Simple Truths Quotes

I would like to share with you two simple truths: there is nothing that cannot be forgiven, and there is no one un-deserving of forgiveness. ~ Desmond Tutu

Humans enter this world and awaken to a simple truth: We must find our story with this great epic of being. ~ Brian Swimme

If you are a person this world will seem full of persons. When you are the being you will not feel bound. You will know every being, look in the eyes of every being, and you know, you will recognize yourself. These things are not poetry. They are simple truths. You will experience them. In your heart they will be confirmed. ~ Mooji

The first of a thousand lies. Truth flowed to Micah Quill, was sucked in and disappeared, and emerged again looking ever so much like it used to, but changed subtly, at the edges, where none would notice, so that simple truth became a complicated fabric indeed, one that could wrap you up so tightly and close you off from the air until you suffocated in it. ~ Orson Scott Card

Compensation is counterintuitive: The more treasure you give away to those who serve well, the more treasure will return to you. But few people perceive this simple truth. Most try to keep as much as they can for themselves and give little away. That's why their purses refuse to fatten. ~ Toyotomi Hideyoshi

If you are truly convinced that there is some solution to all human problems, that one can conceive an ideal society which men can reach if only they do what is necessary to attain it, then you and your followers must believe that no price can be too high to pay in order to open the gates of such a paradise. Only the stupid and malevolent will resist once certain simple truths are put to them. Those who resist must be persuaded; if they cannot be persuaded, laws must be passed to restrain them; if that does not work, then coercion, if need be violence, will inevitably have to be used - if necessary, terror, slaughter. ~ Isaiah Berlin

In the middle of [the] despair [of postwar Germany], my family learned about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints and the healing message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. This message made all the difference; it lifted us above our daily misery. Life was still thorny and the circumstances still horrible, but the gospel brought light, hope, and joy into our lives. The plain and simple truths of the gospel warmed our hearts and enlightened our minds. They helped us look at ourselves and the world around us with different eyes and from an elevated viewpoint. ~ Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Any painful experience makes you see things differently. It also reminds you of the simple truths that we purposely forget every day or else we would never get out of bed. ~ Amy Poehler

They're not gay people. They're people. It's pretty darn simple. ~ Cara Dee

Never have I been frightened by circumstances. A little warmth, a little bread, my little ones with me, and life begins, happiness begins. ~ Ludmilla Petrushevskaya

Some simple truths are so clear to a dazzling degree that to realize them you need to think over and live for a long time ~ Ceyhun Ozsoylu

Once upon a time millions applauded and supported Adolf Hitler; ignorant masses often cannot see the simple truths and evidently they do not have the ability to see the very clear ends! The stupidity of the ignorant masses has been proven thousands of times in the history! Each time they follow the wrong leader and in the end fall in the cesspool! ~ Mehmet Murat Ildan

Whoever can discern truth has received his commission from a higher source than the chiefest justice in the world who can discernonly law. He finds himself constituted judge of the judge. Strange that it should be necessary to state such simple truths! ~ Henry David Thoreau

I am fascinated by language in daily life: the way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth. ~ Amy Tan

Can it be that a generation of school children is growing up heedless of the simple truth that the Pentagon's centrla role for many years has been to buy weapons that don't work, against threats that don't exist? ~ Alexander Cockburn

One of the principles that we operate on in this country is that leaders are held accountable. The simple truth is that we went into Iraq on the basis of some intuition, some fear, and some exaggerated rhetoric and some very, very scanty evidence. ~ Wesley Clark

While she cut the mushrooms, she cried more than she had at the grave, the most so far, because she found the saddest thing of all to be the simple truth of her capacity to move on. ~ Aimee Bender

Men always believe they are in control of everything around them. When they find out they are not, they think they have failed, instead of learning a simple truth women already know. ~ Robert Jordan

With regard to freedom of speech there are basically two positions: you defend it vigorously for views you hate, or you reject it and prefer Stalinist/fascist standards. It is unfortunate that it remains necessary to stress these simple truths. ~ Noam Chomsky

Five simple truths embody most of what we know about inflation: Inflation is a monetary phenomenon arising from a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than in output (though, of course, the reasons for the increase in money may be various). In today's world government determines - or can determine - the quantity of money. There is only one cure for inflation: a slower rate of increase in the quantity of money. It takes time - measured in years, not months - for inflation to develop; it takes time for inflation to be cured. Unpleasant side effects of the cure are unavoidable. ~ Milton Friedman

Man has gone long enough, or even too long, without being man enough to face the simple truth that the trouble with man is man. ~ James Thurber

The simple truth is that our businessmen do not want a government that will let business alone. They want a government they can use. ~ Albert J. Nock

A joke is a good camouflage. Next best comes sentiment ... But the best camouflage of all - in my opinion - is the plain and simple truth. Because nobody ever believes it. ~ Max Frisch

The term 'deinstitutionalization' conceals some simple truths, namely, that old, unwanted persons, formerly housed in state hospitals, are now housed in nursing homes; that young, unwanted persons, formerly also housed in state hospitals, are now housed in prisons or parapsychiatric facilities; and that both groups of inmates are systematically drugged with psychiatric medications. ~ Thomas Szasz

The girl's arms jutted out at awkward angles, not quite hands on the hips belligerent but not relaxed either, as if they weren't all the way under the girl's control. "I came to find you."
"I didn't know. If I'd known ... "
"It doesn't matter now." The girl's attention was unwavering. "This is where you are."
"It is at that."
The girl looked sad. Her soil-dark eyes were clouded over by tears she hadn't been able to shed. "I came here to find you."
"I couldn't have known." Maylene reached out and plucked a leaf from the girl's hair.
"Doesn't matter." She lifted a dirty hand, fingernails flashing chipped red polish, but she didn't seem to know what to do with her outstretched fingers. Little girl fears warred with teenage bravado. Bravado won. "I'm here now."
"All right, then." Maylene walked down the path toward one of the gates. She pulled the key from her handbag, twisted it in the lock, and pushed open the gate. ~ Melissa Marr

The things we do today - sowing seeds, or sharing simple truths of Christ - people will someday refer to as the first things that prompted them to think of Him. ~ George Matheson

If we take a moment to reflect on human history we see so much complexity that it's difficult to comprehend it all. Yet, simple truths are obvious; everyone influences each other either directly or indirectly, we all share this planet regardless of national boundaries, we all require the same nutritional needs with the most important being water, we can easily wage war and kill and at the same time love and have passion for another. ~ Kat Lahr

It's not possible to have a problem without believing a prior thought. To notice this simple truth is the beginning of peace. ~ Byron Katie

But the people who struggle against what we call totalitarian regimes cannot function with queries and doubts. They, too, need certainties and simple truths to make the multitudes understand, to provoke collective tears. ~ Milan Kundera

Because all the societies, all the nations, all the cultures, have taken it for granted that the individuals exist for them, not vice-versa. To me, just the opposite is the case: the society exists for the individual, the culture exists for the individual, the nation exists for the individual. Everything can be sacrificed, but the individual cannot be sacrificed for anything. Individuality is the very flowering of existence - nothing is higher than it. But no culture, no society, no civilization is ready to accept a simple truth. ~ Rajneesh

Perfect health, long life and eternal youth are not the random genetic blessings of a chaotic or capricious universe, but natural birthrights that can be accessed through the mindful acceptance of simple truths, activated by the committed practice of proven activities, and sustained by advancement along a single known path. This is that path.
The Ageless Adept ~ Walt F.J. Goodridge

I began this path with a sense that an individual should be able to live in freedom among his neighbors, and not as a host for parasites, even if those parasites were endowed with power by the state. I had a sense that the individual should not be at the mercy of the bully or the mob, even if the bully or the mob was sanctioned by the state. I had a sense that if an individual was the target of aggression and I stood with him, or her, or them, I would have the satisfaction of knowing I had opposed villainy, and if others who shared my beliefs would join in the fight, then perhaps a measure at a time, evil would not prosper. I believed that each time malevolence and iniquity were thwarted the chances were increased that I could live in freedom … that I would not be at the mercy of the aggression of others."
He captured them as he looked them in the eyes across the silent hall. "The measure of success from acting on these simple truths is all around us, hangs above us in the sky, pervades the system of our sun … and may now be found among the stars."
~ William C. Samples

To be an effective leader, you must be trustworthy. If people don't trust you, they won't follow you. And if they won't follow you, your organization won't meet its goals. Sandy Allgeier explains that personal credibility comes down to a simple truth: It's not about the type of person you are; it's about the types of things you do. If you want to be a great leader, read The Personal Credibility Factor. ~ Quint Studer

Either one or the other [analysis or synthesis] may be direct or indirect. The direct procedure is when the point of departure is known-direct synthesis in the elements of geometry. By combining at random simple truths with each other, more complicated ones are deduced from them. This is the method of discovery, the special method of inventions, contrary to popular opinion. ~ Andre Marie Ampere

The difference between the truth of God and revelation is very simple. Truth is where God's been. Revelation is where God is. Truth is God's tracks. It's His trail, His path, but it leads to what? It leads to Him. Perhaps the masses of people are happy to know where God's been, but true God chasers are not content just to study God's trail, His truths; they want to know Him. They want to know where He is and what He's doing right now. ~ Tommy Tenney

What an illusion Mahamaya has conjured up! Here is this infinite world, and what one claims as his possession will be left behind at death. Still men cannot understand this simple truth. ~ Sarada Devi

Simple truths are a relief from grand speculations. ~ Luc De Clapiers

If you follow these simple truths, you will gain control over your financial future, and probably be able to accumulate millions and millions of dollars. These truths are not just about money, but about self discipline and the proof of love between yourself and your family. While I have gleaned these truths from the wisdom of the Jewish people, they will work for anyone in any setting regardless of religious background or income level. This is the oldest financial system in history and the only one that has survived the test of time. ~ Celso Cukierkorn

It appears necessary to go back to first principles in search of the most simple truths, and to dispute with some prevailing prejudice every inch of ground. ~ Mary Wollstonecraft

Do not be alarmed by simplification, complexity is often a device for claiming sophistication, or for evading simple truths. ~ John Kenneth Galbraith

There is synthesis when, in combining therein judgments that are made known to us from simpler relations, one deduces judgments from them relative to more complicated relations.
There is analysis when from a complicated truth one deduces more simple truths. ~ Andre Marie Ampere

The phenomenal success of the recovery movement reflects two simple truths that emerge in adolescence: all people love to talk about themselves, and most people are mad at their parents. You don't have to be in denial to doubt that truths like these will set us free. ~ Wendy Kaminer

Having thus acknowledged what I owe those who have aided and approved me, I turn to another class; a small one, so far as I know, but not, therefore, to be overlooked. I mean the timorous or carping few who doubt the tendency of such books as "Jane Eyre:" in whose eyes whatever is unusual is wrong; whose ears detect in each protest against bigotry - that parent of crime - an insult to piety, that regent of God on earth. I would suggest to such doubters certain obvious distinctions; I would remind them of certain simple truths. ~ Charlotte Bronte

Christmas time - an Enlightened Teacher came into the world, taught, and died. His message was simple: Forgive. While the human beings of this planet have still not absorbed this simple Truth, it remains the Truth. ~ Frederick Lenz

Every time I stand to communicate, I want to take one simple truth and lodge it in the heart of the listener. I want them to know that one thing and know what to do with it. ~ Andy Stanley

If it's God you're worried about, the Lord Jesus said that we needn't keep to the old ways anymore. They had their day years ago. ~ Diane Samuels

[G]reat stories communicate simple truths that reflect the poetic dimensions of the human soul. Not only do powerful characters help us understand our lives, their stories reflect our core values as human beings. ~ Kate Wright

all the things we think are important really aren't, and he had no time to think about the things that really are. His whole life was going by and he had never contemplated the big, simple truths: loneliness and longing, desire and death. ~ Amos Oz

...many of us know deep down, whether we choose to admit it or not, a number of simple truths: the global capitalist economy is incompatible with life. As numerous environmentalist authors... have noted, the global economy effectively creates infinite demand and no natural community can support infinite demand, especially when nothing beneficial is given back. A global economy is extractive, it gives nothing back, but follows the ecocidal pattern of a genocidal machine converting raw materials into power at the expense of living things and living systems. ~ Damien Short

A person's looking for a simple truth to live by, there it is. CHOICE. To refuse to passively accept what we've been handed by nature or society, but to choose for ourselves. CHOICE. That's the difference between emptiness and substance, between a life actually lived and a wimpy shadow cast on an office wall. ~ Tom Robbins

Emotional Resilience: Simple Truths for Dealing with the Unfinished Business of Your Past. ~ Tina Gilbertson

We have learned the simple truth, as Emerson said that the only way to have a friend is to be one. We can gain no lasting peace if we approach it with suspicion or mistrust or with fear. ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

[P]eople think that in order for something to be frightening, it has to be dark, musty, and full of cobwebs and secrets. That's a lie of epic proportion. The scariest, most unexplainable things happen in the bright light of day. And just when you least expect. ~ Suzanne Palmieri

Each soul or entity will and does return, or cycle, as does nature in its manifestations about man; thus leaving, making or presenting-as it were-those infallible, indelible truths that it -Life-is continuous. ~ Edgar Cayce

It's a simple matter of mathematics. ~ Jean Lee Latham

How else should it be done then?", was always the immediate question. The answer is simple: "Exactly in the opposite way that it is done today! ~ Viktor Schauberger

The Arrangement was very simple, so simple in fact that it didn't really deserve the capital letter, which it had got for simply being in existence for so long. ~ Terry Pratchett

That 'simple desire' to share something meant that we could enter the world of language without words, where everything is always clear and there is no danger of being misinterpreted. ~ Paulo Coelho

So whatever is experientially real, accept it. You cannot do anything by denying it. By denying it you create the problem, and the problem becomes more complex. It is simple: you feel you are a coward, so what? So, "I am a coward." Just see the point! If you can accept cowardice you have already become brave. Only a brave person can accept the fact of being a coward; no coward can do that. You are already on the way to transformation. So the first thing is that nothing that is experienced as a fact has to be denied reality. Second, ~ Osho

I did everything wrong," he said. "I misunderstood everything. Moon Child gave me so much, and all I did with it was harm, harm to myself and harm to Fantastica."
Dame Eyola gave him a long look.
No," she said. "I don't believe so. You went the way of wishes, and that is never straight. You went the long way around, but that was your way. And do you know why? Because you are one of those who can't go back until they have found the fountain from which springs the Water of Life. And that's the most secret place in Fantastica. There's no simple way of getting there."
After a short silence she added: "But every way that leads there is the right one. ~ Michael Ende

Asking someone out on a date is a simple task that frequently becomes a terrifying conundrum of fear, self-doubt, and anxiety. It's full of tough decisions: How do I ask? In person? Phone call? Text? What do I say? Could this person be the person I end up spending the rest of my life with? What if this is the only person for me? What if I fuck it all up with the wrong message? Though technology has added a few new, modern quirks to this dilemma, asking a new person to go on a romantic outing has never been easy. It means declaring your attraction to someone and putting yourself out there in a huge way, while risking the brutal possibility of rejection - or, ~ Aziz Ansari

Writing is a simple but elusive art," he said. "To write is to describe. Describe accurately and respectfully. And perhaps passionately. ~ Josh Farrar

I think too many of the politicians in Washington have forgotten simple ideals like solving problems and helping neighbors. The Washington game is more about scoring points or sticking it to the other guy. ~ Charlie Melancon

I love simple food. I like to serve the entire animal, not only because it somehow provokes a customer to think about it, but also because to honor of the animal that has been killed for us to eat, you have to eat the whole thing. It would be silly to just eat the chops and throw everything else away. ~ Mario Batali

It was him - plain and simple. It was having my best friend become my lover, my heart, and the center of my world. ~ Cambria Hebert

...all the grace I saw then was his own: simple, unadorned, glorious. ~ Madeline Miller

Little things. The thought of losing them makes them unbearably dear ... I only think of the sweetness. Simple things. The quarter moon, the taste of an orange. The smell of the pages of a new book. ~ Patricia Gaffney

Why can't any of this be simple?"
"Because people are involved. ~ John G. Hemry

The whole glittering nebula of shapes was framed by midnight colors - black, bruised blue, indigo, all textured into intricacy by clouds and the reachless vaults between them. Here, darkness was not simple; it hinted at structures and meanings, hidden activity and watchful eyes. Beacons flickered, miles away, then disappeared behind fog banks. Half-glimpsed ropes twisted and contorted their way up, down, and to every side, synapses reaching to contact the outlier towns and factories of Sere's hinterland. One or two of those ropes, if you followed them far enough, would emerge into sunlight at other nations' borders. ~ Karl Schroeder

Humans need simple answers for complex problems. ~ Lawrence J. Hirsch

O, let us understand that the power of Christianity lies not in a hazy indefiniteness, not in shadowy forms, not so much even in definite truths and doctrines, but in the truth and the doctrine. There is but one Christ crucified. All the gathered might of the infinite God is in that word. ~ Herrick Johnson

Three simple words can describe the nature of the social revolution that is talking place and what Negroes really want. They are the words "all," "now," and "here." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

He gave life to the breath- oxygen, a simple gas, he transferred into words, ideas, hope. ~ Michael J. Fox

I kissed his forehead. "You don't have to thank me. I told you, I do anything for someone I care about."
He pulled away and looked up at me. "You said you do anything for someone you love."
I didn't know how to respond to that. We were in such a precarious place. I didn't want to say anything that might scare him away or let him know how I truly felt, because at the end of the day, I loved him. It was that simple.
Instead I gave him a small smile. "I did say that, didn't I? ~ Monica Alexander

Living a religious sexual lifestyle is tantamount to living a lie.
Religion distorts our sexuality when the majority of religious people live one life for the public and another in private. It can be as simple as living as a "happily married" couple when you are both miserable with your sex life. ~ Darrel Ray

Here i sit all broken hearted
Came to sleep that's when it started.
Broken dreams from behind
Fall beneath me so unkind.

Sorrow swallows sucks and chews,
All the dreams I had to lose.
Thinking of all the lies i was told
Makes me feel hollow and cold.

Behind my smile I force on my face
Is a broken man not having a place.
I wonder aimless through the night
Depression is the demon I fight.

They all ask me how I'm doing
Its hard to stop the pain pursuing.
I choke pain down and grin so wide
Only to kill the fear inside.

Sleep deprived awake and tired
this curse is a trap all ready wired.
Just sleep more they all say
I would if the past would go away.

It's better now to be alone
Than lied and cheated to the bone.
I hate the life I've lived thus far
And gladly wear this awful scar.

It has gotten easier that is no lie,
I no longer wish that I would die.
I dream of days when I feel this pain
and deal with it without strain.

I do not know where I will go
only god will ever know.
I pray for all the promises forgotten,
the empty chords that fell all rotten.

I aim to search look and seek
This life i want simple and meek.
It makes the past so very grey
The thoughts of future day

The night will fade and dissolve
I march on with no resolve
Ahead i walk ~ Private

Every kind of work can be a pleasure. Even simple household tasks can be an opportunity to exercise and expand our caring, our effectiveness, our responsiveness. As we respond with caring and vision to all work, we develop our capacity to respond fully to all of life. Every action generates positive energy which can be shared with others. These qualities of caring and responsiveness are the greatest gift we can offer. ~ Tarthang Tulku

Ask yourself a simple question. Do you want to keep playing, offence and defense included, for the rest of your life? Is this what you are marrying for? If answer is no, then stay away from Sporting Demons. If somehow the answer is yes or you, yourself, are a sporting demon then go ahead ... But don't come complaining if the game goes too far or too crappier to handle. ~ Gracia Hunter

Once you gave a thing a name, you gave it life. ~ Terry Pratchett

In a time so filled with methods and techniques designed to change people, to influence their behavior, and to make them do new things and think new thoughts, we have lost the simple but difficult gift of being present to each other. We have lost this gift because we have been led to believe that presence must be useful. ~ Henri J.M. Nouwen

These days, there are so few pure country people left on the concession roads that we may be in need of a new category of membership, much as sons and daughters of veterans are now allowed to join the Legion. A few simple questions could be asked, a small fee paid and (assuming that the answers are correct) you could be granted the status of an "almost local." Here are some of the questions you might be asked: Do you have just one suit for weddings and funerals? Do you save plastic buckets? Do you leave your car doors unlocked at all times? Do you have an inside dog and an outside dog? Has your outside dog never been to town? When you pass a neighbour in the car, do you wave from the elbow or do you merely raise one finger from the steering wheel? Do you have trouble keeping the car or truck going in a straight line because you are looking at crops or livestock? Do you sometimes find yourself sitting in the car in the middle of a dirt road chatting with a neighbour out the window while other cars take the ditch to get around you? Can you tell whose tractor is going by without looking out the window? Can people recognize you from three hundred yards away by the way you walk or the tilt of your hat? If somebody honks their horn at you, do you automatically smile and wave? Do most of your conversations open with some observation about the weather? Is your most important news source the store in the village? Have you had surgery in the local hospital? If you hear about a death or ~ Dan Needles

I want you to know that finding God's grace laced through the seasons of your heart....

begins with RESTING in who HE is
builds by REHEARSING the truth He says about you
blossoms as we RESPOND in faith to those truths and
is sustained by REMEMBERING His provision ~ Ruth Chou Simons

The world is full of people who have dreams of playing at Carnegie Hall, of running a marathon, and of owning their own business. The difference between the people who make it across the finish line and everyone else is one simple thing: an action plan. ~ John Tesh

In my new freedom I remember thinking: If one knows what he wants to do, others will not only not stand in the way but will lend a hand from simple curiosity and amazement. ~ Walker Percy

It is a bit more challenging for the simple fact that now the stories I am writing are relying more on my imagination than on facts, more on research than on memory; so it is basically a slower writing process, more reading, more exploring. On the other hand, this approach is a little bit relieving too, since many times while writing [How the Soldieer Repairs the Gramophone] I felt too close and equal to my character. ~ Sasa Stanisic

If all abstract thought is metaphorical, and all metaphors are assembled out of biologically basic concepts, then we would have an explanation for the evolution of human intelligence. Human intelligence would be a product of metaphor and combinatorics. Metaphor allows the mind to use a few basic ideas-substance, location, force, goal-to understand more abstract domains. Combinatorics allows a finite set of simple ideas to give rise to an infinite set of complex ones. ~ Steven Pinker

Myths are simply stories about truths we've forgotten. ~ Rick Riordan

I really like the idea of banality and repetition being used to generate the image, which are simple and unobstructed and not captivated by composition. ~ Doug Aitken

What he taught was very simple. He taught that we are all greater than we know and that wisdom is the means to freedom. He taught that it is not essential to salvation to retire from the world, but only to renounce the self. He taught that work done with no selfish interest purifies the mind and that duties are opportunities afforded to man to sink his separate self and become one with the universal self. ~ W. Somerset Maugham

We are moved by self-interest, even when we seek to do good to others. ~ Bangambiki Habyarimana

Why do movies make this look so simple?" He leaned back and looked her straight in the eye, the smile winning. "One-handed bra removal is not easy. I call false reality."
"Teen boys all over the world are going to hate themselves for not being able to do it."
"Grown men, too."
"Don't forget Irish men." Melody readjusted herself and sat up straighter. "Declan?" she whispered, tipping her face toward his. Then she ran her tongue over his mouth and pinned his other hand against his side. "I don't want you to hate yourself. Don't give up. You've got this. ~ Brooklyn Skye

Well he'll not get her, will he?" Angus exclaimed. "He's just some little pond sprite. He can't do anything out of the water, right? He's powerless. I'll get her out of here! We'll go in to Glasgow or…"
Ian sighed. "Come on, Angus. It's not as simple as all that. This is an Elemental you're dealing with. You'd have to take her to the center of the freaking Sahara to get away from him, and even then he'd probably make it rain. He's in every damned faucet and kitchen tap all over the world. She takes a bath and he'll pull her under!"
Angus stared at him angrily.
"It's fucking happened!" Ian said. ~ Elliot Mabeuse

The way of the gospel is a simple way. Some of the requirements may appear to you as elementary and unnecessary. Do not spurn them. Humble yourselves and walk in obedience. I promise that the results that follow will be marvelous to behold and satisfying to experience. ~ Gordon B. Hinckley

Boiled down to its core, the truth is always a simple, solid thing ~ David Simon

Then it was that Jo, living in the darkened room, with that suffering little sister always before her eyes and that pathetic voice sounding in her ears, learned to see the beauty and the sweetness of Beth's nature, to feel how deep and tender a place she filled in all hearts, and to acknowledge the worth of Beth's unselfish ambition to live for others, and make home happy by that exercise of those simple virtues which all may possess, and which all should love and value more than talent, wealth, or beauty. ~ Louisa May Alcott

One realizes that human relationships are the tragic necessity of human life; that they can never be wholly satisfactory, that every ego is half the time greedily seeking them, and half the time pulling away from them. In those simple relationships of loving husband and wife, affectionate sisters, children and grandmother, there are innumerable shades of sweetness and anguish which make up the pattern of our lives day by day, though they are not down in the list of subjects from which the conventional novelist works. ~ Willa Cather

I became wary of simple interpretations that assumed fixed and final meanings. ~ John Pfahl

Maybe the secret to continued success is as simple as knowing that your past successes could be done so much better now. ~ Bill Loguidice

Granted it is easy at least comparatively to find pleasure in error when there's nothing at stake. But that can't be the whole story since all of us have been known to throw tantrums over totally trivial mistakes. What makes illusions different is that for the most part we enter in them by consent. We might not know exactly how we are going to err but we know that the error is coming and we say yes to the experience anyways.


In a sense much the same thing could be said of life in general. We can't know where your next error lurks or what form it will take but we can be very sure that it is waiting for us. With illusions we look forward to this encounter since whatever minor price we paid in pride is handily outweighed by curiosity at first and by pleasure afterward. The same will not always true when we venture past these simple perceptual failures to more complex and consequential mistakes But nor is willing the embrace of error always beyond us. In fact this might be the most important thing that illusions can teach us: that is is possible at least some of the time to find in being wrong a deeper satisfaction then we would have found being right. ~ Kathryn Schulz

When you're just able to distill it down to the idea and the feeling that a character is experiencing in a scene, it can become very, very razor sharp and really clean and really efficient and simple. And sometimes it takes twenty-five years to learn how to be simple. ~ Kevin Spacey