Doris Lessing Quotes

I think I am at the end of a certain phase of my life. What I'm on the lookout for now is the unexpected, for things that come from outside and that I never thought might happen. Sometimes you have to watch for them so you don't automatically say no to the new, simply because you're in the habit of saying no to everything that comes along.

I always have searched for a point of view that a participant could change.

Changing your mind is probably one of the most beautiful things people can do. And I've changed my mind about a lot of things over the years.

There are times when the greatest change needed is a change of my viewpoint.

As much as you plan your career and plan your life, there are events that will change everything 180 degrees, I’ve had multiple events like that. I always wanted to be a doctor and now I’m in the theater business. But these defining moments in your life are really what builds your character.

From 15 to 18, everybody is a different person. Every six months, I have a whole new outlook on life.

The hard thing when you get old is to keep your horizons open. The first part of your life everything is in front of you, all your potential and promise. But over the years, you make decisions; you carve yourself into a given shape. Then the challenge is to keep discovering the green growing edge.

We all think we’re going to be great and we feel a little bit robbed when our expectations aren’t met. But sometimes our expectations sell us short. Sometimes the expected simply pales in comparison to the unexpected. You got to wonder why we cling to our expectations, because the expected is just what keeps us steady. Standing. Still. The expected's just the beginning, the unexpected is what changes our lives.

I needed to change the lens through which I viewed everything familiar.

If you knew me in the past, please do not think that I am the same person that you are meeting today. I have experienced more of life, I have encountered new depths in those I love, I have suffered and prayed and I am different.

You think I live in the past. You don't understand that I actually change with every era, I always have as best I can

I think you get to a certain point in your life and where you grew up stops reminding you of when you grew up. Everything changes, everything metamorphosizes.

We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.

It is not easy for me to accept criticism and reassess my way of doing things.

As I grow older, I have had to discard some ideas and policies because they no longer make sense. This strikes me as entirely healthy. I would invite others to do the same.

I see retirement as just another of these reinventions, another chance to do new things and be a new version of myself.

I'm a guy who just loves to reinvent myself.

That's why I think life is so incredible, right? Anything is possible. You can be one way one day, and then you can have one experience that could be tiny-itty-bitty or big, and it can shift your whole focus and your whole life.

There are five great ages of man - five moments when you need to reevaluate everything, clear out the cupboard and the wardrobe, and most importantly, your head. They are 13, 20, 30, 40 and 60. All men need to know this.

I think it has helped that I am so curious about what has been happening to me and that I have enjoyed watching the changes through my life, you know? I didn't know what was going to happen to me next.

Put your choices in perspective.

As I evolve, my interests change, always. But, what is consistent is that I always look for something new to play.

New experiences give you new perspectives on life.

I always learn a lot when I do so. You know, when you step out of your comfort zone and even your cynical zone, and open yourself up to what other people might experience and why they do so.

You must welcome change as the rule but not as your ruler.