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?
Read More »Paulo Coelho Quote on How People Only Hear What They Want To Hear (and Why I Disagree)“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.
Read More »A Heart Warming Quote About Eeyore and The Amazing Efforts of His FriendsQuote about Ubuntu and How We Are All Connected
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?”
Read More »Quote about Ubuntu and How We Are All Connected27 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.
Read More »27 Deep Quotes on Unity, Interconnectedness, and How We Are One
“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?
Read More »Osho Quote on Meaning and How It Arises“Our common stories of oppression should unite us much more than our fears of each other can ever separate us. My high school classmates and I feared something because we were told to. Fears download themselves through generations, not always in explicit ways. Our parents may not always be directly telling us who we can and can’t love, or who we can and can’t accept in our lives. More often, such messages are unspoken, and never updated.” ~ Humble the Poet, Things No One Else Can Teach Us (Page 163)
“We judge people because it’s easier than what we should be doing: trying to understand them. When we understand, we’re less reactive and more compassionate. Trying to understand someone or something requires much more effort than judging, but it’s so much more enriching in the long run.” ~ Humble the Poet, Things No One Else Can Teach Us (Page 163)
10 Empowering Brené Brown Quotes from The Gifts of Imperfection
Excerpt: Letting go of who you think you’re supposed to be and embracing who you are is hard. These quotes from The Gifts of Imperfection will help…
Read More »10 Empowering Brené Brown Quotes from The Gifts of Imperfection
Gregory Stock Quote on Friendship—and What Your Friends Say About You
“What could someone figure out about you by the friends you’ve chosen? …Do your close friends tend to be older or younger than you? Less or more talented and successful than you? Do they share your values? Ambitions? Interests?”
Gregory Stock, The Book of Questions
Beyond the Quote (62/365)
You could probably learn a lot about someone by the friends they’ve chosen. In fact, I’m a firm believer in the idea that you are a product of who you surround yourself with the most. How could you not be? Your close friends are the ones who have the greatest influence over you. They’re the ones who you spend the most time with, who you challenge to games and do activities with, who you poke around with intellectually, who you have deep conversations with (or at least conversations beyond the superficial), and who you measure (and ultimately align) values, ambitions, and interests with. While this certainly isn’t always the case, I feel like it is more often than it’s not and can definitely provide noteworthy insights that will help you better understand your current situation.
Read More »Gregory Stock Quote on Friendship—and What Your Friends Say About YouBrené Brown Quote on Perfectionism and How It’s Unattainable and Self-Destructive
“Perfectionism is self-destructive simply because there is no such thing as perfect. Perfection is an unattainable goal. Additionally, perfectionism is more about perception – we want to be perceived as perfect. Again, this is unattainable – there is no way to control perception, regardless of how much time and energy we spend trying.”
Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection
Beyond the Quote (58/365)
What a gift it would be if we were able to drop all of our desires for perfection. And I’m not just talking about some of our desires for perfection—I mean all of them. The desire to look perfect; to have perfect grades/ outcomes/ performances; to be perceived as perfect by others; to have perfect answers to questions; to be the perfect mother/ father/ spouse/ sibling; to have the perfect circumstances; to live the perfect life… Why? Because every single one of these desires creates suffering. They create unattainable, unrealistic goals that lead to constant disappointment, self-judgement, and less acceptance of your self and others. And in this world—in this reality—there is no such thing as perfect.
Read More »Brené Brown Quote on Perfectionism and How It’s Unattainable and Self-DestructiveThe Minimalists’ Quote on Changing The People Around You
“You can’t change the people around you, but you can change the people around you.”
The Minimalists, Everything That Remains
Beyond the Quote (34/365)
Sure we might influence or inspire the people around us to change, but we certainly can’t force them to change. Change is an inside-out job. It’s something that a person has to want themselves and something they have to manifest from within. The outside-in approach simply doesn’t work. You can yell and scream and shout and argue with a person until the veins in your neck pop out—a person won’t change until they decide they’re ready, willing, and capable of change.
Read More »The Minimalists’ Quote on Changing The People Around You“You know yourself mostly by your thoughts. Everyone else in the world knows you only by your actions. Remember this when you feel misunderstood. You have to do or say something for others to know how you feel.” ~ James Clear, Blog