Chris Matakas, #Human: Learning To Live In Modern Times Quotes
This constant mental diatribe and the frustrations, worries, insecurities and muscular tension that ensues are the self.
Our most valuable victories are those which go without praise.
The more closely two organisms depend upon each other the harder it becomes to tell where one organism ends and the other begins.
We are only different because there exists something to be different from, and it is this difference that bonds us.
Empathy is a breaking down of the false constructs of division between the observer and the observed.
The most fulfilled among us are those who serve others.
The possessions themselves were not the problem, it was my relationship with possessing.
It was my letting go that gave me a better hold.
A life of joy awaits the man who sits alone quietly in a room and determines what he himself believes rather than simply adopting the values of another.
Our social contract is becoming an exchange of free thought for mindless stimuli.
If something’s existence is contingent upon the existence of another entity, can we truthfully call them separate beings?
The more we have outside ourselves the harder it is to get inside ourselves.
The most obvious, most absurdly recognizable phenomena in day-to-day life often become the hardest to remain consciously aware of.
Deep down I believe each of us is a well-spring of understanding and wisdom, but we simply never allow the space or time for this understanding to rise to the level of conscious thought.
We tend to view ourselves as this, lying in contradiction with everything that is not ourselves, that.
That nagging state of constant thought that exists somewhere between the ears and behind the eyes is the self.
We are just too busy trying to appear smart to realize how intelligent we actually are.
It is important to realize that we so often define ourselves by what is in opposition to ourselves.
He plays the same game, but for the first time in his life he is truly playing, rather than working, being a human, and this is a vast distinction realized by few.
Everyone, no matter how historically famous or modernly praised, has no idea about the ultimate truth of what it means to be human.
The very fact that you can observe this thinking mind is proof that you are not this thinking mind.
Language has created a barrier that prevents us from seeing existence as it truly is.
Constantly re-evaluating your purpose is the best way to ensure that you are pursuing the goals of who you are and not who you used to be.
The rare opportunity to exist, no matter how brief, is worth the pain left in the wake of its disappearance.
For many of us, especially being so fortunate to live in a first-world country, the vast majority of pain we experience is due to the seriousness with which we identify with our thoughts.
You are the space in which these thoughts arise, but not the thoughts themselves.
This is what it means to be mindful. To watch the thoughts as they come and go without judgment while completely accepting what arises in the present moment.
In mastering one thing, you have mastered all things because you have learned how to learn.
When your words enter the material world in the form of ink or on screen, you are immediately afforded the opportunity to judge their worth.
Self-improvement is generally a removal of a vice rather than an acquisition of a virtue.
When you give your weakness permission to be because you understand that it is simply an expression of your strength, it tends to no longer be a weakness.
I envision a world in which the vast majority of us are actively striving toward our potential by serving others through mediums we are most passionate.