Our business in life is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
Things looked at patiently from one side after another generally end by showing a side that is beautiful.
Interpretation
Patient observation reveals hidden beauty in situations.
This quote by Robert Louis Stevenson suggests that when we take the time to examine something from multiple perspectives, we often discover aspects that are beautiful or valuable. It encourages patience and openness, advocating for a deeper understanding of people and situations in life, implying that beauty often lies beneath the surface and is revealed through careful consideration.
In practice
In a workshop on creativity, one could use this quote to encourage participants to explore multiple viewpoints.
Our business in life is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits.
Like a bird singing in the rain, let grateful memories survive in time of sorrow.
That man is a success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much.
His past was fairly blameless; few men could read the rolls of their life with less apprehension; yet he was humbled to the dust by the many ill things he had done, and raised up again into sober and fearful gratitude by the many he had come so near to doing, yet avoided.
The habit of being happy enables one to be freed, or largely freed, from the domination of outward conditions.
It is the history of our kindnesses that alone make this world tolerable. If it were not for that, for the effect of kind words, kind looks, kind letters . . . I should be inclined to think our life a practical jest in the worst possible spirit.
The fundamental concept in social science is Power, in the same sense in which Energy is the fundamental concept in physics.
Let's worship Divinity, but understand the divinity we worship is beyond our comprehension.
Gentleness, self-sacrifice and generosity are the exclusive possession of no one race or religion.
If we desire a society without discrimination, then we must not discriminate against anyone in the process of building this society. If we desire a society that is democratic, then democracy must become a means as well as an end.
Whereas a lot of Buddhism concerns itself with stages of enlightenment, various precepts and moral codes, and even power structures and hierarchies, Zen is just like, 'Shut up, sit down, and observe your thoughts - oh, and by the way, what you perceive as you' doesn't actually exist.' I loved the minimalist approach of it.
They whose activity of imagination is often shifting the scenes of expectation, are frequently subject to such sallies of caprice as make all their actions fortuitous, destroy the value of their friendship, obstruct the efficacy of their virtues, and set them below the meanest of those who persist in their resolutions, execute what they design, and perform what they have promised.
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