Wisdom
Quotes about insight, discernment, and perspective
All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.
We judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their actions.
Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day.
He who does not look ahead remains behind.
Simplicity is the secret of seeing things clearly.
The greatest geniuses sometimes accomplish more when they work less.
There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.
It is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.
Sometimes, the most productive thing you can do is relax.
Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.
That which hurts, also instructs.
The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.
The man who insists upon seeing with perfect clearness before he decides, never decides.
We live at the mercy of our ideas.
Defining greatness is perhaps even harder than achieving it.
Since we cannot change reality, let us change the eyes which see reality.
How many times have you noticed that it's the little quiet moments in the midst of life that seem to give the rest extra-special meaning?
So many books, so little time.
A room without books is like a body without a soul.
Angry people are not always wise.
Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.
Happiness cannot come from without. It must come from within. It is not what we see and touch or that which others do for us which makes us happy; it is that which we think and feel and do, first for the other fellow and then for ourselves.
Take a deep breath and don't take any of it too seriously.
For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.
When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.
I make a point to appreciate all the little things in my life. I go out and smell the air after a good, hard rain. These small actions help remind me that there are so many great, glorious pieces of good in the world.
Related quotes tagged wisdom
"Hurry is not just a disordered schedule. Hurry is a disordered heart."
"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."
"Know thyself."
"It is as hard to see oneself as to look backwards without turning around."
"He who knows others is clever, but he who knows himself is enlightened."
"A man's true estate of power and riches is to be in himself; not in his dwelling or position or external relations, but in his own essential character."
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."
"Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny."
"There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth."
"Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do."
"Two necessities in doing a great and important work: a definite plan and limited time."
"It's simple. I just removed everything that is not David."
"Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher."
"Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn."
"Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress."
"You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems."
"Little by little we human beings are confronted with situations that give us more and more clues that we aren't perfect."
"There is one quality that trumps all, evident in virtually every great entrepreneur, manager, and leader. That quality is self-awareness. The best thing leaders can do to improve their effectiveness is to become more aware of what motivates them and their decision making."
"A fondness for power is implanted in most men, and it is natural to abuse it when acquired."
"The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse."
"The first job of a leader is to define reality."
"Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets."
"Too often we forget that discipline really means to teach, not to punish. A disciple is a student, not a recipient of behavioral consequences."
"Where your talents and the needs of the world cross, lies your calling, vocation, purpose."
"I know of nothing more despicable and pathetic than a man who devotes all the hours of the waking day to the making of money for money's sake."
"Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter."
"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."
"Don't get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life."
"Take chances. Mistakes are never a failure—they can be turned into wisdom."
"Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it well and serenely, and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense."
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."
"There isn't anyone you couldn't love once you've heard their story."
"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and strong, because someday in life you will have been all of these."