The best way to be great, is to not try to be great. Do something good for someone, without seeking their thanks or their praise and you will be rewarded with a feeling from within. Which is a thousand times better than a feeling from without.
“I’m jealous of children. I envy them," you said. I asked you why. “Because their pockets are empty. They don’t need to carry anything. No cell phones, wallets, car keys, cigarettes, lighters, iPods… you know what I mean? They’re free. As we get older, we give ourselves more and more things to worry about. To lose. Reasons to pat our pockets in a panic in case we’re missing something. A list to run through in our head before we walk out the front door. That’s why I envy children.” I nodded and finished my drink, wondering if I had my wallet with me.
"I try to make a point of being seen. Sometimes when I'm out, I'll buy a juice even though I'm not thirsty. If the store is crowded, I'll even go so far as dropping my change all over the floor, the nickels and dimes skidding in every direction. I'll get down on my knees. It's a big effort for me to get down on my knees, and an even bigger effort to get up. And yet. Maybe I look like a fool. All I want is not to die on a day when I go unseen."
--Nicole Krauss, 'The History of Love'
She wondered how big the world was, really, when you crossed it, instead of traced it with your finger on a map.
When you are feeling low, I will be there to feel you up.
--A Softer World
"I knew who I was in the morning, but I've changed a few times since then."
--'Alice In Wonderland'
Cut yourself and someone else bled, rescue another and you might save yourself.
"I am the girl who was picked last to play tag; I am the girl who laughed although she did not get the joke; I am the piece meal part of you that you pretend does not exist, except it is all I am, all of the time."
--Jodi Picoult, 'Second Glance'
Because when you don’t admit out loud that something awful has happened, who is to say it ever did?
"Abe Lincoln once said "When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad." If only it were that black and white. Sometimes, doing the right thing makes you feel anything but good. It can feel scary, uncomfortable. Because even when you make the right choices, the bad things can still happen. As much as we want them, there are no guarantees. All we can do is have faith that if we act with our heart, the things we do will one day make us feel right."
--'Men In Trees'
"Sometimes people are beautiful not in looks. Not in what they say. Just in what they are."
--Markus Zusak
“I’m jealous of children. I envy them," you said. I asked you why. “Because their pockets are empty. They don’t need to carry anything. No cell phones, wallets, car keys, cigarettes, lighters, iPods… you know what I mean? They’re free. As we get older, we give ourselves more and more things to worry about. To lose. Reasons to pat our pockets in a panic in case we’re missing something. A list to run through in our head before we walk out the front door. That’s why I envy children.” I nodded and finished my drink, wondering if I had my wallet with me.
"I try to make a point of being seen. Sometimes when I'm out, I'll buy a juice even though I'm not thirsty. If the store is crowded, I'll even go so far as dropping my change all over the floor, the nickels and dimes skidding in every direction. I'll get down on my knees. It's a big effort for me to get down on my knees, and an even bigger effort to get up. And yet. Maybe I look like a fool. All I want is not to die on a day when I go unseen."
--Nicole Krauss, 'The History of Love'
She wondered how big the world was, really, when you crossed it, instead of traced it with your finger on a map.
When you are feeling low, I will be there to feel you up.
--A Softer World
"I knew who I was in the morning, but I've changed a few times since then."
--'Alice In Wonderland'
Cut yourself and someone else bled, rescue another and you might save yourself.
"I am the girl who was picked last to play tag; I am the girl who laughed although she did not get the joke; I am the piece meal part of you that you pretend does not exist, except it is all I am, all of the time."
--Jodi Picoult, 'Second Glance'
Because when you don’t admit out loud that something awful has happened, who is to say it ever did?
"Abe Lincoln once said "When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad." If only it were that black and white. Sometimes, doing the right thing makes you feel anything but good. It can feel scary, uncomfortable. Because even when you make the right choices, the bad things can still happen. As much as we want them, there are no guarantees. All we can do is have faith that if we act with our heart, the things we do will one day make us feel right."
--'Men In Trees'
"Sometimes people are beautiful not in looks. Not in what they say. Just in what they are."
--Markus Zusak
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