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Love is what makes us human, plural, alive to one another and to the human condition itself.

我开始明白我自己。我不存在。
我是我想成为的那个人和别人把我塑造成的那个人之间
的裂缝。
或半个裂缝，因为还有生活⋯⋯•这就是我。没有了……
关灯，闭户，把走廊里的拖鞋声隔绝。
让我一个人待在屋里，和我自己巨大的平静待在一起。
这是一个冒牌的字宙。

我什么都不是。
我将永远什么都不是。
我不能指望成为什么。
但我在我内部有这世界的全部梦想。

烟草店

你对你自己重要，因为你是你自己的感觉。
你对你自己意味一切，因为你就是自己的宇宙。
真实的宇宙本身和其他人只是你客观主体性的卫星。
你对自己是重要的，因为你对自己就是全部。
如果这对你本是真实，哦神话，难道对别人不也同样？

又一次，我看到你—里斯本，特茹河和其他地方一一个毫无用处的，对你，对我的旁观者，一个在哪里都是外国人的人，是生活中的偶然，也是灵魂的偶然，一个徜徉在追忆殿堂里的鬼
循着老鼠的啃噬声，地板木的嘎吱声，在那被诅咒必须活下去的城堡里

让我平静！我不会停留太久，我出来不停留太久……只要沉默和深渊还没来，我就想独自一人。

In the Origins of Totalitarianism she (Arendt) called this the propaganda effect of infallibility: the trick of appearing omnipotent by prophesying a future that you then make happen.

the anonymity and vulnerability of placeless people is also, potentially at least, everybody’s problem because it exposes the weak spot at the heart of a system that relies solely on the reliability of nation states and human goodwill.

We cannot help being born, where we are born, and in what time. That beginning is not our responsibility. But we can learn to respond to the world we are born into, however fast-moving or bewildering that experience might be.

“Thinking means that each time you are confronted with some difficulty in life you have to make up your mind anew” (The Life of the Mind 177)

Arendt had written about how ordinary people were capable of unspeakable cruelties in The Origins of Totalitarianism. Much of this began, she said, with Western imperialism, with racism, con-quest, and greed, and with an organized brutality that then leaked back to a Europe wrecked by war, unemployment, and poverty.

That is has meaning when somebody dies. That is leads to something. But it doesn’t.

You can be fully in charge of your life only if you can acknowledge the reality of your body, in all its visceral dimensions.

‘The greatest source of our suffering are the lies we tell ourselves.’

A person’s values will have an effect on what they consider to be the relevant facts, and what they consider to be the facts will co-determine what values that person has.

One interpretation of 'post-truth’ is that it describes a situation where our language, judgments and claims don’t refer to anything we call facts or reality.

We have a strong tendency to create personal illusions about our lives, so that our perceptions of ourselves become increasingly detached from reality.

Conscience alone gives you truthiness at best, not truthfulness.

In a time when people devalue kindness, let your heart remain wide open.
Keep giving your gentleness to the world.
Act with kindness without worrying about what you will get in return.
Even if people forget what you did for them, the universe won't.

A relationship is not an escape, it is a deep form of arrival: one where if you want it to succeed, you will have to face yourself with great honesty and give your partner a high level of presence so you can keep feeding the connection the two of you have.

Who you both were on the first day you met each other is worlds apart from who you are now. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, your likes, dislikes, strengths, and general preferences will change over time. This is not something that you should resist; it is an incentive to remain curious about each other as time moves forward.

Even though you know that the deepest foundation of happiness begins within you, it is easy to fall into old patterns where you are giving away your power. Old patterns take time to unbind. Repeatedly centering yourself around the fact that your perception can make or break your happiness will help you walk into the present moment with greater appreciation and ownership.

One of the best boundaries you can have is simply not letting other people's energy bring down your emotions.
Living in your peace even when you come across those who want you to join them in their storm is a sign of deep maturity.

Your healing is directly seen through the new calmness of your reactions. You still feel sadness, anxiety, tension, etc., but nowhere near as intensely as before.

“Life is meant to be lived”

What seems undesirable in our lives doesn’t have to trigger habitual reactions. We can let it show us where we’re at and let it remind us that the teachings encourage precision and gentleness, with loving-kindness toward every moment.

When something hurts in life, we don’t usually think of it as our path or as the source of wisdom. In fact, we think that the reason we’re on the path is to get rid of this painful feeling.

We were given changes all the time. We can either cling to security, or we can let ourselves feel exposed, as if we had just been born, as if we had just popped out into the brightness of life and were completely naked.

…nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.

When you fall in love, recognize it as impermanence, and let that intensify the preciousness.