Each day, and the living of it, has to be a conscious creation in which discipline and order are relieved with some play and pure foolishness.
May SartonRead
In the middle of the night, things well up from the past that are not always cause for rejoicing--the unsolved, the painful encounters, the mistakes, the reasons for shame or woe. But all, good or bad, give me food for thought, food to grow on.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Reflections on the past can bring both pain and growth.
This quote highlights the dual nature of revisiting past experiences during introspection. While memories can evoke feelings of shame and pain, they also provide valuable insights and lessons that contribute to personal growth and understanding.
Themes
ReflectionGrowthPastMistakesInsight
In practice
Example use cases
During a workshop on personal development, the speaker quoted May Sarton to emphasize the importance of learning from our past.
More from May Sarton
All quotes →Pain can make a whole winter bright, like fever, force us to live deep and hard.
May SartonRead
She became for me an island of light, fun, wisdom where I could run with my discoveries and torments and hopes at any time of day and find welcome.
May SartonRead
Wrinkles here and there seem unimportant compared to the Gestalt of the whole person I have become in this past year.
May SartonRead
Here life goes on, even and monotonous on the surface, full of lightning, of summits and of despair, in its depths. We have now arrived at a stage in life so rich in new perceptions that cannot be transmitted to those at another stage - one feels at the same time full of so much gentleness and so much despair - the enigma of this life grows, grows, drowns one and crushes one, then all of a sudden in a supreme moment of light one becomes aware of the sacred.
May SartonRead
I think of the trees and how simply they let go, let fall the riches of a season, how without grief (it seems) they can let go and go deep into their roots for renewal and sleep.... Imitate the trees. Learn to lose in order to recover, and remember that nothing stays the same for long, not even pain, psychic pain. Sit it out. Let it all pass. Let it go.
May SartonRead
Similar quotes
If you think about human nature, our favourite pair of shoes are the ones we bought yesterday, our favourite thing is the newest thing that we have…and the thing we’ve seen the most and for the longest period of time is our reflection in the mirror, so obviously that’s going to be our least favourite thing.
Taylor SwiftRead
This survival of the fittest implies multiplication of the fittest.
Herbert SpencerRead
In whatever country you live, however young or inadequate you feel, or however aged or limited you see yourself as being, I testify you are individually loved of God, you are central to the meaning of His work, and you are cherished and prayed for by the presiding officers of His Church. The personal value, the sacred splendor of every one of you, is the very reason there is a plan for salvation and exaltation.
Jeffrey R. HollandRead
This moment - the one you're experiencing right now - is the culmination of all the moments you have experienced in the past. This moment is as it is because the entire universe is as it is.
Deepak ChopraRead
Holiness is not for wimps and the cross is not negotiable, sweetheart, it's a requirement.
Mother AngelicaRead
Philanthropy can be integrated into business. I believe strongly that companies can be incredible agents of good in the world.
Marc BenioffRead