Aristotle seems to be popping up on my path today so I'm paying my respects to a great man and I just love where these quests take me.
This is what my mentor J. Pulisfer shared with me today.
Aristotle's theory of natural motion where objects move according to the elements it is derived from. air, water, fire, earth.
examples:
-clay STRIVES to be back down into the earth.
-smoke STRIVES upward.
-feather is a mix of air and earth. Therefore it STRIVES for both. It delicately floats in the air as it moves towards the ground.
I've never been interested in the science of physics which is all about logics, math, boring stuff.
Yet, now my mentor is showing me a different way to look at it all and I am totally fascinated. It's all about shifting our old ways of thinking.
Anything is possible. Know thyself. (I love google).
As I searched to see who said this, I found quotes I'd like to share that inspired me. (It's quite a list). Enjoy.
"Know Thyself "
- A central component of the philosophy of Socrates (469–399 B.C.E)
The hardest victory is victory over self.
-Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)
He who knows others is learned (intelligent);
He who knows himself is wise (true wisdom).
Mastering others is strength;
Mastering yourself is true power.
- Lao-tzu, Tao te Ching (sixth century B.C.)
Wherever we go, whatever we do,
self is the sole subject we study and learn.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), Journals (1833)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Think. Believe. Dream. Dare.
-- Walt Disney's "Four Most Important Words."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Still I am learning.
-- Michelangelo, on his death bed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Look well into thyself;
There is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look there.
-- Marcus Aurelius
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Learning to live with what you're born with
is the process, the involvement, the making of a life.
-- Diane Wakos
When I'm trusting and being myself...
everything in my life reflects this by falling into place easily, often miraculously.
-- Shakti Gawain
People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering. -- St. Augustine
Discouragement is simply the despair of wounded self-love. -- Francois de Fenelon
If you want peace, stop fighting. If you want peace of mind, stop fighting with your thoughts. -- Peter McWilliams
We will discover the nature of our particular genius when we stop trying to conform to our own or to other peoples' models, learn to be ourselves,
and allow our natural channel to open. -- Shakti Gawain
First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.
I am who I choose to be.
I always have been what I chose -- though not always what I pleased.
-- Lois McMaster Bujold
First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.
-- Epictetus
I myself am made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions.
-- Augusten Burroughs
I don't want to be a passenger in my own life. -- Diane Ackerman
Intimacy is being seen and known as the person you truly are. -- Amy Bloom
If I have lost confidence in myself, I have the universe against me.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
One of the secrets of life is to be honestly who you are. Who others want you to be, who you used to be, and who you may some day become ... these are fantasies. To be honestly who you are is to give up your illusions and face today with courage.
-- Bill Purdin
If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.
-- Henry David Thoreau
Be who you are and say what you feel,
because those who mind don't matter
and those who matter don't mind. -- Dr. Seuss
When you have given nothing, ask for nothing. -- Albanian Proverb
To be pleased with one's limits is a wretched state. -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
To know your limits is a state of self-delusion. -- Bill Purdin
You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance. -- Ray Bradbury
Actions have consequences...first rule of life.
And the second rule is this:
You are the only one
responsible for your own actions. -- Holly Lisle
It is as hard to see one's self as to look backwards without turning around.
-- Henry David Thoreau
Running from your problems is not "moving forward." -- Bill Purdin
Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else.
-- Judy Garland
The thing that is really hard, and really amazing,
is giving up on being perfect and beginning to work on becoming yourself. -- Anna Quindlen
The real power behind whatever success I have now was something I found within myself -- something that's in all of us, I think -- a little piece of God just waiting to be discovered. -- Tina Turner
Reputation is what other people know about you.
Honor is what you know about yourself. -- Lois McMaster Bujold
Maybe it's easier to like someone else's life, and live vicariously through it, than take some responsiblity to change our lives into lives we might like. -- Tish Grier
Self-pity in its early stages is as snug as a feather mattress.
Only when it hardens does it become uncomfortable. -- Maya Angelou
We should every night call ourselves to an account;
What infirmity have I mastered today? What passions opposed? What temptation resisted? What virtue acquired? Our vices will abort of themselves if they be brought every day to the shrift. -- Seneca
It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy 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. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seek out that particular mental attribute
which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive,
along with which comes the inner voice which says,
'This is the real me,' and when you have found that attitude, follow it.
'This is the real me,' and when you have found that attitude, follow it.
-- William James
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some say that my teaching is nonsense.
Others call it lofty but impractical.
But to those who have looked inside themselves,
this nonsense makes perfect sense.
And to those who put it into practice,
this loftiness has roots that go deep.
I have just three things to teach:
simplicity, patience, compassion.
These three are your greatest treasures.
Simple in actions and in thoughts,
you return to the source of being.
Patient with both friends and enemies,
you accord with the way things are.
Compassionate toward yourself,
you reconcile all beings in the world.
-- Tao Te Ching
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was brought up to believe that how I saw myself
was more important than how others saw me. -- Anwar el-Sadat
Search others for their virtues, thyself for thy vices. -- Benjamin Franklin
So long as you are praised think only that you are not yet on your own path
but on that of another. -- Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
I define comfort as self-acceptance.
When we finally learn that self-care begins and ends with ourselves, we no longer demand sustenance and happiness from others.
-- Jennifer Louden
Every time you don't follow your inner guidance, you feel a loss of energy,
loss of power a sense of spiritual deadness. -- Shakti Gawain
The most important thing is to be whatever you are without shame. -- Rod Steiger
You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try.
-- Beverly Sills
Blessed are they who heal you of self-despisings. Of all services which can be done to man, I know of none more precious. -- William Hale White
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself
-- and you are the easiest person to fool. -- Richard Feynman
You are in control of your life. Don't ever forget that.
You are what you are because of the conscious and subconscious choices you have made. -- Barbara Hall
Cherish your own emotions and never undervalue them. -- Robert Henri
Each person's only hope for improving his lot rests on recognizing the true nature of his or her basic personality, surrendering to it, and becoming who he or she really is.
-- Sheldon Kopp
What I am is good enough if I would only be it openly. -- Carl Rogers
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. -- Eleanor Roosevelt
Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be. -- Fannie Brice
Men and women are not prisoners of fate,
but only prisoners of their own minds.
-- Franklin D. Roosevelt
It is the habitual thought that frames itself into our life. It affects us even more than our intimate social relations do. Our confidential friends have not so much to do in shaping our lives as the thoughts which we harbor. -- J.W. Teal
Take pride in how far you have come, have faith in how far you can go. -- Anonymous
We know what we are, but know not what we may become. -- William Shakespeare
You grow up the day you have your first real laugh - at yourself. -- Ethel Barrymore
At some point your heart will tell itself what to do. -- Achaan Chah
Be honorable with yourself if you wish to associate with honorable people.
-- Welsh Proverb
Enlarge your consciousness.
If your consciousness is small,
you will experience smallness in every department of your life. -- Robert Pante
We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are. -- Anais Nin
The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.
-- William Shakespeare
We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. -- Aristotle
To thine own-self be true;
And it must follow, as the night the day.
Thou can'st not then be false to any man.
-- Hamlet. Act I. Sc. 3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It may be all right to be content with what you have; never with what you are.
-- B.C. Forbes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He that respects himself is safe from others;
He wears a coat of mail that none can pierce.
-- Henry Wordsworth Longfellow
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Never think you're not good enough yourself. A man should never think that. People will take you very much at your own reckoning. -- Anthony Trollope
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I thank God for my handicaps, for through them,
I have found myself, my work and my God. -- Helen Keller
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Everyone should carefully observe which way his heart draws him, and then choose that way with all his strength. -- Hasidic Saying
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Everything that irritates us about others
can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.
-- Carl Jung
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within. -- Mahatma Gandhi
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves. -- Confucius
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No one can give you better advice than yourself. -- Cicero
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The most common sort of lie is the one uttered to one's self. -- Nietzsche
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An old man sat outside the walls of a great city.
When travelers approached, they would ask the old man, "What kind of people live in this city?"
And the old man would answer, "What kind of people live in the place where you came from?"
If the travelers answered, "Only bad people live in the place where we came from," the old man would reply, "Continue on; you will find only bad people here."
But if the travelers answered, "Good people live in the place where we came from," then the old man would say, "Enter, for here, too, you will find only good people."
-- Yiddish folk tale
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have a skeleton in your closet, take it out and dance with it.
-- Carolyn MacKenzie
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
People often say that this or that person has not yet found him or herself.
But the self is not something that one finds. It is something one creates.
-- Thomas Szasz
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self. -- Aldous Huxley
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.
-- Winston Churchill
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
People seem not to see that their opinion of the world
is also a confession of character.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He knew that insofar as one denies what is, one is possessed by what is not, the compulsions, the fantasies, the terrors that flock to fill the void.
-- Ursula K. LeGuin, The Lathe of Heaven
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't compromise yourself. You're all you've got. -- Betty Ford
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The temptation to moralize is strong; it is emotionally satisfying to have enemies rather than problems, to seek out culprits rather than the flaws in the system. God knows it is emotionally satisfying to be righteous with that righteousness that nourishes itself on the blood of sinners.
But God also knows that what is emotionally satisfying can be spiritually devastating.
-- William Sloane Coffin, The Courage to Love
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like nobody's watching.
--Anonymous
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Love not what you are, but what you may become. -- Cervantes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Do not attempt to do a thing unless you are sure of yourself; but do not relinquish it simply because someone else is not sure of you. -- Stewart E. White
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The way life treats you is a merciless mirror image of your attitude toward life.
-- Anonymous.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A man's greatest strength develops at the point where
he overcomes his greatest weakness. -- Elmer G. Letterman
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Be not merely good; be good for something. -- Henry David Thoreau
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We can never be certain of our courage till we have faced danger.
~ Duc Francois de La Rouchefoucauld
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Freedom from desire leads to inner peace. -- Lao-Tzu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As long as you think you're green, you'll grow.
As soon as you think you're ripe, you'll rot.
-- Scott Horton (courtesy of Nicole Smith.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide.
-- James Russell Lowell
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The largest room in the world is the room for improvement. -- Anonymous
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More people would learn from their mistakes if they weren't so busy denying them.-- Anonymous
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Signs of Emotional Security
1. Ability to deal constructively with reality.
2. Capacity to adapt to change.
3. Few symptoms of tension and anxiety.
4. Ability to find more satisfaction in giving than receiving.
5. Capacity to consistently relate to others with mutual satisfaction and helpfulness.
6. Ability to direct hostile energy into constructive outlets.
7. Capacity to love.
-- Dr. William Menninger
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOW TO BE PERFECTLY MISERABLE.
1. Think about yourself.
2. Talk about yourself.
3. Use "I" as often as possible.
4. Mirror yourself continually in the opinion of others.
5. Listen greedily to what people say about you.
6. Expect to be appreciated.
7. Be suspicious.
8. Be jealous and envious.
9. Be sensitive to slights.
10. Never forgive a criticism
11. Trust no one but yourself.
12. Insist on consideration and respect.
13. Demand agreement with your own views on everything.
14. Sulk if people are not grateful to you for favors shown them.
15. Never forget a service you may have rendered.
16. Be on the lookout for a good time for yourself.
17. Shirk your duties if you can.
18. Do as little as possible for others.
19. Love yourself supremely.
20. Be selfish.
This recipe is guaranteed to be infallible.
-- Gospel Herald.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Every great mistake has a halfway moment, a split second when it can be recalled and, perhaps, remedied. -- Pearl Buck
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There is no satisfaction that can compare
with looking back across the years and finding you've grown
in self-control, judgment, generosity, and unselfishness.
-- Ella Wheeler Wilcox
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The goal in life is to die young -- as late as possible.
-- Ashley Montagu, Anthropologist
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing.
-- Werner von Braun
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You will find poetry nowhere unless you bring some with you. -- Joseph Joubert
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When you are looking in the mirror, you are looking at the problem.
But, remember, you are also looking at the solution. -- Anonymous
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
God holds each of us by a string. When we sin, we cut the string. But God ties it up again, making a knot. Each time our wrongdoing cuts the string, God ties another knot drawing us up closer to Him. -- Meister Eckhart
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.
-- Benjamin Franklin
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Love work.
Turn a deaf ear to slander.
Be considerate in correcting others.
Do not be taken up by trifles.
Do not resent plain speaking.
Meet offenders half-way.
Be thorough in thought.
Have an open mind.
Do your duty without grumbling.
-- Cicero
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The accusations really say more about the condition of the accusers than that of the accused. -- Roderick MacLeish
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Take time to laugh.
It is the music of the soul.
Take time to think.
It is the source of power.
Take time to play.
It is the source of perpetual youth.
Take time to read.
It is the fountain of wisdom.
Take time to pray.
It is the greatest power on Earth.
Take time to love and be loved.
It is a God-given privilege.
Take time to be friendly.
It is the road to happiness.
Take time to give.
It is too short a day to be selfish.
Take time to work.
It is the price of success.
-- Anonymous
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Those who can't laugh at themselves leave the job to others. -- Anonymous
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You grieve you learn
You choke you learn
You laugh you learn
You choose you learn
You pray you learn
You ask you learn
You live you learn
-- Alanis Morissette, from her album "Jagged Little Pill"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The remarkable thing is that we really do love our neighbors as ourselves;
we do unto others as we do unto ourselves.
We hate others when we hate oursleves.
We are tolerant toward others when we tolerate ourselves.
We forgive others when we forgive ourselves.
t is not love of self but hatred of self which is at the root of the troubles that afflict our world. -- Eric Hoffer: U.S. Writer
Most of the shadows of life are caused by standing in our own sunshine.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
If you live only for yourself
you always in immediate danger of being bored to death
with the repetition of your own views and interests.
-- Walter Beran Wolfe
No comments:
Post a Comment