Solace from others
Young Scribe
I have this special memory of when I was much younger, maybe seven or eight years old. In my memory, I am writing down passages from a book onto a blank piece of notebook paper.
I find it a bit funny—the idea of transferring words from one place to another as if I were a scribe living in some medieval time, preserving highly classified information. But it’s ironic, honestly, because it’s still something I enjoy doing today.
Every now and then, I like to collect different quotes and ideas in books that resonate with me in a deep way. I guess you can liken it to note-taking, but I must admit that it has nothing to do with developing my intellectual skills.
The truth is, I find comfort in looking at the words and thoughts of others—a bit of advice I can pull from whenever I might need some perspective. Even if my collection covers a wide breadth of randomness, somehow I manage to find a helpful insight that relates to a particular matter I’m currently dealing with.
This is why I’ve put together some of my favorite ones in case any of them might be useful for you. Here are 20 well being quotes worth remembering always.
“The future is programmed in the present. If we enter the present carrying thoughts of the past, we program the future to be just like the past. But when we enter the present without the past, we free the future to be unlike it. Miracles occur in the present, interrupting the linear sequence of time.”
― Marianne Williamson, Tears to Triumph
“We need to take action regardless of how we feel. Why? Because we are not taking action to win or achieve some specific result. We are taking action because it is action itself that will change our state. When you have an instinct, you must train yourself to act on it immediately. This activates the cycle and puts you in touch with the creative forces of the universe. These forces will change your state at the very moment you take action. Whether you succeed or fail is irrelevant.”
― Phil Stutz, Lessons for Living
“To breathe is to absorb ourselves in what surrounds us, to take in little bits of life, understand them, and give pieces of ourselves back out. Respiration is, at its core, reciprocation.”
― James Nestor, Breath
“You must simply believe that the source of your well-being and success is nothing other than the power of your own mind. The reality is that the same mind that creates the obstacles to the life you want is also the source of the intention that will make the life you want real. This is the real secret.”
― James Doty, Mind Magic
“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.”
― Nora Ephron, The Most of Nora Ephron
“Our attention is like a spotlight. We have control of that spotlight, but we cannot control the actors who come on stage. We cannot control how long they spend there, what they say, or when they leave. What we get to do is focus that spotlight on one or two of them at a time.”
― Julie Smith, Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?
“True, one had to favor doing in order to get anything done, but wasn’t there also a great virtue and psychic benefit in simply being? In contemplation rather than action? I decided I needed to practice stillness, being with other people as I find them (imperfect), and being with my own unimproved self. To savor whatever it is at this very moment, without trying to change it or even describe it.”
― Michael Pollan, How to Change Your Mind
“Everything is created twice, first in the mind and then in reality.”
― Robin Sharma, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
“Zen is a present state of mind where one honors the task they are partaking of, even if the task is sitting still and doing nothing. Zen is engrained in the Japanese way of life. You can see it everywhere: when a sushi chef delicately slices a piece of raw fish, when a retired man watches an autumn leaf fall from a tree in the park, when a mother prepares and places a cup of tea before her child. When actions and thoughts are done with mindfulness, being fully present in the moment, the person performing the action or thought gives honor to the food, an idea, a task, a person, etc.”
― Jasun Ether, The Beasts of Success
“To be sensual, I think, is to respect and rejoice in the force of life, of life itself, and to be present in all that one does, from the effort of loving to the breaking of bread.”
― James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time
“There is nothing passive about mindfulness. One might even say that it expresses a specific kind of passion—a passion for discerning what is subjectively real in every moment. It is a mode of cognition that is, above all, undistracted, accepting, and (ultimately) nonconceptual. Being mindful is not a matter of thinking more clearly about experience; it is the act of experiencing more clearly, including the arising of thoughts themselves. Mindfulness is a vivid awareness of whatever is appearing in one’s mind or body—thoughts, sensations, moods—without grasping at the pleasant or recoiling from the unpleasant.”
― Sam Harris, Waking Up
“And at some point, I thought, well, I’ve been really lucky to see many, many places. Now, the great adventure is the inner world, now that I’ve spent a lot of time gathering emotions, impressions, and experiences. Now, I just want to sit still for years on end, really, charting that inner landscape because I think anybody who travels knows that you’re not really doing so in order to move around—you’re traveling in order to be moved. And really what you’re seeing is not just the Grand Canyon or the Great Wall but some moods or intimations or places inside yourself that you never ordinarily see when you’re sleepwalking through your daily life. I thought, there’s this great undiscovered terrain that Henry David Thoreau and Thomas Merton and Emily Dickinson fearlessly investigated, and I want to follow in their footsteps.”
― Krista Tippett, Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living
“Don’t let a day go by without asking who you are…each time you let a new ingredient to enter your awareness.”
― Deepak Chopra, The Book of Secrets: Unlocking the Hidden Dimensions of Your Life
“Mindfulness: Taking a balanced approach to negative emotions so that feelings are neither suppressed nor exaggerated. We cannot ignore our pain and feel compassion for it at the same time. Mindfulness requires that we not “over-identify” with thoughts and feelings, so that we are caught up and swept away by negativity.”
― Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection
“Everything will be okay as soon as you are okay with everything. And that’s the only time everything will be okay.”
― Michael A. Singer, The Untethered Soul
“You actions are your only true belongings.”
― Allan Lokos, Patience: The Art of Peaceful Living
“Hopelessness is the root of anxiety, mental illness, and depression. It is the source of all misery and the cause of all addiction.”
― Mark Manson, Everything is F*cked
“When you’re present in gratitude, you can’t be anywhere else.”
― Jay Shetty, Think Like a Monk
“You need to hear this loud and clear: No one is coming. It is up to you.”
― Mel Robbins, Stop Saying You’re Fine: Discover a More Powerful You
“Because what I know for sure is that everything that has happened to you was also happening for you. And all that time, in all of those moments, you were building strength. Strength times strength times strength equals power. What happened to you can be your power.”
― Oprah and Bruce D. Perry, What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing
Never Alone
There’s just something about pondering the thoughts of others from all walks of life. No matter the differences we share, I find it helpful to read about the experiences of people around the world.
In some way, it reminds me that regardless of what we are facing, in a lot of ways, we’re facing it all together. So that even for the tiniest fraction of a moment, we can remember that we’re not alone—and what could offer more solace to your well-being than a simple truth like that?
