Denise > Denise's Quotes

“It takes a lot of time to be a genius. You have to sit around so much, doing nothing, really doing nothing.”
― Gertrude Stein

“Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.”
― Gertrude Stein

“If you can't say anything nice about anyone else, come sit next to me.”
― Gertrude Stein

“I wish they would take me as I am.”
― Vincent van Gogh

“If love is the answer, could you rephrase the question?”
― Lily Tomlin, Many Moons

“Have you brought the moon to me?" she asked. "Not yet," said the Court Jester, "but I will get it for you right away. How big do you think it is?" "It is just a little smaller than my thumbnail," she said, "for when I hold my thumbnail up at the moon, it just covers it." "And how far away is it? asked the Court Jester. "It is not as high as the big tree outside my window," said the Princess, "for sometimes it gets caught in the top branches." It will be very easy to get the moon for you," said the Court Jester. "I will climb the tree tonight when it gets caught in the top branches and bring it to you." The he thought of something else. "What is the moon make of, Princess?" he asked. "Oh," she said, "it's made of gold, of course, silly.”
― James Thurber, Many Moons

“You have made the moon," The Jester said. "That is the moon.”
― James Thurber, Many Moons

“I don't remember any blue poodles.”
― James Thurber, Many Moons

“The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day.”
― David Foster Wallace, This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life

“Every human is an artist. The dream of your life is to make beautiful art.”
― Don Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom

“Oi elämäni,
toivoton sammumaton.
Miten kadehdin
tuulen tuivertamia
soihtuja yössä.”
― Izumi Shikibu

“The one close to me now,
even my own body-
these too
will soon become clouds,
floating in different directions.”
― Izumi Shikibu, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“Watching the moon
at dawn,
solitary, mid-sky,
I knew myself completely,
no part left out.”
― Izumi Shikibu, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“Even if I now saw you
only once,
I would long for you
through worlds,
worlds.”
― Izumi Shikibu, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“Circumstances bring people together, and take them apart. One cannot keep up with everyone in a lifetime.”
― Jennifer Worth, Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times