In Vancouver, in Sydney and in Orange County, we live among fluorescent stores and streets so brightly lit that you can read a book after dark; in other places across our global body, there are blackouts and curfews every night.
Interpretation
The quote contrasts the bright, modern conveniences of some cities with the hardships faced in others, highlighting global disparities.
Pico Iyer's quote invites reflection on the stark differences between affluent urban centers, where artificial light allows for continued activity after sunset, and regions where people experience nightly blackouts and curfews due to various struggles. This juxtaposition not only emphasizes the comfort and privilege enjoyed in some parts of the world but also serves as a reminder of the challenges others face, prompting a broader contemplation of societal inequality and the diverse experiences of humanity.
In practice
In a discussion about urban development and privilege during a community meeting.
Quitting, for me, means not giving up, but moving on; changing direction not because something doesn’t agree with you, but because you don’t agree with something. It’s not a complaint, in other words, but a positive choice, and not a stop in one’s journey, but a step in a better direction. Quitting-whether a job or a habit-means taking a turn so as to be sure you’re still moving in the direction of your dreams.
I think one reason, obviously, that I spend so much time in one place is that I've been lucky enough to travel a lot, and now there are other different, invisible trains that are more interesting to me.
I've never meditated in my life. I don't practice yoga nor any religion. I'm a tourist on the realm of stillness.
We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate.
I'm no Buddhist monk, and I can't say I'm in love with renunciation in itself, or traveling an hour or more to print out an article I've written, or missing out on the N.B.A. Finals. But at some point, I decided that, for me at least, happiness arose out of all I didn't want or need, not all I did.
The one thing perhaps that technology hasn't always given us is a sense of how to make the wisest use of technology.
Although modesty is natural to man, it is not natural to children. Modesty only begins with the knowledge of evil.
People who are crucified with Christ have three distinct marks: 1. they are facing only one direction, 2. they can never turn back, and 3. they no longer have plans of their own.
The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.
The history of the world is the world's court of justice.
My real self wanders elsewhere, far away, wanders on and on invisibly and has nothing to do with my life.
I'm very emotional; I think I may go mad in several years' time.
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