Madeleine L'Engle Quotes

When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown-up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability... To be alive is to be vulnerable.

Falling is scary but good practice for life. We must fall. In love. Out of love. Into new experiences. Out of old habits. Deeper and further into ourselves. We must fall, life is falling over forward. The only choice we have is how we let go.

When you're younger you feel more invincible - that nothing is ever going to get you down or beat you. When you get a bit older, you realise the fragility of things, how easy it is to get caught out by things - and Ant did.

There is no perfection only life

You don't have to be perfect; you just have to be open.

To be alive is to be vulnerable.

I ain't what I used to be, but who the hell is?

Life will take its toll on all of us. We get injured, we get old. It's really sad to try to run away from these harsh realities of life. Looks are not everything. I am not going to look beautiful all the time.

The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection.

This planet Earth, the act of putting a roof over our heads, our flesh and blood existence, it's all very temporary.

The great risk of being alive is always that something can happen to you - or to someone you dearly love - at any moment.

Love is possible. Life is going to decide. Don't lose it, it's a treasure. It's going to be painful; it's going to be an adventure, a roller coaster. Life is a roller coaster and it gets worse when you get old. Contrary to what you think, that it gets better when you know more - no, the more you know the more painful it is. You've been hurt. You arrive with a million scars and your armor is not thick. The more you age, the more you're fragile. But do it anyway. Go for it. Otherwise it means death.

What if I fall?', Tim cried. Maerlyn laughed. 'Sooner or later, we all do.

What we put into every moment is all we have. You can drug yourself to death or you can smoke yourself to death or eat yourself to death, or you can do everything right and be healthy and then get hit by a car. Life is so great, such a neat thing, and yet all during it we have to face death, which can make you nuts and depressed.

What is getting older if it isn't learning more ways that you're vulnerable?

the most terribly human moments - the ones we want to pretend never happened - are the very moments that make us who we are today. ... You are defined not by life's imperfect moments, but by your reaction to them.

You aren't a hero and I'm not beautiful and we probably won't live happily ever after " she said. "But we're alive and together and we're going to be all right.

No man may be completely invulnerable.

For the future, I shall rely only upon those elements of my character which I have tested. Who would ever have said that I should find pleasure in shedding tears? That I should love the man who proves to me that I am nothing more than a fool?

I'd always felt like I was going to take part in adventures in my life. That's what led me to diving in the shipwreck to begin with. But when you're faced with your own demise, you have to accept that you are vulnerable and that you are only here for a set period of time.

I think there comes a point where you have to grow up and get over yourself, lighten up…and forgive

You’ll be fine. You’re 25. Feeling [unsure] and lost is part of your path. Don’t avoid it. See what those feelings are showing you and use it. take a breath. You’ll be okay. Even if you don’t feel okay all the time.

But in my heart I knew that just like the new grass, I wasn't strong enough yet to be walked on

The Human Condition being, basically, that we’re alive and have access to beauty, can even erratically create it, but will someday be dead and will not.