The burning conviction that we have a holy duty towards others is often a way of attaching our drowning selves to a passing raft. What looks like a giving hand is often a holding on for dear life. Take away our holy duties and you leave our lives puny and meaningless. There is no doubt that in exchanging a self-centered for a selfless life we gain enormously in self-esteem. The vanity of the selfless, even those who practice utmost humility, is boundless.
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...ideas have a tendency to live lives of their own, and having become a part of tradition, they are very read more
...ideas have a tendency to live lives of their own, and having become a part of tradition, they are very difficult to root out. When summarized in a few neat words or phrases, these gems of wisdom become substitutes for thought, and gradually take on much of the status of revealed truth. Occasionally, some iconoclast sees fit to challenge one of them, and a brief flurry ensues, after which things go on about as before. It is easy to think of plenty of ideas that are passing, if they have not already passed, beyond the stage of effective discussion.
To be fully alive is to feel that everything is possible.
To be fully alive is to feel that everything is possible.
Love and envy make a man pine, which other affections do not, because they are not so continual.
Love and envy make a man pine, which other affections do not, because they are not so continual.
There couldn't be a society of people who didn't dream. They'd be dead in two weeks.
There couldn't be a society of people who didn't dream. They'd be dead in two weeks.
It is not sheer malice that pricks our ears to evil reports about our fellow men. For there are frequent read more
It is not sheer malice that pricks our ears to evil reports about our fellow men. For there are frequent moments when we feel lower than the lowest of mankind, and this opinion of ourselves isolates us. Hence the rumor that all flesh is base comes almost as a message of hope. It breaks down the wall that has kept us apart, and we feel one with humanity.
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.
You affect your subconscious mind by verbal repetition.
You affect your subconscious mind by verbal repetition.
The envious only hate the excellence they cannot reach.
The envious only hate the excellence they cannot reach.
Wise living consists perhaps less in acquiring good habits than in acquiring as few habits as possible.
Wise living consists perhaps less in acquiring good habits than in acquiring as few habits as possible.
