Quotes About Perspective

Most of us go through life so absorbed in the cocoon of ourselves that we rarely stop to consider the other. Of course we think that we do; indeed we may pride ourselves on our capacity for empathy; we may be considerate and thoughtful in our dealings with others, but how often do we stand before them, so to speak, and experience what it is to be them?

If everybody is a villain, then nobody is a villain

Cattle had no vote, nor the words to express a view, but their feelings ranked above just about everything else in the country.

Yes, she agreed, there are times when I am unhappy and times when I am happy. There are more happy times than unhappy ones, I think.

There you are," said Mma Makutsi. "Women have been tricked. They have tricked us, Mma. And we walked into their trap like cattle.

for most of us there was a central, unavoidable problem— the world was populated by people who were unlike us . That explained so many wars— particularly religious ones; that explained persecutions and injustices; that explained simple everyday irritation with one's fellow man: They were just not like us.

all those things that sound so right were often just poetry, really—the gravy we put on reality to make it taste a bit better.

Most people try," said Ulf. It was something that he reminded himself of regularly, as it made all the difference in your dealing with people. If you bore in mind that they were trying their best, it became that much easier to be tolerant.

People tried to understand, and many did, but not everybody could make the imaginative leap that landed one in the position of another person, in their shoes, in their very garments, looking out on the world with their eyes, feeling what went on inside their hearts; being made to cry by the things that made them want to cry. That was easy in theory, but hard in practice. They pretended to understand, but when it came down to it, many simply did not.

That, she imagined, was because he had been given the eyes to see things, as we are given the eyes of those who have gone before us, and can see the world in the way in which they saw it.

Men talked about things that happened in the world, about events; women, by contrast, talked amongst themselves about being in the world. The difference was crucial.

All of us had a view from somewhere

Perhaps the cloud had blown over and covered his sky.

Worse things have happened, is what she says in such circumstances. And I suppose she's right. There's always something worse happening elsewhere. It's worth reminding ourselves of that, I suppose.

Znajdujemy w ?yciu to, czego szukamy, powiedzia? kiedy? do niej ojciec. I mia? racj?: je?li szukasz w ?yciu szcz??cia, znajdziesz szcz??cie, je?li szukasz nieufno?ci, zazdro?ci i nienawi?ci, to znajdziesz nieufno??, zazdro?? i nienawi??.

We were all different, she thought, and it was important to remind oneself of that. It was important, too, to imagine what it must be like to be another person. That was a simple thing to do, and its effect could be salutary.

And the memory made her humble; for we should not forget what it is to be young and to have ideas and attitudes that may later seem so fanciful.

When people ask for advice they very rarely want your advice and will go ahead and do what they want to do anyway, no matter what you say. That applied in every sort of case; it was a human truth of universal application, but one which most people knew little or nothing about.

But it was a mistake to go through life trying to interfere in things that were beyond your control, or which were going to happen anyway, no matter what you do. A certain amount of acceptance -which wasn't the same thing as cowardice, or indifference -was necessary or you would spend your life burning up with annoyance and rage.

All cats are grey in the dark, he had written in one chapter. So remember that how much you can see of a situation depends on how much light you can shine upon it.

all of us had a view from somewhere, a view of the world from the perspective of who we were, of what had happened to us, of how we thought about things.

An Englishman was reflecting on the different words that people use for fish. 'Isn't it strange,' he said, 'that the French say le poisson, the Spanish say el pescado, and the English call it fish—which is what it is.' 

Love had transformed the world for me. Transformed it.

But we are all fortunate in one way or another. The task for most of us is to identify in what way that is, would you not agree?" 81.