Topics · Life & Self
Wisdom about mindset.
What people have learned about mindset the hard way, and what the classics said about it first.
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From the library
We are such stuff as dreams are made on.
There is no wealth but life.
I am large, I contain multitudes.
Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high.
The grateful mind is constantly fixed upon the best.
Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.
A lady’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.
The mind of the painter must resemble a mirror.
The sage has no invariable mind of his own; he makes the mind of the people his mind.
Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.
This above all: to thine own self be true.
When we build, let us think that we build for ever.
I celebrate myself, and sing myself.
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.
To know and yet (think) we do not know is the highest (attainment); not to know (and yet think) we do know is a disease.
The thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an abomination to men.
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee.
They should think their (coarse) food sweet; their (plain) clothes beautiful; their (poor) dwellings places of rest; and their common (simple) ways sources of enjoyment.
The thoughts of the righteous are right: but the counsels of the wicked are deceit.
We know what we are, but know not what we may be.
When a reconciliation is effected (between two parties) after a great animosity, there is sure to be a grudge remaining (in the mind of the one who was wrong). And how can this be beneficial (to the other)?
The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord: but the words of the pure are pleasant words.
There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
The sage has in the world an appearance of indecision, and keeps his mind in a state of indifference to all. The people all keep their eyes and ears directed to him, and he deals with them all as his children.
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day.
Those three methods (of government) Thought olden ways in elegance did fail And made these names their want of worth to veil; But simple views, and courses plain and true Would selfish ends and many lusts eschew.
We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.
It is simply by being pained at (the thought of) having this disease that we are preserved from it. The sage has not the disease. He knows the pain that would be inseparable from it, and therefore he does not have it.
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more.
He who lightly promises is sure to keep but little faith; he who is continually thinking things easy is sure to find them difficult. Therefore the sage sees difficulty even in what seems easy, and so never has any difficulties.
(It is the way of the Tao) to act without (thinking of) acting; to conduct affairs without (feeling the) trouble of them; to taste without discerning any flavour; to consider what is small as great, and a few as many; and to recompense injury with kindness.
The people make light of dying because of the greatness of their labours in seeking for the means of living. It is this which makes them think light of dying. Thus it is that to leave the subject of living altogether out of view is better than to set a high value on it.
To him by whom this harmony is known, (The secret of) the unchanging (Tao) is shown, And in the knowledge wisdom finds its throne. All life-increasing arts to evil turn; Where the mind makes the vital breath to burn, (False) is the strength, (and o'er it we should mourn.)
Colour's five hues from th' eyes their sight will take; Music's five notes the ears as deaf can make; The flavours five deprive the mouth of taste; The chariot course, and the wild hunting waste Make mad the mind; and objects rare and strange, Sought for, men's conduct will to evil change.
The excellence of a residence is in (the suitability of) the place; that of the mind is in abysmal stillness; that of associations is in their being with the virtuous; that of government is in its securing good order; that of (the conduct of) affairs is in its ability; and that of (the initiation of) any movement is in its timeliness.
When the intelligent and animal souls are held together in one embrace, they can be kept from separating. When one gives undivided attention to the (vital) breath, and brings it to the utmost degree of pliancy, he can become as a (tender) babe. When he has cleansed away the most mysterious sights (of his imagination), he can become without a flaw.