Quotes by Stephen Jay Gould

The most erroneous stories are those
we think we know best -
and therefore never scrutinize or question.
- Stephen Jay Gould

Related topics: Life Human-Nature Psychology Wisdom Choice Tradition

There are only two or three human stories,
and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely
as if they had never happened before.
- Willa Cather

If you follow the trail of your own
enthusiastically repeated stories,
you will begin to rediscover the things
that invigorate and enliven you.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

We tell the real truth of our life
by the stories we repeatedly tell.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

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Thank you for joining me on this journey we call life,
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The world just IS, and we all have our stories about it.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

I am merely a bit player in your stories,
as you are merely a bit player in mine.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Our stories are the window to our emotions.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

I forgive myself completely for having created stories of suffering.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The "stories" we choose to tell about our past
are never what a video camera would have recorded.
We can tell a sad story or a happy story,
and neither story is either
more accurate or "better" than the other story.
The difference is that one story causes us to suffer,
while the other brings us joy. I choose joy.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one.
- Terry Pratchett

If you have an emotional reaction in the presence of someone,
your heart is telling you that you have
not resolved your issues with them.
In other words, you have not truly forgiven that person.
All of this begs the question, how do we forgive?
First, cease lying to yourself and stop telling yourself stories
about why you behave the way you do.
Stop blaming your behavior on other people
and take responsibility for your emotional reactions.
If you could forgive all the people in your life
who have hurt or wounded you
it would be possible to be in control of your behavior
instead of being in reaction to other people all of the time.
Imagine living life without experiencing
a constant emotional roller-coaster of pain, anger, and jealousy!
That would be bliss!
-Sheri Rosenthal

I confessed recently to an old friend,
"I realized I was looking at you,
in your visit, through old glasses.
Speaking old words.
Telling old stories.
I realize that in my life I've made so many
physical changes and I need to give my spirit time to catch up."
Time for my spirit to look at my friend
through the new glasses of current life experiences.
Old friends are precious.
They become even more treasured when they are wrapped
in the currentness of life experiences
and not relegated to the past in which they once lived.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

I forgive myself completely
for having created stories of suffering.
I forgive myself for all
my angers, resentments, jealousies,
and all the other emotions of suffering.
I have unbounded compassion for myself
at all times and under all circumstances.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Universal compassion is the only guarantee of morality.
- Arthur Schopenhauer

There are no facts, only interpretations.
- Friedrich Nietzsche

We have only this moment,
sparkling like a star in our hand -
and melting like a snowflake.
- Marie B. Ray

Nothing in life is to be feared.
It is only to be understood.
- Marie Curie

The only thing necessary for evil to triumph
is for enough good men to do nothing.
- Edmund Burke

Darkness cannot drive out darkness;
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate;
only love can do that.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

People only see what they are prepared to see.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Move out of your comfort zone. You can only
grow if you are willing to feel awkward and
uncomfortable when you try something new.
- Brian Tracy

Majority rule only works if you're also
considering individual rights,
because you can't have five wolves and one sheep
voting on what to have for dinner.
- Larry Flynt

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.
- Robert F. Kennedy

Life is an adventure.
I can only wonder what treasure
awaits at the top of the path.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition,
is not only a waste of energy
but the worst habit you could possibly have.
- Dale Carnegie

The essence of all religions is one.
Only their approaches are different.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

Play with life, laugh with life,
dance lightly with life,
and smile at the riddles of life,
knowing that life's only true lessons
are writ small in the margin.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

One can not reflect in streaming water.
Only those who know internal peace can give it to others.
- Lao Tzu

You're only here for a short visit.
Don't hurry. Don't worry.
And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.
- Walter Hagen

Hate is never conquered by hate,
Hate is only conquered by love.
- The Buddha

Life only
appears to be
rushing toward us
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Friendship is born at that moment
when one person says to another,
"What! You too? I thought I was the only one."
- C. S. Lewis

Choose Inner Peace.
Nothing is worth losing your inner peace.
Take action as circumstances require,
but never surrender your inner peace.
Stop. Breathe deeply.
Close your eyes and breathe deeply again.
Then, and only then, take action -
from a peaceful heart.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Could we change our attitude,
we should not only see life differently,
but life itself would be different.
- Katherine Mansfield

The only way to deal with an unfree world
is to become so absolutely free
that your very existence is an act of rebellion.
- Albert Camus

A man is truly ethical only when he obeys
the compulsion to help all life which he is able to assist,
and shrinks from injuring anything that lives.
- Albert Schweitzer

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet.
Only through experiences of trial and suffering
can the soul be strengthened,
vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved.
- Helen Keller

The only place where your dream becomes impossible
is in your own thinking.
- Robert H. Schuller

There is no certainty; there is only adventure.
- Roberto Assagioli

Problems are only opportunities in work clothes.
- Henry Kaiser

Don't marry the person you think you can live with;
marry only the individual you think you can't live without.
- James C. Dobson

Things are only impossible until they're not.
- Jean-Luc Picard, character in STAR TREK: The Next Generation

In the long run, men hit only what they aim at.
Therefore, they had better aim at something high.
- Henry David Thoreau

To accomplish great things,
we must not only act, but also dream;
not only plan, but also believe.
- Anatole France

About morals: I know only that
what is moral is what you feel good after
and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.
- Ernest Hemingway

There is only one happiness in life: to love and to be loved.
- George Sand

Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it.
- Lewis Carroll

Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.
Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.
- Marie Curie

For time and the world do not stand still.
Change is the law of life.
And those who look only to the past or the present
are certain to miss the future.
- John F. Kennedy

Commitment cannot be taught;
it can only be caught.
I refer to the crusading spirit.
Without the crusading spirit,
you may have the starting power
but not the staying power.
- Jimmy Yen

There is no truth, only human opinion.
- Anonymous

The only limits in our life are those we impose on ourselves.
- Bob Proctor

There are no menial jobs, only menial attitudes.
- William John Bennett

Do not attempt to conquer the world with force,
for force only causes resistance.
- Lao Tzu

Whenever you are angry, be assured that
it is not only a present evil,
but that you have increased a habit.
- Epictetus

A man can do only what he can do.
But if he does that each day he can sleep at night
and do it again the next day.
- Albert Schweitzer

Truth is not only violated by falsehood;
it may be equally outraged by silence.
- Henri Frederic Amiel

Only put off until tomorrow
what you are willing to die having left undone.
- Pablo Picasso

The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you,
whose presence calls forth your best.
- Epictetus

It is only when we forget all our learning that we begin to know.
- Henry David Thoreau

Be not afraid of growing slowly,
be afraid only of standing still.
- Chinese Proverb

Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing.
- Vince Lombardi

We should not pretend to understand the world
only by the intellect.
The judgment of the intellect
is only part of the truth.
- Carl Jung

Providence has its appointed hour for everything.
We cannot command results, we can only strive.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all
is the person who argues with him.
- Stanislaw Jerszy Lec

And now here is my secret, a very simple secret:
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly;
what is essential is invisible to the eye.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Unity can only be manifested by the Binary.
Unity itself and the idea of Unity are already two.
- The Buddha

There is no "right", there is no "wrong" -
there are only points of view.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.
- Albert Einstein

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed people can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
- Margaret Mead

Only he is successful in his business who makes that pursuit
which affords him the highest pleasure sustain him.
- Henry David Thoreau

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May the world be kind to you, and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie