“You should be in a hurry to do good works, even small ones, and to avoid sin. One good thing leads to another, and one sin causes another. The reward for virtue is virtue, and the punishment for vice is more vice.”
The Talmud, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 228)
“Our body limits the spiritual divine spark which we call our soul. In the way that a vessel gives form to the liquid or gas which is put into it, our body gives form to our spiritual being. If the vessel is broken, that which was in it no longer retains the form it had and flows out. Does it receive a new form? Is it united with other beings? We know nothing of this. After death the soul becomes something different, something indescribable.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 224)
“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.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 224)
“The man who cannot forgive destroys a bridge which he will have to cross, because every person needs forgiveness.”
Edward Herbert, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 224)
“The body is the first student of the soul.”
Henry David Thoreau, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 217) | Read Matt’s Blog on this quote ➜
“There is no love in the future. Love can exist only in the present moment. A man who does not manifest love in the present does not love at all.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 215)
“When the suffering of another creature causes you to feel pain, do not submit to the initial desire to flee from the suffering one, but on the contrary, come closer, as close as you can to him who suffers, and try to help him.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 214)
“The clearest and simplest notions are almost always concealed by sophisticated meditations.”
Marcus Tullius Cicero, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 213)
“Very often the simplest and least educated people can easily and unconsciously understand the meaning of life while the most scholarly people lack this ability, because they have been too educated to understand the simple things that are basic to all people.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 213)
“Our biggest desire is to live forever. But when we are freed from this body, we will not wish to come back. Is there such a child who, once born, would like to return to the womb of his mother? Is there a man who, freed from prison, would like to return to it? In the same way, a person would not be afraid about the future liberation from his body, if he is not connected too closely with this material life.”
Tables Of The Babids, via A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 212)
“All that brings unification to people is goodness and beauty; all that brings separation among them is evil. All people know this: it is firmly inscribed on our hearts.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 206)
“Socrates thought that stupidity was incompatible with wisdom, but he never said that ignorance was stupidity.”
Xenophon, via A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 203)
“If you are in a difficult situation, a low mood, if you are afraid of other people and of yourself, if you are tormented, 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.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 202)
“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.”
Henri Amiel, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 202)
“There are two very clear indications of real science and real art: the first inner sign is that a scholar or an artist works not for profit, but for sacrifice, for his calling; the second, outer sign is that his works are understandable to all people. Real science studies and makes accessible that knowledge which people at that period of history think important, and real art transfers this truth from the domain of knowledge to the domain of feelings.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 196)
“Remember that you cannot do anything wonderful driven by competition; you cannot do anything noble from pride.”
John Ruskin, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 196)
“Art has such an impact on people that many strange things can happen in their souls: mysteries become clearer; opaque things become evident; complicated things become simple; what is probable becomes necessary. A real artist always simplifies.”
Henri Amiel, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 196)
“There is no death for the spirit; therefore, a person who lives a spiritual life is freed from death.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 188)
“When you suffer, think not on how you can escape suffering, but concentrate your efforts on what kind of inner moral and spiritual perfection this suffering requires.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 185)
“We can understand wisdom in three ways: first, by meditation; this is the most noble way. Secondly, by being influenced by someone or following someone; this is the easiest way. Third is the way of experience; this is the most difficult way.”
Confucius, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 185)