If you have the guts to be yourself, other people'll pay your price.
John UpdikeRead
Time is our element, not a mistaken invader.
Interpretation
Time is a natural part of our existence and should be embraced rather than feared.
John Updike's quote suggests that time is a fundamental aspect of our lives, something intrinsic to our existence rather than an external force that disrupts us. By perceiving time as an integral element, we can understand its value and significance, ultimately leading to a more fulfilling life where we appreciate each moment.
In practice
In a speech about embracing life's challenges, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of viewing time positively.
If you have the guts to be yourself, other people'll pay your price.
Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of. _x000D_ _x000D_ Suspect each moment, for it is a thief, tiptoeing away with more than it brings.
Museums and bookstores should feel, I think, like vacant lots - places where the demands on us are our own demands, where the spirit can find exercise in unsupervised play.
But it is just two lovers, holding hands and in a hurry to reach their car, their locked hands a starfish leaping through the dark.
The reader knows the writer better than he knows himself; but the writer's physical presence is light from a star that has moved on.
To guarantee the individual maximum freedom within a social frame of minimal laws ensures - if not happiness - its hopeful pursuit.
Those are weaklings who know the truth and uphold it as long as it suits their purpose, and then abandon it.
Why is marijuana against the law? It grows naturally on our planet, serves a thousand different functions, all of them positive. To make marijuana against the law is like saying that God made a mistake.
In our leisure we reveal what kind of people we are.
...True prayer is measured by weight, not by length. A single groan before God may have more fullness of prayer in it than a fine oration of great length.
You are a little soul carrying around a corpse.
This overcoming of all the usual barriers between the individual and the Absolute is the great mystic achievement. In mystic states we both become one with the Absolute and we become aware of our oneness. This is the everlasting and triumphant mystical tradition, hardly altered by differences of clime or creed.
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