W Quotes
Browse famous quotes beginning with W. This page is a child index of the full Popular Quotes A-Z directory.
“What does it mean to be born? After we die, will it be the same thing as it was before we were born? Or a different kind of nothingness? Because there might be knowledge then. Memory.”
“What does it mean to be brave? This was a question Brother Edik asked himself as he walked through the dark woods with Jack Dory and Cannoc and Answelica.
To be brave is to not turn away.
To be brave is to go forward.
To be brave is to love.”
Source: The Beatryce Prophecy
“What does it mean to be Catholic and not a Catholic? I feel adrift, homeless. My Catholic imagination allows me to see the soul as a lit breath, seeking the divine. It persists.”
“What does it mean to be comfortably afraid? For me, the idea is simple. It’s about learning to deal wisely with fear, finding a way to let your nerves guide you rather than stop you. It’s settling yourself in the presence of life’s inevitable zombies and monsters so that you may contend with them more rationally, and trusting your own assessment of what’s harmful and what’s not. When you live this way, you are neither fully comfortable nor fully afraid. You accept that there’s a middle zone and learn to operate inside of it, awake and aware, but not held back.”
Source: The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times
“What does it mean to be cultured? Who is the cultured person? The cultured individual is not defined nor determined by status in society nor by wealth; but the cultured individual is determined and defined by his or her sense for the art of life. And what is the art of life? The art of life is the reflection of the mind and the soul upon the world, upon other people, upon the respect and understanding of other people and upon the things that are in this world and beyond. There is a joy that is always sought in beautiful things. Being cultured is being conscious, reflective, understanding, feeling, aware. Knowing how to feel, to listen, to understand. A desire to find or to create joy in many things— that is the art of life. And these things define a cultured person.”
“what does it mean to be descendant
of something monstrous?
to still love the monster?”
Source: Madness
“What does it mean to be fed up with life? Never give such a dark thought a place in your life! The appearance of weak thoughts in your mind is a dangerous virus that must always be destroyed! The universe gave us a gift to live, it is our duty to protect it under all circumstances!”
“What does it mean to be free—when freedom itself feels like foreign terrain?”
Source: Sacred Void
“What does it mean to be healthy? Heal Thy.”
“What does it mean to be healthy? You may think that being healthy means that you are not sick, but being healthy is far more than that. If you feel okay, or average, or nothing much at all, you are not healthy.”
Source: The Power
“What does it mean to be human, to be good, to be moral, to be all three at once? It means that flawed beings often must choose between two flawed options.”
Source: A Beggar's Kingdom
“What does it mean to be human, when we've organized our whole identity, our whole economy, around harming our fellow creatures?”
“What does it mean to be human? It means we are created in the image of God for the glorious reality of being in permanent fellowship with Him.”
“What does it mean to be psychic? Essentially it means to feel, rather than think all the time.”
“What does it mean to be safe in the world?”
Source: Monument: Poems New and Selected
“What does it mean to be self aware? In a sense, it's what it sounds like, but it also goes deeper than that. Self awareness is awareness that goes beyond the surface of the self; it's becoming aware not just of who we are, but what we stand for, and all the little things that make us up. When you become self aware, you learn about what makes you tick. You delve into the experiences that make you up as well as your thought patterns, perspectives, predominant emotions, and overarching beliefs. Self awareness without judgement is the key to a deep understanding of oneself, and the beginning of the healing process. Becoming self aware helps us to better understand our wants and needs, and only then can we move forward in taking care of ourself the right way, meeting our needs, and being secure enough in ourselves to go after our dreams.”
Source: The Game-Changer Workbook: A Life-Changing Guide to Rediscover Your True Self, Boost Self-Confidence, and Step into Your Power
“What does it mean to be the master of your own soul, the captain of your own mind? It means that you keep the final say on what you think, feel and do. No one fearful thought can overtake you, no one doubtful feeling can overthrow you from your path, no one memory of pain can turn you away from what is meant for you now; because when the waves of doubt come and the winds of fear blow and the rains of pain fall and feel like they're stinging you again— you say no. You say no. You say that you will be the master of your vessel and you will tell your mind to stay the course, you will tell your heart to stay fixed, you will tell your skin that it knows the touch of silken balms. You are the captain of your own ship.”
“What does it mean to be too black for Hollywood? It's self-explanatory. Hollywood has certain kinds of blacks that they like.”
“What does it mean to be true to the faith? That word true implies commitment, integrity, endurance, and courage.”
“What does it mean to be woke? In the simplest sense, it means to be aware. It means to see your surroundings and challenge how we strengthen our relationships with the government, the community, and nature. To be WOKE is to fight for your civil rights and to fight for the rights of your neighbors.”
Source: Woke: A Young Poet's Call to Justice
“What does it mean to be yourself?” he asked. “If it means to do what you think you ought to do, then you’re doing that already. If it means to act like you’re exempt from society’s influence, that’s the worst advice in the world; you would probably stop bathing and wearing clothes. The advice to ‘be yourself’ is obviously nonsense. But our brains accept this tripe as wisdom because it is more comfortable to believe we have a strategy for life than to believe we have no idea how to behave.”
“What does it mean to become spiritual, or godly? It means to have a higher view of life, to look at life from a higher point of view. It is the high point of
view in life which ennobles the soul; it is by a broad outlook on life that spiritual aristocracy is realized.”
Source: The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan
“What does it mean to care? Let me start by saying that the word care has become a very ambivalent word. When someone says: 'I will take care of him!' it is more likely an announcement of an impending attack than of a tender compassion. And besides this ambivalence, the word is most often used in a negative way. 'Do you want coffee or tea?' 'I don't care.' 'Do you want to stay home or go to a movie?' 'I don't care.' 'Do you want to walk or go by car?' 'I don't care.' This expression of indifference toward choices in life has become commonplace. And often it seems that not to care has become more acceptable than to care, and a carefree life-style more attractive than a careful one.”
Source: Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Life
“What does it mean to "cast shade" on your friend? It's when you try to spot their weaknesses, shortcomings or insecurities in any given situation in order to act in the more favourable or popular way, so that you can shine in the eyes of others. Example: Your friend is under sudden, aggressive criticism; instead of helping her out of it, you throw her under the bus by siding with her critics. Another example: your friend has social anxiety; you spot this as an opportunity to be "the fun one" and deliberately, maliciously try to be outgoing and joyful even when you're not genuinely feeling that way. Outshining someone by virtue of deliberate comparison to their vulnerable spots: that is casting shade.”
“What does it mean to demonstrate in the streets, what is the significance of that collective activity so symptomatic of the twentieth century? In stupefaction Ulrich watches the demonstrators from the window; as they reach the foot of the palace, their faces turn up, turn furious, the men brandish their walking sticks, but “a few steps farther, at a bend where the demonstration seemed to scatter into the wings, most of them were already dropping their greasepaint: it would be absurd to keep up the menacing looks where there were no more spectators.” In the light of that metaphor, the demonstrators are not men in a rage; they are actors performing rage! As soon as the performance is over they are quick to drop their greasepaint! Later, in the 1960s, philosophers would talk about the modern world in which everything had turned into spectacle: demonstrations, wars, and even love; through this “quick and sagacious penetration” (Fielding), Musil had already long ago discerned the “society of spectacle.”
Source: The Curtain: An Essay in Seven Parts
“What does it mean to die when you can live until the end of the world?”
Source: Interview with the Vampire
“What does it mean to feel "in control" of your life? What I mean by control is the ability to make a choice. Personal sovereignty means that you choose from what is available in order to be intentional about your life...When you feel in control of your life, you know yourself to be the author of your own actions and know that you always have choices.”
“What does it mean to go deeper? Taking pictures when you're more emotional or sorrowful, or having sex? I just want to have really boring snapshots - people just standing in front of a camera taking pictures with a smile.”
“What does it mean to grow rich? Is it to have red-blooded adventures and to make a ‘fortune,’ which is what brought the whalers and other entrepreneurs north? Or is it, rather, to have a good family life and to be imbued with a far-reaching and intimate knowledge of one’s homeland, which is what the Tununirmiut told the whalers at Pond’s Bay wealth was? Is it to retain a capacity for awe and astonishment in our lives, to continue to hunger after what is genuine and worthy? Is it to live at moral peace with the universe?”
“What does it mean to have a Republican majority in the House? A lot of people think So what? They should think again.”
“What does it mean to know and experience my own “nothingness?” It is not enough to turn away in disgust from my illusions and faults and mistakes, to separate myself from them as if they were not, and as if I were someone other than myself. This kind of self-annihilati on is only a worse illusion, it is a pretended humility which, by saying “I am nothing” I mean in effect “I wish I were not what I am.”
Source: Thoughts In Solitude
“What does it mean to live in truth? Putting it negatively is easy enough: it means not lying, not hiding, and not dissimulating.”
“What does it mean to love someone with all your heart? It means to love with all your emotional feelings and with all your devotion. Surely when you love your wife with all your heart, you cannot demean her, criticize her, find fault with her, or abuse her by words, sullen behavior, or actions.”
Source: Come, Listen to a Prophet's Voice
“What does it mean to not be alone? I've approached that question through music, technology, writing and other means.”
“What does it mean to pre-board? Do you get on before you get on?”
“What does it mean to regret when you have no choice?”
“What does it mean to regret when you have no choice? It's what you can bear. And there it is... It was death. I chose life.”
“What does it mean to say that government might have a responsibility? Government can't have a responsibility any more than the business can. The only entities which can have responsibilities are people.”
Source: There's no such thing as a free lunch
“What does it mean to say that we want to transform the political world - but we ourselves will remain unchanched?”
Source: The Right to Sex: Feminism in the Twenty-First Century
“What does it mean to say that we want to transform the political world - but we ourselves will remain unchanged?”
Source: The Right to Sex: Feminism in the Twenty-First Century
“What does it mean to write a story of your own life in your head? We all do that whether we are writers or not. We all have a story about who we are: what gender we are, what experiences we have . . . all sorts of stories and narratives we allow ourselves to believe in and create as we go along.”
“What does it mean to write? David, you’ll never see this question repeated, because with each page I understand more and more-I see the patterns that have before eluded me, and driven me to dream rather than to live.”
Source: Pandora
“What does it mean when a man falls in love with a radiant face across the room? It may mean that he has some soul work to do. His soul is the issue. Instead of pursuing the woman and trying to get her alone, away from her husband, he needs to go alone himself, perhaps to a mountain cabin, for three months, write poetry, canoe down a river, and dream. That would save some women a lot of trouble.”
“What does it mean when a person is such a pacifist that they get shot? I can never understand that.”
“What Does It Mean When a Woman Goes Silent?
Men and women experience silence differently.
When a man is silent, he is usually processing his emotions—anger, frustration, or disappointment—trying to manage them so he doesn’t hurt the woman he loves.
A woman, on the other hand, can only fully process her emotions by expressing them. That’s why when she cries, argues, or even starts a fight, she is not destroying the relationship—she is trying to release her emotions and find a solution.”
Source: Unspoken Truths: A Woman's Guide to Love, Strength, and Self-Worth: Navigating Relationships, Empowering Choices, and Embracing Your True Self
“What does it mean when I say that 'I don't see race?' It means that because I learned to see no difference between 'white' and 'color,' I have white-washed my own sense of self. It means that I know more about what it is to be a white person than what it is to be Asian, and I am a stranger among both.”
“What does it mean when language becomes the only 'home' to inhabit when all else is lost for displaced and exiled writers (and people)?”
“What does it mean when nightmares dream of peace? When shadows wish for light?”
“What does it mean when people applaud? Should I give 'em money? Say thank you? Lift my dress? The lack of applause - that I can respond to.”
“What does it mean when Republicans and Democrats alike warn us about the 'pain' involved in cutting government spending - in their spending less of our money? For the average citizen, what pain is there in his keeping more of his money to invest it the way he wants? Taxes cost people. Tax cuts do not cost government.”