#avoid

I have forced myself to contradict myself in order to avoid conforming to my own taste. ↗

— Marcel Duchamp

#conforming #contradict #forced #i #my own

RIVETING TORPOR It is remarkable how far I am prepared to go In order to avoid doing the one thing that might Provide satisfaction, and it is remarkable to consider What I will do instead of it, purely for the pleasure Of being dissatisfied. When it is merely a matter Of sitting down for a few hours and dreaming That something of value might eventually arise From this routine of self-enforced boredom. ↗

— John Tottenham

#fear-of-failure #procrastination #self-doubt #dreams

I learned early and at that kitchen table that there are ways of avoiding, without guilt, the commitments of love. ↗

— P.D. James

#humor #humour #love #theo #humor

What is meditation?... It is fleeing from the self, it is a short escape of the agony of being a self, it is a short numbing of the senses against the pain and the pointlessness of life. The same escape, the same short numbing is what the driver of an ox-cart finds in the inn, drinking a few bowls of rice wine or fermented coconut-milk. ↗

— Hermann Hesse

#life

Life, she realized, so often became a determined, relentless avoidance of pain-of one's own, of other people's. But sometimes pain had to be acknowledged and even touched so that one could move into it and through it and past it. Or else be destroyed by it. ↗

— Mary Balogh

#avoid #pain #touc #life

Part of avoiding thoughts about something was not encouraging opportunities for that something to makes itself felt. ↗

— Kristin Cashore

#fire #hurt #love #pain #love

The avoiding, in many times and places, has proved so difficult that a very large part of the human race failed to achieve it. But in our own time and place it is extremely easy. Avoid silence, avoid solitude, avoid any train of thought that leads off the beaten track. Concentrate on money, sex, status, health and (above all) on your own grievances. Keep the radio on. Live in a crowd. Use plenty of sedation. If you must read books, select them very carefully, but you’d be safer to stick to the papers. You’ll find the advertisements helpful; especially those with a sexy or snobbish appeal. ↗

— C.S. Lewis

#distraction #god #spiritual-intimacy #money

There is a devilishly direct relationship between the significance of an idea and how nervous we become at the prospect of having to think about it. ↗

— Alain de Botton

#decisions #ideas #life #significance #thinking

The philosopher ought never to try to avoid the duty of making up his mind. ↗

— Mortimer Adler

#duty #his #making #making up #mind

I think by laying it out for the viewer I'm avoiding the issue of bias. ↗

— Dan Abrams

#bias #i #i think #issue #laying