As readers we once in a while come across a sentence that just resonates with us. Quotes that stick with us, makes us think and feel. I love great writing. But it’s a slippery slope, because there is a fine line between meaningful writing and trying too hard. Maybe some of these quotes will resonate with you or maybe you’ll think they’re pretentious, who knows. That’s the beauty of having different opinions. As long as your heart is big enough to embrace differences instead of being closed minded, insisting that your personal opinion is the only truth, everything is going to turn out okay.
These following quotes have stuck with me because of the impact they’ve had on my life, so it’s going to get a little personal.
Is this guy writing about me???
He was used to this anticlimactic feeling, where by the time you’ve done all the work to get something you don’t even want it anymore. He had it all the time. It was one of the few things he could depend on.”
– The Magicians by Lev Grossman
I relate so much to Quentin Coldwater, the main character in The Magicians. I read the series during a rough patch and it helped me put words to some of the things I was feeling. Things that I still struggle with at times.
When I find something new and interesting I tend to become obsessed, having to know everything about it or doing all the work to get some place. Then when I finally buy or do the thing I’m obsessed with it’s so anticlimactic, because that’s it, it’s over. So much build-up and obsession released in a single moment. And my focus has already shifted, making me obsessed with something else. It’s not a healthy way to live, because it fills your very being with disappointment upon disappointment. But being aware of it helps me a lot. It has made me think up different ways to sustain interest or dampen obsessiveness.
Calling planet get your head out of your ass
[…] I will stop being a mouse Quentin. I will take some chances. If you will, for just one second, look at your life and see how perfect it is. Stop looking for the next secret door that is going to lead you to your real life. Stop waiting. This is it: there’s nothing else. It’s here, and you’d better decide to enjoy it or you’re going to be miserable wherever you go, for the rest of your life, forever.”
– The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Reading this was a wake-up call for me to try to be content with reality instead of dragging myself further down the well of disappointment. I’ve spent most of my late teens and early adulthood waiting for there to be something more. At times, I have checked out of reality for so long that everything started to slip away from me, making it that much harder to return.
As long as I can remember, I have been creating my own worlds and stories in my head. I spent most of my childhood there. It’s difficult and painful to accept that this is it. I have this strong need for there to be more, but magic is something that only exists in books and our minds no matter how badly we want it to manifest. It hurts like hell to grow up and suffer the loss of that hope that has always been there. Losing the once unconditional belief that somehow, somewhere there is a place where it’s all real. Some people outgrow the innocence of childhood dreams painlessly, while I desperately cling on to it, well aware that it’s futile. And as a result never being content with what is right in front of me.
The difference between want and need
Isn’t that the way of the world? We want the sweet things, but we need the unpleasant ones.”
– The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
There is a big difference between want and need. Wanting something is all good and well, but we don’t grow as people from getting what we want. We grow from a healthy balance or suffering and pleasure. Too much of one or the other will break you. This quote hits me right in the feels. I use it to remind myself that there needs to be a balance between the good and the bad. Cliché as it might be it’s about embracing life to the fullest in order to live with the reassurance that there will be light after the clouds have passed. It reminds me that you have to take the sweet with the sour. Somehow I also find it comforting in a melancholic sort of way. What can you do? That’s the way of the world.
There are so many beautiful quotes in literature, and I prefer the ones that resonate with me deep inside my soul over simply beautifully crafted sentences. These kinds of quotes are the reason why I love words. Words aren’t magic on their own, but strung together they have the ability to reach places nothing else can access.
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