Go Gentle Quotes

“Seneca: We suffer more in imagination than in reality.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“Ah, the invisibility of the middle-aged woman. I’d read countless pieces on the indignity of it. My hot take on turning invisible? Finally! No more being the object of men’s scrutiny and the inevitable insecurity, self-hatred and insanity that goes with it. Please, ignore me. Go size up and lust after (or reject!) someone younger. I’ve got a coven to run.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“me to roll with whatever life throws at me.” “Void of emotion.” “That’s a common misconception about Stoicism. It’s not Keep Calm and Carry On. It’s Change Your Perception So You Never Have to Keep Calm and Carry On. Stoics are very passionate people. The key is to be correct in your passions.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“philosophy is the love of knowledge. Philosophers use that love of knowledge to perceive reality clearly.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“That’s what’s so rad about acceptance,” I said. “Once you truly accept all the shit that happened to you, you can get to work on everything that still is available. But even acceptance isn’t enough. You have to love it. Nietzsche said, Amor fati. Love fate. You have to love what happened to you.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“I was all over the place. Which is what happens when I get started on Stoicism. Fueled by enthusiasm, I talk faster and faster, bouncing between subjects, repeating myself. It's like running downhill. At some point, momentum takes over and stopping is impossible. All I can do is keep going and pray I've got a shred of dignity left when I reach the bottom.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“I was once walking down the Strip in Vegas,” Blanche said. “Outside the Mirage there was a billboard. It read, ‘The Mirage Buffet. Imagine it. Eat it.’ I thought, that’s rich people in a nutshell. Imagine it. Eat it.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“Women. You can’t accuse us of not being practical.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“know there’s something called Paris Derangement Syndrome. It’s where Japanese tourists have spent their whole lives building up Paris in their imaginations and when they get here, they go into shock.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“Gorgeous, shallow creature, Viv! Reliably irritable, bereft of interests. Scroller, consumer, influencee. That Fate gave me Viv as a daughter provides a daily fountain of dismay and delight.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“Acceptance isn’t passive. It’s active. Acceptance is an act of courage. It’s not the end. It’s the beginning.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“When I attempt to define happiness and understand its place in the hierarchy of the human project (divorced philosopher), my mind leaps to those five minutes in the market with Emily Ann. (Sorry, marriage-to-Hal! Sorry, birth-of-Viv!) They were marked by spontaneity, creative problem-solving, lawlessness, laughter and kinship. I existed vividly and exclusively in the present moment. The universe was harmonious and it had my back. I felt wide and well.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“We suffer more in imagination than in reality"(Seneca)”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“We are all you, little dog,” I said. “We want what we want. Most of us just disguise it better.” I chucked the ball.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“people.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“Batphone.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“pleasure.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“strength.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“both.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“fair.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“down?”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“millennial.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“person.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“living.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“out.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“was.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“free.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“only.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“didn’t.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle