“Or may-be one who is puzzled at me. As if I were not puzzled at myself!”
“Let your whisper shake the ground”
“She wrote books—and she was happy.”
“The true essence of greatness is in finding self in selfishness”
“It s not always a question of you changing your mind. I think very often your mind changes you. You suddenly realise that without having intended to think something, or while intending to think something, you can t quite do it anymore. It doesn t mean the same thing it used to. And you wonder why. And if you want to take an honest exploration of why that is, it may lead you in some alarming but fruitful directions. That s actually why I called this book Hitch-22, because it s a minor-key echo of the great Joe Heller paradox; but in a lifetime that s had quite a lot of commitment in it, and allegiance, I ve now reached a point where I m mainly associated with a group of people who I suppose could be described as adamant for skepticism, or resolve for uncertainty. And this pits us against the people who are completely sure they have all the answers - or modern totalitarians. The ones who have all the information they need, and who indeed have the truth as it s been revealed to them - they re already qualified to tell us what to do. Opposition to that lot is the cause of my life, always has been, in a way, and opposition to all forms of totalitarianism, not just as a system of thought but in the mind.”
“He has the feeling that merely by being alive he is blocking his own way. From this sense of hindrance, in turn, he deduces the proof that he is alive.”
“We must judge the tree by its fruit. The best fruits of the religious experience are the best things history has to offer. The highest flights of charity, devotion, trust, patience, and bravery to which the wings of human nature have spread themselves, have all been flown for religious ideals.”
“How well do we actually know ourselves? Can we dare to say that we really know someone, like really, really know them?”
“Persecution complexes are reaffirming to those who benefit from unearned privileges.”
“In a deserted stretch of the Karadj highway Munis had come face-to-face with unbridled lust, although she knew what lust was before being touched by it. The problem was that she had an unbounded awareness of things, an awareness that instilled undue caution in her, making her fearful that action would lead to ignominy, humiliation. This created in her a desire to be ordinary, average. Yet she did not truly know what it meant to be ordinary. She did not know that it meant not loving an earthworm, not genuflecting at the altar of withered leaves, not standing in prayer at the call of a lark, not climbing a mountain to see the sunrise, not staying awake all night to gaze at the Ursa Major. She did not differentiate between earth and gravel, but she distinguished the earth from the sky. She had not seen the skies of the earth, but she knew there were earths of the sky. She saw herself in an inevitable process of stagnation. She was already partially rotten within. What can I do with this mass of trivial knowledge? she wondered aloud. How can I cut through it?”
“Kau hanya berguna bagi orang lain, bagi masyarakat, kalau kau menjadi dirimu sendiri--menjadi versi terbaik dari dirimu yang sesungguhnya.”
“You re surroundings can either be a reflection of you or you can end up being a reflection of your surroundings. Ultimately, one will occur noticeably or unnoticeably.”
“If you can be aware that you have a living body, and notice when there s tension in your body, that s already an important insight.”
“Knowing your ignorance is far better than knowing what you know! Understanding the path and will of God is far better than mastering your own path.”
“Setting our living standards and expectations based on the status of others is like wishing that apples were onions.”
“A person must be in tune with the light and dark forces of their nature and remain in harmony with the bands of their own multivariate being.”
“people inspire you, or they drain you-Pick them wisely”