To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate the beauty;
to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded!”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The difference between real material poison and intellectual poison is that most material poison is disgusting to the taste, but intellectual poison, which takes the form of cheap newspapers or bad books, can unfortunately sometimes be attractive.”
Leo Tolstoy, The Calendar of Wisdom
My idea of good company is the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company.
– Jane Austin, Persuasion
Continue reading “The Training of a Wise and Good Person”There are three areas in which the person who would be wise and good must be trained.
Keep this thought a the ready at daybreak, and through the day and night – there is only one path to happiness, and that is in giving up all outside of our sphere of choice , regarding nothing else as your possession, surrendering all else to God and Fortune.
Epictetus, Discourses, 4.4.39
Thinker's Notes 