Placing all our hope on material development is clearly mistaken; the ultimate source of happiness is within us. – Dalai Lama What does that mean? This is the age old statement, that our happiness is to be found not in the shiny things outside of us, but on the shiny things within us. No, not lost…
There is nothing in the world so much admired as a man who knows how to bear unhappiness with courage. – Seneca What does that mean? This quote is about what the author of the quote thinks is one of the most admirable traits a person can demonstrate. Specifically, he admires those who can bear unhappiness…
Gratitude is heaven itself. – William Blake What does that mean? I have seen this quote also attributed to Laura Huxley (as well as to her husband, author Aldous Huxley), Matt Cutts and others. Of the list of people to whom this quote is attributed, William Blake is the oldest, and I believe therefore likely to…
Practice yourself, for heaven’s sake in little things, and then proceed to greater. – Epictetus What does that mean? This quote is also stated in a slightly older English, but with better punctuation (see 2nd link at bottom of this post): “Practice yourself, for heaven’s sake, in little things; and thence proceed to greater.” Let’s…
Discussion is an exchange of knowledge, argument is an exchange of ignorance. – Robert Quillen What does that mean? I have always had a soft spot for witticisms, and this is certainly one of my favorites. Sadly, this is also a very true saying, as you have probably experienced yourself. While you can’t always persuade someone…
By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong. – Charles Wadsworth What does that mean? I can imagine this being said with a bit of a wry smile. While my parents were fairly old when they had me, and I waited even longer…
When you are in Love you can’t fall asleep because reality is better than your dreams. – Dr. Seuss What does that mean? I imagine most of us have been there at some point in our lives. They walk in, and the world simply stops. No one else exists. Not one thing is more important than they…
If we can cultivate a concern for others, keeping in mind the oneness of humanity, we can build a more compassionate world. – Dalai Lama What does that mean? This quote is about how we might build a more compassionate world. It starts with the oneness of humanity. We are all one group, one people, one…
One crime has to be concealed by another. – Seneca What does that mean? This is a quote about actions and their consequences. When you do something wrong, it doesn’t just go away. It doesn’t disappear or otherwise hide, unless you do other things, and those are also wrong. The chain of wrong-doing to conceal…
Keep feeling the need for being first. But I want you to be the first in love, first in moral excellence, and first in generosity. – Martin Luther King Jr. What does that mean? This is another Twitter friendly version of a quote. A more complete version of it is: “We all have the drum major instinct….
Control your thoughts; they may break into words at anytime. – Anonymous What does that mean? This quote is about the things people say. It implies that sometimes that filter between our mind and our mouth doesn’t work as well as one might hope. It can be funny when someone else does it, but usually…
Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody else has thought. – Albert Szent-Györgyi (also attributed to Jonathan Swift) What does that mean? This is an interesting quote, as it is from a Nobel-laureate. The quote is about the process of discovery, and his very simple definition of the term. Discovery starts out by…
The key to success is to keep growing in all areas of life – mental, emotional, spiritual, as well as physical. – Julius Erving What does that mean? This quote is from one of greats of Basketball. And he understood that success isn’t just in your chosen field of endeavor. He probably knew many other…
I have striven not to laugh at human actions, not to weep at them, nor to hate them, but to understand them. – Baruch Spinoza What does that mean? I like this quote, and have tried to live by it even before I heard it, at least as I understand it. To me, this quote is…
Most of our problems are related to the mind, so we have to work to reduce our destructive emotions. – Dalai Lama What does that mean? This quote attempts to take aim at the most easily understood difficulty humans have, the mind. Unfortunately, it isn’t always the easiest thing to understand, much less fix. However, it is…
