Quotes About Introspection

That I had been shallow, stubborn, and selfish did not alter the gravity and stupidity of what I had done. I had made the greatest mistake for a woman literate in nu shu: I had not considered texture, context, and shades of meaning.

It's fair to say I don't know what I'm doing. I like to plot my life and proceed carefully, but life doesn't always follow a plan.

of thought—months, alone, of thought.

It was easier for me to begin picking at Snow Flower's faults than to feel the emotions raging inside of me.

all mistakes are my own

We had a meeting where we were supposed to learn how to respond to jerks who ask things like When did you know you were adopted? Most people picture a scene where the parents sit you down and you find out who you are. I didn't need that meeting to know how to answer, because all I had to do was look in the mirror. When people ask me that question, I always say, When did you find out you weren't adopted? How do you know your mother is your birth mother?

Mille anni addietro il poeta Han Yun scrisse: «Tutto ciò che non ha pace griderà forte». Paragonò il bisogno umano di esprimere i sentimenti con la scrittura alla forza naturale che spinge le piante a stormire nel vento, o il metallo a risuonare quando viene percosso. Formulata quella considerazione, seppi cosa fare. Ci lavoravo da anni. Privata del mondo esterno, avevo passato la vita a guardarmi dentro e le mie emozioni erano finemente accordate.

I thought I could use idealism to solve my inner conflicts, but in healing my inner conflicts I destroyed my idealism.

From the second I woke up, I had seen my family in new ways and they had me filled with strange emotions --melancholy, sadness, jealousy, and a sense of injustice about many things that suddenly seemed unfair.

There have been plenty of chances to close my eyes and go back to the sleep of my life as it was, but I hadn't taken any of them. Do I wish now that I had? It's hard to answer that question, as the wraiths move closer.

All women are mysteries." "Only men think that," said Pearl. "Largely because they're not paying attention.

You were never so acutely aware of your own flaws as you were in the presence of your child. Why was that?

Sometimes silence is the only answer we get, and we have to accept that.

But mainly, people were so wrapped up in their own inner hurricane that they never saw anything outside the storm of themselves.

The human mind, with all its mystery, bears endless study. Doesn't it?

There is no external refuge." Meaning, you cannot look into the outer world to feel safe, to feel at peace. You cannot look without for understanding, or for justice. You must look within. I

It was so much simpler to see other people's wrongs and make them pay. It was so much harder to have compassion, to see yourself in others and find forgiveness.

know, some secret self, maybe it's hiding in here. I read in one of those clutter clearing books that if you have sealed boxes in your life, then there are places within yourself you're afraid to confront.

There was and always had been a drive within me to know the truth of things.

The reward for all high performance must be sought within itself or sought in vain.

The choices we made ... These were the right choices. They were positive and proactive. And it was, for a time, good for everyone, most especially our boy. But were these choices really? Or were they reactions? Reactions to something that life had thrown at us, something we didn't choose and didn't want. Is there a difference between reaction and choice? I don't know the answer.

How the hell should I know what we deserve?

I want to unfold. Let no place in me hold itself closed, For where I am closed, I am false. Rainer Maria Rilke

Everyone has flaws, even if you can't see them.