[One Sip of a Book] Finding the Lost Me... A Sentence That Understands My Heart

by Seo Miteum

Published 22 Jan.2025 08:24(KST)

Editor's NoteSome sentences encapsulate the entire content of a book, while others instantly reach the reader's heart, creating a connection with the book. We introduce such meaningful sentences excerpted from books.

This is a book by author Jeon Seung-hwan that offers warmth and comfort to those weary of everyday life. It is a revised and expanded edition commemorating the 5th anniversary of its publication and 300,000 copies sold. A chapter centered on the keywords 'hope' and 'wish' has been added. It especially conveys the process of efforts to become the self one desires. The book contains attempts to fill life truthfully and richly with each person's inner voice, along with the wondrous experiences that follow.

[One Sip of a Book] Finding the Lost Me... A Sentence That Understands My Heart

Each of us has our own world. Even if there is someone we truly cherish and love nearby, sometimes we need to take care of our own world by ourselves. Just as trees and flowers need proper spacing to grow upright, we also need a certain distance of longing. By respecting that appropriate distance, we can cherish and love the people we care about even more, and we ourselves can grow into better versions of ourselves. - From "The Proper Distance to Heal Wounds"

Even when lonely, may you not be lonely alone. Whether reading a sentence that touches your heart or through movies, music, or any other art, may you know that your heart is connected to someone else. When you feel lonely, somewhere there is surely someone who shares that loneliness with you. And after enduring that loneliness, at some point, small warmths will come back to you again. Just as after the coldest winter passes, spring arrives as if by magic. - From "Looking Back, I Was Always Alone"

Living a life true to oneself is not like cruising on a peaceful and calm lake. Rather, it is like navigating a vast ocean directly. Sometimes you will face typhoons and rough waves, and there will be many times of hardship. But after going through all those processes, you will surely find the sublime meaning and value of life that can never be obtained by staying only in a small lake. With a firm attitude toward life that does not waver in the face of any difficulty. - From "Confidently and Freely"

The first thing two people in love do when they meet is to hold each other's hands. Brinkmann says that our lives are also a journey of reaching out to someone else and holding the hand that is reached out to us. The sentence that life is about reaching out hands to each other and holding those hands beautifully and accurately describes the fact that we are relational beings. - From "You and Me, We Are Together in This World"

Even amid countless sufferings, can we have a positive mindset willing to endure life? Depending on how we set our attitude toward life, we may approach happiness or sink into sorrow. Life does not force us to choose, but the direction of life will be determined by each person's choice. Just as the earth gains life and becomes fertile only after the rain falls, a life that endures pain can also become the soil that sprouts new opportunities. What we need is the belief that by enduring life now, we can become stronger, and the courage to willingly accept that process and grow. Life may sometimes leave scars on us, but those scars will be wonderful and honorable marks proving the path we have walked. - From "The Joy of Willingly Enduring Life"

"Humans are imperfect, and it is this imperfection that is our true nature." Montaigne's words, which offer great strength to those of us who grow weary trying to become objects of envy, seeking recognition, and pursuing perfection, seem to whisper this. It's okay not to be perfect; what matters is loving your own life and learning and growing within it. - From "To You Who Are Still Silently Growing"

When I Don't Even Know What I Want | Written by Jeon Seung-hwan | Book Romance | 368 pages | 22,000 KRW