Quotes About Introspection

I don't know what more there is to say, except this: that since one can't refuse to know oneself, and it must have happened eventually, I would rather it was through you than anyone else.

I now know something about myself which I have been suspecting for years, if I had had the honesty to admit it. I ought to be frightened and ashamed, but I am not.

Se le ocurrió que nadie sino él miraría nunca desde sus ojos, que de entre todas las vidas en que podía haber vivido, más numerosas que lo imaginable, esta era la suya, clavada en este único punto del infinito; el resto siempre sería ajeno, él sería yo.

L'ho sentito dire che nessuno dovrebbe presumere di leggere l'universo se prima non ha capito e dominato la propria anima, altrimenti nulla potrà impedirgli di volgere al male tutta l'altra conoscenza".

All'inizio andai da Socrate", disse, "per il suo metodo negativo. Mi piaceva vederlo minare alla base la sicurezza degli stolti. Ecco, pensavo, un uomo che non addomestica la verità, ma la segue anche nel deserto. Perciò lo seguii a mia volta; e Socrate mi condusse dove non avevo pensato di andare".

As i was beginning to understand, this kind of love was foreign ground to him. I may add that he never did, as far as I know, accept a suitor.... Sometimes indeed I asked myself whether he lacked the capacity for loving men at all; but I liked him too well to offend him by such a question.

when you feel less superior it seems you feel more lonely.

Her estimate of human nature, and more particularly of her own sex, went up as the coffee went down.

He was filled with a vast sense of the momentous, of unknown mysteries. He did not know what he should demand of himself, nor did it seem to matter, for he had not chosen this music he moved to, it had chosen him.

Wisdom comes with age, but keep it to yourself.

Sharing a room with a cadaver is only mildly different from being in a room alone. They are the same sort of company as people across from you on subways or in airport lounges, there but not there. Your eyes keep going back to them, for lack of anything more interesting to look at, and then you feel bad for staring.

I began thinking about my skeleton, this solid, beautiful thing inside me that I would never see.

I like to read because it kills me.

Something unpronounceable followed by a long silence points out my life is becoming a landscape.

If there is any irreverence in my own work, I hope it is the irreverence I bear in mistrusting my own sincere self, which then sincerely mistrusts the irreverent me. If there is a bottom to this, I think it is a life's work.

I used to think I wrote because there was something I wanted to say. Then I thought, 'I will continue to write because I have not yet said what I wanted to say'; but I know now I continue to write because I have not yet heard what I have been listening to.

You can figure out who you were by which movies you loved when.

9. MOOD: The world is a serious place for some spirited kids. They're analytical, meticulously reviewing experiences, finding the flaws, and making suggestions for change. Even if they scored three goals in a soccer game, they'll focus on the one they missed. If they are excited about an event or pleased with a gift, you may not be aware of it, as their smiles are a rare treat.

Perhaps loneliness had nothing to do with place or circumstance; perhaps it was in you; yourself. Perhaps, wherever you were, you took your little circle of loneliness with you...

When left alone with her, I ignored her and kept my eyes on my book, though I confess I turned over more pages than I read.

It's none of my business what other people think of me.

To lead a human life, a man must have a notion of himself as having a past and a future.

If you are wise, you will never forget that your heart is yours alone. It can be the greatest gift, but never can it be commanded.

I give myself sometimes admirable advice, but I am incapable of taking it.