Quotes About Introspection

And then he thought: Is this how idiots rationalize their stupidity to themselves?

the seed of doubt was there, and it stayed, and every now and then sent out a little root. It changed everything, to have that seed growing. It made Ender listen more carefully to what people meant, instead of what they said. It made him wise.

Being here alone with nothing to do, I've been thinking about myself too. Trying to understand why I hate myself so badly.

All is going well, very well, I couldn't ask for anything better— So why do I hate my life?

As he thought of it, though, he could not imagine what "just living" might actually be. He had never done it in his life. But he wanted to do it anyway.

It is in the turmoil of chaos that we discover what, if anything, we are.

Isolation is the optimum environment for creativity.

I didn't want to hurt him! Ender cried. Why didn't he just leave me alone!

Everything we do means something, Ender realized. Them laughing. Me not laughing. He toyed with the idea of trying to be like the other boys. But he couldn't think of any jokes, and none of theirs seemed funny. Wherever their laughter came from, Ender couldn't find such a place in himself.

I once heard a tale of a man who split himself in two. The one part never changed at all; the other grew and grew. The changeless part was always true, The growing part was always new, And I wondered, when the tale was through, Which part was me, and which was you.

No one with him to tell him he must eat, he must go practice, he must sleep. Freedom. The trouble was, he didn't know what to do.

Maybe I will do what I want with my life! The only problem is that I have no idea what I want to do with it.

Others find humanity by looking in their own hearts. Only lost souls need to search for it outside themselves.

It [seed of doubt] made Ender listen to what people meant, instead of what they said. It made him wise.

Fiction, because it is not about somebody who actually lived in the real world, always has the possibility of being about ourself.

In my dreams, said Ender, I'm never sure whether I'm really me.

Maybe that's who you are, what you remember." - Valentine

She believed that people revealed themselves most when they were vaguely anxious, and few things brought out nonspecific anxieties like being in the presence of a person who never speaks.

Believed, but the seed of doubt was there, and it stayed, and every now and then sent out a little root. It changed everything, to have that seed growing. It made Ender listen more carefully to what people meant, instead of what they said. It made him wise.

I'm not one to despise other people for their sins. I haven't found one yet, that I didn't say to myself, I've done worse than this.

In the end it was only Peter who had something he could say from the heart. Am I the only one here who sees something of himself in the man who's lying inside this box? No one had an answer for him, either yes or no.

If only we could stand outside our lives and look at what we do, we might repair so many injuries before they're done.

I spend all my time thinking things through. It's acting on my thoughts that gets tricky. Which ones should I act on, and which ones should I ignore?

I was born with more power inside myself than I ever dreamed. But along with it there came no more sense than any other idiotic kid. Somewhere along in here I need to grow up into a man I can stand to live with. A man who doesn't just survive, but deserves to.