Quotes about mindset
97 real sentences about mindset, left by people who came before us, from c. 24th century BC to November 3, 1931, oldest first. Each one has its source and the original text.
Ptahhotep Ptah-hotep
c. 24th century BC · Memphis, ancient Egypt
Follow thine heart during thy lifetime; do not more than is commanded thee. Diminish not the time of following the heart; it is abhorred of the soul, that its time [of ease] be taken away.The Instruction of Ptahhotep, the eleventh teaching · in place of the original: the English translation by Battiscombe Gunn (1906)
Ptahhotep Ptah-hotep
c. 24th century BC · Memphis, ancient Egypt · Advice to one who leads others
Be gracious when thou hearkenest unto the speech of a suppliant. Let him not hesitate to deliver himself of that which he hath thought to tell thee; but be desirous of removing his injury. Let him speak freely, that the thing for which he hath come to thee may be done.The Instruction of Ptahhotep, the seventeenth teaching · in place of the original: the English translation by Battiscombe Gunn (1906)
A nameless harper
c. 21st century BC · Thebes, ancient Egypt
Give comfort to thy heart,
And let thy heart forget these things;
What is best for thee to do is
To follow thy heart's desire as long as thou livest."The Song of the Harper" · in place of the original: the English translation by E. A. Wallis Budge (1914)
An unnamed Babylonian poet
c. 18th century BC · Babylonia
Thou, O Gish, fill thy belly,
Day and night do thou rejoice,
Daily make a rejoicing!
Day and night a renewal of jollification!
Let thy clothes be clean,
Wash thy head and pour water over thee!
Care for the little one who takes hold of thy hand!
Let the wife rejoice in thy bosom!The Epic of Gilgamesh, Old Babylonian version, spoken by the alewife · in place of the original: the English translation by Morris Jastrow and Albert T. Clay (1920)
Confucius 孔子
5th century BC · Lu, Spring and Autumn China
"Do not worry that others do not know you. Worry that you do not know others."
子曰：「不患人之不己知，患不知人也。」Analects, book 1 (Xue Er)
Sumangala's Mother Sumaṅgalamātā
c. 5th century BC · ancient India · The end of a song about being freed from the pestle and the cooking pot
I come to the foot of a tree and think, "Oh, the happiness!" and meditate in happiness.
Sā rukkhamūlamupagamma, Aho sukhanti sukhato jhāyāmī
Therigatha (Verses of the Elder Nuns) 2.3
Patacara Paṭācārā
c. 5th century BC · Savatthi, India
Washing my feet, I took notice of the water; and seeing the foot-water run down from the high ground to the low, then I gathered my mind.
Pāde pakkhālayitvāna, udakesu karomahaṁ; Pādodakañca disvāna, thalato ninnamāgataṁ. Tato cittaṁ samādhesiṁ
Therigatha (Verses of the Elder Nuns) 5.10, the song of Patacara
Subhuti Subhūti
c. 5th century BC · Savatthi, India
My little hut is roofed, pleasant, sheltered from the wind. Rain, sky, as you please. My mind is well composed, set free. I live with ardour. Rain, sky.
Channā me kuṭikā sukhā nivātā, Vassa deva yathāsukhaṁ; Cittaṁ me susamāhitaṁ vimuttaṁ, Ātāpī viharāmi vassa devā
Theragatha (Verses of the Elder Monks) 1.1, the song of Subhuti
Gotama Buddha
c. 5th century BC · the Ganges plain, India · The first verse of the Dhammapada, the collection of verses handed down as the Buddha's words
Mind goes before all things. Mind is their chief; they are made by mind.
Manopubbaṅgamā dhammā, manoseṭṭhā manomayā
Dhammapada 1
Gotama Buddha
c. 5th century BC · the Ganges plain, India
Hatreds never cease through hatred in this world. Through non-hatred alone they cease. This is an ancient law.
Na hi verena verāni, sammantīdha kudācanaṁ; Averena ca sammanti, esa dhammo sanantano.
Dhammapada 5
Gotama Buddha
c. 5th century BC · the Ganges plain, India
Do not look at the faults of others, or at what others have done and left undone. Look at what you yourself have done and left undone.
Na paresaṁ vilomāni, na paresaṁ katākataṁ; Attanova avekkheyya, katāni akatāni ca.
Dhammapada 50
Socrates Σωκράτης
399 BC · Athens, ancient Greece · Said in court, facing death, and recorded by his pupil Plato
The unexamined life is not worth living for a human being.
ὁ δὲ ἀνεξέταστος βίος οὐ βιωτὸς ἀνθρώπῳPlato, Apology of Socrates 38a
Qu Yuan 屈原
3rd century BC · Chu, Warring States China
The road is long and stretches far away. I shall go up and down, seeking.
路漫漫其脩遠兮，吾將上下而求索。"Encountering Sorrow" (Li sao), in the Songs of Chu
Mencius 孟子
4th century BC · Zou, Warring States China · A story told to show that vital spirit cannot be forced. He adds: "Few in the world do not help their seedlings grow."
There was a man of Song who, grieved that his seedlings were not growing, pulled them up a little. He came home worn out and told his family, "I am tired today. I have been helping the seedlings grow." His son ran out to look, and the seedlings had withered.
宋人有閔其苗之不長而揠之者，芒芒然歸。謂其人曰：「今日病矣，予助苗長矣。」其子趨而往視之，苗則槁矣。Mencius, Gongsun Chou I
Qu Yuan 屈原
3rd century BC · Chu, Warring States China · The song the fisherman sang, smiling, as he tapped his oar and went away after hearing what Qu Yuan had said
When the Canglang's water is clear, I can wash my hat strings in it. When the Canglang's water is muddy, I can wash my feet.
滄浪之水清兮，可以濯吾纓。
滄浪之水濁兮，可以濯吾足。"The Fisherman," in the Songs of Chu: the fisherman's song
Lucretius T. Lucretius Carus
c. 55 BC · Rome
It is sweet, when winds trouble the waters on the great sea, to watch from land another's great struggle; not because anyone's distress is a pleasure and delight, but because it is sweet to see what evils you yourself are spared.
Suave, mari magno turbantibus aequora ventis
e terra magnum alterius spectare laborem;
non quia vexari quemquamst iucunda voluptas,
sed quibus ipse malis careas quia cernere suavest.On the Nature of Things, book 2, the opening
Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero
46 BC · Roman Republic
If you have a garden in your library, nothing will be lacking.
si hortum in bibliotheca habes, deerit nihil.Letters to Friends 9.4, to Varro
Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus
23 BC · Rome
Even as we speak, envious time will have fled. Seize the day, and trust tomorrow as little as you can.
Dum loquimur, fugerit inuida
aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.Odes 1.11
Seneca Lucius Annaeus Seneca
c. AD 49 · Roman Empire
It is not that we have little time, but that we have wasted much of it.
Non exiguum temporis habemus, sed multum perdidimus.On the Shortness of Life, chapter 1
Seneca Lucius Annaeus Seneca
c. AD 63 · Roman Empire · To a friend anxious about the future
There are more things, Lucilius, that frighten us than that crush us, and we suffer more often in imagination than in reality.
Plura sunt, Lucili, quae nos terrent quam quae premunt, et saepius opinione quam re laboramus.Letters to Lucilius 13
Seneca Lucius Annaeus Seneca
c. AD 63 · Roman Empire · Advising him not to flit from book to book. A life spent travelling, he goes on, brings many lodgings and no friendships
He who is everywhere is nowhere.
Nusquam est qui ubique est.Letters to Lucilius 2
Epictetus Ἐπίκτητος
c. AD 125 · Roman Empire · Words taken down by his pupil Arrian
It is not things that disturb people, but their judgments about things.
ταράσσει τοὺς ἀνθρώπους οὐ τὰ πράγματα, ἀλλὰ τὰ περὶ τῶν πραγμάτων δόγματαEnchiridion (Handbook) 5
Marcus Aurelius Μᾶρκος Αὐρήλιος
170s · Roman Empire
How much free time he gains who does not look at what his neighbour has said or done or thought, but only at what he himself is doing.
Ὅσην εὐσχολίαν κερδαίνει ὁ μὴ βλέπων τί ὁ πλησίον εἶπεν ἢ ἔπραξεν ἢ διενοήθη, ἀλλὰ μόνον τί αὐτὸς ποιεῖMeditations 4.18
Marcus Aurelius Μᾶρκος Αὐρήλιος
170s · Roman Empire
No more arguing about what a good man is like. Be one.
περὶ τοῦ οἷόν τινα εἶναι τὸν ἀγαθὸν ἄνδρα διαλέγεσθαι, ἀλλὰ εἶναι τοιοῦτον.Meditations 10.16
Thiruvalluvar திருவள்ளுவர்
about 2,000 years ago · Tamil country, South India
The way to punish those who have done you harm is to shame them by doing them good, and let it go.
இன்னாசெய் தாரை ஒறுத்தல் அவர்நாண நன்னயஞ் செய்து விடல்.
Tirukkural 314
Thiruvalluvar திருவள்ளுவர்
about 2,000 years ago · Tamil country, South India
To speak harsh words when kind ones are at hand is to pick the unripe fruit and leave the ripe.
இனிய உளவாக இன்னாத கூறல் கனிஇருப்பக் காய்கவர்ந் தற்று.
Tirukkural 100
Thiruvalluvar திருவள்ளுவர்
about 2,000 years ago · Tamil country, South India
A burn from fire heals within; the scar burnt by the tongue never heals.
தீயினாற் சுட்டபுண் உள்ளாறும் ஆறாதே நாவினாற் சுட்ட வடு.
Tirukkural 129
Palladas Παλλαδᾶς
4th century · Alexandria, Egypt
All life is a stage and a game. Either learn to play, putting seriousness aside, or bear the pains.
σκηνὴ πᾶς ὁ βίος καὶ παίγνιον· ἢ μάθε παίζειν,
τὴν σπουδὴν μεταθείς, ἢ φέρε τὰς ὀδύνας.Greek Anthology 10.72
Augustine Aurelius Augustinus
c. 397 · Roman North Africa · Owning up to the prayer he made as a young man
Give me chastity and continence, but not yet.
da mihi castitatem et continentiam, sed noli modo.Confessions, book 8, chapter 7
Augustine Aurelius Augustinus
c. 397 · Roman North Africa · Opening the book with a prayer to God
You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.
fecisti nos ad te et inquietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in te.Confessions, book 1, chapter 1
Tao Yuanming 陶淵明
405 · Eastern Jin China · On giving up office and going home
I delight in the fond talk of my family, and take pleasure in the zither and my books to drive away care.
悅親戚之情話，樂琴書以消憂。"The Return" (Guiqulai ci)
Zuhayr زهير بن أبي سلمى
c. 600 · pre-Islamic Arabia
I know what today holds, and yesterday before it, but to what tomorrow holds I am blind.
وأعلم ما في اليوم ، والأمس ، قبله
ولكنني عن علم ما في غد عمThe Muallaqa, Divan of Zuhayr
Wang Zhihuan 王之渙
early 8th century · Tang China
The white sun sinks behind the hills. The Yellow River flows into the sea. To see a thousand li further, climb one more storey.
白日依山盡，黃河入海流。
欲窮千里目，更上一層樓。"Climbing Stork Tower"
Li Bai 李白
earlier 8th century · Tang China
You ask me why I live in the green hills. I smile and do not answer, and my heart is at ease. Peach blossom on the stream drifts off into the distance. There is another heaven and earth here, not the world of men.
問余何意栖碧山，笑而不荅心自閑。
桃花流水窅然去，別有天地非人間。"Question and Answer in the Mountains"
Bai Juyi 白居易
c. 788 · Tang China · Said to have been written at about sixteen
Wildfire cannot burn it all away. When the spring wind blows, it grows again.
野火燒不盡，春風吹又生。"Grass on the Ancient Plain: A Farewell," in the Complete Tang Poems
Liu Yuxi 劉禹錫
826 · Tang China · In answer to the poem Bai Juyi made for him at that table
Beside the sunken boat a thousand sails go by. Before the sick tree ten thousand trees are in spring. Today I have heard you sing one song, and for a while, with this cup of wine, I take heart.
沈舟側畔千帆過，病樹前頭萬木春。
今日聽君歌一曲，暫憑杯酒長精神。"Answering Letian's Poem Given at Our First Meeting, at a Banquet in Yangzhou"
Luo Yin 羅隱
later 9th century · Tang China
When I win I sing aloud; when I lose I let it go. So much sorrow, so much regret, and I take it easy still. If there is wine this morning, this morning I get drunk. If trouble comes tomorrow, tomorrow I shall trouble.
得即高歌失即休，多愁多恨亦悠悠。
今朝有酒今朝醉，明日愁來明日愁。"Consoling Myself," in the Complete Tang Poems
Al-Mutanabbi المتنبي
mid-10th century · Iraq and Syria in Abbasid times
Not everything a man wishes for does he attain. The winds blow where the ships would not have them.
ما كل ما يتمنى المرء يدركه
تجري الرياح بما لا تشتهي السفنDivan of al-Mutanabbi
Fan Zhongyan 范仲淹
1046 · Song China · After his reforms failed and he was pushed out to the provinces
Not glad because of outward things, not sad because of my own lot.
不以物喜，不以己悲。"Yueyang Tower"
Naser Khosrow ناصرخسرو
11th century · Khorasan, Persia · The end of a fable in which an eagle, boasting as it flies high, is brought down by an arrow
He looked at the arrow and saw his own feather on it. He said: "Whom shall we blame? What comes upon us comes from us."
زی تیر نگه کرد پر خویش برو دید
گفتا «ز که نالیم؟ که از ماست که بر ماست»Divan of Naser Khosrow
Su Shi 蘇軾
March 7, 1082 · Song China · Caught in rain on the road, with the servant carrying the rain gear gone on ahead. Everyone else was flustered, his preface says, and he alone was not
Do not listen to the rain beating through the woods on the leaves. Why not chant and whistle and walk on slowly? A bamboo staff and straw sandals are lighter than a horse. Who is afraid? In a straw cape through mist and rain, I take my life as it comes.
莫聽穿林打葉聲，何妨吟嘯且徐行。
竹杖芒鞋輕勝馬，誰怕？一蓑煙雨任平生。To the tune "Calming the Wind and Waves"
Su Shi 蘇軾
1084 · Song China
Seen from the front, a range; from the side, a peak. Far, near, high, low, no two views are the same. I do not know the true face of Mount Lu, only because I am here inside the mountain.
橫看成嶺側成峰，遠近高低總不同。
不識廬山真面目，只緣身在此山中。"Written on the Wall of Xilin Temple," in the Complete Song Poems
Yi Gyubo 李奎報
13th century · Goryeo Korea
A mountain monk coveted the moonlight and drew it up with the water into his jar. When he reaches the temple he will find out: tip the jar, and the moon is gone as well.
山僧貪月色 幷汲一甁中
到寺方應覺 甁傾月亦空Dongguk Yi Sangguk jip, "On the Moon in the Well, a Mountain Evening," second poem
Dante Alighieri
early 14th century · Florence
Midway on the road of our life I found myself in a dark wood, for the straight way was lost.
Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita mi ritrovai per una selva oscura, ché la diritta via era smarrita.
The Divine Comedy, Inferno, canto 1
Hafez حافظ
14th century · Shiraz, Persia
Lost Joseph will come back to Canaan. Do not grieve. The hut of sorrows will one day be a rose garden. Do not grieve.
یوسف گم گشته بازآید به کنعان غم مخور
کلبه احزان شود روزی گلستان غم مخورDivan of Hafez, a ghazal
Hafez حافظ
14th century · Shiraz, Persia
The peace of both worlds is the gloss on these two phrases: with friends, generosity; with enemies, forbearance.
آسایش دو گیتی تفسیر این دو حرف است
با دوستان مروت با دشمنان مداراThe Divan of Hafez, a ghazal
Gil Jae 吉再
early 15th century · Goryeo and Joseon Korea
In a thatched house by the stream I live alone, at ease. The moon is white, the wind is clear, and there is joy to spare. No visitors come; only the mountain birds talk. I move my couch to the bamboo bank and lie there reading.
臨溪茅屋獨閑居 月白風淸興有餘
外客不來山鳥語 移床竹塢臥看書Yaeun jip, "Setting Down My Mind"
Kabir कबीर
15th century · Varanasi, North India
I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty: You do not see that the Real is in your home, and you wander from forest to forest listlessly!Songs of Kabir · in place of the original: the English translation by Rabindranath Tagore (1915)
Kabir कबीर
15th century · Varanasi, North India
O servant, where dost thou seek Me?
Lo! I am beside thee.Songs of Kabir, the first song · in place of the original: the English translation by Rabindranath Tagore (1915)
Hwang Jini 黃眞伊
16th century (recorded in a songbook of 1728) · Joseon Korea · The story goes that she made it to tease a royal kinsman named Byeokgyesu, "Blue Stream." Myeongwol, "Bright Moon," was Hwang Jini's name as a gisaeng
Blue stream in the green hills, do not boast of running so fast. Once you reach the wide sea it is hard to come back. The bright moon fills the empty hills: why not rest here a while?
靑山裏 碧溪水ㅣ야 수이 감을 쟈랑 마라
一到 滄海ᄒᆞ면 도라오기 어려오니
明月이 滿空山ᄒᆞ니 수여 간들 엇더리Cheonggu yeongeon (1728)
Song Sun 宋純
mid-16th century · Damyang, Joseon Korea
After ten years of planning I have built a thatched hut of three rooms: one room for me, one for the moon, and one I leave to the clear wind. There is no room to bring in the rivers and hills, so I shall set them all round and look at them.
십 년(十年)을 경영(經營)하야 초려삼간(草廬三間) 지어 내니
나 한 간 달 한 간에 청풍(淸風) 한 간 맛져 두고
강산(江山)은 드릴 듸 업스니 둘너 두고 보리라A sijo, in Cheonggu yeongeon
Yang Saeon 楊士彦
16th century (recorded in a songbook of 1876) · Joseon Korea
Mount Tai is high, they say, but it is a mountain under heaven. Climb and climb again and there is no reason you cannot reach the top. Yet people do not climb, and only say the mountain is high.
泰山이 놉다 ᄒᆞ되 하늘 아ᄅᆡ 뫼히로다
오르고 ᄯᅩ 오르면 못 오를 理 업건마는
ᄉᆞᄅᆞᆷ이 제 아니 오르고 뫼흘 놉다 ᄒᆞ돗다Gagok wollyu (1876)
Jo Sik 曺植
1560s · Joseon Korea
Look, I beg you, at the bell of a thousand stone: unless you strike it hard, it gives no sound. Yet how can it compare with Mount Jiri, which does not ring even when the sky rings?
請看千石鍾 非大扣無聲
爭似頭流山 天鳴猶不鳴Nammyeong jip, "Written on a Pillar of the Stream Pavilion at Deoksan"
Miguel de Cervantes
1615 · Spain
Liberty, Sancho, is one of the most precious gifts that the heavens gave to men.
La libertad, Sancho, es uno de los más preciosos dones que a los hombres dieron los cielos
Don Quixote, part 2, chapter 58, the words of Don Quixote
John Milton
1667 · London, England · Put in the mouth of Satan, cast out of heaven and fallen into hell
The mind is its own place, and in it self Can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n.
Paradise Lost, book 1
Zhang Chao 張潮
1690s · Qing China
Nothing makes a person happier than leisure, and that does not mean having nothing to do. With leisure you can read. With leisure you can visit famous places. With leisure you can make good friends. With leisure you can drink wine. With leisure you can write books. What greater pleasure is there in the world?
人莫樂於閒，非無所事事之謂也。閒則能讀書，閒則能遊名勝，閒則能交益友，閒則能飲酒，閒則能著書。天下之樂，孰大於是？Dream Shadows (Youmengying)
Chen Heshan 陳鶴山
1690s · Qing China
Then that is exactly when one is busiest.
然則正是極忙處。A comment attached to this passage in Dream Shadows
You Tong 尤侗
1690s · Qing China
The ancients spoke of "stealing leisure in the midst of busyness." If leisure can be stolen, then thieves too have their Way.
昔人云「忙裏偷閒」，閒而可偷，盜亦有道矣。A comment attached to this passage in Dream Shadows
Zhang Chao 張潮
1690s · Qing China
In ruling yourself, carry the air of autumn. In dealing with the world, carry the air of spring.
律己宜帶秋氣，處世宜帶春氣。Dream Shadows (Youmengying)
Zhang Chao 張潮
1690s · Qing China
Flowers cannot be without butterflies. Hills cannot be without springs. Rocks cannot be without moss. Water cannot be without waterweed. Tall trees cannot be without creepers. And a person cannot be without an obsession.
花不可以無蝶，山不可以無泉，石不可以無苔，水不可以無藻，喬木不可以無藤蘿，人不可以無癖。Dream Shadows (Youmengying)
Voltaire
1759 · Paris, France · Ferney
"That is well said," replied Candide, "but we must cultivate our garden."
Cela est bien dit, répondit Candide, mais il faut cultiver notre jardin.
Candide, the last sentence
William Blake
1794 · London, England
I was angry with my friend: I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow.
"A Poison Tree," in Songs of Experience
William Wordsworth
1802 · Lake District, England
My heart leaps up when I behold A Rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a Man
"My Heart Leaps Up," in Poems, in Two Volumes (1807)
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
1808 · Frankfurt, Germany · Weimar
Two souls, alas, live in my breast, and each wants to tear itself from the other.
Zwei Seelen wohnen, ach! in meiner Brust, Die eine will sich von der andern trennen
Faust, Part One, "Before the City Gate"
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
1808 · Frankfurt, Germany · Weimar · God, speaking to the devil Mephistopheles
Man errs as long as he strives.
Es irrt der Mensch so lang er strebt.
Faust, "Prologue in Heaven"
Mary Shelley
1818 · London, England
Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.
Frankenstein
Gang Jeongildang 姜靜一堂
1823 · Joseon Korea
The night is deep and all stirring has ceased. The courtyard is empty, the white moon bright. My heart is clear as if washed, and wide open I see my own nature.
夜久羣動息 庭空皓月明
方寸淸如洗 豁然見性情Jeongildang yugo, "Sitting at Night"
Ralph Waldo Emerson
1841 · Concord, Massachusetts, USA
To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men,--that is genius.
"Self-Reliance," in Essays: First Series
Ralph Waldo Emerson
1841 · Concord, Massachusetts, USA
Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.
"Self-Reliance," in Essays: First Series
Charlotte Bronte Charlotte Brontë
1847 · Haworth, Yorkshire, England · The governess Jane, to the master of the house who tries to hold her
I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will, which I now exert to leave you.
Jane Eyre
Leo Tolstoy Лев Толстой
August 20, 1854 · Russian Empire
The most important thing in life for me is to cure myself of three vices: laziness, irritability and lack of character.
Важнее всего в жизни для меня исправление от 3 -х пороков. Лень, Раздражительность и Бесхарактерность.
Diary, in the Complete Works of Tolstoy, vol. 47
Henry David Thoreau
1854 · Massachusetts, USA
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.
Walden
Henry David Thoreau
1854 · Massachusetts, USA
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.
Walden, conclusion
Henry David Thoreau
1854 · Massachusetts, USA
Things do not change; we change.
Walden, "Conclusion"
Walt Whitman
1855 · United States
I loafe and invite my soul, I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.
"Song of Myself," in Leaves of Grass
Samuel Smiles
1859 · Scotland · London
“HEAVEN helps those who help themselves” is a well-tried maxim, embodying in a small compass the results of vast human experience.
Self-Help, the first sentence
Michael Faraday
1861 · London, England · Ending the Christmas lectures in which he taught children science with a single candle
all I can say to you at the end of these lectures (for we must come to an end at one time or other) is to express a wish that you may, in your generation, be fit to compare to a candle; that you may, like it, shine as lights to those about you; that, in all your actions, you may justify the beauty of the taper by making your deeds honourable and effectual in the discharge of your duty to your fellow-men.
The Chemical History of a Candle, the last lecture
Lewis Carroll
1865 · Oxford, England · Alice asks the way of the Cheshire Cat, sitting on a bough
‘Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?’ ‘That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,’ said the Cat. ‘I don’t much care where—’ said Alice. ‘Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,’ said the Cat. ‘—so long as I get somewhere,’ Alice added as an explanation. ‘Oh, you’re sure to do that,’ said the Cat, ‘if you only walk long enough.’
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, chapter 6
Lewis Carroll
1865 · Oxford, England · Said to herself after growing and shrinking
‘Who in the world am I? Ah, that’s the great puzzle!’
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, chapter 2
Fyodor Dostoevsky Фёдор Достоевский
1880 · St. Petersburg, Russia · The words of the Grand Inquisitor in the story Ivan makes up and tells
the secret of man’s being is not only to live but to have something to live for.The Brothers Karamazov, book 5, "The Grand Inquisitor" · in place of the original: the English translation by Constance Garnett (1912)
Friedrich Nietzsche
1883 · Germany · Switzerland · Italy
I say to you: one must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.
Ich sage euch: man muss noch Chaos in sich haben, um einen tanzenden Stern gebären zu können.
Thus Spoke Zarathustra, prologue
Friedrich Nietzsche
1883 · Germany · Switzerland · Italy
I would believe only in a god who knew how to dance.
Ich würde nur an einen Gott glauben, der zu tanzen verstünde.
Thus Spoke Zarathustra, part 1
Anton Chekhov Антон Чехов
October 1888 · Russia
My holy of holies is the human body, health, intelligence, talent, inspiration, love, and the most absolute freedom--freedom from violence and lying, whatever forms they may take.Letter to Pleshcheyev · in place of the original: the English translation by Constance Garnett (1920)
Emily Dickinson
c. 1861 (published 1891) · Massachusetts, USA
Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all,
"Hope is the thing with feathers"
Oscar Wilde
1892 · Ireland · Britain
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
Lady Windermere's Fan, Act 3, spoken by Lord Darlington
Oscar Wilde
1892 · Ireland · Britain
In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.
Lady Windermere's Fan, Act 3, spoken by Dumby
Mark Twain
1894 · Missouri, USA · Connecticut
Habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time.
Pudd'nhead Wilson, epigraph to chapter 6, from "Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar"
Masaoka Shiki 正岡子規
June 2, 1902 · Meiji Japan · Three months before his death, on a sickbed where he could not even sit up
Until now I had misunderstood what Zen calls enlightenment. I thought enlightenment meant being able to die calmly whatever happens. That was wrong. Enlightenment means being able to go on living calmly whatever happens.
余は今まで禅宗のいはゆる悟りといふ事を誤解して居た。悟りといふ事は如何なる場合にも平気で死ぬる事かと思つて居たのは間違ひで、悟りといふ事は如何なる場合にも平気で生きて居る事であつた。A Six-Foot Sickbed (Byosho rokushaku), entry 21, serialized in the newspaper Nippon
Mohandas Gandhi Mohandas K. Gandhi
1909 · Gujarat, India · South Africa
It is Swaraj when we learn to rule ourselves. It is therefore in the palm of our hands.
Hind Swaraj (Indian Home Rule)
G. K. Chesterton
1910 · London, England · The closing sentence of a chapter that takes the side of the amateur who does many things with her own hands, badly, against the specialist who does one thing well
If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.
What's Wrong with the World, part 4, chapter 14
Ishikawa Takuboku 石川啄木
New Year's Day 1911 · Meiji Japan · He died the following spring; the collection came out after his death
Somehow it feels as if good things will happen this year. New Year's morning, clear, no wind.
何となく、
今年はよい事あるごとし。
元日の朝、晴れて風無し。Tanka collection Sad Toys (Kanashiki gangu)
Ishikawa Takuboku 石川啄木
c. 1911 · Meiji Japan
"I believe a new tomorrow is coming." In those words of mine there is no lie, and yet...
新しき明日の来るを信ずといふ
自分の言葉に
嘘はなけれどTanka collection Sad Toys (Kanashiki gangu)
Ishikawa Takuboku 石川啄木
c. 1911 · Meiji Japan
When I think about it, there seems to be something I truly want, and there isn't. I polish my pipe.
考へれば、
ほんとに欲しと思ふこと有るやうで無し。
煙管をみがく。Tanka collection Sad Toys (Kanashiki gangu)
Rabindranath Tagore রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর
1916 · Bengal, India
If you shed tears when you miss the sun, you also miss the stars.
Stray Birds, 6
Akutagawa Ryunosuke 芥川龍之介
1923 · Taisho Japan
Life is like a box of matches. To treat it as a serious matter is ridiculous. Not to treat it as a serious matter is dangerous.
人生は一箱のマツチに似てゐる。重大に扱ふのは莫迦々々しい。重大に扱はなければ危険である。Words of a Dwarf (Shuju no kotoba), serialized in the magazine Bungei Shunju
Miyazawa Kenji 宮沢賢治
1924 · Iwate, Japan
The phenomenon called "I" is a single blue illumination of a presupposed organic alternating-current lamp.
わたくしといふ現象は
仮定された有機交流電燈の
ひとつの青い照明ですSpring and Asura (Haru to shura), preface
Miyazawa Kenji 宮沢賢治
November 3, 1931 · Iwate, Japan
Unbeaten by the rain, unbeaten by the wind, unbeaten by snow or the heat of summer, with a sturdy body, without greed, never angry, always quietly smiling
雨ニモマケズ
風ニモマケズ
雪ニモ夏ノ暑サニモマケヌ
丈夫ナカラダヲモチ
慾ハナク
決シテ瞋ラズ
イツモシヅカニワラッテヰル"Unbeaten by the Rain" (Ame ni mo makezu), written in a notebook
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