“Let Your Deeds Be Judged”
“Human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but … life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves.” (Gabriel García Márquez)
“Life is tragic simply because the earth turns, and the sun inexorably rises and sets, and one day, for each of us, the sun will go down for the last, last time. Perhaps the whole root of our trouble, the human trouble, is that we will sacrifice all the beauty of our lives, will imprison ourselves in totems, taboos, crosses, blood sacrifices, steeples, mosques, races, armies, flags, nations, in order to deny the fact of death, the only fact we have. It seems to me that one ought to rejoice in the fact of death — ought to decide, indeed, to earn one’s death by confronting with passion the conundrum of life. One is responsible for life: It is the small beacon in that terrifying darkness from which we come and to which we shall return.” (James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time)
“As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being.” (C. G. Jung)
“Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.” (Ernest Hemingway)
“If other people do not understand our behavior — so what? Their request that we must only do what they understand is an attempt to dictate to us. If this is being ‘asocial’ or ‘irrational in their eyes, so be it. Mostly they resent our freedom and our courage to be ourselves. We owe nobody an explanation or an accounting, as long as our acts do not hurt or infringe on them. How many lives have been ruined by this need to ‘explain,’ which usually implies that the explanation be ‘understood,’ i.e. approved. Let your deeds be judged, and from your deeds, your real intentions, but know that a free person owes an explanation only to himself — to his reason and his conscience — and to the few who may have a justified claim for explanation.” (Erich Fromm, The Art of Being)
“Who are you to judge the life I live?
I know I’m not perfect – and I don’t live to be –
but before you start pointing fingers… make sure your hands are clean!” (Bob Marley)
“We are taught you must blame your father, your sisters, your brothers, the school, the teachers – but never blame yourself. It’s never your fault.
But it’s always your fault, because if you wanted to change you’re the one who has got to change.” (Katherine Hepburn, Me, Stories of My Life)
“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” (St. Francis of Assisi)
The muscle of kick-assery is like any other muscle. You have to use it or lose it.” (Jen Sincero)
“If we did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.” (Thomas A. Edison)
Catalyst Quotes 