“Physical work, physical exercise for your body, is a necessary condition of life. 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 unnecessary and stupid things.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 79)
“We all possess an inborn creative force that wants to become active. This is the gift of our Original Mind, which reveals such potential. The human mind is naturally creative, constantly looking to make associations and connections between things and ideas. It wants to explore, to discover new aspects of the world, and to invent. To express this creative force is our greatest desire, and the stifling of it the source of our misery.”
Robert Greene, The Daily Laws (Page 90)
“He who always listens to what other people say about him will never find inner peace.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 77)
“What reward should a good deed bring you? Only the joy you receive by performing it. And any other reward lessens the feeling of this joy.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 75)
“When I’m asked how I define mastery or what phrase guides me in my own life or in writing a book, I say, ‘It’s getting to the inside.’ I’m always trying to move to the inside of things. On the outside, things look a certain way—kind of dead, because you’re just seeing the appearances. When you get to the inside, you see the heart beating, you understand it, you get the reality.”
Robert Greene, The Daily Laws (Page 86)
“Learning never exhausts the mind.”
Leonardo Da Vinci, The Daily Laws (Page 85)
“Anything that is alive is in a continual state of change and movement. The moment that you rest, thinking that you have attained the level you desire, a part of your mind enters a phase of decay. You lose your hard-earned creativity and others begin to sense it. This is a power and intelligence that much be continually renewed or it will die.”
Robert Greene, The Daily Laws (Page 81)
“Life is not given to us that we might live idly without work. No, our life is a struggle and a journey. Good should struggle with evil; truth should struggle with falsehood; freedom should struggle with slavery; love should struggle with hatred. 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.”
Giuseppe Mazzini, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 72)
“A charity is only then a real charity when it involves sacrifice.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 70)
“The people in your field, in your immediate circle, are like worlds unto themselves—their stories and viewpoints will naturally expand your horizons and build up your social skills. Mingle with as many different types of people as possible. Those circles will slowly widen.”
Robert Greene, The Daily Laws (Page 68)
“Be careful what you wish for. You might not get it. But as you pursue this wish, you’ll change what you do, what you see, who you connect with and the sacrifices you make along the way. Our wishes change us.”
Seth Godin, Blog
“To tell the truth is the same as to be a good tailor, or to be a good farmer, or to write beautifully. To be good at any activity requires practice: no matter how hard you try, you cannot do naturally what you have not done repeatedly. In order to get accustomed to speaking the truth, you should tell only the truth, even in the smallest of things.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 67)
“The only way to tell the truth is to speak with kindness. Only the words of a loving man can be heard.”
Henry David Thoreau, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 67)
“The killing and eating of animals is a prejudice accepted by those who think that animals were given to people by God to eat, so that there is nothing wrong in killing them. This is not true. It may be written in some books that it is not a sin to kill an animal, but it is written in our own hearts more clearly than in any books—that we should take pity on animals in the same way as we do on each other. And we all know this, if we do not deaden the voice of our conscience inside of us.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 64)
“If you think it is ever warranted to stop on the path of further understanding, you are very far from the truth. The life which we received was given to us not that we might just admire it, but that we should ever look for new truth hidden from us.”
John Milton, via A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 63)
“Social niceties are easy to do half-heartedly. But they’re not for us, they’re for the other person. When you show up begrudgingly, it’s not half-hearted, it’s cold hearted. A handshake, a greeting, the way we sit in a meeting or wear a mask–it’s a chance to connect and to make a difference for the person we’re with. All in, or not at all.”
Seth Godin, Blog
“Water does not resist. Water flows. When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress. Water is not a solid wall, it will not stop you. But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it. Water is patient. Dripping water wears away a stone. Remember that, my child. Remember you are half water. If you can’t go through an obstacle, go around it. Water does.”
Margaret Atwood
“Trust is the base layer of all human relationships. Without trust, there can be no value exchange, no community, no intimacy. If I don’t trust my wife, then her affection will feel lifeless and empty. If I don’t trust my business partner, then no amount of work will feel useful. If I don’t trust my neighbors or society, then I will see no reason to go out and engage with the world. Trust is the prerequisite to building anything good and meaningful in this world.”
Mark Manson, Blog
“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.”
William Ellery Channing, via A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 53)