Wake up! If you knew for certain you had a terminal illness--if you had little time left to live--you would waste precious little of it! Well, I'm telling you...you do have a terminal illness: It's called birth. You don't have more than a few years left. No one does! So be happy now, without reason--or you will never be at all.
Interpretation
Life is short, so we should cherish every moment and be happy now.
This quote emphasizes the fleeting nature of life, reminding us that we all face mortality from the moment we are born. Dan Millman urges us to take action, embrace happiness, and make the most of our limited time by appreciating the present rather than waiting for reasons to be joyful.
In practice
This quote can be used in a motivational speech to encourage people to appreciate their lives.
You haven't yet opened your heart fully, to life, to each moment. The peaceful warrior's way is not about invulnerability, but absolute vulnerability--to the world, to life, and to the Presence you felt. All along I've shown you by example that a warrior's life is not about imagined perfection or victory; it is about love. Love is a warrior's sword; wherever it cuts, it gives life, not death.
Enlightenment is not an attainment; it is a realization. And when you wake up, everything changes and nothing changes. If a blind man realizes that he can see, has the world changed?
Masters of one art have mastered all because they have mastered themselves. With dominion over both mind and muscle, they demonstrate power, serenity, and spirit. They not only have talent for their sport, they have an expanded capacity for life. The experts shine in the competitive arena; the masters shine everywhere.
Pain is a relatively objective, physical phenomenon; suffering is our psychological resistance to what happens. Events may create physical pain, but they do not in themselves create suffering. Resistance creates suffering. Stress happens when your mind resists what is... The only problem in your life is your mind's resistance to life as it unfolds.
Everything you need to know is within you. Listen. Feel. Trust the body's wisdom.
In the real world, those of us who are most productive, successful, and satisfied focus not on fixing feelings or manipulating thoughts, but on what needs to be done-and then doing it-no matter what thoughts or feelings arise.
I don’t think of work as work and play as play. It’s all living.
The first ghost to leave the world of the dead was Roger. He took a step forward, and turned to look back at Lyra, and laughed in surprise as he found himself turning into the night, the starlight, the air. . .and then he was gone, leaving behind such a vivid little burst of happiness.
Make lots of noise _x000D_ Kiss lots of boys _x000D_ Or kiss lots of girls _x000D_ If that's something you're into _x000D_ When the straight and narrow _x000D_ Gets a little too straight _x000D_ Roll up a joint (or don't) _x000D_ Just follow your arrow _x000D_ Wherever it points.
There is no complete life. There are only fragments. We are born to have nothing, to have it pour through our hands. And yet, this pouring, this flood of encounters, struggles, dreams...
Many people die at twenty five and aren't buried until they are seventy five.
Naturally, there's got to be a limit for I don't expect to live forever, but I do intend to hang on as long as possible.
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