For me it was these.
“A focused fool can accomplish more than a distracted genius”
“Until the lion learns to write, every story will glorify the hunter”
These two quotes really helped get my @** in gear.
I’ve always prided myself on being empathetic and sympathetic to people no matter what. During the me too times, a lady was being interviewed about why survivors and victims don’t go to the authorities about their treatment from (men) powerful people.
She said something along the lines of “stand with us if you want things to change, but don’t you dare stand opposite to tell me how offended I’m allowed to be”. In an instant I realised I’d been guilty of minimizing the suffering of others simply because I’d not been through what they’d been through (in a sense - if I wouldn’t be offended why should they?). Changed my whole outlook on life actually
“You cannot love someone else until you love yourself.”
My dad raised me on this. If don’t see yourself worthy of love from even yourself, you’ll never be able to accept it from someone else. Healthy love is mutual. Also, this ties back into the idea that if you don’t see yourself worthy of love, it means you need to work on yourself until you do rather than trying to fill that gap with someone else.
I found that same nugget just under a decade ago. Dropped off the dating scene to work on myself. It really made me reflect. I’m still working on myself and honestly I suspect I will be for a while to come.
It took me over 6 years after my first serious relationship to really start figuring myself out and getting in tune with who I really was. I’m definitely still on the path and I realize more and more why my last relationship ended. It really was the best thing for me at the time.
“Erfahrung heißt gar nichts. Man kann seine Sache auch 35 Jahre lang schlecht machen.” - Kurt Tucholsky
Which DeepL translates to
“Experience means nothing. You can do a bad job for 35 years.”
Not strictly life changing, but a very valuable reminder, if you need to deal with ‘that’ kind of person.
This and the difference between decades of experience and experience that’s decades old.
Sometimes a person that’s 30 years in a field or profession just managed to avoid getting fired for 30 years.
