It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
When I was young, I had to choose between the life of being and the life of doing. And I leapt at the latter like a trout to a fly. But each deed you do, each act, binds you to itself and to its consequences, and makes you act again and yet again. Then very seldom do you come upon a space, a time like this, between act and act, when you may stop and simply be. Or wonder who, after all, you are.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the tension between action and being, emphasizing the importance of moments of stillness for self-discovery.
Ursula K. Le Guin's quote contemplates the choices we make between a life of constant action and one of simply existing. She suggests that while engaging in deeds connects us to our actions and their consequences, it is crucial to recognize the rare moments of stillness in which we can reflect on our true selves and our existence, emphasizing that both action and contemplation are vital for understanding who we are.
Themes
ActionBeingConsequenceSelf-DiscoveryReflection
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about finding balance in life.
More from Ursula K. Le Guin
All quotes βIn reading a novel, any novel, we have to know perfectly well that the whole thing is nonsense, and then, while reading, believe every word of it. Finally, when we're done with it, we may find - if it's a good novel - that we're a bit different from what we were before we read it, that we have changed a little... But it's very hard to say just what we learned, how we were changed.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
Reason is a faculty far larger than mere objective force. When either the political or the scientific discourse announces itself as the voice of reason, it is playing God, and should be spanked and stood in the corner.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
We read books to find out who we are. What other people, real or imaginary, do and think and feel... is an essential guide to our understanding of what we ourselves are and may become.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
When he found that the administrators were upset, he laughed. βDo they expect students not to be anarchists?β he said. βWhat else can the young be? When you are on the bottom, you must organize from the bottom up
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
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