Quotes About Awareness

Yo no vivía, y ahora vivo; pero ahora que vivo es cuando siento lo que es morir

Uno mismo es quien menos sabe de su existencia... No se existe sino para los demás...

Las mujeres saben siempre cuándo se las mira, aun sin verlas, y cuándo se las ve sin mirarlas.

Quando um homem adormecido e inerte na cama sonha algo, o que é que existe mais, ele como consciência que sonha, ou o seu sonho?

Es obra de misericordia suprema despertar al dormido y sacudir al parado, y es obra de suprema piedad religiosa buscar la verdad en todo y descubrir dondequiera el dolo, la necedad y la inepcia.

El segundo nacimiento, el verdadero, es nacer por el dolor a la conciencia de la muerte incesante, de que estamos siempre muriendo.

Hay que convertir la reflexión en instinto si se quiere que llegue a ser instintiva la reflexión.

Como sólo está de veras cuerdo el que tiene consciencia de su locura

Cada uno mira demasiado lo propio y olvida que hay cosas que son de todos y que hay que cuidar.

I mean, we're only here for a short while. And I think it's such a lucky accident, having been born, that we're almost obliged to pay attention. In some ways, this is getting far afield. I mean, we are—as far as we know—the only part of the universe that's self-conscious. We could even be the universe's form of consciousness.

But shortcuts are dangerous; we cannot delude ourselves that our knowledge is further along than it actually is.

The optimal state of inner experience is one in which there is order in consciousness. This happens when psychic energy—or attention—is invested in realistic goals, and when skills match the opportunities for action. The pursuit of a goal brings order in awareness because a person must concentrate attention on the task at hand and momentarily forget everything else.

When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully

The mark of a person who is in control of consciousness is the ability to focus attention at will, to be oblivious to distractions, to concentrate for as long as it takes to achieve a goal, and not longer. And the person who can do this usually enjoys the normal course of everyday life.

To pursue mental operations to any depth, a person has to learn to concentrate attention. Without focus, consciousness is in a state of chaos.

When not preoccupied with our selves, we actually have a chance to expand the concept of who we are. Loss of self-consciousness can lead to self-transcendence, to a feeling that the boundaries of our being have been pushed forward.

The most important step in emancipating oneself from social controls is the ability to find rewards in the events of each moment.

The insight presumably occurs when a subconscious connection between ideas fits so well that it is forced to pop out into awareness, like a cork held underwater breaking out into the air after it is released.

To be distracted against one's will is the surest sign that one is not in control.

Activity and reflection should ideally complement and support each other. Action by itself is blind, reflection impotent.

Ideally, the end of extrinsically applied education should be the start of an education that is motivated intrinsically. At that point the goal of studying is no longer to make the grade, earn a diploma, and find a good job. Rather, it is to understand what is happening around one, to develop a personally meaningful sense of what one's experience is all about.

Subjective experience is not just one of the dimensions of life, it is life itself.

Thus we might think of consciousness as intentionally ordered information. This

Action by itself is blind, reflection impotent.