Quotes

A long long time ago I began collecting inspirational quotes and aphorisms which became my collection of quotes.

Overconfidence →

Published January 14, 2023  ·  All posts on Jan 14  ·  , ,

The world is filled with overconfident people. Overconfidence leads to malpractice, to fraud, and to broken promises. Overconfidence is arrogance. You don’t want an overconfident surgeon or even an overconfident bus driver. By definition, overconfidence leads to risky behavior and inadequate preparation. But the practice requires us to do our work without becoming attached to the outcome. It’s not overconfidence, it’s a practice of experiments that respect the pitfalls of hubris.

~ Seth Godin

slip:4a1067.

Misconceptions →

Published January 12, 2023  ·  All posts on Jan 12  ·  ,

Ignorance cannot lead to evil, misconceptions lead to evil. It’s not what people do know, it’s what they pretend that they do.

~ Jean Jacques Rousseau

slip:4a1066.

Criticism →

Published January 10, 2023  ·  All posts on Jan 10  ·  ,

Ours is the age of criticism. Religion and law try to escape from criticism, religion by saying that it is divine and law by showing that it is powerful. But some suspicions arise from this escape, because we can respect only those things which stand up in free and public trial.

~ Immanuel Kant

slip:4a1065.

Darkness must fall →

Published January 7, 2023  ·  All posts on Jan 7  ·  ,

For it’s always that way with the sacred value of life. We forget it as long as it belongs to us, and give it as little attention during the unconcerned hours of our life as we do the stars in the light of day. Darkness must fall before we are aware of the majesty of the stars above our heads.

~ Stefan Zweig

slip:4a1064.

Restraint →

Published January 5, 2023  ·  All posts on Jan 5  ·  , ,

Because that’s all that could restrain us (if anything could)—the only thing that could make us want to stay here: The chance to live with those who share our vision. But now? Look how tiring it is—this cacophony we live in. Enough to make you say to death, “Come quickly. Before I start to forget myself, like them.”

~ Marcus Aurelius, 9.3

slip:4a1063.

Knowledge →

Published January 3, 2023  ·  All posts on Jan 3  ·  ,

What is important in knowledge is not quantity, but quality. It is important to know what knowledge is significant, what is less so, and what is trivial.

~ Leo Tolstoy

slip:4a1062.

The quality of your mind →

Published December 31, 2022  ·  All posts on Dec 31  ·  ,

You determine the quality of your mind by the nature of your daily thoughts. If they circle around the same obsessions and dramas, you create an arid and monotonous mental landscape, and this secretly makes you miserable. Instead, you must seek to radiate your mind outward, to unleash your imagination and intensify your experience of life. […] You are in fact surrounded every day by endless marvels, and to the degree you let them into your daily consciousness, you expand your mind and reinvigorate its immense powers.

~ Robert Greene

slip:4a1061.

Conversation →

Published December 29, 2022  ·  All posts on Dec 29  ·  , ,

We—mankind—are a conversation.

~ Martin Heidegger

slip:4a1059.

Sunset →

Published December 27, 2022  ·  All posts on Dec 27  ·  ,

Every time you wake up and ask yourself, “What good things am I going to do today?” remember that, when the sun goes down at sunset, it will take a part of you life with it.

~ Indian proverb

slip:4a1058.

“Important” work →

Published December 24, 2022  ·  All posts on Dec 24  ·  ,

Nothing really belongs to us but time, which even he has who has nothing else. It is equally unfortunate to waste your precious life in mechanical tasks or in a profusion of important work.

~ Baltasar Gracián

slip:4a1057.