Quotes About Introspection

The answers are never "out there." All the answers are "in there," inside you, waiting to be discovered.

Observation performed merely on its own is no more than what a machine can do—a surveillance camera, for instance. And imagination on its own, practiced by itself for too long, can cut you off from the world. You might wander away, like a hermit to a cave, becoming only a spirit to the rest of humanity. However, if you remain in the world, and you train yourself to combine observation and imagination in proper proportion...then you may change the world itself.

Funny is only something that others know about you - you can't be funny by yourself.

A large part of Sparta's success was due to their observing fundamental principles that included honor, Know Thyself, nothing in excess, Keep the Measure, loyalty, love, perseverance, and selflessness.

I prefer to imagine that my wife, a few friends, and occasionally my mom are the only ones who read what I do, though I realize that this is somewhat unrealistic.

It's somehow more comforting to imagine that one's suffering is unique, and to measure against what one doesn't know, rather than against what one does.

I want to be wrong. I want this all to have a reasonable...

Although Walter was the first to admit that his own memory wasn't the best—that he forgot people's names all the time even when he'd been introduced more than once—he

Wieder, nur stärker als schon einmal vorher, hat sie das Gefühl, bisher gar nicht gelebt zu haben. Nur wenn man dieses Gefühl der Auflösung hat, nur wenn man anscheinend gar nicht da ist, sondern in einem anderen Wesen aufgeht, ist man ganz.

Che altro se non tempo, fertilità del suolo, morìa di bestie, malattie - volevo strappare la gente al circolo dentro cui era inserita? Dentro cui stava bene, non cercava nient'altro? Al che io, scattando: perché non conosce niente altro. Perché c'è qualcuno che lascia alla gente solo questa specie di domande.

I felt there was no point in telling anyone anything that was happening inside of me.

ser adulta consistía en ese juego: perderse de vista a sí misma

I often wonder if the bill is yet to be presented during our lifetime. If not, I must present it to myself.

Was für eine vorzügliche Einrichtung, daß die Gedanken nicht als sichtbare Schrift über unsre Stirnen laufen! Leicht würde jedes Beisammensein, selbst ein harmloses wie dieses, zum Mördertreffen. Oder wir lernten es, uns über uns selbst zu erheben, ohne Haß in die Zerrspiegel zu blicken, welche die andern uns sind. Und ohne Trieb, die Spiegel zu zerschlagen. Dazu aber, sie weiß es ja, sind wir nicht gemacht.

The whole world like a wall facing me. I fumble over the stones: no gaps. Why should I go on deluding myself: there's no gap for me to live in. It's my own fault. It's me, I'm simply not determined enough. Yet how simple and natural everything seemed when I first read about it in books.

It's really ridiculous to assume that people are improved by hearing someone tell the truth about them.

To become oneself, with all one's strength. Difficult. A bomb, a speech, a rifle shot-and the world can look a different place. And then where is this "self"?

I write for the same reason I read: because it's all there is for me.

That person who declares that there is always something wrong is always doing something to make things wrong.

Live as you will wish to have lived when you are dying.

Il était soûl. Donc lucide. Soûl on voit très clair en soi.

Bal gibi tatl? sesi vard? ama, gereksiz konu?may? sevmezdi.

Das hat mich nicht traurig gemacht, damals, aber irgendwie hat es das doch. Ich weiß auch nicht wieso.

Die Frau mit dem [...] Tanz, die sich immernoch hin und her wiegt, die ist auch breit, und ich frage mich, ob sie das garnicht merkt, dass sie so seltsam versunken und wunderschön tanzt, und woher das wohl kommt, ob diese Art sich zu bewegen, schon in ihr drinnen ist oder ob das durch Drogen kommt.