“It's easy to hate and point out everything that is wrong with the world; it is the hardest and most important work in one's life to free oneself from the bonds of fear and attachment.”
― Noah Levine, quote from Dharma Punx: A Memoir
“The truth is, going against the internal stream of ignorance is way more rebellious than trying to start some sort of cultural revolution.”
― Noah Levine, quote from Dharma Punx: A Memoir
“The inner revolution will not be televised or sold on the Internet. It must take place within one's own mind and heart.”
― Noah Levine, quote from Dharma Punx: A Memoir
“...I didn't feel like there was anything incompatible with my love of gangster rap and my spiritual aspirations.”
― Noah Levine, quote from Dharma Punx: A Memoir
“The body breathes by itself. The mind thinks by itself. Awareness simply observes the process without getting lost in the content.”
― Noah Levine, quote from Dharma Punx: A Memoir
“The practice of celibacy alone was opening me up to a deeper sense of the way the mind-body connection works. I saw over and over that my mind and body could be filled with desire and that no matter how intense the craving was it would always pass. I didn't have to satisfy every desire that arose in my mind. I began to understand impermanence through direct experience rather than just intellectual theory.”
― Noah Levine, quote from Dharma Punx: A Memoir
“The more I practiced kindness and humility, the more the world seemed to appear friendly and manageable.”
― Noah Levine, quote from Dharma Punx: A Memoir
“The more my mind began to quiet, the more I found myself wanting to be surrounded by natural beauty.”
― Noah Levine, quote from Dharma Punx: A Memoir
“We agreed that at least to some extent the whole punk movement is based on the Buddha's 1st noble truth of suffering & the dissatisfactory nature of the material world. The punks see through the lies of society & the oppressive dictates of modern consumer culture. Very few punks though seem to take it further & attempt to understand the causes & conditions of the suffering & falsehoods, unfortunately punks rarely come around to seeing that there is actually a solution & a path to personal freedom. My own life's experience w/ both Dharma practice & punk rock inspired me to try to bridge the gap between the two. I've tried to help point out the similarities, while also acknowledging the differences, & to show those of my generation who are interested that they can practice meditation & find there the freedom we have been seeking in our rebellion against the system.”
― Noah Levine, quote from Dharma Punx: A Memoir
“Actually a solution & a path to personal freedom. My own life's experience w/ both Dharma practice & punk rock inspired me to try to bridge the gap between the two. I've tried to help point out the similarities, while also acknowledging the differences, & to show those of my generation who are interested that they can practice meditation & find there the freedom we have been seeking in our rebellion against the system.”
― Noah Levine, quote from Dharma Punx: A Memoir
“So that was what Edna had been doing. Strolling down the street. Ignoring, as she often did, the sights and sounds. Lost in her own personal bliss of studying the faces of passersby. Noting cheek structure and mandibular depth, inter-eye distance and ear height, jaw contours and orbital spacing. And that was why, despite the new hair color and style, despite the fashionable glasses and adult makeup and clothing, Edna had recognized the missing girl.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Promise Me
“I'm sorry I started all this by trying to fly and I'd take it back if I could but I can't, so please think of it from my point of view: if you die I will have a dead brother and it will be me instead of you who suffers.
Justin thought of his brother on that warm summer day, standing up on the windowsill holding both their futures, light and changeable as air, in his outstretched arms.
Of course, Justin thought, I'm part of his fate just as he's part of mine. I hadn't considered it from his point of view. Or from the point of view of the universe, either. It's just a playing field crammed full of cause and effect, billions of dominoes, each knocking over billions more, setting off trillions of actions every second. A butterfly flaps its wings in Africa and my brother in Luton thinks he can fly.
The child nodded. A piano might fall on your head, he said, but it also might not. And in the meantime you never know. Something nice might happen.”
― Meg Rosoff, quote from Just in Case
“Liv's perfect. She deserves perfect. She won't be settling for anything else.”
― Samantha Young, quote from Before Jamaica Lane
“He played the opening bars again, opening a door for her, inviting her to join. She started quietly, almost voiceless, only a thin string of sound weaving herself into his tune, as if her voice were just another string on the guitar between his fingers. She had to be careful, so no one saw the changes on her face. But she didn't want to be careful; she couldn't be careful. He played and she sang to him, and inside her more and more blocks of ice began to melt, cracking and falling into the frozen sea between them. She sang of all the things that were happening to her and him, the world that collapsed over both of them, the things that might be in store, if only they dared to believe it was possible.”
― David Grossman, quote from Someone to Run With
“So are you planning on stealing all our guns, or do you think maybe you only need one per hand? - Ahmed”
― Alwyn Hamilton, quote from Rebel of the Sands
BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.
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