MKF > MKF's Quotes

“In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.”
― Robert Frost

“I conceive of nothing, in religion, science or philosophy, that is more than the proper thing to wear, for a while.”
― Charles Fort

“We cannot define. Nothing has ever been finally figured out, because there is nothing final to figure out”
― Charles Fort

“Is life worth living? Like everybody else, I have many times asked that question, usually deciding negatively, because I am most likely to ask myself whether life is worth living, at times when I am convinced it isn't. One day, in one of my frequent, and probably incurable, scientific moments, it occurred to me to find out. For a month, at the end of each day, I set down a plus sign, or a minus sign, indicating that, in my opinion, life had, or had not, been worth living, that day. At the end of the month, I totted up, and I can't say that I was altogether pleased to learn that the pluses had won the game. It is not dignified to be optimistic.”
― Charles Fort, Wild Talents

“The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not ‘get over’ the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will heal and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole again but you will never be the same. Nor should you be the same nor would you want to.”
― Elizabeth Kubler-Ross and David Kessler

“It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth -- and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up -- that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had.”
― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child—our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation

“Someone sent me a letter that had one of the best quotes I've ever read. It said "What is to give light must endure burning." It's by a writer named Viktor Frankl. I've been turning that quote over and over in my head. The truth of it is absolutely awe-inspiring. In the end, I believe it's why we all suffer. It's the meaning we all look for behind the tragedies in our lives. The pain deepens us, burns away our impurities and petty selfishness. It makes us capable of empathy and sympathy. It makes us capable of love. The pain is the fire that allows us to rise from the ashes of what we were, and more fully realize what we can become. When you can step back and see the beauty of the process, it's amazing beyond words.”
― Damien Echols, Life After Death

“Those with less curiosity or ambition just mumble that God works in mysterious ways. I intend to catch him in the act.”
― Damien Echols, Life After Death

“Ghosts can haunt damned near anything. I have heard them in the breathy voice of a song and seen them between the covers of a book. They have hidden in trees so that their faces peer out of the bark, and hovered beneath the silver surface of water. They disguise themselves as cracks in concrete or come calling in a delirium of fever. On summer days they keep pace like the shadow of our shadow. They lurk in the breath of young girls who give us our first kiss. I've seen men who were haunted to the point of madness by things that never were and things that should have been. I've seen ghosts in the lines on a woman's face and heard them in the jangling of keys. The ghosts in fire freeze and the ghosts in ice burn. Some died long ago; some were never born. Some ride the blood in my veins until it reaches my brain. Sometimes I even mistake myself for one. Sometimes I am one.”
― Damien Echols, Life After Death

“You never know how much you need music until you don't have it. I missed it so much my heart hurt.”
― Damien Echols, Life After Death

“My life has taught me that true spiritual insight can come about only through direct experience, the way a severe burn can be attained only by putting your hand in the fire. Faith is nothing more than a watered-down attempt to accept someone else's insight as your own. Belief is the psychic equivalent of an article of secondhand clothing, worn-out and passed down. I equate true spiritual insight with wisdom, which is different from knowledge. Knowledge can be obtained through many sources: books, stories, songs, legends, myths, and, in modern times, computers and television programs. On the other hand, there's only one real source of wisdom - pain. Any experience that provides a person with wisdom will also usually provide them with a scar. The greater the pain, the greater the realization. Faith is spiritual rigor mortis.”
― Damien Echols, Life After Death

“The thing I like most about time is that it’s not real. It’s all in the head. Sure, it’s a useful trick if you wanna meet someone at a specific place in the universe to have tea or coffee. But that’s all it is, a trick. There’s no such thing as the past, it exists only in the memory. There’s no such thing as the future, it exists only in our imagination. If our watches were truly accurate the only thing they would ever say is now.”
― Damien Echols, Life After Death

“Now I hoard knowledge out of fear. I figure the more I know, the more I'll be able to control a situation and keep from getting hurt again.”
― Damien Echols, Life After Death

“I learned a long time ago that you have to experience something for yourself or you never really comprehend it.”
― Damien Echols, Life After Death

“Ignorance breeds superstition.”
― Damien Echols, Life After Death

“Without books, I would have gone insane long ago.”
― Damien Echols, Life After Death

“Wouldn’t it be great to stop, if only for a minute on a regular basis, and reflect on how wonderful everything is?”
― Timber Hawkeye, Buddhist Boot Camp

“You never know when a random act of kindness could literally save a person’s life.”
― Timber Hawkeye, Buddhist Boot Camp

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.”
― Albert Einstein

“Without music, life would be a mistake.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols

“When you love someone, the best thing you can offer is your presence. How can you love if you are not there?”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, No Death, No Fear: Comforting Wisdom for Life

“It is possible to live happily in the present moment. It is the only moment we have.”
― Thích Nhất Hạnh, No Death, No Fear: Comforting Wisdom for Life

“Some people do not even want to look at a person when the person is alive, but when the person dies they write eloquent obituaries and make offerings of flowers. At that point the person has died and cannot really enjoy the fragrance of the flowers anymore. If we really understood and remembered that life was impermanent, we would do everything we could to make the other person happy right here and right now.”
― Thích Nhất Hạnh, No Death, No Fear: Comforting Wisdom for Life

“The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance.”
― Socrates

“I think perhaps all of us go a little crazy at times.”
― Robert Bloch, Psycho

“There are many who would like my time. I shun them. There are some who share my time. I am entertained by them. There are precious few who contribute to my time. I cherish them.”
― Anton LaVey

“Everything has to come to an end, sometime.”
― L. Frank Baum, The Marvelous Land of Oz

“Can't say I've ever been too fond of beginnings, myself. Messy little things. Give me a good ending anytime. You know where you are with an ending.”
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones

“Mother Nature, as Tennyson said, is “red in tooth and claw,” demolishing every beautiful thing she has ever created.”
― Caitlin Doughty, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory