Quotes About Adaptation

Cuando uno está rodeado de tinieblas, la única alternativa es permanecer inmóvil hasta que tus ojos se acostumbren a la oscuridad

I probably still haven't completely adapted to the world. I don't know, I feel like this isn't the real world. The people, the scene: they just don't seem real to me.

Originality is nothing but judicious imitation. So said Voltaire, the realist.

that we are in here not to correct the deformation but to accustom ourselves to it: that one of our problems was our inability to recognize and accept our own deformities. Just as each person has certain idiosyncrasies in the way he or she walks, people have idiosyncrasies in the way they think and feel and see things, and though you might want to correct them, it doesn't happen overnight, and if you try to force the issue in one case, something else might go funny.

En muchos casos, el dolor se puede mitigar y suprimir mediante otro dolor diferente. La sensibilidad es algo completamente relativo.

The longer you stay in here , the more you get to thinking that things are normal.

one day she'll wake up like nothing ever happened, and everything'll go back to normal.

Por profunda y fatal que sea la pérdida, por importante que sea lo que nos han arrancado de las manos, aunque nos hayamos convertido en alguien completamente distinto y sólo conservemos, de lo que antes éramos, una fina capa de piel, a pesar de todo, podemos continuar viviendo, así, en silencio.

Becoming a different person might be hard, but taking on a different name is a cinch.

no meter la pata debido a las prisas, no seguir siempre las mismas rutinas y, cuando hubiera que mentir, contar mentiras lo más sencillas que se pudiera

It may well be that we can never fully adapt to our own deformities. Unable to find a place inside ourselves for the very real pain and suffering that these deformities cause.

After a certain length of time has passed, things harden up. Like cement hardening in a bucket. And we can't go back anymore.

Don't blame me. That's evolution. Evolution's always hard. Hard and bleak. No such thing as happy evolution.

This was the second stage in my life, a step in my personal evolution--abandoning the idea of being different, and settling for normal... Gradually I drew nearer to the world, and the world drew nearer to me.

If, as the dowager had said, we are nothing but gene carriers, why do so many of us have to lead such strangely shaped lives? Wouldn't our genetic purpose—to transmit DNA—be served just as well if we lived simple lives, not bothering our heads with a lot of extraneous thoughts, devoted entirely to preserving life and procreating? Did it benefit the genes in any way for us to lead such intricately warped, even bizarre, lives?

We can't undo what has already happened. Once something's ruined, it can't go back to the way it was.

The very technologies that make it hard for us to maintain healthy boundaries among domains also enable us to blend them in ways—unfathomable even a decade ago—that can render us more productive and more fulfilled.

In our studies of managers, we have found that the difference between those who take the initiative and those who do not becomes particularly evident during phases of major change, when managerial work becomes relatively chaotic and unstructured.

Because major change requires people across an entire organization to adapt, you as a leader need to resist the reflex reaction of providing people with the answers. Instead, force yourself to transfer, as Roosevelt did, much of the work and problem solving to others. If you don't, real and sustainable change won't occur. In addition, it's risky on a personal level to continue to hold on to the work that should be done by others.

Every week, take a quiet hour to reflect on recent critical events—conflicts, failures, opportunities you exploited, observations of others' behavior, feedback from others. Consider how you responded, what went well, what didn't, and what might be more effective in the future. Never cancel this meeting—it's crucial.

There is good evidence that when people are put under pressure, they regress to their most habituated ways of responding

Bosses are neither a title on the organization chart nor a "function." They are individuals and are entitled to do their work in the way they do it best. It is incumbent on the people who work with them to observe them, to find out how they work, and to adapt themselves to what makes their bosses most effective. This, in fact, is the secret of "managing" the boss.

Without short-term wins, too many people give up or actively join the ranks of those people who have been resisting change.

Even when change is elective, it will disorient you. You may go through anxiety. You will miss aspects of your former life. It doesn't matter. The trick is to know in advance of making any big change that you're going to be thrown off your feet by it. So you prepare for this inevitable disorientation and steady yourself to get through it. Then you take the challenge, make the change, and achieve your dream.