Quotes About Perspective

She used the closeness of death to teach her what really matters and to help her steer clear of the petty squabbles and concerns that plagued others. She used it to anchor herself in the present, to make her appreciate every moment and every encounter.

Los chinos tienen un proverbio: "Cuando el Yang está en su fase ascendente, el Yin nace", lo que traducido a nuestro lenguaje quiere decir que cuando un hombre ha dedicado lo mejor de su vida a los asuntos ordinarios de la sobrevivencia, el Yin o lado emocional de su naturaleza sale a la superficie y reclama sus derechos. Cuando ocurre este periodo, todo lo que antes parecía importante pierde su significación.

Daily Law: Think more like a writer in approaching the people you deal with, even the worst sorts.

In any competitive environment in which there are winners or losers, the person who has the wider, more global perspective will inevitably prevail. The reason is simple: such a person will be able to think beyond the moment and control the overall dynamic through careful strategizing.

Daily Law: When it comes to the ideas and opinions you hold, see them as toys or building blocks that you are playing with. Some you will keep, others you will knock down, but your spirit remains flexible and playful. The Laws of Human Nature, 7: Soften People's Resistance by Confirming Their Self-Opinion—The Law of Defensiveness

and even if we live for another eighty years, it is but a drop in the ocean of the vastness of time, and it passes always more quickly than we imagine.

There may be no more Sun Kings but there are still plenty of people who believe the sun revolves around them.

Daily Law: Remember that greater control over events will come from realistic assessments of the situation, precisely what is made most difficult by a brain submerged in trivia. The Laws of Human Nature, 6: Elevate Your Perspective—The Law of Shortsightedness

you must be careful not to let it annoy or distress you, but to look upon it merely as an addition to your knowledge

Pero la fuente primaria de la inteligencia humana es el desarrollo de las neuronas espejo (ver aquí), lo que nos concede la aptitud de ponernos en los zapatos de otro e imaginar su experiencia.

A través de una exposición continua a la gente y tratando de pensar dentro de ella podemos obtener una sensación creciente de su perspectiva, pero esto requiere un esfuerzo de nuestra parte.

Tan pronto como te sientes contra mí, has dejado de comprender mi posición, ¡y por tanto mis argumentos! Tienes que ser víctima de la misma pasión".

We humans like to imagine that we have an objective knowledge of the world. We take it for granted that what we perceive on a daily basis is reality—this reality being more or less the same for everybody. But this is an illusion. No two people see or experience the world in the same way. What we perceive is our personal version of reality, one that is of our own creation. To realize this is a critical step in our understanding of human nature.

People are more complex than you imagine. Your goal is to simply see their point of view better. As you go through this process, it becomes like a muscle that gets stronger the more you exercise it.

Our relationship to time is more malleable than we think. Although we cannot stop the aging process or defy the ultimate reality of death, we can alter the experience of them, transforming what is painful and depressing into something much different. We can make time feel more cyclical than linear; we can even step outside the stream and experience forms of timelessness. We do not have to remain locked in the hold of our generation and its perspective.

The Laws of Human Nature, 17: Seize the Historical Moment—The Law of Generational Myopia

This should not upset you but liberate you. The book will teach you to stop taking personally their insinuating comments, shows of coldness, or moments of irritation. The more you grasp this, the easier it will be to react not with your emotions but rather with the desire to understand where their behavior might come from.

Related to mastering your emotions is the ability to distance yourself from the present moment and think objectively about the past and future.

Instead, see other people as phenomena, as neutral as comets or plants. They simply exist. They come in all varieties, making life rich and interesting. Work with what they give you, instead of resisting and trying to change them.

everyone lives in a world of his own. The world in which a man lives shapes itself chiefly on the way in which he looks at it

See Beyond the Moment

The answer is to reverse this perspective: Stop fixating on what other people are saying and doing. Stop fixating on the money, the connections, the outward appearance of things. Instead look inward, focus on the smaller internal changes that lay the groundwork for a much larger change in fortune. It is the difference between grasping at an illusion and immersing yourself in reality. And reality is what will liberate and transform you.

The Laws of Human Nature, 6: Elevate Your Perspective—The Law of Shortsightedness

You must alter your very concept of creativity and try to see it from a new angle. Most often, people associate creativity with something intellectual, a particular way of thinking. The truth is that creative activity is one that involves the entire self—our emotions, our levels of energy, our characters, and our minds.