The Living Book

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We are the creatures of imagination, passion, and self-will, more than of reason, or even of self-interest… Even in the common transactions and daily intercourse of life, we are governed by whim, caprice, prejudice or accident. The falling of a teacup puts us out of temper for the day.

William Hazlitt (1778 – 1830)

The mind is never right but when it is at peace within itself: the spirit is in heaven even while it is in the flesh, if it be emptied of its imperfections, and taken up with divine thoughts and contemplation.

Seneca (4 B.C.E. – 65 A.D.)

I would have nobody to control me; I would be absolute… Now, he that is absolute can do what he likes; he that can do what he likes can take his pleasure; he that can take his pleasure can be content; and he that can be content has no more to desire. So the matter is over, and come what will, I am satisfied.

Miguel de Cervantes (1547 – 1616)

Say nothing more to yourself than what the first appearances report. Suppose that it has been reported to you that a certain person speaks ill of you. This has been reported, but that you have been injured has not been reported… Thus then always abide by the first appearances, and add nothing yourself from within, and then nothing hurtful happens to you.

Marcus Aurelius (121 – 180)

It is natural for great minds — the true teachers of humanity — to care little about the constant company of others, just as little as the schoolmaster cares for joining in the frolic of the noisy crowd of boys which surrounds him. The mission of these great minds is to guide mankind over the sea of error to the harbor of truth, to draw men back from the dark abyss of barbarous crudeness into the light of culture and refinement.

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 – 1860)