He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still. Lao Tzu
A person who thinks all the time has nothing to think about except thoughts, so he loses touch with reality and lives in a world of illusions. Alan Watts
A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you. C.S. Lewis
And why should we feel anger at the world? As if the world would notice! Euripides
I don’t like work—no man does—but I like what is in the work—the chance to find yourself. Joseph Conrad
Objective judgment, now at this very moment. Unselfish action, now at this very moment. Willing acceptance—now at this very moment—of all the external events. That’s all you need. Marcus Aurelius
Choose not to be harmed—and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed—and you haven’t been. Marcus Aurelius
A good person dyes events with his own color…and turns whatever happens to his own benefit. Seneca
Nothing is easier than to denounce the evil doer; nothing is more difficult than understanding him. Fyodor Dostoevsky
No man or woman who tries to pursue an ideal in his or her own way is without enemies. Daisy Bates
For we pay a price for everything we get or take in this world; and although ambitions are well worth having, they are not cheaply won. Phaedrus
There is no formula for success except perhaps an unconditional acceptance of life and what it brings. Arthur Rubinstein
A sad soul can kill you quicker, far quicker, than a germ. John Steinbeck
All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves. We must die to one life before we can enter another. Anatole France
The past is our definition. We may strive, with good reason, to escape it, or to escape what is bad in it, but we will escape it only by adding something better to it. Wendell Berry
Reason is not automatic; those who deny it cannot be conquered by it. Ayn Rand
Let us consider that we are all insane. It will explain us to each other; it will un-riddle many riddles. Mark Twain
For those who believe no proof is necessary. For those who don’t believe no proof is possible. Stuart Chase
In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present. Francis Bacon
There is no lasting hope in violence, only temporary relief from hopelessness. Kingman Brewster, Jr.
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. Ralph Waldo Emerson
He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby becomes a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. Nietzsche
Men are more ready to repay an injury than a benefit, because gratitude is a burden and revenge a pleasure. Tacitus
If I am what I have, and if I lose what I have, who then am I? Erich Fromm
Experience is a brutal teacher, but you learn; my god, do you learn. C.S. Lewis
We’re all sentenced to solitary confinement inside our own skins, for life. Tennessee Williams
Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls. The most massive characters are seared with scars. Khalil Gibran
Some of the best lessons are learned from past mistakes. The error of the past is the wisdom of the future. Dale Turner