I love the old way best, the simple way of poison, where we too are strong as men.
EuripidesRead
Fortune always will confer an aura of worth, unworthily; and in this world The lucky person passes for a genius.
Interpretation
We often mistake luck for talent, and those who are fortunate are perceived as more capable than they may actually be.
Euripides highlights the tendency of society to equate fortune with merit. This observation reflects on how individuals who achieve success through luck are often mistaken for geniuses, indicating a flawed understanding of worth and skill in the context of achievement.
In practice
During a motivational speech about success, one could use this quote to illustrate the importance of recognizing the role of luck.
I love the old way best, the simple way of poison, where we too are strong as men.
Mankind . . . possesses two supreme blessings. First of these is the goddess Demeter, or Earth whichever name you choose to call her by. It was she who gave to man his nourishment of grain. But after her there came the son of Semele, who matched her present by inventing liquid wine as his gift to man. For filled with that good gift, suffering mankind forgets its grief; from it comes sleep; with it oblivion of the troubles of the day. There is no other medicine for misery.
Money is far more persuasive than logical arguments.
Those whom God wishes to destroy, he first makes mad.
Who then will dare to say I'm weak or timid? No, they'll say I'm loyal as a friend, ruthless as a foe, so much like a hero destined for glory.
Waste not fresh tears over old griefs.
The deeper I go into myself, the stronger I become, because I realize that my real self is much bigger than any fear.
I am lucky to be what I am! Thank goodness I'm not just a clam, or a ham, or a dusty jar of sour gooseberry jam! I am what I am - that's a great thing to be!
Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics donβt learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us.
Practicing discipline involves continually working to find space in our patterns, to find the gaps in the images we hold about ourselves. It also means finding the gaps in our ideas about others, releasing images that we hold about a manager, a coworker, a friend, or a partner.
To know what people really think, pay regard to what they do, rather than what they say.
Delusions, errors and lies are like huge, gaudy vessels, the rafters of which are rotten and worm-eaten, and those who embark in them are fated to be shipwrecked.
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