Laura Ingalls Wilder Quotes

There is nothing more I ask of this life than this moment, exactly so. And suddenly forever seems like too short a time.

But man postpones or remembers; he does not live in the present, but with reverted eye laments the past, or, heedless of the riches that surround him, stands on tiptoe to foresee the future. He cannot be happy and strong until he too lives with nature in the present, above time.

We spend our lives dreaming of the future, not realizing that a little of it slips away every day.

My dad told me this a long time ago, never worry about what your next job is, just worry about what you are doing right then. As I grow older, I couldn't agree more with that advice. Sometimes you get so worried about what's next that you fail to appreciate what you have.

It isn't the great big pleasures that count the most; it's making a great deal out of the little ones--I've discovered the true secret of happiness, Daddy, and that is to live in the now. Not to be for ever regretting the past, or anticipating the future; but to get the most that you can out of this very instant.

In any weather, at any hour of the day or night, I have been anxious to improve the nick of time, and notch it on my stick too; to stand on the meeting of two eternities, the past and future, which is precisely the present moment; to toe that line.

To live in the present moment is a miracle. The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green Earth in the present moment, to appreciate the peace and beauty that are available now.

And if there is not any such thing as a long time, nor the rest of your lives, nor from now on, but there is only now, why then now is the thing to praise and I am very happy with it.

She was learning to love moments. To love moments for themselves.

There may be more beautiful times, but this one is ours.

Only one person in a thousand knows the trick of really living in the present. Most of us spend fifty-nine minutes an hour living in the past, with regret for lost joys or shame for things badly done (both utterly useless and weakening) or in a future which we either long for or dread. . . . There is only one minute in which you are alive, this minute, here and now. The only way to live is by accepting each minute as an unrepeatable miracle. Which is exactly what it is-a miracle and unrepeatable.

Happiness is NOW! It isn't tomorrow. It isn't yesterday. Happiness is like a morning glory: Yesterday's won't bloom again; tomorrow's hasn't opened yet. Only today's flower can be enjoyed today. Be happy this very moment, and you'll learn how to be happy always.

Happiness, not in another place but this place...not for another hour, but this hour.

If we are forever yearning for more time, we are forever discounting what is offered.

As long as we have some definite idea about or some hope in the future, we cannot really be serious with the moment that exists right now.

We can sit and worry about what's going to happen to us two weeks from now. I'd rather focus on the amazing things happening right in front of us.

This moment,which we are living right now will pass too. We have to enjoy, enjoy all that we can.

People are always worried about what's happening next. They often find it difficult to stand still, to occupy the now without worrying about the future. People are generally not satisfied with what they have; they are very concerned with what they are going to have.

If I am incapable of washing dishes joyfully, if I want to finish them quickly so I can go and have dessert, I will be equally incapable of enjoying my dessert. With the fork in my hand, I will be thinking about what to do next, and the texture and flavor of the dessert, together with the pleasure of eating it, will be lost. I will always be dragged into the future, never able to live in the present moment.

Time isn’t precious at all, because it is an illusion. What you perceive as precious is not time but the one point that is out of time: the Now. That is precious indeed. The more you are focused on time—past and future—the more you miss the Now, the most precious thing there is.

The present moment is all you ever have. There is never a time when your life is not 'this moment.' Is this not a fact?

Had they known at these moments to be quietly joyful? Most likely not. People mostly did not know enough when they were living life that they were living it.

For there is never anything but the present, and if one cannot live there, one cannot live anywhere.

I like taking my time and seeing the things around me and appreciating the now. I started to realize that the things that helped me do that were these things that brought me love, brought me joy. And if we're all just falling towards an eventual end, falling towards the ground, then these things are parachutes.