Quotes About Presence

My Dad, a small-town lawyer, was also named Paul. Until we lost him when I was 16, he was a gentle presence in my life. I like to think he'd be proud of me and my sister and brothers, because I'm sure proud of him and of where I come from, Janesville, Wisconsin.

Listening is such a simple act. It requires us to be present, and that takes practice, but we don't have to do anything else. We don't have to advise, or coach, or sound wise. We just have to be willing to sit there and listen.

If you're impatient while waiting for the bus, tell yourself you're doing 'Bus waiting meditation.' If you're standing in a slow line at the drugstore, you're doing 'Waiting in line meditation.' Just saying these words makes me feel very spiritual and high-minded and wise.

I wish I had been home more when the children were growing up. I missed a lot.

When you stop comparing what is right here and now with what you wish were, you can begin to enjoy what is.

Going back, I wish I could have been in the moment a little bit more. I can't change it, but hindsight definitely makes me appreciative of the moment now - even if it's hard, or exhausting, it's all a part of the experience.

I only wish Chet Atkins could be here for this joyous occasion.

It's ungrateful to be wishing you were doing something else at the moment you are living. You haven't lived in the moment that you are really living, you are wishing you were somewhere else.

One only has to look at the debacle that has unfolded in Iraq after the withdrawal of U.S. troops at the end of 2011 to have a sneak preview of what could take place in an Afghanistan without some kind of residual American presence.

Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me.

The presence of passion within you is the greatest gift you can receive. Treat it as a miracle.

Be still; quietly remember the presence of and within yourself, and you will know, without thinking, that while all around you everything changes, within you lives something unchanging.

Your God is ever beside you - indeed, He is even within you.

Love means that everything is right with the world. Love and only love. Love means that you are content within your own heart and in the presence of the person that you love, who fills your day and makes you stronger and wiser, and gives you the confidence to go out into the world. Love is just the most beautiful, joyous feeling.

When you take your attention into the present moment, a certain alertness arises. You become more conscious of what's around you, but also, strangely, a sense of presence that is both within and without.

The absent are never without fault, nor the present without excuse.

You don't build a bond without being present.

Honestly, working with Eddie Murphy was mind-blowing just in terms of the budget alone. To see the respect he commands, to witness his presence, you understand why he and people like Martin Lawrence are stars.

The mere fact of an American being present could help save the lives of innocent people. That's why I believe in the importance of bearing witness, to become a voice for the voiceless.

Like civil-rights protesters who sang rousing hymns as they were carried off to jail, Twitterers are bearing witness to what's happening around them, and calling out into the darkness of cyberspace for confirmation. I'm here. You're here, too. We are present.

It's important to be a witness to reality as this world can consume you.

Woman absent is woman dead.

On the fragrance side, I think it's important that it's not overpowering, a fragrance on a man or a woman. I think it's important to see the person before you smell them. Less is more.

In a Balenciaga you were the only woman in the room - no other woman existed.