#truism

In a pocket of his knapsack he'd found a last half packet of cocoa and he fixed it for the boy and then poured his own cup with hot water and sat blowing at the rim. You promised not to do that, the boy said. What? You know what, Papa. He poured the hot water back into the pan and took the boy's cup and poured some of the cocoa into his own and then handed it back. I have to watch you all the time, the boy said. ↗

— Cormac McCarthy

#generosity #love #sacrifice #selflessness #love

How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it, except the pleasure of seeing it. ↗

— Adam Smith

#goodness #nature

If we persist in defining ourselves as doomed, human nature as beyond redemption, and social institutions as beyond reform, then we shall create a future that will inexorably proceed in confirming this view. Rescuers refused to see Jews as guilty or beyond hope and themselves as helpless, despite all the evidence that could be marshaled to the contrary. They made a choice that affirmed the value and meaningfulness of each life in the midst of a diabolical social order that repeatedly denied it. Can we do otherwise? ↗

— Samuel P. Oliner

#hope #nature

Religion decays, the icon remains; a narrative is forgotten, yet its representation still magnetizes. ↗

— Julian Barnes

#decay #religion #religion

The positive emotions that arise in...unpromising circumstances demonstrate that social ties and meaningful work are deeply desired, readily improvised, and intensely rewarding. The very structure of our economy and society prevent these goals from being achieved. ↗

— Rebecca Solnit

#disaster #hope #economy

A one dollar bill, though it weighs less than 99 pennies, is psychologically heavier. ↗

— Jarod Kintz

#psychology

Love is, just like isn’t isn’t is. ↗

— Jarod Kintz

#humor #love #truism #age

We need to build websites with celebrity speakers who talk about the ideals of fairness, sharing, democratic cooperation, and altruism in public life. ↗

— Deepak Chopra

#altruism #build #celebrity #cooperation #democratic

And it has become a kind of a truism in the study of creativity that you can't be creating anything with less than 10 years of technical knowledge immersion in a particular field. ↗

— Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

#become #creating #creativity #field #kind

Although people sometimes assume that the happy are self-absorbed and complacent, just the opposite is true. In general, happiness doesn't make people want to drink daiquiris on the beach; it makes them want to help rural villagers gain better access to clean water. ↗

— Gretchen Rubin

#happiness #experience