“Living it up” has become the leitmotif of modern man—a compulsive hyperactivity without any downtimes, no gap of unscheduled time, lest we end up alone with ourselves. The meaning doesn’t matter, so long as it’s intense. We feel that without constant activity, life would be fatally insipid. Friends of mine who lead cultural tours in Asia have told me how their clients can’t bear the least gap in their itinerary. “Is there really nothing scheduled between five and seven?” they ask anxiously. We are, it seems, afraid to turn our gaze in in upon ourselves. We are fully focused on the exterior world, as experienced through our five senses. It seems naive to believe that such a feverish search for intense experience can lead to a lasting enriched quality of life. If we do take the time to explore our inner world, it’s in the form of daydreaming and imagination, dwelling on the past of fantasizing endlessly about the future. A genuine sense of fulfillment, associated with inner freedom, can also offer intensity to every living moment, but of an altogether different sort. It is a sparkling experience of inner well-being, in which the beauty of each thing shines through. It is knowing how to enjoy the present moment, the willingness to nurture altruism and serenity and bring the best part of ourselves to mature—transforming oneself to better transform the world. —Matthieu Ricard in Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill More about this quote Tags: life fear beauty time focus transformation activity aloneness slowing down anxiety serenity Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
If you can look at yourself without condemning what you see, without comparing yourself with somebody else, without wishing to be more beautiful or more virtuous; if you can just observe what you are and move with it, then you will find that it is possible to go infinitely far. Then there is no end to the journey, and that is the mystery, the beauty of it. —Jiddu Krishnamurti in Think on These Things More about this quote Tags: others virtue beauty self mystery self-image journey comparing Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
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 More about this quote Tags: empathy love non-judgement acceptance clear-seeing beauty open-mindedness Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
I am so beautiful, sometimes people weep when they see me. And it has nothing to do with what I look like really, it is just that I gave myself the power to say that I am beautiful, and if I could do that, maybe there is hope for them too. And the great divide between the beautiful and the ugly will cease to be. Because we are all what we choose. —Margaret Cho More about this quote Tags: beauty self-worth ugly Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
You are beautiful, no matter what they say. —Christina Aguilera More about this quote Tags: opinion beauty Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, nor all logic, but it is somewhat beauty and poetry. —Maria Mitchell More about this quote Tags: beauty imagination poetry science mathematics logic Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
For me, it was almost like winter didn’t count. Summer was what mattered. My whole life was measured in summers. —Jenny Han in The Summer I Turned Pretty More about this quote Tags: beauty memory seasons summer Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
In every man's heart there is a secret nerve that answers to the vibrations of beauty. —Christopher Morley More about this quote Tags: beauty heart Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
Anything looked at closely becomes wonderful. —A.R. Ammons More about this quote Tags: attention wonder beauty Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
It was beautiful and simple, as truly great swindles are. —O. Henry More about this quote Tags: beauty lying cheating simplcity Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
We often hear of the beauties of old age, but the only old age that is beautiful is the one the man has been long preparing for by living a beautiful life. Every one of us is right now preparing for old age. … There may be a substitute somewhere in the world for Good Nature, but I do not know where it can be found. The secret of salvation is this: keep sweet, be useful, and keep busy. —Elbert Hubbard More about this quote Tags: life beauty old age usefulness Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
When I'm working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong. —R. Buckminster Fuller More about this quote Tags: beauty logic problems problem solving Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
Love shouldn’t make you feel like that. It should be as natural as breathing. It should happen between two people because it grew there out of something beautiful. —A. Meredith Walters in Cloud Walking More about this quote Tags: love beauty effort Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
Everything that is beautiful and noble is the product of reason and calculation. —Charles Baudelaire More about this quote Tags: beauty nobility reason rationality Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
Let us live for the beauty of our own reality. —Tom Robbins More about this quote Tags: life reality beauty Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email