| 28 Feb, 2009 |
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Give me the splendid silent sun with all his beams full-dazzling. Nature is just enough; but men and women must comprehend and accept her suggestions. Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives. I must govern the clock, not be governed by it. We improve ourselves by victories over ourself. There must be contests, and you must win. The world stands aside to let anyone pass who knows where he is going. Enjoyment is not a goal, it is a feeling that accompanies important ongoing activity. Dance is the hidden language of the soul. Man is the Only Animal that Blushes. Or needs to. Self-respect is the fruit of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself. Intimate relationships cannot substitute for a life plan. But to have any meaning or viability at all, a life plan must include intimate relationships. At the worst, a house unkept cannot be so distressing as a life unlived. There is no need to go to India or anywhere else to find peace. You will find that deep place of silence right in your room, your garden or even your bathtub. Health is not simply the absence of sickness. The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions. We turn not older with years, but newer every day. The report of my death was an exaggeration. I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music. It seems to infuse strength into my limbs and ideas into my brain. Life seems to go on without effort, when I am filled with music. To be able to fill leisure intelligently is the last product of civilization. Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air. Where is there dignity unless there is honesty? I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestioned ability of a man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor. The farther behind I leave the past, the closer I am to forging my own character. I stopped believing in Santa Claus when my mother took me to see him in a department store, and he asked for my autograph. Familiarity breeds contempt - and children. This is my answer to the gap between ideas and action - I will write it out. It is better to wear out than to rust out. That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest. Of course there is no formula for success except perhaps an unconditional acceptance of life and what it brings. A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow. Guilt is a rope that wears thin. We owe something to extravagance, for thrift and adventure seldom go hand in hand. [Medicine is] a collection of uncertain prescriptions the results of which, taken collectively, are more fatal than useful to mankind. Good breeding consists of concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person. To will is to select a goal, determine a course of action that will bring one to that goal, and then hold to that action till the goal is reached. The key is action. Our feelings are our most genuine paths to knowledge. It is a mistake to regard age as a downhill grade toward dissolution. The reverse is true. As one grows older, one climbs with surprising strides. The good or ill of a man lies within his own will. A man may well bring a horse to the water but he cannot make him drink. To establish oneself in the world, one has to do all one can to appear established. I am never afraid of what I know. [Water is] the only drink for a wise man. Ritual is the way you carry the presence of the sacred. Ritual is the spark that must not go out. The great thing in this world is not so much where you stand, as in what direction you are moving. They were so strong in their beliefs that there came a time when it hardly mattered what exactly those beliefs were; they all fused into a single stubbornness. Art is the desire of a man to express himself, to record the reactions of his personality to the world he lives in. You always pass failure on the way to success. A man can do all things if he but wills them. Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in affairs which properly concern them. One must know oneself, if this does not serve to discover truth, it at least serves as a rule of life and there is nothing better. |
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