Quotes About Choices

I've always made a point of not wasting my life, and everytime I come back here I know that all I've done is waste my life.

I've always made a point of not wasting my life, and everytime I come back here I know that all I've done is to waste my life.

We must not forget that the issues of Eternity are settled in Time.

Thousands of years of ideological, philosophical, and practical decisions were made. They altered the surface of the earth, the coordinates of our souls. For every one of those decisions, maybe there's another decision that could have been made, should have been made.

As people become aware of the finitude of their life, they do not ask for much. They do not seek more riches. They do not seek more power. They ask only to be permitted, insofar as possible, to keep shaping the story of their life in the world—to make choices and sustain connections to others according to their own priorities.

What were her biggest fears and concerns? What goals were most important to her? What trade-offs was she willing to make, and what ones was she not? Not everyone is able to answer such questions

need to understand how much you're willing to go through to have a shot at being alive and what level of being alive is tolerable to you.

As people become aware of the finitude of their life, they do not ask for much. They do not seek more riches. They do not seek more power. They ask only to be permitted, insofar as possible, to keep shaping the story of their life in this world-- to make choices and sustain connections to others according to their own priorities. In modern society, we have come to assume that debility and dependence rule out such autonomy.

The terror of sickness and old age is not merely the terror of the losses one is forced to endure but also the terror of the isolation. As people become aware of the finitude of their life, they do not ask for much. They do not seek more riches. They do not seek more power. They ask only to be permitted, insofar as possible, to keep shaping the story of their life in the world—to make choices and sustain connections to others according to their own priorities.

We witnessed for ourselves the consequences of living for the best possible day today instead of sacrificing time now for time later.

HOW DID WE wind up in a world where the only choices for the very old seem to be either going down with the volcano or yielding all control over our lives?

They ask only to be permitted, insofar as possible, to keep shaping the story of their life in the world—to make choices and sustain connections to others according to their own priorities. In modern society, we have come to assume that debility and dependence rule out such autonomy.

Yet—and this is the painful paradox—we have decided that they should be the ones who largely define how we live in our waning days.

The choices don't stop, however. Life is choices, and they are relentless. No sooner have you made a choice than another is upon you.

THE CHOICES DON'T stop, however. Life is choices, and they are relentless. No sooner have you made one choice than another is upon you.

he had a wide range of choices for work.

Do you want to be resuscitated if your heart stops? 2. Do you want aggressive treatments such as intubation and mechanical ventilation? 3. Do you want antibiotics? 4. Do you want tube or intravenous feeding if you can't eat on your own?

And they missed out on treatments that they might have preferred.

What are the trade-offs you are willing to make and not willing to make? And what is the course of action that best serves this understanding?

I need to understand how much you're willing to go through to have a shot at being alive and what level of being alive is tolerable to you.

The options overwhelmed her. They all sounded terrifying. She didn't know what to do. I realized, with shame, that I'd reverted to being Dr. Informative—here are the facts and figures; what do you want to do? So I stepped back and asked the questions I'd asked my father: What were her biggest fears and concerns? What goals were most important to her? What trade-offs was she willing to make, and what ones was she not? Not

So this is the way it unfolds. In the absence of what people like my grandfather could count on—a vast extended family constantly on hand to let him make his own choices—our elderly are left with a controlled and supervised institutional existence, a medically designed answer to unfixable problems, a life designed to be safe but empty of anything they care about.

1. Do you want to be resuscitated if your heart stops? 2. Do you want aggressive treatments such as intubation and mechanical ventilation? 3. Do you want antibiotics? 4. Do you want tube or intravenous feeding if you can't eat on your own?

We were taking turns making picks, and for the first few rounds, everything seemed normal.