#31: Wisdom Quotes
Below are quotes that resonate, from Leo Tolstoy’s ‘A Calendar Of Wisdom’.
[1]
The person who is in love with himself has one advantage: he will have few rivals. – Lictenberg, ‘Aphorisms and Reflections’
[2]
It takes a big effort to deviate from the accepted norm. Yet the first step towards perfection is always linked with such deviation. – Tolstoy
[3]
What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy to live in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. – Emerson, SR
[4]
If, in living a virtuous life, we find ourselves subjected to the persecution of evil people and are mocked for living such a life, we must not be sad and downcast. The nature of virtue is such that it provokes hatred in evil people. – St John Chrysostom, Homilies
[5]
[I]f you want to get unused to something, then stop doing it. It is exactly the same with our emotions and our thoughts: when you are angry at that moment, but that you are also increasing the likelihood of being angry in the future – in other words, you are adding fuel to the flames…
Remember that you only need to do something wrong once for it to become difficult to refrain from doing it again. And if you allow yourself to do something wrong, telling yourself that you will stop doing it tomorrow, and you then say the same thing the next day, your will-power will become so weak that you will even stop noticing you are doing anything wrong; even if you do notice something, you will always find some ready excuse for everything you do wrong. – Epictetus, Ethics
[6]
The philosopher Lictenberg says that the whole of philosophy can be reduced to the following questions: ‘Who am I? What ought I do? In what can I believe, and what can I hope for?’ The most important of these questions is the second. If we know what we ought to do, then we will know everything else we need to know. – Tolstoy
[7]
Blessed is he who has found his work; let him ask no other blessedness. He has a work, a life purpose. – Carlyle, PP
[8]
You can’t always remain calm, but whenever there are times of peace and calm in your life, you need to value them and try to prolong them. Those are the times when you can start thinking clearly and decisively, and your thoughts can become a guide as to how you should live. – Tolstoy
[9]
Before you yourself judge someone who seems to be universally disliked, go out of the way to find out why this is the case. And if everybody seems to like someone, again you should make certain you know the facts before coming to any judgement. – Chinese wisdom
[10]
To hold your tongue is an indication of great virtue. – From Pious Thoughts