Browsing Quotes With Tag: wisdom (69)
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The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion (either as being the received opinion or as being agreeable to itself) draws all things else to support and agree with it. And though there be a greater number and weight of instances to be found on the other side, yet these it either neglects and despises, or else by some distinction sets aside and rejects, in order that by this great and pernicious predetermination the authority of its former conclusions may remain inviolate.
...And such is the way of all superstition, whether in astrology, dreams, omens, divine judgments, or the like; wherein men, having a delight in such vanities, mark the events where they are fulfilled, but where they fail, though this happen much oftener, neglect and pass them by. But with far more subtlety does this mischief insinuate itself into philosophy and the sciences; in which the first conclusion colors and brings into conformity with itself all that come after, though far sounder and better. Besides, independently of that delight and vanity which I have described, it is the peculiar and perpetual error of the human intellect to be more moved and excited by affirmatives than by negatives; whereas it ought properly to hold itself indifferently disposed toward both alike. Indeed, in the establishment of any true axiom, the negative instance is the more forcible of the two.Speaker: Francis BaconSource: Novum OrganumPosted: 11 Dec 2014 at 1:16 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
Free your mind of the idea of deserving, of the idea of earning, and you will begin to be able to think.
Speaker: Ursula K. Le GuinSource: The DispossessedPosted: 10 Nov 2014 at 11:30 AMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, remove things every day.
Speaker: Lao TzeSource: The Tao of PoohPosted: 10 Nov 2014 at 11:04 AMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
One disease: long life. No disease: short life.
Speaker: Chinese proverbPosted: 10 Nov 2014 at 11:01 AMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
Cleverness, after all, has its limitations. It’s mechanical judgments and clever remarks tend to prove inaccurate with passing time because it doesn’t look very deeply into things to begin with.
Speaker: Benjamin HoffSource: The Tao of PoohPosted: 10 Nov 2014 at 11:01 AMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
The wise are not learned. The learned are not wise.
Speaker: Lao TzeSource: The Tao of PoohPosted: 10 Nov 2014 at 11:00 AMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
Seven deadly sins: politics without principle; wealth without work; pleasure without conscience; knowledge without character; business without morality; science with humanity; and worship without sacrifice.
Speaker: E. Stanley JonesPosted: 10 Nov 2014 at 10:52 AMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
To educate a person in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.
Speaker: Theodore RooseveltPosted: 10 Nov 2014 at 10:52 AMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
I am enchanted by the Sermon on the Mount. Being merciful, it seems to me, is the only good idea we have had so far. Perhaps we will get another good idea by and by. And then, we will have two good ideas.
Speaker: Kurt VonnegutSource: If This Isn't Nice, What Is?Posted: 27 Jun 2014 at 2:34 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
Success is as dangerous as failure.
Hope is as hollow as fear.
What does it mean that success is as dangerous as failure?
Whether you go up the ladder or down it, your position is shaky.
When you stand with your two feet on the ground,
you will always keep your balance.Speaker: LaoziSource: the Simple Guide to a Minimalist LifePosted: 09 Feb 2014 at 5:28 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
I learned an important lesson when I wanted to become a better seimmer – I thought swimming farether and faster was just a matter of trying harder, training harder. I would thrash madly through the water, but was left exhausted. When I learned that the water can actually push you up and help you float, it became much easier to glide through it. I relaxed, stopped trying to force things, and learned to swim better with less effort.
Life is like this. Life is water, and we tend to push too hard, thrash about, force things, struggle. Instead, learn to float, learn to allow things to become effortless. You’ll get farther and life will be that much more pleasant.
Speaker: Leo BabautaSource: Thriving on LessPosted: 09 Feb 2014 at 5:22 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
Life is waiting everywhere, the future is flowering everywhere, but we only see a small part of it and step on much of it with our feet.
Speaker: Herman HesseSource: E-SquaredPosted: 08 Feb 2014 at 8:12 AMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
You will find wise men in any religion. And good men in every nation.
Those who truly seek wisdom are those who will acknowledge the virtue in their adversaries and who will learn from those who disabuse them of error. All others are equally closed-minded.Speaker: Brandon SandersonSource: the Way of KingsPosted: 19 Jan 2014 at 12:04 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
When we are young, we want simple answers. There is no greater indication of youth, perhaps, than the desire for everything to be “as it should,” “as it has ever been.”
Speaker: Brandon SandersonSource: the Way of KingsPosted: 19 Jan 2014 at 12:02 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
Life is a festival only to the wise
Speaker: Ralph Waldo EmersonSource: 7 Dirty WordsPosted: 12 Jan 2014 at 3:52 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
The point is not to change
ourselves… It’s about befriending who we are already.Speaker: Pema ChodronSource: Hurry Up and MeditatePosted: 21 Sep 2013 at 6:48 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
To learn which questions are unanswerable, and not to answer them: this skill is most needful in times of stress and darkness.
Speaker: Ursula K Le GuinSource: the Left Hand of DarknessPosted: 21 Sep 2013 at 6:37 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
It’s the questions we can’t answer that teach us the most. They teach us how to think. If you give a man an answer, all he gains is a little fact. But give him a question and he’ll look for his own answers.
Speaker: Patrick RothfussSource: the Wise Man's FearPosted: 11 Jul 2011 at 8:03 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
If you never venture outside the box, you will probably not be creative. But if you never get inside the box, you will certainly be stupid
Speaker: Christopher PetersonPosted: 08 Nov 2010 at 12:43 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water
Speaker: Zen proverbPosted: 12 Apr 2010 at 3:32 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment!