We live in a society in which spurious realities are manufactured by the media, by governments, by big corporations, by religious groups, political groups. I ask, in my writing, "What is real?" Because unceasingly we are bombarded with pseudo realities manufactured by very sophisticated people using very sophisticated electronic mechanisms. I do not distrust their motives; I distrust their power. They have a lot of it. And it is an astonishing power, that of creating whole universes, universes of the mind. I ought to know. I do the same thing. ~Philip K. Dick
#quotes #philip-k-dick #society #government #media #religion

You think you are prepared. You think you have done everything you're supposed to, study hard, work hard, keep yourself out of trouble, and then, whoosh! Something arrives out of the blue that you never saw coming. Something you never even imagined. Something that will knock your little world off its axis. Something that will either change your life for the better, or end it forever. Chaos. ~James Michael
#quotes #james-michael

Whom drink made wits, though nature made them fools. ~Charles Churchill
#quotes #charles-churchill #stupidity

I don't know why women want any of the things men have when one the things that women have is men. ~Coco Chanel
#quotes #coco-chanel #men #women

You must neither strive for truth nor seek to lose your illusions. ~Zen Proverb
#proverbs #zen-proverbs #buddhism #truth #illusion

If you had to choose only two qualities to get you through times of change, the first should be a sense of self-worth and the second a sense of humor. ~Jennifer James
#quotes #jennifer-james #change #self-worth #humor

I had got this far, and was thinking of what to say next, and as my habit is, I was pricking the paper idly with my pen. And I thought how, between one dip of the pen and the next, time goes on, and I hurry, drive myself, and speed toward death. We are always dying. I while I write, you while you read, and others while they listen or stop their ears, they are all dying. ~Petrarch
#quotes #petrarch #writing #thinking #death

I tried spinning around in a chair to impress a girl. ~Ray Toro
#quotes #ray-toro

I'm living the dream. ~David Petraeus
#quotes #david-petraeus #dream #happiness

Everyone agrees in theory that we can't judge a new idea or point of view unless we enter into it and try it out, but the practice itself is rare. ~Peter Elbow
#quotes #peter-elbow #ideas #practice

If our gospel does not free the individual up for a unique life of spiritual adventure in living with God daily, we simply have not entered fully into the good news that Jesus brought. ~Dallas Willard
#quotes #dallas-willard #christianity #jesus

Alone, the world offers itself freely to us. To be unmasked, it has no choice. ~Tom Robbins
#quotes #tom-robbins #world

For piety lies not in being often seen turning a veiled head to stones, nor in approaching every altar, nor in lying prostrate before the temples of the gods, nor in sprinkling altars with the blood of beasts but rather in being able to look upon all things with a mind at peace. ~Lucretius
#quotes #lucretius #piety #mind #peace

The style developed over decades, really, but I started out writing pretty traditional stories, then became impatient. It was a writer named Russell Edson who showed me that one could write in any way at all. ~Lydia Davis
#quotes #lydia-davis #russell-edson #style #writing #stories

I had wanted simply to convey to the reader by way of concrete example that life holds a potential meaning under any conditions, even the most miserable ones. And I thought that if the point were demonstrated in a situation as extreme as that in a concentration camp, my book might gain a hearing. I therefore felt responsible for writing down what I had gone through, for I thought it might be helpful to people who are prone to despair. ~Viktor E. Frankl
#quotes #viktor-e-frankl #life #books #writing

Let me tell you something. For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback. ~Michelle Obama
#quotes #michelle-obama #patriotism

The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse. ~James Madison
#quotes #james-madison #government #power

The music comes first. When Geoff has made something the inspiration comes automatically. His music is very expressive. But still is is a very difficult process. I have to add something to his music, not push it away. It has to be equal, and I find that very difficult. ~Beth Gibbons
#quotes #beth-gibbons #music #inspiration

To love playthings well as a child, to lead an adventurous and honorable youth, and to settle when the time arrives, into a green and smiling age, is to be a good artis en life and deserve well of yourself and your neighbor. ~Robert Louis Stevenson
#quotes #robert-louis-stevenson #life #age

zzz...

There is a theory that creativity arises when individuals are out of sync with their environment. To put it simply, people who fit in with their communities have insufficient motivation to risk their psyches in creating something truly new, while those who are out of sync are driven by the constant need to prove their worth. ~Gary Taubes
#quotes #gary-taubes #motivation #creativity #science

Now you're selling out, the devil sold a dream and you bought it without thinking about. How the beast will decrease the brain wave, with material thoughts from the crib to the grave. ~Kool Moe Dee
#quotes #kool-moe-dee #evil #dream #death

Teachers open the door but you must walk through it yourself. ~Chinese Proverb
#proverbs #chinese-proverbs #teaching #knowledge

The sinning is the best part of repentance. ~Arabic Proverb
#proverbs #arabic-proverbs #sin

The teeth are smiling, but is the heart? ~African Proverb
#proverbs #african-proverbs #happiness #heart