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Slowness Quotes

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Slowness Quotes

“Much changes in eighteen months on earth, in the age of acceleration that began around the turn of the millennium and still continues to this day. All our stories are told more quickly now, we are addicted to the acceleration, we have forgotten the pleasures of the old slownesses, of the dawdles, the browses, the three-volume novels, the four-hour motion pictures, the thirteen-episode drama series, the pleasures of duration, of lingering. Do what you have to do, tell your story, live your life, get out quickly, spit spot.”

LifeStoriesPleasureDurationLingeringSlownessQuicknessAccelerationBrowsingDawdling
Book:Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights
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“Life is punctuated by big, memorable events... But most of our days are built from the seemingly ordinary moments in between . ... When we rush from milestone to milestone, we often treat these spaces as filler, something to get through on the way to somewhere more important. Yet these inbetween moments are where much of our life happens, and they have their own kind of magic”

JoyMagicPerspectiveGratitudeMindfulnessOrdinaryDaily LifePresenceNoticingSlowness
Author:Ajmal, from the book "Borders of the Inner World"
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“Every night I want to be Heathcliff with Cathy tapping at the window. I want to be Hamlet on the windy battlements. I want the Flying Dutchman to dock. I want what everyone who has lost someone wants: a visitation. Every second, someone dying is promising to come back from the dead. Every hour, waiting for it to happen, someone living notches up another hour lost. For the Dead, time stops. For the living, time slows. I am in slow-motion now. It takes me twice as long to clean my teeth, half the morning to make coffee and wash the cup. When I go shopping, I don't remember what I need. That's because it's you I need. I stare at the bag of potatoes, the packet of bacon. Absurd. Go home.”

DeathLossGriefMourningSurvivorsDead PeopleSlowness
Book:Night Side of the River
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“Time did exist here, in small amounts (well some of the time) – and there were feint eddies and currents of time here, things that were barely tangible. Feint forces of the universe they were, nearly indiscernible from the nothingness like a warm breeze on a hot summer night. How long he had been here, he knew not – but he was slowly learning to master these barely tangible waves like a new surfer with one foot on the sandy beach and the other on a shiny new board of Hatred. Revenge splashed around his feet like the cold waves of the ocean of Time. Nearby, two other inmates collided with each other, bounced apart spread-eagled and spiraled off into the distance in infinite slowness. The Wetsuit of Insanity clung to his spiritual body, isolating him from the timelessness that seemed to exist here. A wind of Change blew at him from behind and he pushed off from the beach with iron determination and a mental clarity hereto before unknown to him. Something in the microcosm that didn’t even have a name went ‘bling’ and against all the laws of probability, Brad Xyl opened his eyes.”

BodyNightTimeOceanHatredCurrentsEyesProbabilityTangibleNotSomethingSurferExistMicrocosmOtherHimSlownessFromHereWereBeenNearbyAmountsNearly
Book:The Time Saving Agency
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“We place an intention into the world-a wish, a prayer, a dream, and then we wait. In our culture of instant results, waiting can feel like failure. Yet waiting is its own kind of art. It is a posture of trust that something unseen is unfolding even when nothing visible happens. It asks us to surrender our timelines and to be fully present where we are”

TimeFaithWaitingProcessTrustIntentionSurrenderPresenceSlownessPatience And Timing
Author:Ajmal, from the book "Borders of the Inner World"
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“Boredom has a bad reputation. In a world of constant entertainment, the slightest lull sends us to our phones. Yet boredom can be a doorway. When we are bored, our minds begin to wander. Without external input, we may turn inward. Ideas bubble up. Connections form. Boredom is the soil from which creativity often grows.”

IdeasInspirationCreativityMindfulnessReflectionBoredomStillnessDaydreamingInner WorldSlowness
Author:Ajmal, from the book "Borders of the Inner World"
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“What can we do to maintain slowness in the face of those periods of busyness? How can we avoid overload, exhaustion, or even burnout? Perhaps unsurprisingly, my answer is simply to pay attention. I recognize the way I'm inclined to stay up late, the way I will procrastinate at every option- and instead of spiraling into that overwhelming sense of too much, I check in with myself. Why am I feeling this way? What has changed? What is there more of? What is there less of? Become better at recognizing the signs of a looming backslide and pay close attention to the areas of our lives that have the greatest impact, ensuring they never slip too far out of hand. Nicholas Bate refers to this regular checking in as "taking your MEDS" or more specifically, paying attention to: - Mindfulness - Exercise - Diet - Sleep Once I recognize which of these areas has changed, its simpler (not necessarily easier) to recognize the issue and start fixing it. Sometimes the changes aren't in my control, so I need to look for ways of finding slow by creating more opportunities for a moment of deep breathing or paying close attention to whats in front of me. But other times, I've simply lost sight of what works, and its a matter of adding more of these things I've neglected- Mindfulness, simplicity, kindness- and reducing the things that don't serve me well. Above all else, though, I simply go back to my Why. I call to mind the foundation of this life I want. The vivid imaging of a life well lived. The loved ones, the generosity, the adventure, and the world I want to leave behind. And if that feels too big, I call to mind even smaller reminders, like the warm pressure of my kids hands in mine, the wholeness of a good conversation with Ben, the lightness of simply sitting quietly. Our Why is the antidote to overload. Its a call back to the important things and a reminder that we don't need to carry the weight of everything- only those things that are important to us.”

MindfulnessImportant ThingsSlow DownQuestionSlownessRecognizeCheck InYour Why
Book:Slow: Simple Living for a Frantic World
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“When we overlook them, life can start to feel like a series of disjointed highlights rather than a cloth spun with continuous thread. There is also opportunity in the spaces between. They are pockets of time where we can breathe, reflect and be present. ... Appreciating these spaces requires a shift in perspective. It asks us to stop viewing them as barriers to better things. It invites us to be curious about the quiet”

JoyTimePerspectiveMindfulnessOrdinaryReflectionDaily LifeNoticingPresence Of GodSlowness
Author:Ajmal, from the book "Borders of the Inner World"
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“Presence is the practice of fully inhabiting where you are, with openness and attention, rather than rushing past toward what comes next. Presence does not mean every moment is blissful. Sometimes the present holds discomfort, uncertainty, or boredom. To be present is not to deny these, but to allow them space without immediately trying to escape.”

RealityPracticeAwarenessAcceptanceMindfulnessBoredomPresenceDiscomfortNowSlowness
Author:Ajmal, from the book "Borders of the Inner World"
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“The wide difference between the two characters, the slowness and want of energy of the Spartans as contrasted with the dash and enterprise of their opponents, proved of the greatest service, especially to a maritime empire like Athens. Indeed this was shown by the Syracusans, who were most like the Athenians in character, and also most successful in combating them.”

WantTwoCharacterEnergyDifferencesSuccessfulWideOpponentsEnterpriseEmpiresAthensSlownessAtheniansMaritime
Book:The history of the Peloponnesian War: illustrated with maps from the 1820 Oxford edition
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“Today, luxury resides in everything that is becoming rare: communion with nature, silence, meditation, slowness rediscovered, the pleasure of living out of step with others, studious idleness, the enjoyment of the major works of the mind–these are all privileges that cannot be bought because they are literally priceless.”

MindTodayNaturePleasureSilenceStepsMeditationBecomingMajorsPrivilegeLuxuryEnjoymentCommunionIdlenessPricelessSlownessStudiousCommunion With Nature
Author:Pascal Bruckner
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“One of the chief inhibitions to human progress arises because of the extreme slowness with which the advances in knowledge become translated into action for the benefit of society as a whole. There is no step more important for the removal of that inhibition than that of providing for intimate contact between the leaders in the fields of pure and applied science.”

HumansImportantWholeActionLeaderStepsProgressFieldsPureBenefitsExtremesAriseContactChiefsIntimateProvidingRemovalHuman ProgressInhibitionsSlownessApplied Science
Book:The autobiography of Robert A. Millikan
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“The most curious social convention of the great age in which we live is the one to the effect that religious opinions should be respected. Its evil effects must be plain enough to everyone. All it accomplishes is (a) to throw a veil of sanctity about ideas that violate every intellectual decency, and (b) to make every theologian a sort of chartered libertine. No doubt it is mainly to blame for the appalling slowness with which really sound notions make their way in the world.”

WorldWayShouldIdeasEnoughAgeEvilSocialSoundReligiousOpinionDoubtEffectsIntellectualBlameNotionAccomplishCuriousNo DoubtConventionsVeilsTheologianDecencySanctitySlownessLibertine
Book:Mencken Chrestomathy
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“In fact, the early demographer Thomas Malthus believes that the only way the human population would ever check itself was by running headlong into a disaster, like a pandemic or famine. Sometimes we get so frustrated with the slowness of human political processes that we wish a giant flaming rock would solve the problem for us.”

WayBelieveHumansSometimesFactsProblemRunningPoliticalWishProcessRocksPopulationSolveDisasterChecksGiantsFrustratedFamineSlownessPandemicsHuman PopulationMalthus
Author:Annalee Newitz
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“I'm a slow walker, but I never walk back.”

InspirationalInspirationMotivationalWorkWalksProgressPoliticianWalkingEthicsEncouragementPatiencePerseveranceLawyerPersistenceThrivePersevereRecreationWalkersSlownessPerseverencePatience And PerseveranceAbramSlowly But SurelySlow And SteadyProgress And ChangeSlow ProgressWalking Backwards
Book:The Wit & Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln: A Treasury of Quotations, Anecdotes, and Observations
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