Our deeds disguise us. People need endless time to try on their deeds, until each knows the proper deeds for him to do. But every day, every hour, rushes by. There is no time.
Interpretation
Our actions define us, and people need time to understand the right actions to take amidst the fleeting nature of time.
In this quote, John Locke suggests that our actions are a reflection of our true selves, and it takes considerable time for individuals to figure out the appropriate actions or 'deeds' to engage in that align with their identity and values. He emphasizes the urgency of time, indicating that life is fleeting and encourages us to be mindful of how we choose to act, as we may not have the luxury of endless time to make these choices.
In practice
During a motivational speech on personal development.
For where is the man that has incontestable evidence of the truth of all that he holds, or of the falsehood of all he condemns; or can say that he has examined to the bottom all his own, or other men's opinions? The necessity of believing without knowledge, nay often upon very slight grounds, in this fleeting state of action and blindness we are in, should make us more busy and careful to inform ourselves than constrain others.
There is frequently more to be learned from the unexpected questions of a child than the discourses of men.
Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.
New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common.
I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts.
One unerring mark of the love of truth is not entertaining any proposition with greater assurance than the proofs it is built upon will warrant.
Listening to a news broadcast is like smoking a cigarette and crushing the butt in the ashtray.
When politics and home life have become one and the same thing, [...] then,[...] it is evident that we will be in a state of total liberty or anarchy.
Like a wind crying endlessly through the universe, Time carries away the names and the deeds of conquerors and commoners alike. And all that we were, all that remains, is in the memories of those who cared we came this way for a brief moment.
But if you've really learned how to think, how to pay attention, then you will know you have other options. It will be within your power to experience a crowded, loud, slow, consumer-hell-type situation as not only meaningful but sacred, on fire with the same force that lit the stars - compassion, love, the sub-surface unity of all things.
I don't like purely philosophical works. I think a little philosophy should be added to life and art by way of seasoning, but to make it one's specialty seems to me as strange as eating nothing but horseradish." - Lara, from Doctor Zhivago
The only constant factor in life is our feelings and attitudes toward life. One of the few things that we have total control over is our own attitude.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.