Some Favourite Quotes #2
Connecting with ourselves through fiction
A few weeks back I shared a post with a few of my favourite quotes. Those were generally words of wisdom from non-fiction, philosophers, poets or old proverbs.
I was digging through some more notes lately and came across some quotes from fiction that really stuck with me at one time or another.
We often look for inspiration or comfort from more obvious sources like self-help books or quotes from different kinds of leaders but often a novel or a short story can speak to us in ways that non-fiction can’t.
I mentioned in that original post that we don’t necessarily need to try to understand everything on an intellectual level immediately.
The intellectual side of the mind is already pretty good at figuring out the logical meaning of things. We can also, however, get a felt sense of what we experience.
When we read we can pay attention to:
Physical sensations
Impulses
Thoughts
Emotions
We can always come back later and dig deeper into the meaning of the words.
See if you can pay attention to the experience of reading the quotes below. Give yourself some time with each before moving on to the next.
“The imagination is always the best torturer”
Bryce Courtenay, The Power Of One.
“Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them”
Frank Herbert, Dune.
“”Goodbye” he said. “Goodbye” said the fox. “And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye””
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
“”I have a lot more patience for others than I have for myself, and I’m much better at bringing out the best in others than in myself. That’s just the kind of person I am. I’m the scratchy stuff on the side of the matchbox. But that’s fine with me. I don’t mind at all.
Better to be a first class matchbox than a second-class match””
Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood
“And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields”
Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
““Why would you want to keep in practice being wrong?” Call asked. “I’d think it would be something you’d try to avoid”
“You can’t avoid it, you’ve got to learn to handle it” Augustus said.
“If you only come face to face with your own mistakes once or twice in your life it’s bound to be extra painful. I face mine every day - that way they ain’t usually much worse than a dry shave””
Larry McMurtry, Lonesome Dove
“I realize today that nothing in the world is more distasteful to a man than to take the path that leads to himself.”
Herman Hesse, Demian
“The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much”
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
“Who has not in his great grief felt a longing to look upon the outward features of the universal Mother; to lie on the mountains and watch the clouds drive across the sky and hear the rollers break in thunder on the shore, to let his poor struggling life mingle for a while in her life; to feel the slow beat of her eternal heart, and to forget his woes, and let his identity be swallowed in the vast imperceptibly moving energy of her of whom we are, from whom we came, and with whom again we shall be mingled, who gave us birth, and will in a day to come give us our burial also”.
H. Rider Haggard, Allan Quatermain
Did any of these quotes stand out for you?
If so, what was the experience like?
What are your own favourite quotes?
Feel free to share in the comments.