Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
and read more

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
and things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art; to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Elegance of language may not be in the power of all of us; but simplicity and straight forwardness are. Write read more

Elegance of language may not be in the power of all of us; but simplicity and straight forwardness are. Write much as you would speak; speak as you think. If with your inferior, speak no coarser than usual; if with your superiors, no finer. Be what you say; and, within the rules of prudence, say what you are.

In terms of the game theory, we might say the universe is so constituted as to maximize play. The best read more

In terms of the game theory, we might say the universe is so constituted as to maximize play. The best games are not those in which all goes smoothly and steadily toward a certain conclusion, but those in which the outcome is always in doubt. Similarly, the geometry of life is designed to keep us at the point of maximum tension between certainty and uncertainty, order and chaos. Every important call is a close one. We survive and evolve by the skin of our teeth. We really wouldn't want it any other way.

One forgets too easily the difference between a man and his image, and that there is none between the sound read more

One forgets too easily the difference between a man and his image, and that there is none between the sound of his voice on the screen and in real life.

Good instincts usually tell you what to do before your head has figured it out.

Good instincts usually tell you what to do before your head has figured it out.

If all our misfortunes were laid in one common heap, whence everyone must take an equal portion, most people would read more

If all our misfortunes were laid in one common heap, whence everyone must take an equal portion, most people would be content to take their own and depart.

Through meditation and by giving full attention to one thing at a time, we can learn to direct attention where read more

Through meditation and by giving full attention to one thing at a time, we can learn to direct attention where we choose.

I want there to be no peasant in my kingdom so poor that he cannot have a chicken in his read more

I want there to be no peasant in my kingdom so poor that he cannot have a chicken in his pot every Sunday.

There is hardly a man on earth who will take advice unless he is certain that it is positively bad.

There is hardly a man on earth who will take advice unless he is certain that it is positively bad.