Quotes about life and people

„Life will bring you pain all by itself. Your responsibility is to create joy.“

—  Milton H. Erickson American psychiatrist 1901 - 1980

„I think reading is a gift. It was a gift that was given to me as a child by many people, and now as an adult and a writer, I'm trying to give a little of it back to others. It's one of the greatest pleasures I know.“

—  Ann M. Martin American writer of children's literature 1955

„The lies we tell other people are nothing to the lies we tell ourselves.“

—  Derek Landy Irish children's writer 1974

Source: Death Bringer

„I swear, talking to you is like talking to a really good-looking and mildly stupid brick wall.“

—  Derek Landy Irish children's writer 1974

Source: Death Bringer

„Yesterday, we were a weak and small country trampled upon by big powers. Today, our geopolitical location remains the same, but we are transformed into a proud political and military power and an independent people that no one can dare provoke. The days are gone forever when our enemies could blackmail us with nuclear bombs.“

—  Kim Jong-un 3rd Supreme Leader of North Korea 1984

April 15th 2012 speech in Kim Il-Sung Square, https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/16/world/asia/kim-jong-un-north-korean-leader-talks-of-military-superiority-in-first-public-speech.html

„The hole in one's heart gets filled by others around you. Friends won't flock to someone who abandons the memory of his friends and gives up on the world just because things don't go the way he wants them to. That won't help fill the hole in your heart. And people won't help those who run away and do nothing. As long as you don't give up, there will always be salvation.“

—  Hatake Kakashi fictional character in the Naruto manga and anime series

„I like roses best. But they bloom in all four seasons. I wonder if people who like roses best have to die four times over again.“

—  Osamu Dazai, book The Setting Sun

Source: The Setting Sun

„This life is what you make it. No matter what, you're going to mess up sometimes, it's a universal truth. But the good part is you get to decide how you're going to mess it up. Girls will be your friends - they'll act like it anyway. But just remember, some come, some go. The ones that stay with you through everything - they're your true best friends. Don't let go of them. Also remember, sisters make the best friends in the world. As for lovers, well, they'll come and go too. And baby, I hate to say it, most of them - actually pretty much all of them are going to break your heart, but you can't give up because if you give up, you'll never find your soulmate. You'll never find that half who makes you whole and that goes for everything. Just because you fail once, doesn't mean you're gonna fail at everything. Keep trying, hold on, and always, always, always believe in yourself, because if you don't, then who will, sweetie? So keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life's a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about.“

—  Marilyn Monroe American actress, model, and singer 1926 - 1962

„Let it be a dream, so be it, but that real life of which you make so much I had meant to extinguish by suicide, and my dream, my dream — oh, it revealed to me a different life, renewed, grand and full of power!“

—  Fyodor Dostoyevsky, book The Dream of a Ridiculous Man

Source: The Dream of a Ridiculous Man (1877), II
Context: Yes, I dreamed a dream, my dream of the third of November. They tease me now, telling me it was only a dream. But does it matter whether it was a dream or reality, if the dream made known to me the truth? If once one has recognized the truth and seen it, you know that it is the truth and that there is no other and there cannot be, whether you are asleep or awake. Let it be a dream, so be it, but that real life of which you make so much I had meant to extinguish by suicide, and my dream, my dream — oh, it revealed to me a different life, renewed, grand and full of power!

„I can't relate to lazy people. We don't speak the same language. I don't understand you. I don't want to understand you.“

—  Kobe Bryant American basketball player 1978 - 2020

„The more you think about death and mortality, the more you enjoy life. Because then you do not waste time. You just focus. “

—  Marina Abramović Yugoslav-American artist 1946

„Stop determining your worth and value by what other people say. Be determined by what the Word of God (scriptures)says.“

—  Joyce Meyer American author and speaker 1943

„There's something inside of me that makes me want to help people, especially people who are having difficulty of some kind.“

—  Harland Sanders American entrepreneur and businessman 1890 - 1980

Colonel Sanders: The Autobiography of the Original Celebrity Chef

„If something or someone makes you happy and brings joy to your life, it does not have to make sense to anyone else.“

—  RJ Intindola (Gandolfo)

1978

„Without dignity there is no liberty, without justice there is no dignity, and without independence there are no free men.“

—  Patrice Lumumba Congolese Prime Minister, cold war leader, executed 1925 - 1961

Letter to his wife (Congo, My Country)

„If people talk behind your back, it's because you're ahead of them.“

—  Zayn Malik British singer 1993

„Most people depend on the internet and cellphones to survive, but what happens when they stop working? I wanted to create a mother and child who wouldn't be defeated by life without them.“

—  Hayao Miyazaki Japanese animator, film director, and mangaka 1941

(2009) Independent News article 2009 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/hayao-miyazaki-modern-movies-are-too-weird-for-me-1678129.html
On Ponyo

„Life is a winking light in the darkness.“

—  Hayao Miyazaki, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

Original: (ja) 命は闇の中のまたたく光だ。

„The real damage is done by those millions who want to "survive." The honest men who just want to be left in peace. Those who don't want their little lives disturbed by anything bigger than themselves. Those with no sides and no causes.“

—  Sophie Scholl White Rose member 1921 - 1943

As quoted in O₂ : Breathing New Life Into Faith (2008) by Richard Dahlstrom, Ch. 4 : Artisans of Hope: Stepping into God's Kingdom Story, p. 63; this source is disputed as it does not cite an original document for the quote. It is also used in <i> The White Rose </i> (1991) by Lillian Garrett-Groag, a monologue during Sophie's interrogation.
Disputed
Context: The real damage is done by those millions who want to "survive." The honest men who just want to be left in peace. Those who don't want their little lives disturbed by anything bigger than themselves. Those with no sides and no causes. Those who won't take measure of their own strength, for fear of antagonizing their own weakness. Those who don't like to make waves — or enemies. Those for whom freedom, honor, truth, and principles are only literature. Those who live small, mate small, die small. It's the reductionist approach to life: if you keep it small, you'll keep it under control. If you don't make any noise, the bogeyman won't find you. But it's all an illusion, because they die too, those people who roll up their spirits into tiny little balls so as to be safe. Safe?! From what? Life is always on the edge of death; narrow streets lead to the same place as wide avenues, and a little candle burns itself out just like a flaming torch does. I choose my own way to burn.