Instead of bucking your head against a stone wall… sit quietly with hands folded and wait for the wall to crumble. If you're willing to wait an eternity, it may happen in the twinkling of an eye. For walls often give way quicker than the proud spirit which rules us. Don't sit and pray that it will happen! Just sit and watch it happen.

About Henry Miller

Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blends character study, social criticism, philosophical reflection, stream of consciousness, explicit language, sex, surrealist free association,...

More quotations from Henry Miller

What have we achieved in mowing down mountain ranges, harnessing the energy of mighty rivers, or moving whole populations about like chess pieces, if we ourselves remain the same restless, miserable, frustrated creatures we were before? To call such activity progress is utter delusion.

—Henry Miller

delusion progress destruction environmentalism environment restlessness

I know what the cure is: it is to give up, to relinquish, to surrender, so that our little hearts may beat in unison with the great heart of the world.

—Henry Miller

commonality surrender

The one thing we can never get enough of is love. And the one thing we never give enough is love.

—Henry Miller

love giving taking

Youth has to do with spirit, not age. Men of seventy or sixty are often more youthful than the young. Theirs is the real youth.

—Henry Miller

age youth

Life moves on, whether we act as cowards or as heroes. Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such.

—Henry Miller in The World of Sex

empathy love non-judgement acceptance clear-seeing beauty open-mindedness

More quotations tagged with “waiting”

All human wisdom is summed up in two words; wait and hope.

—Alexandre Dumas

patience hope wisdom words waiting

I've found that often the quality you see in successful people is knowing when to take the initiative, and being quick about it. I've never sat around, waiting for someone to tell me to take charge. I just do it.

—R.K. Lilley in Bad Things

action power waiting initiative

The opposite of talking isn't listening. The opposite of talking is waiting.

—Fran Lebowitz

listening talking waiting

If you have to speculate if someone loves you and wants to be with you, chances are they don't. It's not that complicated. Don't waste moments waiting and wondering. Don't throw away your time dreaming of someone that doesn't want you. No one is that amazing, certainly not the one who would pass you up.

—Donna Lynn Hope

love waiting dream

I can't keep doing this to myself, getting my hopes up so high, only to have them come crashing down. I can't keep waiting for him to come to his senses, having my whole emotional state rest on what he decides. What if he never wakes up to how perfect we'd be together? What if I spend another year pining for him—or longer even? In a terrible flash, I see my future stretching out before me: waiting for his calls, rearranging my life around college visits, and decoding texts and instant messages like they could be something real, something true. This isn't love; this is pure torment.

—Abby McDonald in Getting Over Garrett Delaney

love hope relationship waiting

History

8 Jun 2014 Added
26 Oct 2026 Wording changed

Previous wording

Instead of bucking your head against a stone wall … sit quietly with hands folded and wait for the wall to crumble. If you're willing to wait an eternity, it may happen in the twinkling of an eye. For walls often give way quicker than the proud spirit which rules us. Don't sit and pray that it will happen! Just sit and watch it happen.