Quotes About Reflection

The greatest writers have no purpose but to incite in the minds of each reader the highest and best thought of which they are capable.

What is a question but a moment of discontent in pursuit of understanding? What is an answer but a moment of illusion in our flight from ignorance?

Satu-satunya cara untuk mengetahui asal-usulmu adalah keluar, lalu kembali. Kamu pikir si Adam itu tahu dirinya istimewa kalau tidak dibuang dulu ke bumi?

Adakalanya kesendirian menjadi hadiah ulang tahun yang terbaik. Keheningan menghadirkan pemikiran yang bergerak ke dalam, menembus rahasia terciptanya waktu

Satu-satunya yang tidak diajarkan kepadamu adalah mengenal diri sendiri. Karena itu, kamu benci dan takut terhadap hidup

Hidup memang tidak boleh kehilangan makna. Tanpa makna, buat apalagi kita menjalani hidup?

Semua peristiwa hanyalah semata-mata peristiwa, tapi cara kita menyikapinyalah yang memberi label, kan? Entah itu diberi judul tragedi atau keberuntungan. Dia bisa melihat dirinya sebagai korban atau sebaliknya. Semoga saja dia sadar kalau dia sedang berpijak di semesta yang serbarelatif.

Malam ini, maaf tak ubahnya aroma samudera lepas atau aroma lumut pegunungan tinggi dari bilik pemulung di TPA Bantar Gebang. Sebuah Hikayat.

Memories are nothing but ghosts in the corners of our minds.

Sepuluh tahun berlalu, dan senyum itu tetap sama.

Tak ada yang lebih menarik daripada menyaksikan seseorang menyelam ke septic tank kotorannya sendiri.

Tidakkah Anda ingin menemukan makna HIDUP selagi Anda hidup? Itulah kebahagiaan yang sesungguhnya.

Mencintai sesuatu atau seseorang dengan keutuhan diri adalah satu-satunya cara mencinta. Sementara perasaan tidak lengkap atau ketergantungan adalah relfeksi jarak anda dengan diri sendiri.

Tanpa makna, buat apa lagi kita menjalankan hidup? Hidup memang tidak boleh kehilangan makna.

Saya percaya ada proses surat-menyurat. Takdir yang interaktif. Bukan satu arah. Apapun yang Anda lakukan dan *pikirkan* akan berakibat penuh pada dunia. Terlepas dari Anda menyadarinya atau tidak.

Books had rescued me when i most needed saving... Books were smarter than me and words inspired me... to try something new, charge forward without a clear understanding of what would happen next, because "given something like death, what does it matter if one looks foolish now and then, or tries too hard, or cares too deeply?" In the end, Thoreau, Whitman, Hafiz, and a dozen other writers put me up to the task of seeing if I dared to "live a life worth living.

I was stubborn like that, refusing to let my heart redefine how I operated. Looking back, there is a part of me that wants to replace the word 'stubborn' with 'reckless'; there are many things I would do differently now, but what good does it do to retrace your steps? Sometimes you simply do the things you do, and it doesn't necessarily help to pick on the "old you" by proclaiming how smart the new you is.

I imagined that a better world would be less complicated, less involved, and with less need to mass produce doorknobs and lock sets, electric outlets, power cords, frozen chicken wings, packages of steak, rubber bands, and a million little foam earbuds that slip over the broadcasting end of an iPod. I'd stand staring at Jenna's room, the recycling porch, and imagine what my life would be like if I could squeeze all my worldly possessions into a space like that.

Sometimes the word 'gratitude' feels too thin to explain things.

Sometimes I worry that I'll slide back into the mindless rotisserie of work and projects that guided me in my old house... that I'll grow numb to the way nature can leave me awestruck. I worry that I'll fall asleep at the switch, only to wake up years later and find that I can't remember what I did last week or the month before that, nor do I recognize the old lady staring back at me in the mirror.

Whose idea was it that we should all get jobs, work faster, work better, race from place to place with our brains stewing on tweets, blogs, and sound bites, on must-see movies, must-do experiences, must-have gadgets, when in the end, all any of us will have is our simple beating heart, reaching up for the connection to whoever might be in the room or leaning into our mattress as we draw our last breath.

I didn't do anything but sit quietly and pay attention to the fact that my hollow chest was still beating. I was still alive and could see that the new normal wasn't so bad.

Whose idea was it that we should all get jobs, work faster, work better, race from place to place with our brains stewing on tweets, blogs, and sound bites, on must-see movies, must-do experiences, must-have gadgets, when in the end, all any of us will have is our simple beating heart, reaching up for the connection to whoever might be in the room or leaning into our mattress as we draw our last breath. I hate to put it in such dramatic terms, but it's kinda true.

You must be jesting. What happened down there is one of the most mortifying moments of my life. Why on earth would I point it out to you if you'd forgotten all about it?" His eyes widened. "Forgotten about it? Forgotten about it? Sweetheart, I have replayed those moments in my mind a hundred times, at least.