Quotes About Reflection

But the trouble with living in the moment is that the moment passes. Impulse and spontaneity take no account of the longer term, of responsibilities and obligations, debts to be paid, promises to fulfil. I

He had always imagined that some sort of emotional mental equipment was meant to arrive, when he was forty-five, say, or fifty, a kind of kit that would enable him to deal with the impending loss of a parent. If he were only in possession of this equipment, he would be just fine. He would be noble and selfless, wise and philosophical.

Lonely' is a troubling word and not one to be tossed around lightly. It makes people uncomfortable, summoning up as it does all kinds of harsher adjectives, like 'sad' or 'strange'. I have always been well liked, I think, always well regarded and respected, but having few enemies is not the same as having many friends, and there was no denying that I was, if not 'lonely', more solitary than I'd hoped to be at that time.

A veces uno es consciente de cuándo están produciéndose los grandes momentos de su vida y a veces los descubre al mirar el pasado. Tal vez suceda lo mismo con las personas.»

Both of our memories were deteriorating, and in recent years the effort required to recall a name or incident felt almost wearyingly physical, like clearing out an attic. Proper nouns were particularly elusive. Adverbs and adjectives would go next, until we were left with pronouns and imperative verbs. Eat! Walk! Sleep now!

Recklessness, spontaneity didn't really suit her, she couldn't carry if off, the results were never what she hoped for.

Fue un día memorable, pues obró grandes cambios en mí. Pero ocurre así en cualquier vida. Imaginémonos que de ella arrancáramos un día especial y pensemos en lo distinto que podría haber sido su curso. Deténgase el lector y piense por un momento en la larga cadena de hierro o de oro, de espinas o flores que, de no ser por la formación del primer eslabón en un día memorable, jamás le hubiese atado.»

It wasn't much of a plan, and already there had been mistakes.

to recall a name or incident felt almost wearyingly physical, like clearing out an attic.

grief is as much about regret for what you've never had as sadness for what you've lost.

I felt the proximity of change, and I had wanted more than anything for something in my life to change. Is it still possible to feel like that, I wonder? Or does it only happen to us once?

Yet there seemed to be no easy correlation between the awful grief I felt at her death and our closeness – or lack of it – in life, and it occurred to me that perhaps grief is as much regret for what we have never had as sorrow for what we have lost.

Whatever happens tomorrow, we had today; and I'll always remember it

Puede que por eso las audioguías de los museos se han vuelto tan populares. Con ellas, una reconfortante voz te dice al oído qué pensar y sentir: «mire a la izquierda, por favor, observe». Sería maravilloso poder contar con esa voz también fuera del museo y a lo largo de la vida.

By this time it was well past midnight. You know how that is. It's a time when you start asking questions about things that in the light of day you wouldn't consider twice. It's a time … well, we both know how that goes, in the dark hour.

Spending your time imagining what would have been if you could have changed some little thing, some little decision in your life, is counterproductive and leaves you unhappy. Think about how you can improve for the future, but don't waste your present thinking about how you could have changed the past

I think any spiritual experience that's worthwhile is not about ego and it will humble you in some way. And also, a Zen monk once said to me, 'If you're not laughing, then you're not getting it.'

by better information or fuller consideration to change opinions…which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise. It is therefore that the older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to the judgment of others.

Through a long life, Franklin had been forced by better information or fuller consideration to change opinions . . . which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise. It is therefore that the older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to the judgment of others.

We lament the speed of our society and the lack of depth and the nature of disposable information.

What we have to get clear to kids is that when you offer your stillness and open yourself to the experience of music, it pays you back more than you give.

Stuff your conscious mind with information, then unhook your rational thought process. You can help this process by going for a long walk, or taking a hot bath, or drinking half a pint of claret.

I thought it best, finally, to start seeing where I've been rather than where I'm going.

I start thinking about life after death. I've got to quit thinking about it because it's very deep. Very deep. Sometimes you start thinking about it, and you don't feel like you want to be alive, so I don't like to get all quiet.