A society must assume that it is stable, but the artist must know, and he must let us know, that there is nothing stable under heaven.
~ James Baldwin
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Stability →
Choose today →
Stick to what’s in front of you—idea, action, utterance. This is what you deserve. You could be good today. But instead you choose tomorrow.
~ Marcus Aurelius
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Make haste slowly →
Diligence is quick to carry out what intelligence has lingered over. Fools are fond of hurry: They take no heed of obstacles and act incautiously. The wise usually fail through hesitation. Fools stop at nothing, the wise at everything. Sometimes things are judged correctly but go wrong out of inefficiency and neglect. Readiness is the mother of luck. It is a great deed to leave nothing for the morrow. A lofty motto: Make haste slowly.
~ Baltasar Gracián
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The fruit of a man’s mind →
No great thing comes into being all of a sudden; … Now if the fruit of a fig-tree is not brought to perfection suddenly and in a single hour, would you expext to gather the fruit of a man’s mind in so short a time, and so easily? I tell you, expect no such thing.
~ Epictetus
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Enjoyment →
The greatest enjoyment is experienced when there is no concern for its duration.
~ Wu Hsin
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Fundamentally →
What is this, fundamentally? What is its nature and substance, its reason for being? What is it doing in the world? How long is it here for?
~ Marcus Aurelius
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Well enough alone →
Some take nothing into account, and others want to take account for everything. They are always talking importance, always taking things too seriously, turning them into debate and mystery. Few bothersome things are important enough to bother with. It is folly to take to heart what you should turn your back on. Not the least of life’s rules is to leave well enough alone.
~ Baltasar Gracián
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The art of living →
Philosophy does not promise to secure anything external for man, otherwise it would be admitting something that lies beyond its proper subject-matter. For as the material of the carpenter is wood, and that of statuary bronze, so the subject-matter of the art of living is each person’s own life.
~ Epictetus
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Personal drama →
The greatest crime is the overlooking of who you really are in favor of the story of who you think you are. This preoccupation with your personal drama is the cloud that masks the sun.
~ Wu Hsin
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Complaining →
Don’t be overheard complaining about life at court. Not even to yourself.
~ Marcus Aurelius
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