Quotes About Awareness

Jack realized that when you're happy – especially when it's the first time in your life – you think of things that would never have occurred to you when you were unhappy.

THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN GET AMERICANS TO NOTICE ANYTHING IS TO TAX THEM OR DRAFT THEM OR KILL THEM," Owen said.

Every American should be forced to live outside the United States for a year or two. Americans should be forced to see how ridiculous they appear to the rest of the world!

The chain of events, the links in our lives—what leads us where we're going, the courses we follow to our ends, what we don't see coming, and what we do—all this can be mysterious, or simply unseen, or even obvious.

but you live your life at the time you live it—you don't have much of an overview when what's happening to you is still happening.

Even I knew better than to sleep with a ghost. And it was the wrong time for a moral dilemma.

Like any good novel, it lulled him into an almost tranquil state of awareness before it jolted him - it caught him completely by surprise.

Ruth knew very well what the killer thought he had heard: he'd heard the sound of someone trying not to make a sound - that's what he'd heard.

For seven of the eight years he was president, Reagan would not say the AIDS word.

Ever since the Christmas of '53, I have felt that the yuletide is a special hell for those families who have suffered any loss or who must admit to any imperfection; the so-called spirit of giving can be as greedy as receiving—Christmas is our time to be aware of what we lack, of who's not home.

This gets complicated, because I know that not all ghosts are dead. In certain cases, you can be a ghost and still be half-alive—only a significant part of you has died. I wonder how many of these half-alive ghosts are aware of what has died in them, and—dead or alive—if there are rules for ghosts.

THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN GET AMERICANS TO NOTICE ANYTHING IS TO TAX THEM OR DRAFT THEM OR KILL THEM," Owen said. He said that once—when Hester proposed abolishing the draft. "IF YOU ABOLISH THE DRAFT," said Owen Meany, "MOST AMERICANS WILL SIMPLY STOP CARING ABOUT WHAT WE'RE DOING IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD." I

That Emma was a restless soul was obvious, but not even Jack (not even Emma) was aware that something was seriously wrong with her.

It is occasionally necessary for me to tell Torontonians of the presence of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans; they tend to think of the Great Lakes as the waters of the world.

You think you have a memory; but it has you! Later

There are moments when time does stop. We must be alert enough to notice such moments.

One can learn much through the thin walls of summer houses.

Irgend jemand sollte Mrs. Reagan sagen, dass keineswegs die jungen Leute - nicht einmal die Drogenkonsumenten unter ihnen - für die gewichtigsten Probleme, vor denen die Welt steht, verantwortlich sind!

it is history that holds you accountable, and I've already expressed my opinion that Americans are not big on history. How many of them even remember their own, recent history? Was twenty years ago so long ago for Americans?

HOW CAN YOU BE HAPPY IF YOU SPEND ALL YOUR TIME THINKING ABOUT DOING IT?" Owen asked.

for had the boy seen what Lindberg meant by a personalized version of Alice's Rose of Jericho, he might have realized that there were other things that were not as they seemed.

Watch out for people who call themselves religious; make sure you know what they mean-- make sure they know what they mean!

Your first loss of a loved one, the first death of someone dear to you—when it happens, the pace of everything changes. In the past, there were times when nothing seemed to be happening. When you lose someone, you're aware of the earth's motion; the world is always moving, always ahead of you. For the rest of your life, you know there are other deaths coming—one after another, yours included.

John Irving (Author)