Life
Quotes - It’s Okay if You have to Leave Us
“It
was always the becoming he dreamed of, never the being.”
― F.
Scott Fitzgerald, This Side of Paradise
“I
just wanted to tell you that I understand if you go. It’s okay if you have to
leave us. It’s okay if you want to stop fighting.”
―
Gayle Forman, If I Stay
“Successful
people are always looking for opportunities to help others.
Unsuccessful
people are always asking, "What's in it for me?”
―
Brian Tracy
“Life
was meant to be lived, and curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for
whatever reason, turn his back on life.”
―
Eleanor Roosevelt
“Whenever
something bad happens, keep calm, take a few deep breaths and shift the focus
to something positive.”
―
Roy T. Bennett
“My
life didn't please me, so I created my life.”
―
Coco Chanel
“The
only way to survive eternity is to be able to appreciate each moment.”
―
Lauren Kate, Fallen
“One
swing set, well worn but structurally sound, seeks new home. Make memories with
your kid or kids so that someday he or she or they will look into the backyard
and feel the ache of sentimentality as desperately as I did this afternoon.
It's all fragile and fleeting, dear reader, but with this swing set, your
child(ren) will be introduced to the ups and downs of human life gently and
safely, and may also learn the most important lesson of all: No matter how hard
you kick, no matter how high you get, you can't go all the way around.”
―
John Green, The Fault in Our Stars
“Your
life is an occasion. Rise to it.”
―
Suzanne Weyn, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
“Guard
well your thoughts when alone and your words when accompanied.”
―
Roy T. Bennett
“You
cannot change anyone, but you can be the reason someone changes.”
―
Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
“You
are unique. You have different talents and abilities. You don’t have to always
follow in the footsteps of others. And most important, you should always remind
yourself that you don't have to do what everyone else is doing and have a
responsibility to develop the talents you have been given.”
―
Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
“Each
day brings new opportunities, allowing you to constantly live with love—be
there for others—bring a little light into someone's day. Be grateful and live
each day to the fullest.”
―
Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
“Life
is tragic simply because the earth turns and the sun inexorably rises and sets,
and one day, for each of us, the sun will go down for the last, last time.
Perhaps the whole root of our trouble, the human trouble, is that we will
sacrifice all the beauty of our lives, will imprison ourselves in totems,
taboos, crosses, blood sacrifices, steeples, mosques, races, armies, flags,
nations, in order to deny the fact of death, the only fact we have. It seems to
me that one ought to rejoice in the fact of death--ought to decide, indeed, to
earn one's death by confronting with passion the conundrum of life. One is
responsible for life: It is the small beacon in that terrifying darkness from
which we come and to which we shall return.”
―
James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time
“I
know it seems hard sometimes but remember one thing. Through every dark night,
there's a bright day after that. So no matter how hard it get, stick your chest
out, keep ya head up.... and handle it.”
―
Tupac Shakur
“You
are in charge of your own happiness; you don't need to wait for other people's
permission to be happy.”
―
Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
“Action
expresses priorities.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“Bottom
line is, even if you see 'em coming, you're not ready for the big moments. No
one asks for their life to change, not really. But it does. So what are we,
helpless? Puppets? No. The big moments are gonna come. You can't help that.
It's what you do afterwards that counts. That's when you find out who you are.”
―
Joss Whedon
“I
have always, essentially, been waiting. Waiting to become something else,
waiting to be that person I always thought I was on the verge of becoming,
waiting for that life I thought I would have. In my head, I was always one step
away. In high school, I was biding my time until I could become the college
version of myself, the one my mind could see so clearly. In college, the post-college
“adult” person was always looming in front of me, smarter, stronger, more
organized. Then the married person, then the person I’d become when we have
kids. For twenty years, literally, I have waited to become the thin version of
myself, because that’s when life will really begin.
And
through all that waiting, here I am. My life is passing, day by day, and I am
waiting for it to start. I am waiting for that time, that person, that event
when my life will finally begin.
I
love movies about “The Big Moment” – the game or the performance or the wedding
day or the record deal, the stories that split time with that key event, and
everything is reframed, before it and after it, because it has changed
everything. I have always wanted this movie-worthy event, something that will
change everything and grab me out of this waiting game into the whirlwind in
front of me. I cry and cry at these movies, because I am still waiting for my
own big moment. I had visions of life as an adventure, a thing to be celebrated
and experienced, but all I was doing was going to work and coming home, and
that wasn’t what it looked like in the movies.
John
Lennon once said, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.”
For me, life is what was happening while I was busy waiting for my big moment.
I was ready for it and believed that the rest of my life would fade into the
background, and that my big moment would carry me through life like a lifeboat.
The
Big Moment, unfortunately, is an urban myth. Some people have them, in a sense,
when they win the Heisman or become the next American Idol. But even that
football player or that singer is living a life made up of more than that one
moment. Life is a collection of a million, billion moments, tiny little moments
and choices, like a handful of luminous, glowing pearl. It takes so much time,
and so much work, and those beads and moments are so small, and so much less
fabulous and dramatic than the movies.
But
this is what I’m finding, in glimpses and flashes: this is it. This is it, in
the best possible way. That thing I’m waiting for, that adventure, that
move-score-worthy experience unfolding gracefully. This is it. Normal, daily
life ticking by on our streets and sidewalks, in our houses and apartments, in
our beds and at our dinner tables, in our dreams and prayers and fights and
secrets – this pedestrian life is the most precious thing any of use will ever
experience.”
―
Shauna Niequist, Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of
Everyday Life
