Pico Iyer Quotes

I like to take walks in the park by myself, where no one can bother me and I can think.

I love being in the woods, when I can just walk barefoot in the grass and just sit down and breathe. I love that so much.

I've begun to realize, as I'm getting older, that I was taught to go for a certain kind of stillness to get things done. I missed that in my life. I loved my grandmother's property, out in South Georgia right above the Florida line, so I just thought I'd find some property where I could feel that again.

Take time to be quiet.

Let the bucket of memory down into the well, bring it up. Cool, cool minutes. No one stirring, no plans. Just being there.

Being on a boat that's moving through the water, it's so clear. Everything falls into place in terms of what's important and what's not.

There is nothing like being left alone again, to walk peacefully with oneself in the woods. To boil one's coffee and fill one's pipe, and to think idly and slowly as one does it.

When people ask me what the most important thing is in life, I answer: 'Just breathe.'

I do fish. I think there is a connection between thinking and fishing mostly because you spend a lot of time up to your waist in water without a whole lot to keep your mind busy.

When was the last time you spent a quiet moment just doing nothing - just sitting and looking at the sea, or watching the wind blowing the tree limbs, or waves rippling on a pond, a flickering candle or children playing in the park?

At sea, I feel comfortable and I come to rest.

I find music distracting - it takes me out of my head. What I love so much about skiing is the peacefulness.

I don't thrive on stress. I love lying on the deck on our houseboat reading a book.

But I try to steal other moments. Sometimes I get up very early in the morning and enjoy a quiet house and cup of tea before the craziness begins. Other times, I'll take a quick walk on the beach. You can find peace in a few minutes.

Whenever I get fed up with life I love to go wandering in nature.

I go on walks during lunch breaks and travel with a fold-up yoga mat. I also love reading by candlelight at night.

Silence is refreshment for the soul.

Fishing provides that connection with the whole living world. It gives you the opportunity of being totally immersed, turning back into yourself in a good way. A form of meditation, some form of communion with levels of yourself that are deeper than the ordinary self.

I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief... For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Stillness as a technique is still really captivating to me.

I've never known any trouble than an hour's reading didn't assuage.

Nature's a tranquilizer as you get older.

I like gardening - it's a place where I find myself when I need to lose myself.

Tea time is a chance to slow down, pull back and appreciate our surroundings.