Existence Quotes - Page 36

• Here silence stands Like heat. Here leaves unnoticed thicken, Hidden weeds flower, neglected waters quicken, Luminously-peopled air ascends; And past the poppies bluish neutral distance Ends the land suddenly beyond a beach Of shapes and shingle. Here is unfenced existence: Facing the sun, untalkative, out of reach.

  Philip Larkin

  Weed, Beach, Distance

  Philip Larkin (2012). “The Whitsun Weddings”, p.5, Faber & Faber

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• "What would you do with the lazy ones, who would not work?" "No one is lazy. They grow hopeless from the misery of their present existence, and give up. Under our order of things, every man would do the work he liked, and would have as much as his neighbor, so could not be unhappy and discouraged."

  Emma Goldman

  Giving Up, Men, Order

  "Emma Goldman: Made for America, 1890-1901".

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• When the entire world is built on death and horror, when existence is a constant state of panic, it's hard to get worked up about any one thing. Specific fears have become irrelevant. We've replace them with a smothering blanket far worse.

  Isaac Marion

  World, Panic, Horror

  Isaac Marion (2012). “Warm Bodies: A Novel”, p.36, Simon and Schuster

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• Man is not fully conditioned and determined but rather determines himself whether he gives in to conditions or stands up to them. In other words, man is ultimately self-determining. Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become in the next moment.

  Viktor E. Frankl

  Men, Self, Giving

  Viktor E. Frankl (2006). “Man's Search for Meaning”, p.129, Beacon Press

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• We have a responsibility toward the other life-forms of our planet whose continued existence is threatened by the thoughtless behavior of our own human species. . . . Environmental responsibility – for if there is no God, then, obviously, it is up to us to put things right.

  Jane Goodall

  Responsibility, Environmental, Behavior

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• Each of us is leading a difficult life, and when we meet people we are seeing only a tiny part of the thinnest veneer of their complex, troubled existences. To practise anything other than kindness towards them, to treat them in any way save generously, is to quietly deny their humanity.

  Derren Brown

  Kindness, People, Humanity

  "Confessions of a Conjuror". Book by Derren Brown, 2009.

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• My very existence, my life in the world, seemed like a hallucination. A strong wind would make me think my body was about to be blown to the end of the earth, to some land I had never seen or heard of, where my mind and body would separate forever. “Hold tight,” I would tell myself, but there was nothing for me to hold on to.

  Haruki Murakami

  Strong, Thinking, Wind

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• In the existence of our lives, there is a single coincidence that brings us together and for a moment, our hearts beat as one.

  Jessica Sorensen

  Heart, Together, Coincidence

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• The bud disappears when the blossom breaks through, and we might say that the former is refuted by the latter; in the same way when the fruit comes, the blossom may be explained to be a false form of the plant's existence, for the fruit appears as its true nature in place of the blossom.

  Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

  Break Through, Unity, Bud

  "The Phenomenology of Mind".

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• You left ground and sky weeping, mind and soul full of grief. No one can take your place in existence, or in absence. Both mourn, the angels, the prophets, and this sadness I feel has taken from me the taste of language, so that I cannot say the flavor of my being apart.

  Rumi

  Grief, Taken, Sadness

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• The greatest truths are the simplest things in the world, simple as your own existence.

  Swami Vivekananda

  Simple, World, Simplest

  Swami Vivekananda (2015). “The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda”, p.1143, Manonmani Publishers

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• I've nothing against eye make-up and lipstick. But the fact is that we’re actually living on a planet in space. For me that’s an extraordinary thought. It’s mind-boggling just to think about the existence of space at all. But there are girls who can’t see the universe for eye liner.

  Jostein Gaarder

  Girl, Eye, Thinking

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• Space and silence are two aspects of the same thing. The same no-thing. They are externalization of inner space and inner silence, which is stillness: the infinitely creative womb of all existence.

  Eckhart Tolle

  Two, Space, Silence

  Eckhart Tolle (2004). “The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment”, p.139, New World Library

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• I feel the flatline of my existence disrupting, forming heartbeat hills and valleys

  Isaac Marion

  Valleys, Hills, Heartbeat

  Isaac Marion (2012). “Warm Bodies: A Novel”, p.47, Simon and Schuster

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• If I were going to begin practicing the presence of God for the first time today, it would help to begin by admitting the three most terrible truths of our existence: that we are so ruined, and so loved, and in charge of so little.

  Anne Lamott

  Three, Admitting, Littles

  Anne Lamott (2013). “Help: The First Essential Prayer”, p.12, Hachette UK

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• Christianity is not just involved with "salvation", but with the total man in the total world. The Christian message begins with the existence of God forever, and then with creation. It does not begin with salvation. We must be thankful for salvation, but the Christian message is more than that. Man has a value because he is made in the image of God.

  Francis Schaeffer

  Christian, Men, Being Thankful

  Francis A. Schaeffer (2009). “Art and the Bible”, p.89, InterVarsity Press

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• If we hope to live not just from moment to moment, but in true consciousness of our existence, then our greatest need and most difficult achievement is to find meaning in our lives.

  Bruno Bettelheim

  Achievement, Needs, Consciousness

  Bruno Bettelheim (1976). “The uses of enchantment: the meaning and importance of fairy tales”, Knopf

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• You were difficult enough to catch,” Faste said. Salander gave him a long look, satisfied herself that he was an idiot, and decided that she would not waste too many seconds concerning herself with his existence.

  Steig Larsson

  Long, Looks, Waste

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• I perceive value, I confer value, I create value, I even create — or guarantee — existence. Hence, my compulsion to make “lists.” The things (Beethoven’s music, movies, business firms) won’t exist unless I signify my interest in them by at least noting down their names. Nothing exists unless I maintain it (by my interest, or my potential interest). This is an ultimate, mostly subliminal anxiety. Hence, I must remain always, both in principle + actively, interested in everything. Taking all of knowledge as my province.

  Susan Sontag

  Names, Anxiety, Principles

  Susan Sontag (2012). “As Consciousness Is Harnessed to Flesh: Journals and Notebooks, 1964-1980”, p.251, Macmillan

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• Kate leaned back against her chair. "Where is the bane of my existence?" "In the shower, freshening up." "Oh, God, who did Asciano screw now?" "No, no, he's covered in blood." "Oh good." She sighed and stopped. "The kid is covered in blood and we're relieved. There is something wrong with us.

  Ilona Andrews

  Kids, Blood, Chairs

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• I love you,” I said, causing his face to contort in pain. “I’m not a man so I do not have a heart that loves as a human does. I’m an immortal god that dwells with supreme power because I hold the keys to Death. But you are my existence. I am yours.” Hot tears streamed down my face as I stared into the face of someone who comprehended an emotion much stronger than my weak, feeble words of love.

  Abbi Glines

  Love, Pain, Heart

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• Okay," I said, "what's your biggest fear?" As always, he took a second to think about the answer. "Clowns," he said. "Clowns." "Yup." I just looked at him. "What?" he said, glancing over at me. "That is not a real answer," I told him. "Says who?" "Says me. I meant a real fear, like of failure, of death, of regret. Like that. Something that keeps you awake nights, questioning your very existence." He thought for a second. "Clowns.

  Sarah Dessen

  Regret, Real, Night

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• For a long time—always, in fact—I have known that life here on earth is not what I needed and that I wasn’t able to deal with it; for this reason and for this reason alone, I have acquired a touch of spiritual pride, so that my existence seems to me the degradation and the erosion of a psalm.

  Emile M. Cioran

  Spiritual, Pride, Erosion

  Emile M. Cioran (1976). “The Trouble with Being Born”, Viking Books

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• We disliked the rigours of existence, the unfulfilled longings, the enshrined injustices of the world, the labyrinths of love, the ignorance of parents, the fact of dying, and the amazing indifference of the Living in the midst of the simple beauties of the universe. We feared the heartlessness of human beings, all of whom are born blind, few of whom ever learn to see.

  Ben Okri

  Ignorance, Simple, Parent

  "The Famished Road". Book by Ben Okri, 1991.

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• As he looked up at the clouds or down at the precipice, he realized that this woman was the most important thing in his life; that she was the explanation, the sole reason for the existence of those rocks, that sky, that winter. If she were not there with him, it wouldn't matter if all the angels of heaven came flying down to comfort him--Paradise would make no sense.

  Paulo Coelho

  Angel, Winter, Clouds

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