Quotes About Presence

Debo dejar de fantasear sobre huir hacia otra vida, y tratar de averiguar como vivir la que ya tengo. I need to stop fantasizing about running away to some other life, and start figuring out the one I have.

I would settle for even his worst self, his cruelest trickster self, if only he could be here.

Nicasia saunters over to where the smith is sitting. She wears a dress of purple that is peacock blue when it catches the light. Her hair is woven in to a braid that circles her head, and at her brow is a chain from which dangle dozens upon dozens of beads in sparkling purples and blues and amber.

I wipe wet hands over my face, pushing back those thoughts. There is only now. There is only tomorrow and tonight and now and soon and never.

The habits of life form the soul, and the soul forms the physical presence.

Boredom is a finicky creature, never around when you need it, and always popping up when you want it the least.

We sit together, the mountain and me, until only the mountain remains.

The birds have vanished down the sky. Now the last cloud drains away. We sit together, the mountain and me, until only the mountain remains.

But just as the river is always at the door, so is the world always outside. And it is in the world that we have to live.

Those we love don't go away, they sit beside us every day.

When she looked at photos of her children when they were little, she sometimes thought, Did I notice how beautiful they were? Was I actually there? Did I just skim the surface of my entire damned life?)

Family life, even with just one little boy, had its own familiar rhythms, and it was perfectly possible to keep right on dancing like you always have, even when your mind is somewhere else.

They smiled at each other. Jane looked away. She picked up her mug of tea and took a sip even though it was all gone. The doorbell rang. "That will be Celeste," said Madeline. Great, thought Jane, continuing to pretend-sip her empty mug of tea. Now I'll be in the presence of both great love and great beauty.

Stay still. Stop talking. Stop wanting. Just be. You'll hear it, or feel it. Close your eyes and you'll see it.

Grandchildren would be her second chance to get it right. Now she had the time and the eggs to spare, and she would be present with her grandchildren.

I didn't properly appreciate one damned moment.

Those we love don't go away, they sit beside us every day. (plaque dedication on a park bench)

Grandchildren would be her second chance to get it right. Now she had the time and the eggs to spare, and she would be present with her grandchildren. When she looked at photos of her children when they were little, she sometimes thought, Did I notice how beautiful they were? Was I actually there? Did I just skim the surface of my entire damned life?)

Oh, the testosterone. You could have cut it with a cafeteria spoon.

I sensed him leaning forward. It's weird to feel someone's attention on you that way, like you're the only thing in the world they're listening to. Most of the time people are distracted, or just thinking about what they're going to say next.

The only place their voices were left was in my head. It was better than being alone but it was so, so lonely.

My voice is nothing special, but when your mother tells you something about yourself, even if you've coaxed it out of her, it's hard not to always believe it. I sing to the geese. And I feel her. It's different from remembering her or yearning for her. I feel her near me. I don't know if she is the geese or the river or the sky or the moon. I don't know if she is outside of me or inside of me, but she is here. I feel her love for me. I feel my love reach her. A brief, easy exchange.

When I was visiting her a few years ago she hugged me and said, 'Tomorrow after you leave I will stand here at this window and remember that yesterday you were right here with me.' And now she's dead and I have that feeling all the time, no matter where I stand.

When I was visiting her a few years ago she hugged me and said, 'Tomorrow after you leave I will stand here at this window and remember that yesterday you were right here with me.