Emotions Quotes

42 quotes

— You're in a desert, walking along in the sand, when...
— Is this the test now?
— Yes. You're in a desert, walking along in the sand... when you look down...
— What one?
— What?
— What desert?
— Doesn't make any difference. It's completely hypothetical.
— But how come I'd be there?
— Maybe you're fed up. Maybe you wanna be by yourself. Who knows? You look down and see a tortoise. It's crawling towards you...
— Tortoise? What's that?
— You know what a turtle is?
— Of course.
— Same thing.
— I've never seen a turtle. But I understand what you mean.
— You reach down, you flip the tortoise over on its back.
— Do you make up these questions, Mr. Holden? Or do they write them down for you?
— The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the sun... beating its legs, trying to turn itself over, but it can't... not without your help. You're not helping.
— What do you mean I'm not?
— I mean, you're not helping. Why is that, Leon?

So, you can bullshit yourself into all kinds of emotional states, you can somehow crank up some well-being for yourself, but the problem is, it doesn’t last. The weather could bring it down. The stock market could make it come crashing down. And even if it does not collapse, living in anticipation that it might is bad enough! The impending possibility that it will fall apart one day is torture—often worse than the actual disaster