Quotes about self-reflection

Jim Fergus - One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd

that's exactly the good thing about the Injun life--you don't have to stop and think about whether or not you're 'happy'--which in my opinionis a highly overrated human condition invented by white folks

Heinrich von Kleist - Selected Prose

We see that in the organic world, to the same degree that reflection gets darker and weaker, grace grows ever more radiant and dominant. But just as two lines intersect on one side of a point, and after passing through infinity, suddenly come together again on the other side; or the image in a concave mirror suddenly reappears before us after drawing away into the infinite distance, so too, does grace return once perception, as it were, has traversed the infinite--such that it simultaneously app

Carl Sandburg -

A man must find time for himself. Time is what we spend our lives with. If we are not careful we find others spending it for us. . . . It is necessary now and then for a man to go away by himself and experience loneliness; to sit on a rock in the forest and to ask of himself, 'Who am I, and where have I been, and where am I going?' . . . If one is not careful, one allows diversions to take up one's time—the stuff of life.

Linda B. Nilson - Creating Self-Regulated Learners: Strategies to Strengthen Students' self-Awareness and Learning Skills

Study skills really aren't the point. Learning is about one's relationship with oneself and one's ability to exert the effort, self-control, and critical self-assessment necessary to achieve the best possible results--and about overcoming risk aversion, failure, distractions, and sheer laziness in pursuit of REAL achievement. This is self-regulated learning.

Bryant McGill - Simple Reminders: Inspiration for Living Your Best Life

Quit trying so hard and sit quietly with yourself and you will see that there are no demands within you.

Amy Neftzger - The War of Words

The things that truly define me can’t be lost.

L.R. Knost -

Taking care of yourself doesn't mean me first, it means me too.

Michael Stein -

When she was younger, she felt that he wanted to know everything about her, but she was sometimes afraid to tell too much. She was afraid he would know her too well, that he would find some weakness in her, some element that would turn him away, maybe even a quality she didn't even realize she possessed.

C.G. Jung - The Essential Jung: Selected Writings

As understanding deepens, the further removed it becomes from knowledge.

Audre Lorde - The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism

What woman here is so enamored of her own oppression that she cannot see her heelprint upon another woman's face? What woman's terms of oppression have become precious and necessary to her as a ticket into the fold of the righteous, away from the cold winds of self-scrutiny?

Hugo Embleton-Black -

Only when we are truly lost are we free to choose our own path.

C. JoyBell C. -

The beauty in correcting our own mistakes; rather than attempting to correct the mistakes in others, is that working upon our own flaws improves us. But working upon the flaws of others not only leaves us unimproved; it actually leaves us being less than we were prior to making those assessments. I believe that the moral of this natural occurrence, is that we are all born to find and fix our own shortcomings; rather than find and fix the shortcomings in others. And if all people were to do this,

Akiroq Brost -

Question everything, including your questions. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Why are you asking? Why are you asking in this particular way? Is it really the right question for the answer you are seeking? Are there additional questions you need to be asking? Don't be afraid to think outside of the box. Don't be afraid of creativity and innovation.

Pearl Zhu - 100 Creativity Ingredients: Everyone’s Playbook to Unlock Creativity

Self-reflection is an important stage to diagnose, develop and strengthen your creativity.

Seth Garfield - 1937-1988

History matters, not because it repeats itself (which it never does), but because its narration can rid demons that torment the oppressed, shock the complacent and intransigent into self-reflection, and inspire feats of human perseverance and will.

Kilroy J. Oldster - Dead Toad Scrolls

Self-reflection enables every person to alter the trajectory of their personal storyline by reviewing a series of episodic occurrences and making value judgments regarding the past. How we perceive our history colors the present, our deeds of today script the future outcome of individual persons, and the outcome of many people making conscious decisions using their cognitive processes including the ability to remember and share memories influences the direction of human development and the progr

Chang-rae Lee - On Such a Full Sea

But maybe it’s the laboring that gives you shape. Might the most fulfilling times be those spent solo at your tasks, literally immersed or not, when you are able to uncover the smallest surprises and unlikely details of some process or operation that in turn exposes your proclivities and prejudices both?

Max Ernst -

When the artist finds himself he is lost. The fact that he has succeeded in never finding himself is regarded by Max Ernst as his only lasting achievement.

Bella Vespira -

Love. What is it truly? Love is a spiritual state, an intangible, often insatiable need to put one's needs above your own. To provide peace, stability and smiles to those who have made the long transition from your mind to your heart.

Akiroq Brost -

When you feel annoyed, when you feel pain, that's when you have the opportunity to meet and confront yourself. It is when we are most emotionally volatile that we expose our true selves. Unresolved pain, frustration and grievance come to the surface. We can let this torment and torture us, pulling us to and fro, or we can use these moments to come face to face with ourselves. Why do we feel the way we do? Why do we feel compelled to act in a certain matter. Is this serving us? Are we serving our

Margo T. Rose - The Words

My mind is like a little house,My peers break into.They rearrange my furniture,And the cabinets rifle through.They throw things out;They put things in,And erase the writing on the wall,And by the time that they walk out,It's not my mind at all.

Chris Crutcher -

Talking with Elaine like that, with no judgment from her or anything, seemed to bring my feelings more to the surface so I could look at them. I love times like that; you don't get many of them.(Walker, in STOTAN!)

Shannon L. Alder -

Maybe, the lesson we can all learn from the inner sadness of a Narcissist is to see through our own fabrications, our own illusions so that we can be set free to be real once more.

Bryant McGill - Voice of Reason

Begin to see the violence around you begin to see the violence within you.

Kilroy J. Oldster - Dead Toad Scrolls

All throughout our lives, we selectively draw on selected shavings of life events and reflect upon them through consciousness, creating an arranged catalogue of senses, faculties, and mental activities that compose our personal life story.

Frederick Douglass -

Having no resources within himself, he was compelled to be the copyist of many, and being such, he was forever the victim of inconsistency;

Ryan Lilly - #Networking is people looking for people looking for people

The only personal branding consultant who can ever hope to have a clear understanding of you and your value can be found in the mirror.

Glenn Beck - The 7: Seven Wonders That Will Change Your Life

When you aren't drinking or using drugs or spending lots of money on fancy toys or basking in the glow of fame or working all the time or eating your way through the refrigerator, being hateful and angry is a very handy shield from the truth. It lets you focus on everyone else's shortcomings, and all the ways they have let you down. You can bemoan how all these broken people keep finding you somehow. That way you don't have to focus on what really matters -- the tough work of fiing what is broke

Kilroy J. Oldster - Dead Toad Scrolls

Every person interprets the silence that surrounds him or her. The eternal silence of the universe that we exist in is terrifying because it forces each of to ask what our purpose is, why are we here, and what should I do?

Kilroy J. Oldster - Dead Toad Scrolls

Tact by its nature entails staying mum, prudently electing to forgo urging other people to pursue an alternative course of action. Creation of silent spaces in our own life and equitable distribution of periods of respite that allow for periods of equable inner reflection is necessary to spur personal growth. It is equally important to honor other people’s intrinsic need for periods of introspection, uninterrupted by unsolicited advice

Ashly Lorenzana -

Even if you think you're doing well and have it all figured out, there is a voice you will always inevitably hear at some point which nags at you and says "but wait..." Don't ever dismiss it, listen to what it has to say. Life will never be close enough to perfect, and listening to that voice means stepping outside of yourself and considering your own wrongdoings and flaws.

Beth Ramsay - #Networking is people looking for people looking for people

The cool thing about getting older, is that you have so much to look back on. If you take the time to reflect on your life journey to where you are now, you will be amazed at how many times “fate” caused you to make great decisions that lead you to where you are now.

Karl Ove Knausgård - Min kamp 5

Writing was a defeat, it was a humiliation, it was coming face-to-face with yourself and seeing you weren't good enough.

Kilroy J. Oldster - Dead Toad Scrolls

Writing a memoir is a holistic method of learning and healing by placing responsibility for personal transformation on the spiritual authority of the self. Writing a person’s life story is useful to gain a comprehensive understanding regarding a person’s maturation, distinctive stages of personal development, and the influences provided by their family and society. The writing processes also serves as a catharsis for painful personal events that a person seeks to integrate into their transmuting

Solange nicole -

There's nothing we fear more than our own Reflection. We scream at the monsters within us, hidden deep within our hearts. We run and hide from the terrors all around us- the different mirrors that we see.

Cherie Carter-Scott - These Are the Rules: Ten Rules for Being Human as Introduced in Chicken Soup for the Sou

Other people are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.

C.G. Jung - Dreams

But no matter how much parents and grandparents may have sinned against the child, the man who is really adult will accept these sins as his own condition which has to be reckoned with. Only a fool is interested in other people's guilt, since he cannot alter it. The wise man learns only from his own guilt. He will ask himself: Who am I that all this should happen to me? To find the answer to this fateful question he will look into his own heart.

Shannon L. Alder -

You won't find angels in hell, only demons that know how to play with yours.

Lois McMaster Bujold - Diplomatic Immunity

We should have taken our chances back then, when we were young and beautiful and didn't even know it.

Shelby Foote -

I think making mistakes and discovering them for yourself is of great value, but to have someone else to point out your mistakes is a shortcut of the process.

Amanda Mosher - Better to be able to love than to be loveable

During self-reflection, the realization came that revolution begins within.

Nenia Campbell - Locked and Loaded

We're so concerned with the idea of what we ought to be that we fail to take into account the things that make us who we really are.

Lao Tzu -

Be content with what you have;rejoice in the way things are.When you realize there is nothing lacking,the whole world belongs to you.

Kels Adeline Sapp -

...A mirror can trick you day by day into thinking you remain looking and existing in one way forever. But a photograph presents you with the truth: it freezes you eternally, existing as a reminder that you can never, ever go back to any one moment again- that you are always changing, hour by hour, cell by cell, in tiny fragments that build skyscrapers overnight.

Benjamin Franklin - Poor Richard's Almanack

Love your Enemies, for they tell you your Faults.

Joan Didion - Slouching Towards Bethlehem

It all comes back. Perhaps it is difficult to see the value in having one's self back in that kind of mood, but I do see it; I think we are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not. Otherwise they turn up unannounced and surprise us, come hammering on the mind's door at 4 a.m. of a bad night and demand to know who deserted them, who betrayed them, who is going to make amends. We forget all too soon the things we thought w

Bryant McGill - Simple Reminders: Inspiration for Living Your Best Life

People who have had little self-reflection live life in a huge reality blind-spot.

C. JoyBell C. -

Herein lies the beauty of the flaw: that a shortcoming is a spiritual sign that says "Look! There is a perfect opportunity right here to grow and become better!" But instead of seeing those signs, people instead look and see something that is no longer worthy. Whether it be about themselves or about others. And so we have it that there are a great number of individuals who are missing out on great chances to improve themselves and to also believe in others.

Balroop Singh -

Self-reflection is a kind of self-judgment. The difference is just this – the former is positive and the latter is negative.

Judah Siler -

I was contemplating on why I wanted to share this with you, can you handle it, can you handle me being blunt, will you just judge me for revealing how I may feel towards a person, topic or even you, so with all that being said... I wasn't going to show this but I feel like a collection of people need to hear it, and also profusion of weak-minded individuals are scared to say the truth amongst the masses (which are their friends, strangers, and family members); the reason why they might be hesita

Alain de Botton -

At the end of hours of train-dreaming, we may feel we have been returned to ourselves - that is, brought back into contact with emotions and ideas of importance to us. It is not necessarily at home that we best encounter our true selves. The furniture insists that we cannot change because it does not; the domestice setting keeps us tethered to the person we are in ordinary life, but who may not be who we essentially are.

Russell Simmons - Success Through Stillness: Meditation Made Simple

To separate yourself from your weakness and look at it objectively is a very powerful thing.

Clarice Lispector - The Hour of the Star

Who hasn't asked himself, am I a monster or is this what it means to be human?

T.F. Hodge - From Within I Rise: Spiritual Triumph Over Death and Conscious Encounters with "The Divine Presence"

Time, place, and space for all things, but spending [the] majority of one's time playing in outer places, and far less time exploring inner space, is perhaps the worst form of neglect. Don't play yourself; the real you awaits.

Marcey Shapiro - Freedom From Anxiety: A Holistic Approach to Emotional Well-Being

Our observer is not affected by emotional ups and downs, our personal life dramas, or by the events of the external world. It is our observer, at the core of our being, that teaches us to let go as we begin identify with it rather than with all the hubbub of our moment-to-moment experience and our mental chatter about it.

Ulli Lust - Today is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life

What kind of person am I?Am I even actually a person?I can never quite reach any kind of conclusion, sometimes I'm melancholic, sometimes I behave like a total fool, like a nut, and then suddenly I'm full of energy and threatening to explode. Just like now. My whole body is itching, it's awful.

Joe Abercrombie - Last Argument of Kings

When was it exactly that I became... this? By small degrees, I suppose. One act presses hard upon another, on a path we have no choice but to follow, and each time there are reasons. We do what we must, we do what we are told, we do what is easiest. What else can we do but solve one sordid problem at a time? Then one day we look up and fine we are... this.

Joe Abercrombie - Last Argument of Kings

When was it exactly that I became... this? By small degrees, I suppose. Once act presses hard upon another, on a path we have no choice but to follow, and each time there are reasons. We do what we must, we do what we are told, we do what is easiest. What else can we do but solve one sordid problem at a time? Then one day we look up and fine we are... this.

Paul Auster - Winter Journal

You can't see yourself. You know what you look like because of mirrors and photographs, but out there in the world, as you move among your fellow human beings, whether strangers or friends or the most intimate beloveds, your own face is invisible to you. You can see other parts of yourself, arms and legs, hands and feet, shoulders and torso, but only from the front, nothing of the back except the backs of your legs if you twist them into the right position, but not your face, never your face, an

Kristen Twardowski -

Writing is a blurred mirror. Sometimes we work harder to see how we are reflected, but often we avert our gaze from the shadowy image.

Eddie Capparucci -

The more we connect with our Spiritual self, the uglier sin looks. From the book: Removing Your Shame Label.

Kilroy J. Oldster - Dead Toad Scrolls

A writer’s tools are desperation, humiliation, loneliness, love, affection, heartache, happiness, glee, defeat, victory, setbacks, and a desire for personal redemption. People with the experience to know of such things relate that in order to write one must suffer an alleyway of anguish, and experience an array of physical and emotional pain. More than anything else, emotional growth, and writing are each reflective of the immeasurable gain accomplished through studious reflection.

Maija Haavisto - The Atlas Moth

I should learn patience, it's a shame there's no time for that.

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