True love begins when nothing is looked for in return. – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry What does that mean? I have heard a lot of variants of this quote, but many seem to take it in a different direction. To me, this is about the end-game of love, where you end up, and how you get there….
Everybody wants a happy life and a peaceful mind, but we have to produce peace of mind through our own practice. – Dalai Lama What does that mean? This quote starts out with a fairly straight-forward premise. We all want to be happy, however we might define that state. We also want a peaceful mind, free from…
To keep oneself safe does not mean to bury oneself. – Seneca What does that mean? Even dare-devils have a need to feel safe. We all have that need. We each might express it in a different manner, but we all have it. But is hiding the proper way to go about feeling safe? The quote…
What’s talked about is a dream. What’s envisioned is exciting. What’s planned becomes possible. What’s scheduled is real. – Tony Robbins and here What does that mean? This quote is about the steps one goes through on the path from an idea to a result. It starts with you talking about it. To yourself, to a friend, just out…
The best teacher is the one who suggests rather than dogmatizes, and inspires his listener with the wish to teach himself. – Edward Bulwar-Lytton What does that mean? Lets start with a definition. Dogma is defined as an authoritarian set of principles, usually considered unassailable truth. So when the quote says that the best teachers…
If you are depressed, you are living in the Past. If you are anxious, living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the moment. – Lao Tzu also attributed to Junia Bretas (see comments for details) What does that mean? This quote is a favorite of mine, even if I can’t find a solid…
Sanctity… the treasure that none discover because they suppose it to be too far away to be sought. – Jean Pierre de Caussade What does that mean? This quote is from a French Priest in the period known as the Age of Reason or Age of Enlightenment (from mid 1600s until the late 1700s). The…
Absence sharpens love, presence strengthens it. – Thomas Fuller What does that mean? This quote, in my mind, is about how someone who is in love reacts to both absence and pretense of their loved one. This quote helps me define who is, and who is not, truly in love. The quote starts with the…
Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into water, the actions of individuals can have far-reaching effects. – Dalai Lama What does that mean? I like this quote, because I have seen it in action. It says that when we do something, there are consequences. These consequences spread like the ripples from a…
That is never too often repeated, which is never sufficiently learned. – Seneca What does that mean? Let’s start by unwinding the negatives and reversing the halves. That brings us to “That which hasn’t been learned, hasn’t been repeated often enough.” In short, I believe this quote is the basis of the phrase “repetition is…
Don’t fall into the trap of prioritizing a busy life over a truly fulfilled one! Make the choices that have deeper meaning and life is sweet. – Tony Robbins and here What does that mean? Quick! What do you need to get done? Are you filling your schedule with a list of things which you “need to do” or…
Great wealth and contentment seldom live together. – Anonymous What does that mean? To me, the key to this quote is the word seldom. Not never but seldom. There are people who have been able to amass great wealth and remain contented, but that is not the general condition. The truth of the quote is seen daily…
Success isn’t a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire. – Arnold H. Glasgow also seen spelled as Glasow What does that mean? This isn’t about flame wars on Twitter or the ‘net. This is about getting hot, so hot you are on fire. It is a metaphor for feeling an urgent need…
If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in the dark with a mosquito. – Anonymous What does that mean? If you have never been hectored by a small flying insect, this quote probably have no idea what this quote means. For everyone else, it is probably pretty obvious. Mosquitoes are…
The only [true] gift is a portion of yourself. – Ralph Waldo Emerson What does that mean? Often quoted with the word [true] inserted, the proper quote omits it. The quote continues: “Therefore the poet brings his poem; the shepherd, his lamb; the farmer, corn; the miner, a gem; the sailor, coral and shells; the…
