Truth
is the surest defence for an honest man.
Sickness
teaches the strongest of men humility.
It
is a peaceful and free people who value wisdom above all
else.
Wherever
power exists it will be abused;
this is not a statement about the nature of power but
about the nature of Man.
Questions
do not always find answers, just as a man does not always
find a wife.
The important thing is to question even if answers are not
found.
We
have come so far and learnt so much, but that much we have
learned is actually so little.
Hunger
is the killer of all kindness and good thoughts.
It
is not people who are bad but the things they do. No one
is born bad;
wickedness is caused by the things that happen to them
or to the lack of wisdom passed to them by their mothers
and fathers.
It
is better to be wrong for the right reasons than to be right
for the wrong reasons.
Let
the honour seek the man, not the man seek the honour.
You
should spend the first half of your life in the gathering
of wisdom
and only the second part in sowing it more widely amongst
those less blessed.
A
child is like a seed that falls from a tree.
If it falls within the shadow of the tree it will never
grow and could wither and die.
To Flourish it must make distance.
Follow
the thoughts of the man not the man himself.
It
would be a bad world indeed if possessions were the measure
of the man.
Question,
child, always question and you will live a free man.
Young
ones think they know everything because they think what
little they know is all there is to know.
Only
the young have certainties, the rest of us are too old to
be sure about anything.
Wisdom
is a lifelong search, something you think you will never
find.
And there are men who don't realise they have found it.
If
you ask a man what wisdom is and he tells you, it means
he probably doesn't know.
But if he remains silent, looks away into the distance,
perhaps towards the sky or deep within himself and appears
to be probing behind his eyes, then maybe one day he will.
Be
careful to distinguish between wisdom and mere cleverness.
Do
not ask which is right and which is wrong because you will
be seeking an answer, a final answer, and that will become
a belief and then there will be men like priests who will
control that belief and the people will not be free.
Do
not grasp a belief firmly as you would grasp a stick or
a stone.
Hold it loosely for a while and do not let it prevent further
questioning.
A
man who constantly questions is a free man and his thoughts
will progress;
a man who accepts an answer is not.
A
unity based on fear and falsehood cannot endure.
Life
is but a small hole in the darkness;
like the evening star that flickers in the otherwise darkening
and empty sky,
it can be put out like a rain soaked fire. But what lives
on is our wisdom.
Not
all thoughts have words; some thoughts are so deep that
to give them a word
would rob them of natural strength and clothe them in simple
meaning.
Wisdom
is quest, a journey through questioning where thoughts broaden
and deepen
and you are not afraid to probe. But as to what it is …
I don't think I will ever know.
Or, if I thought I knew, and told you what I thought it
was,
I would probably disagree with myself in the next breath.
Hate
can harm the one who hates as much as it harms the one who
is hated.
If
you want to destroy a man, first make him hate you, then
he destroys himself.
A
man is only free if he is the author of his own beliefs.
A
man who goes in search of his true self must be prepared
to meet a stranger.
There
are two kinds of lies: those we tell others and those we
tell ourselves;
the ones we tell ourselves are the most destructive and
the most enduring.
Live
in hope or die in despair.
A
man can ask for nothing more than to be at peace with himself
in the autumn of his life.
The
best coin is the word of an honest man.
Always
be a doubter and nobody will fool you.
Lack
of understanding leads to superstition and fear.
In
your youth, you live in your body but when you are old,
you live in your mind.
For
the young there is more to hear than to say.
Uncertainty
is the father of argument and conflict.
Better
a myth that unites than a truth that divides.
A
myth is like a tree; it bends, it grows and changes, it
dies and is no more.
It can be different things to different men and they could
argue about its meaning.
But the truth is like a mountain; it does not change, it
does not move and never dies.
With truth there can be no argument.
Good
fortune for some is born of misfortune for others.
Truth
does not matter. It's what people believe that matters.
Without
words there can be no meaning and without meaning we have
nothing.
Wisdom
cannot be taught or learned … but it can be found.
Wisdom comes in its seeking.
There
is just as much to see on the ground as there is on the
horizon.
People
always believe what they are told.
They find it easier to believe what everybody else believes;
many feet make a smooth path.
We
must learn to distinguish between good fortune and achievement.
Remember, it is our good fortune to have been taught. We
did not achieve that ourselves.
Wisdom
lies not in finding answers but in finding the right questions
to ask.
A
man who appeals to the goodness in people, to their hopes
and better nature,
is soon overthrown because the people quickly become disappointed
and disillusioned.
But one who appeals to their selfishness and fears is supported
and flourishes.
If
we do not question searchingly we will live with wrong answers
because
wicked men will give us the answers they want us to have.
True
freedom does not come from avoiding obligations but from
fulfilling them.
If
wisdom does not come with age it does not come at all.
The
minds of old men are like a meadow much burrowed into by
rabbits;
they have holes of forgetfulness and much can be lost.
We
should distinguish between men who are wise and men who
are merely learned.
Greed
has an appetite all its own; it gorges on itself.
Impatience
is both a fault and a delight in youth.
Wise
thoughts nourish the minds of youth. Good men are not made
with false thought.
When
time and all life come to an end, the last man here will
have a question, not an answer.
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