Connection Quotes

Ethan Hawke Quote on Art and Why Human Creativity Matters

“Do you think human creativity matters? Well, most people don’t spend a lot of time thinking about poetry, right? They have a life to live and they’re really not that concerned with Allen Ginsberg’s poems or anyone’s poems—until, their father dies; they go to a funeral; you lose a child; someone breaks your heart. And all of a sudden you’re desperate for making sense out of this life. ‘Has anybody felt this bad before? How did they come out of this cloud?’ Or the inverse—something great. You meet somebody and your heart explodes—you love them so much you can’t even see straight. You’re dizzy. ‘Did anybody feel like this before? What is happening to me?’ And that’s when art’s not a luxury—it’s actually sustenance. We need it.”
Ethan Hawke, TED

Beyond the Quote (276/365)

Has anybody felt as bad as you might be feeling? Yes. And worse. How did they come out of that cloud? They wrote about it. Talked about it. Created something with it. They expressed it. Connected with other people about it. And many of them left it there for people, like you, to find and possibly connect with, too. Have you found what they left for you? Or have you been distracted? Have you even tried to search or are you too busy not looking? Human creativity—art—is the sustenance we need to nourish our souls.

“There’s a thing that worries me sometimes when you talk about creativity because it can have this kind of feel that it’s just nice, or warm, or pleasant—it’s not. It’s vital. It’s the way we heal each other. In singing our song, in telling our story, in inviting you to say, ‘Hey, listen to me and I’ll listen to you,’ we’re starting a dialog. And when you do that this healing happens. And we come out of our corners. And we start to witness each other’s common humanity. We start to assert it. And when we do that? Really good things happen.”
Ethan Hawke, TED

Better questions lead to better answers.

Know your worth.

On Social Media: “What If My Posts Are Causing Other People Pain? When Should I Share and When Shouldn’t I Share?”

“Social media is still an energy exchange… in case you were wondering why you’re exhausted all of the time.”
Unknown

Beyond the Quote (245/365)

When it comes to social media, what do we do if what we post causes other people pain? Assuming that’s not the intention, I find this to be a very valid concern when one of the main criticisms of social media use is the pain it can cause. The pain in seeing others in seemingly happy relationships. The pain in seeing people post exotic pictures from across the globe when you’re stuck at home. The pain in seeing distorted perceptions of beauty and then comparing it to yourself. The pain in seeing other people hit milestones that you haven’t even set as goals for yourself. The pain that comes from comparing highlight reels to your “normal” reels. Not wanting to contribute to any of that, the question that I find constantly stirring in my mind is, what moments to share and what moments to keep to myself?

“I know a girl whose one goal was to visit Rome/
Then she finally got to Rome/
And all she did was post pictures for people at home/
‘Cause all that mattered was impressin’ everybody she’s known”
Drake, Emotionless

Beyond the Quote (223/365)

Happiness is only real when shared. That’s the last thing that Chris McCandless wrote before he died in the movie, Into The Wild. (Warning: More spoilers ahead) Based on a true story, the main character, after getting accepted into Law School, decided he wanted to pursue an alternate path and donated all of his college money to charity, bought a cheap car, and drove out west in pursuit of a remote life in Alaska. He wanted to travel, explore, and live completely free from conformity.

“Everyone is shy. Other people are waiting for you to introduce yourself to them, they are waiting for you to send them an email, they are waiting for you to ask them on a date. Go ahead.”
Kevin Kelly, Blog

NF Quote from “Only” on Trust

“If you made a list of people that you trusted/
Would you put your name down?”
NF, Only

Beyond the Quote (187/365)

When I heard this line in NF’s song it stayed with me. It brilliantly orients an issue that so many of us confront on a regular basis—trust. Trust is the foundation of every relationship in our lives. Without trust there cannot be a stable relationship. Just like without a proper foundation there cannot be a stable building. Why is trust so important? Because trust is the key that unlocks and opens a person’s vulnerable side. And until a person is vulnerable and open to another—no true relationship can form.

“most importantly love
like it’s the only thing you know how
at the end of the day all this
means nothing
this page
where you’re sitting
your degree
your job
the money
nothing even matters
except love and human connection
who you loved
and how deeply you loved them
how you touched the people around you
and how much you gave them”
Rupi Kaur, Milk and Honey (Page 194)

Will you?

Everybody has something to give us. Everybody.

Paulo Coelho Quote on How People Only Hear What They Want To Hear (and Why I Disagree)

“Don’t waste your time with explanations: people only hear what they want to hear.”
Paulo Coelho

Beyond the Quote (124/365)

I disagree. I stumbled upon this quote on Instagram and I can see why people would share it and agree with it from a superficial standpoint, but I feel that there’s something deeply wrong about it that needs to be discussed. If you never took the time to explain, how would anybody ever be influenced to change their mind? Certainly people change their minds. And in my estimation, it’s ONLY through conversation and explanation that it ever happens: conversations you have with other people, conversations you listen to between other people, and conversations that you read from other people. It’s through this constant exchange of ideas—these explanations—that we only ever advance our thoughts forward. How else could we possibly do that?

“When you step back from the enormity of your own immediate experience—whatever it is—you are able to see the experience of others and either connect with them or lessen the intensity of your own pain. We are all strands in a long rope that stretches back countless generations and ties together every person in every country on every continent. We are all thinking and feeling the same things, we are all made of and motivated by the same things. We are all stardust.”
Ryan Holiday, Stillness is the Key (Page 160)

A Heart Warming Quote About Eeyore and The Amazing Efforts of His Friends

“One awesome thing about Eeyore is that even though he is basically clinically depressed, he still gets invited to participate in adventures and shenanigans with all of his friends. What is amazing is that they never expect him to pretend to feel happy, they never leave him behind or ask him to change, they just show him love.”
Unknown

Beyond the Quote (116/365)

One of the more common thoughts being passed around in the self-improvement world is the idea that you are who you surround yourself with. If you surround yourself with people who gossip—you’ll become a person who gossips. If you surround yourself with people who workout all of the time—you’ll start to workout all of the time. If you surround yourself with “losers”—you’ll become a “loser.” You get the idea—birds of a feather flock together.

Beyond the Quote (103/365)

Once, an anthropologist proposed a game to kids in an African tribe. He put a basket full of fruit near a tree and told them that whoever got there first would win the entire basket. When he gave them the signal to run, they all took each other’s hands and ran together. Once they arrived at the tree, they sat in a circle and enjoyed the fruits together. When he asked them why they chose to run as a group when they could have raced against each other for the whole basket, one child spoke up and said, “UBUNTU—how can one of us be happy if all the other ones are sad?”

27 Deep Quotes on Unity, Interconnectedness, and How We Are One

Excerpt: There are countless things that divide us. But, what divides us is secondary to what unites us. Read our 27 quotes on unity to learn more.

“Self-pity is a tricky thing—an addiction like any other, often birthed from our need to connect and bond with something or somebody. When we feel sorry for ourselves, we decide that no one understands us, and that lets us create a temporary connection to… drumroll… ourselves. It’s one of the most convenient ways to feel a connection—by find a reason to feel sorry for ourselves.” ~ Humble the Poet, Things No One Else Can Teach Us (Page 230)

Osho Quote on Meaning and How It Arises

“When a poet writes a poem, meaning arises – because the poet is not alone; he has created something. When a dancer dances, meaning arises. When a mother gives birth to a child, meaning arises. Left alone, cut off from everything else, isolated like an island, you are meaningless. Joined together you are meaningful. The bigger the whole, the bigger is the meaning.”
Osho, The Book of Understanding

Beyond the Quote (85/365)

Isolated might feel like the physical reality, but it doesn’t have to be the emotional state. Isolated might make the feeling of meaninglessness arise, but meaning extends beyond just physical connection. Think about the power of creation. Creation is the act of giving birth to something that otherwise would not have never existed. Before creation there is just you. And for as long as you continue to remain in isolation physically, mentally, and emotionally—no meaning will arise. How could it?