There's something about Vonnegut's deadpan irony that I really like. And I like Borges' puzzle structure. Ruth Ozeki More Quotes by Ruth Ozeki More Quotes From Ruth Ozeki Sometimes when she told stories about the past her eyes would get teary from all the memories she had, but they weren't tears. She wasn't crying. They were just the memories, leaking out. Ruth Ozeki eye memories past Am I crazy?" she asked. "I feel like I am sometimes." "Maybe," he said, rubbing her forehead. "But don't worry about it. You need to be a little bit crazy. Crazy is the price you pay for having an imagination. It's your superpower. Tapping into the dream. It's a good thing not a bad thing. Ruth Ozeki crazy imagination dream Do all kids have to worry about their parents’ mental health? The way society is set up, parents are supposed to be the grown-up ones and look after the kids, but a lot of times it’s the other way around. Ruth Ozeki parent worry kids Life is fleeting. Don't waste a single moment of your precious life. Wake up now! And now! And now! Ruth Ozeki waste inspiring life She missed the built environment of New York City. It was only in an urban landscape, amid straight lines and architecture, that she could situate herself in human time and history. She missed people. She missed human intrigue, drama and power struggles. She needed her own species, not to talk to, necessarily, but just to be among, as a bystander in a crowd or an anonymous witness. Ruth Ozeki new-york struggle drama Everything in the universe is constantly changing, and nothing stays the same, and we must understand how quickly time flows by if we are to wake up and truly live our lives. Ruth Ozeki our-lives wake-up flow There are many answers, none of them right, but some of them most definitely wrong. Ruth Ozeki answers life But in the time it takes to say now, now is already over. It's already then. Ruth Ozeki over-it The past is weird. I mean, does it really exist ? It feels like it exists, but where is it ? And if it did exists, but doesn’t now, then where did it go ? Ruth Ozeki doe mean past I have a pretty good memory, but memories are time beings, too, like cherry blossoms or ginkgo leaves; for a while they are beautiful, and then they fade and die. Ruth Ozeki cherry-blossom beautiful memories The important thing was that we were being polite and not saying all the things that were making us unhappy, which was the only way we knew how to love each other. Ruth Ozeki important unhappy way Both life and death manifest in every moment of existence. Our human body appears and disappears moment by moment, without cease, and this ceaseless arising and passing away is what we experience as time and being. They are not separate. They are one thing, and in even a fraction of a second, we have the opportunity to choose, and to turn the course of our action either toward the attainment of truth or away from it. Each instant is utterly critical to the whole world. Ruth Ozeki life-and-death passing-away opportunity ...I am a time being. Do you know what a time being is? Well, if you give me a moment, I will tell you. A time being is someone who lives in time, and that means you, and me, and every one of us who is, or was, or ever will be. Ruth Ozeki giving life mean By the time we, consumers, are aware of processes like genetic engineering, they're already being done. It's sort of like the war in Iraq: By the time we know about it, it's almost a fait accompli. And that's certainly true with science. Ruth Ozeki engineering iraq war I think that if we don't learn to inhabit other people's perspectives, then we're never going to understand why people do what they do. Ruth Ozeki perspective people thinking You never know who it's going to be, or what they'll bring, but whatever it is, it's always exactly what is needed. Ruth Ozeki needed knows The wondrous thing about nature, her gift to us, is her wanton promiscuity. She reproduces herself with abandon, with teeming infinite generosity. Ruth Ozeki abandon generosity infinite Fiction is an elemental force, which has the power to shape reality in its own image - or images, I should say - because reality, like light, exists not only as a single point or particle, but also as an array of possibilities. Ruth Ozeki light reality fiction Even though I was making documentaries, my films had fictional elements to them. I think I like blurring those distinctions because so much of what we see on television purports to be the truth, but it's often largely imaginary - or wishful thinking, or any number of less honorable things. Ruth Ozeki elements numbers thinking When I start writing novels, I go into them with a spirit of inquiry, rather than to substantiate prejudices I had in the beginning. If you don't do that, you can't write good characters. Ruth Ozeki prejudice writing character
