Philosophy
Quotes - I don't want to be a Tree
“I
don't deserve a soul, yet I still have one. I know because it hurts.”
―
Douglas Coupland, The Gum Thief
“He
died that day because his body had served its purpose. His soul had done what
it came to do, learned what it came to learn, and then was free to leave.”
―
Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain
“When
another blames you or hates you, or people voice similar criticisms, go to
their souls, penetrate inside and see what sort of people they are. You will
realize that there is no need to be racked with anxiety that they should hold
any particular opinion about you.”
―
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
“The
highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding,
because to understand is to be free.”
― Baruch
Spinoza
“The
only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty: not
knowing what comes next.”
―
Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness
“I
don't want to be a tree; I want to be its meaning.”
―
Orhan Pamuk, My Name Is Red
“Even
if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of rules and
equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a
universe for them to describe? The usual approach of science of constructing a
mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a
universe for the model to describe. Why does the universe go to all the bother
of existing?”
―
Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time
“If
it turns out that there is a God...the worst that you can say about him is that
basically he's an underachiever.”
―
Woody Allen
“No
one should ever ask themselves that: why am I unhappy? The question carries
within it the virus that will destroy everything. If we ask that question, it
means we want to find out what makes us happy. If what makes us happy is
different from what we have now, then we must either change once and for all or
stay as we are, feeling even more unhappy.”
―
Paulo Coelho, The Zahir
“Your
pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding... And could
you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain
would not seem less wondrous than your joy”
―
Khalil Gibran
“There
is no escape—we pay for the violence of our ancestors.”
―
Frank Herbert, Dune
“Every
strike brings me closer to the next home run.”
―
Babe Ruth
“I
was never aware of any other option but to question everything.”
―
Noam Chomsky
“To
lose a brother is to lose someone with whom you can share the experience of
growing old, who is supposed to bring you a sister-in-law and nieces and
nephews, creatures who people the tree of your life and give it new branches.
To lose your father is to lose the one whose guidance and help you seek, who
supports you like a tree trunk supports its branches. To lose your mother,
well, that is like losing the sun above you. It is like losing--I'm sorry, I
would rather not go on.”
―
Yann Martel, Life of Pi
“On
the whole human beings want to be good, but not too good, and not quite all the
time.”
―
George Orwell, All Art is Propaganda: Critical Essays
“It
may be important to great thinkers to examine the world, to explain and despise
it. But I think it is only important to love the world, not to despise it, not
for us to hate each other, but to be able to regard the world and ourselves and
all beings with love, admiration and respect.”
―
Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha
“The
menu is not the meal.”
―
Alan Watts
“The
seed of suffering in you may be strong, but don't wait until you have no more
suffering before allowing yourself to be happy.”
―
Thich Nhat Hanh, The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering
into Peace, Joy, and Liberation
“Devotion
to the truth is the hallmark of morality; there is no greater, nobler, more
heroic form of devotion than the act of a man who assumes the responsibility of
thinking.”
―
Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
“We
should forgive our enemies, but not before they are hanged”
―
Heinrich Heine
