Quote collection
633 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"They flank me - depression on my left, loneliness on my right. They don't need to show their badges. I know these guys very well. ... Then they frisk me. They empty my pockets of any joy I had been carrying there. Depression even confiscates my identity; but he always does that."
"The search for God is a reversal of the normal, mundane worldly order. In search for God, you revert from what attracts you and swim toward that which is difficult. You abandon your comforting and familiar habits with the hope (the mere hope!) that something greater will be offered you in return for what you have given up.. if we truly knew all the answers in advance as to the meaning of life and the nature of God and the destiny of our souls, our belief would not be a leap of faith and it would not be a courageous act of humanity; it would just be.. a prudent insurance policy."
"When a man who looks like Yoda hands you a prophecy, you have to respond."
"What do I believe that I deserve in this life?"
"To be prosperous and happy in life, Henry, it is simple. Pick one woman, pick it well, and surrender."
"But why must everything have a practical application? I'd been such a diligent soldier for years - working, producing, never missing a deadline, taking care of my loved ones, my gums and my credit record, voting, etc. Is this lifetime supposed to be only about duty? In this dark period of loss, did I need any justification for learning Italian other than that it was the only thing I could imagine bringing me any pleasure right now?"
"Parla Come Mangi' --It is a common way to say 'be simple', 'don't try to be rhetorical' literaly: 'speak the way you eat"
"He was powerful and I died of love in his shadow."
"The beauty and variety of the natural world are merely the visible legacies of endless war."
"I have searched frantically for contentment for so many years in so many ways, and all the acquisitions and accomplishments- they run you down in the end."
"It used to be that god was revealed in the wonders of nature; now God was being challenged by those same wonders. Scholars were now required to choose one side or the other."
"Who will ever kiss this encyclopedia of a head?"
"This person had arrived, he had illuminated her, he had ensorcelled her with notions of miracle and beauty, he had both understood and misunderstood her, he had married her, he had broken her heart, he had looked upon her with those sad and hopeless eyes, he had accepted his banishment, and now he was gone. What a stark and stunning thing was life- that such a cataclysm can enter and depart so quickly, and leave such wreckage behind!"
"the number 108 is held to be the most auspicious, a perfect three-digit multiple of three, its components adding up to 9, which is three threes. And 3, of course, is the number representing supreme balance."
"To show a longing for anything that one cannot have, for instance, is not a clever position."
"So sadness is a place?' Giovanni asked. 'Sometimes people live there for years,'I said."
"You have the opposite of poker face. You have like.. miniature golf face."
"Your tears are my prayers."
"Listen to the whispers or soon you will be listening to the screams."
"That's just your ego, trying to make sure it stays in charge. This is what ego does. It keeps you feeling separate, keeps you with a sense of duality, tries to convince you that you're flawed and broken and alone instead of whole."