“Many people worry, and suffer, because they have been involved in so many bad things in their lives. In truth, though, good things often happen in spite of our wishes, and sometimes even in opposition to our wishes, and often after our excitement and suffering over unworthy things.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 49)
“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 fighting 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 possible 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.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 33)
“Who is a good man? Only a man who has faith is good. What is faith? This is when your will is in consent with the world’s conscience and the world’s wisdom.”
Chinese Proverb, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 25)
“It’s important to strive to do good, and even more important to strive to abstain from evil.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 18)
“Today, we could hope that goodness comes our way—good news, good weather, good luck. Or we could find it ourselves, in ourselves. Goodness isn’t something that’s going to be delivered by mail. You have to dig it up inside your own soul. You find it within your own thoughts, and you make it with your own actions.”
Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic (Page 317)
“Instead of wasting even a second considering the opinions of future people—people who are not even born yet—focus every bit of yourself on being the best person you can be in the present moment. On doing the right thing, right now. The distant future is irrelevant. Be good and noble and impressive now—while it matters.”
Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic (Page 314)
“Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.”
Maori proverb, via Sunbeams (Page 139)
“The good and the wise lead quiet lives.”
Euripides, via Sunbeams (Page 138)
“Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love. The real miracle is the love that inspires them. In this sense everything that comes from love is a miracle.”
A Course In Miracles, via Sunbeams (Page 130)
“The goodness inside you is like a small flame, and you are its keeper. It’s your job, today and every day, to make sure that it has enough fuel, that it doesn’t get obstructed or snuffed out. Every person has their own version of the flame and is responsible for it, just as you are. If they all fail, the world will be much darker—that is something you don’t control. But so long as your flame flickers, there will be some light in the world.”
Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic (Page 201)
“Our world is abundant with quiet, hidden lives of beauty and courage and goodness. There are millions of people at any given moment, young and old, giving themselves over to service, risking hope, and all the while ennobling us all. To take such goodness in and let it matter—to let it define our take on reality as much as headlines of violence—is a choice we can make to live by the light in the darkness.”
Krista Tippett, Becoming Wise (Page 265)
“The answer to helplessness is not so very complicated. A man can do something for peace without having to jump into politics. Each man has inside him a basic decency and goodness. If he listens to it and acts on it, he is giving a great deal of what it is the world needs most. It is not complicated but it takes courage. It takes courage for a man to listen to his own goodness and act on it. Do we dare to be ourselves? This is the question that counts.”
Pablo Casals, via Sunbeams (Page 114)
101 Acts of Kindness To Help Recalibrate The World
Excerpt: Instead of doing arbitrary random acts of kindness, do deliberate deeds of recalibration when wronged to help “recalibrate” the world.
Read More »101 Acts of Kindness To Help Recalibrate The World
“Sometimes you can do everything right and things will still go wrong. The key is to never stop doing right.”
Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give (Page 154)