William Saroyan Quotes

We're taught at such a young age that you can always be better and that you're never perfect and that you're never good enough.

Most people ask for happiness on condition. Happiness can only be felt if you don't set any condition.

Most people think good enough is good enough.

I don't always have to be the best. Things don't always have to be perfect.

The way to have the life we want is to receive more deeply the life we have. Sometimes we keep our own life at arm's length, thinking we'll wait until circumstances improve before giving it all we've got. But life is just a reflection of consciousness, so it's never going to give any more to us than we give to it. Don't wait for a perfect life; breathe in the life that's already perfect.

We can't always have the beautiful aspect of things. Let us make the most of our sights that are beautiful and let the others go

When I stopped wanting my New Year's Eve to be perfect, to bring in the New Year right, is when it started working out right. When I was young, I was always looking for the best party to be at, to ring in the New Year, and I always ended up in the car going, "Happy New Year."

Don't ever over-analyze your results. Don't ever try to find your own secret or the one which you admire. One does not try to catch soap bubbles. One enjoys them in flight and is grateful for their fluid existence.

When you drop your expectations that a person, a situation, a place, or an object should fulfill you, it's easier to be present in this moment because you're no longer looking to the next one. Most people want to get what they want, whereas the secret is to want what you get at this moment.

If, from time to time, you give up expectation, you will be able to perceive what it is you are getting.

One of the secrets to life is saying yes to change and allowing things to transition, but I also think you have to mark the time and give thanks for all that it gave you.

Don't worry about something going away; enjoy it while it's happening. And don't worry about something that's not even real.

Trade your expectations for appreciation and the world changes instantly.

It's such a colossal effort not to be haunted by what's lost, but to be enchanted by what was.

Let life unfold, say what you mean. You can’t always think about what you’ve lost, or what you don’t have, or what you didn’t get. Because when you do that, you’re missing out on the now. You can’t know if you’ll be here tomorrow or a year from now.

We just have to recognize life for what it is: a gift to be grateful for, not a property to cling to, hoard, or defend.

It's time to live with what we have and mourn what we lost.

If you have done the best you can do and if you have gotten all you could extract from something, you have given all you had to give, then the time has come when you can do no more than say thank you and move on.

I know I will have to come to forgiveness and acceptance of what has happened for me to go on and be happy in the future. And I know I will get there eventually. I wish him all the best in the future, as a person and as an athlete ... I feel privileged to have witnessed a part of his golfing career.

We must find a way to replace yearning for what life has withheld from us with gratitude for what we have been given.

Thank you for coming into my life and giving me joy, thank you for loving me and receiving my love in return. Thank you for the memories I will cherish forever. But most of all, thank you for showing me that there will come a time when I can eventually let you go.

When you accept what is, you are grateful for whatever situation arises.

Accept what comes to you totally & completely so that you can appreciate it, learn from it & then let it go.

I wonder if, as you get older, you stop missing people so fiercely. Maybe growing up is just focusing on what you've got, instead of what you don't.

Receive the gifts of fortune without pride, and part with them without reluctance.