Quotes about journey
page 8

Yukio Mishima photo

“At no time are we ever in such complete possession of a journey, down to its last nook and cranny, as when we are busy with preparations for it.”

Source: Confessions of a Mask (1949), p. 118.
Context: At no time are we ever in such complete possession of a journey, down to its last nook and cranny, as when we are busy with preparations for it. After that, there remains only the journey itself, which is nothing but the process through which we lose our ownership of it.

Denise Levertov photo

“It is said he made his earth-journey, and lost
what he sought.
It is said they felled him
and cut up his limbs for firewood.
And it is said
his head still sang and was swept out to sea singing.”

Denise Levertov (1923–1997) Poet

A Tree Telling of Orpheus (1968)
Context: It is said he made his earth-journey, and lost
what he sought.
It is said they felled him
and cut up his limbs for firewood.
And it is said
his head still sang and was swept out to sea singing.

Ralph Waldo Emerson photo

“It is there for benefit;
It is there for purging light;
There for purifying storms;
And its depths reflect all forms;
It cannot parley with the mean,—
Pure by impure is not seen.
For there's no sequestered grot,
Lone mountain tarn, or isle forgot,
But Justice, journeying in the sphere,
Daily stoops to harbour there.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet

Astræa
1840s, Poems (1847)
Context: p>Each to each a looking-glass,
Reflects his figure that doth pass.
Every wayfarer he meets
What himself declared repeats,
What himself confessed records,
Sentences him in his words;
The form is his own corporal form,
And his thought the penal worm. Yet shine forever virgin minds,
Loved by stars and the purest winds,
Which, o'er passion throned sedate,
Have not hazarded their state;
Disconcert the searching spy,
Rendering to a curious eye
The durance of a granite ledge
To those who gaze from the sea's edge.
It is there for benefit;
It is there for purging light;
There for purifying storms;
And its depths reflect all forms;
It cannot parley with the mean,—
Pure by impure is not seen.
For there's no sequestered grot,
Lone mountain tarn, or isle forgot,
But Justice, journeying in the sphere,
Daily stoops to harbour there.</p

Katherine Mansfield photo

“Whenever I prepare for a journey I prepare as though for death. Should I never return, all is in order.”

Katherine Mansfield (1888–1923) New Zealand author

Journal entry (29 January 1922), published in The Journal of Katherine Mansfield (1927)
Context: Whenever I prepare for a journey I prepare as though for death. Should I never return, all is in order. This is what life has taught me.

Meher Baba photo

“Before he can know Who he is, man has to unlearn the mass of illusory knowledge hehas burdened himself with on the interminable journey from unconsciousness to consciousness.”

Meher Baba (1894–1969) Indian mystic

44 : God Alone Is, p. 72.
The Everything and the Nothing (1963)
Context: Before he can know Who he is, man has to unlearn the mass of illusory knowledge hehas burdened himself with on the interminable journey from unconsciousness to consciousness. It is only through love that you can begin to unlearn, and, eventually, put an end to all that you do not know. God-love penetrates all illusion, while no amount of illusion can dim God-love. Start by learning to love God by beginning to love those whom you cannot. You will find that in serving others you are serving yourself. The more you remember others with kindness and generosity, the less you remember yourself; and when you completely forget yourself, you find me as the Source of all Love.

Robert F. Kennedy photo

“Just because we cannot see clearly the end of the road, that is no reason for not setting out on the essential journey.”

Robert F. Kennedy (1925–1968) American politician and brother of John F. Kennedy

Farewell statement, Warsaw, Poland, reported in The New York Times (2 July 1964)
Context: Just because we cannot see clearly the end of the road, that is no reason for not setting out on the essential journey. On the contrary, great change dominates the world, and unless we move with change we will become its victims.

Baruch Spinoza photo

“The experience Spinoza records… establishes… the moment of extreme doubt , fear, and uncertainty that precedes the dawn of revelation. …the journey …is one trodden by poets, philosophers, and theologians too numerous to mention, who for millennia have recorded this feeling”

Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677) Dutch philosopher

Matthew Stewart, The Courtier and the Heretic (2006)
Context: For Spinoza, philosophy originates in the very personal... feeling of emptiness that in the philosophical tradition has earned the distinguished name of contemptu mundi, the contempt for worldly things, or, better, vanitas.... Spinoza says that... success in life is just a postponement of failure;... pleasure is just a fleeting respite from pain; and... the objects of our striving are vain illusions....
The feeling of vanitas Spinoza describes is... a dire encounter with the prospect of descent into absolute nothingness, a life without significance coming to a meaningless end.... The experience Spinoza records... establishes... the moment of extreme doubt, fear, and uncertainty that precedes the dawn of revelation.... the journey... is one trodden by poets, philosophers, and theologians too numerous to mention, who for millennia have recorded this feeling that life is a useless passion, a wheel of ceaseless striving, a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing, and so on.<!--pp. 55-56

“Let today be the day … You look for the good in everyone you meet and respect their journey.”

Source: Life, the Truth, and Being Free (2010), p. 23
Context: How would your life be different if … You stopped making negative judgmental assumptions about people you encounter? Let today be the day … You look for the good in everyone you meet and respect their journey.

Bernard of Clairvaux photo
Reza Pahlavi photo
Kuruvilla Pandikattu photo
George Adamski photo
Saeed Jones photo

“I’m obsessed with manhood as a brutal and artful performance. My mind always finds its way back to the crossroad where sex, race, and power collide. Journeys, transformation, as well as dashed attempts to transform, fascinate me as well.”

Saeed Jones (1985) American poet

On masculinity as a performance (as quoted in “Saeed Jones” https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/saeed-jones in Poets.org)

Clemantine Wamariya photo

“It’s the journey of digging deep into yourself and the things you discover if you only dare to dig deep into your memories, your relationship, and your thoughts. It’s been such an incredible journey, but thank goodness I was not alone in it. So many people feeding me, listening to me, editing, hosting me—so it’s not been alone.”

Clemantine Wamariya (1988) Rwandan-American activist and author

On her book The Girl Who Smiled Beads in “A Conversation with Clemantine Wamariya https://www.readitforward.com/author-interview/clemantine-wamariya/” in Read it Forward (2017)

Alex Grey photo
Helena Roerich photo
Algis Budrys photo
Vivek Agnihotri photo
George C. Wolfe photo
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor photo

“My life has been one long journey.”

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) Holy Roman Emperor

As quoted at his last public speech, in reference to the peripatetic nature of his reign.

Samuel R. Delany photo
Abu Hamid al-Ghazali photo
Theodor Mommsen photo

“Few men have had their elasticity so thoroughly put to the proof as Caesar-- the sole creative genius produced by Rome, and the last produced by the ancient world, which accordingly moved on in the path that he marked out for it until its sun went down. Sprung from one of the oldest noble families of Latium--which traced back its lineage to the heroes of the Iliad and the kings of Rome, and in fact to the Venus-Aphrodite common to both nations--he spent the years of his boyhood and early manhood as the genteel youth of that epoch were wont to spend them. He had tasted the sweetness as well as the bitterness of the cup of fashionable life, had recited and declaimed, had practised literature and made verses in his idle hours, had prosecuted love-intrigues of every sort, and got himself initiated into all the mysteries of shaving, curls, and ruffles pertaining to the toilette-wisdom of the day, as well as into the still more mysterious art of always borrowing and never paying. But the flexible steel of that nature was proof against even these dissipated and flighty courses; Caesar retained both his bodily vigour and his elasticity of mind and of heart unimpaired. In fencing and in riding he was a match for any of his soldiers, and his swimming saved his life at Alexandria; the incredible rapidity of his journeys, which usually for the sake of gaining time were performed by night--a thorough contrast to the procession-like slowness with which Pompeius moved from one place to another-- was the astonishment of his contemporaries and not the least among the causes of his success. The mind was like the body. His remarkable power of intuition revealed itself in the precision and practicability of all his arrangements, even where he gave orders without having seen with his own eyes. His memory was matchless, and it was easy for him to carry on several occupations simultaneously with equal self-possession. Although a gentleman, a man of genius, and a monarch, he had still a heart. So long as he lived, he cherished the purest veneration for his worthy mother Aurelia (his father having died early); to his wives and above all to his daughter Julia he devoted an honourable affection, which was not without reflex influence even on political affairs. With the ablest and most excellent men of his time, of high and of humbler rank, he maintained noble relations of mutual fidelity, with each after his kind. As he himself never abandoned any of his partisans after the pusillanimous and unfeeling manner of Pompeius, but adhered to his friends--and that not merely from calculation--through good and bad times without wavering, several of these, such as Aulus Hirtius and Gaius Matius, gave, even after his death, noble testimonies of their attachment to him.”

Theodor Mommsen (1817–1903) German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician, archaeologist and writer

Vol.4. Part 2.
The History of Rome - Volume 4: Part 2

Jodi Benson photo

“I am really committed to my faith journey and I am committed to my family. My husband and I have been married for almost 30 years and we homeschool our kids. We have a different working-out-of the-box family, but we do make it work, obviously with God’s grace and we are very grateful for that.”

Jodi Benson (1961) American voice actress, actress and singer

Are there any drawbacks from not living in New York or L. A.? “Sometimes it can be a little bit lonely because we are the only family that we know that is in the entertainment industry, homeschools and is faith-based [while trying] to maintain some sort of ‘regular life’ so to speak in the midst of the crazy stuff. It is a little bit different I think. Sometimes we feel like we are the Lone Rangers, but this is where God has us and this is his calling for right now, for this season. We do it with joy and with integrity
Interview with a Mermaid http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/peanutsandpopcorn/2013/09/interview-with-a-mermaid.html (2014)

K. R. Narayanan photo

“MY husband and I were on a train journey and at a wayside station I asked him to get me a cup of tea. When he returned, just as the train was steaming out, I saw him standing at the door of the compartment, teacup in one hand, trying busily to get rid of his w:Flip-flops}chappal. `What are you doing?”

K. R. Narayanan (1920–2005) 9th Vice President and the 10th President of India

I asked. "Oh, nothing. I accidentally dropped one of the pair at the platform... I can't get it back... What is the use of my keeping one when the man who finds the first will need both?
His wife Usha Narayanan
A remarkable life-story

Keshub Chunder Sen photo
Colin Wilson photo

“Now he saw the problem with great clarity. If he lived here, life would be pleasant and safe. But it would also be predictable. A child could be born here, grow up here, die here, without ever experiencing the excitement of discovery. Why did Dona question him endlessly about his life in the burrow and his journey to the country of the ants? Because for her, it represented a world that was dangerous and full of fascinating possibilities. For the children of this underground city, life was a matter of repetition, of habit.”

Colin Wilson (1931–2013) author

And this, he suddenly realized, was the heart of the problem. Habit. Habit was a stifling, warm blanket that threatened you with suffocation and lulled the mind into a state of perpetual nagging dissatisfaction. Habit meant the inability to escape from yourself, to change and develop . . .

pp. 132-133
Spider World: The Desert (1987)

Wendell Berry photo
John Muir photo

“We all travel the milky way together, trees and men; but it never occurred to me until this storm-day, while swinging in the wind, that trees are travelers, in the ordinary sense. They make many journeys, not very extensive ones, it is true; but our own little comes and goes are only little more than tree-wavings — many of them not so much.”

John Muir (1838–1914) Scottish-born American naturalist and author

" A Wind Storm in the Forests of the Yuba http://books.google.com/books?id=zj2gAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA55", Scribner's Monthly, volume XVII, number 1 (November 1878) pages 55-59 (at page 59); modified slightly and reprinted in The Mountains of California http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/writings/the_mountains_of_california/ (1894), chapter 10: A Wind-Storm in the Forests
1890s, The Mountains of California (1894)

Steven Crowder photo
Ibn Taymiyyah photo

“What can my enemies do to me? I have in my breast both my heaven and my garden. If I travel they are with me, never leaving me. Imprisonment for me is a chance to be alone with my Lord. To be killed is martyrdom and to be exiled from my land is a spiritual journey.”

Ibn Taymiyyah (1263–1328) Sunni Islamic scholar and theologian, who lived during the era of the first Mamluks (1250-1328)

Ibn Taymiyyah, Diseases of the heart and their cures https://www.amazon.com/Diseases-Hearts-Their-Cures-Taymiyyah/dp/0953647633

Marianne Williamson photo

“There comes a time, not too long into the journey to God, when the realization that the world could work beautifully if we would give it the chance, begins to excite us. It becomes our new motivation.”

Marianne Williamson (1952) American writer

Source: A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles" (1992), Ch. 7 : Work, §9 : Sales to Service

T.S. Eliot photo
Marilyn Ferguson photo

“Immigration is where Trump’s journey begins and ends: the message running all the way through this stick of rock.”

Richard Wolffe (1968) American journalist

Let's drop the euphemisms: Donald Trump is a racist president (2018)

Ekta Kapoor photo

“When you're writing a character, you have to know where they're coming from. You may never use that information, but you have to know it. It just helps you mark the journey better.”

Ekta Kapoor (1975) TV and film producer

Talks at Google - 16 Aug 2016, at 14 Min 24 Sec https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wkKtvlGykc
From Talks at Google

Liu Xiao Ling Tong photo

“How could Sun Wukong crush in female monsters? When you want to spoof something, spoof your grandparents rather than Journey to the West!”

Liu Xiao Ling Tong (1959) Chinese actor

(zh-CN) 孙悟空怎么能跟女妖谈恋爱呢?要恶搞,回去恶搞你爷爷奶奶去,别恶搞《西游记》!

Source: [六小龄童:要恶搞,就去恶搞你爷爷奶奶!, http://book.people.com.cn/GB/69360/5535778.html, People's Daily Online, 11 January 2019, 29 March 2007]

Wang Anshi photo

“Green in the spring winds
the south bank of the Yangtse
When will the bright moon
light my journey home?”

Wang Anshi (1021–1086) Song Dynasty chancellor and poet

(zh-CN) 春风又绿江南岸,明月何时照我还?

《泊船瓜洲》

Philip Kan Gotanda photo

“To me the play is never just the play but it’s the whole journey to it.”

Philip Kan Gotanda (1951) American film director and playwright

On the dynamic nature of writing plays in [https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/09/17/acclaimed-berkeley-playwright-philip-kan-gotanda-opens-up-about-his-mysterious-new-play/ “

John F. Kennedy photo
Nagin Cox photo
Nathalie Cabrol photo
Stanley Kunitz photo
Donald J. Trump photo

“To all of my wonderful supporters, I know you are disappointed, but I also want you to know that our incredible journey is just beginning”

Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America

via a Twitter video (2;28) https://twitter.com/IvankaTrump/status/1347339437617815552 posted January 7, 2020
2020s, 2021, January 2021

Carly Simon photo

“You know, that's so much a part of life, being able to embrace the broken heart, not just cast it off as having no meaning or trying to get rid of it. I think in the book gives a very good journey through the way I handled things that were desperately frightening for me.”

Carly Simon (1943) American singer-songwriter, musician and author

On her song “Coming Around Again” in “Carly Simon: 'I'm Constantly Reemerging In My Life'” https://www.npr.org/2015/11/21/456498644/carly-simon-im-constantly-reemerging-in-my-life in NPR (2015 Nov 21)

Isaac Mashman photo
Robert Sheckley photo
Chay Yew photo

“As a director, I was able to journey into these plays, find myself, and realise the worlds the playwrights have written…I find my inspiration and my passion in other writers and their versions of this country and this world.”

Chay Yew (1975) Singaoprean playwriter

On directing versus playwriting in “Artistic director Chay Yew: ‘Audiences come here wanting a dialogue about America’” https://www.thestage.co.uk/features/interviews/2019/artistic-director-chay-yew-audiences-come-here-wanting-to-have-a-dialogue-about-america/ in The Stage (2019 Aug 5)

Ron English photo

“The longest journey ends where apathy begins.”

Ron English (1959) American artist

Ron English's Fauxlosophy (2016)

Ron English photo

“It’s not the journey that weighs you down; it’s the baggage.”

Ron English (1959) American artist

Ron English's Fauxlosophy (2016)

Bashō Matsuo photo

“Sick on a journey,
my dreams wander
the withered fields.”

Bashō Matsuo (1644–1694) Japanese poet

旅に病で
夢は枯野を
かけ廻る
tabi ni yande
yume wa kareno wo
kake-meguru
Bashō's last poem, written while he was dying of a stomach illness. (Translation: Robert Hass)
Sick on a journey &ndash;
over parched fields
dreams wander on.
Basho, On Love and Barley: Haiku of Basho, London, 1985, p. 81 (Translation: Lucien Stryk)
Travelling, sick
My dreams roam
On a withered moor.
Unknown translator
Individual poems

Odeya Rush photo

“Life is a journey to be experienced, not a problem to be solved, take a deep breath.”

Kimsa Sok (2003) Cambodian tour guide

Source: https://quotepark.com/quotes/2101720-kimsa-sok-life-is-a-journey-to-be-experienced-not-a-problem/

Leopold I of Belgium photo

“I am saddened by the case of Constantinople, this journey was so well served to you, and you have spoiled it with a childishness.”

Leopold I of Belgium (1790–1865) German prince who became the first King of the Belgians

Leopold I In a letter to his son Prince Leopold II https://klara.be/leopold-ii-aflevering-2-0

Rima Das photo

“Filmmaking is a journey. Some people are lucky, they get instant success but for others it’s a process, it’s not something that can be achieved in a day. You might even get success overnight but the effort, the dedication, the passion and the love for making films are a continuous process.”

Rima Das (1982) Indian Assamese film maker

Hindustan Times Article - Filmmaking is a journey, says Rima Das - 22 May 2020 https://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/filmmaking-is-a-journey-says-rima-das/story-a1CstyaT4LaGfdBrJ8AzMM.html - Archive https://web.archive.org/web/20210728190259/https://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/filmmaking-is-a-journey-says-rima-das/story-a1CstyaT4LaGfdBrJ8AzMM.html

Natalie Goldberg photo

“All my journey, I help children, building school, building hospital, orphanage home. It’s about relationship. Now I’m working, not because of my duty, not because of my mission, but because of my love.”

Phan Thi Kim Phuc (1963) Child depicted in the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph taken during the Vietnam War on June 8, 1972

"Kim Phuc Phan Thi: Vietnam War Survivor" in PBS https://www.pbs.org/newshour/brief/329035/kim-phuc-phan-thi

Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Frithjof Schuon photo

“The worldly or imperfect man journeys through life as if on a long road; if he is a believer, he sees God above him in the far distance, and also at the end of this road. However the spiritual man stands in God, and life passes before him like a stream.”

Frithjof Schuon (1907–1998) Swiss philosopher

[2013, Vers l’Essentiel : lettres d’un maître spirituel, Les Sept Flèches, 94, 978-2-97003-258-8]
Spiritual life, Outline

Irene Sabatini photo

“A warrior must cultivate the feeling that he has everything needed for the extravagant journey that is his life. What counts for a warrior is being alive. Life in itself is sufficient, self-explanatory and complete.”

Source: The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe], (1998), Quotations from "Tales of Power" (Chapter 10)

“All paths are the same: they lead nowhere. However, a path without a heart is never enjoyable. On the other hand, a path with heart is easy - it does not make a warrior work at liking it; it makes for a joyful journey; as long as a man follows it, he is one with it.”

Source: The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe], (1998), Quotations from The Teachings of Don Juan (Chapter 4)

Jack Conte photo

“The growth of the creator economy has accelerated much faster than I ever could have dreamed of when we began this journey eight years ago. We are at a critical inflection point and I’m excited to partner closely with Tiffany to scale our teams to power our next phase of growth.”

Jack Conte (1984) American musician and entrepreneur

Source: Patreon chief: IPO “on the table” but not all creators will benefit https://www.verdict.co.uk/patreon-ipo/ (October 22, 2021)

Liu Wen (model) photo

“During the first decade, I began my journey as a model. In the second decade, I fell in love with this industry. For this third one, I hope to contribute and give back to the industry in positive ways.”

Liu Wen (model) (1988) Chinese model

Source: "Liu Wen opens up about fame, responsibility and finding meaning in her career" in Vogue https://vogue.sg/liu-wen-cover-vogue-singapore-leslie-zhang/ (1 March 2021)

Liu Wen (model) photo

“My responsibility as a supermodel is to put fame aside and use my actions to encourage those who might need support, so that others also feel motivated on their own journeys.”

Liu Wen (model) (1988) Chinese model

Source: "Liu Wen opens up about fame, responsibility and finding meaning in her career" in Vogue https://vogue.sg/liu-wen-cover-vogue-singapore-leslie-zhang/ (1 March 2021)

Arundhati Roy photo
Cheng Yen photo
Chika Ike photo

“It has been a journey of personal development and to do what my heart craves for.”

Chika Ike (1985) Nigerian actress

Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/12/chika-ike-tumultuous-journey-of-a-screen-diva/ During an interview about herself( December 28 2019)

“Renunciation of the World is the most essential mark of the spiritual journey to God.”

Source: The Sayings and Teachings of the Great Mystics of Islam (2004), p. 80

Paul Cremona photo
Qin Gang photo

“History is our best guide. It faithfully records the past journey, and gives us inspiration for the future.”

Qin Gang (1966) politician

Source: "Keynote Speech by Ambassador Qin Gang at the Commemoration for the 50th Anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s Visit to China" https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/wjb_663304/zwjg_665342/zwbd_665378/202203/t20220303_10647768.html (25 February 2021)

Pema Chödron photo

“The spiritual journey is not about heaven and finally getting to a place that’s really swell. In fact, that way of looking at things is what keeps us miserable.”

Pema Chödron (1936) American philosopher

When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times (1997)

Benedict Cumberbatch photo

“Enjoy the journey of life and not just the endgame. I'm also a great believer in treating others as you would like to be treated.”

Benedict Cumberbatch (1976) English actor and film producer

"The 5-minute Interview: Benedict Cumberbatch, Actor" in The Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/the-5minute-interview-benedict-cumberbatch-actor-779150.html (7 February 2008)

Ricardo Galvão photo
Ron English photo

“I hope my journey to death lasts at least ninety years.”

Ron English (1959) American artist

Ron English's Fauxlosophy: Volume 2 (2022)

Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai photo
Ernest Hemingway photo

“It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”

Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American author and journalist

The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) by Ursula K. Le Guin, in Chapter 15 "To the Ice"
See also https://www.huffpost.com/entry/hemingways-stolen-quotati_b_6868994.
Misattributed
Variant: It is good to have an end to a journey, but it is the journey that matters, in the end.

Peter Liu Cheng-chung photo

“The effort to Christianize the family is a journey that should never end. When there is a healthy family, there is a healthy church.”

Peter Liu Cheng-chung (1951) Chinese priest

Commitment to Christianizing the family is a journey that should never end http://fides.org/en/news/27458-ASIA_TAIWAN_Commitment_to_Christianizing_the_family_is_a_journey_that_should_never_end (21 September 2010)

Gary Locke photo

“I joke that it took our family 100 years to travel one mile. But what a journey it has been. Our family story is the story of millions of families whose ancestors came to these shores from all around the world in search of freedom, opportunity, and equality.”

Gary Locke (1950) American politician

"Gary Locke keynotes anti-hate summit" in Northwest Asian Weekly https://nwasianweekly.com/2021/10/gary-locke-keynotes-anti-hate-summit/ (29 October 2021)

Zafar Mirzo photo
Denise Levertov photo