Favorite Quotes

"When you make the finding yourself - even if you're the last person on Earth to see the light - you'll never forget it."
Carl Sagan

There is a very beautiful and surreal feeling to making a discovery independently. It is an instant feeling of being balanced in place while the whole sky and cosmos opens up around you. 

"Our species needs, and deserves, a citizenry with minds wide-awake and a basic understanding of how the world works"
Carl Sagan

Earlier this evening I was listening to NPR. They were telling the story of a woman and her strong but trying relationship with her Bishop and church. The woman started her story by saying “I became self-aware at the age of 13.” 

I knew myself more when I heard that statement. I became self-aware at the age of 20. Much of my awareness was also environmental and cultural, as well as my relationship with my place in the world. During this time I realized that there was a possibility that I could have lived my whole life not knowing who I was.

"I'd rather live in a cave with a view of a palace than live in a palace with a view of a cave."
Karl Pilkington

The feeling of being free of confinement, even just for a night, can disintegrate the mental and emotional impact of months of conformity.

Last weekend I went camping near the beach. I could see the Milky Way and the constellation of Orion. The moon was a glowing half circle that was hanging downward like a Japanese bowl. The reflection of the moon made a sparkling pathway on the ocean surface.

Looking at the pathway made me feel like it could lead the moon to me, and not the other way around. It filled me back up to completeness and wholeness not by knowing me, but by allowing me to be whole and secure next to it. 

"Love and Compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive."
Dalai Lama

While the individualistic, self-sufficiency-based theories such as objectivisim contain important cultural guidance that inspire and protect ambition and freedom, love and compassion must be along side for humanity to survive and maintain a state of well-being. 

Without love and compassion the world is dry and suffocating. We would grow old and rotten before we could achieve anything, because none of us are completely without soft spots. Living with love and compassion can also bring infinite strength and possibility. Working together with a community is a large part of how humanity got to where it is today. It propels us forward. 

These quotes were taken from www.brainyquote.com