Sitting Still Quotes

• Simply wait, be quiet, still The world will freely offer itself to you.

  Franz Kafka

  Suicide, Suicidal, Solitary Life

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• There are things we see with our eyes, sitting high and looking out. And there are things we see with our hearts, sitting still and looking in.

  Philip Gulley

  Heart, Eye, Stills

  Philip Gulley (2009). “Signs and Wonders”, p.44, Zondervan

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• In an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still.

  Pico Iyer

  Age, Movement, Constant

  Pico Iyer (2014). “The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere”, p.66, Simon and Schuster

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• In an age of speed, I began to think nothing could be more exhilarating than going slow. In an age of distraction, nothing can feel more luxurious than paying attention. And in an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still.

  Pico Iyer

  Thinking, Age, Attention

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• A thousand secrets are hidden in simply sitting still.

  Karlfried Graf Durckheim

  Secret, Thousand, Stills

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• You see more sitting still than chasing after.

  Jonathan Franzen

  Chasing, Stills, Stillness

  "Ten rules for writing fiction". www.theguardian.com. February 20, 2010.

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• For me, sitting still is harder than any kind of work.

  Annie Oakley

  Kind, Harder, Stills

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• And it’s only by going nowhere - by sitting still or letting my mind relax - that I find that the thoughts that come to me unbidden are far fresher and more imaginative than the ones I consciously seek out.

  Pico Iyer

  Mind, Relax, Imaginative

  Pico Iyer (2014). “The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere”, p.62, Simon and Schuster

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• Sitting still is a pain in the ass.

  Noah Levine

  Buddhist, Pain, Meditation

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• In order to share one's true brilliance one initially has to risk looking like a fool: genius is like a wheel that spins so fast, it at first glance appears to be sitting still.

  Criss Jami

  Order, Risk, Wheels

  Criss Jami (2015). “Killosophy”, p.91, Criss Jami

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• Writing well involves walking the path of most resistance. Sitting still, being patient, allowing the lunatic dream to take shape on the page, then the shaping, the pencil on the page, breathing, slowing down, being willing–no, more than willing, being wide open–to press the bruise until it blossoms.

  Dani Shapiro

  Dream, Writing, Breathing

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• And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting...

  Edgar Allan Poe

  Ravens, Nevermore, Stills

  "The Raven" l. 103 (1845)

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• When I was little, like Maleficent, I was told that I was different - and I felt out of place, and too loud, too full of fire, never good at sitting still, never good at fitting in. And then one day I realized something, something I hope you all realize. Different is good.

  Angelina Jolie

  Fire, One Day, Maleficent

  Angelina Jolie's speech at the Kids' Choice Awards, time.com. March 29, 2015.

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• The powered flight took a total of about eight and a half minutes. It seemed to me it had gone by in a lash. We had gone from sitting still on the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center to traveling at 17,500 miles an hour in that eight and a half minutes. It is still mind-boggling to me. I recall making some statement on the air-to-ground radio for the benefit of my fellow astronauts, who had also been in the program a long time, that it was well worth the wait.

  Robert Crippen

  Airplane, Eight, Space

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• It is not by sitting still at a grand distance and calling the human race larvae that men are to be helped.

  Albert Einstein

  Distance, Men, Race

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• I have discovered that sitting still leaves little spaces for the grief to get in, so I stay busy.

  Veronica Roth

  Grief, Space, Littles

  Veronica Roth (2012). “Insurgent Collector's Edition (Enhanced Edition)”, p.52, Harper Collins

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• Sitting still as stone watching - watching
  People walking by you wondering why
  No one ever stops to talk or thinks about it - if they ever did

  Dave Matthews

  Thinking, People, Stones

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• Growing up, road trips with Dad were something I hated. Sitting still for hours, singing that stupid song, "100 bottles of beer on the wall. 100 bottles of beer..." Dad, you know, keeping up with the song.

  Christopher Titus

  Song, Wall, Growing Up

  "Titus", www.imdb.com. 2000-2002.

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• I would like to sit still for a while but I'm restless you know and sitting still is only an ideal like celibacy and complete cleanliness.

  John Steinbeck

  Celibacy, Cleanliness, Restless

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• Have you ever confused a dream with life? Or stolen something when you have the cash? Have you ever been blue? Or thought your train moving while sitting still? Maybe I was just crazy. Maybe it was the 60's. Or maybe I was just a girl... interrupted.

  Susanna Kaysen

  Girl, Dream, Confused

  "Girl, Interrupted". www.imdb.com. 1999.

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• Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Everyday, I walk myself into a state of well-being & walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it. But by sitting still, & the more one sits still, the closer one comes to feeling ill. Thus if one just keeps on walking, everything will be all right.

  Soren Kierkegaard

  Feelings, Everyday, Desire

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• There's a difference in how I feel when I'm travelling and when I'm sitting still. I've been doing it for such a long time it has become a part of my life. It gets a bit hectic depending on where I am, you know, like there's different parts of the world that's more stimulating than other parts.

  Tina Turner

  Differences, Long, Different

  "Tina Turner 'Speaks Up' in 1985". Interview with Peter Panton for Speak Up Magazine, tinaturnerblog.com. 1985.

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• That's what is so precious in reading this way - you can plumb the depths of another's experience while sitting still with a book in your hands.

  Ramona Koval

  Education, Book, Reading

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• I'll be darned!" said Douglas. "I never thought of that. That's brilliant! It's true. Old people never were children!" "And it's kind of sad," said Tom, sitting still."There's nothing we can do to help them.

  Ray Bradbury

  Children, People, Helping

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• I don't like sitting still at a desk and often conduct business on my Blackberry or in walking meetings.

  Dylan Lauren

  Desks, Blackberries, Stills

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