Being There Quotes

“Just 'cause you can't see me don't mean I gone away.”
― Jodi Picoult, The Pact

“If someone is not spiritually present during a time when you need their help, then how will their physical presence make a difference?”
― Shannon L. Alder

“I may not be the kind of person you want me to, but I will always be there for you.”
― Alfusainey jallow

“He wanted to tell her how much he preferred to look at her, that only by watching could he memorize her, and take her and possess her. He did not know how to explain that he could not touch better or more fully with his hands than he could with his eyes. Seeing encompassed all at once; a touch was limited to one spot at a time.”
― Jerzy Kosinksi

“Sometimes we do not realize how many people give a damn until something horrible happens. And sometimes we realize that those who should give a damn, whom we counted on giving a damn, sometimes really don’t”
― Monika Basile, The Queen of Broken Things

“Being strong is having the wisdom when it is necessary. Being strong is to being gentle when it is most needed. Being strong is using flexibility when it is required. Being strong is about being there when it is a must for you to be there. Being strong is not really about being strong………”
― Sameh Elsayed

“when you are there, be truly present, be into that moment, 100%, and that place, or person, or experience will forever become part of you”
― Bodhi Smith, Bodhi Smith Impressionist Photography

“what society dictates
we consume
cattle gathering around
learning devices called
television
mouths opening wider
while addictive morsels
of consumerism are
violently jammed into
us
and we lose more
bits and pieces
of our collective identity
daily”
― Scott C. Holstad, Hang Gliding on X

“Status quo is not very helpful for spiritual growth, for using this short interval between birth and death. On the other hand, expanding our ability to feel comfortable in our own skin and in the world, so that we can be there as much as possible for other people, is a very worthy way to spend a human life.”
― Pema Chödrön, Welcoming the Unwelcome: Wholehearted Living in a Brokenhearted World

“But you also have to see that love is so precious. Isn’t it nice to know that there’s someone who wants what’s best for you, no matter what?”
― Grace Palmer, No Home Like Nantucket

“If you are not there for other people, do not expect them to be there for you. In many a case one might conclude that this is part of God's sovereign justice. His grace, however, is that He Himself will always be there for you, no matter what.”
― Criss Jami, Healology

“He's the best kind of friend. Let's just say I owe that man a coffee."

"Really? for what?"

"Being there," Tamara exhaled and closed her eyes, "Just being there when that's where I needed him to be. There are no better friends than that.”
― D. Nathan Hilliard, Ghosts, Monsters and Madmen

“The right person, who feels like being there with you, will be with you. Stop insisting the wrong ones. Period.”
― Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma, 10 GOLDEN Steps of Life

“If I’d been better schooled back then in the art of accompaniment, I would have understood how important it is to honor another person’s ability to make choices. I hope I would have understood, as good accompanists do, that everybody is in their own spot, on their own pilgrimage, and your job is to meet them where they are, help them chart their own course. I wish I had followed some advice that is rapidly becoming an adage: Let others voluntarily evolve. I wish I had understood then that trust is built when individual differences are appreciated, when mistakes are tolerated, and when one person says, more with facial expressions than anything else, “I’ll be there when you want me. I’ll be there when the time is right.”

Accompaniment often involves a surrender of power that is beautiful to behold. A teacher could offer the answers, but he wants to walk with his students as they figure out how to solve a problem. A manager could give orders, but sometimes leadership means assisting employees as they become masters of their own task. A writer could blast out her opinions, but writers are at their best not when they tell people what to think but when they provide a context within which others can think. Pope Paul VI said it wonderfully: “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it’s because they are witnesses.”

Finally, a person who is good at accompaniment understands the art of presence. Presence is about showing up. Showing up at weddings and funerals, and especially showing up when somebody is grieving or has been laid off or has suffered some setback or humiliation. When someone is going through a hard time, you don’t need to say some wise thing; you just have to be there, with heightened awareness of what they are experiencing at that moment.”
― David Brooks, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen