Jason

About me:

if you really want to know me, then ignore the following, -Ralph Waldo Emerson- Fate, then, is a name for facts not yet passed under the fire of thought; for causes, which are unpenetrated. Go face the fire at sea, or the cholera in your friend's house, or the burglar in your own, or what danger lies in the way of duty... Our greatest glory consists not in falling, but in rising every time we fall. One of the illusions of life is that the present hour is not the critical, decisive hour. Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year. Patience and fortitude conquer all. The one thing in the world, of value, is the active soul. A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light, which flashes across his mind from within . . .. in every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts; they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty. Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood. Life is a festival only to the wise. Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted. Our strength grows out of our weakness. Speech is power: speech is to persuade, to convert, and to compel. It is to bring another out of his bad sense into your good sense. The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common. All violence, all that is dreary and repels, is not power, but the absence of power. In analyzing history do not be too profound, for often the causes are quite superficial. The years teach much which the days never knew. Always do what you are afraid to do. Nothing is simpler than greatness; indeed, to be simple is to be great. The life of man is a self-evolving circle. Fear always springs from ignorance. In every man there is something wherein I may learn of him, and in that I am his pupil. Discontent is the want of self-reliance: it is infirmity of will. What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. -Lao Tzu- Understanding others is knowledge, Understanding oneself is enlightenment; Conquering others is power, Conquering oneself is strength. If you go searching for the Great Creator, you will come back empty-handed. The source of the universe is ultimately unknowable, a great invisible river flowing forever through a vast and fertile valley. Silent and uncreated, it creates all things. This path is clearly defined and quite simple to follow, yet most lose themselves in ideological fogs of their own making. Do not imagine that an integral being has the ambition of enlightening the unaware or raising worldly people to the divine realm. To her, there is no self and other, and hence no one to be raised; no heaven and hell, and hence no destination. -Benjamin Franklin- Wise men don't need advice. Fools won't take it. Poverty often deprives a man of all spirit and virtue; it is hard for an empty bag to stand upright. A long life may not be good enough, but a good life is long enough. The best tranquilizer is a clear conscience. It is easier to suppress the first desire than to satisfy all that follow it. Leisure is the time for doing something useful. This leisure the diligent person will obtain the lazy one never. Some are weather-wise, some are otherwise. The best is the cheapest. Great haste makes great waste. Observe all men, thyself most. I have met the enemy, and it is the eyes of the people. Pride is said to be the last vice the good man gets clear of. A word to the wise is enough, and many words won't fill a bushel. Genius is nothing but a greater aptitude for patience. All mankind is divided into three classes: those who are immovable, those who are movable; and those who move. -Confucius- To go beyond is as wrong as to fall short. To understand yourself is the key to wisdom. Those who do not study are only cattle dressed up in men's clothes. The gentleman prefers to be slow in word but diligent in action. The real fault is to have faults and not try to mend them. Who expects to be able to go out of a house except by the door? How is it then that no one follows this Way of ours? You can cheat an honest man but not make a fool out of him. The gentleman can see a question from all sides without bias. The small man is biased and can see a question only from one side. Do not worry about not holding high position; worry rather about playing your proper role. Study without reflection is a waste of time; reflection without study is dangerous. Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart. To see what is right, and not do it, is want of courage, or of principle. If a man takes no thought about what is distant, he will find sorrow near at hand. Humility is the solid foundation of all the virtues. The essence of knowledge is, having it, to apply it; not having it, to confess your ignorance. It is better not to proceed at all than to proceed without purpose. Without knowing the force of words, it is impossible to know men. The man of wisdom is never in two minds about right and wrong; the man of benevolence never worries about the future; the man of courage is never afraid. The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials. To be wronged is nothing, unless you continue to remember it. I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. The Way is not for, but from, man; if we take the Way as something superhuman, beyond man, this is not the real Way. When you meet someone better than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming his equal. When you meet someone not as good as you are, look within and examine yourself. You do not understand even life. How can you understand death? -Henry David Thoreau- The civilized man is a more experienced and wiser savage. -Albert Einstein- In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. -Socrates- Let him that would move the world, first move himself. The only true knowledge, consists in knowing, that we know nothing, The unexamined life is not worth living.