"It seems obvious that there comes period in your life when you have to learn to say no to things you don't want to do. But the biggest trickiest lesson in holding on the stalwart committment to your creativity is learning how to say no to the things you do want to do."
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"I've always been afraid of saying no to people because I don't want them to be disappointed and dislike me."
"I want to have a lasting experience of God."
"I know this simple fact to be true, for I myself have abandoned people who did not want me to go, and I myself have been abandoned by those whom I begged to stay."
"I was a writer before 'Eat, Pray, Love,' and I'll be a writer after it's over. It's what I want to do for the rest of my life."
"Given that life is so short, do I really want to spend one-ninetieth of my remaining days on earth reading Edward Gibbon?"
"I would say that if you really want to STOP knowing someone, you have to divorce him."
"Venice is beautiful, but like a Bergman movie is beautiful; you can admire it, but you don't really want to live in it."
"If you want to know the world, sometimes you have to get out and roll around."
"Model the qualities that you want your children to show to each other."
"Everything in our lives," she said quietly, "leads to everything else in our lives. So a moment in the present has a reference point, both in the past and in the future. I want you to know that you--as you are right now and as you ever will be--are fully enough for this moment . . ."
"What do dogs want? They want each other. Human beings are merely a cynomorphic substitute."
"So, you're telling me that no matter what, you can't be happy? Well, darling, it's no wonder you're miserable. It's what you want...So then try (to be happy)."
"I didn’t want to see it. I didn’t think he’d ever really notice me, and in the end, he didn’t."
"I know who I want to be with, and it isn't her. - Ryan"
"I wants us to be real. I want to be just you and me. - Ryan"
"You're right . . . you can't go back. No matter how much you want to, you never can"
"the thing is you can get used to anything you think you cant you want to die but you dont you cant you just are"
"Talking about someone who makes you happy actually makes you happy. Being happy makes you want to talk, to go over everything, to share it so you can remember it all over again."
"I don't know how I know that, but I do. I can feel the beat of that truth inside me. Taste it bitter on my tongue. Sometimes, like now, I didn't think I want to know who I really am."