“Symons remarked that the most common and unhelpful illusion plaguing those who came to see him was the idea that they ought somehow, in the normal course of events, to have intuited long before they had finished their degrees, started families, bought houses and risen to the top of law firms - what they should properly be doing with their lives. They were tormented by a residual notion of having through some error or stupidity on their part missed out on their true calling.” ShouldLongIdeasLawCoursesHouseCommonEventsOughtCallingDegreesNormalIllusionErrorsNotionStupidityFinishedFirmRisenResidualLaw Firms Author:Alain de Botton
“What initially attracted me to The Seventh Seal was that it had values and characteristics which I was familiar with in other art forms, most notably, the European novel and certain forms on English drama, and indeed, in relation to my rather academic interest in history -- not "history" in the normal sense, but history as a form of entertainment . It might be a very unfashionable view but I believe that history is an amazing bank or reserve area of plots, characterisations, extraordinary events, etc.” BelieveArtMightFormCertainValuesI BelieveInterestViewsNovelEventsDramaNormalAreasRelationExtraordinaryEntertainmentFamiliarCharacteristicsEtcPlotAcademicReservesSeals Author:Peter Greenaway
“Everything is 'colossalized' - events, fortunes, accidents, climate, conversation, ambitions - everything is in the extreme ... They can't even have a tram run off a line, which in England or France might kill one or two people, without its making a holocaust of half a street full. ... The thing which surprises me is they should still employ animals of normal size; one would expect to see elephants and mammoths drawing the hansoms and carts!” PeopleShouldStillsTwoMightRunningLinesAnimalHalfUnited StatesStreetsEventsConversationNormalAmbitionEnglandFortuneSurpriseClimateSizeExtremesAccidentsDrawingFranceHolocaustElephantsExaggerationCartsSurprise MeTrams Author:Elinor Glyn
“To dismiss the current extinction wave on the grounds that extinctions are normal events is like ignoring a genocidal massacre on the grounds that every human is bound to die at some time anyway.” HumansDiesEventsNormalBoundsWaveCurrentsExtinctionMassacres Author:Jared Diamond
“First and foremost, prayer is so helpful. But I think that you need to face your fears head on. Don't avoid them or say that you're not scared. Acknowledge it and be honest about it. It's normal to get nervous about a big game or to get nervous about an important event in your life.” ThinkingNeedsFirstsImportantBigsFacesGamesPrayerHonestEventsNormalScaredNervousBeing HonestAcknowledgeHelpfulFace Your FearsImportant Events Author:Matt Cullen
“You should prepare when you go to a public event to be public. That's when I will sign autographs. But not when you're going about your normal business.” ShouldEventsNormalAutographs Author:Robert Redford
“Once upon a time, when I was young, people saw a wedding as an event that determined the rest of their life. For a rising number of people today, it is quite normal to "try and err", marry, divorce, marry again.” PeopleTryingTodayYoungNumbersSawsEventsNormalDivorceDeterminedRisingOnce Upon A Time Author:Zygmunt Bauman
“In no organized sport do the participants have to endure days of struggle just to get to the starting line of their event. The option to drop out of a race that is going badly does not exist for a climber halfway up a big route, and may entail more risk than pushing on. A team of volunteers will not be waiting with warm blankets and hot food at the next bivy ledge. When you reach the summit, having overcome the challenges that inspired you for months or years, you are not at the finish line. The race is not over. You can't relax and let your guard down like a normal athlete.” YearsMayDoeBigsNextSportsWaitingChallengesLinesRaceStruggleRiskTeamEventsMonthsNormalOvercomingHotEndureInspiredStartingAthleteWarmOrganizedRelaxPushingOver YouVolunteerRoutesSummitHalfwayBlanketParticipantsFinish LineClimbersLedgesPushing OnOrganized Sports Author:Steve House
“The left hemisphere acts as an "interpreter," watching the actions and behaviors of the body and assigning a coherent narrative to these events. And the left hemisphere works this way even in normal, intact brains. Hidden programs drive actions, and the left hemisphere makes justifications. This idea of retrospective storytelling suggests that we come to know our own attitudes and emotions, at least partially, by inferring them from observations of our own behavior.” KnowsWayIdeasBodyActionLeftEmotionBrainAttitudeEventsBehaviorNormalProgramStorytellingObservationNarrativeJustificationInterpreterHemisphereRetrospective Book:Incognito: The Secret Lives of The Brain Source: Incognito: The Secret Lives of The Brain
“At school I pretended I had a normal life, but I felt lonely all the time and different from everyone else. I never felt like I fit in, and I wasn't allowed to participate in after-school activities, go to sports events or parties or date boys. Many times I had to make up stories about why I couldn't do anything with my classmates.” DifferentStoriesSchoolFeltSportsPartyBoysEventsFitActivityNormalLonelyNormal LifeAfter SchoolClassmates Author:Joyce Meyer
“Why do you love the woman you're in love with? Because she is. And that, after all, is God's own definition of Himself; I am that I am. The girl is who she is. Some of her isness spills over and impregnates the entire universe. Objects and events cease to be mere representations of classes and become their own uniqueness; cease to be illustrations of verbal abstractions and become fully concrete. Then you stop being in love, and the universe collapses, with an almost audible squeak of derision, into its normal insignificance.” GirlUniverseClassEventsObjectsNormalMereDefinitionsCeaseConcreteCollapseUniquenessRepresentationAbstractionBeing In LoveSpillsIllustrationInsignificanceDerision Author:Aldous Huxley
“Let me say something about that word: miracle. For too long it's been used to characterize things or events that, though pleasant, are entirely normal. Peeping chicks at Easter time, spring generally, a clear sunrise after an overcast week--a miracle, people say, as if they've been educated from greeting cards.” PeopleIfsLongUsedClearWeekEventsNormalSpringLet MeMiracleCardsEducatedPleasantSunriseEasterChicksGreetingsPeepingOvercastGreeting CardEaster Time Book:Peace Like a River Source: Peace Like a River
“Nothing sweeter than to drag oneself along behind events; and nothing more reasonable. But without a strong dose of madness, no initiative, no enterprise, no gesture. Reason: the rust of our vitality. It is the madman in us who forces us to adventure; once he abandons us, we are lost; everything depends on him, even our vegetative life; it is he who invites us, who obliges us to breathe, and it is also he who forces our blood to venture through our veins. Once he withdraws, we are alone indeed! We cannot be normal and alive at the same time.” ReasonLostStrongForceBehindsAliveBloodEventsAdventureDependsNormalMadnessOneselfBreatheReasonableEnterpriseAbandonInvitesGesturesDragInitiativeVentureVeinsVitalityMadmenDoseRustLost Everything Author:Emile M. Cioran