Quotes About Understanding

The art of interpretation is not to play what is written.

Real understanding does not come from what we learn in books; it comes from what we learn from love of nature, of music, of man. For only what is learned in that way is truly understood.

Let us forget with generosity those who cannot love us

Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth.

We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth at least the truth that is given us to understand. The artist must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies.

Hay que ser muy simple para resultar siempre coherente.

That's the thing, chato. I'm not the one to tell it, and you aren't the one to hear it, but rest assured that it'd be pretty tough to figure out …

Héctor se dio media vuelta y salió de la habitación. Estaba dispuesto a jugar el juego, siempre y cuando alguien le avisara de quién era la pelota, dónde era el partido que se jugaba, contra quién jugaban y cuáles eran las reglas.

If you tell too much too soon, you'll overload them and they'll give up. If you confuse them, they'll ignore the message altogether.

My brothers, my brother-in-laws, they're always telling me what a goodhearted guy I am. Well, you don't get goodhearted by accident. You get kicked around long enough you get to be a real professor of pain. I know exactly how you feel. And I also want you to know I'm having a very good time with you now and really enjoying myself. So you see, you're not such a dog as you think

Commitment is easy before a relationship requires compromise and obligation.

Look into the awakened mind of your own awareness! It has neither form nor color, neither center nor edge. At first, it has no origin but is empty. Next, it has no dwelling place but is empty. At the end, it has no destination but is empty. This emptiness is not made of anything and is clear and cognizant. When you see this and recognize it, you know your natural face. You understand the nature of things. (p. 101)

Don't regard any sentient being as your enemy: to do so is only your mind's delusion. (p. 29)

So how does a couple make communication work for them? We believe the most important communication skill a couple can develop is to learn to take turns.

A friend is the only person you will let into the house when you are Turning Out Drawers.

If your sister is in a tearing hurry to go out and cannot catch your eye, she's wearing your best sweater.

Helpful Reminders for Fathers and Other Birth Companions

You cannot know wisdom. You can only be wisdom.

I believe—like religion—that the glimmer, the metaphor, if you will, knows a great deal more than I do. And if I stay out of its way, it will reveal itself to me. I will become not so much its keeper as its conduit, and I will pass its wisdom on to the reader, without actually getting in its way" (79).

And even though I knew in my head there's nothing a man can do that a woman can't, I also knew in my heart we can't help doing it for different reasons. And just like a man will never understand exactly how a woman feels when she has a baby, or an orgasm, or the reasons why she'll fight so hard to be loved, a woman can't know in what way a man satisfies himself, what question he answers for himself, when he looks right at death.

Why are we so hard on one another? I wonder. Hadn't the world already given us challenges enough?

Never assume that you know the mind of another.

You love the people they were before, before all the awfulness that made them do this thing.

You love the people they were before, below all the awfulness that made them do this thing, you know?