Quote collection
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"Always follow these two rules: first, act only on what your reasoning mind proposes for the good of humanity, and second, change your opinion if someone shows you it's wrong. This change of mind must proceed only from the conviction that it's both correct and for the common good, but not because it will give you pleasure and make you popular."
"There is nothing happens to any person but what was in his power to go through with."
"To live each day as though one's last, never flustered, never apathetic, never attitudinizing - here is the perfection of character."
"The one thing worth living for is to keep one's soul pure."
"Aptitude found in the understanding and is often inherited. Genius coming from reason and imagination, rarely."
"In the life of a man, his time is but a moment, his being an incessant flux, his sense a dim rushlight, his body a prey of worms, his soul an unquiet eddy, his fortune dark, his fame doubtful. In short, all that is body is as coursing waters, all that is of the soul as dreams and vapors."
"Since you are an integral part of a social system, let every act of yours contribute to the harmonization of social life. Any action that is not related directly or remotely to this social aim disturbs your life, and destroys your unity."
"Anything in any way beautiful derives its beauty from itself and asks nothing beyond itself. Praise is no part of it, for nothing is made worse or better by praise."
"Here is the rule to remember in the future, When anything tempts you to be bitter: not, 'This is a misfortune' but 'To bear this worthily is good fortune.'"
"Vex not thy spirit at the course of things; they heed not thy vexation. How ludicrous and outlandish is astonishment at anything that may happen in life."
"If unwilling to rise in the morning, say to thyself, 'I awake to do the work of a man.'"
"Vex not thy spirit at the course of things, they heed not thy vexations"
"As surgeons keep their instruments and knives always at hand for cases requiring immediate treatment, so shouldst thou have thy thoughts ready to understand things divine and human, remembering in thy every act, even the smallest, how close is the bond that unites the two."
"The world is a living being - one nature, one soul. Keep that in mind."
"Our life is what our thoughts make it. Do every act of your life as if it were your last. In a word, your life is short. You must make the most of the present with the aid of reason and justice. Since it is possible that you may be quitting life this very moment, govern every act and thought accordingly."
"...the infallible man does not exist."
"Life is a warfare and a stranger's sojourn, and after fame is oblivion."
"When pain is unbearable it destroys us; when it does not it is bearable."
"The greatest part of what we say and do is really unnecessary. If a man takes this to heart, he will have more leisure and less uneasiness."
"A good man does not spy around for the black spots in others, but presses unswervingly on towards his mark."