The true hero is flawed. The true test of a champion is not whether he can triumph, but whether he can overcome obstacles - preferably of his own making - in order to triumph.
Garth SteinThat which is around me does not affect my mood; my mood affects that which is around me.
Garth SteinInside each of us resides the truth, I began, the absolute truth. But sometimes the truth is hidden in a hall of mirrors. Sometimes we believe we are viewing the real thing, when in fact we are viewing a facsimile, a distortion.
Garth SteinCan we not will ourselves to achieve the impossible? Can we not use the power of our life force to change something: one small thing, one insignificant moment, one breath, one gesture? Is there nothing we can do to change what is around us?
Garth SteinDid he understand, as those interminable minutes ticked by, that being alone is not the same as being lonely? That being alone is a neutral stateโฆ something that exists only in the mind, not in the world, and, like a virus, is unable to survive without a willing host?
Garth SteinAnd it is clear to Evan, now: the difference between what is and what has been done; the present and the past. He sees that what he does and who he is isn't based on the past unless he wants it to be... No. That is the past, which has been seen differently through many different eyes and has become hazy and unclear, like a pond when stirred with a stick. Only the present moment is clear and free from prejudice.
Garth Stein