Quotes

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

Epithets →

Published July 26, 2021  ·  All posts on Jul 26  ·  ,

Epithets for yourself: Upright. modest. Straightforward. Sane. Cooperative. Disinterested.

Try not to exchange them for others. And if you should forfeit them, set about getting them back. Keep in mind that “sanity” means understanding things—each individual thing—for what they are. And not losing the thread. And “cooperation” means accepting what nature assignes you—accepting it willingly. And “disinterest” means that the intelligence should rise above the movements of the flesh—the rough and the smooth alike. Should rise above fame, above death, and everything like them.

~ Marcus Aurelius

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Controlling the mind →

Published July 23, 2021  ·  All posts on Jul 23  ·  , ,

Controlling the mind doesn’t take one to freedom. Controlling the mind adds another link to one’s shackles.

~ Wu Hsin

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Get a move on →

Published July 20, 2021  ·  All posts on Jul 20  ·  

Do what nature demands. Get a move on—if you have it in you—and don’t worry whether anyone will give you credit for it. And don’t go expecting Plato’s Republic; be satisfied with even the smallest progress, and treat the outcome of it all as unimportant.

~ Marcus Aurelius

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Where the world is →

Published July 17, 2021  ·  All posts on Jul 17  ·  

As an organizer I start from where the world is, as it is, not as I would like it to be. That we accept the world as it is does not in any sense weaken our desire to change it into what we believe it should be—it is necessary to begin where the world is if we are going to change it to what we think it should be.

~ Saul Alinsky

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The view from above →

Published July 14, 2021  ·  All posts on Jul 14  ·  ,

To see them from above: The thousands of animal herds, the rituals, the voyages on calm or stormy seas, the different ways we come into the world, share it with one another, and leave it. Consider the lives led once by others, long ago, the lives to be led by others after you, the lives led even now, in foreign lands. How many people don’t even know your name. How many will soon have forgotten it. How many offer you praise now—and tomorrow, perhaps, contempt.

~ Marcus Aurelius

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Solitude →

Published July 11, 2021  ·  All posts on Jul 11  ·  ,

Solitude is not a condition of the body. Instead, it is a condition of the mind. Solitude may be found in the busy market, or may be elusive in the forest.

~ Wu Hsin

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Imagine →

Published July 8, 2021  ·  All posts on Jul 8  ·  ,

What their minds are like. What they work at. What evokes their love and admiration. Imagine their souls stripped bare. And their vanity. To suppose that their disdain could harm anyone—or their praise help them.

~ Marcus Aurelius

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Your time is limited →

Published July 5, 2021  ·  All posts on Jul 5  ·  ,

… death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It’s life’s change agent; it clears out the old to make way for the new … your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.

~ Steve Jobs

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Willing acceptance →

Published July 2, 2021  ·  All posts on Jul 2  ·  ,

To do harm is to do yourself harm. To do an injustice is to do yourself an injustice—it degrades you.

And you can also commit injustice by doing nothing.

Objective judgement, now, at this very moment. Unselfish action, now, at this very moment. Willing acceptance—now, at this very moment—of all external events.

That’s all you need.

~ Marcus Aurelius

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Final step →

Published June 29, 2021  ·  All posts on Jun 29  ·  , ,

For many, the first step on a spiritual journey is to become lost. The final step is losing one’s self.

~ Wu Hsin

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