The title “scholar” suggests that a person has gone to school, and that he studied, but it does not mean that he has acquired any truly important knowledge.
~ George Lichtenberg
Elsewhere, this is 4a979. — slipbox
Knowledge →
Reward for virtue →
Ignorance →
A precondition of becoming knowledgeable may be a resignation to, and accommodation with, the extent of one’s ignorance, an accommodation which requires a sense that this ignorance need not be permanent, or indeed need not be taken personally, as a reflection of one’s inherent capacities.
~ Alain De Botton
Elsewhere, this is 4a977. — slipbox
Highest possible goals →
In the long run, people achieve only that which they have set as goals for themselves; Therefore, set the highest possible goals for yourself.
~ Leo Tolstoy
Elsewhere, this is 4a976. — slipbox
Self-respect →
To live without self-respect is to lie awake some night, beyond the reach of warm milk, phenobarbital, and the sleeping hand on the coverlet, counting up the sins of commission and omission, the trusts betrayed, the promises subtly broken, the gifts irrevocably wasted through sloth or cowardice or carelessness. However long we postpone it, we eventually lie down alone in that notoriously uncomfortable bed, the one we make ourselves. Whether or not we sleep in it depends, of course, on whether or not we respect ourselves.
~ Joan Didion
Elsewhere, this is 4a975. — slipbox
Self-perfection →
Speak more →
If you want to stop a person from action, ask him to speak more on the topic. The more people speak, the less desire they have to act.
~ Thomas Carlyle
Elsewhere, this is 4a973. — slipbox
Unwholesome incarnations →
There is no man, however wise, who has not at some period of his youth said things, or even lived in a way which was so unpleasant to him in later life that he would gladly, if he could, expunge it from his memory. But he shouldn’t regret this entirely, because he cannot be certain that he has indeed become a wise man—so far as any of us can be wise—unless he has passed through all the fatuous or unwholesome incarnations by which that ultimate stage must be reached.
~ Marcel Proust
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Opportunities to lose focus →
The first element to consider when creating a more realistic “ideal day” is that unlike Franklin, we have many more places to be and many more opportunities to lose focus. We have to account for this, not fight against it.
~ Maneesh Sethi
Elsewhere, this is 4a971. — slipbox
Character →
Character—the willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life—is the source from which self-respect springs.
~ Joan Didion
Elsewhere, this is 4a970. — slipbox