Elena Aguilar > Elena's Quotes

“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.”
― Toni Morrison

“Write what should not be forgotten.”
― Isabel Allende

“The library is inhabited by spirits that come out of the pages at night.”
― Isabel Allende

“Listening is such a simple act. It requires us to be present, and that takes practice, but we don't have to do anything else. We don't have to advise, or coach, or sound wise. We just have to be willing to sit there and listen.”
― Margaret J. Wheatley

“Poetry = Anger x Imagination”
― Sherman Alexie, One Stick Song

“If you let people into your life a little bit, they can be pretty damn amazing.”
― Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

“The question we need to ask ourselves is whether there is any place we can stand in ourselves where we can look at all that's happening around us without freaking out, where we can be quiet enough to hear our predicament, and where we can begin to find ways of acting that are at least not contributing to further destabilization.”
― ram dass

“We're fascinated by the words--but where we meet is in the silence behind them.”
― ram dass

“The most exquisite paradox… as soon as you give it all up, you can have it all. As long as you want power, you can't have it. The minute you don't want power, you'll have more than you ever dreamed possible.”
― ram dass

“In most of our human relationships, we spend much of our time reassuring one another that our costumes of identity are on straight.”
― ram dass

“As long as you have certain desires about how it ought to be you can't see how it is.”
― ram dass

“Let's trade in all our judging for appreciating. Let's lay down our righteousness and just be together.”
― ram dass

“Everything changes once we identify with being the witness to the story, instead of the actor in it.”
― ram dass

“Learn to watch your drama unfold while at the same time knowing you are more than your drama.”
― ram dass

“Everything in your life is there as a vehicle for your transformation.
Use it!”
― ram dass

“It's only when caterpillarness is done that one becomes a butterfly. That again is part of this paradox. You cannot rip away caterpillarness. The whole trip occurs in an unfolding process of which we have no control.”
― Ram Dass, Be Here Now

“If you think you are enlightened; go home for Thanksgiving.”
― Ram Dass

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
― Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.”
― Anais Nin

“The road to hell is paved with adverbs.”
― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

“A good poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once a good poem has been added to it. A good poem helps to change the shape of the universe, helps to extend everyone's knowledge of himself and the world around him.”
― Dylan Thomas

“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.”
― Mark Twain

“The only reason why we ask other people how their weekend was is so we can tell them about our own weekend.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters