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Words of Wisdom - QuotesA wise man may look ridiculous in the company of fools. Learn as though you would never be able to master it; Hold it as though you would be in fear of losing it. Nothing dries sooner than tears. Many a man's tongue has broken his nose. The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible - and achieve it, generation after generation. It is easy to take notice. What is difficult is getting up and taking action. Most of our so-called reasoning consists in finding arguments for going on believing as we already do. The Mind in the Making I have one request: may I never use my reason against the truth. Blessed are they who have nothing to say and who cannot be persuaded to say it. You cannot get ahead while you are getting even. If it's stupid, but it works, it's not stupid. Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. The secret source of humour itself is not joy, but sorrow. There is no humour in heaven. That you may retain your self-respect, it is better to displease the people by doing what you know is right, than to temporarily please them by doing what you know is wrong. I suggest that the only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which have gone a little farther down our particular path than we have yet gone ourselves. It is a most mortifying reflection for a man to consider what he has done, compared to what he might have done. The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame. In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few. Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it. I have learned throughout my life as a composer chiefly through my mistakes and pursuits of false assumptions, not by my exposure to founts of wisdom and knowledge. The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. The opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth. The first draft of anything is shit. What would you attempt to do if you knew you would not fail? Reputation is in itself only a farthing candle, of a wavering and uncertain flame, and easily blown out, but it is the light by which the world looks for and finds merit. Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood. Life is like music; it must be composed by ear, feeling, and instinct, not by rule. One sign of maturity is the ability to be comfortable with people who are not like us. You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do. Education would be much more effective if its purpose was to ensure that by the time they leave school every boy and girl should know how much they do not know, and be imbued with a lifelong desire to know it. Happiness is not having what you want. It's wanting what you have. Life is made up of small pleasures. Happiness is made up of those tiny successes. The big ones come too infrequently. And if you don't collect all these tiny successes, the big ones don't really mean anything. There are two perfectly good men, one dead, and the other unborn. Most people would succeed in small things if they were not troubled with great ambitions. Try a thing you haven't done three times. Once, to get over the fear of doing it. Twice, to learn how to do it. And a third time, to figure out whether you like it or not. When you blame others, you give up your power to change. Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them. An apt and true reply was given to Alexander the Great by a pirate who had been seized. For when that king had asked the man what he meant by keeping hostile possession of the sea, he answered with bold pride. "What thou meanest by seizing the whole earth; but because I do it with a petty ship, I am called a robber, whilst thou who dost it with a great fleet art styled emperor." The City of God And thou wilt give thyself relief, if thou doest every act of thy life as if it were the last. Expedients are for the hour; principles for the ages. Music is a higher revelation than philosophy. Truth never hurts the teller. The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion. The greatest of all faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none. Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation. Your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are. To be nobody-but-yourself-in a world which is doing its best night and day, to make you everybody else - means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting. Chase after the truth like all hell and you'll free yourself, even though you never touch its coattails. A man's friendships are one of the best measures of his worth. When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Trust everybody, but cut the cards. Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance. |
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