I have always been fascinated by the law of reversed effort. Sometimes I call it the 'backwards law.' When you try to stay on the surface of the water, you sink; but when you try to sink, you float. When you hold your breath, you lose it—which immediately calls to mind an ancient and much neglected saying, 'Whosoever would save his soul shall lose it.'

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"A man does not really begin to be alive until he has lost himself, until he has released the anxious grasp which he normally holds upon his life, his property, his reputation and position."

- Alan W. Watts

Personal Growth

"If you awaken from this illusion and you understand that black implies white, self implies other, life implies death (or shall I say death implies life?), you can feel yourself – not as a stranger in the world, not as something here on probation, not as something that has arrived here by fluke - but you can begin to feel your own existence as absolutely fundamental."

- Alan W. Watts

Belief in Self

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

- Alan W. Watts

Presence

More Insight Quotes

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"We cannot solve problems with the kind of thinking we employed when we came up with them."

- Albert Einstein

Insight

"Vision is not what your eyes see, but an image that your brain comprehends."

- Touko Aozaki

Insight

"The difference between genius and stupidity is; genius has its limits."

- Albert Einstein

Insight

"Someone asked me, if I were stranded on a desert island what book would I bring: ‘How to Build a Boat.’"

- Steven Wright

Insight

"The shell of an oyster only hides the pearl inside."

- Jack

Insight