Quotes

[Buddy]

When one has nothing to lose, one becomes courageous. We are timid only when there is something we can still cling to. - Carlos Castaneda

Oh, wow. Thanks for posting that, Oxajil. That is a beautifully condensed version of what it just reminded me of:

The sophist who teaches clever speaking in the guise of manly and civic excellence, who, with the promise of helping young men to rise to political preeminence, lures them away from those who nuture their souls, and who holds in esteem not the aretai of justice, temperance and holiness that he professes to teach - if only "a bit better than others" - but the wisdom and courage that he knows full well that he cannot teach, must be exposed for the sham that he is.

The Socratic Paradox and its enemies, Roslyn Weiss
The University of Chicago Press, 2006
Chapter 2, The Protagoras: "Our Salvation in Life", p.67


And the paradox quote reminds me how the conventional perception, being an edited version of actual perception, leads to the kinds of self-delusion that must give rise to moral paradoxes...like cowardice for example.

Self-delusion of any kind is a bad idea even at the best of times. Even if a citizen has convinced himself that a brutal dictator is a benevolent "President" or "Father" of his country, it won't matter. He or his cohorts will be around to that neighborhood soon enough. If the citizen still clings to his illusions, he'll be squashed with everyone else because the paradox of cowardice is that only those who are afraid to move need fear, OSIT. At least this is an idea I formed some time ago. :)

 

[Aiming]

When one has nothing to lose, one becomes courageous. We are timid only when there is something we can still cling to. - Carlos Castaneda

I think I have finally found my signature. Thanks for posting, Oxajil!

 

[MelissaF]

It is really beautiful.Thanks for sharing it here.

 

[Ca.]

24 Things To Always Remember
by: Author Unknown, Source Unknown

Your presence is a present to the world.
You are unique and one of a kind.
Your life can be what you want it to be.
Take the days just one at a time.

Count your blessings, not your troubles.
You will make it through whatever comes along.
Within you are so many answers.
Understand, have courage, be strong.

Do not put limits on yourself.
So many dreams are waiting to be realized.
Decisions are too important to leave to chance.
Reach for your peak, your goal and you prize.

Nothing wastes more energy than worrying.
The longer one carries a problem the heavier it gets.
Do not take things too seriously.
Live a life of serenity, not a life of regrets.

Remember that a little love goes a long way.
Remember that a lot … goes forever.
Remember that friendship is a wise investment.
Life’s treasure are people together.

Realize that it is never too late.
Do ordinary things in an extraordinary way.
Have hearth and hope and happiness.
Take the time to wish upon a start.

AND DO NOT EVER FORGET ….
FOR EVEN A DAY
HOW VERY SPECIAL YOU ARE !

 

[truth seeker]

Saw this yesterday on someone's website. Who said it seems to be a mystery, could be Goethe or a couple others. Anyway, I thought we could use a little inspiration.:

‎"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now."

 

[wanderer33]

"There is too much depowerment and powerlessness, especially for a human species having many excellent powers and forms of intelligence and possessing superlative sensing systems"

Ingo Swann, Secrets of Power Vol.1

 

[ana]

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.
Helen Keller

Let your mind start a journey thru a strange new world. Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before. Let your soul take you where you long to be...Close your eyes let your spirit start to soar, and you'll live as you've never lived before.
Erich Fromm

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22

 

[Aidylsun B.]

"You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist."
Friedrich Nietzsche

 

[Ollie]

"A new philosophy, a way of life, is not given for nothing. It has to be paid dearly for and only acquired with much patience and great effort." ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky

 

[Zadius Sky]

Daniel Goleman:

Self-absorption in all its forms kills empathy, let alone compassion.

Thomas Merton:

Every moment and every event of every man's life on earth plants something in his soul.

Franklin P. Adams:

I find that a great part of the information I have was acquired by looking up something and finding something else on the way.

 

[Andrew M.]

I attribute the little I know to my not having been ashamed to ask for information, and to my rule of conversing with all descriptions of men on those topics that form their own peculiar professions and pursuits.

It is one thing to show a man that he is in an error, and another to put him in possession of the truth.

New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without anyother reason but because they are not already common.

prejudge other men's notions before we have looked into them is not to show their darkness but to put out our own eyes.

Parents wonder why the streams are bitter, when they themselves have poisoned the fountain.

It is of great use to the sailor to know the length of his line, though he cannot with it fathom all the depths of the ocean.

last one

One unerring mark of the love of truth is not entertaining any proposition with greater assurance than the proofs it is built upon will warrant.

all by John Locke

 

[Zadius Sky]

Some quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr.

A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.

Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.

Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see.

 

[Mountain Crown]

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.

Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

[andi]

That which you call your soul or spirit is your consciousness, and that which you call 'free will' is your mind's freedom to think or not, the only will you have, your only freedom, the choice that controls all the choices you make and determines your life and your character.

--Ayn Rand (1905 - 1982)

 

[ScarletBegonias]

This list is great and I've taken so many quotes off of it for use in my classroom! :D

"There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love." ~Martin Luther King Jr