Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character.
HeraclitusRead
Presumption must be quenched even more than a fire.
Interpretation
Presumption leads to misunderstandings and conflicts, which should be avoided.
Heraclitus emphasizes the destructive nature of presumption, suggesting that it can cause greater harm than fire. This quote implies that assumptions based on incomplete understanding can lead to false judgments and harmful consequences, and therefore should be diligently avoided.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion on the importance of effective communication in relationships.
Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character.
Thinking is a sacred disease and sight is deceptive.
Things of which there is sight, hearing, apprehension, these I prefer.
Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy.
For when is death not within our selves? And as Heracleitus says: “Living and dead are the same, and so are awake and asleep, young and old. The former when shifted are the latter, and again the latter when shifted are the former."
Whosoever wishes to know about the world must learn about it in its particular details. Knowledge is not intelligence. In searching for the truth be ready for the unexpected. Change alone is unchanging. The same road goes both up and down. The beginning of a circle is also its end. Not I, but the world says it: all is one. And yet everything comes in season.
Growth is limited by that necessity which is present in the least amount.
With a little time, and a little more insight, we begin to see both ourselves and our enemies in humbler profiles. We are not really as innocent as we felt when we were first hurt. And we do not usually have a gigantic monster to forgive; we have a weak, needy, and somewhat stupid human being. When you see your enemy and yourself in the weakness and silliness of the humanity you share, you will make the miracle of forgiving a little easier.
If you are able to state a problem - any problem - and if it is important enough, then the problem can be solved.
Those who knew Benjamin Franklin will recollect that his mind was forever young, his temper ever serene; science, that never grows gray, was always his mistress. He was never without an object, for when we cease to have an object, we become like an invalid in a hospital waiting for death.
At 11, I could say ‘I am sodium’ (Element 11), and now at 79, I am gold.
If you set out to meditate, it will not be meditation. If you set out to be good, goodness will never flower.
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