Your cravings as a human animal do not become a prayer just because it is God whom you ask to attend to them.
Dag HammarskjoldRead
Time goes by, reputation increases, ability declines.
Interpretation
As time passes, our reputation may improve while our abilities may deteriorate.
This quote by Dag Hammarskjold reflects the paradox of life where the perception of one's value may grow with age and experience, while the actual skillset or ability to perform tasks may wane. It serves as a reminder to balance the cultivation of our reputations with the continuous honing of our abilities, as both elements are crucial to personal and professional success.
In practice
In a speech about personal growth, one might reference this quote to emphasize the importance of maintaining skills.
Your cravings as a human animal do not become a prayer just because it is God whom you ask to attend to them.
It is not we who seek the Way, but the Way which seeks us. That is why you are faithful to it, even while you stand waiting, so long as you are prepared, and act the moment you are confronted by its demands.
Do not seek death. Death will find you. But seek the road which makes death a fulfillment.
The world cannot live at peace without the United Nations. For this reason: it creates a reasonable guarantee that all this change in the world, these tremendous political and economic developments, can be channelized, kept orderly. The United Nations is a mold that keeps the hot metal from spilling over.
In a dream I walked with God through the deep places of creation; past walls that receded and gates that opened through hall after hall of silence, darkness and refreshment--the dwelling place of souls acquainted with light and warmth--until, around me, was an infinity into which we all flowed together and lived anew, like the rings made by raindrops falling upon wide expanses of calm dark waters.
He is one of those who has had the wilderness for a pillow, and called a star his brother. Alone. But loneliness can be a communion.
There is a strong tendency to get used to and accept very bad things that would be shocking if seen with fresh eyes.
Who can calculate the wounds inflicted, their depth and pain, by harsh and mean words spoken in anger? How pitiful a sight is a man who is strong in many ways but who loses all control of himself when some little thing, usually of no significant consequence, disturbs his equanimity.
Procrastination is the fear of success. People procrastinate because they are afraid of the success that they know will result if they move ahead now. Because success is heavy, carries a responsibility with it, it is much easier to procrastinate and live on the "someday I'll" philosophy.
In a life and death struggle, we cannot afford to leave our destinies in the hands of failures.
When you resolve to become pious, the devil in your nature cries out at you, "Tread not those paths, O confused one; distress and poverty will overcome you. You will be despised, let down by friends, you will regret it." Dread of the devil has bound their souls; the cries of the devil are the drover of the damned; the call of the Lord is a guardian of the saints.
Breath is the vehicle of consciousness and so, by its slow measured observation and distribution, we learn to tug our attention away from external desires toward a judicious, intelligent awareness.
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