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Link Quote Stars Tags Author
b12dea5 Be the change that you wish to see in the world. action change philosophy inspirational wish Mahatma Gandhi
3ead2f9 Without music, life would be a mistake. music philosophy inspirational Friedrich Nietzsche
33b4ee4 The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference. hate love philosophy inspirational opposite indifference activism apathy Elie Wiesel
31fffff Have you ever noticed how 'What the hell' is always the right decision to make? philosophy misattributed-to-marilyn-monroe Terry Johnson
b6e2a4a Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. attributed-no-source world change life philosophy inspirational activism Margaret Mead
2d1ab58 May you live every day of your life. life philosophy wisdom inspirational Jonathan Swift
78e2eec Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right. humor philosophy wisdom inspirational Isaac Asimov
c49bf0b Simplicity, patience, compassion life philosophy inspirational Lao Tzu
7ba52f2 A woman has to live her life, or live to repent not having lived it. women living philosophy D.H. Lawrence
0eb5297 We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further. philosophy Richard Dawkins
96fffb5 The past has no power over the present moment. education life philosophy truth wisdom inspirational Eckhart Tolle
22cbb0b Maybe everyone can live beyond what they're capable of. hope life philosophy inspirational Markus Zusak
70ab6c3 Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so. philosophy science-fiction Douglas Adams
84301c0 A truth that's told with bad intent Beats all the lies you can invent. religion philosophy truth logic William Blake
f5b8a3f You only live twice: Once when you are born And once when you look death in the face poetry philosophy james-bond haiku Ian Fleming
26246c4 It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. philosophy inspirational lecture transcendentalism essay self-reliance social-commentary nonfiction Ralph Waldo Emerson
878af63 For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday and lessen the suffering of others. You'd be surprised how far that gets you. compassion learning inspiration science philosophy inspirational knowledge values Neil deGrasse Tyson
53b95e2 A concept is a brick. It can be used to build a courthouse of reason. Or it can be thrown through the window. freedom philosophy inspirational lateral-thinking anarchy rationalism Gilles Deleuze
a5d02b8 Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light. philosophy J.K.Rowling
421d2e4 Like all magnificent things, it's very simple. philosophy simplicity Natalie Babbitt
b052031 Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. spirituality science philosophy sense-of-wonder Carl Sagan
d1b867d I must say a word about fear. It is life's only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life. It is a clever, treacherous adversary, how well I know. It has no decency, respects no law or convention, shows no mercy. It goes for your weakest spot, which it finds with unnerving ease. It begins in your mind, always ... so you must fight hard to express it. You must fight hard to shine the light of words upon it. Because if you don't, if your fear becomes a wordless darkness that you avoid, perhaps even manage to forget, you open yourself to further attacks of fear because you never truly fought the opponent who defeated you. philosophy Yann Martel
8c87887 Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people we personally dislike. philosophy Oscar Wilde
f768c9d Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder 'why, why, why?' Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand. nature philosophy Kurt Vonnegut
834d408 Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them philosophy antoine-de-saint-exupery the-little-prince children Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
90e4353 Well, I must endure the presence of a few caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies. philosophy caterpillars Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
077118a Is it possible, in the final analysis, for one human being to achieve perfect understanding of another? We can invest enormous time and energy in serious efforts to know another person, but in the end, how close can we come to that person's essence? We convince ourselves that we know the other person well, but do we really know anything important about anyone? people friendship love philosophy possibility important thought Haruki Murakami
5a897ae Nothing was ever in tune. People just blindly grabbed at whatever there was: communism, health foods, zen, surfing, ballet, hypnotism, group encounters, orgies, biking, herbs, Catholicism, weight-lifting, travel, withdrawal, vegetarianism, India, painting, writing, sculpting, composing, conducting, backpacking, yoga, copulating, gambling, drinking, hanging around, frozen yogurt, Beethoven, Back, Buddha, Christ, TM, H, carrot juice, suicide, handmade suits, jet travel, New York City, and then it all evaporated and fell apart. People had to find things to do while waiting to die. I guess it was nice to have a choice. philosophy society Charles Bukowski
1469c09 "You didn't kill him. He would have killed you, but you didn't kill him." "So? He was stupid. If I killed everyone who was stupid, I wouldn't have time to sleep." philosophy tamora-pierce amusing Tamora Pierce
42e4ae1 I don't know what's worse: to not know what you are and be happy, or to become what you've always wanted to be, and feel alone. loneliness philosophy melancholy psychology Daniel Keyes
cffed4d Do not go gentle into that good night death-and-dying poetry philosophy inspirational Dylan Thomas
6920ad3 I started my life with a single absolute: that the world was mine to shape in the image of my highest values and never to be given up to a lesser standard, no matter how long or hard the struggle. philosophy taggart objectivism Ayn Rand
5f34825 I shall look at you out of the corner of my eye, and you will say nothing. Words are the source of misunderstandings. philosophy inspirational communication Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
28ef6fa One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman. philosophy Simone de Beauvoir
f0fcc0d He suddenly recalled from Plato's Symposium: People were hermaphrodites until God split then in two, and now all the halves wander the world over seeking one another. Love is the longing for the half of ourselves we have lost. philosophy Milan Kundera
b2b0b48 No! Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try. humor life philosophy inspirational jedi star-wars George Lucas
5ee5ffc I know that pain is the most important thing in the universes. Greater than survival, greater than love, greater even than the beauty it brings about. For without pain, there can be no pleasure. Without sadness, there can be no happiness. Without misery there can be no beauty. And without these, life is endless, hopeless, doomed and damned pain philosophy inspirational Harlan Ellison
3f393d9 I know that pain is the most important thing in the universes. Greater than survival, greater than love, greater even than the beauty it brings about. For without pain, there can be no pleasure. Without sadness, there can be no happiness. Without misery there can be no beauty. And without these, life is endless, hopeless, doomed and damned. Adult. You have become adult. pain philosophy Harlan Ellison
6dc2a22 Perhaps home is not a place but simply an irrevocable condition. comfort philosophy irrevocability state-of-mind completion fulfillment belonging permanence security attachment home safety psychology James Baldwin
9bd0bc0 "A person who has not been completely alienated, who has remained sensitive and able to feel, who has not lost the sense of dignity, who is not yet "for sale", who can still suffer over the suffering of others, who has not acquired fully the having mode of existence - briefly, a person who has remained a person and not become a thing - cannot help feeling lonely, powerless, isolated in present-day society. He cannot help doubting himself and his own convictions, if not his sanity. He cannot help suffering, even though he can experience moments of joy and clarity that are absent in the life of his "normal" contemporaries. Not rarely will he suffer from neurosis that results from the situation of a sane man living in an insane society, rather than that of the more conventional neurosis of a sick man trying to adapt himself to a sick society. In the process of going further in his analysis, i.e. of growing to greater independence and productivity,his neurotic symptoms will cure themselves." philosophy psychoanalysis psychology Erich fromm
b8bf2a4 It does not matter how long you are spending on the earth, how much money you have gathered or how much attention you have received. It is the amount of positive vibration you have radiated in life that matters, positive-living money kindness spirit compassion self-awareness spirituality happiness life love philosophy wisdom inspirational purposeful-living happy-life attention oneness purpose-in-life positive-attitude purpose-of-life meaning-of-life self-discovery perspective meditation purpose revelation peace respect Amit Ray
2d284e7 Things do not change; we change. philosophy inspirational common-sense henry david thoreau
f12f252 For, after all, how do we know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works? Or that the past is unchangeable? If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable - what then? science philosophy ontology metaphysics logic psychology George Orwell
f96b111 I don't deserve a soul, yet I still have one. I know because it hurts. religion philosophy soul Douglas Coupland
4c54acf What you are is God's gift to you, what you become is your gift to God. christianity spirituality god philosophy inspirational christian-living catholicism gift Hans Urs von Balthasar
2531315 It takes three to make love, not two: you, your spouse, and God. Without God people only succeed in bringing out the worst in one another. Lovers who have nothing else to do but love each other soon find there is nothing else. Without a central loyalty life is unfinished. lovers marriage relationships christianity spirituality religion god happiness philosophy relationship-with-god unhappy-marriage church expectations Fulton J. Sheen
3d1529f No one should ever ask themselves that: why am I unhappy? The question carries within it the virus that will destroy everything. If we ask that question, it means we want to find out what makes us happy. If what makes us happy is different from what we have now, then we must either change once and for all or stay as we are, feeling even more unhappy. unhappiness people life philosophy Paulo Coelho
936b247 To lose a brother is to lose someone with whom you can share the experience of growing old, who is supposed to bring you a sister-in-law and nieces and nephews, creatures who people the tree of your life and give it new branches. To lose your father is to lose the one whose guidance and help you seek, who supports you like a tree trunk supports its branches. To lose your mother, well, that is like losing the sun above you. It is like losing--I'm sorry, I would rather not go on. family philosophy Yann Martel
6a63f0d On the whole human beings want to be good, but not too good, and not quite all the time. humour philosophy human-nature George Orwell
927e2e2 This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness. kindness morality life philosophy inspirational temple brain simple ethics Dalai Lama XIV
b6ae32e If you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none. Let him forget there is such a thing as war. If the government is inefficient, top-heavy, and tax-mad, better it be all those than that people worry over it. Peace, Montag. Give the people contests they win by remembering the words to more popular songs or the names of state capitals or how much corn Iowa grew last year. Cram them full of noncombustible data, chock them so damned full of 'facts' they feel stuffed, but absolutely 'brilliant' with information. Then they'll feel they're thinking, they'll get a of motion without moving. And they'll be happy, because facts of that sort don't change. war politics change happiness philosophy contests data popular brilliance taxation information motion questioning worry facts government peace ignorance thinking forget Ray Bradbury
aa964e4 Devotion to the truth is the hallmark of morality; there is no greater, nobler, more heroic form of devotion than the act of a man who assumes the responsibility of thinking. philosophy taggart objectivism Ayn Rand
cad9f70 Don't only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets, for it and knowledge can raise men to the divine. philosophy wisdom inspirational Ludwig van Beethoven
d29cec3 "She said, "It's not life or death, the labyrinth." "Um, okay. So what is it?" "Suffering," she said. "Doing wrong and having wrong things happen to you. That's the problem. Bolivar was talking about the pain, not about the living or dying. How do you get out of the labyrinth of suffering?... Nothing's wrong. But there's always suffering, Pudge. Homework or malaria or having a boyfriend who lives far away when there's a good-looking boy lying next to you. Suffering is universal. It's the one thing Buddhists, Christians, and Muslims are all worried about." suffering philosophy labyrinth pudge John Green
d67689b All knowledge is worth having. life philosophy Jacqueline Carey
c3c457a No single event can awaken within us a stranger whose existence we had never suspected. To live is to be slowly born. philosophy Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
b0f4b37 It's no good trying to get rid of your own aloneness. You've got to stick to it all your life. Only at times, at times, the gap will be filled in. At times! But you have to wait for the times. Accept your own aloneness and stick to it, all your life. And then accept the times when the gap is filled in, when they come. But they've got to come. You can't force them. loneliness philosophy D.H. Lawrence
7a3d4c2 It may be important to great thinkers to examine the world, to explain and despise it. But I think it is only important to love the world, not to despise it, not for us to hate each other, but to be able to regard the world and ourselves and all beings with love, admiration and respect. world love philosophy hermann-hesse respect Hermann Hesse
76e817c But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown. laughter humor philosophy Carl Sagan
3111911 The most important reason for going from one place to another is to see what's in between, and they took great pleasure in doing just that. philosophy quest Norton Juster
e6bdb07 Learning does not make one learned: there are those who have knowledge and those who have understanding. The first requires memory and the second philosophy. philosophy Alexandre Dumas
53014a0 There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. politics philosophy misattributed-milton-friedman misattributed-robert-a-heinlein tanstafl thermodynamics tanstaafl Pierre Dos Utt
04126ba The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty: not knowing what comes next. future philosophy Ursula K. Le Guin
3b4bbe7 Stop feeling sorry for yourself and you will be happy. philosophy inspirational Stephen Fry
7a7c436 To write well, express yourself like the common people, but think like a wise man. writing philosophy inspirational Aristotle
f9d4269 In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagvat Geeta, since whose composition years of the gods have elapsed, and in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial; and I doubt if that philosophy is not to be referred to a previous state of existence, so remote is its sublimity from our conceptions. I lay down the book and go to my well for water, and lo! there I meet the servant of the Bramin, priest of Brahma and Vishnu and Indra, who still sits in his temple on the Ganges reading the Vedas, or dwells at the root of a tree with his crust and water jug. I meet his servant come to draw water for his master, and our buckets as it were grate together in the same well. The pure Walden water is mingled with the sacred water of the Ganges. spiritual philosophy brahma ganges indra vishnu hinduism sacred reverence priest gods intellect respect Henry David Thoreau
693e1e9 Fault always lies in the same place: with him weak enough to lay blame. philosophy inspirational Stephen King
6822fce The so-called is the argument that freedom in the sense of absence of any constraining control must lead to very great restraint, since it makes the bully free to enslave the meek. The idea is, in a slightly different form, and with very different tendency, clearly expressed in . Less well known is the : . -- In this formulation, I do not imply, for instance, that we should always suppress the utterance of intolerant philosophies; as long as we can counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion, suppression would certainly be unwise. But we should claim the to suppress them if necessary even by force; for it may easily turn out that they are not prepared to meet us on the level of rational argument, but begin by denouncing all argument; they may forbid their followers to listen to rational argument, because it is deceptive, and teach them to answer arguments by the use of their fists or pistols. . reason science philosophy criminal intolerance plato tolerance force Karl Raimund Popper
56387df There is no need to search; achievement leads to nowhere. It makes no difference at all, so just be happy now! Love is the only reality of the world, because it is all One, you see. And the only laws are paradox, humor and change. There is no problem, never was, and never will be. Release your struggle, let go of your mind, throw away your concerns, and relax into the world. No need to resist life, just do your best. Open your eyes and see that you are far more than you imagine. You are the world, you are the universe; you are yourself and everyone else, too! It's all the marvelous Play of God. Wake up, regain your humor. Don't worry, just be happy. You are already free! philosophy inspirational holistic-health self-help Dan Millman
346eb0b Death, therefore, the most awful of evils, is nothing to us, seeing that, when we are, death is not come, and, when death is come, we are not. death philosophy wisdom inspirational awful serenity peace Epicurus
ef49493 Before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience. philosophy wisdom Harper Lee
b45ae59 Feathers filled the small room. Our laughter kept the feathers in the air. I thought about birds. Could they fly if there wasn't someone, somewhere, laughing? philosophy Jonathan Safran Foer
c8ebb42 When someone sees the same people every day, as had happened with him at the seminary, they wind up becoming a part of that person's life. And then they want the person to change. If someone isn't what others want them to be, the others become angry. Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own. people life philosophy Paulo Coelho
f23c604 The thing about a spiral is, if you follow it inward, it never actually ends. It just keeps tightening, infinitely. philosophy mental-illness John Green
bbce618 The trouble is you can shut your eyes but you can't shut your mind. terry-pratchett philosophy wintersmith Terry Pratchett
b324546 Who is John Galt? philosophy galt taggart objectivism opening-lines Ayn Rand
de83024 Always forgive, but never forget, else you will be a prisoner of your own hatred, and doomed to repeat your mistakes forever. happiness life philosophy truth wisdom inspirational forgiveness knowledge Wil Zeus
68d4985 I never found beauty in longing for the impossible and never found the possible to be beyond my reach. philosophy taggart objectivism Ayn Rand
1798e35 There is no escape--we pay for the violence of our ancestors. life philosophy truth wisdom muad-dib legacy Frank Herbert
db0b006 The beauty of a living thing is not the atoms that go into it, but the way those atoms are put together. universe beauty science philosophy cosmos Carl Sagan
20e5f3c Everything takes time. Bees have to move very fast to stay still. time philosophy impermanence mujō 無常 stillness insight David Foster Wallace
3cd6dbc I cannot compromise my respect for your love. You can keep your love, I will keep my respect. respected respectful respecting respecting-yourself human inspiration inspirational-quotes motivation motivational love philosophy wisdom inspirational breaking-up respectable breakups breakup motivational-quotes respecting-others compromise wisdom-quotes respect self-respect humans Amit Kalantri
d9f8e15 Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved! That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly. It is the one thing we are interested in here. happiness philosophy inspirational being-loved Leo Tolstoy
47c28c8 When you choose one way out of many, all the ways you don't take are snuffed out like candles, as if they'd never existed. philosophy Philip Pullman
12b6cb9 Living well is an art that can be developed: a love of life and ability to take great pleasure from small offerings and assurance that the world owes you nothing and that every gift is exactly that, a gift. philosophy inspirational Maya Angelou
863bd56 Travel is never a matter of money but of courage philosophy inspirational Paulo Coelho
fee4936 Governments, if they endure, always tend increasingly toward aristocratic forms. No government in history has been known to evade this pattern. And as the aristocracy develops, government tends more and more to act exclusively in the interests of the ruling class - whether that class be hereditary royalty, oligarchs of financial empires, or entrenched bureaucracy. - Politics as Repeat Phenomenon: Bene Gesserit Training Manual philosophy Frank Herbert
bcc9601 Criticism of others is thus an oblique form of self-commendation. We think we make the picture hang straight on our wall by telling our neighbors that all his pictures are crooked. criticism christianity spirituality philosophy judgement Fulton J. Sheen
f6edc2b There are two kinds of people in this world: Those who believe there are two kinds of people in this world and those who are smart enough to know better. humor philosophy Tom Robbins
ab90312 That's not a bad word...hate and war are bad words, but fuck isn't. life philosophy truth wisdom Judy Blume
1d9bdb4 Learned we may be with another man's learning: we can only be wise with wisdom of our own. philosophy wisdom Michel de Montaigne
17d63bd For the survivor who chooses to testify, it is clear: his duty is to bear witness for the dead and for the living. He has no right to deprive future generations of a past that belongs to our collective memory. To forget would be not only dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time. history philosophy Elie Wiesel
2b81ce9 A preoccupation with the next world clearly shows an inability to cope credibly with this one. religion philosophy Richard K. Morgan
c2bca8b A bird is safe in its nest - but that is not what its wings are made for. true-purpose inspirational-quotes philosophy wisdom inspirational bird wisdom-quote philosophy-of-life wings Amit Ray
bdcdcde This place is a dream. Only a sleeper considers it real. Then death comes like dawn, and you wake up laughing at what you thought was your grief. life philosophy inspirational Rumi
27afe35 Beauty is not who you are on the outside, it is the wisdom and time you gave away to save another struggling soul like you. activist beautiful-personatlity beautiful-soul fathers giving-heart helping-out homeless-tent-community jealousy marine-life-conservation medical-missions motivators openess outward-beauty people-of-action real-people rescuers search-and-rescue time true-beauty prayer writing compassion inspiration philosophy truth inspirational empathetic takers communicators perspectives inner-beauty tender givers loving charity mothers community friendships service reflection judgement vanity aging Shannon L. Alder
f70db6a There is nothing more notable in than that he found time, when he was an old man, to learn music and dancing, and thought it time well spent. philosophy lifelong-learning socrates Michel de Montaigne
1c4ba75 Il n'y a de realite que dans l'action action reality philosophy inspirational handeln existentialism Jean-Paul Sartre
26202f8 It is too difficult to think nobly when one thinks only of earning a living. poverty philosophy noble Jean-Jacques Rousseau
8dafe1c Il n'y a de realite que dans l'action. (There is no reality except in action.) reality philosophy inspirational handeln existentialism Jean-Paul Sartre
c1947d5 We join spokes together in a wheel poetry love philosophy inspirational Lao Tzu
73f2947 Joy is the goal of existence, and joy is not to be stumbled upon, but to be achieved, and the act of treason is to let its vision drown in the swamp of the moment's torture. philosophy taggart objectivism Ayn Rand
479217e All the world's a stage. theatre universe world humanity philosophy stage William Shakespeare
bec357f The bounties of space, of infinite outwardness, were three: empty heroics, low comedy, and pointless death. science life philosophy Kurt Vonnegut
930c8fd Regardless of the staggering dimensions of the world about us, the density of our ignorance, the risks of catastrophes to come, and our individual weakness within the immense collectivity, the fact remains that we are absolutely free today if we choose to will our existence in its finiteness, a finiteness which is open on the infinite. And in fact, any man who has known real loves, real revolts, real desires, and real will knows quite well that he has no need of any outside guarantee to be sure of his goals; their certitude comes from his own drive. feminism philosophy Simone de Beauvoir
2c5da30 Death twitches my ear death-and-dying philosophical living death philosophy inspirational creepy seize-the-day carpe-diem Virgil
36ce959 Whether a thought is spoken or not it is a real thing and it has power," Tuek said. "You might find the line between life and death among the Fremen to be too sharp and quick. philosophy truth inspirational Frank Herbert
f56ef08 "Whether a thought is spoken or not it is a real thing and it has power," Tuek said. "You might find the line between life and death among the Fremen to be too sharp and quick." -- philosophy truth Frank Herbert
c32f01f All paths are present, always... and we can but choose among them. life philosophy inspirational Jacqueline Carey
58ae38f Philosophy ... is a science, and as such has no articles of faith; accordingly, in it nothing can be assumed as existing except what is either positively given empirically, or demonstrated through indubitable conclusions. existence science philosophy empirical knowledge Arthur Schopenhauer
8b16896 Time is what keeps things from happening all at once. philosophy inspirational Ann Brashares
43b2be2 I am Me. In all the world, there is no one else exactly like me. Everything that comes out of me is authentically mine, because I alone chose it -- I own everything about me: my body, my feelings, my mouth, my voice, all my actions, whether they be to others or myself. I own my fantasies, my dreams, my hopes, my fears. I own my triumphs and successes, all my failures and mistakes. Because I own all of me, I can become intimately acquainted with me. By so doing, I can love me and be friendly with all my parts. I know there are aspects about myself that puzzle me, and other aspects that I do not know -- but as long as I am friendly and loving to myself, I can courageously and hopefully look for solutions to the puzzles and ways to find out more about me. However I look and sound, whatever I say and do, and whatever I think and feel at a given moment in time is authentically me. If later some parts of how I looked, sounded, thought, and felt turn out to be unfitting, I can discard that which is unfitting, keep the rest, and invent something new for that which I discarded. I can see, hear, feel, think, say, and do. I have the tools to survive, to be close to others, to be productive, and to make sense and order out of the world of people and things outside of me. I own me, and therefore, I can engineer me. I am me, and I am Okay. philosophy inspirational Virginia Satir
7dfe527 Maybe sometimes we don't do the right thing because the wrong thing looks more dangerous, and we don't want to look scared, so we go and do the wrong thing just because it's dangerous. We're more concerned with not looking scared than with judging right. philosophy Philip Pullman
f1b7313 The better organized the state, the duller its humanity. philosophy David Mitchell
86d9764 I am sitting with a philosopher in the garden; he says again and again 'I know that that's a tree', pointing to a tree that is near us. Someone else arrives and hears this, and I tell him: 'This fellow isn't insane. We are only doing philosophy. philosophy Ludwig Wittgenstein
185d8be To those human beings who are of any concern to me I wish suffering, desolation, sickness, ill-treatment, indignities--I wish that they should not remain unfamiliar with profound self-contempt, the torture of self-mistrust, the wretchedness of the vanquished: I have no pity for them, because I wish them the only thing that can prove today whether one is worth anything or not--that one endures. friendship philosophy inspirational endurance Friedrich Nietzsche
9828ab7 I know that the molecules in my body are traceable to phenomena in the cosmos. That makes me want to grab people on the street and say: 'Have you HEARD THIS? science philosophy inspirational connectedness perspective knowledge Neil deGrasse Tyson
4de2b16 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone one who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. faith god love philosophy truth Anonymous
7ab84aa Nothing in the world is permanent, and we're foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we're still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it. If change is of the essence of existence one would have thought it only sensible to make it the premise of our philosophy. philosophy W. Somerset Maugham
33fd620 To learn is not to know; there are the learners and the learned. Memory makes the one, philosophy the others. understanding philosophy Alexandre Dumas
4dc3617 "The contemporary proliferation of bullshit also has deeper sources, in various forms of skepticism which deny that we can have any reliable access to an objective reality and which therefore reject the possibility of knowing how things truly are. These "anti-realist" doctrines undermine confidence in the value of disinterested efforts to determine what is true and what is false, and even in the intelligibility of the notion of objective inquiry. One response to this loss of confidence has been a retreat from the discipline required by dedication to the ideal of correctness to a quite different sort of discipline, which is imposed by pursuit of an alternative ideal of sincerity. Rather than seeking primarily to arrive at accurate representations of a common world, the individual turns toward trying to provide honest representations of himself. Convinced that reality has no inherent nature, which he might hope to identify as the truth about things, he devotes himself to being true to his own nature. It is as though he decides that since it makes no sense to try to be true to the facts, he must therefore try instead to be true to himself. But it is preposterous to imagine that we ourselves are determinate, and hence susceptible both to correct and to incorrect descriptions, while supposing that the ascription of determinacy to anything else has been exposed as a mistake. As conscious beings, we exist only in response to other things, and we cannot know ourselves at all without knowing them. Moreover, there is nothing in theory, and certainly nothing in experience, to support the extraordinary judgment that it is the truth about himself that is the easiest for a person to know. Facts about ourselves are not peculiarly solid and resistant to skeptical dissolution. Our natures are, indeed, elusively insubstantial -- notoriously less stable and less inherent than the natures of other things. And insofar as this is the case, sincerity itself is bullshit." -- reality honesty philosophy truth sincerity Harry G. Frankfurt
3760cc0 Stop longing. You poison today's ease, reaching always for tomorrow. present philosophy today tomorrow poison longing Robin Hobb
cb94e1b The treacherous are ever distrustful. fantasy philosophy truth inspirational gandalf J.R.R. Tolkien
0fee9a5 There is no order in the world around us, we must adapt ourselves to the requirements of chaos instead. life philosophy Kurt Vonnegut
c85ff47 If you've got the truth you can demonstrate it. Talking doesn't prove it. faith science philosophy scientific-method Robert A. Heinlein
e8a8853 In life man commits himself and draws his own portrait, outside of which there is nothing. No doubt this thought may seem harsh to someone who has not made a success of his life. But on the other hand, it helps people to understand that reality alone counts, and that dreams, expectations and hopes only serve to define a man as a broken dream, aborted hopes, and futile expectations. philosophy Jean-Paul Sartre
4554196 In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few philosophy inspirational zen Shunryu Suzuki
b8f73fa No passion is stronger in the breast of a man than the desire to make others believe as he believes. Nothing so cuts at the root of his happiness and fills him with rage as the sense that another rates low what he prizes high. philosophy Virginia Woolf
8cc8ddc "Maybe that's it, [...] [w]ith what you were talking about before. The world being broken. Maybe it isn't that we're supposed to find the pieces and put them back together. Maybe the pieces." [...] "Maybe [...] what we're supposed to do is come together. That's how we stop the breaking." philosophy David Levithan
2045ef1 I take no pride in hopeless longing; I wouldn't hold a stillborn aspiration. I'd want to have it, to make it, to live it. philosophy taggart objectivism Ayn Rand
8b1bd4d The primary thing when you take a sword in your hands is your intention to cut the enemy, whatever the means. Whenever you parry, hit, spring, strike or touch the enemy's cutting sword, you must cut the enemy in the same movement. It is essential to attain this. If you think only of hitting, springing, striking or touching the enemy, you will not be able actually to cut him. philosophy inspirational martial-arts strategy Miyamoto Musashi
074f6ac Some people insist that 'mediocre' is better than 'best.' They delight in clipping wings because they themselves can't fly. They despise brains because they have none. life philosophy truth wisdom inspirational excellence critics Robert A. Heinlein
dbf11d8 But where was God now, with heaven full of astronauts, and the Lord overthrown? I miss God. I miss the company of someone utterly loyal. I still don't think of God as my betrayer. The servants of God, yes, but servants by their very nature betray. I miss God who was my friend. I don't even know if God exists, but I do know that if God is your emotional role model, very few human relationships will match up to it. I have an idea that one day it might be possible, I thought once it had become possible, and that glimpse has set me wandering, trying to find the balance between earth and sky. If the servants hadn't rushed in and parted us, I might have been disappointed, might have snatched off the white samite to find a bowl of soup. As it is, I can't settle, I want someone who is fierce and will love me until death and know that love is as strong as death, and be on my side for ever and ever. I want someone who will destroy and be destroyed by me. There are many forms of love and affection, some people can spend their whole lives together without knowing each other's names. Naming is a difficult and time-consuming process; it concerns essences, and it means power. But on the wild nights who can call you home? Only the one who knows your name. Romantic love has been diluted into paperback form and has sold thousands and millions of copies. Somewhere it is still in the original, written on tablets of stone. I would cross seas and suffer sunstroke and give away all I have, but not for a man, because they want to be the destroyer and never the destroyed. religion life love philosophy lgbt Jeanette Winterson
2a506c3 Mother used to say that however miserable one is, there's always something to be thankful for. And each morning, when the sky brightened and light began to flood my cell, I agreed with her. literature life philosophy the-stranger albert-camus existentialism Albert Camus
77a892d ...only in the surrender of the light could the darkness prevail. philosophy David Eddings
54fcb32 There's only one rule that I know of, babies--God damn it, you've got to be kind. philosophy inspirational Kurt Vonnegut
4211a26 We do not escape into philosophy, psychology, and art--we go there to restore our shattered selves into whole ones. philosophy psychology Anaïs Nin
339e4e4 All the times I have suddenly realized that my parents are dead, even now, it still surprises me, to exist in the world while that which made me has ceased to exist. philosophy grief-and-loss Nicole Krauss
d9546b3 They can't tell so much about you if you got your eyes closed. philosophy wisdom Ken Kesey
7bbb275 Imagine others complexly. inspiration life philosophy wisdom inspirational John Green
b3afc7b Experience has shown, and a true philosophy will always show, that a vast, perhaps the larger, portion of truth arises from the seemingly irrelevant. life philosophy truth relevance Edgar Allan Poe
94d3c94 I do feel that I've managed to make something I could maybe call my world...over time...little by little. And when I'm inside it, to some extent, I feel kind of relieved. But the very fact I felt I had to make such a world probably means that I'm a weak person, that I bruise easily, don't you think? And in the eyes of society at large, that world of mine is a puny little thing. It's like a cardboard house: a puff of wind might carry it off somewhere. philosophy weakness society Haruki Murakami
7e41da7 Whether you take the doughnut hole as a blank space or as an entity unto itself is a purely metaphysical question and does not affect the taste of the doughnut one bit. philosophy metaphysical taste MurakamiHaruki
6cf9c55 "Once upon a time there was a young prince who believed in all things but three. He did not believe in princesses, he did not believe in islands, he did not believe in God. His father, the king, told him that such things did not exist. As there were no princesses or islands in his father's domains, and no sign of God, the young prince believed his father. But then, one day, the prince ran away from his palace. He came to the next land. There, to his astonishment, from every coast he saw islands, and on these islands, strange and troubling creatures whom he dared not name. As he was searching for a boat, a man in full evening dress approached him along the shore. Are those real islands?' asked the young prince. Of course they are real islands,' said the man in evening dress. And those strange and troubling creatures?' They are all genuine and authentic princesses.' Then God must exist!' cried the prince. I am God,' replied the man in full evening dress, with a bow. The young prince returned home as quickly as he could. So you are back,' said the father, the king. I have seen islands, I have seen princesses, I have seen God,' said the prince reproachfully. The king was unmoved. Neither real islands, nor real princesses, I have seen God,' said the prince reproachfully. The king was unmoved. Neither real islands, nor real princesses, nor a real God exist.' I saw them!' Tell me how God was dressed.' God was in full evening dress.' Were the sleeves of his coat rolled back?' The prince remembered that they had been. The king smiled. That is the uniform of a magician. You have been deceived.' At this, the prince returned to the next land, and went to the same shore, where once again he came upon the man in full evening dress. My father the king has told me who you are,' said the young prince indignantly. 'You deceived me last time, but not again. Now I know that those are not real islands and real princesses, because you are a magician.' The man on the shore smiled. It is you who are deceived, my boy. In your father's kingdom there are many islands and many princesses. But you are under your father's spell, so you cannot see them.' The prince pensively returned home. When he saw his father, he looked him in the eyes. Father, is it true that you are not a real king, but only a magician?' The king smiled, and rolled back his sleeves. Yes, my son, I am only a magician.' Then the man on the shore was God.' The man on the shore was another magician.' I must know the real truth, the truth beyond magic.' There is no truth beyond magic,' said the king. The prince was full of sadness. He said, 'I will kill myself.' The king by magic caused death to appear. Death stood in the door and beckoned to the prince. The prince shuddered. He remembered the beautiful but unreal islands and the unreal but beautiful princesses. suicide magic death god life philosophy John Fowles
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