The Great Quotes thread

[Ankle Biter]

[Frankie Pancakes]

“When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing—when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors—when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you—when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice—you may know that your society is doomed.”
Ayn Rand; Atlas Shrugged, 1957

[Eva2]

Normality is a paved road: Its comfortable to walk but no flowers grow.
Vincent van Gogh

[Eva2]

[Ankle Biter]

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”


― Frank Herbert, Dune

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=DpGdnOTVwb0

[gord]

My dad kept this in his wallet:

“In the time of your life, live—so that in that good time there shall be no ugliness or death for yourself or for any life your life touches. Seek goodness everywhere, and when it is found, bring it out of its hiding place and let it be free and unashamed.

Place in matter and in flesh the least of the values, for these are the things that hold death and must pass away. Discover in all things that which shines and is beyond corruption. Encourage virtue in whatever heart it may have been driven into secrecy and sorrow by the shame and terror of the world. Ignore the obvious, for it is unworthy of the clear eye and the kindly heart.

Be the inferior of no man, or of any men be superior. Remember that every man is a variation of yourself. No man's guilt is not yours, nor is any man's innocence a thing apart. Despise evil and ungodliness, but not men of ungodliness or evil. These, understand. Have no shame in being kindly and gentle but if the time comes in the time of your life to kill, kill and have no regret.

In the time of your life, live—so that in that wondrous time you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile to the infinite delight and mystery of it.”

― William Saroyan, The Time Of Your Life

[mizo]

This quote applies to me ...

“I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” ~Douglas Adams

[pueblo]

"Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first and the lesson afterward."

- Oscar Wilde

[Ankle Biter]

“The real damage is done by those millions who want to 'survive.' The honest men who just want to be left in peace. Those who don’t want their little lives disturbed by anything bigger than themselves. Those with no sides and no causes. Those who won’t take measure of their own strength, for fear of antagonizing their own weakness. Those who don’t like to make waves—or enemies. Those for whom freedom, honour, truth, and principles are only literature. Those who live small, mate small, die small. It’s the reductionist approach to life: if you keep it small, you’ll keep it under control. If you don’t make any noise, the bogeyman won’t find you. But it’s all an illusion, because they die too, those people who roll up their spirits into tiny little balls so as to be safe. Safe?! From what? Life is always on the edge of death; narrow streets lead to the same place as wide avenues, and a little candle burns itself out just like a flaming torch does. I choose my own way to burn.”
― Sophie Scholl

https://www.goodreads.com/author/quo....Sophie_Scholl

[Ewan]

Jordan Peterson:
.........The collapse of our values is a greater threat than climate change.

"Where do we get our values?" .... "Science does not give values".... "What happens without values?"

Edit: Sod it, I'm posting the video despite this being a quotes thread.

He breaks down several times during this interview, I came close to it also through sympathy. We all suffer, except the psychopaths of course.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=q4zZ2ker1iI

[Franny]

I've always found the Four Agreements to be helpful and pragmatic.



The Four Agreements

1. Be Impeccable With Your Word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don't Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don't Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.”
― Don Miguel Ruiz

[Ewan]

Probably been posted before, but...

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

Martin Luther King Jr.

[Eva2]

'The context of a life.
To have survived for decades.
Thousands of disappointments.
Hundreds of heartbreaks.
Dozens of tragedies.
Three or four that could have broken or killed , one or two that did break me.
And yet
To still reach for more.
To still sing a song of courage and hope .
Bearing witness to the beauty and truth of the world, as much as to its horror and ignorance ...
To urge on those you love ... On
We don’t journey toward paradise,
we carry it with us into all the fallen,
lost places that cry out.
Paradise abides within and all around us,
undiminished, indestructible .
This is the truth. '
Richard Power

[Bill Ryan]

Every man must make his own choices, and every man must climb his own mountain.

Hermann Buhl, mountaineer

[Vicus]

My 2 favorites:


Know thyself

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know_thyself



"The evolution of man is the evolution of his consciousness, and "consciousness" cannot evolve unconsciously. The evolution of man is the evolution of his will, and "will" cannot evolve involuntarily. The evolution of man is the evolution of his power of doing, and "doing" cannot be the result of things which "happen."

-- G. I. Gurdjieff

[Jambo]

Having just been reading the 'A World Pushing Back Against CV19 Lockdown' thread, it reminded me of a quote.

“One has not only a legal, but a moral responsibility to obey just laws.
Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.

[Franny]

I read the Carlos Castaneda books in the 70s to the early 90s and have found they had some worthy and pragmatic (that word again!) advice. Several favorites are below

Fun factoid: Sometime in the earliest part of this century, I read that Carlos Castaneda was invited to speak at a venue in San Bernardino, California - a city I know well enough. He wrote back and declined, saying that the city had such a miasma he preferred to avoid ever going there. Actually, miasma is a pretty good way to describe it











Ah yes, always a path with



Certainly pragmatic and highly useful advice...

[palehorse]

Yes Franny, great quote "choose a path with love" I did read Castañeda once again after many years, what I think is the very first book "The teachings of Don Juan" where he says about the path of love, just amazing.

Here is another quote that got stuck in the deepest of my mind..
"What we call reality is in fact nothing more than a culturally sanctioned and linguistically reinforced hallucination."
-- Terrence McKenna

[Kryztian]

[Frankie Pancakes]

The surest way to work up a crusade in favor of some good cause is to promise people they will have a chance of maltreating someone. To be able to destroy with good conscience, to be able to behave badly and call your bad behavior ‘righteous indignation’ – this is the height of psychological luxury, the most delicious of moral treats.

– Aldous Huxley