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Pico Iyer

Pico Iyer Quotes

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Famous Pico Iyer Quotes

“In the end, we need two things to lead a balanced life - a sense of the world and a sense of ourselves; it's like breathing in and breathing out. And if you can only get to know the world by stepping out, and losing yourself in experience, you can only get to know the self by stepping back, and finding yourself in contemplation. One without the other leads to a kind of madness.”

IfsKnowsWorldNeedsKindTwoEndsSelfMotivationalFindingsLosingMadnessBreathingContemplationTwo ThingsFinding YourselfBalancedLosing YourselfBalanced LifeStepping Back
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“I love the fact that we can't explain coincidences. I think it's like sometimes you walk into a crowded room and you'll see a stranger and you feel as if you know her better than the friends that you came with. And the very fact that you can't explain it is what gives it its power, that it lies in some deeper or mysterious realm, I think.”

IfsThinkingKnowsGivingFeelsSometimesFactsLyingWalksRoomsDeeperStrangerMysteriousRealmsCoincidenceCrowded
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“It's impressive that a man [Dalai Lama], on the day after his Nobel Prize was announced, in October, 1989, said to me, "I really wonder if my efforts are enough?" Most of us, if we just won the Nobel Prize, would think this is vindication, or at last there's a chance for Tibet. He's the rare person who thinks, as a Buddha would, "I don't know if I've done enough, I don't know if I will do enough."”

IfsThinkingKnowsMenPersonsSaidDoneEnoughLastsChanceEffortWonderPrizeImpressiveOctoberNobelNobel PrizeLamaTibetDalaiVindicationRare Person
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“If you'd asked me some years ago, I would have said [Dalai Lama] is an extraordinarily compassionate, clear-sighted, calm human being. But now, I'm more convinced than ever that his political positions as well as his spiritual positions arise out of such precise and realistic thinking that they're extremely sound.”

IfsThinkingYearsHumansWellsSaidSpiritualPoliticalSoundHuman BeingsClearPositionYears AgoCalmConvincedAriseRealisticCompassionatePreciseLamaDalai
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“[The Dalai Lama] told me some years ago, "I've made every concession to China, and I've been as open and tolerant as I could, and still things get worse in Tibet." If you look at it from one point of view, as he himself says, his monastic position of forbearance and nonviolence hasn't reaped any benefits. And yet, he's thinking in terms of the long term, of centuries.”

IfsThinkingYearsLooksLongMadeStillsTermViewsCenturyPositionBenefitsYears AgoChinaPoint Of ViewLong TermNonviolenceConcessionsLamaTibetDalaiForbearance
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“I am simply a fairly typical product of a movable sensibility, living and working in a world that is itself increasingly small and increasingly mongrel. I am a multinational soul on a multinational globe on which more and more countries are as polyglot and restless as airports. Taking planes seems as natural to me as picking up the phone or going to school. I fold up my self and carry it around as if it were an overnight bag.”

IfsWorldSoulSelfCountrySeemsSchoolNaturalProductsPhonesPlanesBagsGlobesSensibilityTypicalRestlessAirportsFoldsMultinationalsPolyglots
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“I think that America is an ideal place for the privileged homeless, who are used to different cultures. It's easiest and most accommodating because it is a country of exiles and immigrants and newcomers. There are no walls, in that sense. There is always the sense that traditions are being made as we speak. So you can slot yourself in. If you are living at a distance in society, this is one of the most congenial societies to live in.”

IfsThinkingMadeDifferentCountryAmericaUsedCultureSpeakWallIdealsTraditionDistanceImmigrantsPrivilegedHomelessExileDifferent CulturesNewcomers
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“A lack of affiliation may mean a lack of accountability, and forming a sense of commitment can be hard without a sense of community. Displacement can encourage the wrong kinds of distance, and if the nationalism we see sparking up around the globe arises from too narrow and fixed a sense of loyalty, the internationalism that's coming to birth may reflect too roaming and undefined a sense of belonging.”

IfsKindMayMeanHardCommunityBirthCommitmentDistanceLoyaltyAriseFixedNationalismAccountabilityBelongingGlobesDisplacementRoamingAffiliationInternationalismUndefinedSparking
Book:The Global Soul: Jet Lag, Shopping Malls, and the Search for Home
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“And if travel is like love, it is, in the end, mostly because it's a heightened state of awareness, in which we are mindful, receptive, undimmed by familiarity and ready to be transformed. That is why the best trips, like the best love affairs, never really end.”

IfsInspirationalEndsStatesAwarenessReadyTravelAffairTransformedTime TravelTraveledTravelerFamiliarityLove AffairBest LoveGreat TravelReceptiveLike LoveInspiring TravelTravel The WorldTravel AdventureAdventure And TravelPhotography And TravelRoads TraveledWant To TravelTrippingTravel And Love
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“For if every true love affair can feel like a journey to a foreign country, where you can’t quite speak the language, and you don’t know where you’re going, and you’re pulled ever deeper into the inviting darkness, every trip to a foreign country can be a love affair, where you’re left puzzling over who you are and whom you’ve fallen in love with.”

IfsKnowsFeelsCountryLeftSpeakLanguageDarknessJourneyWho You AreAffairDeeperFallenLove AffairInvitingForeign CountriesVery TruePuzzling
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