They don't ask much of you. They only want you to hate the things you love and to love the things you despise.
Boris PasternakRead
A conscious attempt to fall asleep is sure to produce insomnia, to try to be conscious of one's own digestion is a sure way to upset the stomach. Consciousness is a poison when we apply it to ourselves. Consciousness is a light directed outward. it's like the headlights on a locomotive—turn them inward and you'd have a crash.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Trying to overthink personal processes can lead to negative outcomes.
Boris Pasternak’s quote emphasizes the dangers of excessive self-awareness and introspection. He suggests that when we become overly conscious of our own processes—like falling asleep or digesting food—we can inadvertently disrupt them, much like directing the light of a locomotive's headlights inward would cause a crash. The quote serves as a reminder that sometimes, it is better to allow things to happen naturally rather than forcefully trying to control them.
Themes
ConsciousnessIntrospectionSelf-AwarenessNaturalControl
In practice
Example use cases
During a mindfulness workshop discussing the importance of letting thoughts pass without judgment.
More from Boris Pasternak
All quotes →Even so, one step from my grave, I believe that cruelty, spite, The powers of darkness will in time, Be crushed by the spirit of light.
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He is her glory. Any woman could say it. For every one of them, God is in her child. Mothers of great men must have been familiar with this feeling, but then, all women are mothers of great men -- it isn't their fault if life disappoints them later.
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Our evenings are farewells. Our parties are testaments. So that the secret stream of suffering. May warm the cold of life.
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The most extraordinary discoveries are made when the artist is overwhelmed by what he has to say.
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Oh, how one wishes sometimes to escape from the meaningless dullness of human eloquence, from all those sublime phrases, to take refuge in nature, apparently so inarticulate, or in the wordlessness of long, grinding labor, of sound sleep, of true music, or of a human understanding rendered speechless by emotion!
Boris PasternakRead
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