Man’s unhappiness, as I construe, comes of his greatness; It is because there is an infinite in him, which with all his cunning he cannot quite bury under the Finite.
~ Thomas Carlyle
Elsewhere, this is 4a1485. — slipbox
Infinite →
Silence →
The silence that is in the starry sky.
~ William Wordsworth
Elsewhere, this is 4a1484. — slipbox
Excellence →
What I understand today is that when the Stoics said that there was an opportunity in every obstacle, what they meant was the opportunity to practice virtue. To be a good person despite the bad things that have happened. To do good in the world despite the bad that has befallen you. They were speaking of the idea of arete. Excellence—in all forms.
~ Ryan Holiday
Elsewhere, this is 4a1483. — slipbox
A repelling force →
Resistance cannot be seen, touched, heard, or smelled. But it can be felt. We experience it as an energy field radiating from a work-in-potential. It’s a repelling force. It’s negative. Its aim is to shove us away, distract us, prevent us from doing our work.
~ Steven Pressfield
Elsewhere, this is 4a1482. — slipbox
Solitude →
Solitude is more a state of mind and heart than it is a place. There is a solitude of the heart that can be maintained at all times. Crowds, or the lack of them, have little to do with this inward attentiveness.
~ Richard Foster
Elsewhere, this is 4a1481. — slipbox
Job versus vocation →
There is a huge difference between a job and vocation. A job is what we hold to earn money to meet economic demands. A vocation (from Latin vocatus, calling) is what we are called to do with our life’s energy. It is a requisite part of our individuation to feel that we are productive, and not responding to one’s calling can damage the soul.
~ James Hollis
Elsewhere, this is 4a1480. — slipbox
Lectures →
The muses were dumb while Apollo lectured.
~ Charles Lamb
Elsewhere, this is 4a1479. — slipbox
The quiet ones →
Of the ones who have nothing to say, the quiet ones are the most pleasant.
~ Michel ‘Coluche’ Colucci
Elsewhere, this is 4a1478. — slipbox
Sit down →
There’s a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t, and the secret is this: It’s not the writing that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write. What keeps us from sitting down is resistance.
~ Steven Pressfield
Elsewhere, this is 4a1477. — slipbox
Somewhat higher →
The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man’s foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher.
~ Thomas Henry Huxley
Elsewhere, this is 4a1476. — slipbox