If a secret history of books could be written, and the author's private thoughts and meanings noted down alongside of his story, how many insipid volumes would become interesting, and dull tales excite the reader! ~William Makepeace Thackeray
#quotes #william-makepeace-thackeray #writing #history #books

Don't lower your expectations to meet your performance. Raise your level of performance to meet your expectations. Expect the best of yourself, and then do what is necessary to make it a reality. ~Ralph Marston
#quotes #ralph-marston #expectations #performance

Without consciousness, space and time are nothing. ~Robert Lanza
#quotes #robert-lanza #conscious #time #space

The healing of ourselves as healers has to take place first. Bringing ourselves to wholeness, we become more sensitive to other people. In the change of consciousness that happens within us, we bring about change of consciousness in those around us and in the planet itself. ~Marion Woodman
#quotes #marion-woodman #conscious

The basic philosophy of stoicism is that you have nothing real external to your own consciousness, that the only thing real is in fact your consciousness. ~Roger Avary
#quotes #roger-avary #philosophy #stoicism #conscious

They say I tried to hurt my nurse. I tell them they tried to hurt me first. ~CJ Roberts
#quotes #cj-roberts

I'm not married, and I don't have any kids, so sometimes I envy that end of things when I see a family vacation or people at the beach with their kids or at sporting events with their kids; you wonder, "Is that a part of your life that you want to go into?" ~Kevin Connolly
#quotes #kevin-connolly #life #family

In the 1970s, British food was beginning to get good, whereas in France it was just starting its long, sad decline. My most memorable meals, however, have been in Italy. ~Sebastian Faulks
#quotes #sebastian-faulks #70s #eating

When thou hast truly thanked the Lord for every blessing sent, But little time will then remain for murmur or lament. ~Hannah More
#quotes #hannah-more #gratitude

Her last conscious thought was disgust at life; her senses had lied to her. The world was not made of energy and delight but of foulness, betrayal, and lassitude. Living was hateful, and death was no better, and from end to end of the universe this was the first and last and only truth. ~Philip Pullman
#quotes #philip-pullman #life #trust

And sometimes you lie to me and sometimes I lie to you; and there isn't a thing you could possibly do All these half-destroyed lives aren't as bad as they seem but now I see blood and I hear screams then I wake up and it's just a bad dream. ~Michael Grant
#quotes #michael-grant

Teachers who do not take their own education seriously, who do not study, who make little effort to keep abreast of events have no moral authority to coordinate the activities of the classroom. ~Paulo Freire
#quotes #paulo-freire #education

I was feeling privileged and self-conscious about my life as a musician, which feels self-absorbed. I can't help it, I am a musician. This is what I do. ~Sufjan Stevens
#quotes #sufjan-stevens #music

A short visit is best and that not too often. ~Irish Proverb
#proverbs #irish-proverbs #guests

Do not permit the events of your daily life to bind you, but never withdraw yourself from them. ~Zen Proverb
#proverbs #zen-proverbs #buddhism #life

Sometimes the simplest things are the most profound. ~Carolina Herrera
#quotes #carolina-herrera #simplicity

Feelings are determined by how one chooses to respond to various situations and events. ~Ralph Marston
#quotes #ralph-marston #emotions #happiness

Art is good for my soul precisely because it reminds me that we have souls in the first place. ~Tilda Swinton
#quotes #tilda-swinton #art #soul

It is quite impossible these days to assume anything about people's educational level from the way they talk or dress or from their taste in music. Safest to treat everyone you meet as a distinguished intellectual. ~Ian Mcewan
#quotes #ian-mcewan #education #intelligence

I have an elbow that bends the wrong way, and I'd do things like stand in an elevator and the doors would close, and I'd pretend that my arm had got caught in it, and then I'd scream, "Ow, ow, put it back!" ~Geena Davis
#quotes #geena-davis #humor

I am shy by nature, a person who's always found something burdensome about human interaction and who probably always will, at least to some degree. ~Caroline Knapp
#quotes #caroline-knapp #shyness #nature #interaction

I'm always sort of anticipating life being difficult, but on a basic level, that's sort of on the surface, on a basic level, I'm optimistic in the sense that I think it's all going to be alright in the end. ~Emily Mortimer
#quotes #emily-mortimer #life #optimism #difficulty

I always had this energy level that made me want to come to New York. ~Roy Ayers
#quotes #roy-ayers #new-york

Man is a masterpiece of creation, if only because no amount of determinism can prevent him from believing that he acts as a free being. ~Georg C. Lichtenberg
#quotes #georg-c-lichtenberg #freedom #free-will

The representational-image urge is actually a kind of heightened perception, and I don't stop to think. I don't freeze up, it's actually a kind of letting-go. It's like dancing. At a certain point it's conscious, unconscious, everything is kind of coming together. ~Michael Light
#quotes #michael-light #thinking