Quotes from Alice Steinbach

Going back to school is like going back in time. Immediately, for better or for worse, you must give up a little piece of your autonomy in order to become part of the group. And every group, of course, has its hierarchies and rules- spoken and unspoken. It is like learning to live once again in a family- which, of course, is the setting where all learning begins.

To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasant sensations in the world. You are surrounded by adventure. You have no idea of what is in store for you, but you will, if you are wise and know the art of travel, let yourself go on the stream of the unknown and accept whatever comes in the spirit in which the gods may offer it.

The fun-seekers, I noted, were spontaneous and flexible. They approached each day and each situation with a willingness to ride whatever wave came along, just for the experience of it. The complainers, on the other hand, would only catch a wave if it was exactly to their liking. Anything else drew loud protestations about how it was not what they expected.

The unexpectedness of life, waiting round every corner, catches even wise women unawares," [Freya] wrote. "To avoid corners altogether is, after all, to refuse to live." ...It was if someone in charge had said to me: not guilty. Permission granted to continue on with your life as usual.

looking at the silent buildings, each one with a story to tell.

After all, the word "travel" comes from the Latin "trepalium." Which, loosely translated, means "instrument of torture.

Most of the time I liked being in charge of my life, thrived on it, in fact. But occasionally, when I was tired or unhappy. I'd find myself thinking how nice it would be to let someone else run the show, at least for a while.

I made dangerous choices in those years, thinking myself bold and adventurous. Later I would come to understand that I hadn't been daring at all, just driven by confusion and hormones. The person capable of true daring, I knew now, possessed two admirable qualities: curiosity and courage.

I guess the idea of stepping out from behind the "camouflage of routine," as someone once described it, still intimated me.

Occasionally, when trapped by memories, I would mistake change for loss, and grieve...

I had surprised myself this year by jumping in to reshape my life before life stepped in to reshape it for me.

A scene," Mary told us, "is a moment when there is some form of tension. A scene leads to the next scene. And a causal connection between scenes is what leads you to the story. A scene should be very clearly developed, and when the action is finished, the scene is over. An anecdote is, 'Oh, I missed the train. You'll never believe what happened....' An anecdote leads to nothing.

Never give up the search to have back what was lost too soon.

As promised, Kyoto Station turned out to be an ordeal. For ninety minutes I searched for a way out of the sixteen-story train station

But it was difficult, this living in real time only, and not diluting it by looking back or skipping forward. No wonder it's never really caught on with most people, I thought. It's just too hard.

In fact, most things that threaten to last forever often become quite annoying.

Paris guards her inner beauty from the casual observer. To find it one must look beyond the façades. It is true of people also, I think: their spirits exist behind their façades, beyond their words.

Peut-on changer de paysage extérieur sans déranger son paysage intérieur? Les voyages qu'on fait en soi-même? Aujourd'hui, je suis retournée dans mon passé, puis je suis partie vers un avenir qui prenait forme quelque part à la lisière de ma pensée. Mais je me suis aussi rendue dans un endroit rarement visité : l'innocence du moment présent.

When I looked back at my days of being a wife and mother, one of the things that most amazed me was that every day I was the one who made the decision as to what three other people would eat. It tired me out just to think about...

Always in the Big Woods when you step off alone into a new place, there will be along with...curiosity and excitement, a little nagging of dread. It is the ancient fear of the Unknown.

This is a great moment, when you see, however distant, the goal of your wandering. The thing which has been living in your imagination suddenly becomes a part of the tangible world. It matters not how many ranges, rivers or parching dusty ways may lie between you; it is yours now for ever." It

functioned—I realized that first impressions about hotel rooms are like first loves: neither is based on the concept of how, over time, one can come to appreciate the pleasures of durability over infatuation.

After all, watching a child march successfully into the larger world is one of the greatest satisfactions parenthood has to offer.

Except for the primitive markers of day and night, time lay ahead of me in continuous, undefined mass.