#33: Wisdom Quotes
Below are quotes that resonate, from Leo Tolstoy’s ‘A Calendar Of Wisdom’.
[1]
We think that self-renunciation compromises our freedom. But we are not aware that it is only our self-renunciation that gives us real freedom, as it liberates us from ourselves, from the prison of our depravity. Our passions are the cruellest tyrants imaginable; all you need to do is give in to them and you will find yourself trapped in the harshest form of servitude, unable to breathe freely. Only self-renunciation can liberate us from this. – Fenelon, ‘Reflections for Every Day of the Month’ (24th day)
[2]
Total renunciation of self is a sign of the divine life within us. Love of self, when completely uninhibited, signifies an existence that is lower than an animal’s. Our rational life is a gradual movement away from an animal existence and towards a life that is divine. – Tolstoy
[3]
It is said that God created man in his own image. This probably means that it was man who created God in his own image. – Lictenberg, Notebooks
[4]
The humility of the truly righteous can be seen in their ability to forget: they become so absorbed in what they are doing that they lose sight of what they have already done. – Chinese proverb
[5]
The person who can remain silent, even when he is in the right, is extremely powerful. – Cato the Elder, ‘Advice to Orators’
[6]
Never say anything about which you are not completely certain. Don’t believe everything you hear. – From Pious Thoughts
[7]
Thoughtful deliberation is the path to immortality; shallowness of thought is the path to death. Constantly thoughtful people will never die; shallow people are as if already dead. – Dhammapada
[8]
I once knew an old man who deliberately dragged out every word while speaking, so that there was a gap of several seconds between each word. He did this on purpose because he was afraid of saying something bad. – Tolstoy
[9]
There are two kinds of people: the righteous, who see themselves as sinful; and the sinful, who see themselves as righteous. – Pascal, Thoughts
[10]
‘The root of all evil lies in ignorance of the truth,’ said the Buddha.
From this root springs the tree of error, with all its thousands of fruits of suffering. There is only one means of combating ignorance and that is through knowledge. And true knowledge can only be obtained through the striving for individual perfection. – Hartmann, In the Pronaos of the Temple of Wisdom