The Greeks possessed a knowledge of human nature we seem hardly able to attain to without passing through the strengthening hibernation of a new barbarism.
Georg C. LichtenbergRead
Everyone is a genius at least once a year. The real geniuses simply have their bright ideas closer together.
Interpretation
Everyone has moments of brilliance; true geniuses have these moments more frequently.
This quote suggests that all individuals possess the potential for genius, with each person having a moment of innovative thought or creativity at least once a year. However, those who are considered true geniuses are distinguished by their ability to generate bright ideas more consistently, reflecting a deeper engagement or understanding in their respective fields.
In practice
In a motivational speech to inspire creativity in the workplace.
The Greeks possessed a knowledge of human nature we seem hardly able to attain to without passing through the strengthening hibernation of a new barbarism.
Many things about our bodies would not seem to us so filthy and obscene if we did not have the idea of nobility in our heads.
Astronomy is perhaps the science whose discoveries owe least to chance, in which human understanding appears in its whole magnitude, and through which man can best learn how small he is.
The thoughts written on the walls of madhouses by their inmates might be worth publicizing.
The noble simplicity in the works of nature only too often originates in the noble shortsightedness of him who observes it.
Food probably has a very great influence on the condition of men. Wine exercises a more visible influence, food does it more slowly but perhaps just as surely. Who knows if a well-prepared soup was not responsible for the pneumatic pump or a poor one for a war?
To overcome the intelligent by folly is contrary to the natural order of things; to overcome the foolish by intelligence is in accord with the natural order. To overcome the intelligent by intelligence, however, is a matter of opportunity.
You must begin to trust yourself sometime. I suggest you do it now. If you do not then you will forever be looking to others to prove your own merit to you, and you will never be satisfied. You will always be asking others what to do, and at the same time, resenting those from whom you seek such aid.
Insight into universal nature provides an intellectual delight and sense of freedom that no blows of fate and no evil can destroy.
Cherish your mistakes, and you won't keep making them over and over again. It's the same with heartbreaks and girls and everything else. Cherish them, and they'll put some wealth in you.
He who is surety is never sure himself. Take advice, and never be security for more than you are quite willing to lose. Remember the word of the wise man: He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it; and he that hateth suretyship is sure.
Produce what you consume; draw from the native element the necessaries of life. Permit no vitiated taste to lead you into the indulgence of expensive luxuries, which can only be obtained by involving yourselves in debt.
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