I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet, strange, I am ungrateful to those teachers.
Aggression unopposed becomes a contagious disease.
Determination brings the strength to continue, the steadiness to succeed, and the wisdom to slip past difficulties undisturbed.
Dawn: The time when men of reason go to bed.
Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude.
I am endlessly compelled by the notion that higher stages or levels of development do not preexist, that is, they are not “given” but are literally created by brave individuals who actually venture into new, uncharted territory, laying down “grooves” that others follow, which eventually become actual new structures or stages. The fact that the future, even at the most subtle metaphysical levels, literally does not yet exist challenges our most fundamental spiritual/religious notions in every possible way, but if we're ready for it, it can be the source of enormous inspiration and promise. I think potentially what's the most thrilling for the postmodern self is the discovery that we are literally creating the future, which means we are not separate from the creative principle or God-impulse itself—God is evolving as we evolve. And this moment itself, assuming that one is leaning into it with all of one's being, reaching for the future, is potentially the very edge of the possible.
Where can I find a man governed by reason instead of habits and urges?
Courage is to take a step forward into an area of difficulty without a solution in mind, but yet feeling that victory is ahead. It is going empty handed, but knowing that God's hand is stretched out to pull you.
To fear death, my friends, is only to think ourselves wise, without being wise: for it is to think that we know what we do not know. For anything that men can tell, death may be the greatest good that can happen to them: but they fear it as if they knew quite well that it was the greatest of evils. And what is this but that shameful ignorance of thinking that we know what we do not know?
The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going.
As I open my heart its treasures overflow.
When a man dwells on the objects of sense, he creates an attraction for them; attraction develops into desire, and desire breeds anger.
What we know as 'life' is the analytical realization in the seriality of time of our eternal reality.
When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny.
The value of marriage is not that adults produce children but that children produce adults.
