Summary
Every day 1 page filled with quotes from history’s greatest philosophers and writers. A bit repetitive.
Key Takeaways
To be added on a reread. See notes below.
What I got out of it
To be added on a reread. See notes below.
Table of Contents
Summary Notes
Abstention should be a habit in your life; it should sup port you in your virtues. For he who is resolute in good ness, there is nothing that he could not overcome.
Put at least half of your energy into making yourself free of empty wishes, and very soon you will see that in so doing you will receive much greater fulfillment and happiness.
Kindness is necessary in relationships with people. If you ire not kind to a person, you are not fulfilling your major obligation.
You have to respect every person, no matter how miser able or ridiculous he or she may be. You should remember that in every person lives the same spirit which lives in us.
Do not be cruel of heart to those who are tempted, but try to console them, just as you would like to be comforted.
(1) Do not postpone for tomorrow what you can do today. (2) Do not force another person to do what you can do by yourself. (3) Pride costs more than all that is necessary’ for food, drink, shelter, or dress. (4) We suffer so much, thinking about what could have happened, but not about what has actually happened. (5) If you lose your temper, count up to ten before you do or say any thing. If you haven’t calmed down, then count to a hun dred; and if you have not calmed down after this, count up to a thousand.
The kinder and the more thoughtful a person is, the more kindness he can find in other people.
Kindness enriches our life; with kindness mysterious things become clear, difficult things become easy, and dull things become cheerful.
Knowledge is real knowledge only when it is acquired by the efforts of your intellect, not by memory.
That i^why constant learning softens your brain.
Read less, study less, but think more. Learn, both from your teachers and from the books which you read, only those things which you really need and which you really want to know.
The higher the position you occupy among other people, the more humble you should be. Many people live in height and glory, but the mysteries of this world can be revealed only to those who are humble. Do not seek out complication. Treat your duty with respect. Do not study what you should not. More things have already been revealed to you than you can understand.
When an arrow does not hit its target, the marksman blames himself, not another person. A wise man behaves in the same way.
We are all like children who first repeat the unquestion able “truth” told to us by our grandmothers, then the “truth” told to us by our teachers, and then, when we become older, the “truth” told to us by prominent people.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
A man should use that spiritual heritage which he has received from the wise and holy people of the past, but he should test everything with his intellect, accepting certain things and rejecting others.
Love is not a source, it is a consequence of our under standing the divine, spiritual beginning which exists in all of us.
We should be ready to change our views at any time, and slough off prejudices, and live with an open and receptive mind. A sailor who sets the same sails all the time, with out making changes when the wind changes, will never reach his harbor.
Improve your own soul, and be confident that only in so doing can you contribute to the improvement of the larger society of which you are part.
The only real science is the knowledge of how a person should live his life. And this knowledge is open to everyone.
Heaven and earth are eternal. They are eternal because they do not exist for themselves. In the same way, a truly holy person does not live for himself, and therefore he can become eternal, and can achieve anything.
The improvement of man can be measured by the level of his inner freedom. The more a person becomes free from his personality, the more freedom he has.
We would think a man insane who, instead of covering his house with a roof and putting windows in his window frames, goes out in stormy weather, and scolds the wind, the rain, and the clouds. But we all do the same when we scold and blame the evil in other people instead of fight ing the evil which exists in us. It is possible to get rid of the evil inside of us, as it is possible to make a roof and windows for our house. This is possible. But it is not pos sible for us to destroy evil in this world, just as we cannot order the weather to change and the clouds to disappear.
If, instead of teaching others, we would educate^and improve ourselves, then there would be less evil in this world, and all people would live better lives.
When you want to escape from your rage, when you feel that it grows, the best thing to dais to stop. Do not do anything: do not walk, do not move, do not speak. If your body or your tongue moves at this moment, then your rage will grow.
Rage is very harmful for all people, but it is most harm ful for the man who experiences it.
The reason for your rage is always inside you.
It is not the place we occupy which is important, hut the direction in which we move.
He said that sophisticated knowledge requires an extra effort that takes the student’s time from the most basic and the most important human pursuit:
moral perfection.
It is better to know several basic rules of life than to study many unnecessary sciences. The major rules of life will stop you from evil and show you the good path in life; but the knowledge of many unnecessary sciences may lead you into the temptation of pride, and stop you from understanding the basic rules of life.
A wise man loves not because he wants to profit from it but because he finds bliss in love itself.
Do not regret the past. What is the use of regrets? The lie says that you should regret. The truth says you should be filled with love. Push all sad memories away from you. Do not speak of the past. Live in the light of love, and all things will be given to you.
The fearlessness, calm, inner peace, and joy which are given to us by love are so big that all other things in the world cannot be compared with them, especially for the per son who understands the real blessing of love.
Wisdom is knowing the purpose of life, and knowing how to achieve it.
You can achieve wisdom in three ways. The first way is the way of meditation. This is the most noble way. The second way is the way of imitation. This is the easiest and least satisfying way. Thirdly, there is the way of experience.
This is the most difficult way.
The merit of a man is not in the knowledge he possesses, hut in the effort he made to achieve it.
If you want to study yourself—look into the hearts of other people. If you want to study other people—look into your own heart.
When people wanted to kill a bear in the ancient times, they hung a heavy log over a bowl of honey. The bear would push the log away in order to eat the honey. The log would swing back and hit the bear. The bear would become irritated and push the log even harder, and it would return and hit him harder in return. This would continue until the log killed the bear. People behave in the same way when they return evil for the evil they receive from other people. Can’t people be wiser than bears?
You should respond with kindness toward evil done to you, and you will destroy in an evil person that pleasure which he derives from evil.
The true teaching of love is strong; it kills evil before evil can grow and become powerful.
When you have doubts about what to do, just imagine that you might die at the end of that same day, and then all your doubts will disappear, and you will see clearly what your conscience tells you, and what is your true personal wish.
Nothing can make our life, or the lives of other people, more beautiful than perpetual kindness.
For a wise man, the wealth, the glory, and the rewards of this world are like sweets or empty shells on a road. Let the children pick them up and fight for them. Let them kiss the hands of the rich men, the rulers, and their ser vants. For the wise one, all these are but empty shells.
In order to change the nature of things, either within yourself or in others, one should change, not the events, but those thoughts which created those events.
Tame your present desires, calm them; this is most beneficial, and most achievable.
Perfecting the self is both an inner and an outer work: You cannot improve yourself without communicating with other people, influencing them, and being influenced by them.
Three temptations torture people: sexual desire, pride, and lust for wealth. All the misfortunes of mankind come from these three cravings. Without them, people would live in happiness. But how can we get rid of these terrible illnesses?. Work on yourself and improve yourself; this is the answer. Start the improvement of this world from within.
—F. Robert de Lamennais –
There is nothing more harmful to you than improving only your material, animal side of life. There is nothing more beneficial, both for you and for others, than activity directed to the improvement of your soul.
When two people have a dispute, both are to blame. And therefore, a dispute will stop only when at least one per son understands that he or she is guilty.
Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall he measured to you again.
Stop blaming other people, and you will feel what an alco holic feels when he stops drinking, or what a smoker feels when he stops smoking. You will feel that you have brought relief to your soul.
The higher the opinion a person has of himself, the more unstable is his position; the lower he moves in his self esteem, the firmer he stands.
To be strong, you have to be like water: if there are no obstacles, it flows: if there is an obstacle it stops; if a dam is broken, then it flow’s further; if a vessel is square, then it has a square form; if a vessel is round, then it has a round form. Because it is so soft and flexible, it is the most nec essary and the strongest thing.
The more a person analyzes his inner self, the more insignificant he seems to himself. This is the first lesson of wisdom. Let us be humble, and we will become wise.
Let us know our weakness, and it will give us power.
Water does not stay on a mountain-top, but flows into the valley. In the same manner, real virtue does not remain with those people who want to be higher than the others;
but virtue stays only with people who are humble.
The fulfillment of our duties and the satisfaction of our personal pleasures are two different things. Duties have their own laws, and even if we try to mix our duties with our pleasures, they will separate themselves.
The more deeply you understand life, the less you grieve over the destruction caused by death.
Religion is simple wisdom which is directed to the heart and understood by the intellect.
Even if people do not know what real kindness is, they nevertheless have it within them.
There is simplicity of nature, and there is simplicity of wisdom. Both of them evoke love and respect.
The greatest truth is the most simple one.
When people speak in a very elaborate and sophisticated way, they either want to tell a lie, or to admire themselves.
You should not believe such people. Good speech is always clear, clever, and understood by all.
Simplicity is the consequence of refined emotions.
—Jean d’Alembert Words can unite people. Therefore, try to speak very clearly, and tell only the truth, for nothing can unite peo ple more than truth and simplicity.
The younger and the more primitive a person is, the more he or she believes that life is material and that it exists only in the body The older and wiser a person becomes, the more he or she understands that all life originates from the spirit.
Look at the sky, and at the earth, and think that all things pass. All of the mountains and rivers you see, and all the forms of life, and all creations of nature, all pass. Then you will understand the truth; you will see what remains, what does not pass
Equality cannot be reached, as some people think, only by civil measures. It can be reached only by love of God and people, and this love can be reached, not by civil mea sures, but only as the result of spiritual learning.
Work all the time. Do not think that work is a disaster for you, and do not seek praise or reward for your work.
The most outstanding gifts can be destroyed by idleness.
Nothing can make a person feel more noble than work.
Without work, a person cannot have human dignity. It is because of this that idle people are so much concerned by the superficial, outer expression of their importance; they know that without this, other people would despise them.
Mankind makes progress when its faith progresses. And if there is any progress in religion, it is not in the discov ery of something new, but in the purifying of the truths which have been revealed and explained to us.
For a truth to be heard, it must be spoken with kindness.
Truth is kind only when it is spoken through your heart with sincerity. You should know that when a message you convey to another person is not understood by him, at least one of the following things is true: what you have said is not true, or you have conveyed it without kind ness.
The only way to tell the truth is to speak with kindness.
Only the words of a loving man can be heard.
To be good at any activity requires practice: no matter how hard you try, you cannot do naturally what you have not done repeat edly.
Before you start praying, ask yourself whether at that moment you can concentrate; otherwise, do not pray at all.
Those who make a habit out of prayer do not pray sin cerely.
A stupid person should keep silent. But if he knew this, he would not be a stupid person.
Only speak when your words are better than your silence.
Kind people are never involved in arguments, and those who like to argue are never kind. Truthful words are not always pleasant, and pleasant words are not necessarily truthful.
If you want to be a clever person, you have to learn how to ask cleverly, how to listen attentively, how to respond qui etly, and how to stop talking when there is nothing more to say.
Many stupid things are uttered by people whose only motivation is to say something original.
Life is movement, a walk along the way of life to the fulfillment of those ideas which illuminate us, both in our intellect and in our hearts, with divine light.
The ideal is within you, and the obstacle to reaching this ideal is also within you. You already possess all the mate rial from which to create your ideal self.
He who does good to others makes the biggest gift to himself.
If you do good and ask for a reward, you weaken the force of your goodness.
There are sins against others, and sins against yourself.
You commit sins against others when you do not respect God’s spirit in them; you commit sins against yourself when you do not respect God’s spirit in yourself. One of the most common sins against yourself is gluttony.
A person who overeats cannot fight laziness; and a lazy man cannot fight sexual dissipation. All spiritual teach ings start with restrictions, with control of the appetite.
A man who praises himself does not see anything except himself around him. It is better to be a blind man than to see only yourself and nobody else.
A man can force others to do things for him, but he cannot free himself from the necessity of his own physical work. And if a man does not work at necessary and good things, then he will work at unneces sary and stupid things.
If the reward is of major importance for you, and the work itself of minor importance, then you are the slave of the reward
Every physical labor makes a man more noble. If you do not teach your son some physical skills, you teach him to rob others.
Without exercise of their muscles, neither man nor animal can live.
So that this exercise may give you joy and satisfaction, do good physical work. This is also the best way to serve others.
War in this world can he stopped not hy the ruling establish ment, but by those who suffer from the war. They will do the most natural thing: stop obeying orders.
The armed world and the wars it wages will be destroyed one day, but not by the kings or the rulers of this world. War is profitable for them. War will stop the moment the peo ple who suffer from war fully understand that it is evil.
Nature created us related to each other, from the same material, for the same purpose. Because of this, some where within all of us is mutual love for each other.
The deeds of a person become his life, become his fate.
This is the law of our life.
The Persians have such a fable: After death, a soul flew into the sky, and met a terrible woman, a dirty and horri ble apparition, with festered sores discharging pus, who was going in the opposite direction. “What are you doing here?” asked the soul. “Who are you?” The terrible woman answered, “I am your deeds.”
It is important not only to talk about the good life but to do good things.—
Never postpone a good deed which you can do now, because death does not choose whether you have or haven’t done the things you should have done. Death waits for nobody and nothing. It has neither enemies, nor friends.
When you appeared in this world, you cried, and all the people around you rejoiced. You have to live your life in such a way that when you leave this world, you will rejoice, and all the people around you will cry.
The condition of wisdom is purity; the consequence of wisdom is the peace of your soul.
A wise person never considers himself to be wise. And a person never considers himself wise when he has the image of God before him
Wisdom is limitless, and the closer you approach it, the more important it becomes for your life.
A person can always improve himself
Love brings people to unification. The universal intellect, which is the same for everyone, supports this unification.
Look around. What do the world’s people think about it?
They think about everything except what is most impor tant. They think about dancing, music, and singing; they think about houses, wealth, and power; they are jealous about the wealth of rich people and kings; but they do not think at all about what it means to be human.
Be filled with love for other people, including those who are unpleasant or hostile to you. A real trial to one’s love is to love your enemies.
If you love your enemies, you will have no enemies.
The most perfect among men is he who loves his neigh bor without thinking about whether the person is good or bad.
Real wisdom is not the knowledge of everything, but the knowledge of which things in life are necessary, which are less necessary, and which are completely unnecessary to know. Among the most necessary knowledge is the knowl edge of how to live well, that is, how to produce the least possible evil and the greatest goodness in one’s life. At pre sent, people study useless sciences, but forget to study this, the most important knowledge.
A person who knows little likes to talk, and one who knows much mostly keeps silent.
This is because a person who knows little thinks that everything he knows is important, and wants to tell everyone. A person who knows much also knows that there is much more he doesn’t know. That’s why he speaks only when it is necessary to speak, and when he is not asked questions, he keeps his silence.
Many false meditations are disguised as good and useful knowledge; therefore, he strict in selecting the knowledge you want to acquire.
If you see that some aspect of your society is bad, and you want to improve it, there is only one way to do so: you have to improve people. And in order to improve people, you begin with only one thing: you can become better yourself.
Blaming other people is always wrong, because no one knows what has happened and happens in the soul of another person.
We often make judgments about other people. We call one person kind, the other stupid, the third evil, the fourth clever. But we should not do so. A man changes constantly; he flows like a river, and every new day he dif- fers from what he was before. He was stupid and became clever; he was evil and became kind at heart; and so on.
You cannot judge another person. The moment you blame him, he becomes someone different.
Never blame your neighbor until you have been in his place.
Forgive other people for many things, but do not forgive yourself anything.
The creation of the world would have been a very bad act were it right for rich people to live off the work of the poor, and yet think that they were the benefactors.
Wealth is created by the concentration of human labor;
usually one people produce labor, and others concentrate it. This is called “the division of labor” by contemporary wise people.
Do not hide anything from other people when they ask you, hut do not boast about bad things if you are not asked about them.
Live your life in such a way that you neither hide nor have a wish to display your life to people.
Do not wish for death just because your life is hard. All the burdens on your shoulders will help you fulfill your destiny. The only way to get rid of your burdens is to live your life in such a way that you fulfill your destiny.
If truth makes our life easier, then it is better to accept the truth than to hide from it. Our life can be changed, but the truth cannot be changed: it will always remain the truth, and it will expose us.
Seek the truth: it always shows us what we should do, what we should not do, and what we should stop doing
Look at all of your knowledge as a gift, as a means of help ing other people.
A strong and wise person uses his gifts to support other people.
John Ruskin
Individuals die, but the wisdom they have obtained in their lives does not die with them. Mankind keeps all this wisdom, and a person uses the wisdom of those who lived before him. The education of mankind reminds me of the creation of the ancient pyramids, in that everyone who^lives puts another stone in the foundation.
Do not despair. Do not be disappointed if you see that you cannot accomplish all the good which you would like to accomplish. If you fall, try to stand up; try to overcome the obstacle before you. Get to the heart of the matter, to the essence of things.
—Marcus Aurelius
He who is not afraid of anything, and who is ready to give his life for a righteous cause, is much stronger than he whom other people fear and who has the lives of other people in his power.
Do what you think is necessary, and do not expect reward. Remember that a stupid person is a bad judge of clever deeds
Wisdom can be achieved by inner work, through solitary communication with yourself; it also can be achieved when you communicate with other people.
Listen and be attentive, but do not speak too much; and when you are asked a question, answer briefly. Do not be ashamed to accept that sometimes you do not know an answer to what you were asked. Do not get into an argu- ment just for the sake of argument; and do not boast.
—Sufi wisdom
I have learned many things from my teachers; I have learned many things from my friends; and I have learned even more from my students.
—The Talmud
Real love is not in words but in deeds, and only love can give you real wisdom.
If sometimes you feel that in spite of all your wishes to gain triumph over your passions, they gain victory over you, do not think that you cannot conquer them at all.
You have only proven that you weren’t able 10 this one time. A good groom does not drop his reins when he can not stop his horses at once but tries again to pull the reins, and eventually the horses stop. So if you could not resist the temptations once, continue your fight, and in the end not your passion but you will gain the victory
A victory over oneself is a bigger and a better victory than a victory over thousands of people in a score of battles.
Those who have achieved victory over other people can be defeated in future battles, but those who have achieved victory over themselves become victors forever.
—Dhammapada, a book of Buddhist wisdom
A passion in a person’s heart is like a spider’s web. At the beginning it is an alien visitor; then it becomes a regular guest; then it becomes master of the house.
—After the Talmud
Abstention cannot be achieved at once, but it should be a process, and a constant effort. The life of a person who makes this efforts directed not to the calming of his pas sions but to the mastery of them.
Time and persistence help you in these efforts
If you notice someone in error, then correct this person and his mistake in a humble way. If he does not listen to you, blame yourself only; or, even better, do not blame anybody, but continue to be humble.
—Marcus Aurelius
If you have parted from a person, and he was not satisfied with you, or did not agree with you when you were right, he is not to blame, but probably it is you who are to blame, because you were not kind enough with this man
To repent means to show your vices and weaknesses to all.
Repentance means taking responsibility for all of the bad things you have done, purifying your soul, and preparing to accept goodness.
When a kind man does not accept his mistakes and tries always to justify himself, he becomes an unkind man
Those who cover their old sins with present-day good deeds remind me of the moonlight which illuminates this dark world on a cloudy night.
— DHAMMAPADA, a book of BUDDHIST WISDOM
The most critical piece of knowledge, then, is the knowledge of what is essential to learn and what isn’t.
Too voracious reading, begun at too early an age, fills our minds with undigested material. Our memory can become the master of our feelings and our fate; and when it does, an intellectual effort is required to reinforce our feelings with primeval innocence, to find ourselves amidst the dusty heaps of foreign thoughts and viewpoints, in order to start feeling by ourselves, and—I am ready to say—in order to live on our own.
—George Lichtenberg
Beware of false knowledge. All evil comes from it.
A habit is never good, even a habit of doing good deeds.
Good deeds, after they become habits, are no longer acts of virtue. Real good is achieved only with effort.
—Immanuel Kant
Be attentive to what you do; never consider anything unworthy of your attention.
—Confucius
Life in this world is not a vale of tears, not a trial, but a thing that surpasses our imagination. Life could be limit less joy, if we would only take it for what it is, in the way it is given to us,
The secret of happiness? Enjoy small pleasures.
—Samuel Smiles
A truly wise man is always joyful.
The best way to live joyfully is to believe that life was given for joy. When joy disappears, look for your mistake
You will find that people unwilling to work will either take advantage of others or be humiliated by them.
People involve themselves in countless activities which they consider to be important, but they forget about one activity which is more important and necessary than any other, and which includes all other things: the improve ment of their soul.
To repay evil with goodness is easier, wiser, and more nat ural than to repay evil with evil.
Repay evil with goodness.
—The Talmud
Conquer rage with humility, conquer evil with goodness, conquer greed with generosity, and conquer lies with truth.
—Dhammapada, a book of Buddhist wisdom
When we treat our neighbors as they deserve to be treated, we make them even worse; when we treat them as if they were who we wish they were, we improve them.
^—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Drop after drop, water fills the vessel; in the same way those who want to be good, become filled with goodness.
—Dhammapada, a book of Buddhist wisdom
At a certain level of self-awareness, a person understands something supernatural in himself
A man is wise who does three things: first, he does by himself those things which he advises others to do; sec ondly, he does not do anything that contravenes the truth; and thirdly, he is patient with the weaknesses of those who surround him.
Our most important actions are those consequences which we will not see.
The smallest detail can benefit the strengthening of char acter. Do not say that small details are not important;
only a person with high morals can see their importance.
What is important is not the quantity of your knowledge, but its quality. You can know many things without know ing that which is most important.
The truth should often overcome thousands of obstacles, until it is accepted
A man who does not understand the benefit of suffering does not live a clever and true life.
For a person who leads a spiritual life, self-sacrifice brings a bliss that far transcends the pleasure of a person who lives by the self-indulgent satisfaction of his animal passions
He who is kind does good for other people. And if a per son suffers while he does kind deeds, he becomes an even better person.
The dark spot in the sunlight that falls on us is the shadow created by our own personalities. We live for ourselves only when we live for others.
Until I can see that the major commandment of Christ— love your enemies—is being fulfilled, I will continue to believe that many people are not real Christians, but only pretend to be Christians.
A person can transform his personality, his inner self, from the domain of suffering and subduing into the domain which is always steady and joyful, that is, the domain of understanding his spiritual and divine essence
Simplicity is so attractive and so profitable that it is strange that so few people lead truly simple lives.
Most of our spending is done to forward our efforts to look like others.
Every great thing is done in a quiet, humble, simple way;
to plow the land, to build houses, to breed cattle, even to think—you cannot do such things when there are thun der and lightning around you. Great and true things are always simple and humble.
If there is animosity between two people, both are to blame. Any number you multiply by zero, however big, will equal zero. If there is animosity, then, it is the ani mosity of two people toward each other, and it exists in both of them.
Work is the necessary condition of happiness. First, favorite and free work; secondly, the physical work which arouses your appetite and afterward gives you tranquil and sound sleep.
Manual labor does not exclude intellectual activity, but improves its quality and even helps it.
Constant idleness should he included in the tortures of hell, but it is, on the contrary, considered to be one of the joys of paradise.
Charles de Montesquieu
When a person sets to work, even if it is the most unqual ified, primitive, simple work, the human soul calms down.
As soon as a person starts to work, all the demons leave him and cannot approach him.
He who sees his life as a process of spiritual perfection does not fear external events
Do not think that courage lies only in boldness and power.
The highest courage is the courage to be higher than your rage and to love a person who has offended you
People very often do not accept the truth, because they do not like the form in which the truth is presented to them.
If you know the truth, or if you think that you know the truth, try to pass it on to the others, as simply as you can, along with the feeling of love for those persons to whom you pass it
Truth expressed in words is the greatest force there is in the lives of people. We do not understand this force com pletely, because its consequences are never seen at once.
Use good thoughts of wise people; if you cannot create similar kind and wise thoughts, then at least do not dis tribute the false thoughts expressed by you and by others.
You should always be truthful, especially with a child. You should always do what you have promised him, otherwise you will teach him to lie
The happiness or unhappiness of a man does not depend upon the amount of property or gold he owns. Happiness or misery is in one’s soul. A wise man feels at home in every country. The whole universe is the home of a noble soul.
The rivers and seas are the masters of the valleys across which they flow. This is because they are lower than the valleys. In the same way, a person who wants to be higher than other people should be lower than they; if he wants to guide people, he should be below them.
Seek to learn constantly while you live; do not wait in the faith that old age by itself will bring wisdom.
—Solon
We cannot stop on the way to self-perfection. As soon as you notice that you have a bigger interest in the outer world than in yourself, then you should know that the world moves behind you
The moving force of all perfection, both for individuals and for whole nations, is not the understanding of what exists in this world, but the understanding of what can be achieved
The weaker my hands, the more effort I should make to achieve perfection
A wise man sets requirements only for himself; an unwise man makes requirements for others.
A wise man always finds some support for himself in everything, because his gift is in obtaining goodness from everything
Do you think that anybody can damage your soul? Then why are you so embarrassed? I laugh at those who think they can damage me. They do not know who I am, they do not know what I think, they cannot even touch the things which are really mine and with which I live.
Truth is not virtue, but the lack of vices.
Truthfulness is the only real currency which circulates everywhere
You should behave in such a way that you can say to every body, “Behave as I do.”
When you do a good deed, be grateful that you have had the chance to do it.
The greatest changes in the world are made slowly and gradually, not with eruptions and revolutions
All great thoughts are living thoughts, and they can grow and be changed. And they change and grow as a tree, and not as a cloud
There is nothing more harmful for your inner perfection than the understanding that you are doing well. The way to happiness, the way to real moral improvement, moves so invisibly, so inconspicuously, that a person can see his successes only after great, lengthy periods of time.
If you think that you are moving toward perfection and you notice this, then you should know that you are mis taken, that you have stopped and are moving backward
We should be satisfied with the small things in life. The less we need, the less trouble we can have.
It is a great happiness to have what you desire; but it is an even greater happiness not to want more than you already have.
Who is a wise man?—He who studies all the time.
Who is strong?—He who can limit himself.
Who is rich?—He who is happy with what he has.
Nature needs small things, hut your imagination needs much.
Never listen to those who blame others and speak well about you.
Better to do nothing than to do harm.
No exterior force can make you humble. There is only one way to be humble: do not think about yourself, but about how you can serve God and others.
The greatest virtue is to do no evil, even to your enemies.
When you’ll throw a ball up in the air, it doesn’t stay there but returns to the earth; likewise all your good or bad actions will return to you in another form, according to the desire of your heart, no matter which path you take
The understanding of sin has a positive influ ence on a person; it is even more useful than a good deed, which can increase pride.
Be strict in judging yourself and gentle in judging others, and you will have no enemies
There are two paths which lead to virtue: the first is to be truth ful and just, and the second is to do no evil to living beings.
There is only one thing in this world which is worth dedicat ing all your life. This is creating more love amongpeople and destroying harriers which exist between them
He who defeats others is strong; he who defeats himself is powerful, and he who knows when he dies that he will not be destroyed is eternal.
Every thought a person dwells upon, whether he expresses it or not, either damages or improves his life
Really, really I tell you, you will cry, and you will fall, and the world will he glorified. You will be sad, and your sad ness will become joy. A woman is in pain when she gives birth to a child, and after the birth she doesn’t remember, and she is joyful.
I cannot cause any improvement in anyone except with the help of the goodness and kindness which already is inherent in this person
The more strictly and mercilessly you judge yourself, the more just and kind you will he in the judgment of others.
Unless you yourself are sinless, do not say a single word about the sins of others, but be quiet. If you make it a habit not to blame others, you will feel the growth of the ability to love in your soul, and you will see the growth of goodness in your life.
When you suffer, think not on how you can escape suffer ing, but concentrate your efforts on what kind of inner moral and spiritual perfection this suffering requires.
Whenever you ask whether you should behave in this way or the other, ask yourself, what would you do if you knew that you could die this evening, and nobody would find out about your action? Death spurs people to finish their affairs; among all actions, there is only one type which is complete, and that is love which seeks no reward
The simplest, quickest, and surest means to becoming known as a virtuous person is to work on yourself, to actually be virtuous. Examine each virtue, and you will see that they all were achieved with work and exercise
One man keeps silence, and people discuss him. Another speaks a lot, and people discuss him. A third speaks a lit tle, and people discuss him. There is no such thing as a person who is not being discussed or scolded
Love provides a person with the purpose of his life. Intel lect shows him the means to achieve that purpose
In order to have a good life, you should not be afraid of any good deeds. You should have no less power or strength for small acts than for the biggest and greatest good deed
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
When everything you see appears in dark, gloomy shades, and seems baleful, and you want to tell others only bad and unpleasant things, do not trust your perceptions.
Treat yourself as though you were drunk. Take no steps and actions until t his state has disappeared
Human dignity and freedom are our constant necessities.
So, let us keep them with us, or let us die with dignity.
Follow the best way of life you possibly can, and habit will make this way suitable and pleasant for you
That feeling which solves all of the contradictions of human life and gives one the greatest bliss is known to all people: this feeling is love.
Pay bad people with your goodness; fight their hatred with your kindness. Even if you do not achieve victory over other people, you will conquer yourself.
Love destroys death and makes it empty; it gives meaning to senseless things; from unhappiness, love makes real happiness.
If you are in a difficult situation, a low mood, if you are afraid of other people and of yourself, if you are tor mented, then tell yourself: “I will love everyone whom I meet in this life.” Try to follow this rule; and you will see that everything will find its way, and everything will seem simple, and you will no longer have doubts or fears
People mistakenly think that virtue lies in the knowledge of many things. What is important is not the quantity but the quality of knowledge
Do not fear the lack of knowledge, fear false knowledge. All evil in this world comes from false knowledge
People’s misfortunes are caused not because they do not know their duties, but because they misunderstand their duties.
Truly virtuous is the person who gives his love to the weak
Every kind thing is a virtue. To give water to a thirsty per son, or to pick up a stone from a road, or to convince your neighbors and friends that they should be virtuous, or to show a traveler his way, or to smile looking into your neighbor’s face—all this is virtue
The foundation of love is in each person’s understanding of the unity of the divine spark which lives in all people.
The way to understand this world is to understand your inner self. With the help of love, and by virtue of the love of others, we understand other beings
The person who speaks much will seldom fulfill all his words in his actions. A wise person is always wary lest his words surpass his actions
Those people speak most who do not have much to say
If you want to stop a person from an action, ask him to speak more on the topic. The more people speak, the less desire they have to act.
The less you speak, the more you will work
Really true, good, and great things are always simple
Love is the manifestation of the divine nature which exists above time. Love is not only a way of life, it is an action directed toward the goodness of others
Effort is the necessary condition of moral perfection
Those who think that they can live a high spiritual life whose bodies are filled with idleness and luxuries are mis taken.
Nothing more can be considered as real merit for a person than his effort. Only in his effort is a person shown in his real light
Every man, from the king to the poorest pauper, should seek his own perfection, because only self-perfection improves mankind
In the long run, people achieve only that which they have set as goals for themselves; therefore, set the highest pos sible goals for yourself.
Look for the causes of the evil from which you suffer in your self Sometimes this evil is the direct consequence of your activity; sometimes it happens after a lengthy period of trans formation of an evil which you committed long ago. But the source is always in you, and salvation from it lies in changes in your actions, your way of life.
In every faith, only what is spiritual is true
Do not be afraid to get rid of things which distract your attention—everything material, everything which can be seen or can be felt. The more you purify the spiritual core of your faith, the firmer your faith will be
Knowledge is a tool, not a purpose
Not to accept your mistakes is to increase them
Only those who know their weaknesses can be tolerant of the weaknesses of their neighbors
The man who cannot forgive destroys a bridge which he will have to cross, because every person needs forgiveness
Almost always, when we look deep into our souls, we can find there the same sins which we blame in others. If we do not find a particular sin in our soul, then we should look more closely, and we will find even worse sins there
A deep river is not troubled if you throw a stone into it. If a religious person is hurt by criticism, then he is not a river but a shallow pool. Forgive others, and then you will receive forgiveness
If you are a material being, then death is the end of every thing. But if you are a spiritual being, then the body limits your spiritual being, and death is only a change
The worst punishment is the understanding that you failed to properly use those good things which were given to you. Do not expect a big punishment. There can be no harder punishment than this remorse
You seek the cause of evil, and it is only in yourself
Do not expect some tangible reward for your goodness;
your actions are their own reward. In the same way, do not think that you can hope to avoid punishment of your evil acts, for your punishment already lies in your soul.
You are mistaken if you think that the pain in your soul was caused by anything else
Nothing is more harmful than a bad example set by oth ers. They bring into our life notions which never would have occurred to us without an example
Real virtue never looks back on its shadow, fame
It’s not wise to be interested in fame and the appreciation of others, because no two people’s opinions about what is good are the same
Many statements which are accepted as truth because they have been passed down to us by tradition look like truth only because we have never tested them, never thought about them in a more precise way.
Any important thought, no matter where it comes from, should be discussed; and every thought, no matter who said it, should be given attention
Thoughts which create evil actions are much worse than the acts themselves. You can stop doing a bad thing, and repent, and not repeat it. But bad thoughts are repeated again and again, and cause other bad actions; bad thoughts follow one after another.
Think good thoughts, and your thoughts will be turned into good actions. Everything begins in thought. Guiding your thoughts is one of the keys to self-perfection. If you suffer misfortunes in your life, look for their cause, not in your actions, but in the thoughts which inspired them, and try to improve those thoughts. If you are inspired by an event in your life, look for its origins in your previous thoughts which caused the event.
You make your decisions in the present, and the present exists out of time; it is a tiny moment where two peri ods—the past and the future—meet. In the present you are always free to make your choice
You alone plan to commit a sin, you alone plan to do evil;
and you alone can escape sin and purify your thoughts.
Only your inner self can damn you, and only your inner self can save you.
Two ways exist to guide human activity. One is to force a person to act against his wishes; the other is to guide a per son’s wishes, to persuade him with reasoning. One is the wav of violence: if. is used by ignorant people, and it leads to complete disappointment. The other is supported by experience, and is always successful.
We should always try to find those things which do not separate us from other people but which unite us. To work against each other, to be angry and turn your back on each other, is to work against nature
The goodness which you do gives you pleasure, but not satisfaction. No matter how much goodness you do, you should wish to do more and more.
Kindness is the major quality of the soul. If a person is not kind, it is because he was subjected to some lie, passion, or temptation which violated his natural state.
Life is constant movement, and therefore goodness in life is not a certain state, but the direction of movement
Happiness is a thing which a person wishes only for himself goodness is a thing which a person wishes for himself and for others. Happiness can he achieved by struggle; goodness, on the contrary, by being humble.
Anyone who is engaged in really important things is very simple because he does not have time to create unneces sary things.
Every desire abates, and every vice grows after it is satisfied.
One hour of honest, serious thinking is more precious than weeks spent in empty talks
The wiser a person is, the simpler the language he uses to express his thoughts.
The teaching about, your inner life is the most, useful one.
The truth is harmful only to evildoers. Those who do good love the truth.
Work is the condition of existence in the material, physi cal world. If Robinson had not worked, he would have frozen to death and died from hunger, and everybody can see this. So labor is the necessary condition for the spiri tual life as well, but not all people can see this clearly, though it is as obvious as the necessity of physical labor for the body.
Those who do nothing, do bad things. Those who do nothing, have many associates and supporters. The brain of a lazy and idle person is the favorite stopping place of the devil.
In order to hit the mark, you should aim farther than it stands, so you will achieve it; in order to be just, you should make a self-sacrifice, be unjust to yourself.
You cannot be completely just. One time you do too lit tle, the other time you do too much. There is only one way not to sin against justice; always to change things, to improve things, to make them better
A person who knows all sciences but does not know him self is a poor and ignorant person. He who does not know anything except for his inner spiritual self is an enlight ened person
When you feel the desire for power, you should stay in soli tude for some time
The way to fame goes through the palaces, the way to happiness goes through the markets, the way to virtue goes through the deserts
A person always has a place to be safe from all of his mis fortunes, and this place is his soul
If you could only know who you are, all your troubles would seem utterly unnecessary and trivial
People who believe they do not have faith are wrong;
they simply don’t realize it, or don’t want it, or cannot express it
Do not be proud, no matter what high position you occupy in life. In you and in me and in every’ other person lives the same God, the same life force; you look down on me in vain; we are all equal beings.
Those who are on top of the mountain can see the sunrise sooner than those who live in the valley. So, too, with those who achieve spiritual heights: they can see the heav enly sunrise sooner than those who live a material life.
But the time will come when the sun will rise so high in the sky that everyone will see it
Making yourself addicted is not a crime, but it is a prepara tion for crime.
Some people say, “It is not important if you drink or smoke.” If it is of no importance, then why not just stop, if you know that you harm yourself and, with your exam ple, others?
The closer people are to the truth, the more tolerant they are of the mistakes of others
There is one hard and fast rule we must always remember: if a good end can he achieved only through had means, either it is not good after all, or its time has not yet come
Real goodness is not something that can he acquired in an instant, hut only through constant effort, because real good ness lies in constantly striving for perfection.
The journey of the wise to virtue is as a journey to a remote land, or the ascent of a high mountain. People who travel to a faraway place start with a single step, and those who climb a high mountain start from the bottom.
Strive for goodness without any expectations for rapid or noticeable success. You will not see the results of your efforts, because the further you progress, the higher the ideal of perfection toward which you strive rises. The effort of striving for goodness, the process itself, justifies our lives.
You should teach others with a good example, but if you reach with evil, then you do not teach, but destroy
If you think someone is guilty of wronging you, forgive him. If you have never forgiven the guilty before, you will experience a new joy: the joy of forgiving
The American Indians had no laws, no punishments, and no government. They obeyed the moral understanding of good and evil that is part of every human nature
People jump back and forth in pursuit of pleasures only because they see the emptiness of their lives more clearly than they do the emptiness of whichever new entertainment attracts them
A misconception remains a misconception, even when it is shared by the majority of the people
If life is good, then death which is the necessary part of ‘life, is good as well
Real life exists only in the present. The future has no meaning
There is a condition in which a person feels himself the architect of his life. It occurs when he concentrates all his efforts and all his intellect on the present moment
No matter how great our knowledge may he, it cannot help us fulfill our life’s major purpose—our moral perfection
As our self-interest diminishes, our anxieties disappear, and then comes quiet and firm joy, which always diffuses us with a good spiritual disposition and a clear con science. Every good deed helps to kindle this feeling of joy within us. The egoist feels lonely, surrounded by threatening and alien events; all his desires are sunk in his own concerns. A kind person lives in a world of benefi cent events, whose goodness matches his own
Salvation lies not in rituals and not in a particular creed, but in a clear understanding of the meaning of your life
A wise man does not wish to change his situation, because he knows that it is possible to fulfill the law of God, the law of love, in every situation
I never complain about my fate. Once, I did not have shoes, and I complained to God. I went into church with a heavy heart and in the church I saw a man without both feet. So I thanked God that he had given me both feet, and that my only problem was that they were unshod
The more upset a person is with other people, and with cir cumstances, and the more satisfied he is with himself, the fur ther he is from wisdom
People who have power are sure that it is only violence that guides people, and so they use violence to support the existing order. But the existing order is not based on violence, but on public opinion
The biggest obstacles to understanding the truth are lies disguised as truth
In real life illusions can only transform our life for a moment, but in the domain of thoughts and the intellect, misconceptions may be accepted as truth for thousands of years, and make a laughingstock of whole nations, mute the noble wishes of mankind, make slaves from peo ple and lie to them. These misconceptions are the enemies with which the wisest men in the history of mankind try to struggle. The force of the truth is great, but its victory is difficult. However, once you receive this victory, it can never be taken from you
Freeing a person from misconceptions, false truths, and lies does not take anything from him; it gives him some thing important
Doubts do not destroy truth; they strengthen it.
Religious disbelief and neglect is a great evil, but prejudice and lies are even worse
Pay goodness for evil. We should be like trees that give fruits to those who throw stones at them
You should accept yourself, not as a master, but as a ser vant, and then all your bad feelings, your anxiety, alarm, uncertainty, and dissatisfaction will be changed into calm ness and peace. You will be filled inside with a clear vision of your purpose, and with a great joy
Bad things are easy to do, good things are done only with work and effort
Work toward the purification of your thoughts. Without had thoughts you will he incapable of bad deeds
We cannot prevent birds from flying over our heads, but we can keep them from making nests on top of our heads.
Similarly, bad thoughts sometimes appear in our mind, but we can choose whether we allow them to live there, to create a nest for themselves, and to breed evil deeds
It is better to know less than necessary than to know more than necessary. Do not fear the lack of knowledge, but truly fear unnecessary knowledge which is acquired only to please vanity
Work is not a virtue, but it is the necessary condition of a virtuous life.
It is not enough to he a hardworking person. Think: what do you work at?
Blaming others is an entertainment which some people like and cannot restrain themselves from. When you see all the harm this blaming causes, you see that it is a sin not to stop people from practicing this entertainment
Truth is achieved through discussion, hut the wiser man stops the arguments
As soon as you start blaming a person, stop yourself.
Remember not to say something bad about someone, even if you know it to be true, and especially if you are not certain but are only repeating gossip
Temporary solitude from all things in this life, the medita tion within yourself about the divine, is food as necessary for your soul as material food is for your body.
A sage is not afraid of lack of knowledge: he is of hesitations, or hard work, but he is afraid of thing—to pretend to know the things which he know
Never be ashamed to admit what you do not know
Real wisdom comes, not from knowing what is good and what should be done, but from knowing which is the bet ter thing and which is the worse, and therefore, what should be done and what should be done later
To be wise one must study both good and bad thoughts and acts, but one should study the bad first. You should first know what is not clever, what is not just, and what is not necessary to do
You should acquire the kind of wealth which cannot be stolen from you by thieves, which people in power cannot take from you, which will stay with you even after your death, never diminishing and never disappearing. This wealth is your soul
There are two ways not to suffer from poverty The first is to acquire more wealth. The second is to limit your requirements. The first is not always within our power, but the second is always in our power
Real love refers not just to love for a particular person but to the spiritual state of loving everyone
Do not force others to love you: just love others, and you will he loved
The more a person expresses his love, the more people love him; and the more people love him, the easier it is for him to love others. In this way, love is eternal.
Your spirit must constantly assert itself because your body is constantly exerting itself. As soon as you stop working at your spirit, then your body will have complete power over you
What is not clear should be cleared up. What is not easy to do should be done with great persistence
Neglecting your health can prevent you from serving people, and too much attention to your body and its health can bring the same results. In order to find the middle way, you should take care of your body only to the extent that doing so helps you to serve others, and does not stop you from serving them.
No illness can prevent a person from what he has to do. If you cannot work, then give your love to people.
There are three types of people. First, there are people who do not believe in anything; then, there are people who believe only in those teachings they were brought up to believe. Finally, there are people who believe in those things which they understand with their hearts, and this last group of people is the wisest and most resolute
Do not pretend to understand something that you do not. It is one of the worst possible things to do
The souls of wise people look to the future state of their existence; all of their thoughts are concentrated toward eternity
Salvation in all things lies in their spirituality. Evil cannot touch a person who knows his spirituality
Most people are proud, not of those things which arouse respect, but of those which are unnecessary, or even harmful: fame, power, and wealth.
A person who loves himself has the advantage of having very few competitors.
There is no wisdom in he who thinks that he is wise.
Any departure from accepted traditions and customs requires a large and serious effort, but true understanding of new things always requires such an effort.
You should behave as you think is good, but not follow ing the advice of the crowd.
In those countries where wise people are in power, their subjects do not notice the existence of their rulers.
If a person does not feel a divine force within himself, this does not mean that a divine force does not exist in him, but that he has not yet learned how to recognize it.
There is much good to be learned from the Koran, from the Buddhists, from Confucius, from the Old Testament, from the Indian Upanishads, and from the New Testa ment. But the closer a religious thinker or philosopher is to us in time, the more he can help us draw from these teachings in the light of our present-day lives.
The past no longer exists; the future has not yet come;
there is only the present. And only in the present can the divine nature of the free human soul be manifested.
Everyone knows that our habits are improved and strengthened through their exercise. In order to be a good walker, you need to walk a lot; in order to be a strong runner, you need to run frequently; in order to be a perceptive reader, you ought to read as much as you can.
The same is true of your soul: if you become angry, you must know that you not only perform evil, but you also create an evil habit, and you increase your potential for further evil.
The meaning of life is revealed to those who are ready to accept the things which will be revealed. And it is he who has already decided that he will accept the truth as it is, and not the truth itself, which will change the way of life he has been accustomed to.
The life of man is filled with intellect only when the ful fillment of your duty is understood. We all know for sure that death waits for us. We do not know when, just as we do not know where we came from.
When you approach a man, you should think not about how he can help you, but how you might serve and help him.
People with great and wonderful souls are always quiet and happy. Those people who do not have spirituality are always unhappy.
A person will understand his place in the world only when he understands his soul.
Real power is not in momentary desires, but in complete calmness.
Time passes, but the words which you say will remain.
To stop your tongue from talking too much is a sign of great virtue.
If you think that it is necessary to judge your neighbor, then say this looking directly into his eyes, and say this in such a way that you do not create animosity.
The purpose of your life is not to do as the majority does, but to live according to the inner law which you understand in yourself Do not act against your conscience or against truth.
Live like this, and you will fulfill the task of your life.
Real compassion begins only when you put yourself in the place of those who suffer, and you feel real suffering.
For the moral, spiritual life, the importance of things is measured not by their material value, but by their level of goodness.
The majority of people want to do something unusual and difficult in order to improve their lives, but -they would be better to purify their wishes, and improve their inner selves.
Only in the storm can you see the art of the real sailor;
only on the battlefield can you see the bravery of a soldier.
The courage of a simple person can be seen in how he copes with the difficult and dangerous situations in life.
There is nothing more important than an example. It leads us to do good deeds which would be impossible without this example. Therefore, if we use dissipated or passionate or cruel people as examples, it destroys~our soul. The contrary is also true.
If you desire to follow someone as an example, as many other people do, first stop and think whether it is worth while to follow this general example.
Evil influence can be destroyed only by good influence. And the way to receive a good influence is to have a good life.
Nothing can interfere with the growth of truth in the world: nothing except the wish to save old prejudices.
Truly kind people forget the good things they have done in the past. They are so involved in the things they do now that they forget the things they have done before.
Let the judgments of others he the consequence of your deeds, not their purpose.
He has power who can keep silent in an argument, even though he is right.
You should abstain from arguments. They are very illogi cal ways to convince people. Opinions are like nails: the stronger you hit them, the deeper inside they go.
If you live alone, think about your own sins; if you are in society, forget about the sins of others.
The more urgently you want to speak, the more likely it is that you will say something foolish.
Thought is the glorification of truth; therefore, bad thoughts are those which have not been thought through to the end.
Blaming your neighbor is harmful, both for you and for others.
Be strict to yourself, and forgive others, and then you will have no enemies.
You can look at life as death, and death as an awakening.
I do not regret that I was bom here and that I lived part of my life here, because I lived in a way that I think was use ful. When the end comes, I will leave my life in the same way, as if I leave an inn and not my home, because I think that my stay in this life is temporary and that death is only a transfer to another state.
We ask the wrong question when we say, “What will happen after death?” When we speak ahout the future, we speak of time, hut when we die, we leave time behind.
Some people say, “Man is selfish, greedy, and dissipated, and cannot be kind to other people.” This is not true We can be good. Feel in your heart the kind of person you should be; this feeling will give you power.
Outer consequences are not in our power to control; it is only possible to make an effort, and inner consequences always follow from our effort.
The land is the general and equal possession of all human ity, and therefore cannot be the property of individuals.
The possession of land as property is one of the most unnatural crimes there is. We cannot see the horror of this crime because in our world it is accepted as law.
Self-perfection should be one’s primary motivation. If you are truthful to yourself, you will never be satisfied with yourself.
A person should always develop his ability to do goodness.
Make yourself better; this should be every person’s goal.
—Immanuel Kant
The first rule of achieving goodness is this: think only ahout self-perfection, and do so without thought to being praised by others.
—Chinese wisdom
Those who live life in perfection look only forward; those who have stopped moving forward look back on their achievements.
Dissatisfaction is a necessary condition of intellectual life. It is only this dissatisfaction that pushes you to work.
The most important knowledge is that which guides the way you lead your life.
It is harmful to eat if you are not hungry. It is even worse to have sex if you lack desire. But even more harmful is to try to think when you do not wish to, or to be engaged in meaningless intellectual activity. Many people do so when they want to improve their position.
Your will is not good until you have changed the habits of your intellect, and they will improve only when they fol low the eternal laws of life.
It is not a virtue, but a kind of deceitful similitude, to ful fill our duty for the purpose of its reward.
We do good only when we do not notice what we do, when we forget ourselves and live only in others.
A material evil done by a person does not return to the evildoer, but the evil feeling which was created by the sin ful deed will fester in his soul and sooner or later make him suffer.
There is no material goodness which can restore the soul after the damage done by the evil which you create.
Remember: Those who suffer through to the end will be saved. Very often a person becomes desperate or even stops in his purpose when only a small effort is needed to achieve it.
Do not seek love in other people, and do not complain about the absence of their love for you. Some people love wrong, not right; therefore, tty to please God, rather than people.
There is no deed in this life so impossible that you cannot do it. Your whole life should be lived as an heroic deed.
Every time you wake up and ask yourself, “What good things am I going to do today?” remember that, when the sun goes down at sunset, it will take a part of your life with it.
The more busy you are with the improvement of your inner life, the more active you become in social life, help ing other people.
Never build, but always plant: in the case of the first, nature will interfere and destroy the creation of your work, but in the case of the second, nature will help you, causing growth in everything you planted. The same thing happens in your spiritual life: those things which are in harmony with the eternal laws of human nature will grow, but those things which correspond to the temporal wishes of people will not.
Your life may be cut short at any time; therefore, your life should have a deep purpose, a significance that will not depend on whether it is short or long.
Our soul’s perfection is our life’s purpose; any other pur pose, keeping death in mind, has no substance.
Just as one candle lights another and can light thousands of other candles, so one heart illuminates another heart and can illuminate thousands of other hearts.
Good books are a good influence. Good art is a good influence. Prayer is an influence as well. But the strongest influence is the example of a good life. A good life becomes a blessing for people, not only for those who live good lives but those who can see, know, and understand such lives.
It is difficult to bring people to goodness with lessons, but it is easy to do so by example.
You should be a lantern for yourself. Draw close to the light within you and seek no other shelter.
The level of fear you feel about death is the level of your understanding of life.
The less you fear death, the more you possess freedom, tranquillity, and an understanding of the greatness of your spirit and the joy of life.
The understanding of eternity is part of the nature of the human soul.
Do not say words you do not feel, lest your soul be black ened with darkness.
There is nothing in this world more tender and more pli able than water, yet hard and rigid things cannot resist it.
Weakness defeats strength, tenderness defeats rigidity.
Everyone knows this law, but no one acts upon it. The weakest in the world gain victory over the strongest;
therefore, there is a great advantage in humility and silence. Only a few people in this world are truly humble.
Art is the activity whereby a person makes a conscious attempt to use the particular means at his disposal to transmit his feelings to others so that they feel them as intensely as he does.
A new work of art should bring a new emotion in our life.
Do not do anything, either among others or alone, which is opposed by your conscience.
Study everything, and put intellect first.
Ignorance cannot lead to evil, misconceptions lead to evil.
It’s not what people do know, it’s what they pretend that they do.
Every misconception is a poison; there are no harmless misconceptions.
Loving your country and loving your family are both virtues that can become vices when they become over whelming and damage your love for your neighbor.
Nothing is more joyful than the labor of a farmer tilling the soil.
Working on the land and making your own bread isn’t necessary for all people, but no type of work is more important for humanity, and no type of work offers a greater degree of independence and good.
Kindness defeats everything and can never be defeated.
If a good action has an ulterior cause, then it is not truly good. If it expects reward, it is not truly good. Good things are beyond reason and consequence.
The most tender plants can push their way through the hardest rocks, and it is the same with kindness. Nothing can stop a truly kind and sincere person.
The best and easiest way to thwart evil in this world is to respond to it with kind words, return an evil action with good.
True faith is faith only if the actions of your life are in har mony with it and never contradict it.
Do not believe in words, yours or others’; believe in the deeds.
Those who can raise their thoughts to heaven will always have clear days, because the sun always shines above the clouds.
Only misconceptions need to be supported by elaborate arguments. Truth can always stand alone.
Misconceptions exist only for a finite period of time, but real truth remains as it always was, after all tricks, sophisms, and lies have withered away.
Only one clear quality marks an action as either good or evil: If it increases the amount of love in the world, it is good.
If it separates people and creates animosity among them, it is had.
A small branch cut off from a big limb is separated from the whole tree. In the same way when a person is in an argument with another person, he is separated from all humanity.
We hear often that there is no use in working to improve our life, to fight evil, or to establish justice, because progress will occur by itself. Imagine that a boat floats along a river. Imagine that those who have sat by the oars and rowed tirelessly have stopped and gone ashore; and that the travelers who remain in the boat do not bother to take up the oars and push the boat further, but think that it will travel by itself, as before, into the future.
Real goodness is in your hands. It follows a good person as a shadow follows its object.
They who have decided to dedicate their lives to spiritual perfection will never be dissatisfied or unhappy, because, all that they want is in their power.
One can live without prayer either when he is possessed by his passions or when his life is completely dedicated to God. But for a person who is fighting his passion and yet far from fulfilling his duty, prayer is a necessary condition of life.
Civilization is first of all a moral thing. Without truth, respect for duty, love of neighbor, virtue, everything is destroyed. The morality of a society is alone the basis of civilization.
Wisdom is understanding how eternal truth can be applied to life.
Science is seldom connected with wisdom. A scholarly per son knows many unnecessary things. A wise person knows few things, but all that he knows is necessary both for humanity and for himself.
He who understands his soul will understand the divine spark within himself.
One becomes older in order to become kinder; there is no mistake which I have not already made.
Kindness and virtue come from the heart, and should be performed without thought for the opinion of others, or of future rewards.
Charity is good only when it comes as a sacrifice; only then do those who receive’ the material gift receive the spiritual gift too. If it is not a sacrifice but a discharge of excess, it can only irritate those who receive it.
Talking and reasoning does not even have one thousandth the influence a true example has.
It is important to teach children kindness and simplicity in life and work. All of children’s moral and spiritual edu cation should be supported by your own good example.
You should live virtuously, or at least try to do so; the suc cess of your good life will educate your children.
All that we see and know does not exist in reality, because it is the product of our limited ability to understand reality.
Instead of saying that the world is reflected in our intellect, better to say that our intellect is reflected in the world.
As long as there is violence, there will he war. One cannot defeat violence with more violence, only with nonresistance to and nonparticipation in it.
The past does not exist. The future has not begun. The present is an infinitely small point in time in which the already nonexistent past meets the imminent future. At this point, which is timeless, a person’s real life exists.
True Ahimsa should mean a complete freedom from ill will and anger and hate and an over flowing love for all. For inculcating this true and higher type of Ahimsa amongst us, Tolstoy s life with its ocean like love should serve as a beacon light and a never- failing source of inspiration.