The most exhausting thing in life, I have discovered, is being insincere. That is why so much of social life is exhausting; one is wearing a mask. I have shed my mask.
Arranging a bowl of flowers in the morning can give a sense of quiet in a crowded day – like writing a poem or saying a prayer.
When one is out of touch with oneself, one cannot touch others.
Flying was a very tangible freedom. In those days, it was beauty, adventure, discovery – the epitome of breaking into new worlds.
Only when a tree has fallen can you take the measure of it. It is the same with a man.
Women need solitude in order to find again the true essence of themselves.
The loneliness you get by the sea is personal and alive. It doesn’t subdue you and make you feel abject. It’s stimulating loneliness.
People talk about love as if it were something you could give, like an armful of flowers.
Don’t wish me happiness – I don’t expect to be happy it’s gotten beyond that, somehow. Wish me courage and strength and a sense of humor – I will need them all.
Why do progress and beauty have to be so opposed?
Good communication is just as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after.
If you surrender completely to the moments as they pass, you live more richly those moments.
Grief can’t be shared. Everyone carries it alone. His own burden in his own way.
One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach. One can collect only a few, and they are more beautiful if they are few.
Him that I love, I wish to be free – even from me.
I must write it all out, at any cost. Writing is thinking. It is more than living, for it is being conscious of living.
I think best with a pencil in my hand.
Nothing feeds the center of being so much as creative work. The curtain of mechanization has come down between the mind and the hand.
Beauty cannot disguise nor music melt A pain undiagnosable but felt.
I want to be pure in heart – but I like to wear my purple dress.