True North Quotes

Every day I wonder how many things I am dead wrong about.
True North ~ Jim Harrison

Inherent in every living thing is an insatiable hunger, the innate desire to express life by freely and fully being "what" it was uniquely created to be. To personalize this, consider the possibility that there was a time when you were a "what" before you were a "who." If you can wrap your mind around that possibility, then, the question to explore is, what were you before you became a who - and why did you become the who you uniquely are when there are so many other "who"s on the planet you might have been? While this may seem like a bit of a paradoxi- cal tongue twister, it is the quintessential question that requires exploration if you are to follow your true North Star back to your point of origin, where you'll find your authentic self waiting to weave itself into the fabric of your human life today and every day. ~ Dennis Merritt Jones

Most other people, your wife included, with her unerring inner compass, seem to be able to get around without difficulty. They know where they are, where they have been, and where they are going, but you know nothing, you are forever lost in the moment, in the void of each successive moment that engulfs you, with no idea where true north is, since the four cardinal points do not exist for you, have never existed for you. A minor infirmity until now, with no dramatic consequences to speak of, but that doesn't mean a day won't come when you accidentally walk off the edge of a cliff. ~ Paul Auster

Honesty is a principle. Service is a principle. Love is a principle. Hard work is a principle. Respect, gratitude, moderation, fairness, integrity, loyalty, and responsibility are principles. There are dozens and dozens more. They are not hard to identify. Just as a compass always points to true north, your heart will recognize true principles ... ~ Sean Covey

We believe in the dignity of every life, the possibility of every mind, the divinity of every soul. This is our true North. ~ Elizabeth Dole

There were times when he felt as if he were being literally torn in two. Times when he raged at the injustice of what was happening to him, times when he was overwhelmed with guilt. There was no right and wrong anymore, which had been one of clear-cut lines for so long, was now so blurred that he was careening around like a compass struggling to find true north. ~ Marguerite Kaye

By going deeper into myth, I go deeper into love, and when I go deeper into love, innately I find morality; I locate a True North in my own heart. ~ Martin Shaw

A compass, I learnt when I was surveying, it'll ... it'll point you true north from where you're standing, but it's got no advice about the swamps, deserts and chasms that you'll encounter along the way. If in pursuit of your destination, you plunge ahead heedless of obstacles, and achieve nothing more than to sink in a swamp, what's the use of knowing true north? ~ Tony Kushner

In general, when a novel manipulates its material to conform to the pieties of the day, or alternatively to attack those pieties for no other reason than the visibility such an attack will generate, when its literary tropes are all too familiar, its clever prose reminiscent of other clever prose, then the compass needle is slipping away from true north ... When, on the other hand, the author renounces some easy twist, some expected payoff, to take us into territory we didn't expect but that nevertheless fits with the drift of the story, then the novel gains force and conviction. And when he or she does it again, telling quite a different story that is nevertheless driven by the same urgent tensions, then we are likely moving into the zone of authenticity. ~ Tim Parks

Your principles are your true north because they instruct how you will handle every situation, especially when there is no easy choice. ~ Brian De Haaff

To turn the page to the next chapter of a more satisfying life-as-adventure, these steps that have proved fruitful for me -- when I've actually followed them.
1. Find Your True North to Become More Joyful
First be clear about choosing a goal that rings true. Forget "should" or adopting someone else's goal for you.

2. Picture Being Your Hero
Afraid you will fail? Supplant your fear with a greater motivation. When you are tempted to fall back, picture how you'll feel when you succeed. ." Rather than talking about what you are giving up or how you might fail, reflect upon and discuss the benefits you clearly see.

3. Surround Yourself With Mutual Support Systems
To keep your resolve, surround yourself with those who want you to succeed - and who are also on a path of practice. Agree on shared and individual behaviors that reinforce your mutual support. The authors of Influencer found that is the only way to permanently change.

4. Involve Your Senses To Stay On Your Path
Tie your goal for your new chapter to your frequent experiences. Write it down. Say it out loud. Associate it with things you see, hear, smell, taste and touch every day. Plant sticky messages on your bathroom mirror, your car dashboard and smart device screen. Smell your shampoo and connect it with living that chapter. Brush your teeth and feel the motion towards it.

5. Notice Where You Get Detoured
Notice your pattern of avoidance. What ac ~ Kare Anderson

But what if the great secret insider-trading truth is that you don't ever get over the biggest losses in your life? Is that good news, bad news, or both? ... The pain does grow less acute, but the insidious palace lie that we will get over crushing losses means that our emotional GPS can never find true north, as it is based on maps that no longer mention the most important places we have been to. Pretending that things are nicely boxed up and put away robs us of great riches. ~ Anne Lamott

Among them is a renegade king, he who sired five royal heirs without ever unzipping his pants. A man to whom time has imparted great wisdom and an even greater waistline, whose thoughtless courage is rivalled only by his unquenchable thirst.

At his shoulder walks a sorcerer, a cosmic conversationalist. Enemy of the incurable rot, absent chairman of combustive sciences at the university in Oddsford, and the only living soul above the age of eight to believe in owlbears.

Look here at a warrior born, a scion of power and poverty whose purpose is manifold: to shatter shackles, to murder monarchs, and to demonstrate that even the forces of good must sometimes enlist the service of big, bad motherfuckers. His is an ancient soul destined to die young.

And now comes the quiet one, the gentle giant, he who fights his battles with a shield. Stout as the tree that counts its age in aeons, constant as the star that marks true north and shines most brightly on the darkest nights.

A step ahead of these four: our hero. He is the candle burnt down to the stump, the cutting blade grown dull with overuse. But see now the spark in his stride. Behold the glint of steel in his gaze. Who dares to stand between a man such as this and that which he holds dear? He will kill, if he must, to protect it. He will die, if that is what it takes.

"Go get the boss," says one guardsman to another. "This bunch looks like trouble."

And they do. T ~ Nicholas Eames

Every day is Make a Difference Day.
1. Try a Little Tenderness.
2. A Change of Heart Changes Everything.
3. Choose Integrity as your True North and you will never get lost. (Professional athletes wise up.) ~ Steve William Laible

But the truly brilliant geocachers?"
"Yeah?" he says. "What about us?"
"They know it by its real name. Terra Firma."
"Terra Firma," he repeats. At last, he slips his backpack off his shoulder. I know what he's looking for.
I take a breath. "You don't need your GPS for this cache."
His eyes don't move off mine; he's watching me so carefully. "You don't, huh?"
"Nope," I say.
Some things are meant to be kept - what you learn from experiences good or bad, smiles from an orphaned girl, a boy who is your compass pointing to your True North. So I look at Jacob full in the face with nothing obscuring him. Or me. And then I step closer to him. And closer. And closer yet.
"Here I am," I tell him. "Here I am. ~ Justina Chen

She looked genuinely confused. "I…I don't know. He just seems so sweet and out of place. I guess I feel sorry for him. Kinda like a lost puppy."

"Great, well, can you just take him home with you then? I'm allergic. ~ Christy Wulff

Physical beauty wasn't the same as True Beauty, any more than pretty ugly meant truly ugly or Magnetic North meant True North. ~ Justina Chen

My inside self and my outside self used to match. A compass needle pointed true north. Now the needle spins around and around indicating the sad direction of nowhere. ~ Elizabeth Berg

I'm not an aspiring rapper, I'm not a gang member, I'm not a dope dealer, I don't have multiple babies momma's. I am an American by choice, I am a son, I am a brother, I am a military service member, I am a man who has lost complete faith in the system, when the system betrayed, slandered, and libeled me. I lived a good life and though not a religious man I always stuck to my own personal code of ethics, ethos and always stuck to my shoreline and true North. I didn't need the US Navy to instill Honor, Courage, and Commitment in me but I thank them for re-enforcing it. It's in my DNA. ~ Christopher Dorner

THERE IS A CURE. The insanity of that thought made me feel like the hand on Jude's compass spinning, and spinning, and spinning, searching for its true north.
He deserved this. I blinked back the prick of tears and let my anger rise to swallow the anguish for now. I let it propel me forward. Because Jude deserved to live to see this moment- he should of been here, now, next to me, suddenly seeing that everything was alive with the possibility of change. ~ Alexandra Bracken

Experience didn't necessarily point one toward true north. ~ T.M. Doran

Lindenmere was beautiful and complicated in ways that the real world was not. Air and music were two different things in the real world; in Lindenmere, they were not always. Water and flowers were similarly confused in this forest. Hennessy felt the truth of it as they walked. There were creatures you didn't want to meet in person if you weren't with Ronan Lynch. There were places you might get trapped forever if you weren't with Ronan Lynch. It was feral and confusing, but in the end, if followed on rule: Ronan Lynch. His safety, his desires, his thoughts. That was Lindenmere's only true north. ~ Maggie Stiefvater

Mags, I don't know how many more times I will have to say this, but here it goes. You're amazing, you deserve the best, and I want nothing more than to be whatever you need me to be. ~ Kristen Hope Mazzola

And I often tell friends: "When you don't know what to do, do nothing. Get quiet so you can hear the still, small voice, your inner GPS guiding you to true North. ~ Ashwin Sanghi

Your faith provides you focus and vision for your life. It is your true north compass and GPS of self-awareness and self-management. Your faith is your lens to focus on how your talents, skills, gifts, and abilities will allow you to live on purpose ~ Thomas Narofsky

He wouldn't have to search for her long. She was nestled in his thoughts like a pebble in his shoe. His mind pointed toward her as if she were true north. ~ India Drummond

Nora was the only thing that made sense. She was the only unchanging thing in my universe. She was my lodestar. No matter which way my emotions and circumstances and the impulses of my dead, dying, trying body pulled me, no matter how many mistakes I made, she was always true north. Sometimes I'd side with the dead, sometimes with the living, but always with her. ~ Lia Habel

Rule of thumb: The more important a call or action is to our soul's evolution, the Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it. ~ Steven Pressfield

I got into acting because I wanted to act and I love acting. That's my true north: to be creative and to be challenged in what I love to do. ~ Mark Ruffalo

…he started out with his eyes firmly on the guiding star, his feet planted on the path, but that's the thing about the life you walk - you start out pointed true North, but you vary one degree off, it doesn't matter for maybe one year, five years, but as the years stack up you're just walking farther and farther away from where you started out to go, you don't even know you're lost until you're so far from your original destination you can't even see it anymore ~ Don Winslow

Nature's wisdom teaches us that where life is in motion, it's healthy; where it's stagnant, it's dying. But people have to interpret that journey in a way that's authentic for them . . . whatever helps you. We call it "finding your own true north"-- like on a compass. In production-drive societies, we're tricked into believing that true north is outside of us. So we're constantly looking outside ourselves to figure out if this is the right job, the right house, the right relationship, the right subject to be studying. But our true north is invariably inside us . . . if we do what we love to do, what we're inspired to do, what we believe in, it creates an entirely different response. ~ Julia Butterfly Hill

The pain does grow less acute, but the insidious palace lie that we will get over crushing losses means that our emotional GPS can never find true north, as it is based on maps that no longer mention the most important places we have been to. ~ Anne Lamott

Now more than ever God's people must be committed to being gospel centered. Jesus can no longer be out there somewhere on the horizon as we look to culture, religion, politics, spirituality, or morality for our true north. ~ Mark Driscoll

The vision is true north for the soul. It is a permanent, intuitive compass direction for a human being. Every person inevitably strays from the path. Life is an endless experiment and course correction. The vision brings one back to the true path. ~ Thomas G. Bandy

My moral compass no longer points true north. It's guided by circumstance and fate, neither conferring with the other. ~ Marata Eros

The God honest truth is that I ain't ever gonna love again. She's your true north. I know what that means, because you are mine. ~ Dropdeaddream

So there's this guy named Murphy and he has this law. I hate him. ~ Christy Wulff

I'm sorry l haven 't talked to you in so long.
I feel l've been lost... no bearings, no compass. I kept crashing into things, a little crazy, I guess. l've never been lost before. You were my true north.

l could always steer for home when you were my home. Forgive me for being so angry when you left. l still think some mistake's been made... and l'm waiting for God to take it back.

But l'm doing better now. The work helps me. Most of all, you help me.

You came into my dream last night with that smile that always held me like a lover... rocked me like a child. All l remember from the dream is a feeling of peace. l woke up with that feeling and tried to keep it alive as long as l could.

l'm writing to tell you that l'm on a journey toward that peace. And to tell you l'm sorry about so many things. l'm sorry l didn't take better care of you so that you never spent one minute being cold or scared or sick.

I'm sorry I didn't try harder to find the words to tell you what I was feeling.

I'm sorry I never fixed the screen door. I fixed it now.

I'm sorry I ever fought with you. I'm sorry I didn't apologize more.
I was too proud.

I'm sorry I didn't bring you more compliments on everything you wore and every way you fixed your hair.

I'm sorry I didn't hold on to you with so much strength that even God couldn't pull you away.


All my love. ~ Nicholas Sparks

I found that those friends of mine who welcomed the unseen into the realm of their seen offered immediate understanding. Some are Christians, some are not. Most are artists of some kind or other; artistry can extend to a way of being, of living lovingly in this world. Many seem to have almost a spiritual affinity for the unmarked trail, armed only with True North. ["Leap With Faith" Blogpost By Carolyn Weber - July 27, 2011] ~ Carolyn Weber

We don't have to relive the sad and bad memories of Christmas Past. We can create new Christmas memories in the present for the future. ~ Tom North

Sometimes my dreams feel so real it's hard to believe they're just the subconscious's stroll across a whimsical map that has no true north. ~ Karen Marie Moning

A compass doesn't tell you where you are, and it doesn't tell you where you have to go. It can only point you in a direction. It's up to you to always find your true north. ~ Samira Ahmed

was beginning to think she was his true north and damn if he wasn't trying to reorient his life in her direction. He ~ Lee Kilraine

Yes, I think lots of people are eager to obtain weapons of mass destruction. But there's no evidence that he (Hussein) has weapons of mass destruction. There's been no evidence of him testing nuclear weapons. We have people that are in our face with nuclear weapons. We've got Iran and North Korea. We've got a problem with Pakistan. You know, I don't know what to say about that. There's a whole lot of people that are going nuclear. And I think that Saddam Hussein is actually, with the evidence, the least able to use nuclear weapons and the least obvious offender in that area at this moment. ~ Janeane Garofalo

From sunset she appeared,

Her cloak pierced by a bloom

Of unfamiliar climes.


She summoned me somewhere

Into the northern gloom

And aimless winter ice.


And bonfire burned 'mid night,

And with its tongues the blaze

Did lick the very skies.


The eyes flashed fiery light,

And falling as black snakes

The tresses were released.


And then the snakes encircled

My mind and lofty spirit

Lay spread upon the cross.


And in the snowdust's swirl

To black eyes I am true,

To beauty of the coils.

(untitled: "From sunset she appeared") ~ Alexander Blok

Strive to become the true human being:
one who knows love, one who knows pain.
Be full, be humble, be utterly silent,
be the bowl of wine passed from hand to hand.
(Al-Ansari) ~ Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

True, as unwisdom is the worst of ills ~ Sophocles

At the end of the day, stay morally clear to yourself. ~ Debasish Mridha

I would proclaim that the vast majority of what [say, Scientific American] is true-yet my ability to defend such a claim is weaker than I would like. And most likely the readers, authors, and editors of that magazine would be equally hard pressed to come up with cogent, non-technical arguments convincing a skeptic of this point, especially if pitted against a clever lawyer arguing the contrary. How come Truth is such a slippery beast? ~ Douglas Hofstadter

There's a part of me that will always believe that Angel is Buffy's true love. That there will be a piece of her heart that will always be with him for the rest of her life. ~ Sarah Michelle Gellar

True compassion is not about giving or taking. True compassion is doing just what is needed. ~ Jaggi Vasudev

Without saying word to anybody, cover thy face. ~ Thomas North

Learn to be true to yourself, and everything good will follow. ~ Abhijit Naskar

... it's impossible to write the whole, true story of anything. We always leave things out. We quite often put things in. Sometimes, no matter how hard we try not to, we change things. We tell the story in our own way, which might not be the same way someone else would tell it. ~ Michael Rosen

All happiness comes from awareness. The more we are conscious the deeper the joy. Acceptance of pain, non-resistance, courage and endurance - these open deep and perennial sources of real happiness, true bliss. ~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Death was a lens that would reveal things as they really were: what was important would assume its true importance; what was unimportant would recede into the shadows. ~ Robert Hellenga

I just really like fun, cool, interesting, quirky girls. And sometimes you find that in 6'2 model bodies and sometimes they're short and brunette. All shapes and sizes - it's really about the personality. That sounds cliche, but it's so freaking true! ~ Dylan O'Brien

The true aim of everyone who aspires to be a teacher should be, not to impart his own opinions, but to kindle minds. ~ Frederick William Robertson

Probably it's true, The Purge works for the government, who knows? ~ Deyth Banger

The seed is the fetus, in other words, a true plant with its parts (that is, its leaves, of which there are usually two, its stalk or stem, and its bud) completely fashioned. ~ Marcello Malpighi

Nothing anyone says in a bar is true. ~ Mark Ruffalo

My album was recorded in Nashville. It used to be all about "We're from Texas, forget Nashville," well you'll never hear me say that. Nashville isn't bad as long as you're true to yourself. ~ Cody Johnson

Keep an open mind. The right person coming to you at the right time will change everything you ever thought was true. ~ Kate McGahan

Art has no immediate future because all art is collective and there is no more collective life(there are only dead collections of people), and also because of this breaking of the true pact between the body and the soul. Greek art coincided with the beginning of geometry and with athleticism, the art of the Middle Ages with the craftsmen's guilds, the art of the Renaissance with the beginning of mechanics, etc ... Since 1914 there has been a complete cut. Even comedy is almost impossible. There is only room for satire (when was it easier to understand Juvenal?). Art will never be reborn except from amidst a general anarchy - it will be epic no doubt, because affliction will have simplified a great many things ... It is therefore quite useless for you to envy Leonardo or Bach. Greatness in our times must take a different course. Moreover it can only be solitary, obscure and without an echo ... (but without an echo, no art). ~ Simone Weil

A poet's purified truth can cause no pain, no offense. True art is above false honor. ~ Vladimir Nabokov

I wish I didn't have ever to sign my long name on the cover of a book, and I wish I could write a story that would seem absolutely true to the child who hears it and to myself. ~ Margaret Wise Brown

Don't waste your time to make new dreams. but waste it to make one of your lifetime dream, come true. ~ Olivia Sinaga

Second, the teacher should be given extensive liberty in the selection of the material to be taught and the methods of teaching employed by him. For it is true also of him that pleasure in the shaping of his work is killed by force and exterior pressure. ~ Albert Einstein

She did not think it was true that women fell in love all at once, but rather, that they fell in love through repitition, just the way someone became brave. ~ Tatjana Soli

Comfort has been the very reason why so many people never lived their real and true destiny though they got to a certain comfortable destination! ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

In regard to intellect and true virtue, every nation is on a par with the rest, and God has not in these respects chosen one people rather than another. ~ Baruch Spinoza

You find that the injustice that created a wound is no longer true, right now, in this moment. ~ Miguel Ruiz

Bush advisers have long been worried that a lagging economy could hamper the president's re-election chances. They hope that the Cabinet shake-up will provide a needed jolt. If that doesn't work, North Korea has to go. ~ Jon Stewart

What is real and what is not? Can you tell me or I you? Perhaps we shall never know more than this - that to think a thing is to make it true. ~ P.L. Travers

A true party-man hates and despises candour. ~ Adam Smith

When the true love will blossom, it will be the most beautiful flower. ~ Tirumalai S. Srivatsan