The Meaning
of Life
“Growing
up is losing some illusions, in order to acquire others.”
― Virginia
Woolf
“The
meaning of life is that it stops.”
―
Franz Kafka
“When
you do the right thing, you get the feeling of peace and serenity associated
with it. Do it again and again.”
―
Roy T. Bennett
“We
cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”
―
Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture
“Don't
be afraid to be confused. Try to remain permanently confused. Anything is
possible. Stay open, forever, so open it hurts, and then open up some more,
until the day you die, world without end, amen.”
―
George Saunders, The Braindead Megaphone
“If
you care about something you have to protect it – If you’re lucky enough to
find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it.”
―
John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany
“I've
been in love before, it's like a narcotic. At first it brings the euphoria of
complete surrender. The next day you want more. You're not addicted yet, but
you like the sensation, and you think you can still control things.You think
about the person you love for two minutes then forget them for three hours. But
then you get used to that person, and you begin to be completely dependent on
them. Now you think about him for three hours and forget him for two minutes.
If he's not there, you feel like an addict who can't get a fix. And just as
addicts steal and humiliate themselves to get what they need, you're willing to
do anything for love."- By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept”
―
Paulo Coelho
“That's
what people do who love you. They put their arms around you and love you when
you're not so lovable.”
―
Deb Caletti
“What,
if some day or night a demon were to steal after you into your loneliest
loneliness and say to you: 'This life as you now live it and have lived it, you
will have to live once more and innumerable times more' ... Would you not throw
yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse the demon who spoke thus? Or have
you once experienced a tremendous moment when you would have answered him: 'You
are a god and never have I heard anything more divine.”
―
Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science: With a Prelude in Rhymes and an Appendix
of Songs
“Once
you realize you deserve a bright future, letting go of your dark past is the
best choice you will ever make.”
―
Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
“When
you're lost in those woods, it sometimes takes you a while to realize that you
are lost. For the longest time, you can convince yourself that you've just
wandered off the path, that you'll find your way back to the trailhead any
moment now. Then night falls again and again, and you still have no idea where
you are, and it's time to admit that you have bewildered yourself so far off
the path that you don't even know from which direction the sun rises anymore.”
―
Elizabeth Gilbert
“Now
and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.”
―
Guillaume Apollinaire
“The
right thing and the easy thing are never the same.”
―
Kami Garcia, Beautiful Creatures
“At
the time, my life just seemed too complete, and maybe we have to break
everything to make something better out of ourselves.”
―
Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
“There
is no good and evil, there is only power and those too weak to seek it.”
―
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
“No
matter how long you train someone to be brave, you never know if they are or
not until something real happens.”
―
Veronica Roth, Insurgent
“What
good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.”
―
John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America
“A
quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to
people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it
done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature,
books, music, love for one's neighbor — such is my idea of happiness.”
―
Leo Tolstoy, Семейное счастие
“In
everybody’s life there’s a point of no return. And in a very few cases, a point
where you can’t go forward anymore. And when we reach that point, all we can do
is quietly accept the fact. That’s how we survive.”
―
Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore
“Your
time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped
by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't
let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most
important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow
already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
―
Steve Jobs
