Dantrums

I love quotes and how they can distill a world of ideas into a single sentence. A good quote simplifies everything. Life seems manageable. And someone else did the thinking for you. Isn't that nice. A good quote reinforces you. Every time I read Goethe's line, "A talent is formed in stillness, a character in the stream of the world," I sigh and tell myself 'More stillness, that's all I need!' And suddenly lying in bed and not moving for the better part of a day feels like a job well done. Other quotes cause ambivalence. Stygian writes, "How tragic, how brutal and short life is. How sinful people are. The immutable heart of what we are that bleeds through whatever we might become. All else is vanity." When I read this I want to cry, but I am also inspired, because the last two lines say that no matter what you pretend to be, you can never kill who you really are. In other words, Truth wins....even if it destroys you. Then again, if truth is too painful, turn and embrace "Ignorance is bliss." Every good quote has some truth to it, even if it trashes truth itself. Anyway, I'm inspired, after reading Stygian's words, to be as true to myself as I possibly can.