Category: quotes

A collection of some famous and not-so-famous quotes, with my thoughts on what they mean to me personally, and why I like them.

Things Swept Off In The Breeze…

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Only those in tune with nature seem to pick up on the energy in wind. All sorts of things get swept off in the breeze – ghosts, pieces of soul, voices unsung, voices repressed, love uncherished, and a thousands galore of spiritual ether.

– Terri Guillemets

Nice quote by Terri Guillemets! I totally agree with her on this – there indeed is a certain energy in the wind, an energy separate from the physical energy of the motion of the wind particles. This other “energy” is something different, something difficult to describe, something you either feel or you don’t, something magical.

I feel that this energy knows me. Intimately. It knows how to reach deep down inside and pull me up, despite all that I may be buried under. I find few things as soothing to the soul as a stroll on a breezy night (or day even, as long as it’s not hot). Despite all that may be going on in my life, all the things that may be weighing on my mind at that moment, it transports me far away from them. In that instant, it’s just me and the wind, talking, playing, just being.

ghosts, pieces of soul, voices unsung, voices repressed, love uncherished

So much said in so few words! This is the part of the quote that really hits home for me. I’m finding it difficult to put my feelings and thoughts about them into words. But let me still take a stab: Taken individually, these words may sound melancholic, but in the overall context of the quote, they transform into something warm-and-fuzzy, something beautiful. I don’t know what other words to use, or how else to describe the emotions they trigger, but hopefully these would give you an idea. A brilliant collection of words, woven together even more brilliantly.

Truly, words are just noises and smudges; it is how we use them that gives them their immense power.  And Terri here has done an amazing job at that!

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Note: On some sites, this quote is attributed to a “Drew Sirtors”, about whom I couldn’t find any other piece of information anywhere! I don’t know if it’s a pen name for Terri Guillemets or what other reason there could be for this ambiguity. What’s even more surprising is that this is not a one-off quote by Drew – there’s another popular quote attributed to him/her, but there’s no information at all on this person! Anyways, the point is – I’m not sure to whom this quote actually belongs, but I’ve attributed it above to Terri since it was originally attributed to her the first time I came across it, and also because there seem to be more attributions to her online, than to Drew. If you have any information on the true origin of the quote, please do share!

Photo Credit: Unsplash and Canva

E. E. Cummings: The Hardest Challenge…

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I find this quote from E. E. Cummings to be very true.

We always have an opinion on everything. Even if a random person, whom we are meeting for the first time, were to appear in front of us, and ask for some advice, we would definitely have something for him (even though we may not give that advice to him out of politeness or political correctness, but our minds will definitely think of something for him).

This works the other way too. Everyone has some opinion about how we, ourselves, are, and how we ought to be. That includes how we talk, our body language, our sense of dressing, our lack of knowledge about something, etc. People always have something that they want to tell us.

And this is not always with of a sense of condescension or contempt. Sometimes, people genuinely want what’s best for us. Like your family or friends. They’ll share their knowledge or opinion in the hope that it will make us better, prevent us from making certain mistakes, etc.

But, irrespective of the intentions, the ultimate effect on a person is that everyone tries to make the person be somebody else, according to what they think is best. But as the person leading that life, one has their own idea about how to lead their own life.

The result is that one has to deal with too many opinions, some their own, and some from different people. These opinions are often in conflict with each other, and one may easily be confused as to which one to take into consideration, and which to ignore.

To whom do you listen? To yourself or to those around you? Who’s to say who will be right? When faced with a choice, say you are thinking of going for option #1, but everyone around you suggests you take option #2. And say, after a great deal of thinking over the options, considering the arguments that others made for option #2, you do end up going for option #2, who made that decision? Did you or did they?

And even if you do take option #1 (your own original choice), suppose that turns out wrong (everyone makes mistakes and wrong decisions sometime in life). When the next time you have to make a choice again, and when again, the others have certain opinions different from your own, whom do you listen to?

These are not easy questions to answer. To make decisions that are truly one’s “own”,  one needs a great level of self-awareness and courage.

Self-awareness, so that one can objectively decide what one’s own thoughts are, without getting them mixed up with the plethora of thoughts from others that one will, undoubtedly, be bombarded with.

And courage, because that’s what one needs to stick to one’s own convictions, even in the face of a 100 people telling them that they are wrong. And specially, when one has actually been wrong in the past. A mistake, in the past, in a totally different scenario, doesn’t mean that one will make another in the current scenario. But those other people won’t miss a beat in telling you that you were wrong before (when you hadn’t listened to them), and that you should listen to them now if you don’t want to be wrong again.

In such a complex mix, it is a real challenge, the hardest even, to maintain a clear vision of who you are. So, yes, I agree:

The hardest challenge is to be yourself in a world where everyone is trying to make you be somebody else.

– E. E. Cummings

Why We Write

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We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.

– Anaïs Nin

I totally agree with Anaïs Nin on this. In fact, this was one of the motivations when I started this blog – to see how my thoughts evolved over time.

Few years back, I used to write in a journal occasionally. One day, I happened to re-read those earlier writings and I definitely got a “taste” of my life from before, which in turn inspired me to make journaling a regular habit.

Of course, when we write something for the first time, especially writing based on experiences or to express thoughts, it forces us to revisit our experiences and ponder over the emotions that we want to convey to our readers. It’s like chewing your delicious food slowly to savour it as much as possible.

So, yeah, for me writing is indeed about tasting life twice! Wise words from Anaïs!

Better Than False Ideas…

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The above quote has perhaps never been more relevant than today. In the age of continuous media propaganda, where it’s difficult to make sense of what is true and what isn’t, it would do us good to remember this. We should think twice before blindly believing whatever bullshit we are fed.

The thing with having false notions about our environment is that it biases us against the truth. Once we think we know something, when information to the contrary presents itself, we try to distort that information to fit in with our preconceived views. This leads to more confusion and moves us further away from the truth.

It also leads to frustration and animosity, because we are continuously faced with opposing views that require efforts to accommodate to our world-view, and sometimes, because of such a continuous onslaught, we might get a feeling of antagonism from those around us, when they actually may only be trying to tell us the truth.

That’s why I think it’s important that not only do we do our best not to get seduced by wrong beliefs, but also that we remember that no matter what we believe, there’s always a possibility that it may not be the most accurate picture of the truth, and a better explanation of the facts could still be out there.

It is always better to have no ideas than false ones; to believe nothing, than to believe what is wrong.

– Thomas Jefferson

 

Serenity, Courage, Wisdom

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Now this is a kind of prayer I can get behind! I find this quote a good reminder that, sometimes, acceptance is the only way. There’s only so much time that our short existence on this planet allows us, and sometimes, it’s not worth fighting the things that we can not change – it’s simply better to devote that time to more fruitful and fulfilling activities – like writing, or reading my blog 😉

There’s not much that one can do about those indulging in office politics, neighbourhood gossip, social media trolling, etc. The more you engage with them, the more they spew their filth.

But that doesn’t mean that we give up on everything, entirely. The trick is to pick and choose our battles wisely. There’s so much to do in this world, so much that we can achieve. But that can happen only when we channel our time and efforts in the right direction.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

– Reinhold Niebuhr

Real Integrity

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Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s ever going to know whether you did it or not.

– Oprah Winfrey

I couldn’t agree more with the above definition of “integrity” by Oprah.

Integrity is not just about doing the right thing – it’s about doing the right thing for the right reason. One might be tempted to do the right thing for fear of what people might say if they knew she didn’t do something, or she might do it expecting some sort of reward or appreciation. But to do what one truly believes in, irrespective of what others may think or do, even when doing the said thing can cost one dearly, that takes true integrity. And courage.

Be Aware Of Your Path…

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If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.

– Lao Tzu

When I first came across this quote, I thought it was a warning to change one’s path before it was too late, before one ended up at a regrettable destination. I always thought that the quote was only about avoiding negative outcomes.

However, just today, I came across this comment, that totally changed how I look at the quote.

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It’s Not Them; It’s You

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However you interpret your life or someone else’s life or behaviour, however you judge any situation, it is no more than a viewpoint, one of many possible perspectives.

– Eckhart Tolle