WISDOM A
knowledge of the existence of something we
cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of
the profoundest reason and the most radiant
beauty - it is this knowledge and this
emotion that constitute the truly religious
attitude; in this sense, and this alone, I am
a deeply religious
man. Albert
Einstein - The World as I See It
"...making
part of one's life, part of the whole stream
and not a mere stagnant puddle without any
overflow into the future."
Bertrand
Russell about
retrospection "The
greatest use of life is to spend it for
something that will outlast it."
William
James Solomon
ben Judah ibn Gabirol on Wisdom:
Nobody
is wise unless he possesses three qualities:
never to despise an inferior (in learning)
while he searches after wisdom, not to envy
one who is more wealthy, and not to accept
payment for his wisdom.
* The
sage [Diogenes] was asked, "Who are
greater, the wise or the rich?" He replied,
"The wise." It was then objected, "If so, how
is it that there are more wise men at the
doors of rich men than rich men at the doors
of the wise?" He replied, "Because the wise
appreciate the advantage of wealth, but the
rich do not appreciate the advantage of
wisdom." * The
first step in the acquisition of wisdom is
silence, the second listening, the third
memory, the fourth practice, the fifth
teaching others. * The
finest quality in man is that he should be an
inquirer * Poverty
cannot disgrace the wise man, nor can lust
enslave him. * There
are four mental types among human beings: the
man who knows and is aware that he
knows&emdash;he is wise, so inquire of him;
the man who knows but is unaware that he
knows&emdash;remind him and help him that he
forget not (his knowledge); the man who is
ignorant and knows that he is
ignorant&emdash;teach him; the man who is
ignorant but pretends to know&emdash;he is a
fool, so keep away from him.
* Nobody
can detect the error of his teacher until he
knows varying opinions. * Man
is only wise during the time that he searches
for wisdom; when he imagines he has
completely attained it, he is a fool.
* Who
is the wisest of men and the most trusting?
He who accepts things as they come and go.
The
mark of the mature man is that he wants to
live humbly for a decent
cause. Jerome
David Salinger Until
he extends the circle of his compassion to
all living things, man
will not himself find
peace. Albert
Schweitzer voorzover
de Geest zich van Rede bedient, acht hij
alleen dat nuttig
wat tot begrip leidt.
Spinoza,
Ethica. It
is better to be roughly right than to be
precisely wrong John
Maynard Keynes. If
we knew what it was we were doing, it would
not be called research, would it?
Albert
Einstein. Experience
without theory is blind, but theory without
experience is mere intellectual
play. Immanuel
Kant. People
demand freedom of speech as a compensation
for the freedom of thought which they seldom
use" &emdash; Kierkegaard. Moral
perfection is there by cultivating the good
and looking for the opportunity to excercise
the four human virtues: humaneness,
dutifulness, ceremonial behavior and
insight. Who
doesn't care for others is no human being,
nor the one without shame or aversion, nor
the one not modest and permissive. Worry is
the seed of humaneness, shame and aversion
the beginning of dutifulness, modesty and
permissivenees the seed of ceremonial
behavior, and feelings of approval and
rejection the seed of
insight. Morele
vervolmaking is er door het cultiveren van
het goede en het zoeken van gelegenheid tot
beoefening van de vier menselijke deugden: de
menselijkheid, de plichtsbetrachting,
ceremonieel gedrag en
inzicht. Wie
zich niet bezorgd om de ander is geen mens,
noch hij die zich niet schaamt of afkeer
kent, noch hij die niet bescheiden en
toegeeflijk is. Bezorgdheid is de kiem van de
medemenselijkheid, schaamte en afkeer de kiem
van plichtsbetrachting, bescheidenheid en
toegeeflijkheid de kiem van ceremonieel
gedrag en gevoelens van afkeuring en
goedkeuring vormen de kiem van het
inzicht. 'Wij
zouden dan slechts handelen als de man van
Song die zijn rijsplantjes wilde helpen
groeien door ze omhoog te trekken; moraliteit
moet groeien uit wat we reeds
zijn. Mencius
in 'Fragments'. (Meng ke) Every
great movement must experience three stages:
ridicule, discussion,
adoption. John
Stuart Mill. An
opinon must be judged by means of three
tests:the soucrce, the valifity and the
applicability.The soiurce we judge by
comparison with the deeds of ancient
kings the
validity by comparison to clues caught by the
eyes and ears. the
applicability to the practice benefitting the
state and the
people. de
geldigheid door vergeklijking met
aanwijzuingen via ogen en
oren. de
toepasbaarheid aan de praktijk die staat en
volk voorbdeel
brengt. Mozi
(Mo Di)471-380 v. Chr The
same passions in man and woman nonetheless
differ in tempo; hence man and woman do not
cease misunderstanding one
another. Friedrich
Nietzsche To
submit to philosophy is nothimng but
freedom. The
most important achievement of philosophy
is: Seneca:
We
know what we are, but know not what we may
be. Shakespeare "The
purpose of life is a life of
purpose." Robert
Byrne "When
you are content to be simply yourself and
don't compare or compete, everybody will
respect you." Lao-Tzu "You
don't get harmony when everybody sings the
same note." Doug
Floyd "The
supreme happiness in life is the conviction
that we are
loved." Victor
Hugo "To
accomplish great things, we must not only
act, but also dream; not only plan, but also
believe." Anatole
France "The
only thing necessary for the triumph of evil
is for good men to do
nothing." Edmund
Burke "Liberty
means responsibility. That is why most men
dread it." George
Bernard Shaw "Thinking:
The talking of the soul with
itself." Plato "People
only see what they are prepared to see."
-Ralph Waldo
Emerson Ralph
Waldo Emerson "Enjoy
life. There's plenty of time to be
dead." Unknown "It
is not enough to have a good mind; the main
thing is to use it
well." Rene
Descartes "Tis
nobler to lose honor to save the lives of men
than tis to gain honor by taking
them." David
Borenstein "It
is not for him to pride himself who loveth
his own country, but rather for him who
loveth the whole world. The earth is but one
country and mankind its
citizens." Baha'u'llah "The
mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire
to be kindled." Plutarch "Happiness
is a choice that requires effort at
times." Unknown "The
sayings of the unknown are the
best" Unknown "Everything
has been figured out, except how to
live." Jean-Paul
Sartre "The
brighter you are, the more you have to
learn." Don
Herold "Knowledge
is power." Francis
Bacon "If
you find it in your heart to care for
somebody else, you will have
succeeded." Maya
Angelou "Knowing
is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not
enough; we must
do." Goethe "He
who knows others is wise. He who knows
himself is
enlightened." Anonymous "Take
ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for
ye saw no manner of similitude on the day
that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of
the midst of the fire; Lest ye corrupt
yourselves, and make you a graven image, the
similitude of any figure, the likeness of
male or female, The likeness of any beast
that is on the earth, the likeness of any
winged fowl that flieth in the air, The
likeness of any thing that creepeth on the
ground, the likeness of any fish that is in
the waters beneath the earth: And lest thou
life up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou
seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars,
even all the host of heavens, shouldest be
driven to worship them, and serve them, which
the Lord thy God hath divided unto all
nations under the whole heaven...Take heed
unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant
of the Lord your God, which he made with you,
and make you a graven image, or the likeness
of any thing, which the Lord thy God hath
forbidden thee." Deuteronomy
4:15-19, 23 "Every
man should have a
Lord" Treaty
of Verdun 843 "
Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is
about creating
yourself." ~George
Bernard Shaw" "
If someone with the right conduct tries to
attain to something that lies outside of it,
is his goal not the right
conduct." Plotinus "Philosophic
investigation is actually meant to make us
understand that everything belongs to
God: Marja
Langkamp Carl
Sagan, Pale Blue Dot (1994) |
