Quotes About Perspective

As if you could TELL time without injuring eternity.

I do not purpose to discuss faith in its dogmatic sense today.

The human beings I know are mostly wonderful people, but they often fail to distinguish clearly between what they worked for and the good things that came their way. They also are not so good at seeing the difference between the character flaws of other people and bad things that happen to them.

Images, similars, signs, correspondences, and coincidences infer a different way to look at the world; they give rise to a different kind of knowledge.

By happiness I mean here a deep sense of flourishing that arises from an exceptionally healthy mind. This is not a mere pleasurable feeling, a fleeting emotion, or a mood, but an optimal state of being. Happiness is also a way of interpreting the world, since while it may be difficult to change the world, it is always possible to change the way we look at it.

Incapaces de encontrar la felicidad en nosotros mismos, la buscamos desesperadamente en objetos, en experiencias, en maneras de pensar o de comportarse cada vez más extrañas. En pocas palabras: nos alejamos de la felicidad buscándola donde no existe.

change, even a tiny one, in the way we manage our thoughts and perceive and interpret the world can significantly change our existence

Para el enamorado, una mujer bella es un objeto de deseo; para el eremita, una distracción; y para el lobo, un buen bocado.

We all strive, consciously or unconsciously, competently or clumsily, passionately or calmly, adventurously or routinely, to be happier and suffer less. Yet we so often confuse genuine happiness with merely seeking enjoyable emotions.

lasting happiness is boring because it is always the same, while suffering is more exciting because it is always different.

Understanding that the essential nature of consciousness is neutral permits us to understand that it is possible to change our mental universe. We can transform the content of our thoughts and experiences.

Algunos piensan que hay que sentirse a disgusto, que en la vida debe haber "días nulos" para apreciar mejor la riqueza de instantes de dicha y "beneficiarse de lo agradable del contraste". Pero ¿son sinceros los que afirman cansarse de una felicidad duradera? ¿De qué clase de felicidad hablan? ¿De la euforia que degenera en aburrimiento, de los placeres que decaen, de los goces que languidecen?.

If we transform our way of perceiving things, we transform the quality of our lives. It is this kind of transformation that is brought about by the form of mindtraining known as meditation.

On s'imagine a priori que la santé devrait influer considérablement sur le bonheur et qu'il est difficile d'être heureux quand on est frappé d'une maladie grave et contraint d'être hospitalisé. Mais il s'avère que ce n'est pas le cas, et que, même dans ces conditions, on retrouve vite le niveau de bonheur qui était le sien avant la maladie.

By happiness I mean here a deep sense of flourishing that arises from an exceptionally healthy mind. This is not a mere pleasurable feeling, a fleeting emotion, or a mood, but an optimal state of being. Happiness is also a way of interpreting the world, since while it may be difficult to change the world, it is always possible to change the way we look at it. A

The search for happiness is not about looking at life through rose-colored glasses or blinding oneself to the pain and imperfections of the world. Nor is happiness a state of exaltation to be perpetuated at all costs; it is the purging of mental toxins, such as hatred and obsession, that literally poison the mind. It is also about learning how to put things in perspective and reduce the gap between appearances and reality. To

Si piensa que todo es perfecto en su vida, o bien es usted un buda, o bien es completamente idiota.

marveling yet again at the way the very same things that cause him to grind his teeth-with a different lens, a tighter focus, better lighting-look like love.

Say, you told me you thought Les Miserables was the greatest novel ever written. I think Vanity Fair is the greatest. Let's fight. - Joe Willard

Sometimes you have to get sad before you get happy 'cause otherwise how would you know the difference?

We are all always the heroes of our stories, or the villains--we never play a bit part. [Édouard Manet]

How is it that strangers sometimes support you more than your friends? No, that is not wholly true--no one could be more loyal than Tonin. Maybe it is simply that you rely so heavily on old friends that their voices in your head begin to sound like your own, and when you hear a new friend's words, they fall like fresh rain. [Édouard Manet]

From above, start with the privileged view.

One person's crazy is another person's sane, I guess.