quotes from books

“It was her own capacity for storytelling that made her see her own hand in what happened around her.”

What she wants most is to understand herself. She's always thinking through her experiences, always questioning herself and everything that happens to her. She wants to see what is true in her and what is false. She wants to know why she does one thing instead of another. She wants to comprehend the whole reality of the person that she is.

“Tao is empty — its use never exhausted. Bottomless — the origin of all things.”

“Watching the bear staring at the waterfall, she felt in her own body the awe that was now coursing through the bear, and within herself she also felt a shifting of the world. For, if a bear could feel awe, then a bear could certainly know god. And if a bear could know god in his own bear way, then a bear had a soul and she could not see how it was that man could feel it was within his right to slaughter such beasts, for in slaughtering the bear’s body, man was also slaughtering the beast’s soul which also yearned towards god.”

There are always those who would prefer to return to a simpler form of life, one that is not mired in the complexities of advanced technology. But any such return would hinder human creativity, for the expansion of our tool set is also a kind of creative growth. Our creative abilities expand as we become more aware of ourselves and the world, and technological innovation is an inescapable part of this process.

“It is death which gives gambling and heroism their true meaning.”

Some of the pain we experience is wholly unnecessary. It is caused by choices that we or other people have made and it would not have occurred otherwise. This includes the pain caused by systems and institutions human beings have created and support, which can inflict incredible harm on our minds and bodies.

“Nostalgia is continually aroused and teased; you miss clips the moment they’re gone, and cling to the aural afterglow of what has passed even as you focus on what is coming, what keeps coming.”

“When I spoke it sounded wrong: not the grammar and the arrangement of words but something deeper, as if I was making things up and my stumbling efforts were evident to everyone.”

When I'm feeling anxious about my ability to meet my immediate needs, it can feel impossible to do anything creative. I might think that it's only when my needs have been fully met that I'll be comfortable enough to be creative again. But the time for creative action is always now. It's by thinking and acting creatively that I can best address my needs and solve the problems I'm facing.

“Human beings are social animals in a deep way. It is not just that we go in for friendship or prefer to live in swarms or packs. The space of linguistic consciousness — the space in which meanings and reasons exist — is a space that we occupy together.”