20 Timeless quotes from famous authors with embedded life lessons | HappinessDhaba

We all often grapple with some mind-boggling questions on life. Even sometimes we feel as if we are wasting our lives. But the feeling doesn’t last long.
Because we live in a society that is designed to steer us away from the more important things in life.

Here, I have listed some of the enlightening quotes from some of the greatest authors, philosophers of all time. This list is in no way exclusive, feel free to add more in the comment section.

#1:

The older I get, the more I realize no one has any idea what they are doing and everyone is just pretending.

~ Unknown

This is as plain as it can get. When we see the bigger picture we realize that no one has any idea what they are doing, why they are doing.

#2:

We’re all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn’t. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing.

~ Charles Bukowski

This is one of my favorites. It’s a slap on the way we value human relations.
If everyone values these words from Bukowski, the world would be a better place,

#3:

What is the world’s greatest lie?
“It’s this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the world’s greatest lie.

~ Paulo coelho

The greatest lie busted. There are problems with everyone. Though the intensity and domain of the problem may vary.  So, whenever you feel in doldrums, just remember, we all are mortals and so have limited time. It’s up to us to waste it in playing the blame game or in enjoying the ride.

#4:

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.

Oscar Wilde, 

Remember, our outlook determines our destiny.
Are you looking at stars?

#5:

The lesson is that when you listen, you will hear music everywhere.

~ Rumi

Goodness is all around us. We just need to tune in to the right frequency.

#6:

To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance

~ Oscar Wilde

This reminds me of a prayer that I used to sing during my school days. “Doosro ki Jai se pehle, khud ki Jai kare.”

#7:

If you want to be happy, be

~ Leo Tolstoy

 It’s that simple.

#8:

Let everything happen to you
Beauty and terror
Just keep going
No feeling is final.

~Rainer Maria Rilke

No feeling is final. This too shall pass.

#9:

Ye jo gehre sannate hain, waqt ne sabko hi baante hain

~Javed Akhtar

“Aankh teri bekar hi nam hai, Har pal ek naya mausam hai”
This man has always been far ahead of his time.

If you haven’t already heard this poem from Zindagi na milegi doara, then:
1. Shut the door.
2. Plugin your earphones.
3. Boost the volume.
And, enjoy, one of the most beautiful creations/poetries of all time.

#10:

Nischay Kar Apni Jeet Karo

~ Guru Gobind Singh

Most of the time, all you need is the determination to succeed.

#11:

We are all broken, that’s where the light gets in.

~ Ernest Hemingway

Failures are accompanied by experiences and these experiences heal us in the long run.

#12:

The only people who see the whole picture, he murmered, are the one who step out of the frame.

~ Salman Rushdie

To understand life or to see the bigger picture of what’s happening we have to think differently from the masses.

#13:

Yes: I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.

Oscar Wilde

A dreamer sees light before his/her so-called pragmatic counterparts.
Are you a Dreamer?

#14:

I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.

Jim Carrey

That’s not the answer!
The bigger questions such as, Is this all I want? Is something missing? remain unanswered for almost everyone.

#15:

Don’t compromise yourself, you are all you have.

~ John Grisham

It’s rightly said, if there is anything worth saving, it’s you!
Don’t lose yourself, you are all you have.

#16:

Those faces you see every day on the streets were not created entirely without hope: be kind to them: like you they have not escaped.

~ Charles Bukowski

There are so many movies going on in which we don’t even have a supporting role.
So at least we can be kind, like us they have not escaped.

#17:

The cost of sanity in this society, is a certain level of alienation.

~ Terence Mckenna

Leave society and devise your own ways of dealing with life. Let them not tell you which degree to pursue, how to dress, to follow a religion or not, whom and when to marry. and how to behave. It’s your life. Live it your way.
The maximum cost you might end up paying is a certain degree of alienation. And, that’s nothing compared to losing your sanity.

#18:

The more powerful and original a mind, the more it will incline towards the religion of solitude.

~Aldous Huxley

Welcome to the Religion of Solitude where there are no stringent rules. This is perhaps the only religion where you yourself decide the rules.

#19:

Thoda sa rafu karke dekhiye na, phir se nayi lagegi zindagi.

~ Gulzar

Come out of your manufactured thoughts and enjoy life.

#20: 

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.

~ Friedrich Nietzsche. 

Can you hear the music?


That’s all we have for today. Thanks a lot for tuning in to HappinessDhaba. Do let us know your views on these in the comment section.
Also, don’t forget to add your favorite ones.

Signing off with my favorite words.

Zindagi Zindabad!

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Jasmeet Singh
Jasmeet SinghPsychologist | Engineer | Reader | Blogger
An Engineer-Turned-Psychologist who loves Literature.
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