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

I held hands with her all the time; that doesn't sound like much, I realize, but she was terrific to hold hands with. Most girls if you hold hands with them, their goddam hand dies on you, or else they think they have to keep moving their hand all the time, as if they were afraid they'd bore you or something. Jane was different. We'd get into a goddam movie or something, and right away we'd start holding hands, and we wouldn't quit till the movie was over. And without changing the position or making a big deal out of it. You never even worried, with Jane, whether your hand was sweaty or not. All you knew was, you were happy. You really were. ~J. D. Salinger
#quotes #j-d-salinger #love #hands

It is not economical to go to bed early to save candles if the result is twins. ~Chinese Proverb
#proverbs #chinese-proverbs

That is a valiant flea that dares eat his breakfast on the lip of a lion. ~William Shakespeare
#quotes #william-shakespeare #eating

No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow. ~Proverb
#proverbs #adversity #time

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

Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare. ~Japanese Proverb
#proverbs #japanese-proverbs #action #vision

Out of the choked Devonian waters emerged sight and sound and the music that rolls invisible through the composer's brain. They are there still in the ooze along the tideline, though no one notices. The world is fixed, we say, fish in the sea, birds in the air. But in the mangrove swamps by the Niger, fish climb trees and ogle uneasy naturalists who try unsuccessfully to chase them back to the water. There are things still coming ashore. ~Loren Eiseley
#quotes #loren-eiseley #nature

The man who would choose security over freedom deserves neither. ~Thomas Jefferson
#quotes #thomas-jefferson #freedom

Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time. ~Chinese Proverb
#proverbs #chinese-proverbs #children #teaching

Let's be very clear, if you check the F.E.C. records you will see I am supporting George W. Bush. ~Roger Stone
#quotes #roger-stone #george-w-bush #elections

Human lives are hard, even those of health and privilege, and don't make much sense. This is the message of the "Book of Job": Any snappy explanation of suffering you come up with will be horseshit. ~Anne Lamott
#quotes #anne-lamott #suffering #books

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

I'm not much of a salesman. I prefer the soft sell and the honest approach. ~Marc Guggenheim
#quotes #marc-guggenheim #selling

Unwillingness easily finds an excuse. ~English Proverb
#proverbs #english-proverbs #excuses

I want to take back at least half of the "I love you"s, because I didn't mean them as much as the other ones. ~David Levithan
#quotes #david-levithan #love

I got picked on a lot, even by teachers too. I liked to listen to musicals and bake, and my homeroom teacher found out and mocked me in front of the whole class for baking. ~Dan Savage
#quotes #dan-savage #baking

I hope we do not see another Iraq-type operation for a long time; without UN approval and much broader support from the international community. ~Kofi Annan
#quotes #kofi-annan #military #iraq #united-states

The rain follows after the forest. ~Hawaiian Proverb
#proverbs #hawaiian-proverbs

I just enjoy translating, it's like opening one's mouth and hearing someone else's voice emerge. ~Iris Murdoch
#quotes #iris-murdoch

To know the road ahead, ask those coming back. ~Chinese Proverb
#proverbs #chinese-proverbs #experience

Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it. ~East African Proverb
#proverbs #east-african-proverbs #wisdom

If you understand, things are just as they are; if you do not understand, things are just as they are. ~Zen Proverb
#proverbs #zen-proverbs #buddhism

A wise man changes his mind, a fool never will. ~Spanish Proverb
#proverbs #spanish-proverbs #change

If somebody from the past doesn't rise up from the grave and start talking to me, I haven't got a book. I have to hear that voice, the voice of the narrator. How she sounds will tell me who she is, and who she is will tell me how she will act - and that starts the plot in motion. ~Geraldine Brooks
#quotes #geraldine-brooks #books #past