a happy ending, and it was just like a book; and I wondered what books she'd been reading. ~ Margaret Atwood

If someone doesn't cheer for your well-being, then why should their perspective matter? Such things are irrelevant and won't stay around you for much time. ~ Shivanshu K. Srivastava

It's not a bad lesson to learn in the bleaker months: how you view a storm is a question of perspective; provided you find the right rock to watch it from, it could be the most incredible thing you'll ever witness. ~ Dan Stevens

Perspective makes all the difference. It's not what you look at; it's what you see ... Remember that the sun never actually sets; it's our perspective that makes it appear to. Our sunset is another's sunrise. It's all perspective. How would your life be different if you applied this truth to the things that cause you stress? Letting go isn't about erasing the past; it's about looking at the same event and seeing something different. Activate this power in your life! Take the pain and poison of the past and allow it to nourish a new found wisdom. Remember, you can't change the past, but you can change the labels you place on events. Perspective - it's not what you look at; it's what you see. ~ Steve Maraboli

Your greatest responsibility is to live a life that nourishes your highest truth. ~ Mollie Marti

...I always took the rearmost seat in the classroom - it gave me a good view of things. And I must confess, the location taught me more about human nature and justice than could be learned from the professors' lectures. ~ Rohinton Mistry

With time comes perspective. ~ Joshua Wisenbaker

Faith gives you an inner strength and a sense of balance and perspective in life. ~ Gregory Peck

Things that are falling apart encourage me: whatever else, I'm in better shape than they are. ~ Margaret Atwood

When it rains it pours. Maybe the art of life is to convert tough times to great experiences: we can choose to hate the rain or dance in it. ~ Joan Marques

Your perspective guides your thoughts, your choices, your trajectory. ~ James Thornton

I hike up hills and call them mountains. However, God descends to mountains and calls them stepping stones to heaven. And while the immensity of it all scares me a bit, I think I prefer God's point of view. ~ Craig D. Lounsbrough

Your life is a print-out of your thoughts. ~ Steve Maraboli

When actors encounter a mishap during a stage performance,
they transform it for good purpose by employing a technique called,
"use the difficulty." How can you "use the difficulty" in your life? ~ Gina Greenlee

But what I knew in my head stayed up there, swirling about the other ten zillion things I had retained. That knowledge informed my actions, what I did and how I did it.
What Emma knew filtered from her head down into her heart and informed who she was - what I have since come to call the Infinite Migration. If my wonderings about life were scientific, bent toward examination and physical discovery, Emma's all leaned toward matters of the heart. While I could understand and explain the physics behind a rainbow, Emma saw the colors. When it came to life, I saw each piece and how they all fit together, and Emma saw the image on the face of the puzzle. And every now and then, she'd walk me through the door into her world and show it to me. ~ Charles Martin

Every choice in life sets us on a different path and carries its own set of "what ifs" and consequences that we could worry about, but what's the use? Rather than plaguing our thoughts with the unknown, we should focus on and accept only what we do know – and all we know is the path we're currently on. ~ A.J. Darkholme

[Writing about themselves] gives them wings, so that they can rise above the confounding maze of their lives and, from that perspective, begin to see the patterns and dead ends of their pasts, and a way out. That's the funny thing about mazes; what's baffling on the ground begins to make sense when you can begin to rise above it, the better to understand your history and fix yourself. ~ Wally Lamb

Our relation, all round, exists
it's a reality, and a very good one; we're mixed up, so to speak, and it's too late to change it. We must live IN it and with it ~ Henry James

When we look at things differently, things look different. ~ Toni Sorenson

You had a choice: you could either strain and look at things that appeared in front of you in the fog, painful as it might be, or you could relax and lose yourself ~ Ken Kesey

We mourn the future because it's easier than admitting that we're miserable in the present. ~ Robyn Schneider

Perspective is so interesting. The smallest thing becomes pleasurable when troubles are monumental. ~ Sandra Vischer

The mistake of every young person is to think they're the only ones who see darkness and hardship in the world."
...
"The mistake of every adult, though, is to think darkness and hardship aren't important to young people because we'll grow out of it. Who cares if we will? Life is happening to us now, just like it's happening to you. ~ Patrick Ness

Bloom where you are planted,' the poster reads. But the poster does not tell the whole story. ' plant yourself where you know you can bloom' may well be the poster we all need to see. Or better yet, "Work the arid soil however long it takes until something that fulfills the rest of you finally makes the desert in you bloom. ~ Joan D. Chittister

In lieu of fixating upon details of our life which can lead to sadness or madness, we achieve an enhanced perspective regarding the perplexity haunting our being by thinking abstractedly, a process that allows us to discern the essential principles of life. ~ Kilroy J. Oldster

Perspective is an incredibly powerful tool. It tempers how we receive information, and guides what we choose do with it. ~ T.A. Sorensen

If not for tragedy, tyrants, and injustice, there would be nothing to awaken and inspire dormant heroes. There is always a balance. Always. ~ Steve Maraboli

Fear is and has always been dead. It's how we picture it that makes fear come to life. ~ George Cooke

The way you SEE your life SHAPES your life.
How you define life determines your destiny. Your perspective will influence how you invest your time, spend your money, use your talents, and value your relationships. ~ Rick Warren

Confront only the good. ~ Meir Ezra

The pursuit of happiness seems worthwhile only because of the chase. You love it only if you don't realize you're never going to catch up. ~ Bryan Way

Usually, that which could have been better could have been worse. ~ Mokokoma Mokhonoana

The death of a lesser man is the death of all those who believe themselves to be greater. ~ Shaun Hick

There are moments in life, and they happen so infrequently that they tend to really stand out, when life hands you the gift of perspective. Sometimes, we forget to show our appreciation. Sometimes, we get our priorities mixed up. And, sometimes, we forget how far we've come. But life always has a way of nudging you to remind you about these important things. ~ Cassia Leo

Scatter the names of all those who have ever lived over the surface of the knowable cosmos, and it would remain, for all purposes, as unnamed as it was before the small, anomalous flicker of human life appeared on this small, wildly atypical planet. ~ Marilynne Robinson

When will you open your eyes to the possibility of the world? ~ Tony Curl

The huge problems we deal with every day are actually really small. We're so focused on what bothers us
that we don't even try to see our lives from a clearer perspective. ~ Susane Colasanti

No one really knew the sciences except the Lord Robert, Bishop of Lincoln, by reason of his length of life and experience, as well as of his studiousness and zeal. He knew mathematics and perspective, and there was nothing which he was unable to know; and at the same time he was sufficiently acquainted with languages to be able to understand the saints and the philosophers and the wise men of antiquity but his knowledge of languages was not such as to enable him to effect translations until the latter portion of his life ... ~ Roger Bacon

Life's the picture. But all good photographers know you gotta have the right lens. ~ Lamar Giles

Words can be arrows that inflict wounds. They can also be bandages that heal. ~ Toni Sorenson

Always persevere, always have a great perspective, and always have great purpose in your life ~ Russell Wilson

You understand, we just don't fuck with truth. ~ Charles Bukowski

Am I corrupted if I believe that the people who think alike are more admirable and estimable than those who think for themselves? If no one thought differently, then where would our innovations come from? How would we ever advance beyond the status quo? Corruption isn't just moral or ethical in nature
rust is a form of corruption, one that eats away at its host like a parasite, constantly making it less than it was the day before. The belief that they should hold in greater esteem those who think alike is a form of rust, something that doesn't allow our young people to grow beyond the limitations already established by those who do think alike. ~ Tom Walsh

Horrible events in life serve as catalysts for major changes in our life perspective and as teaching tools for helping others. ~ Dannion Brinkley

We live our entire lives thinking we know those closest to us. But do we ever really? ~ Hilary Grossman

Nobody's innocent... but that doesn't reset the bar on guilt. ~ Bryan Way

I refuse to believe that the course of a single day represents the course of my entire life. ~ Craig D. Lounsbrough

Learning to endure, transform by perspective or action, and be grateful is the fast lane to a good life. That's right. Having great luck and fortune is not the conduit to a loving and enjoyable life; gratitude is. ~ Laura C. Schlessinger

You just had to get some idea of what matters and what doesn't, and how much, and try not to be scared of the stuff that doesn't. Put it in perspective. ~ Lev Grossman

People live their lives bound by what they accept as correct and true. That's how they define Reality. But what does it mean to be "correct" or "true"? Merely vague concepts ... Their Reality may all be a mirage. Can we consider them to simply be living in their own world, shaped by their beliefs? ~ Masashi Kishimoto

I had a stroke in 1985 ... I called it a "stroke of luck." I said, "Life is like a train trip. You're looking out the window and everything is whipping past and you're not really seeing anything, and you need to get off the train and walk around a bit." ~ Hugh Hefner

Imagine a forty-five-year-old male fifty feet long, a slim, shiny black animal cutting the surface of green ocean water at twenty knots. At fifty tons it is the largest carnivore on earth. Imagine a four-hundred-pound heart the size of a chest of drawers driving five gallons of blood at a stroke through its aorta; a meal of forty salmon moving slowly down twelve-hundred feet of intestine ... the sperm whale's brain is larger than the brain of any other creature that ever lived ... With skin as sensitive as the inside of your wrist. ~ Barry Lopez

There's a wealth that has nothing to do with dollars, that comes from the perspective and wisdom of paying attention to your life. ~ Oprah Winfrey

Reading is a sage way to bump up against life. Reading may be an escape, but it is not an escape from my own life and problems. It is an escape from the narrow boundaries of being only me. Reading in some wonderful ways helps me find out who I am. When she was a young girl Patricia MacLachlan's mother encouraged her to "read a book and find out who you are." And it is true that in some ways reading defines me as it refines me. Reading enlarges my vision of the world; it helps me understand someone who is different from me. It makes me bigger on the inside. We tend to see the world from our own perspective; it is good to see it from the eyes of others. Good literature helps me understand who I am in relation to what others experience. Far from being an escape from reality, good literature is a window into reality. I read to feel life. ~ Gladys M. Hunt

When you study God's Word and incorporate His wisdom and principles into your daily life, your whole perspective will change. ~ Elizabeth George

The forest stretched on seemingly forever with the most monotonous predictability, each tree just like the next - trunk, branches, leaves; trunk, branches, leaves. Of course a tree would have taken a different view of the matter. We all tend to see the way others are alike and how we differ, and it's probably just as well we do, since that prevents a great deal of confusion. But perhaps we should remind ourselves from time to time that ours is a very partial view, and that the world is full of a great deal more variety than we ever manage to take in. ~ Thomas M. Disch

Life's a short trip. You'll find out. ~ Rodney Dangerfield

When earth life is over and things appear in their true perspective, we shall more clearly see and realize what the Lord and his prophets have repeatedly told us, that the fruits of the gospel are the only objectives worthy of life's full efforts. Their possessor obtains true wealth - wealth in the Lord's view of values. We need constantly to deepen our understandings and sharpen our realization of what the fruits of the gospel are. The Lord has defined them as ... peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come. ~ Marion G. Romney

People meet in the course of life, they talk together, they discuss, they quarrel, without realizing that they're talking to one another across a distance, each from an observation post standing in a different place in time. ~ Milan Kundera

To accept the lively, the messy, and the unexpected things in our days, knowing that God sees them and has an eternal perspective, is to say with confidence I receive your timing. ~ Emily P. Freeman

Sometimes you just have to stop and take in your surroundings. Really look at where you are in life, otherwise it's just going to pass you by. Regret is a heavy word to live with." - Riley ~ Justine Winter

Preach [and live] as if Jesus was crucified yesterday, rose from the dead today, and is returning tomorrow. ~ Martin Luther

The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself. ~ Carl Sagan

A strong wind is blowing and there are little crests of foam on the waves. Look carefully at the millions of shimmering white bubbles rising and then vanishing with each wave. Over and over again, new bubbles come to the surface and then vanish in time with the waves. For a brief moment they are lifted on the wave's crest and then they sink down and are seen no more. We are like that. Each one of us no more than a tiny glimmering thing, a sparkling droplet on the waves of time which flow past beneath us into an unknown, misty future. We leap up, look around us and, before we know it, we vanish again. We can hardly be seen in the great river of time. New drops keep rising to the surface. And what we call our fate is no more than our struggle in that multitude of droplets in the rise and fall of one wave. But we must make use of that moment. It is worth the effort. ~ Gombrich Ernst H

There is only one thing in life which never changes, and it is change. ~ Confucius

I am convinced that an immense number of people who have children should not have them, and do not particularly want them, except as "symbols" of family life. What they want are ideal children, not real ones; and as soon as the real ones show no intention of conforming to the ideal in the parent's mind, they are treated as burdens, shipped away to school or otherwise neglected. ~ Sydney J. Harris

I remember he asked his father, "Can this be true? This is the twentieth century, not the Middle Ages. Who would allow such crimes to be commited? How could the world remain silent?" And now the boy is turning to me. "Tell me," he asks, "what have you done with my future, what have you done with your life?" And I tell him that I have tried. That I have tried to keep memory alive, that I have tried to fight those who would forget. Because if we forget we are guilty, we are accomplices. And then I explain to him how naive we were, that the world did know and remained silent. And that is why I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. ~ Elie Wiesel

The American public has been delicately insulated from the actuality of our ongoing wars. While a tiny fraction of men and women fighting our wars are deploying again and again, civilian life remains pretty much isolated in cost-free complacency. ~ Rachel Maddow

The environment most realistically capable of giving rise to life, whether here or anywhere else in the universe, is alkaline hydrothermal vents. Such vents constrain cells to make use of natural proton gradients, and ultimately to generate their own. ~ Nick Lane

We believe that this human life is a great gift, that every part of it is designed by God and therefore means something, that every part of it is blessed by God and therefore to be enjoyed, that every part is accompanied by God and therefore workable. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

And Margot should have made a rule about no cell phones. What was it about life now? The people who weren't present always seemed to be more important than the people who were. ~ Elin Hilderbrand

Observations often tell you more about the observer than the observed. ~ Chris Geiger

Isn't an ordinary life a grand one all its own, filled with great drama and tragedy, hopes, love, losses, and dreams? ~ Viola Shipman

I know that as a writer I'm trying to, in some small way, return the gift that I got, and maybe provide a reader the kind of experience that has changed my life. ~ Gregory Allen Howard

Life is a constant journey. We move from one place to another. The journey is what makes a fish different than a rock, movement different from stillness, light from darkness, life from death. ~ Miquel Reina

I love nature dearly and all creatures that contribute to make it what it is. I see the beauty in all expressions of life, and I see how blind so many of us still are. Our planet is remarkably abundant and there's more than enough for us all.It is greed and shortsightedness that create the illusion of scarcity. ~ Yossi Ghinsberg

Knowledge is worth nothing, until it is put to practice. ~ Abhijit Naskar

'Idol' was groundbreaking television. I am very fortunate to have won the show at the time. 'Idol' changed my life, and I am thankful. ~ Taylor Hicks

Life is all about practicing for heaven." p 101. ~ Richard Rohr

We have a planet that is at risk, where resources don't have a permanent life. We are going to have to make the decision: are we going to survive or are we waiting for our extinction? One day we will wake up and find people are fighting not for oil but water. ~ Desmond Tutu

I have little doubt that gerontologists will eventually find a way to avoid, or more likely, delay, the unpleasantries of extended life. ~ S. Jay Olshansky

It's great hearing stories of my mum growing up in Brooklyn, then moving to Florida, having me and growing up with this eccentric, fun family. Although I don't eat a lot of Italian things, because I'm vegan. I was raised on meat and cheese, so I've had enough for anyone's normal life span. ~ Ariana Grande

Like the ocean that remains calm in its depths even when waves rage over its surface, and like the sun that continues shining on high even during storms, we can at each moment create value and develop our state of life, enjoying our existence to the fullest in times of both suffering and joy. ~ Daisaku Ikeda

Many Continentals tink life is a game; the English think cricet is a game. ~ George Mikes

Hey," he said, his hand gently rubbing my back. I heard the diesel rattle of vehicles driving away from the scene.
"Hey," I replied, sitting up and looking at my watch. It was 5:00 A.M. "Are you okay?"
"Yep," he said. "We finally got it out." Marlboro Man's clothes were black. Heavy soot covered his drawn, exhausted face.
"Can I go home now?" I said. I was only halfway kidding. And actually, I wasn't kidding at all.
"Sorry about that," Marlboro Man said, still rubbing my back. "That was crazy." He gave a half-chuckle and kissed my forehead. I didn't know what to say.
Driving back to his house, the pickup was quiet. My mind began to race, which is never good at five in the morning. And then, inexplicably, just as we reached the road to his house, I lost it.
"So, why did you even take me there, anyway?" I said. "I mean, if I'm just going to ride in someone's pickup, why even bring me along? It's not like I was any help to anyone…"
Marlboro Man glanced over at me. His eyes were tired. "So…did you want to operate one of the sprayers?" he asked, an unfamiliar edge to his voice.
"No, I just…I mean…" I searched for the words. "I mean, that was just ridiculous! That was dangerous!"
"Well, prairie fires are dangerous," Marlboro Man answered. "But that's life. Stuff like this happens."
I was cranky. The nap had done little to calm me down. "What happens? You just drive right into fires and throw caution to the wind? I mean, people could ~ Ree Drummond

If you seem something that is true and do not act then you are wasting your life. And life is too precious. It is all that we have. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

I think I'm allergic or something. I feel kinda strange... sort of floaty and light-headed."

"You ain't sick, hon," Mom said. She kissed me cheek and hugged me so tight I thought I might break a rib. "That's joy. ~ Meredith Russo

Teach them what you love to do in life. It really doesn't matter what it is. It never does. Just show them how important a passion is ... ~ Carew Papritz

You will boost your productivity with active exercise. ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

Life is a nonstop circle; learn to live it from the first round. ~ Lucero Isaac

In L.A., if you're an actor, your personal and professional lives are too intertwined. ~ Jena Malone

It starts off like climbing a tree or solving a puzzle - poetry, if nothing else, is just fun to write. But deeper into each and every piece, you no longer hesitate to call it work. It's passion. A poet's sense of lyrical accomplishment is then his food and water, his means of survival. ~ Criss Jami

When you can inspire others to dream, learn, evolve, and become one that they can appreciate and respect themselves; then you have arrived as a leader. ~ Vishwas Chavan