Quotes About Understanding

Ignorance is no excuse when once we know that ignorance is the only possible excuse.

Whatever we may say will not be the objective level, which remains fundamentally un-speakable. Thus, we can sit on the object called 'a chair', but we cannot sit on the noise we made or the name we applied to that object.

The abuse of symbolism is like the abuse of food or drink: it makes people ill, and so their reactions become deranged.

Definitions create conditions.

To be known so well by someone is an unimaginable gift. But to be imagined so well by someone is even better.

We have to hope, Daniel was saying, that the people who love us and who know us a little bit will in the end have seen us truly. In the end, not much else matters.

Is it possible, he said, to be in love not with someone but with their eyes. I mean, with how eyes that aren't yours let you see where you are, who you are.

There are things that can't be said, because it's hard to have to know them.

We do treat books surprisingly lightly in contemporary culture. We'd never expect to understand a piece of music on one listen, but we tend to believe we've read a book after reading it just once.

good listeners have a humble perspective. Humility in listening means that we let go of preconceived opinions, we let go of the need to be right, we let go of our own insecurities, and we let go of the need to appear wise, good or spiritual. In short, we let go of ourselves in order to be present to the other. This is a high calling and a commitment we will need to return to again and again.

I could not comprehend God's plan but my understanding was not essential. My obedience was.

Still, she knows one thing for certain: never judge a relationship unless you are the one wrapped up in its arms.

Know that the only remedy for love is to love more.

I know who you are in your heart,' Andres said. 'That's all that matters.' And that was it. That was the moment. Now I knew how I would feel if I ever lost him. That was how you knew love. My mother had told me that. All you had to do was imagine your life without the other person, and if the thought alone made you shiver, then you knew.

Are people drawn to each other because of the stories they carry inside?

Jill told me that when you're really in love, you know right away. I'm not exactly sure how this happens. Is it like a flash of lightning? Like an angel tapping you on the shoulder? Or is it similar to choosing a puppy? You think you're picking the cutest one, but really you wind up going home with the one who keeps insisting on climbing into your lap.

You can never tell about a person by guessing...that's why language was invented. Otherwise, we'd all be like dogs, sniffing each other to find out where we stood.

Love) walks up to you,and when it does, you need to recognize it for what it is and, perhaps more important, for what it might become.

People want to ignore what they can't understand. They're looking for logic at any cost.

It's not finding what's lost, it's understanding what you've found.

Perhaps it is possible to discover more in silence than in speech. Or perhaps it is only that those who are silent among us learn to listen.

Are people drawn to each other because of the stories they carry inside? At the library I couldn't help but notice which patrons checked out the same books. They appeared to have nothing in common, but who could tell what a person was truly made of? The unknown, the riddle, the deepest truth. I noticed them all: the ones who'd lost their way, the ones who'd lived their lives in ashes, the ones who had to prove themselves, the ones who, like me, had lost the ability to feel.

I was beginning to understand. My grandmother's love was cold because she was afraid of things; that was why everything had to be perfect.

You don't fight for peace sister,' Nahara told me, 'You embrace it.