Book Nook Cafe discussion

Please share your favorite quotes with us. :)

Maybe you have a favorite from a book you are currently reading or read in the past? Please share it with us.

Perhaps you have come across a quote that is inspirational. If so share it with the group. :)

Your timing is impeccable, Alias. What a strong quote.

Thank you.

I read it today and I had to share it.

:-)

Maugham told it well! Thanks.

True (though even reading doesn't quite do the trick with what's going on in the U.S. right now.)

You are right, Barbara. Indeed, i think i mentioned somewhere on this board that after 1/6, i couldn't focus to read at all. Sometimes even reading fails me. *sigh*

Alias, i like everything about that graphic--the fire, particularly. I had to google to learn who Jackson was.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holbroo...

madrano wrote: "Alias, i like everything about that graphic--the fire, particularly. I had to google to learn who Jackson was.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holbroo..."

Thank you, deb, for the link. I had no idea who he was.
I love the idea of being a leading Bibliophile of ones time !

"George Holbrook Jackson (31 December 1874 – 16 June 1948) was a British journalist, writer and publisher. He was recognized as one of the leading bibliophiles of his time."

Wouldn't that be an accomplishment? In my family i'm considered a leading Bibliophile but i haven't told them that my aunt reads as much as i do. Shhhhh!

"The trajectory of your life bends in the direction of your habits."

James Clear

What a good quote.

When I was 15, I spent a month working on an archeological dig. I was talking to one of the archeologists one day during our lunch break and he asked those kinds of “getting to know you” questions you ask young people: Do you play sports? What’s your favorite subject? And I told him, no I don’t play any sports. I do theater, I’m in choir, I play the violin and piano, I used to take art classes.

And he went WOW. That’s amazing! And I said, “Oh no, but I’m not any good at ANY of them.”

And he said something then that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind because no one had ever said anything like it to me before: “I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.”

And that honestly changed my life. Because I went from a failure, someone who hadn’t been talented enough at anything to excel, to someone who did things because I enjoyed them. I had been raised in such an achievement-oriented environment, so inundated with the myth of Talent, that I thought it was only worth doing things if you could “Win” at them.”

~~~~ Kurt Vonnegut

Alias Reader wrote: "When I was 15, I spent a month working on an archeological dig. I was talking to one of the archeologists one day during our lunch break and he asked those kinds of “getting to know you” questions ..."

I love that encouragement. I feel the same way.

I don't recall reading that Vonnegut quote/story but i really like it. Over the years i've learned many skills and crafts just because classes or sharing people offered to show me. As a result, while i can knit, for instance, i've only completed one hat & it grew to be over a foot long, which wasn't the plan.

Some of the paid off, who knew i'd be glad i learned typing? Thank you keyboard industry! And i sing but one time my son & i wagered a bet, which i lost. His prize was me not singing in the car for an entire week.

These things mean much to me & have memories built around them. This is why, incidentally, i still enjoy "children's" museums. They are open to letting oldsters give it a go.

Thanks for sharing this memory from KV, Alias. I feel better about those skills i learned.

Great story from Vonnegut. It's a wonderful way to look at learning new things.

What would Martin Luther King Jr. think about the fools in the country today. He'd be so sad. 😪

Barbara wrote: "What would Martin Luther King Jr. think about the fools in the country today. He'd be so sad. 😪"

Indeed. :(

Two excellent quotes, Alias. The one about a nation is painfully true and somewhat out of our control. But the latter, is within our hands. Thanks.

Historian Barbara Tuchman on the power of books:

“Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. Without books, the development of civilization would have been impossible. They are engines of change (as the poet said), windows on the world and lighthouses erected in the sea of time. They are companions, teachers, magicians, bankers of the treasures of the mind. Books are humanity in print."

Source: The Book, Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Vol. 34, No. 2 (Nov. 1980)

Barbara W. Tuchman

Wonderful quote. 🙂

Thank you, Alias, for sharing this.

Aikido instructor George Leonard on mastery:

​"How long will it take me to master Aikido?" a prospective student asks.

"How long do you expect to live?" is the only respectable response.

Ultimately, practice is the path of mastery. If you stay on it long enough, you’ll find it to be a vivid place, with its ups and downs, is challenges and comforts, its surprises, disappointments, and unconditional joys. You’ll take your share of bumps and bruises while traveling – bruises of the ego as well as of the body, mind and spirit – but it might well turn out to be the most reliable thing in your life. Then, too, it might eventually make you a winner in your chosen field, if that’s what you’re looking for, and then people will refer to you as a master. But that’s not really the point.

What is mastery? At the heart of it, mastery is practice. Mastery is staying on the path."

Source: Mastery

Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment===George Leonard
Drawing on Zen philosophy and his expertise in the martial art of aikido, bestselling author George Leonard shows how the process of mastery can help us attain a higher level of excellence and a deeper sense of satisfaction and fulfillment in our daily lives.

Whether you're seeking to improve your career or your intimate relationships, increase self-esteem or create harmony within yourself, this inspiring prescriptive guide will help you master anything you choose and achieve success in all areas of your life. In Mastery, you'll discover:

• The 5 Essential Keys to Mastery
• Tools for Mastery
• How to Master Your Athletic Potential
• The 3 Personality Types That Are Obstacles to Mastery
• How to Avoid Pitfalls Along the Path
• and more...
Review
Praise for George Leonard and Mastery

“George Leonard is a remarkable man who embodies what he teaches: an amazing curiosity, a passionate intelligence, and the rare combination of someone who has both a broad vision and the focused mastery of details.”—Dean Ornish, New York Times bestselling author of The Spectrum
“If he's right—and Leonard has been right so many times about prevailing zeitgeists that you have to wonder if he has a third eye—the upcoming decade might be known as the decade of mastery.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“George Leonard translates the wisdom of Zen into a self-help program for sticking with it—whether you want to learn aikido or need support in realizing long-held goals.”—The New Age Journal

“The practical wisdom in George Leonard's book will have a great influence for many years to come.”—Michael Murphy, author of Golf in the Kingdom and The Future of the Body

The quote at the start of your post sums up the whole idea. Thanks for the introduction to this book and notion, Alias.

James Baldwin on the difficulty of change:

"Nothing is more desirable than to be released from an affliction, but nothing is more frightening than to be divested of a crutch."

Source: Nobody Knows My Name

James Baldwin

Nobody Knows My Name

Excellent.

Lisa See

In 2018, Chick Corea was asked what he believed his role as an artist was. He replied, "We have a mission to go out there and be an antidote to war and all of the dark side of what happens on planet Earth. We're the ones that go in and remind people about their creativity."

Dru83 wrote: "In 2018, Chick Corea was asked what he believed his role as an artist was. He replied, "We have a mission to go out there and be an antidote to war and all of the dark side of what happens on plane..."

I just saw on the news he passed away. :(

Thank you for sharing this quote from him.

Alias Reader wrote: "James Baldwin on the difficulty of change:

"Nothing is more desirable than to be released from an affliction, but nothing is more frightening than to be divested of a crutch."

Source: Nobody Know..."

I like the James Baldwin quote. I think it's very relevant to how people behave.

Dru, i like that quote you shared. Impressive man.

True. And if you are a reader, i think those new eyes are guaranteed. Nice photo & great thought.

"Greatness is consistency.

Meditating once is common. Meditating daily is rare.

Exercising today is simple. Training every week is simply remarkable.

Writing one essay rarely matters. Write every day and you're practically a hero.

Unheroic days can make for heroic decades."

James Clear
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

"People generally have more control over their actions than their feelings.

But we can influence our feelings by taking action.

Take one small step. Move the body first and the mind will follow."

James Clear
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

Writer James Baldwin on hate as a defense mechanism:

"I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain."

Source: Me and My House: James Baldwin's Last Decade in France~~Magdalena J. Zaborowska


James Baldwin

Wisdom and inspiration is flowing strong, Alias. I'm sure we all appreciate the nudges forward, the reminders and the encouragement these words offer. Thank you.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Ah, Dickens. Nice reminder of his prose.

"New goals don't deliver new results. New lifestyles do.

And a lifestyle is a process, not an outcome.

For this reason, your energy should go into building better habits, not chasing better results."

======================

"Some things are better off ignored than attacked.

Attention is the oxygen of conflict. When you fight a problem, you breathe life into it. When you starve a problem of your attention, you suffocate it.

In a surprising number of cases, the way to solve a problem is to ignore it."



Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear

Alias, i don't think i've ever heard/read similar quotes about ignoring conflict. It is a route to take for sanity's sake. It's nice to read someone affirming & explaining the logic in giving one "permission" to ignore a problem.

On the other hand, there are people who can express that anger, then let it go completely. That's probably also a healthy route.

Regardless, thanks, it was nice to see i'm not really an ostrich. :-)

** Reposting as I had put the above Carl Jung quote in the wrong folder. Sorry !

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by madrano
Alias, interesting quote. And true, of course.

Deb, I liked it, too. It reminded me that we should try to step outside of our comfort zone once in awhile.