What really matters
One fundamental criterion of a life well lived is love of life. It is terribly important, therefore, to enjoy life as it goes along. Joy cannot be postponed. Life as is is of infinite value.
Irving Greenberg • The Jewish Way: Living the Holidays
Hold on tightly, but let go lightly. Nearly everything can be replaced. And if it can’t be replaced, celebrate its existence instead of fretting over its loss.
"Nothing you love is lost. Not really. Things, people—they always go away, sooner or later. You can't hold them, any more than you can hold moonlight. But if they've touched you, if they're inside you, then they're still yours. The only things you ever really have are the ones you hold inside your heart."
(Elementary school teacher and author Bruce
... See moreGet a life. A real life, not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger paycheck, the larger house. Do you think you'd care so very much about those things if you blew an aneurysm one afternoon, or found a lump in your breast? Get a life in which you notice the smell of salt water pushing itself on a breeze over Seaside Heights, a life in
... See moreAnna Quindlen • Anna Quindlen's Commencement Address at Villanova
Our obsession with extracting the greatest future value out of our time blinds us to the reality that, in fact, the moment of truth is always now—that life is nothing but a succession of present moments, culminating in death, and that you’ll probably never get to a point where you feel you have things in perfect working order. And that therefore... See more
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
"You can't get away from yourself by moving from one place to another." — Ernest Hemingway
nostalgia is the enemy of progress