“I'm interested in such things as the difference between how we perceive the world and what the world turns out to be. The difference is between the stories we tell others and the stories we tell ourselves. There is a wonderful Russian saying, which I use as the epigraph of one of my novels, which goes, He lies like an eyewitness. Which is very sly, clever and true.”
Thoughtful feeling
Thoughtful Quotes — page 56 of 303
“I really am opinionated, but not for long. I have found myself coming off of what I think of something because the guy I'm talking to makes better sense than I am. I have so many points of view, I can't keep track of 'em, because I talk to too many people... I'm not so opinionated that I won't budge.”
“Let me say no more. Words do no justice to the hidden meaning. Everything immediately becomes slightly different when it is expressed in words, a little bit distorted, a little foolish...It is perfectly fine with me that what for one man is precious wisdom for another sounds like foolery.”
“Don't make assumptions.”
“I try my best to learn from other people's mistakes. I have a lot of respect for people who can change.”
“Why don't you like the foods I like?" he asks sometimes. "Why don't you like the foods I make?" I answer.”
“Literary criticism can be no more than a reasoned account of the feeling produced upon the critic by the book he is criticising.”
“The only justice is to follow the sincere intuition of the soul, angry or gentle. Anger is just, and pity is just, but judgement is never just.”
“What does not satisfy when we find it, was not the thing we were desiring.”
“A man can't be always defending the truth; there must be a time to feed on it.”
“I am struck here by the curious mixture of justice and injustice in our lives. We are blamed for our real faults but usually not on the right occasions.”
“When you see a mistake in somebody else, try to find if you are making the same mistake.”
“I can remain thoughtfully thoughtless, It is not an empty mind.”
“In the uncertain ebb and flow of time and emotions, much of one’s life history is etched in the senses. And things of no particular importance, or irreplaceable things, can suddenly resurface in a café one winter night.”
“In our endeavors to recall to memory something long forgotten, we often find ourselves upon the very verge of remembrance, without being able, in the end, to remember.”
“Don't decide on a dog based on looks either, much like with people, looks and first impressions can be deceiving.”
“Bodies devoid of mind are as statues in the market place.”
“Remember to say what you mean, but don't say it meanly.”
“Arithmetic is numbers you squeeze from your head to your hand to your pencil to your paper till you get the answer.”
“The fact that we often judge the pleasure of an experience by its ending can cause us to make some curious choices.”