Famous Quotes

"Suspect each moment, for it is a thief, tiptoeing away with more than it brings."

"I knew that in the silence that followed, that anything could happen here. It might be too late again. I might have missed my chance. But I would at least know I tried, that I took my heart and extended my hand, whatever the outcome."

"Life is full of grief, to exactly the degree we allow ourselves to love other people."

"In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don't try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present."

"There are a lot of things I wish I would have done, instead of just sitting around and complaining about having a boring life."

"You see I kept asking myself then: why am I so stupid that if others are stupid—and I know they are—yet I won't be wiser?"

"I always knew, on some level, that I wouldn't live long. It's simply not written in my stars."

"A man must find time for himself. Time is what we spend our lives with. If we are not careful we find others spending it for us. . . . It is necessary now and then for a man to go away by himself and experience loneliness; to sit on a rock in the forest and to ask of himself, 'Who am I, and where have I been, and where am I going?' . . . If one is not careful, one allows diversions to take up one's time—the stuff of life."

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." (George Santayana)I've got news for Mr. Santayana: we're doomed to repeat the past no matter what. That's what it is to be alive."

"One of the tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon - instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today."

"If you haven't confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life. With confidence, you have won even before you have started."

"Each new day is a blank page in the diary of your life. The secret of success is in turning that diary into the best story you possibly can."

"There are no conditions to which a person cannot grow accustomed, especially if he sees that everyone around him lives in the same way."

"That is the hardest thing of all. It is much harder to judge yourself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself, it's because you're truly a wise man."

"Life's a freaking mess. In fact, I'm going to tell Sarah we need to start a new philosophical movement: messessentialism instead of existentialism: For those who revel in the essential mess that is life. Because Gram's right, there's not one truth ever, just a bunch of stories, all going on at once, in our heads, in our hearts, all getting in the way of each other. It's all a beautiful calamitous mess. It's like the day Mr. James took us into the woods and cried triumphantly, "That's it! That's it!" to the dizzying cacophony of soloing instruments trying to make music together. That is it."

"I don't know how I look, but I know how I feel: Young. Goofy. Infinite."

"I've been embarrassing myself since about birth."

"The past can teach us, nurture us, but it cannot sustain us. The essence of life is change, and we must move ever forward or the soul will wither and die."

"The behavior of a human being in sexual matters is often a prototype for the whole of his other modes of reaction in life."

"It's paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn't appeal to anyone."

"Isn't it strange that I know you'd risk your life to save mine, but I don't even know what your favorite color is?"

"It frightens me, the awful truth, of how sweet life can be..."