Silence is an ornament for women.
SophoclesRead
Hush! Check those words. Do not cure ill with ill and make your pain still heavier than it is.
Interpretation
Avoid escalating problems by responding negatively to negativity.
This quote from Sophocles emphasizes the importance of being mindful of our words and actions, particularly in times of distress. Responding to negativity with more negativity only aggravates the situation and can lead to increased pain or suffering, suggesting that one should seek healing and understanding rather than perpetuating harm.
In practice
In a speech about conflict resolution, one could use this quote to encourage diplomacy.
Silence is an ornament for women.
None love the messenger who brings bad news.
All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride.
Not even Ares battles against necessity.
You clearly hate to yield, but you will regret it when your anger has passed. Such natures are justly the hardest for themselves to bear.
There is nothing more hateful than bad advice.
Imagination though it cannot wipe out the sting of remorse can instruct the mind in its proper uses.
What we get from each moment depends on the attention we give it, and the quality of our experience reflects the quality of our awareness.
In the end I do respond to my own instincts. Sometimes they're successful, and obviously sometimes they're not. But you have to, I think, remain true to what you believe in.
Just go with it. It won't hurt.' I stared at him. Adults only ever said that when it, whatever it happened to be, was going to hurt so much.
We all have different desires and needs, but if we don't discover what we want from ourselves and what we stand for, we will live passively and unfulfilled. Sooner or later, we are all asked to compromise ourselves and the things we care about. We define ourselves by our actions. With each decision, we tell ourselves and the world who we are. Think about what you want out of this life, and recognize that there are many kinds of success.
It put our energies to sleep and made visionaries of us - dreamers and indolent... It is good to begin life poor; it is good to begin life rich - these are wholesome; but to begin it prospectively rich! The man who has not experienced it cannot imagine the curse of it.
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