“Thoughts are slippery fish in a cold shallow stream.If you are intent on capturing a worthwhile one, you need to stand very still, focus very hard on somewhere outside yourself, and then simply ignore it until it gets so close that it tickles your ankles.Then, pounce.” IfsNeedsStillsHardFocusColdFishesStreamsWorthwhileShallowSlipperyAnkles Author:Vera Nazarian
“It is life that fights and struggles and rages; life, that tears at you in its last agonizing throes to hold on, even if but for one futile instant longer... Whereas I, I come softly when it is all done. Pain and death are an ordered sequence, not a parallel pair. So easy to confuse the correlations, not realizing that one does not bring the other.” IfsDoeDonePainLastsFightingEasyRealizingStruggleTearsRageInstantPairsSequenceParallelsCorrelationAgonizing Author:Vera Nazarian
“It does not take a great supernatural heroine or magical hero to save the world.We all save it every day, and we all destroy it -- in our own small ways -- by every choice we make and every tiniest action resulting from that choice.The next time you feel useless and impotent, remember what you are in fact doing in this very moment. And then observe your tiny, seemingly meaningless acts and choices coalesce and cascade together into a powerful positive whole.The world -- if it could -- will thank you for it.And if it does not... well, a true heroine or hero does not require it.” IfsWorldWayFeelsWellsDoeWholeMomentsFactsActionTogetherRememberChoicesNextPowerfulHeroTinyUselessMeaninglessNext TimeSave The WorldHeroinesPowerlessnessCascadeTrue Hero Author:Vera Nazarian
“When I was a little kid back in Moscow, Russia, I've always thought I would become an artist or a folk dancer or an astronomer. In fact, if you'd asked me then about a life of solitary writing I would have said, "Oh how boring! Imagine, to sit at a desk all day and just write."” IfsWritingLittlesSaidFactsKidsArtistImagineFolksBoringRussiaDancerSolitaryDesksLittle KidMoscowAstronomers Author:Vera Nazarian
“If you ask me now, I think every single writer whose work I've read has had some influence upon me, and I continue to be influenced, subtly, by everything I read, like a sponge. But then, what writers aren't? Being a literary sponge is one of the prerequisites for this insanity.” IfsThinkingAsksInfluenceAsk MeInsanityPrerequisitesSponges Author:Vera Nazarian
“It is right here, all of it, here for the taking, right before our eyes - happiness, fulfillment, hope, peace, justice. And most of all, there is truth, ordinary and simple, just sitting there to be plucked, if only we get our lazy rear ends off the pillow of complacency. But first, we need to open our eyes to this banal fact. And for that we need a periodic bit of shakeup in the form of an infusion of wonder - fantastic literature.” IfsNeedsFirstsEndsFactsEyeFormLiteratureBitsJusticeSimpleWonderOrdinarySittingFantasticFulfillmentLazyComplacencyPillowPeace JusticeInfusion Author:Vera Nazarian
“Even for the people who are color-blind to any degree, I believe their experience would also be affected [ in Lords of Rainbow ] if everyone else too only perceived the world in colorless monochrome.” PeopleIfsWorldBelieveI BelieveLordColorDegreesBlindAffectedRainbowColorlessMonochrome Author:Vera Nazarian
“I love to fool my readers, but in a good way. If you've read any of my work, there's a good chance that at some point I surprised you.” IfsWayChanceFoolReaderGood WayGood Chance Author:Vera Nazarian
“Responsibility and Trust -- these two are like Yin and Yang, together perfectly complete, and each one requiring the presence of the other. The next time you mistrust someone, consider this -- does that person feel responsible for you in any way? If the answer is yes, then go ahead and trust them. Very likely, they are looking out for your best interest.” IfsWayFeelsPersonsDoeTwoTogetherNextInterestAnswersResponsibilityResponsibleNext TimeMistrustYangYin And Yang Author:Vera Nazarian
“Would you like to know your future? If your answer is yes, think again. Not knowing is the greatest life motivator. So enjoy, endure, survive each moment as it comes to you in its proper sequence -- a surprise.” IfsThinkingKnowsMomentsMotivationalEnjoyAnswersKnowingSurpriseEndureNot KnowingYour FutureSequenceGreatest Life Author:Vera Nazarian
“A choir is made up of many voices, including yours and mine. If one by one all go silent then all that will be left are the soloists. Don’t let a loud few determine the nature of the sound. It makes for poor harmony and diminishes the song.” IfsMadeSongLeftSoundVoicePoorMinesHarmonyUnitySilentIncludingDetermineLoudCooperationDiminishChoir Author:Vera Nazarian
“The master of the garden is the one who waters it, trims the branches, plants the seeds, and pulls the weeds. If you merely stroll through the garden, you are but an acolyte.” IfsWaterMastersGardenPlantSeedsBranchesWeedGardeningStewardshipGardener Author:Vera Nazarian
“When you reach for the stars, you are reaching for the farthest thing out there. When you reach deep into yourself, it is the same thing, but in the opposite direction. If you reach in both directions, you will have spanned the universe.” IfsSuccessUniverseStarsOppositesAimReachingAim HighReaching For The Stars Author:Vera Nazarian
“If you are faced with a mountain, you have several options. You can climb it and cross to the other side. You can go around it. You can dig under it. You can fly over it. You can blow it up. You can ignore it and pretend it’s not there. You can turn around and go back the way you came. Or you can stay on the mountain and make it your home.” IfsWayInspirationalHomeTurnsChoicesSidesMountainCrossesBlowClimbsOver ItMountaineeringMountain ClimbingClimbing MountainInspirational Mountain ClimbingClimbing Mountains InspirationalClimbing Up Author:Vera Nazarian
“Justice based purely on laws is about as accurate as a portrait created out of large low-resolution color pixels. If you stand back far enough it looks good. Come any closer and the glaring approximations overtake all semblance of the original. Justice should be viewable under the microscope, not from a telescope. And for that it needs to be based not on law but on truth.” IfsNeedsShouldLooksEnoughLawJusticeColorLowsOriginalsResolutionAccuratePortraitsTelescopesMicroscopesSemblanceApproximationPixels Author:Vera Nazarian
“It is interesting that we call something good a “dream,” but being called a “dreamer” is somewhat of a putdown. Without dreamers, no dream would ever be given reality, and we would live in a very small and shallow world. If you are a secret dreamer, it’s your time to announce yourself.” IfsWorldDreamRealityGivenInterestingSecretDreamerShallow Author:Vera Nazarian
“If Music is a Place -- then Jazz is the City, Folk is the Wilderness, Rock is the Road, Classical is a Temple.” IfsCitiesRocksMusic IsJazzFolksTemplesWildernessClassical Music Author:Vera Nazarian
“The sand in the hourglass runs from one compartment to the other, marking the passage of moments with something constant and tangible.If you watch the flowing sand, you might see time itself riding the granules.Contrary to popular opinion, time is not an old white-haired man, but a laughing child.And time sings.” IfsMenChildrenMomentsMightRunningWhiteOpinionWatchesLaughingConstantContrarySandPassagesRidingTangiblePopular OpinionHourglass Author:Vera Nazarian
“If you have never changed your mind about some fundamental tenet of your belief, if you have never questioned the basics, and if you have no wish to do so, then you are likely ignorant.” IfsMindBeliefWishChangedFundamentalsIgnorantNever ChangeOpen MindednessBasics Author:Vera Nazarian
“The weight of the world is a trifle, if we all put our two fingers under it and try to lift together.” IfsWorldTryingTwoTogetherWeightFingersLiftsTriflesWeight Of The World Author:Vera Nazarian
