The very highest states—of awe and joy, wonder and love, meaning and creativity—emerge from this bittersweet… — Susan Cain
The very highest states—of awe and joy, wonder and love, meaning and creativity—emerge from this bittersweet nature of reality. We experience them not because life is perfect—but because it's not.
p. 92Source: Wikiquote · CC BY-SA 4.0
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We’ve unwittingly taught (children) a delusion—that things are supposed to be whole; that real life is when things are going well; that disappointment, illness, and flies at the picnic are detours from the main road.
p. 184
Our difficulty accepting impermanence is the heart of human suffering.
p. 181
The tragedy of life is linked inescapably with its splendor; you could tear civilization down and rebuild it from scratch, and the same dualities would rise again. Yet to fully inhabit these dualities—the dark as well as the light—is, paradoxically, the only way to transcend them.
