The generality of virtuous women are like hidden treasures, they are safe only because nobody has sought after them.
Francois De La RochefoucauldRead
To understand matters rightly we should understand their details; and as that knowledge is almost infinite, our knowledge is always superficial and imperfect.
Interpretation
Understanding complex matters requires attention to details, but our limited knowledge means we can never fully grasp their entirety.
This quote from Francois De La Rochefoucauld highlights the importance of details in comprehending complex subjects. It suggests that while a deep understanding is essential for accuracy, the vastness of knowledge renders our understanding inherently limited and imperfect. It reflects on the pursuit of knowledge and the humility required in acknowledging our limitations.
In practice
In a classroom setting to discuss the importance of in-depth analysis in education.
The generality of virtuous women are like hidden treasures, they are safe only because nobody has sought after them.
Old men delight in giving good advice as a consolation for the fact that they can no longer set bad examples.
Some counterfeits reproduce so very well the truth that it would be a flaw of judgment not to be deceived by them.
Conceit causes more conversation than wit.
The defects and faults of the mind are like wounds in the body; after all imaginable care has been taken to heal them up, still there will be a scar left behind, and they are in continual danger of breaking the skin and bursting out again.
In most of mankind gratitude is merely a secret hope of further favors.
It may arrive in the instant when we are doing something mundane, like putting our front-door key in the lock; it may lie hidden in the quiet that follows the lunch hour or in the thousand and one things that all seem the same to us.
You are responsible for the predictable consequences of your actions.
Our way is to practice one step at a time, one breath at a time, with no gaining idea.
If attachment is the conditioning factor, then non-attachment will become the unconditioning factor. If expectation leads you in misery, then non-expectation will lead you into non-misery. If anger creates a hell within you, then compassion will create a heaven. So whatsoever the process of misery, the reverse will be the process of happiness. Unconditioning means you have to understand the whole knotted phenomenon of human consciousness as it is.
Isn't it funny how something that will later be a blessing can be a curse if you get it too soon.
I have learned the novice can often see things that the expert overlooks._x000D_ _x000D_ All that is necessary is not to be afraid of making mistakes, or of appearing naive.
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