Arthur thinks that, above all, aging means the abandonment of criticism and the taking on of compassionate acceptance.
Some things come true. They might come true in ways different than we might have predicted, but some things do come true.
The heart is a small muscle with tremendous strength;.
Everyone seemed to be in a blind hurry, and there was no relief in sight. Technology rushed us ever forward, and simple civility – a certain kindness and care – got sacrificed.
Life has its way, and it seems to me now that the object might only be to learn how to be graceful, to understand the value of a deep kind of acceptance.
We forget how ready people are to help. You can talk all you want about the evil spirit of man. But I don’t think it’s true. I think most of us are just dying to be good. And one way we can do that is to forgive the bad in others as well as in ourselves. I don’t say don’t hold people accountable. Help them be accountable. But to say those words to yourself or another? ‘I forgive you’? Most powerful words in the world.
Do not carry remorse for anything in the past; in the end, it is only prideful. Let peace dwell inside you, live your life in joy, and give thanks that God has come to you in this way.
I think love is all about risk. And reinvention. And honesty and revelation. And if you don’t have that in a relationship, you don’t grow, and you don’t stay true to what you started together.
The important thing is to keep trying. And to apologize when you need to.
Patience is not only a virtue; it is a form of grace.
You know what? That woman’s pain being greater than yours doesn’t make your pain any less. She deserves the best we can offer, and so do you. Now roll over and hike up your johnnie.
Oh, what I want to do is hand my life over to someone else. That’s all. And they could rearrange everything into something that would make sense.
Kids don’t really see old people. A lot of people don’t.
It’s funny how, oftentimes, the people you love the most are given the least margin for error.
Yes, life is a minefield at any age. Sometimes we feel pretty certain that we know what’s coming. But really, we never do. We just walk on. We have to. If we are smart we count our blessings between the darker surprises.
His mother said, “Oh, it’s miserable to love, Johnny, I’m sorry to tell you so. Miserable for me, anyway, because I feel it too hard. And what happens then? What do you think? You go from the lovely direct to the pain – you can’t help it.
He supposes a great many ills of adults might be cured by a nap or a good meal or a bit of timely reassurance. But adults complicate everything. They are by nature complicators. They learned to make things harder than they need to be and they learned to talk way too much.
No. Real love isn’t like that. My dad says real love is when the other person is your best friend and you shouldn’t have to work hard around them, it should be, like, more natural, and you just want to be with them even if you’re not doing anything.
For me, computers were like the kids in the classroom with their hands always raised, saying, Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!
For everything there truly is a season; if his life’s work has not taught him that, it has taught him nothing. The birth of spring, the fullness of summer, the push of glory in the fall, the quiet of winter.
That’s what life is, at its best. A confession club: people admitting to doubts and fears and failures. That’s what brings us closer to one another, our imperfections.