Chris Quotes
“un silencio a gritos que aún no había aprendido a acallar con palabras” : A screaming silence that I had not yet learned to silence with words
Dan Savage famously says, "There's no settling down without settling for". I am with him on that. There's no perfect someone out there. But happy exists. The guy (or, frankly, lack of a guy) that leads you to a happy, peaceful, driven existence exists. But nothing's perfect. There will always be minor treasons. He's obsessed about his socks, he always turns the TV off despite the fact that I've only been out of the room ten minutes, he won't refill the tape dispenser, he hates the way I load the dishwasher. There's no settling down without settling for.
But settle on the SMALL STUFF. Settle on the socks and 'where we keep the butter' stuff. You don't settle on emotional availability, fidelity, sex, commitment, children...those are deal-breakers. You're never going to date someone with NO QUIRKS that annoy you. That's never going to happen. And yes, in that moment you'll think, "he always burns the bacon, but I can live with it" and you will.
But feeling loved in your core? Feeling cared for and heard and respected and desired? That you don't don't settle for. That you fight tooth and nail to have. That you don't waver on. You're too good to do that, it means to much to live without it, and all the sacrifices should add up to sock-level complaints, not "am I loved" level complaints.
Beautiful things don’t ask for attention -Secret Life of Walter Mitty
While commissioned shoots pay the bills, it's nice to be able to do personal shoots.
On women: We admire them for their beauty, respect them for their intelligence, adore them for their virtues, and love them because we can't help it.
On marriage: A good marriage is that in which each appoints the other guardian of his solitude It don't matter where you get your appetite, as long as you eat at home!
The mark of a successful man is one that has spent an entire day on the bank of a river without feeling guilty about it. (Chinese philosopher)
In rivers, the water that you touch is the last of what has passed and the first of that which comes; so with present time.(Leonardo da Vinci)
How could drops of water know themselves to be a river? Yet the river flows on. (Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Wind, Sand and Stars)
The woods are made for the hunters of dreams, The brooks for the fishers of song; To the hunters who hunt for the gunless game The streams and the woods belong. (Sam Walter Foss, The Bloodless Sportsman)
Come live with me and be my love, And we will all the pleasures prove, That valleys, groves, hills, and fields, Woods, or steepy mountain yields. [[The Passionate Shepherd to His Love]]
"And so seated next to my father in the train compartment, I suddenly asked, "Father, what is sexsin?"
He turned to look at me, as he always did when answering a question, but to my surprise he said nothing. At last he stood up, lifted his traveling case off the floor and set it on the floor.
Will you carry it off the train, Corrie?" he said.
I stood up and tugged at it. It was crammed with the watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning.
It's too heavy," I said.
Yes," he said, "and it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. It's the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger, you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you.”
Corrie ten Boom,The Hiding Place
“Men do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit playing.”
“It will be the kiss by which all others in your life will be judged... and found wanting.”
―
A man's sexual choice is the result and sum of his fundamental convictions. He will always be attracted to the woman who reflects his deepest vision of himself, the woman whose surrender permits him to experience a sense of self-esteem. The man who is proudly certain of his own value, will want the highest type of woman he can find, the woman he admires, the strongest, the hardest to conquer--because only the possession of a heroine will give him the sense of an achievement
“If the whole world was blind, how many people would you impress?” - Boonaa Mohammed
Epicurean’s idea of wealth -
“Although one shouldn't spurn extravagant foods if they happen to be available, becoming dependent on such goods ultimately leads to unhappiness. As Epicurus puts it, "If you wish to make Pythocles wealthy, don't give him more money; rather, reduce his desires."
By eliminating the pain caused by unfulfilled desires, and the anxiety that occurs because of the fear that one's desires will not be fulfilled in the future, the wise Epicurean attains tranquility, and thus happiness.”[1]
Always exercise the Golden Rule.
“You cannot expect the lion to not eat you just because you didn’t kill it.”
心中有屎，看什么，都是屎。
Translated: How you choose to perceive things tells a lot about you. i.e. The person who is truly good will never think ill of others, only because he/she has a heart of gold. Conversely, if you’re always wary about others, being extremely difficult and cynical, chances are because you’re like this.
“That’s what careless words do. They make people love you a little less.” - Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things
疑人不用，用人不疑。
Translated: Don’t keep anyone you’re skeptical of by your side. If you decide to keep them by your side, you must trust them. (I feel like I’m not translating this properly. Quorans who are fluent in Mandarin feel free to correct me.)
- “Someone once said, a peace of mind is everything.” - can’t remember who said this.
Fuck being happy. Concentrate on not being sad instead. Also - understand that true happiness is tranquility. “Peace of mind” is underrated.
No expectations, no disappointments.
别人肯帮你，那是情分，别人不帮你，那是本分。
Translated: Nobody is obligated to help you. When you ask for help, they have a choice-
If they help, that’s because they care.
If they don’t, you have no rights to be angry because they are just keeping to their business.
- 礼多人不怪。
Translated: Doesn’t hurt to be courteous.
"Airports see more sincere kisses than wedding halls. The walls of hospitals have heard more prayers than the walls of churches." - unknown
“I’m sorry for hurting everyone when I was hurting myself.” - unknown
“Those who can make you believe in absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” - Voltaire
“If we were to gaze into each others’ eyes forever, will my vision be reduced to what’s reflected in yours?” - unknown
“If all your prayers were answered, would it change the world or just yours?” - a.k. hasan
“How much pain can you fit inside a person?” - unknown
“When falling, dive.” - from an american comic
“People should either be caressed or crushed. If you do them minor damage they will get their revenge; but if you cripple them there is nothing they can do. If you need to injure someone, do it in such a way that you do not have to fear their vengeance.”
― Niccolò Machiavelli
- “Time you enjoy wasting is not time wasted.” - John Lennon.
In the ancient days, men looked at the stars ans saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood. Taken from the contingency speech of the POTUS in case of an Apollo 11 disaster
HARUKI MURAKAMI QUOTES - Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart. - Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. - Why do people have to be this lonely? What’s the point of it all? Millions of people in this world, all of them yearning, looking to others to satisfy them, yet isolating themselves. Why? Was the earth put here just to nourish human loneliness? - Anyone who falls in love is searching for the missing pieces of themselves. So anyone who’s in love gets sad when they think of their lover. It’s like stepping back inside a room you have fond memories of, one you haven’t seen in a long time. - Don’t feel sorry for yourself. Only assholes do that. - No matter how much suffering you went through, you never wanted to let go of those memories. - Lost opportunities, lost possibilities, feelings we can never get back. That’s part of what it means to be alive. But inside our heads – at least that’s where I imagine it – there’s a little room where we store those memories. A room like the stacks in this library. And to understand the workings of our own heart we have to keep on making new reference cards. We have to dust things off every once in awhile, let in fresh air, change the water in the flower vases. In other words, you’ll live forever in your own private library. - Listen up – there’s no war that will end all wars. - Death is not the opposite of life, but a part of it. - Whatever it is you’re seeking won’t come in the form you’re expecting. - Unfortunately, the clock is ticking, the hours are going by. The past increases, the future recedes. Possibilities decreasing, regrets mounting. - Taking crazy things seriously is a serious waste of time. - Silence, I discover, is something you can actually hear. - Even if we could turn back, we’d probably never end up where we started. - Life is not like water. Things in life don’t necessarily flow over the shortest possible route. - You can keep as quiet as you like, but one of these days somebody is going to find you. - Every one of us is losing something precious to us. Lost opportunities, lost possibilities, feelings we can never get back again. That’s part of what it means to be alive. - What we call the present is given shape by an accumulation of the past. - People’s memories are maybe the fuel they burn to stay alive. - If you can’t understand it without an explanation, you can’t understand it with an explanation. - No matter what they wish for, no matter how far they go, people can never be anything but themselves. That’s all. - Despite your best efforts, people are going to be hurt when it’s time for them to be hurt. - If you can love someone with your whole heart, even one person, then there’s salvation in life. Even if you can’t get together with that person. - Chance encounters are what keep us going. - The most important thing we learn at school is the fact that the most important things can’t be learned at school. - Time weighs down on you like an old, ambiguous dream. You keep on moving, trying to sleep through it. But even if you go to the ends of the earth, you won’t be able to escape it. Still, you have to go there- to the edge of the world. There’s something you can’t do unless you get there. - What we seek is some kind of compensation for what we put up with. - No matter how far you travel, you can never get away from yourself. - Spend your money on the things money can buy. Spend your time on the things money can’t buy. - Knowledge and ability were tools, not things to show off.
It is not the critic who counts.
Not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled.
Or where the doer of deeds could have done better.
The credit belongs to the man in the arena
Whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood
Who strives valiantly. Who errs and comes short again and again.
Who knows the great enthusiams, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause.
Who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement.
And who, at worst, if he fails...
...at least fails while daring greatly.
So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls...
...Who know neither victory nor defeat.
Empires are never built by vicars. They are built by men like Henry Morgan
He who rides a tiger cannot dismount
It is not for lambs to judge lions
Each time a man's heart is broken, the sweeter the next girl needs to be to get his attention
A woman whose mood improves with a book, a poem, a song or a cup of coffee is not defeated by anyone; even life loses with her. -- Khalil Gibran
We would be together and have our books and at night be warm in bed together with the windows open and the stars bright -- Ernest Hemingway
The pursuit of radical change and novelty often just leads to something older and far more obsolete than what you already have. - Literature and History podcast, episode 6
If a thing is gonna die, it's gonna die. But to kill it so you don't have to go through the pain of watching it die? Now it's dead, and you're the killer. You suffer twice. - Yellowstone, S02E06
--—
Life’s just a long series of losing things you love. - Yellowstone, S02E10 But..that means you were able to love
Can’t see the city skyline if you’re inside it.
From The Art of Manliness Podcast, May 6 2025 episode: you can fall so fast, you think you're flying
Happiness doesn't always make us feel happy e.g. Doing something that's hard, but right.
There is no right way to create a happier life, just as there is no best way to cook an egg
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