Charles de Lint Quotes

A writer judging his own work is like deceived husband - he is frequently the last person to appreciate the true state of affairs.

We believe we're seeing the world just fine until it's called to our attention that we're not.

Our thoughts and our feelings, of course, are not wholly objective, they're inherently subjective. And that's the danger, and I think as long as we're aware of it and can push back against it, I don't think that these two views are necessarily incompatible.

It's easy to see the faults in people I know; it's hardest to see the good. Especially when the good isn't there.

To look at ourselves from afar, to make the subjective suddenly objective: this gives us a psychic shock.

I don't look at my work in a critical or analytical way; I just don't think of myself objectively. It doesn't interest me.

Our own self-love draws a thick veil between us and our faults.

You don't see yourself in the same way other people see you.

Sometimes a certain innocence is good, but not about yourself.

A more conscious life is one in which a man is conscious not only of what he sees, but of the prejudices with which he sees it.

Few men survey themselves with so much severity as not to admit prejudices in their own favor.

It is as easy to deceive one's self without perceiving it, as it is difficult to deceive others without their finding out.

All the mistakes I make arise from forsaking my own station and trying to see the object from another person's point of view.

We do not see the lens through which we look.

Individuals who were submerged in reality, merely feeling their needs, emerge from reality and perceive the causes of their needs.

When you think the night has seen your mind, That inside your twisted and unkind, Let me stand to show that you are blind. Please put down you hands cause I see you. I'll be you mirror.

Your inability to see yourself clearly is what's keeping you alive.

Be sure that you are not deceiving yourself at any time about actual conditions.

I try to deny myself any illusions or delusions, and I think that this perhaps entitles me to try and deny the same to others, at least as long as they refuse to keep their fantasies to themselves.

We are our own aptest deceiver.

Distrust your judgment the moment you can discern the shadow of a personal motive in it.

Until we take how we see ourselves (and how we see others) into account, we will be unable to understand how others see and feel about themselves and their world. Unaware, we will project our intentions on their behavior and call ourselves objective.

Before you attempt to set things right, make sure you see things right.

How often do we do that, he wondered--look at someone and fail to see what's really there?

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool. So you have to be very careful about that. After you’ve not fooled yourself, it’s easy not to fool other scientists. You just have to be honest in a conventional way after that.