Go Gentle Quotes

“Seneca: We suffer more in imagination than in reality.”
― 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

“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

“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

“Things happened to you, I began. As things do. But events are neutral. To the extent they make you suffer, that's on you.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“It wasn't that Lionel couldn't bounce back. He didn't want to bounce back. To bounce back would be to forgive a world that had treated him so unfairly.”
― 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

“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

“What is fear? Fear is the mistaken belief I can’t handle an event in the future.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“William Irvine’s A Guide to the Good Life.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“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

“The Stoics never spoke of love. They spoke of ridding yourself of emotions. They spoke of going hard on yourself. They spoke of inoculating yourself against disappointment. They spoke of accepting, with relish, life’s cruelties.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“All four virtues would be required. Wisdom, courage, temperance and justice.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“Nietzsche: There are no facts, only interpretations.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“Marcus Aurelius: Treat what happens as wholly neutral, not novel or hard to deal with, but familiar and easily handled.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“Seneca: The greatest remedy for anger is delay. I needed to calm down and remember that this, too, shall pass.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“Marcus Aurelius: Be forgiving with others but hard on yourself.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“William Irvine’s A Guide to the Good Life. (Which”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“The four negative passions,” I said, “are pain, fear, craving and pleasure. All are based on faulty perceptions of reality, and therefore can be avoided with reason and proper training. Now, the three positive emotions. There’s joy, in the experience of what is truly good. Caution, towards the prospect of what is truly bad. And wishing, for what is truly good. Jesus, has your dick completely shrunk?”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“Stoicism and the big three: Marcus Aurelius, Seneca and Epictetus.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“all and was keeping her opinions to herself. “Small-minded people blame others,” I said to Lionel. “Average people blame themselves. The wise blame nobody.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“what are the virtues?” “Wisdom,” said Lorenzo, counting off, starting with his thumb. “Being smart about things,” I said. “Always an available option. Always makes you feel good.” “Courage,” Lucien added. “Having the strength to do the right thing. It might be hard in the moment, but man, you feel good after.” “Justice,” Lorenzo put in. “Treating other people with respect. No world in which that’s a bad thing. What’s the last one?” “Temperance,” said Lucien. “Or self-restraint,” I said. “Which you two have displayed magnificently. You’re officially excused.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“Externals,” I said. “They make for a highly unstable existence. They put you in a constant state of fear that your happiness will be taken away.” “So you can’t want anything?” Lucien asked. “He who wants nothing is the richest man in the world,” I said, paraphrasing Seneca. “The less you want, the happier you’ll be.”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle

“course”
― Maria Semple, Go Gentle