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Another entry to World Mysteries
A Book of Wisdom - Old Testament: Have leisure, and know that I am God.
Psalm lxv, 11.
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A BOOK OF WISDOM...
WELCOME, to this misbehaving, wandering book of wandering WISDOM.
Why consider WISDOM? Unfortunately, wisdom is in very short supply as we approach the Year 2000 and beyond. It is difficult to say why this is.
The Problem is: The considered wisdom of the past 4000 years or so presently seems to be unable to assist us in guiding people's lives as population expands.
This may have something to do with the fact that wisdom cannot be taught, it can only be learned. The more rapidly population grows, the more rapid is the reduction in the proportion of wisdom available (?). This book contains only a little, of what has been learned. From here you are on your own ...
For other good quotes, go to: www.wow4u.com/
Please consider...
The Meaning of Life is the sense of happiness you take in
being of usefulness to the people around you.
This definition comes from the Dalai Lama.
On war: "It is also a victory to know when to retreat." - Erno Paasilinna, essayist and journalist (1935-2000) (From Wordsmith)
On war: If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies." - Moshe Dayan, military leader and politician (1915-1981) (From Wordsmith)
On war: "War will never cease until babies begin to come into the world with larger cerebrums and smaller adrenal glands." - H.L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (1880-1956) (From Wordsmith)
On war: "Though force can protect in emergency, only justice, fairness, consideration and cooperation can finally lead men to the dawn of eternal peace." - Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. general and 34th president (1890-1969) (From Wordsmith)
On war:"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?" - Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948) (From Wordsmith)
On war: "To delight in war is a merit in the soldier, a dangerous quality in the captain, and a positive crime in the statesman." - George Santayana, philosopher (1863-1952) (From Wordsmith)
On war: "War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today." - John F. Kennedy, 35th US president (1917-1963) (From Wordsmith)
What can be added to the happiness of a man who is in health, out of debt, and has a clear conscience? - Adam Smith, economist (1723-1790) (From Wordsmith)
When the flag is unfurled, all reason is in the trumpet. -Ukrainian proverb (From Wordsmith)Religions are not revealed: they are evolved. If a religion were revealed by God, that religion would be perfect in whole and in part, and would be as perfect at the first moment of its revelation as after ten thousand years of practice. There has never been a religion that which fulfills those conditions. - Robert Blatchford, author (1851-1943) (From Wordsmith)
On War: Who overcomes by force hath overcome but half his foe. - John Milton, poet (1608-1674) (From Wordsmith)
On art: "I doubt that art needed Rushkin any more than a moving
train needs one of its passengers to push it."
A remark about art criticism from UK playwright Tom Stoppard on the
C19th art critic John Rushkin.
"We know no absolute truth in this world, only varying
degrees of ambiguity".
Attributed to: Tao Deng Ming Dao
On politics: "Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but
most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened."
--Winston Churchill
When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite.
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has not heart;
and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no
brains.
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
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"The people who burned witches at the stake never for one moment thought of their act as violence; rather they thought of it as an act of divinely mandated righteousness. The same can be said of most of the violence we humans have ever committed." - Gil Bailie, author and lecturer (b. 1944) (From Wordsmith) |
"The assertion that people in the past did not really know why
they were doing what they did leads to the conclusion that we do
not really know why we are doing what we do today." |
"To know nothing of what happened before you were born is to
remain forever a child." |
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A kind of negative wisdom? One of the hardest things ever said
about humanity, by a French writer (?), a lost citation. |
"But history is not acceptable until it is sifted for the truth. Sometimes this can never be reached." Patrick White, in Voss [Australian novel]. "Getting its history wrong is part of being a nation." Ernest Renan, quoted in Linda Colley, Britons, p. 20 |
The Roman historian, Livy, thought that the study of history... "is the best medicine for a sick mind; for in history you have a record of the infinite variety of human experience plainly set out for all to see; and in that record you can find for yourself and your country both examples and warnings; fine things to take as models, base things, rotten through and through, to avoid." |
Where would the discussion of wisdom be without metaphors? Guest Wordsmith Mardy Grothe (drmgrothe aol.com) writes in 2008 in Wordsmith:
Whenever people describe one thing in terms of something else, they are engaging in metaphorical thinking (as when Shakespeare wrote, "All the world's a stage"). When people speak metaphorically, they make a connection between two conceptual domains that, at first glance, don't appear to have much in common with each other. A metaphor is a kind of magical mental changing room, where one thing, for a moment, becomes another, and in that moment is seen in a whole new way.
A popular recent metaphor is carbon footprint. There's no intrinsic relationship between the amount of energy one consumes and the size of one's foot, but as soon as this metaphor was coined, it immediately replaced the previous metaphor on the subject (energy hog). When Howard Cosell said, "Sports is the Toy Department of Life", he helped us look at the sporting world in a fresh and highly original way. Comedian Paul Reiser did the same thing when he once looked over at his wife breastfeeding their first child and thought to himself, "What was once an entertainment center has become a juice bar."
Robert Frost said, "An idea is a feat of association, and the height of it is a good metaphor." Metaphorical thinking is one of the oldest activities of humankind, and one of the most useful when it captures essential features of certain types of people, as in terms like stool pigeon, stalking horse, rainmaker, or the first water. This week we explore metaphorical descriptions of people.
(Dr. Mardy Grothe is a psychologist, author, platform speaker, and quotation anthologist. His most recent book is I Never Metaphor I Didn't Like: A Comprehensive Compilation of History's Greatest Analogies, Metaphors, and Similes. http://amazon.com/o/asin/0061358134/ws00-20 to be published this week. For more, go to http://drmardy.com)
In a restaurant choose a table near a waiter. -Jewish proverb
"If you are never scared, embarrassed or hurt, it means you never take chances." - Julia Soul
Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everybody agrees that it is old enough to know better.
"Men honor what lies within the sphere of their knowledge, but do not realize how dependent they are on what lies beyond it. - Chuang-Tse"
The Largest Room in the World is the Room for Improvement.
"Words are like diamonds. Polish them too much, and all you get are pebbles." - Australian writer Bryce Courtenay
"Life is like a landscape. You live in the midst of it, but can describe it only from the vantage point of distance." - Charles A. Lindbergh
Be careful what you pray for. You may get it. - Said to be an old clergyman's saying.
"Don't let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision." - US General Colin Powell
"You can't make someone else's choices. You shouldn't let someone else make yours." - US General Colin Powell
"You will find poetry nowhere unless you bring some with you." - Joubert
The seagull sees farthest who flies highest.
"There are no maps to where no one has gone before." - Kodak ad
"Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is a little like expecting a bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian." - Dennis Wholey
Needing someone is like needing a parachute. If he isn't there the first time you need him, chances are you won't be needing him again. - Dilbert cartoonist
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level. -Dilbert cartoonist
"Mosquitos remind us that we are not as high up on the food chain as we think." - Tom Wilson
"To him that waits all things reveal themselves, provided that he has the courage not to deny, in the darkness, what he has seen in the light." - Coventry Patmore
"Great minds must be ready not only to take opportunities, but to make them." -C. C. Colton
"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." - Anne Bradstreet
"Experience is not what happens to a man, it is what a man does with what happens to him." - Aldous Huxley
"Problems do not go away. They must be worked through or else they remain, forever a barrier to the growth and development of the spirit." - M. Scott Peck
"It is better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret." - Jackie Joyner-Kersee
"The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands." - Robert M. Pirsig
"Always remember when you are on top of the world, that the earth rotates every 24 hours." - Steve G. Makris
"No man is capable of self-improvement if he sees no other model but himself." - Conrado I. Generoso
Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.
"The true secret of giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not and never persist in trying to set people right." - Hannah Whitall Smith
Time invested in improving ourselves cuts down on time wasted in disapproving of others.
Everyone has a right to be stupid. Some just abuse the privilege. (Seen on a T-shirt in Australia - "You have the right to remain stupid.")
Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after. - Anne Morrow Lindbergh
"People generally quarrel because they cannot argue." - Gilbert K. Chesterton
"You can pretend to be serious; you can't pretend to be witty." - Sacha Guitry
"Time is like the snowflake that on your finger lit. It disappeared while you were thinking of what to do with it." Citation mislaid. (And it's much the same with happiness-Ed.)
"Look not upon the creatures of God except with the eye of
kindliness and of mercy."
Baha'u'llah
"Death is the kiss of God."
Kabbalistic saying, so called.
"We all of us have the strength to bear the misfortunes of
others."
Aphorism from Francois, duc de la Rochefoucald, born 1613.
"When you don't know what you are doing, do it neatly." - Anon
"Journeys are the midwives of thought."
Alain de Botton in The Art of Travel..
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If you don't stand for something you will fall for something - African proverb If you climb up a tree, you must climb down the same tree - African proverb It is not what you are called, but what you answer to - African proverb If you run after two hares you will catch neither - African proverb |
For tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today - African proverb Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable - African proverb To become a person, deal with people - African proverb |
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It is not work that kills, but worry - African proverb Seeing is different than being told - African proverb |
There is no medicine to cure hatred - African proverb Smooth seas do not make skilful sailors - African proverb |
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Even the mightiest eagle comes down to the tree tops to rest - African proverb One must talk little and listen much - African proverb |
Having a good discussion is like having riches - African proverb Rain does not fall on one roof alone - African proverb |
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The earth is a beehive, we all enter by the same door - African proverb Don't set sail on someone else's star - African proverb |
A Book of Wisdom - Folk Sayings Better a home with no roof than one with no view. |
| More to come |
"It's not the road ahead that wears you out - it's the grain of sand in your shoe." - Arabian proverb |
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Friends are like fiddle strings, they must not be screwed too tight. -English proverb "A proverb is a short sentence based on long experience." - Miguel de Cervantes |
"Pity the land that needs heroes". |
"The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there." - Robert M. Pirsig
"Children are natural Zen masters; their world is brand new in each and every moment." - John Bradshaw
"Each of us literally chooses, by his way of attending to things, what sort of universe he shall appear to himself to inhabit." - William James
Asked to explain Zen - my puppy with the same name looks, and thumps his tail. - Jay Hackett
Choose a job you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life. - Confucius
"Love is like quicksilver in the hand. Leave the fingers open and it stays. Clutch it and it darts away." -Dorothy Parker
You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.
Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare. -Japanese proverb
"Enjoy present pleasures in such a way as not to injure future ones." - Seneca
"Man is the only animal for whom his own existence is a problem which he has to solve." - Erich Fromm
"Only those who have to do simple things perfectly will acquire the skill to do difficult things easily." - Johann Schiller
"Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is." - Francis Bacon
He who knows little quickly tells it. -Italian proverb
"I respect faith, but doubt is what gets you an education." - Wilson Mizner
"At the end of reasons comes persuasion." - Ludwig Wittgenstein
"Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm." - Publilius Syrus
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
"I can explain it for you, but I can't understand it for you."
The truth knocks on the door and you say, 'Go away, I'm looking for the truth,' and so it goes away. Puzzling. - Robert M. Pirsig
Since I am convinced That Reality is in no way Real, How am I to admit That dreams are dreams? Tanka by Saigyo Hoshi [1118-1190 AD]
In art, the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can inspire. -Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Earth Is But One Country And Mankind Its Citizens -Bahá'u'lláh
Learning is weightless treasure you always carry easy. -Chinese proverb
Why do you need two coats when you have only one back? - Gypsy proverb
Pay no attention to what critics say. No statue has ever been put up to a critic. - Jean Sibelius
Cynicism: History repeats itself. Historians repeat each other.
The Essence of Success Successful is the person who has lived well, laughed often and loved much, who has gained the respect of children, who leaves the world better than they found it, who has never lacked appreciation for the earth's beauty, who never fails to look for the best in others or give the best of themselves.
| More to come |
Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick |
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"I suppose you might agree that reality is sufficiently
implausible to cause people great anxiety." |
"Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures." |
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"Reality! What a concept!" |
Beatle John Lennon once said: "Reality leaves a lot to the imagination." |
A Book of Wisdom - Old Testament
"Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.
Without having any chief, officer or ruler, she prepares her food
in summer, and gathers her sustenance in harvest. How long will you
lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A
little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to
rest, and poverty will come upon you like a vagabond, and want like
an armed man."
Proverbs: 6: 6-11
A Book of Wisdom - Old Testament
"Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew?
From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to
the hoarfrost of heaven? The waters become hard like stone, and the
face of the deep is frozen."
The Book of Job: 38: 28-29-30
A Book of Wisdom - Old Testament
Beauty in a woman without good judgement is like a gold ring in
a pig's snout.
Proverbs 11:22
What good people want always results in good. When the wicked
get what they want, everyone is angry.
Proverbs 11:23
Be not ashamed to acknowledge your guilt, but of your ignorance
rather be ashamed.
Sirach, 4:26
What is too sublime for you, seek not, unto things beyond your
strength search not.
Sirach, 2:20
A patient man need stand firm but for a time, and then
contentment comes back to him.
Sirach, 15:26
Play not the hypocrite before men; over your lips keep
watch.
Sirach, 1:20
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"Who hears music, feels his solitude peopled at once." - English poet, Robert Browning |
"Don't play the music you know - play the music you don't
know!" |
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"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -Hunter S. Thompson |
"Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is
impossible to be silent." |
"Man has life and death before him: whichever a man likes better will be given him." - Proverbs, Old Testament
"For the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread
befalls me. I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, but
trouble comes."
The Book of Job: 4 - 25-26
"For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble
sprout from the ground, but man is born to trouble as the sparks
fly upward."
The Book of Job: 5: 6-7
A Book of Wisdom - General
Proverbs: A stitch in time saves nine.
Old English saying
"Praise ... it throws light on the inner recesses of the human
spirit."
Saturday Reflection, The Age, Melbourne. 9 February
1974.
A Book of Wisdom - World of Islam
The motion of every atom is towards its origin, A man comes to
be the thing on which he is bent, The soul and the heart by the
attraction of wish and desire assume the qualities of the
Beloved.
Rumi (Sufi Studies)
A Book of Wisdom - World of Islam
Dhul Nun once asked a woman what was the end of love. "Thou
fool," she relied. "Love has no end, because the Beloved is
eternal."
(Sufi Studies, p. 53)
"I fell asleep, and Wisdom said to me,
'Sleeping, the rose of happiness never bloomed,
Why do you do a thing which is next to death?
Drink 'wine', for you will have long to sleep."
- Kahyyam.
A Book of Wisdom - Old Testament The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
"That men may know wisdom and instruction, understand words of
insight, receive instruction in wise dealing, righteousness,
justice and equity; that prudence may be given to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth - the wise man also may hear
and increase in learning, and the man of understanding acquire
skill, to understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise
and their riddles."
Proverbs: 1: 1-6
A Book of Wisdom - Old Testament
"Does not the ear try words as the palate tastes food? Wisdom is
with the aged, and understanding in length of days."
The Book of Job, 12: 11-12.
A Book of Wisdom - Old Testament
"Have you listened in the council of God? And do you limit
wisdom to yourself? Do you know what we do not know? What do you
understand that is not clear to us?"
The Book of Job: 15: 8-9
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A Book of Wisdom - India "Sages say there are two kinds of wisdom, the higher and the lower ... But the higher wisdom is that which leads to the Eternal. He is beyond thought and invisible, beyond family and colour." From Mundaka Upanishad A Book of Wisdom - India "By the grace of wisdom and purity of mind, he can be seen indivisible in the silence of contemplation." From Mukanda Upanishad |
In the secret high place of the heart |
| More to come |
A Book of Wisdom - India When the wise realise the omnipresent Spirit, who rests
invisible in the visible and permanent in the impermanent, then
they go beyond sorrow. |
| More to come |
Book of Wisdom - India By the grace of wisdom and purity of mind, he can be seen
indivisible in the silence of contemplation. |
| More to come |
A Book of Wisdom - India Sages say there are two kinds of wisdom, the higher and the lower ... But the higher wisdom is that which leads to the Eternal. He is beyond thought and invisible, beyond family and colour. From Mundaka Upanishad |
| More to come |
A Book of Wisdom - India Who enjoys the mystery of sleep with no dreams? |
A Book of Wisdom - Old Testament
The Ten Commandments - as delivered to Moses ... Consider not the negatives, but the positives implied by the negatives.
"Trust in Allah, but tie your camel."
Arabian Proverb
A bad cause requires many words. German Proverb
A book is like a garden carried in the pocket. Arab Proverb
A bird in the hand is worth two in a bush. English Proverb
A broken hand works, but not a broken heart. Persian Proverb
A clear conscience is a soft pillow. German Proverb
A close friend can become a close enemy. Ethiopian Proverb
A closed mouth catches no flies. Italian Proverb
A country can be judged by the quality of its proverbs. German Proverb
A courtyard common to all will be swept by none. Chinese Proverb
"The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it." - Chinese Proverb
A drowning man is not troubled by rain. Persian ProverbA fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees. William Blake "Proverbs of Hell" (1790)
A friend's eye is a good mirror. Irish Proverb
A hungry man is an angry man. English Proverb
A lock is better than suspicion. Irish Proverb
A monkey never thinks her baby's ugly. Haitian Proverb
A new broom sweeps clean, but the old brush knows all the corners. Irish Proverb
A rumour goes in one ear and out many mouths. Chinese proverb
A silent mouth is melodious. Irish Proverb
A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in. Greek Proverb
A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. Bible - Proverbs 15:1.
A spoon does not know the taste of soup, nor a learned fool the taste of wisdom. Welsh Proverb
A table is not blessed if it has fed no scholars. Yiddish Proverb
A thorn defends the rose, harming only those who would steal the blossom. Chinese proverb
A throne is only a bench covered with velvet. French Proverb
A trade not properly learned is an enemy. Irish Proverb
A tree falls the way it leans. Bulgarian Proverb
A white Christmas fills the churchyard. French Proverb A wise man hears one word and understands two. Yiddish Proverb
Act in the valley so that you need not fear those who stand on the hill. Danish Proverb
Advice when most needed is least heeded. English Proverb
Anger can be an expensive luxury. Italian Proverb
Be neither intimate nor distant with the clergy. Irish Proverb
Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. Chinese Proverb
Better wear out shoes than sheets. Scottish Proverb
Children are poor men's riches. English Proverb
A Book of Wisdom - Old Testament
Wine is as good as life to a man, if it be drunk
moderately...
Measurably drunk and in season, it bringeth gladness of heart.
The Book of Wisdom (circa 190BC)
A Book of Wisdom - Literary
"Everything changes but the avant garde."
The French poet, Verlaine. (So someone said)
"Heav'n hath no rage like love to hatred turn'd, Nor Hell a
fury, like a woman scorn'd."
- William Congreve (1670-1729)
A Book of Wisdom - World of Islam
In cell and cloister, monastery and synagogue, one lies in dread
of Hell, one dreams of paradise.
But none that know the secrets of the Lord Have sown their hearts
with suchlike fantasies.
Omar Khayyam (on universalism) (Sufi Studies)
A Book of Wisdom - General
"If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him".
Voltaire
A Book of Wisdom - General
"...Than wine, what could be more wonder-working? Why look you
now; 'tis when men drink they thrive, grow wealthy, win success,
are happy, help their friends..."
Aristophanes, The Knights (424BC)
Wine is the best liquor to wash glasses in.
Jonathan Swift, circa 1738.
A Book of Wisdom - Folk Sayings
Eating and drinking should not keep men from thinking.
Old Anglo-Saxon saying
Three glasses of wine can set everything to rights.
Old Chinese proverb
Who loves not women, wine and song,
Remains a fool his whole life long.
Martin Luther
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"Wine is as good as life to a man, if it be drunk moderately... Measurably drunk and in season, it bringeth gladness of heart." The Book of Wisdom (circa 190BC) "... Than wine, what could be more wonder-working? Why look you now; 'tis when men drink they thrive, grow wealthy, win success, are happy, help their friends..." Aristophanes, The Knights (424BC) |
"What is in a man's heart when he is sober is on his tongue when he is drunk, as those who are given to the proverb say." Plutarch |
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Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's
sake. |
"Wine is a constant proof that God loves us and likes to see us happy." Benjamin Franklin "Wine is a whetstone to wit." Bailey's Dictionary, circa 1721 |
| More to come |
"Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works." - Ecclesiastes |
| More to come |
Be not among wine-bibbers. - Proverbs: XXII, 20. |
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Some quotes here concerning wine have been extracted (thus far without permission) from Quaffing Quotes and Wine Facts. The Watermark Press. Sydney. 1984. [The Watermark Press Pty Ltd, 29A King Street, Sydney NSW 2000]. The compilers of this book were Simon Blackall, Chris Foulkes and Elizabeth Blackall. |
Kings, we are told, ply with many a bumper and test with wine
the men they are anxious to see through. |
"I think it is better for us to steer clear of the big oblong words like Beauty and Truth and so on."
Lawrence Durrell, Balthazar, p. 204
The mirror cannot reflect itself.
Unknown - lost citation
A Book of Wisdom - World of Islam
"The secret", in the Sufi phrase, "protects itself. It is found only in the spirit and practice of the Work."
(Sufi Studies)
A Book of Wisdom - World of Islam
I fell asleep, and Wisdom said to me, "Sleeping, the rose of happiness never bloomed, Why do you do a thing which is next to death? Drink 'wine', for you will have long to sleep."
Kahyyam (Sufi Studies)
Book of Wisdom - Old Testament
"Lay hands on him [God]; think of the battle; you will not do it
again!"
The Book of Job: 41: 8
A Book of Wisdom - Old Testament
The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
"That men may know wisdom and instruction, understand words of insight, receive instruction in wise dealing, righteousness, justice and equity; that prudence may be given to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth - the wise man also may hear and increase in learning, and the man of understanding acquire skill, to understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise and their riddles." Proverbs: 1: 1-6
A Book of Wisdom - Old Testament
"Does not the ear try words as the palate tastes food? Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days."
The Book of Job, 12: 11-12.
A Book of Wisdom - Old Testament
"Have you listened in the council of God? And do you limit wisdom to yourself? Do you know what we do not know? What do you understand that is not clear to us?"
The Book of Job: 15: 8-9
A Book of Wisdom - India
"When the wise realise the omnipresent Spirit, who rests invisible in the visible and permanent in the impermanent, then they go beyond sorrow."
From Katha Upanishad
A Book of Wisdom - Old Testament
A Book of Wisdom - Baha'i
O Son of Man! Magnify My Cause that I may reveal unto thee the mysteries of My greatness and shine upon thee with the light of eternity. 0 Son of Man! Should prosperity befall thee, rejoice not, and should abasement come upon thee, grieve not, for both shall pass away and be no more.
A Book of Wisdom - Baha'i O Son of Being! If poverty overtake thee, be not sad; for in time the Lord of wealth shall visit thee. Fear not abasement, for glory shall one day rest on thee.
O Son of Man! Many a day hath passed over thee whilst thou hast busied thyself with thy fancies and idle imaginings. How long are thou to slumber on thy bed? Lift up thy head from slumber, for the Sun hath risen to the zenith, haply it may shine upon thee with the light of beauty.
A Book of Wisdom - Baha'i
O Son of Spirit! The time cometh, when the nightingale of holiness will no longer unfold the inner mysteries and ye will all be bereft of the celestial melody and of the voice from on high.
O Essence of Negligence! Myriads of mystic tongues find utterance in one speech, and myriads of hidden mysteries are revealed in a single melody; yet, alas, there is no ear to hear, nor heart to understand.
A Book of Wisdom - Baha'i
O Friend! In the garden of thy heart plant naught but the rose of love, and from the nightingale of affection and desire loose not thy hold. Treasure the companionship of the righteous and eschew all fellowship with the ungodly.
O Son of Desire! Give ear unto this: Never shall mortal eye recognize the everlasting beauty, nor the lifeless heart delight in aught but the withered bloom. For like seeketh like, and taketh pleasure in the company of its kinds.
A Book of Wisdom - Baha'i
O Son of My Handmaid! Quaff from the tongue of the merciful the stream of divine mystery, and behold from the day-spring of divine utterance the unveiled splendour of the day-star of wisdom...
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A Book of Wisdom - Baha'i O My Servants! Ye are the trees of My garden; ye must give forth goodly and wondrous fruits, that ye yourselves and others may profit therefrom. Thus it is incumbent on every one to engage in crafts and professions, for therein lies the secret of wealth, O men of understanding! For results depend upon means, and the grace of God shall be all-sufficient unto you. Trees that yield no fruit have been and will for ever be for the fire. |
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A Book of Wisdom - Baha'i "It is not fitting that I tell thee more, For the stream's bed
cannot hold the sea." |
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A Book of Wisdom - Baha'i O My Servant! The best of men are they that earn a livelihood by their calling, and spend upon themselves and upon their kindred for the love of God, the Lord of all worlds. |
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O Man of Two Visions! Close one eye and open the other. Close one to the world and all that is therein, and open the other to the hallowed beauty of the Beloved. |
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O My Servant! The basest of men are they had yield no fruit on earth. Such men are verily counted as among the dead, nay better are the dead in the sight of God than those idle and worthless souls. |
All these are - From Confucius - *When you say something, say what you know. When you don't know something, say you don't know. That is knowledge."
* Study the past if you would define the future. - From Confucius
* Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. - From Confucius
* Virtue is more to man than either water or fire. I have seen men die from treading on water and fire, but I have never seen a man die from treading the course of virtue. - From Confucius
* I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. - From Confucius
* If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of ten years, plant trees; if in terms of 100 years, teach the people. - From Confucius
* Wisdom, compassion, and courage are the three universally recognized moral qualities of men. - From Confucius
* Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts? - From Confucius
* Study without thought is vain: thought without study is dangerous. - From Confucius
* You cannot open a book without learning something. - From Confucius
* The gentleman is calm and peaceful; the small man is always emotional. - From Confucius
* If one acts with a view to profit, there will be much resentment. - From Confucius
* Clever words and a plausible appearance have seldom turned out to be humane. - From Confucius
* One who can bring about the practice of five things everywhere under Heavens has achieved humaneness . . . Courtesy, tolerance, good faith, diligence and kindness. - From Confucius
On writing: "So difficult it is to show the various meanings and imperfections of words when we have nothing else but words to do it with," wrote philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) (From Wordsmith)
Cynicism: "The noble and the nobility are usually at odds with one another." - Johann Gottfried Seume, author (1763-1810) (From Wordsmith) And, "Only enemies speak the truth; friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of duty." - Stephen King, novelist (b. 1947) (From Wordsmith)
<>"Our heads are round so that thoughts can change direction." - Francis Picabia, painter and poet (1879-1953) (From Wordsmith)
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One sees great things from the valley, only small things from the peak. - G. K. Chesterton |
"The cultivated person's first duty is to be always prepared to
rewrite the encyclopedia." |
| "All kids are gifted; some just open their packages earlier than others." - Michael Carr (From Wordsmith) | "For disappearing acts, it's hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work." - Doug Larson (From Wordsmith) |
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Mere humour: "Defrag wonders about the wisdom of the French
leader immersing himself in either medium, but it's good to know
he'll remain completely ignorant of the Internet until he's
finished making decisions about it", after noting that French prime
minister Lionel Jospin had said, "I surf more in the Atlantic than
on the Internet, I am waiting till I am no longer prime minister to
get into it." |
Kant's Categorical Imperative... [From Beethoven's Conversation Books] "The moral law within us and the starry heavens above." "Music was a higher revelation than philosophy." |
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It's so simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say and say the opposite. - Sam Levenson |
"One must have passed through the tunnel to understand how black is the darkness." St Therese of Lisieux on spiritual life |
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Perseverance - continuously acting out the law of one's own
being. |
"All our ills come from incautious dreaming. Trivial or impure dreaming literally rots the fabric of the future."
Lawrence Durrell, Tunc.
John Romer, Testament: The Bible and its History. Collins Dove with the Australian ABC, 1989, First pub. in 1988., p. 241.
"...Adam Kadmon, who was both man and woman and born before eternity. They believed that to every person belongs one letter of the alphabet, that each of these letters constitutes part of Adam Kadmon's body on earth, and that these letters converge in people's dreams and come to life in Adam's body."
Milorad Pavic, Dictionary of the Khazars. (The Male Edition) Penquin. 1989. (First Pub, 1988). A note on Adam Kadmon:
Item: 1979 - The Kabala came some say from an anonymous treatise in Palestine in 1295 called The Gates Of Justice, expounding on prophetic Kabalism. It utilised the Persian distinction between good and evil, so the source of the tree with left and right sides is the Kabalistic dualism, plus a host of intermediate divine beings.
"And if a hundred chapters of wisdom are read to an ignorant one - it will reach his ears as a trifle."
Sheikh Saadi, Gulistan, Chapter II, Sufi Studies: East and West.
<> The loser at the hazard when the game breaks up,sadder and sorrier lingers on alone,
re-plays each throw,
and drinks of wisdom's cup.
Note: hazard (la zara) was a gambling game played with three dice, the winner of the cast being the player whose pips added up to a number previously called.
Dante, Purgatory, Canto VI
"Our striving is infinite, but vulgarity makes everything finite."
Beethoven
A Book of Wisdom - Literary
"If time had a watermark like paper one could perhaps hold it up to the light?" Lawrence Durrell, Tunc.
A Book of Wisdom - Islam
"Despairing of love and mercy is a greater fault than your sin."
Koran: 39:54
"I lean against one pine after another with my heart full of longings."
Li Po [From Four Seasons of T'ang Poetry]
A Book of Wisdom - World of Islam
The Sufi law of life requires ...
Kindness to the young. Generosity to the poor. Good counsel to
friends. Forebearance with enemies. Indifference to fools. Respect
to the learned.
Idries Shah, The Sufis
A Book of Wisdom - General
A Book of Wisdom - General
" ... that house divided against itself ... that house cannot stand..." (Seen also in the Christian Gospels)
A Book of Wisdom - World of Islam
On Hope... "It is not, 'Have I got a chance?' It is more often, 'Have I seen my chance?'"
Sufi Studies
A Book of Wisdom - World of Islam
"The secret", in the Sufi phrase, "protects itself. It is found only in the spirit and practise of the Work."
Sufi Studies
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"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Lord Acton |
1759: Benjamin Franklin's famous quote on liberty: "They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." "The ground of liberty is to be gained by inches, and we must be
contented to secure what we can get from time to time and eternally
press forward for what is yet to get. It takes time to persuade men
to do even what is for their own good." |
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Sir Alec Cairncross, "We do not know for sure how the economy works, and it certainly does not work in the same way for long.", in Britain's Economic Prospects Reconsidered, 1971. The noble and the nobility are usually at odds with one another. -Johann Gottfried Seume, author (1763-1810) (From Wordsmith) There are many causes that I am prepared to die for but no causes that I am prepared to kill for. - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948) (From Wordsmith) |
"I'm tired of being labelled anti-American because I ask questions." US actress and activist, Susan Sarandon. The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them. - Patrick Henry, American revolutionary (1736-1799) - (From Wordsmith) |
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Patriotism: "The chief business of the nation, as a nation, is the setting up of heroes, mainly bogus." H. L. Mencken, in Prejudices, 1922. "The American puritan was not content with the rescue of his own
soul; he felt an irresistible impulse to hand salvation on, to
disperse and multiply it ... to make it free and compulsory" |
On politics: "Men seek power over others, only to lose it over themselves." US Historian Barbara Tuchman. |
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It's said that: John Robinson, a distinguished Cambridge economist and a contemporary of J. M. Keynes, once said that the purpose of studying economics is to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists. |
... nations "all bear some marks of their origin, and the circumstances which accompanied their birth and contributed to their rise, affect the whole term of their being". - de Tocqueville "Never was Empire less the result of design than the British Empire of India." - Prof Ramsay Muir in The Making of British India, cited in Ramkrishna Mukherjee, p. xiv. It was our own moral failure and not any accident of chance, that while preserving the appearance of the Republic we lost its reality. - Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman statesman, orator, writer (106-43 BCE) (From Wordsmith) |
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"Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful
and murder respectable and to give an appearance of solidity to
pure wind. "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a
revolutionary act." "Democracy is the devolution downwards of the privileges of
aristocracy". "In our country, lies become not just a moral category but a
pillar of State." |
"Treason never prospers. And the reason? That, if it prosper, none dare call it treason." |
A Book of Wisdom - World of Islam
I fell asleep, and Wisdom said to me, "Sleeping, the rose of happiness never bloomed, Why do you do a thing which is next to death? Drink 'wine', for you will have long to sleep."
Kahyyam, Sufi Studies
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Aphorisms:
Since aphorisms often have the taste of truth, we have selected some to be noted for their usefulness in a context of rapid social change, as below ...
Baha'u'llah, (Translators, Ali-Kuli Khan and Marzieh Gail), The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys. Baha'i Publishing Trust, Wilmette, Illinois. 1945-1952.
"Shows you the kind of world we live in. Love is illegal, but
hate isn't".
The Waiter, in the movie, Irma La Douce.
James McAuley the Australian poet mentioned about love, in "One Thing At Last": Love is: "It's how to mean the other's being".
From Poetry of the Abbasid Period (Arabian poetry), remarks from Abbasid (Arabian)Abdullah Ibn Al Mu'tazz (861-908)
"If you're rich, then you're unlucky; All you need is a face which says, I'm a descendant of Adam."
Another Abbasid poet wrote,
"People are like water which is ruffled
And made one by the east wind."
A poem by the Roman, Publius Virgil, titled, "Georgics":
"Some find God in all things,
See Him in Earth, in sea's wide ways, in lofty
heaven's arch; All animals, all flocks and herds, yea men from Him
also -
Each (they say), its thin rivulet draws from the Divine Stream
At birth, and thither back each will flow back."
Publius Virgil, 70-19BC.
From a Japanese poet, Akahito, c.730ad.
"Love which is greater than oneself is like
The glow-worm,
A thing which is impossible to hide
Even though you wrap it up."
Akahito.
From Jalal-al-Din Rumi: "The Unseen Power".
"We are the flute, our music is all Thine; We are the mountains
echoing only Thee;
Pieces of chess Thou marshallest in line, and movest to defeat or
victory .
Lions emblazoned high on flags unfurled -
Thy wind invisible sweeps us through the world."
Jalal al-Din Rumi, d. 1273.
A remark... Graziella,
"To love for the sake of being loved is human, but to love for
the sake of loving is angelic."
1790-1869, Alphonse Lamartine.
A famous Prayer, from St Francis of Assisi...
"Lord, Make me an instrument of Thy peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; for it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
After St Francis of Assisi, (1181-1226).
Do not go outside yourself, but turn back within; truth dwells
in the inner man; and if you find your nature given to frequent
change, go beyond yourself. Move on, then, to that source where the
light of reason itself receives its light.
Augustine
Cited in James Houston, In Search of Happiness: A Guide to
Personal Contentment. Sydney, Lion Publishing plc, 1990.
"The heart has reasons that reason cannot know."
Philosopher Blaise Pascal.
Who am I?
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate,
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure,
It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and
fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
There's nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people
won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within
us.
It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear our presence automatically
liberates others.
From the book, Return to Love, by Marianne Williamson.
"It is easy to be philosopher in academia, but it is very difficult to be a philosopher in life." - Anton Checkov
"The only sure thing is that nothing is for sure." - Anon
Learning is a treasure which follows its owner everywhere." - Anon
"Four things do not come back: the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life and the neglected opportunity." - Arabian proverb
You can pretend to be serious; you can't pretend to be witty. -Sacha Guitry
Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it. -George Bernard Shaw
Love blinds us to faults, hatred to virtues. -Moses Ibn Exra
Dodgy wisdom - I'm astounded by people who want to 'know' the universe when it's hard enough to find your way around Chinatown. -Woody Allen
Men honor what lies within the sphere of their knowledge, but do not realize how dependent they are on what lies beyond it. -Chuang-Tse
Beware the fury of a patient man. -John Dryden
Money is a singular thing. It ranks with love as man's greatest source of joy and with death as his greatest source of anxiety. -John Kenneth Galbraith
Words ought to be a little wild for they are the assaults of thought on the unthinking. -John Maynard Keynes
A soft answer turneth away wrath. After dinner rest a while, after supper walk a mile. Beauty draws more than oxen. For a good appetite there is no hard bread. Hope is a good breakfast but a bad supper. One enemy is too many; and a hundred friends too few. One good forewit is worth two afterwits. The buyer needs a hundred eyes, the seller but one. There’s no substitute for experience. Time and tide wait for no man. Too many cooks spoil the broth. What can’t be cured must be endured. You can judge a man by the company he keeps. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. You can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs.
The most original thing a writer can do is write like himself. It is also the most difficult task. -Robertson Davies The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug. -Mark Twain Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one. -Marcus Aurelius
Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers. -Anthony Robbins I must take issue with the term "a mere child," for it has been my invariable experience that the company of a mere child is infinitely preferable to that of a mere adult. -Fran Lebowitz
A problem well defined is a problem half solved. -Ralph Waldo Emerson
I got a fortune cookie that said, "To remember is to understand." I have never forgotten it. A good judge remembers what it was like to be a lawyer. A good editor remembers being a writer. A good parent remembers what it was like to be a child. -Anna Quindlen
The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do. -Thomas Jefferson
Censorship always defeats it own purpose, for it creates in the end the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion. -Henry Steele Commager
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Poetic Insight |
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"...unless the seed of grief is sown, "I fold a leaf in sympathy |
"...now I am grey my body hurts |
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" He moved toward death... |
Poetic Insight "...in fact, purely untellable things..." "...when your eyes sink down before |
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"For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror |
The angel of this life, "whose care is lest men see too much at once." Sir Walter Raleigh, on Shakespeare. [From notes from The Four Season of T'ang Poetry as translated by John C. W. Wu]. |
THE QUIDDITY
by George Herbert
God, a verse is not a crown,
No point of honour, or gay suit,
No hawk, or banquet, or renown,
Nor a good sword, nor yet a lute.
It cannot vault, or dance, or play;
It never was in France or Spain;
Nor can it entertain the day
With a great stable or domain.
It is no office, art, or news;
Nor the Exchange, or busy Hall:
But it is that which, while I use,
I am with Thee: and Most take all.
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"This handful of dust, the earth, is one home: let it be in
unity."
Baha'u'llah.
"Laughter for no reason is a sign of foolishness."
Russian proverb.
"I doubt if the oppressed ever fight for freedom. They fight for pride and power - power to oppress others." (Eric Hoffer, The True Believer)
"The great question which, in all ages, has disturbed mankind,
and brought on them the greatest part of their mischiefs, which has
ruined cities, depopulated countries, and disordered the peace of
the world, has not been whether there be power in the world, nor
whence it came, but who should have it."
John Locke, Two Treatises of Civil Government.
"Real poverty is a poverty of the spirit; real riches consist in the enjoyment of non-material rewards."
Former prime minister of Australia, Gough Whitlam, in July 1974, at the time, PM
Language is a form of human reason, which has its internal logic of which man knows nothing. -Claude Levi-Strauss, anthropologist (b. 1908) - (From Wordsmith)
One cannot quarrel without an opponent - Japanese proverb
With the first glass a man drinks wine, with the second glass the wine drinks wine, with the third glass the wine drinks the man - Japanese proverb
Let what is past flow away downstream - Japanese proverb
The hawk with talents hides its talons (The person who knows most often says least) - Japanese proverb
If you believe everything you read, better not read - Japanese proverb
Art is the illusion of spontaneity - Japanese proverb
The reverse side also has a reverse side - Japanese proverb
Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare - Japanese proverb
If you understand everything, you must be misinformed - Japanese proverb
"Today, well lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this day." - Sanskrit proverb
When in Rome, do as the Romans do - A universal proverb
"In character, in manners, in style, in all things the supreme excellence is simplicity." - Longfellow
You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you don't trust enough." - Anon
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A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ... one old love she can imagine going back to ... and one who reminds her how far she has come ... A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE.. enough money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own, even if she never wants to or needs to ... A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE... something perfect to wear if the employer or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour ... |
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ... a youth she's content to leave behind ... A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ... a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to retelling it in her old age ... A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE... a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra ... A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ... one friend who always >makes her laugh ... and one who always lets her cry. |
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A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ... a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family ... A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ... eight matching plates, >wine glasses with stems, and a recipe for a meal that will make her guests feel honoured. A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ... A feeling of control over her destiny |
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ... how to fall in love without losing herself ... EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ... How to quit a job, Break up with a lover, and confront a friend, without returning the friendship... EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ... when to try harder ... and when to walk away ... |
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EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ... that she can't change the length of her calves, the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents ... EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ... that her childhood may not have been perfect ...but its over ... EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ... what she would and wouldn't do for love or more ... |
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ... how to live alone ... even if she doesn't like it ... EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ... whom she can trust, whom she can't, and why she shouldn't take it personally ... |
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EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ... where to go ... be it to her best friend's kitchen table ... or a charming inn in the woods ... when her soul needs soothing ... |
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ... what she can and can't accomplish in a day ... a month ... and a year ... |
Denis Donoghue, (art critic, his essay, Speaking of Beauty):"the history of art is the record of innumerable ways of being beautiful".
"Beauty plus pity; that is the closest we can get to a definition of art". - Vladimir Nabakov..
The Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change:
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;
taking, as Jesus did,
this sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it;
trusting that You will make all things right
if I surrender to your will;
so that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with you forever in the next.
Amen
Reinhold Niebuhr
Now return to theLost Worlds Index
To delight in war is a merit in the soldier, a dangerous quality in the captain, and a positive crime in the statesman. - George Santayana, philosopher (1863-1952) (From Wordsmith)
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Skill without imagination is craftsmanship, imagination without
skill gives us modern art. "The power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism
by those who don't have it." |
Profits, like sausages ... are esteemed most by those who know least about what goes into them. - Alvin Toffler, futurist and author (b. 1928) (From Wordsmith) "Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake." "Opium teaches only one thing, which is that aside from physical
suffering, there is nothing real." André Malraux, Man's
Fate. |
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"Never accept a 'no' from someone who is empowered to say
'yes'." "Corporation: an ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility." - American author, Ambrose Bierce You can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements. - Norman Douglas, novelist (1868-1952) From Wordsmith "We have art to save ourselves from the truth." |
"A puritan culture's conception of art is something which will endorse its morality and flatter its patriotism." Lawrence Durrell, Clea, p. 111. |
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A joke, From Cynic's Dictionary: "Behavioural Psychology: The science of drawing habits out of rats." |
"It is dangerous to be sincere unless you are also stupid." "People cannot bear too much reality." "From prohibitions you can tell what people normally do. It's a
way of drawing a picture of daily life." "The broad mass of the nation ... would more easily fall victim
to a big lie than to a small one." "Brain: an apparatus with which we think we think." - American editor, Ambrose Bierce "A specialist is one who knows everything about something and nothing about anything else." - American author, Ambrose Bierce |
From email incoming, said to be a NEPALESE GOOD LUCK TANTRA TOTEM
INSTRUCTIONS FOR LIFE
(Though to us it sounds more as though it's from the advice-needy
US than from Nepal -Ed)
1. Give people more than they expect. Do so cheerfully.
2. Memorize your favorite poem.
3. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you
want.
4. When you say, "I love you," mean it.
5. When you say, "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.
6. Be engaged to be married for at least six months.
7. Believe in love at first sight.
8. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams
don't have much.
9. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the
only way to live life completely.
10. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.
11. Don't judge people by their relatives.
12. Talk slowly, think quickly.
13. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer,
smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"
14. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great
risk.
15. Call your mum.
16. Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.
17. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
18. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others;
Responsibility for all your actions.
19. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
20. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to
correct it.
21. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in
your voice.
22. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their
conversational skills will be as important as any other.
23. Spend some time alone.
24. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
25. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
26. Read more books and watch less TV.
27. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think
back, you'll get to enjoy it a second time.
28. Trust in God but lock your car.
29. A loving atmosphere in your home is so important. Do all you
can to create a tranquil, harmonious home.
30. In disagreements with loved ones, deal with the current
situation. Don't bring up the past.
31. Read between the lines.
32. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
33. Be gentle with the earth.
34. Pray. There's immeasurable power in it.
35. Never interrupt when you are being flattered.
36. Mind your own business.
37. Don't trust a man/woman who doesn't close his/her eyes when you
kiss.
38. Once a year, go some place you've never been before.
39. If you make a lot of money, put it to use helping others while
you are living. That is wealth's greatest satisfaction.
40. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a stroke
of luck.
41. Learn the rules and then break some.
42. Remember that the best relationship is one, where your love for
each other is greater than your need for each other.
43. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get
it.
44. Remember that your character is your destiny.
45. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.
Peter Isaacson, (Ed.), Inspiring Words. Published by Information Australian - early 2000. (Anthology)
On politics: There are none so sour as those who are sweet to order. - Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues, essayist (1715-1747) (From Wordsmith)
Only enemies speak the truth; friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of duty. -Stephen King, novelist (b. 1947) (From Wordsmith)
"Whenever I climb I am followed by a dog called 'Ego'."
- Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
"Try as you will, there is no explanation for madness, happiness or death." Lawrence Durrell, Tunc.
"Truth is so bitter that the knowledge of it confers a kind of luxury."
Lawrence Durrell, Mountolive, p. 279.
"Every man is made of clay and daimon, and no woman can nourish both." Lawrence Durrell, Justine, p. 44.
"Life gets more and more mysterious, not less."
Lawrence Durrell, Tunc.
"I waited for time to change it, the only change that came was over me."
Ian Anderson [Jethro Tull, song "Look into the Sun", on the album, STAND UP]
"The free should never moralize to the bound."
Lawrence Durrell, Tunc.
"Work was the earliest tranquilizer against anxiety, and will
always remain the best."
Lawrence Durrell, from a book of interviews with him by Marc
Alyn.
A Book of Wisdom - Baha'i
O Son of Man! Magnify My Cause that I may reveal unto thee the mysteries of My greatness and shine upon thee with the light of eternity.
0 Son of Man! Should prosperity befall thee, rejoice not, and should abasement come upon thee, grieve not, for both shall pass away and be no more.
A Book of Wisdom - Baha'i
O Son of Being! If poverty overtake thee, be not sad; for in time the Lord of wealth shall visit thee. Fear not abasement, for glory shall one day rest on thee.
O Son of Man! Many a day hath passed over thee whilst thou hast busied thyself with thy fancies and idle imaginings. How long are thou to slumber on thy bed? Lift up thy head from slumber, for the Sun hath risen to the zenith, haply it may shine upon thee with the light of beauty.
A Book of Wisdom - Baha'i
O Son of Spirit! The time cometh, when the nightingale of holiness will no longer unfold the inner mysteries and ye will all be bereft of the celestial melody and of the voice from on high.
O Essence of Negligence! Myriads of mystic tongues find utterance in one speech, and myriads of hidden mysteries are revealed in a single melody; yet, alas, there is no ear to hear, nor heart to understand.
A Book of Wisdom - Baha'i
O Friend! In the garden of thy heart plant naught but the rose of love, and from the nightingale of affection and desire loose not thy hold. Treasure the companionship of the righteous and eschew all fellowship with the ungodly.
O Son of Desire! Give ear unto this: Never shall mortal eye recognize the everlasting beauty, nor the lifeless heart delight in aught but the withered bloom. For like seeketh like, and taketh pleasure in the company of its kinds.
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A Book of Wisdom - Baha'i
O Son of My Handmaid! Quaff from the tongue of the merciful the stream of divine mystery, and behold from the day-spring of divine utterance the unveiled splendour of the day-star of wisdom... O My Servant! The basest of men are they had yield no fruit on earth. Such men are verily counted as among the dead, nay better are the dead in the sight of God than those idle and worthless souls.
A Book of Wisdom - Baha'i
O Man of Two Visions! Close one eye and open the other. Close one to the world and all that is therein, and open the other to the hallowed beauty of the Beloved. O my children! I fear lest, bereft of the melody of the dove of heaven, ye will sink back to the shades of utter loss, and, never having gazed upon the beauty of the rose, return to water and clay.
A Book of Wisdom - Baha'i
O My Servants! Ye are the trees of My garden; ye must give forth goodly and wondrous fruits, that ye yourselves and others may profit therefrom. Thus it is incumbent on every one to engage in crafts and professions, for therein lies the secret of wealth, O men of understanding! For results depend upon means, and the grace of God shall be all-sufficient unto you. Trees that yield no fruit have been and will for ever be for the fire.
A Book of Wisdom - Baha'i
O My Servant! The best of men are they that earn a livelihood by their calling, and spend upon themselves and upon their kindred for the love of God, the Lord of all worlds.
"The poor themselves can create a poverty-free world — all we have to do is to free them from the chains that we have put around them." — Muhammad YunusWe cannot be more sensitive to pleasure without being more sensitive to pain.
Poor men seek meat for their stomach; rich men seek stomach for their meat.
Love is an ideal thing; marriage is a real thing.
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--schnorrer (from awordaday e-mail service by 24-3-2008 From Wordsmith)
A language is the soul of its people. This is nowhere illustrated more profoundly than in the Yiddish language, the language of Jews of eastern and central Europe and their descendants. A tongue full of wit and charm, Yiddish embodies deep appreciation of human behavior in all its colorful manifestations. The word Yiddish comes from German Judisch meaning Jewish. But it is not the same as Hebrew, even though it is written in Hebrew script.
Here's what Yiddish writer Isaac Bashevis Singer had to say
about the language in his 1978 Nobel Prize acceptance speech:
"Yiddish language - a language of exile, without a land,
without frontiers, not supported by any government, a language
which possesses no words for weapons, ammunition, military
exercises, war tactics ...
There is a quiet humor in Yiddish and a gratitude for
every day of life, every crumb of success, each encounter of
love. The Yiddish mentality is not haughty. It does not take
victory for granted. It does not demand and command
but it muddles through, sneaks by, smuggles itself amidst the
powers of destruction, knowing somewhere that God's plan
for Creation is still at the very beginning ... In a
figurative way, Yiddish is the wise and humble language of us
all, the idiom of frightened and hopeful Humanity."
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