Cicada

“The course and affairs of our individual life, in view of their true meaning and connection, are like a piece of crude work in mosaic. So long as one stands close in front of it, one can not correctly see the objects presented, or perceive their importance and beauty; it is only by standing some distance away that both come into view. And in the same way one often understands the true connection of important events in one’s own life, not while they are happening, or even immediately after they have happened, but only a long time afterwards.”
― Arthur Schopenhauer, Essays of Schopenhauer

“What happened is the least of it. It’s a novel, and once you’ve finished a novel, what happened in it is of little importance and soon forgotten. What matters are the possibilities and ideas that the novel’s imaginary plot communicates to us and infuses us with, a plot that we recall far more vividly than real events and to which we pay far more attention.”
― Javier Marías, Los enamoramientos

“‎Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.”
― Voltaire

“Learn what is to be taken seriously and laugh at the rest.”
― Herman Hesse