25 March 2023

Week 2023-12: Baltasar Gracian - Collected Quotes

 "A prudent man will think more important what fate has conceded to him, than what it has denied." (Baltasar Gracian)

"Advice is sometimes transmitted more successfully through a joke than grave teaching." (Baltasar Gracian)

"Attempt easy tasks as if they were difficult, and difficult as if they were easy; in the one case that confidence may not fall asleep, in the other that it may not be dismayed." (Baltasar Gracian)

"Do not be held a cheat, even though it is impossible to live today without being one. Let your greatest cunning lie in covering up what looks like cunning." (Baltasar Gracian)

"Friends are a second existence." (Baltasar Gracian)

"Friendship multiplies the good of life and divides the evil. 'Tis the sole remedy against misfortune, the very ventilation of the soul." (Baltasar Gracian)

"He who finds Fortune on his side should go briskly ahead, for she is wont to favor the bold." (Baltasar Gracian)

"If you are wise, live as you can; if you cannot, live as you would." (Baltasar Gracian)

"It is a great piece of skill to know how to guide your luck, even while waiting for it." (Baltasar Gracian)

"Knowledge without courage is sterile." (Baltasar Gracian)

"Nothing arouses ambition so much as the trumpet clang of another's fame." (Baltasar Gracian)

"One must pass through the circumference of time before arriving at the center of opportunity."(Baltasar Gracian)

"One who was adored by all in prosperity is abhorred by all in adversity." (Baltasar Gracian)

"Some are satisfied to stand politely before the portals of Fortune and to await her bidding; better those who push forward, who employ their enterprise, who on the wings of their worth and valor seek to embrace luck, and to effectively gain her favor." (Baltasar Gracian)

"Sometimes it proves the highest understanding not to understand." (Baltasar Gracian)

"Surfeits of happiness are fatal." (Baltasar Gracian)

"The greatest wisdom often consists in ignorance." (Baltasar Gracian)

"The heaven of the envied is hell for the envious." (Baltasar Gracian)

"The wise man does at once what the fool does finally." (Baltasar Gracian)

"There is no wilderness like a life without friends; friendship multiplies blessings and minimizes misfortunes; it is a unique remedy against adversity, and it soothes the soul." (Baltasar Gracian)

18 March 2023

Week 2023-11: Francóis de La Róchefoucald - Collected Quotes

"A man who finds no satisfaction in himself, seeks for it in vain elsewhere." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"A man's happiness or unhappiness depends as much on his temperament as on his destiny." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"A true friend is the greatest of all blessings, and that which we take the least care of all to acquire." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"Before we set our hearts too much upon anything, let us examine how happy they are who already possess it." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"Boredom ... causes us to neglect more duties than does interest." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"Friendship is only a reciprocal conciliation of interests." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"Great men’s success should always be measured against the means they used to reach it." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"Happiness is in the taste, and not in the things themselves; we are happy from possessing what we like, not from possessing what others like." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"Hope is the last thing that dies in man." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"I always say to myself, what is the most important thing we can think about at this extraordinary moment." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"If we have not peace within ourselves, it is in vain to seek it from outward sources." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"If we resist our passions, it is more from their weakness than from our strength." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"In great affairs we ought to apply ourselves less to creating chances than to profiting from those that are offered." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"In jealousy there is more of self-love than love." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"Interest speaks all sorts of tongues, and plays all sorts of parts, even that of disinterestedness." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"It is as proper to have pride in oneself as it is ridiculous to show it to others." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"It is more shameful to distrust our friends than to be deceived by them." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"Love’s greatest miracle is the curing of coquetry." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"Nothing is so infectious as example." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"One forgives to the degree that one loves." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"One is never fortunate or as unfortunate as one imagines." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"Perfect courage means doing unwitnessed what we would be capable of with the world looking on." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"The confidence which we have in ourselves gives birth to much of that which we have in others." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"The intellect is always fooled by the heart." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"The passions are the only orators which always persuade." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"The prospect of being pleased tomorrow will never console me for the boredom of today." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"The virtues and the vices are all put in motion by interest."  (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"There are more defects in temperament than in the mind." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"There are no accidents so unlucky from which clever people are not able to reap some advantage, and none so lucky that the foolish are not able to turn them to their own disadvantage." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"Though men pride themselves on their great actions, often they are not the result of any great design, but of chance." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"To establish oneself in the world, one has to do all one can to appear established." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"True eloquence consists of saying all that should be said, and that only." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"We are never so happy or so unhappy as we think." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"We do not wish ardently for what we desire only through reason." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"We often forgive those who bore us, but can't forgive those whom we bore." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"We promise according to our hopes, and perform according to our fears." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"We should not judge a man’s merits by his qualities, but by the use he makes of them."  (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"We should scarcely desire things ardently if we were perfectly acquainted with what we desire." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"Weakness of character is the only defect which cannot be amended." Francóis de La Róchefoucald

"What causes us to like new acquaintances is not so much weariness of our old ones, or the pleasure of change, as disgust at not being sufficiently admired by those who know us too well, and the hope of being admired more by those who do not know so much about us." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)

"When we are unable to find tranquility within ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere." (Francóis de La Róchefoucald)


11 March 2023

Week 2023-10: Upanishads

"Equipped with qualities, a doer of works and creator of their consequences, he reaps the result of his actions; he is the ruler of the life and he moves in his journey according to his own acts: he has idea and ego and is to be known by the qualities of his intelligence and his quality of self. Smaller than the hundredth part of the tip of a hair, the soul of the living being is capable of infinity. Male is he not nor female nor neuter, but is joined to whatever body he takes as his own." (Swetaswatara Upanishad)

"From the non-being to true being, from the darkness to the Light, from death to Immortality." (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)

"He becomes the Eternal and departs into the Eternal." (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)

"He fashions one form of things in many ways." (Katha Upanishad)

"He passes in his departure from this world to the physical Self; he passes to the Self of life; he passes to the Self of mind; he passes to the Self of knowledge; he passes to the Self of bliss; he moves through these worlds at will." (Taittiriya Upanishad)

"He strives by these means and has the knowledge: in him this spirit enters into its supreme status. Satisfied in knowledge, having built up their spiritual being, the Wise, in union with the spiritual self, reach the Omnipresent everywhere and enter into the All." (Mundaka Upanishad)

"It is not large, and not minute; not short, not long; without blood, without fat; without shadow, without darkness; without wind, without ether; not adhesive, not tangible; without smell, without taste; without eyes, ears, voice, or mind; without heat, breath, or mouth; without personal or family name; unaging, undying, without fear, immortal, dustless, not un¬ covered or covered; with nothing before, nothing behind, nothing within. It consumes no one, and is consumed by no one. It is the imseen seer, the un¬ heard hearer, the unthought thinker, the unknown knower." (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)

"Long and narrow is the ancient Path, - I have touched it, I have found it, the Path by which the wise, blowers of the Eternal, attaining to salvation, depart hence to the high world of Paradise." (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)

"Made certain of the meaning of the highest spiritual knowledge, purified in their being." (Mundrake Upanishad)

"Seven are these worlds in which move the life-forces that are hidden within the secret heart as their dwelling-place seven by seven." (Mundaka Upanishad)

"The Infinite indeed is below, above, behind, before, right and left—it is indeed all this. Now follows the explanation of the Infinite as the I; I am below, I am above, I am behind, before, right and left - I am all this. Next follows the explanation of the Infinite as the Self: Self is below, above, behind, before, right and left - Self is all this. He who sees, perceives, and understands this, loves the Self, delights in the Self, revels in the Self, rejoices in the Self -  he becomes a Svaraj, [an autocrat or self-ruler]; he is lord and master in all the worlds." (Upanishads)

"The one Godhead secret in all beings, all-pervading, the inner Self of all, presiding over all action, witness, conscious knower and absolute... the One in control over the many who are passive to Nature, fashions one seed in many ways." (Svetosvatara Upanishad)

"The Swan that settles in the purity... born of the Truth, - itself the Truth, the Vast." (Katha Upanishad)

"The transmigration of life takes place in one’s mind. Let one therefore keep the mind pure, for what a man thinks, so he becomes." (Upanishads)

"There is a birth and growth of the self. According to his action', the embodied being assumes forms successively in many places; many forms gross and subtle he assumes by force of his own qualities of nature..." (Swetaswatara Upanishad)

"There is a light that shines beyond all things on earth, beyond the highest, the very highest heavens. This is the light that shines in your heart." (Chandogya Upanishad)

"They say indeed that the conscious being is made of desire. But of whatsoever desire he comes to be, he comes to be of that will, and of whatever will he comes to be, he does that action, and whatever his action, to (the result of) that he reaches... Adhered to by his Karma he goes in his subtle body to wherever his mind cleaves, then, coming to the end of his Kama, even of whatsoever action he does here, he returns from that world to this world for Karma." (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)

"This bodiless and immortal Life and Light is the Brahman." (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)

"This is the eternal Tree with its root above and its branches downward; this is Brahman, the is the Immortal; in it are lodged all the worlds and none goes beyond it. This and That are one." (Katha Upanishad)

"This Self is to be won by the Truth and by an integral knowledge." (Mundaka Upanishad)

"This whole world is filled with beings who are His members." (Swetaswatara Upanishad)

"Thou art man and woman, boy and girl; old and worn thou walkest bent over a staff; thou art the blue bird and the green and the scarleteyed..." (Swetaswatara Upanishad)

"When a blade of grass is cut, the whole universe quivers." (Upanishads)

"When all the desires that cling to the heart Me loosed away from it, then the mortal becomes immortal, even here he possesses the Eternal." (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)

04 March 2023

Week 2023-09: Euripides - Collected Quotes

"A bad beginning makes a bad ending." (Euripides)

"A coward turns away, but a brave man's choice is danger." (Euripides)

"All is change; all yields its place and goes." (Euripides)

"Along with success comes a reputation for wisdom." (Euripides)

"Among mortals second thoughts are wisest." (Euripides)

"Enjoy yourself, drink, call the life you live today your own - but only that; the rest belongs to chance." (Euripides)

"Every man is like the company he is wont to keep." (Euripides)

"Fortune always will confer an aura
Of worth, unworthily; and in this world
The lucky person passes for a genius."" Euripedes

"Happiness, greatness, pride - nothing is secure, nothing keeps." (Euripides)

"How base a thing it is when a man will struggle with necessity! We have to die." (Euripides)

"Human misery must somewhere have a stop; there is no wind that always blows a storm." (Euripides)

"I loathe a friend ... who takes his friend's prosperity but will not voyage with him in his grief." (Euripides)

"I would prefer as a friend a good man who is ignorant than one more clever who is evil, too." (Euripides)

"It is a good thing to be rich, it is a good thing to be strong, but it is a better thing to be beloved of many friends." (Euripides)

"It was my tongue that swore; my heart is unsworn." (Euripides)

"Let a man accept his destiny. No pity and no tears." (Euripides)

"Love is all we have, the only way that each can help the other." (Euripides)

"No one can confidently say that he will still be living tomorrow." (Euripides)

"No one is happy all his life long." (Euripides)

"One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives." (Euripides)

"One man; two loves. No good ever comes of that." (Euripides)

"Pray the gods do not envy your happiness!" (Euripides)

"Real friendship is shown in times of trouble; prosperity is full of friends." (Euripides)

"Since luck's a nine days' wonder, wait their end." (Euripides)

"Slight not what is near though aiming at what is far." (Euripides)

"Sufficiency's enough for men of sense." (Euripides)

"Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish." (Euripides)

"Ten thousand men possess ten thousand hopes." (Euripides)

"That man is happiest who lives from day to day and asks no more, garnering the simple goodness of a life." (Euripides)

"The good and the wise lead quiet lives." (Euripides)

"The man who glories in his luck may be overthrown by destiny." (Euripides)

"The same man cannot be skilled in everything; each has his special excellence." (Euripides)

"There is as much confusion in the world of the gods as in ours." (Euripides)

"There is in the worst of fortune the best of chances for a happy change." (Euripides)

"There is just one life for each of us: our own." (Euripides)

"This is courage in a man: to bear unflinchingly what heaven sends." (Euripides)

"To persevere, trusting in what hopes he has, is courage in a man. The coward despairs." (Euripides)

"Try first thyself, and after call in God,/ For to the worker God himself lends aid." (Euripides)

"We pay a high price for being intelligent. Wisdom hurts." (Euripides)