Reflection Quotes

“Friendship exhibits a glorious "nearness by resemblance" to Heaven itself where the very multitude of the blessed (which no man can number) increases the fruition which each has of God. For every soul, seeing Him in her own way, doubtless communicates that unique vision to all the rest. That, says an old author, is why the Seraphim in Isaiah's vision are crying "Holy, Holy, Holy" to one another (Isaiah VI, 3). The more we thus share the Heavenly Bread between us, the more we shall all have.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

“I leaned over the sink, closer to my reflection, and stare at myself hard. I don't know what I see. I don't even know what I want to see.”
― Nina LaCour

“A democratic civilization will save itself only if it makes the language of the image into a stimulus for critical reflection — not an invitation for hypnosis.”
― Umberto Eco, The Screen Education Reader

“Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider.”
― Francis Bacon, The Essays

“People change, though, especially after they are dead.”
― Margaret Atwood, Bluebeard's Egg

“The emotions between the races could never be pure; even love was tarnished by the desire to find in the other some element that was missing in ourselves. Whether we sought out our demons or salvation, the other race would always remain just that: menacing, alien, and apart.”
― Barack Obama, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

“Wisdom comes from reflection.”
― Deborah Day, BE HAPPY NOW!

“I think before I act---and then think again. I am not entirely a coward, but I do not lose myself in action as you do.”
― John Christopher, Beyond the Burning Lands

“Time passes: yesterday has gone for ever but tomorrow never comes. Let's make the most of today.”
― Robert Ashby

“If not in the moment, where do you propose to live?”
― Na ama Yehuda

“They sell courage of a sort in the taverns. And another sort, though not for sale, a man can find in the confessional. Try the alehouses and the churches, Hugh. In either a man can be quiet and think.”
― Ellis Peters, The Heretic's Apprentice

“He who does not see the light in others does not see the light in himself.”
― Doreen DeVore

“There is, I believe, no person, however insignificant in the world, but, if an account of his life and adventures were committed to paper, would be entertaining in some degree: the follies of our own life, and those we are liable to be drawn into by others, will constantly afford matter for serious reflection.”
― Henry Spencer Ashbee

“Behind a life of influence you will find a masterful storyteller.”
― Mollie Marti

“Love is being able to view a situation without adding duality to it.”
― Alaric Hutchinson, Living Peace: Essential Teachings For Enriching Life

“Sometimes moments in life are so perfect you want to freeze frame them; capture them within your soul forever so they never fade away—they burn themselves into your being until they’re a part of who you are.”
― Cassandra Giovanni, Flawed Perfection

“All individuals have moral deficiencies, and when introducing these to reality one not only strengthens himself but also the confidence of others in the human exigency for Christ due to a reflection throughout the body of Christ.”
― Criss Jami, Salomé: In Every Inch In Every Mile

“I just think of people," she continued, "whether they seem right where they are and fit into a picture. I don't mind if they don't do anything. I don't see why they should; in fact it always astonishes me when people do anything.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and Damned

“[My grandfather] returned to what he called ‘studying.’ He sat looking down at his lap, his left hand idle on the chair arm, his right scratching his head, his white hair gleaming in the lamplight. I knew that when he was studying he was thinking, but I did not know what about. Now I have aged into knowledge of what he thought about. He thought of his strength and endurance when he was young, his merriment and joy, and how his life’s burdens had then grown upon him. He thought of that arc of country that centered upon Port William as he first had known it in the years just after the Civil War, and as it had changed, and as it had become; and how all that time, which would have seemed almost forever when he was a boy, now seemed hardly anytime at all. He thought of the people he remembered, now dead, and of those who had come and gone before his knowledge, and of those who would come after, and of his own place in that long procession.”
― Wendell Berry, Andy Catlett: Early Travels

“Cesar is not a philosophical man. His life has been one long flight from reflection. At least he is clever enough not to expose the poverty of his general ideas; he never permits the conversation to move toward philosophical principles. Men of his type so dread all deliberation that they glory in the practice of the instantaneous decision. They think they are saving themselves from irresolution; in reality they are sparing themselves the contemplation of all the consequences of their acts. Moreover, in this way they can rejoice in the illusion of never having made a mistake; for act follows so swiftly on act that it is impossible to reconstruct the past and say that an alternative decision would have been better. They can pretend that every act was forced on them under emergency and that every decision was mothered by necessity”
― Thornton Wilder, The Ides of March

“We see what we are only through reflection and thus the more our reflections occur, the less our mistakes will be!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Winston stopped reading, chiefly in order to appreciate the fact that he was reading, in comfort and safety. He was alone: no telescreen, no ear at the keyhole, no nervous impulse to glance over his shoulder or cover the page with his hand. The sweet summer air played against his cheek. From somewhere far away there floated the faint shouts of children: in the room itself there was no sound except the insect voice of the clock. He settled deeper into the arm-chair and put his feet up on the fender. It was bliss, it was eternity.”
― George Orwell, 1984

“Looking back, I have come to realize that the gang lifestyle back then—the fame, the respect, and the recognition—was stronger and powerful than any drug. We were serious with what we were dealing with. It was like a do or die situation. Shelton ‘Apples’ Burrows reform gang leader”
― Drexel Deal, The Fight of My Life is Wrapped Up in My Father

“A moment of silence is actually a very loud moment.”
― Nouf Alfadl

“An image is a mere reflection. Do not fear the reflection. Fear the reality it reflects.”
― Guy Morris, The Image: A Quantum Portal Has Opened

“It was evenings like that when beneath dim light and relaxing in a sultry bath that she missed him the most. A flicker of candlelight, wind breathing snow against the window and the soothing scent of creme caramel – all were a comfort to her as she closed her eyes, summoned memories and many a tender thought. She didn't feel deserving of the devotion bestowed upon her, but she had finally learned to accept its wondrous gift, knowing that love was the source of existence and its only end.”
― Donna Lynn Hope

“Seen no matter how and said as seen. Dread of black. Of white. Of void. Let her vanish. And the rest. For good.”
― Samuel Beckett, Nohow On: Company, Ill Seen Ill Said, Worstward Ho

“What is sitting behind your judgments? What fears are you coddling?”
― Akiroq Brost

“Silence is never empty.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough

“We all know people who are smart. But that doesn’t mean they are wise. Understanding and wisdom come from surviving the pitfalls of life, thriving in life, having wide and deep contact with other people. Out of your own moments of suffering, struggle, friendship, intimacy, and joy comes a compassionate awareness of how other people feel—their frailty, their confusion, and their courage. The wise are those who have lived full, varied lives, and reflected deeply on what they’ve been through.”
― David Brooks, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen