Posts tagged quote

Excellent Quotes from Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations

While on a military campaign which started in 170 and ended in 180, Marcus Aurelius[1] wrote his Meditations in Greek for his own guidance and self-development. The original title of the work, if it had one, is unknown. ‘Meditations’ – as well as other titles including ‘To Himself’ – were adopted later. He had a logical mind, and his notes were representative of Stoic philosophy and spirituality.

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Benjamin Franklin on the Tension between Liberty, Virtue, Safety, Wealth and Power

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

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Paths are Made by Walking

paths are made by walking

This aphorism is also found in German as follows:

Wege entstehen dadurch, dass wir sie gehen

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Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.

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Oppenheimer: Death, the Destroyer of Worlds

We waited until the blast had passed, walked out of the shelter and then it was extremely solemn. We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed; a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita; Vishnu is trying to persuade the prince that he should do his duty, and to impress him, takes on his multiarmed form and says, “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.

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Thurston’s Paean

On an uneventful Tuesday afternoon I was, as usual, enjoying my lunch while mindlessly scrolling HackerNews and, also as usual, a post caught my attention which hit home[1]

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Seneca: We Suffer more from Imagination than Reality

In his thirteenth letter[1], “On groundless fears”, Seneca the Younger[2] writes to Lucilius about, predictably, human fear and how we, often without sufficient grounds, are affraid of that which is yet to come.

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Epictetus: Decide, Do, Become

In the third volume, chapter XXIII §1, of his discourses compiled by Arrian[1], Epictetus[2] gives his advice “to those who read and discuss for the purpose of display”.

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