Quotes

[momo]

[quote author=Erich Fromm]
Man's main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is. The most important product of his effort is his own personality.
[/quote]

 

[treesparrow]

A man with a conviction is a hard man to change. Tell him you disagree and he turns away. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point. We have all experienced the futility of trying to change a strong conviction, especially if the convinced person has some investment in his belief. We are familiar with the variety of ingenious defenses with which people protect their convictions, managing to keep them unscathed through the most devastating attacks. But man’s resourcefulness goes beyond simply protecting a belief. Suppose an individual believes something with his whole heart; suppose further that he has a commitment to this belief, that he has taken irrevocable actions because of it; finally, suppose that he is presented with evidence, unequivocal and undeniable evidence, that his belief is wrong: what will happen? The individual will frequently emerge, not only unshaken, but even more convinced of the truth of his beliefs than ever before. Indeed, he may even show a new fervor about convincing and converting other people to his view.

Leon Festinger, When Prophecy Fails 1956.

 

[Therpo]

"Without the transcendental and transpersonal we become apathetic, nihilistic, violent and sick. We need something greater than ourselves to be awed by and commit to" Thomas Merton

"Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider" Francis Baker

"What you read when you have to will determine who you are when you can't help it." I'm not sure about the author

"Truth is one, the sages speak of it by many names" The Vedas

 

[Tristan]

"There is no stronger army in all the world than an idea whose time has come."
- Victor Hugo, 1870

 

[topdrawer]

:(
"It's always night, or we wouldn't need light."
Thelonious Monk

 

[Alcarohtare]

It is the privilege of true genius,
And especially genius who opens up a new path,
To make great mistakes with impunity.
- Lewis Carrol

Friends teach you what you WANT to know. Enemies teach you what you NEED to know.
- Unknown

If you would be a real seeker after truth,
it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.
– René Descartes

 

[Therpo]

A friend shared the following with me. I find it very succinct and powerful as it reall puts things in perspective for this incarnation

"To live is to do the things you'll miss when you're dead."

 

[Therpo]

One of my favourite guidelines:

"Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others,even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself.Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.”
Max Ehrmann,

 

[anart]

"Humans have always unknowingly affected all the Universe by every act and thought they articulate or even consider. . . . Realistic, comprehensively responsible, omni-system-considerate, unselfish thinking on the part of humans does absolutely affect human destiny." - Buckminster Fuller

 

[lorraineeustice]

i have a question. on my profile , under my username on the left, it says a disturbance in the force. what does that mean?

 

[Mal7]

Those taglines are a forum feature reflecting how many posts you have made on the forum. They are based on a Star Wars theme (the George Lucas films). When you have made a few more posts, it changes from "A Disturbance in the Force" to "The Force is Strong With This One".

You can read the full list here:

http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,19916.msg197280.html#msg197280

 

[Therpo]

"What one man does in a single day is infinitesimal, but it is also infinitely important that he do it."

 

[Mal7]

But if it be agreed we shall be tried by visions, there is a vision recorded by Eusebius, far ancienter than this tale of Jerome to the nun Eustochium, &, besides, has nothing of a fever in it. Dionysius Alexandrinus was about the year 240 a person of great name in the Church for piety and learning, who had wont to avail himself much against heretics by being converant in their books; until a certain presbyter laid it scrupulously to his conscience, how he durst venture himself among those defiling volumes. The worthy man, loth to give offence, fell into a new debate with himself what was to be thought; when suddenly a vision sent from God (it is his own epistle that so avers it) confirmed him in these words: Read any books whatever come to thy hands, for thou art sufficient both to judge aright, & to examine each matter. To this revelation he assented the sooner, as he confesses, because it was answerable to that of the Apostle to the Thessalonians, "Prove all things, hold fast that which is good". And he might have added another remarkable saying of the same author: "To the Pure, all things are pure"; not only meats and drinks, but all kind of knowledge whether of good or evil; the knowledge cannot defile, nor consequently the books, if the will & conscience be not defiled.

For books are as meats and viands are; some of good, some of evil substance; and yet God, in that unapocryphal vision, said without exception, Rise, Peter, kill and eat, leaving the choice to each man's discretion. Wholesome meats to a vitiated stomach differ little or nothing from unwholesome, and best books to a naughty mind are not unapplicable to occasions of evil. Bad meats will scarce breed good nourishment in the healthiest concoction; but herein the difference is of bad books, that they to a discreet & judicious reader serve in many respects to discover, to confute, to forewarn, and to illustrate.

- from John Milton, Areopagitica, published 1644.

 

[SMM]

The following is from a Swahili book I finished reading not too long ago, the last paragraph or two is quite poignant.

Baadaye mvua ilizidisha kasi, labda kwa haja ya kuosha ile damu mbiombio ili mwanadamu asahau alilotenda. Jambo la kutazamwa ni kile kivuli cha matendo ya mwanadamu kilichosimama wima kumwonyesha kosa lake, ingawa mwanadamu alikataa kuona.
Labda wale wanaotazama nyuma na mbele, ndio tu wanaotambua, kwamba wingu la mwanzo la mvua likiagunka, jengine na jengine hufuatuia.

- Dunia Mti Mkavu by Said A. Mohamed, 1980.

Loose translation & emphasis:

Later the rain intensified dramatically, perhaps with the need to wash the blood rushing so man could forget what he has done. A thing to behold is that shadow of the actions of a man that stands upright to show his fault, although a man refuses to see.
Maybe those who look back and ahead, are the only ones who realize that from the beginning of rain fall, another and another will follows indefinitely.

Another quote that just came to me:

Whatever it is you learn to do, you learn by doing it.

As someone else said somewhere, knowledge without application is just information.
Nice reading all the other quotes :)

 

[Hesper]

From the movie "Seeking A Friend for the End of the World"

This comes at the end of the movie while the new lovers are awaiting an asteroid that they know will hit the planet. They are lying in bed facing one another, the threat of death visibly terrorizing the young girl while "Dodge" comforts her before they die. It moved me deeply, and has reverberated in me for the past few days:

Penny: I thought that somehow we'd save each other.
Dodge: We did. Penny. I'm really glad I got to know you.