Encyclopedia of sayings. Encyclopedia of Wisdom
Current page: 1 (book has 82 pages in total)
Eduard Borohov
Encyclopedia of aphorisms
Preface
The aphoristic collection presented to the attention of readers, on the one hand, is a rather voluminous and completely independent collection of aphorisms and sayings of numerous authors of various times and peoples, and on the other hand, it is a continuation of the already published “Encyclopedia of Aphorisms” (Thought in a Word) - M.: ACT Publishing Company LLC, 1998.
The collection retains the encyclopedic principle of systematization of text units and the reference and search apparatus, ensuring maximum convenience for the reader in handling completely different aphoristic material.
For the reader who is not familiar with the publication mentioned above, let us explain that the structure of this collection allows us to:
1. Continuous reading of the text.
2. Familiarization with individual subject articles.
3. Search for a separate saying to quote on a given topic.
4. Search for sayings belonging to a specific author.
5. Advanced search for sayings on a specific topic using synonyms keywords, representing the titles of subject articles.
Unlike the previous edition, when forming an array of text units included in the collection, more careful attention was paid to poetic literary sources, which, according to the results of our preliminary analysis, were not given a prominent place in any of the known aphoristic publications. But where else, if not in poetry, designed to briefly and figuratively express the thoughts and feelings of the author, is there a rich source of aphoristic expressions?
This encyclopedic edition introduces into aphoristic circulation a large number of sayings of various authors who have not previously been published in the literature of this genre. Due to this, the thematic representativeness of the text array of aphorisms and sayings has been significantly expanded.
The compiler hopes that, like the previous edition, this collection will arouse interest among a wide range of readers and, in particular, will be useful to those who are in one way or another connected with literary work, political and social activities. After all, according to German philosopher Johann Herder, “acquaintance with the thoughts of bright minds constitutes an excellent mental exercise: it fertilizes the mind and refines thought.”
Due to the fact that the work on replenishing the collection of aphorisms and sayings continues, the compiler will be grateful for any critical comments and suggestions that will undoubtedly help him in this activity.
How to use the Encyclopedia
Composition of the Encyclopedia
The Encyclopedia presented to the reader’s attention is a systematized collection of aphorisms, sayings, sayings of domestic and foreign authors, proverbs, excerpts from folk epics, literary prose and poetic works that saw the light of day from antiquity to the present day. The selection of text units for filling encyclopedic articles was carried out by the compiler only on the basis of the originality and brightness of the lexical design of thoughts. Neither the degree of fame nor the political leanings of the authors were taken into account, which was almost always taken into account in aphoristic literature Soviet period and in the first years post-Soviet era. Naturally, there is a certain shade of subjectivity in this approach, however, no more than when presenting the results of any research.
Structure of the Encyclopedia
1. Encyclopedic articles are located in alphabetical order.
2. Homonyms are provided with numerical indicators and are presented as separate articles (for example: WORLD 1 and WORLD 2).
3. Phraseological and stable phrases are presented as separate encyclopedic articles (for example: MEN AND WOMEN, THE MEANING OF LIFE).
4. The structure of the Encyclopedia includes reference and search tools:
– index of encyclopedic articles,
– a list of synonyms of concepts not included in the publication as headwords of encyclopedic articles,
Structure of an encyclopedic article
1. In total, the Encyclopedia contains more than 2,300 articles.
2. The headword (noun) introducing the article is placed on a separate line and printed in capital letters. In parentheses after the headword are its synonyms and antonyms. Moreover, synonyms and antonyms that are not used in this edition as headwords of encyclopedic articles are marked with asterisks.
3. Text units (aphorisms, sayings, proverbs, etc.) are located under the title word in alphabetical order of the names of their authors or sources (if the authors are unknown or absent).
4. Individual text units with polysemy may be repeated in several encyclopedic articles.
5. The meaning of the concept introduced by the headword is revealed when it is used in text units or, in its absence, becomes determined from the context of the expression. When revealing the meaning of a concept in the text, it can be presented in the forms of a noun, adjective, or verb.
6. The maximum volume of an encyclopedic article is not specifically limited.
Encyclopedia reference apparatus
1. The index of encyclopedic articles is made in alphabetical order of capital words denoting concepts, indicating the page of the beginning of the article.
2. After the text part of the Encyclopedia there is a list of synonyms of concepts that are not included in this edition as headwords introducing concepts. It is intended to help the reader find the required concept by synonymously expanding the word at his disposal. The list is in alphabetical order. In parentheses, following the introductory word, its synonyms are indicated, which are used in this edition as headwords of encyclopedic articles.
3. The author's index is built in alphabetical order of the names of the authors whose texts are used in this publication. In the index, following the author's surname, his name is given (for domestic authors - and patronymic), real surname, if the author published under a pseudonym, years of life or year of birth, profession with the designation nationality in relation to the language the author spoke and wrote. If there is no information about the author, the following is indicated after his last name: “no data found.”
4. In the author's index, in alphabetical order along with the names of the authors, the names of folk epics are located, social groups(for example, Vaganta), philosophical schools (for example, Cyrenaica), which own text fragments with unknown authorship.
A
ABSOLUTELY (syn. unconditionality*)
It never happens that something for a long time was absolutely right or absolutely wrong.
S. Butler
The absolute, whatever its kind, belongs neither to nature nor to the human mind.
J. Buffon
No one can be either omniscient or omnipotent.
Virgil
The human mind does not invent anything absolute, even when it conceives the most absurd inventions.
A. Vilmain
He who desires absolute perfection desires great evil.
ABSURD (syn. nonsense*)
Absurdity is a statement or opinion that clearly contradicts what we ourselves think about it.
They do not stop believing in absurdity because reasonable people prove that he is such; but they believe in it because a handful of fools and swindlers call it the truth.
K. Helvetius
The absurd, depicted masterfully, evokes disgust and bewilderment.
There is nothing absurd or funny that the sages have not said.
O. Goldsmith
The absurd is an impression that does not fit into the skull until you shake it up.
It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or boring.
O. Wilde
The absurd is an affirmation of the spiritual freedom of a person who has rebelled against the tyranny of circumstances.
O. Huxley
Only those who make absurd attempts will be able to achieve the impossible.
A. Einstein
AVANT-GARDISM
Nobody is more conservative than a proponent of avant-gardeism.
Avant-garde is art, the essence of which is supposedly that it is ahead of some other art.
A. Round
Disregarding scientific truth,
Always with a fair wind in the sails,
Inseparable from a sword and a glass,
Adventurers create miracles.
E. Sevrus
The element of adventure should not be so great as to expose the whole business to unjustified risk, but also not so small that it would be embarrassing to take on the matter.
R. Waterman
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
An autobiography can only be trusted if it reveals something shameful.
D. Orwell
All autobiographies are lies. No person can be so bad as to tell the truth about himself during his lifetime, involving his family, friends and colleagues in this matter, as the truth demands. And no man can be so virtuous as to tell the truth to posterity in a document which he keeps to himself until there is no one left to contradict him.
AUTOGRAPH
Any signature wants to be considered an autograph.
S. Dovlatov
AUTONOMY
Autonomy and the tendency towards autonomy are the last refuge of indifferent people.
SELF-PORTRAIT
Any human creation, be it literature, music or painting, is always a self-portrait.
A. Bernardin de Saint-Pierre
And a step would not be taken on the path to truth if authorities took precedence over reason.
Almost all the opinions we have have been received through authorities; we believe, judge, act, live and die on credit.
P. Charron
A. Einstein
And do not judge what is best and more just by the majority of authorities: for the opinion of one and the worst may in any matter be superior to the opinions of many and higher.
Justinian
AUTHORSHIP
S. Johnson
W. Irving
What attracts attention most of all is not the author who brings out new truths, but the one who awakens in us the unsteady outlines of those old truths that are dormant in our consciousness for the time being.
Multituli
An author working on his manuscript is primarily a critic, for sifting, combining, constructing, crossing out, correcting, testing - all this hard labor is more the lot of a critic than an artist.
AGITATION (syn. persuasion)
The agitator's secret: to become so stupid that his listeners believe that they are as smart as he is.
It is not rational agitation that guides the people; he is driven by a great feeling.
AGNOSTICISM
An agnostic is an ordinary atheist who does not have the courage to admit his views.
AGGRESSIVENESS
Aggression arises precisely because people lose their sense of life as such, lose touch with the simplest values of life.
Human pride and aggression come from a false sense of superiority.
D. Thurber
AD (ant. paradise)
Hell is the self-isolation of a painful moment, in which an abyss and infinity open up inside this moment, the moment becomes endless time.
N. Berdyaev
And hell has its own monasteries.
J. Bernanos
If all human desires were fulfilled, the globe would become a living hell.
Hell is not the bitterness of punishment,
He is in an evil heart, envious, empty.
D. Gibran
Hell is a special mercy awarded to those who persistently sought it.
Hell is a place full of pretty women and not a single mirror.
L. Levinson
Hell and heaven are in your own soul.
S. Marechal
Hell is a place where the Ten Commandments are prosecuted.
G. Mencken
A bad conscience even finds hell in the midst of pleasure.
F. Maintenon
LAWYER (syn. defender*)
A lawyer is a corpse worm: he lives someone else's legal death.
V. Klyuchevsky
A lawyer is a statesman who protects us from robbers, depriving them of a reason to rob us.
G. Mencken
How much fairer does a lawyer think a case for which he has been generously paid?
B. Pascal
Civilization has led to the fact that it no longer matters who is right and who is wrong; it matters whose lawyer is better or worse.
V. Shwebel
ADMINISTRATION
There is a big difference between a professor and an administrator, although it is expressed in only two letters: the task of the first is to force oneself to listen, the task of the second is to force oneself to obey.
V. Klyuchevsky
The administration is a dirty rag for plugging holes in legislation.
V. Klyuchevsky
Every decent administrator must understand that he is dealing with a dishonest society, and is obliged to protect the people's welfare all the more intensely, the more senselessly the people themselves understand it.
V. Klyuchevsky
In the matter of administration, all nonsense materializes.
When the administration is secretive, it can be concluded that injustices are being committed.
K. Malzerbe
The best administration is the one that offers more benefits and has fewer inconveniences.
J. Portalis
There is not a single science that could not provide the administrator with useful advice.
The size of the administrative apparatus obeys the law of beard growth: if you don’t shave your beard, it grows steadily, if you shave, it grows even faster.
Yu. Chugaevsky
EXCELLENCE (syn. fever*, fever*)
He who is engaged in hype is a lazy person, working like an ox in order not to work.
P. Decourcel
EXCITATION (syn. inspiration, ardor*, enthusiasm)
Excitement is a state we enter when we lose our temper.
V. Zhemchuzhnikov
Man is a gambling creature. Good is not enough for him. Give him the best.
Gambler, succumbed to passion,
Don't trust in God's mercy!
The player who puts everything on the line
There's too much at stake.
Mirza-Shafi
GAMBLING
There are no pessimists among those who enjoy gambling.
Akutagawa Ryunosuke
Gambling: a contagious disease of semi-civilized barbarians.
ABC (syn. alphabet*, primer*)
The one who created the alphabet gave us the thread of our thoughts and the key of nature.
A. Rsharoll
ACADEMISM
The moment a person starts doing uninteresting things in the hope that one day they will be useful, he becomes infected with academicism.
S. Butler
CAREFULNESS (syn. neatness, accuracy, cleanliness)
Increased accuracy is a property of ordinary natures.
S. Dovlatov
Accuracy is the courtesy of kings.
Louis XVII
...Following the truth creates accuracy...
AXIOM
Axioms are not proven; their truth is demonstrable by its irrefutability.
V. Klyuchevsky
An axiom is something that is unanimously accepted as faith and therefore ceases to be true.
G. Mencken
ACTOR (syn. artist)
The actor is a sculptor who sculpts from snow.
When playing others, actors lose the habit of being themselves.
V. Klyuchevsky
Actor - shipbuilder on the deck of the world! And the actor’s house stands on the waves!
O. Mandelstam
An actor is a person for whom a wooden leg bothers him more than a wooden head.
G. Mencken
ACTIVITY (syn. initiative*, energy*, anti. inertia*, passivity)
In the seething human activity I often see sadness, the stubbornness of a hen sitting on eggs that were rotten from the start.
I. Guberman
ACCENT (syn. accent*)
Women's eloquence lies especially in accent, in gesture, in posture and in gaze.
O. Balzac
Accent is the soul of speech: it gives it feeling and truthfulness.
J.-J. Rousseau
CORPORATION
Shareholders are mouthwatering people who stare in amazement as their money floats away.
A. Decourcel
ALIMONY
Alimony is a fine that one person has to pay for the mistake of two.
Alimony is a ransom that the lucky ones pay to the devil.
G. Mencken
Alimony is a poll tax on sin.
ALCOHOLISM (syn. drunkenness)
Alcoholics reward their descendants with various serious illnesses, among which mental illness takes pride of place.
V. Kapel
Alcoholics are people who no longer control their desire to drink, but the desire to drink controls them.
ALCOHOL
Alcohol claims more lives than the worst epidemic.
Not everyone who drinks is a drunkard. But the peculiarity of alcohol is precisely that someone who starts drinking it can easily become a drunkard.
P. Kovalevsky
When from bestiality, meanness and nonsense
Interest in life weakens
To a soul inflamed from anxiety
It is useful to apply an alcohol compress.
E. Sevrus
Poured alcohol inside yourself
Often in fair quantities
Soothes mental pain at night,
But in the morning it worsens my headache.
E. Sevrus
Alcohol is like love: the first kiss is magical, the second is tender, the third is familiar, after which the girl undresses...
R. Chandler
ALLEGORY (syn. allegory*)
Charlatanism and fear invented an allegorical meaning, and forgetting this meaning gave birth to delusions.
Allegory serves as the basis for earthly beliefs; man cannot see God face to face.
ALTAR (syn. altar*)
They erect altars to gods, authorities, freedom - in order to ascend to them and rule.
An altar is holy only when it symbolizes the altar of our heart, on which we place the only sacrifices that are commanded to us - love, which is stronger than hatred, and faith, which overcomes any doubt.
An altar ceases to be an altar when sacrifices dry up.
ALCHEMY
Alchemy is a science without science, the beginning and middle of which is labor, and the end is beggary.
D. Tarris
Alchemy often led to great discoveries in high road imagination.
GREED (syn. desire)
The greedy one torments himself, with his own hand, he will receive neither joy nor peace, for greed breeds emptiness and adversity, for greed is worse than the plague and more terrible than leprosy.
Abul-Atahiya
Our eyes hunger for more than our stomach can accommodate.
M. Montaigne
Any fuss with wealth reeks of greed; it reeks even of his wastefulness, of overly ordered and deliberate generosity; it is not worth such attention and such annoying concern.
M. Montaigne
There is no greater obstacle to greed than greed itself: the more boundless and insatiable it is, the less it achieves. And usually she accumulates wealth much faster when she hides behind the guise of generosity.
M. Montaigne
The greedy desire for money or success almost always gets people into trouble. Why? Because in such a life people have to depend on things external to themselves.
The one who knows no limit to greed and does not know the limits of spending -
he is generous in gifts and predatory in seizures.
Unknown Roman poet
Moderation is the wealth of the poor, greed is the poverty of the rich.
Publilius Syrus
People's excessive greed for honor comes from their vanity.
C. Saint-Evremond
Wealth has produced more greedy people than greed has produced rich people.
T. Fuller
ALTERNATIVE
The alternative to truth is a lie. An alternative to truth is another truth, deeper, more viable.
S. Dovlatov
ALTRUISM (ant. egoism)
Between earthly sufferings
One earthly grace:
Living with the worries of others,
You can’t see your own people and don’t know them.
Altruism is willpower based on compassion.
T. Gyatso
Altruism isn't just good for other people; from an egoistic point of view, it is also a complete source of happiness.
T. Gyatso
Altruism is more than just a feeling of sympathy. It is also about taking responsibility for each other.
T. Gyatso
At the heart of altruism, even if it is completely sincere, lies a reluctance to contemplate the misfortune of others.
G. Mencken
He who does not live for others to some extent does not live for himself at all.
M. Montaigne
Altruism is unconscious egoism.
B. Pakuda
Altruism is a noble feeling, but a state cannot be founded on it alone.
D. Shotwell
AMBITION (syn. arrogance)
A person’s desire to be the center of people’s general attention is detrimental to him, for nothing kills the soul as quickly as the thirst to please people.
M. Gorky
Ambition and inflated personal dignity are precisely signs of a lack of personal dignity.
Current page: 1 (book has 15 pages total) [available reading passage: 10 pages]
Orthodox quotation book. A collection of short sayings and good advice from the holy fathers and teachers of the Church
Compiled by Vladimir Zobern
The book received the blessing of Archbishop Evlogiy of Vladimir and Suzdal
© AST Publishing House LLC, 2010
© Zobern V., 2009
Part one
Chapter 1
About God Himself and in relation to creatures - mainly to people
Heaven, earth, sea - in a word, this whole world is the great and glorious book of God, in which the preached God is revealed by the very silence
* * *
One philosopher asked Saint Anthony, who could neither read nor write: “In what book did you obtain information about the lofty truths that you preach?” – Saint Anthony, without saying a word, pointed to heaven with one hand and to the earth with the other.
* * *
Every creature expresses the thought of God. And the thought of God is perfect, complete, therefore, and each of the creatures, according to its type and kind, contains within itself all perfection and all completeness. True, we call some of the creatures disgusting - just out of habit. But this is very stupid. Take a closer look at the body of these apparently disgusting creatures, and you will be surprised at their wonderful structure. It can even be said that the more insignificant, the more barely noticeable to our eyes something from the genus of reptiles or insects is, the more perfection it has in itself. We know little about nature, which is why we judge it so superficially. No, when it is said: marvelous are You, O Lord, and marvelous are Your works, it is precisely because it is said that every creature is perfect in its own way, that each of them is in close connection with other creatures and was created for a certain, necessary purpose
* * *
God is truly great! And He alone is great in both the great and the small of the earth
* * *
Creatures are good and very good, but the Creator who created them good is incomparably better. (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk).
* * *
We all believe that God is strong, and we believe that everything is possible for Him: but you must also have faith in Him in your deeds, because He works miracles in you too (Abba Euprepius).
* * *
We must love the ways of the Lord, and they will become noticeable to us (
* * *
The ways of Providence are covered in darkness, and His fate is incomprehensible to the mind; but a man who does good will know them (Abba Evagrius).
* * *
In order to discern the ways of God's Providence, one must oneself be close to Providence.
* * *
Just as it is impossible to see the sun without the sun itself, so it is equally impossible to know God without God Himself (Archpriest P. Sokolov).
* * *
It is not safe to swim with clothes on, nor is it safe for anyone who has any passion to touch theology. (Reverend John Climacus).
* * *
He who does not have humility with deep self-abasement cannot reason about the greatness of God.
* * *
Just as no one has ever inhaled all the air into himself, so neither the mind has completely contained, nor the voice has embraced the essence of God. (St. Gregory the Theologian).
* * *
If what God is (exists) is accepted by faith (Heb. 11:6), and not comprehended by reason, then is it possible to comprehend with reason what He is? (St. John Chrysostom).
* * *
The more perfect the word about God, the more incomprehensible (St. Gregory the Theologian).
* * *
There is no name that could fully express God: this way one cannot comprehend Him in all (St. John Chrysostom).
* * *
We should rejoice in the fact that God is incomprehensible, because He will be a subject of knowledge through all eternity. If the mind understood Him, it would remain without action, and this is torment for it (Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson).
* * *
Do not so much go into deep research about God as try to imitate Him (St. Gregory the Theologian).
* * *
What does it mean that no earthly thing, no honor, no wealth, no talents, no knowledge satisfies our heart? What does it mean that in the midst of earthly happiness we are bored and feel the emptiness of our soul? - This is the expressive voice of the heart, saying: man, do not seek satisfactory blessings on earth, in this vale of vanity and corruption: your bliss is in one God! Turn all your desires to Him, seek constant pleasure and peace in Him. (Jacob, Archbishop of Nizhny Novgorod).
* * *
Why are others bored? Because they did not attack an object that would occupy them comprehensively and satiate them completely. There is only one such subject: God and the destinies of His righteousness. Give Him your work, time and attention, and you will never be bored; on the contrary, you will be as if you were in paradise, because nothing can compare with the joy of thinking about God and praising God. Having experienced this, the Holy Fathers devoted all their time to this; on the same basis, the Holy Church commanded to gather for prayer many times a day
* * *
To be with God in every place there is a home and a fatherland; without God, both home and fatherland are exile and captivity (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk).
* * *
With God in troubles and suffering and in hell itself there is good (good): without God, heaven and heaven itself are nothing (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk).
* * *
To be with God and in hell is heaven, without God to be in heaven and torment (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk).
* * *
Seek God, but don't search where He lives (Abba Sisoi).
* * *
God is a circle whose center is everywhere and whose surroundings are nowhere. (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
God fills everything and exists outside of everything
* * *
God is in every place, but is not contained in any (St. Cyril of Jerusalem).
* * *
God is all everywhere, all in everything, equally in great and small, and all above all (Reverend John of Damascus).
* * *
God is neither low nor high, neither close nor far, because He is omnipresent and therefore closer to you than your soul is to your body; just know how to find this closeness through faith and prayer. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him in truth(Ps. 144, 18) (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
God is always close to man due to His omnipresence, but man is not always close to God due to his limitations, inattention, and absent-mindedness. (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
To be close or far from God depends on the person himself, because God is everywhere (St. John Chrysostom).
* * *
God draws near to us when we draw near to Him. If anyone opens the door, He says down to Him(Apoc. 3, 20) (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
Seek God with your thoughts in heaven, with love in your heart, with reverence in the temple, seek Him everywhere - with deeds undertaken and accomplished for Him. (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
Look for Him everywhere, Who is everywhere; and, having left everything, seek His One and you will certainly find (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk).
* * *
Not only obvious, or visible to people, but also our secret deeds, and not only our deeds, but also our very thoughts (Apoc. 2:23; Heb. 4:13) (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
In everything you do, keep in mind that God sees your every thought, and you will never sin (Abba Evagrius).
* * *
If you are ashamed of sinners like you, so that they do not see you sinning; how much more should you fear God, Who perfectly sees the hidden secrets of your heart? (Abba Isaiah).
* * *
If in the presence of the king we do not allow ourselves any negligence, much less indecency, but we try to ensure that every word we say, every movement is pleasing to him: then all the more, he who represents himself in the presence of God will not allow himself any sin, he will be jealous of a holy deed that is pleasing to God (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
It is easier for God to light a new sun in the sky than for you and me to light a candle (Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson).
* * *
The power of God does not need the power of man (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
And the smallest bird is not forgotten before the Heavenly Father (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk).
* * *
A particularly great miracle of God’s love, which we will not see in eternity (because this is the limit of possible love), is the sending of the Son of God into the world. It means a lot not to be offended by a crime, more to forgive, and even more to give thanks after forgiveness; but incomparably much is to accept human form for God, to suffer and die. This truly is a miracle in moral world(John 15:13; Rom. 5:8). In this alone the heart of God was revealed so that if the teaching about the perfections of God had been forgotten, then in this alone all theology would have been contained. (Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson).
* * *
In His justice, God put the entire human race to death for the sin of one: and in His mercy, when all people were under the curse and bound by the bonds of sin, for the righteousness of One He granted salvation to everyone ( Blessed Theodoret).
* * *
O God, who gave us Your Son! What are you not giving to us with Him! (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
It is easier to measure the space of the heavens and the heavens and the depths of the abysses of the sea, it is easier to count the breaths exhaled from the heart and the weight of the life inhaled, than to measure and know the greatness and number of God’s blessings ( Filaret, Archbishop of Chernigov).
* * *
Oh, when would a person honor God as much as he is honored by God! (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk).
* * *
God sends us generous gifts Ours with greater pleasure than with which we accept them (St. Gregory the Theologian).
* * *
God, by his infinite goodness and mercy, is always ready to give everything to man, but man is not always ready to accept anything from Him. (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
We all need mercy, but not all are worthy of mercy. Because she, although mercy, seeks the worthy, as God Himself said: I will have mercy, even if I am dear, and I will show mercy, even if I am generous.(Ex. 33, 19) (St. John Chrysostom).
* * *
God is not lacking in gifts for us, but we are lacking in His gifts. (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
Gratitude to God for the gifts received from Him is a vessel into which the grace of God places new (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
Nothing pleases God more than gratitude (St. John Chrysostom).
* * *
He who is faithful in little things gains trust in many things. The faithful, in giving thanks for the small gift of God, gains boldness to ask for great things. In fact, from your own feeling, a Christian, you can know that a heart that gives thanks opens more freely and opens up more widely than one that asks: consequently, it is all the more capable of receiving grace (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
The Lord gives and rewards His gifts to those who accept them with humble thanksgiving, but the ungrateful will take away even what he thinks he has. (Dimitri, Archbishop of Kherson).
* * *
The more sun rays falls on flowers and other plants, especially since they emit fragrances towards the sun; our sun is God; let us be grateful to Him, like flowers (Archpriest I. Tolmachev).
* * *
God is merciful, but also just, - infinitely merciful, but also infinitely just (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
Whoever, trusting in the mercy of God, does not cease to sin, must be afraid, lest he feel His righteous judgment. (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk).
* * *
May the goodness of God prompt us to do this, so that we do not recognize the truth of God in ourselves (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk).
* * *
Look with one eye on God’s mercy, and with the other on His righteousness. (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk).
* * *
In order not to sin, you need the fear of God's judgment; So that the sinner does not despair, the hope of God's mercy is useful (St. Basil the Great).
* * *
Are you righteous, fear the wrath (of God), lest you fall; are you a sinner, take hold of (God's) mercy to stand up (St. Gregory Dvoeslov).
* * *
Let us not complain about the righteous judgment of God. We are ignorant to give our opinion about the unspeakable judgments of God (St. Basil the Great).
* * *
Do not think that the truth of God is no longer there, where your subtle eye does not see it (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
If not here, then there, and even more so there, if not here, God will reward everyone according to his deeds. (Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson).
* * *
The full solution to the diversity of our fates will be there. There everyone will see how well everything was arranged; and here we live in darkness for now (St. Theophan the Recluse).
* * *
Although the reasons for God’s orders are hidden from us, everything that happens by order of the all-wise and loving God, no matter how difficult it may be, must certainly be pleasant for us (St. Basil the Great).
* * *
God, without any doubt, manages our affairs better than we ourselves would have intended. (St. Basil the Great).
* * *
What God wishes for us is the best for us (Archpriest I. Tolmachev).
* * *
What is good for us is what God wants; what God wants is good for us (St. John Chrysostom).
* * *
Accept everything that happens to you as good, knowing that without God nothing happens (Reverend Simeon the New Theologian).
* * *
* * *
Believe that everything that happens to us, down to the smallest, happens according to the Providence of God, and then you will endure everything that comes your way without embarrassment. (Reverend Abba Dorotheos).
* * *
The wisdom of God finds means and ways to our happiness even where we see nothing but dangers and suffering (Archpriest I. Tolmachev).
* * *
When you say: God is a lover of mankind, and therefore will not punish, then in your opinion it turns out that He is no longer a lover of mankind if He punishes (St. John Chrysostom).
* * *
Bitter things sent from the hand of the Heavenly Physician are more beneficial to mental health than sweet things offered by the world (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
And prosperity can be more dangerous than disaster, and disaster can be more salutary than prosperity. (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
How rarely and how coldly people would pray if there were no sorrows and suffering! (Archpriest I. Tolmachev).
* * *
The Lord delivers with sorrows from great sorrows (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
The time of adversity is the time of God’s predominant remembrance of us; the time of adversity is the time in which God builds our souls
* * *
Just as seeds need rain, so we need tears. Just as the earth needs to be plowed and dug, so the soul needs temptations and sorrows instead of a spade, so that it does not grow bad herbs, so that its cruelty is softened, so that it does not become proud. And the land without careful cultivation does not bring anything healthy (St. John Chrysostom).
* * *
The School of the Cross is the most best school. The upbringing of the school of the cross makes: a) the crazy people become smart, and the smart people wise; b) the proud are humble, and the humble are humble; c) the bad are good, and the good are better; d) the weak are strong, and the strong are invincible (Archpriest I. Tolmachev).
* * *
If there is no person who would please God without temptation, then we should thank God for every sorrowful occasion (Saint Mark the Ascetic).
* * *
Whatever temptation befalls a person, he must say: “This is by the grace of God!” (Abba Sisoi).
* * *
God in modern times does not allow such temptations of the enemy as there were before; because he knows that people are weak now and will not endure them (Reverend Anthony the Great).
* * *
The poor man knows how long clay vessels should be kept in the fire; inheritance of the kingdom of heaven (Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov).
* * *
God does not allow us to be constantly in misery, so that we do not despair, nor to constantly do good, so that we do not fall (morally) (St. John Chrysostom).
* * *
God does not leave people forever, neither in misfortune, so that they do not become exhausted, nor in happiness, so that they do not become careless, but different ways arranges their salvation (St. John Chrysostom).
* * *
We must thank God when He gives blessings, and not lose patience when He does not spare them. (St. Basil the Great).
* * *
Prosperity has come - thank God, and prosperity will be sure. Misfortunes have come - thank God, and misfortunes will stop (St. John Chrysostom).
* * *
Thank God for everything! I will not stop saying this always and in all the adventures of my life. (St. John Chrysostom).
* * *
Whether the invisible hand of Providence leads me through the mountains or through the wilds, if only it brings me to my mountainous fatherland (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
Chapter 2
Holy Scripture, or Bible
As bodily food is for maintaining our strength, so is reading Scripture for the soul. (St. John Chrysostom).
* * *
Just as one deprived of natural light cannot walk the proper road; never illuminated by the ray of the Divine Scriptures, he is forced to continually sin in many ways, because he wanders in deep darkness (St. John Chrysostom).
* * *
I advise everyone to buy a Bible or at least a New Testament! These books will always serve you to teach you (St. John Chrysostom).
* * *
Water is soft in nature, but stone is hard. But if there is a groove hanging over the stone, then the water, flowing down in drops, little by little breaks through the stone. So the Word of God is soft, but our heart is rough; but if a person often listens (or reads). The Word of God, then the fear of God comes into his heart (Abba Pimen).
* * *
Anyone who has the Bible can find it of great benefit and great consolation. Often one glance at this holy book deprives us of the desire to sin. (St. John Chrysostom).
* * *
Don't just look at the Bible, but read diligently and carefully retain in your memory what you read (St. John Chrysostom).
* * *
Someone once asked a sage: why do you constantly read books that contain teachings about the Divine and the duties of man? You've already read them several times, haven't you? The sage said: “Why do you now demand food for yourself? After all, you ate yesterday.” “I do this in order to live,” answered the questioner. “And I read in order to also live,” said the sage. It can be seen that, according to the concept of the sage, just as the life of the body requires material food every day, so the soul needs spiritual food every day (Peter, Bishop of Tomsk).
* * *
It is a great blessing of God that some passages of the Divine Scripture are very clear, and some are not clear, so that by some we may be confirmed in faith and love and, from much misunderstanding, not fall into unbelief and despondency, and by others we will be stimulated to research and work, get rid of pride and acquired humility through what we cannot comprehend (St. John Chrysostom).
* * *
Many read the Holy Scripture in order to be able only to talk about it, and many, following the example of Herod (Matthew 2:8), even turn its meaning against Jesus Christ: but you practice it in order to find Christ, following the example of the sages of the East (Archpriest P. Sokolov).
* * *
Read the word of the Divine Scripture with actions, and not with verbosity, vainly with simple attention (Saint Mark the Ascetic).
* * *
What is said in Scripture is not said so that we may know (only), but so that we may do it. (Abba Hesychius).
* * *
The heard Word of God (from the lips of a preacher or read in Scripture) turns into greater harm to those who hear and are not corrected by it (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk).
* * *
It is a flaw in man to not know the Scriptures; but the one who knows it and neglects it has a double disadvantage (Reverend Ephraim the Syrian).
* * *
Try to always be not careful listeners of the Word of Christ, but creators of the work of salvation (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
Chapter 3
Lord Jesus Christ
The Son of God appeared on earth with soul, body and Divinity in order, like God, to deliver soul and body from death
* * *
The Son of God became the Son of man in order to make the sons of men children of God (Gal. 4:5) (Archpriest P. Sokolov).
* * *
The Word, having become flesh through love for mankind, did not change either what was or what it became. (Reverend Thalassius of Syria).
* * *
If iron is put into fire, then it is completely imbued with fire, but it does not itself become fire and, conversely, fire does not become iron; so in Jesus Christ each of the natures (Divine and human) retained its properties, remained what it was (Archpriest Evg. Popov).
* * *
Christ was born in a manger, lived wherever he happened, and died on the cross (Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson).
* * *
Do you want to see a miracle every day? – Every day meditate on the incarnation and passion of Christ (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk).
* * *
How short-sighted is the human mind with all its cunning, with all the cunning of passions! People thought that by betraying Christ the Lord to death, they were doing only what their passions wanted. But it turned out that the passions themselves fulfilled what heavenly love, the love of the Son of God, wanted (Filaret, Archbishop of Chernigov).
* * *
The nature of the sons of Adam strives to arise from the sensual to the spiritual, just as sometimes a fish rushes from water to air: but just as easily and quickly, like a fish into water, it plunges back into sensuality; only Christ, by the power of grace, can decisively elevate it, renew it, revive it and give it constant spiritual direction (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
The Lord did not rise again on the first day, not immediately after death, in order to sanctify our path to the tomb and illuminate our graves with hope, - not on the second day, not on Saturday, in order to preserve the peace of the legal Sabbath and in order to assure everyone of His truth by a long stay in the tomb. death and burial and thereby increase the glory of the resurrection. Not later than on the third day, the Lord rose again, so as not to leave His disciples any longer in anguish and confusion, in order to quickly rejoice and comfort them. And could death keep the Source of life in its bonds for long? (Archpriest I. Yakhontov).
* * *
Just as by His resurrection Christ crushed the doors of hell and opened the exit from it to believers, so by His ascension He opens the doors of heaven and opens the entrance to it for believers (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
Without seeing Christ, believe in Him, love Him, and rejoice, and be blessed (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
If the creation of the world is a work of God’s love, then the work of the redemption of people by the death of the Son of God is a miracle of God’s love (Filaret, Archbishop of Chernigov).
* * *
If you give to God not only everything that you have, but also everything that you think, feel, do - soul, body, life: can you not admit that in this way you are still giving little back to God? If this can be considered sufficient; Isn’t it just because you can’t do more? (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
ABOUT! The human mind cannot comprehend all the breadth and height of God’s love poured out on us in Christ Jesus. But it’s all the more terrible to be ungrateful in front of such love ( Filaret, Archbishop of Chernigov).
* * *
A person who is with Jesus is rich even if he is poor in material terms (Abba Eugene).
* * *
It is better to lose everything in the world than to lose Jesus Christ: He will reward all deprivations a hundredfold, but the deprivation of Himself cannot be rewarded by the possession of the whole world (Archpriest P. Sokolov).
* * *
Don't we find great pleasure if we can endure a difficult feat for the person we honor and love? From this, as we ascend from the small to the great, the surest conclusion is that if we willingly bear the cross for Christ, we will find bliss in the feat itself before the bliss for the deed (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
If carnal love so enslaves the soul that it distracts it from everything and ties it only to the beloved person: then what will love for Christ and the fear of being separated from Him not do? (St. John Chrysostom).
* * *
There is no greater glory than sharing dishonor with Jesus (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
The cross and various sorrows are the Christian banner, under which Christians fight against their King, crucified on the cross (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk).
* * *
If Christ, the innocent one, deigned to endure sorrow and the pain of death for our guilt: will you not submit to endure lesser sorrow without comparison, no doubt for some of your guilt before God, although perhaps innocently before men? (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
Whoever wants to be a participant in the eternal kingdom with Jesus must be a participant in both His suffering and patience (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk).
* * *
If you love Christ, do not forget to fulfill His commandments (Abba Evagrius).
* * *
The enemy of Christ is not only one who opposes His word by teaching, but also by life (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk).
* * *
To be able to humble yourself means to be able to imitate Jesus Christ (St. Basil the Great).
* * *
Remember Christ in the den and in prison: and you will not be tempted by a magnificently decorated house (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
Remember Christ, naked and clothed in the robe of reproach: and fine clothing will be undesirable for you (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
Remember the taste and gall tasted by Christ: and you will not hunger for a luxurious feast (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
Remember Christ, Who, according to the prophetic image, knees are exhausted from fasting(Ps. 108:24): and fasting will be sweeter and more nutritious for you than a feast (St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).
* * *
Where I am Az, says Christ, there also will My servant be. Where is Christ? In heaven. So, let us move there with soul and mind even before the resurrection (St. John Chrysostom).
The Son of God becomes the son of man, so that, having received the worst, he can give us the best; Adam was deceived of old and, desiring to be God, did not become - God is made man in order to deify Adam.Lenten triodion. 5th week of Great Lent, Friday, stichera on “Lord, I cried” (113, 262).
The incarnation took place not in a ghost, not dreamily, but in reality; He did not pass through the Virgin like through a trumpet, but truly became incarnate from Her, truly fed on milk from Her, truly, like us, ate, and truly, like us, drank. For if the Incarnation was ghostly, then salvation is also a ghost. Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (113, 264).
The One who fulfilled the hidden Divine Council with all accuracy lay down in the den, in the mother’s womb and in the manger; hosts of Angels surrounded Him. He sat in Heaven at the right hand of the Father and at the same time rested in a manger, as if above the Cherubim. But truly here, in the manger, there was then the throne of the Cherubim, the royal throne, the Holy of Holies, the only glorious throne on earth, the most holy throne, because Christ our God rested on it. Saint Gregory of Neocaesarea (113, 262).
How to make sure that the sign, already revealed in almost pagan Nazareth, was given, as Isaiah predicted, to the house of David (Is. 7:13-14); so that the Virgin, who, after receiving in her womb from the Holy Spirit and after a three-month stay in the house of one relative, until the last time of pregnancy, remained living in Nazareth, not thinking about any journey, no about any migration, so that she would give birth to the Leader of Israel, according to prophecy Micah, in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)? For this purpose, the finger of God directed and arranged events in such a connection and sequence that the prophetic predictions were fulfilled with all accuracy. The national census (the order of which was given by Caesar Augustus) ... as unexpectedly as it was necessary, drew Joseph to his father's city of Bethlehem. Mary was to follow Joseph. Immanuel's earthly race was revealed at the very time His birth had arrived, and, what a few days ago seemed impossible, He was born, exactly according to the prophetic prediction, in Bethlehem. Truly, everything has been done so that the prediction will be fulfilled and so that through the small and great deeds of men, one great sign of the work of God dominating them will be visible. (113, 261) .
By this He gives a special sign that, even if sin has humiliated you to bestial passions and lusts, even if you were forced by your conscience to turn to yourself the prophetic reproof: “man will not remain in honor; he will become like animals that perish” (Ps. 49:13) - and then you should not despair of the condescension of your Savior. He, not disdaining to lie down in a manger, does not disdain to rest in the manger of your soul with His grace and His peace, if only you cast yourself before Him by repentance and faith. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow ( 113, 263 ).
God has ceased to be hidden from people. Everything mysterious became clear in Holy Scripture. This is not surprising, for He appeared among people: “He appeared on earth and spoke among people” (Bar. 3:38); and what can be hidden between people? “There is nothing... hidden”... (Matthew 10:26). While God was in Heaven, while He rested in His omnipotence: “He sat in glory on the throne of the Divine,” until then no one knew His hidden things. Even His neighbors, the holy Angels, who always stood before Him, did not know His secrets: “A mystery hidden from the ages and unknown to the Angel.” When He descended from Heaven to earth, when He began to dwell among people, then not only devout people, like Saint Joseph, righteous Salome, not only important persons, for example, the three Eastern kings, but even the shepherds talk, talk and tell about the hidden: “they told about what was announced to them about this Child” (Luke 2:17).
... So, the hidden secrets of God have been revealed, and the Church now sings: “I see a strange and glorious mystery.” What can compare with this sacrament? The whole sky with the sun, moon and stars, with all the power of God, fit into one small Bethlehem den! "The sky is a den." The whole face of Cherubim, the number of which is infinite, thousands upon thousands, the darkness of those on whom God rests - they all yielded their role to one Virgin, the Most Pure and Most Blessed Virgin Mary! "The Throne of the Cherubs is the Virgin." All the innumerable, priceless, uncontainable treasures and riches of God are placed in a cramped manger, contained and covered with a handful of hay! “The manger is a container.” Oh, a truly great, wondrous and glorious sacrament was revealed to the world on the current feast of the Nativity of Christ, revealed not so that people would remain silent about it, but would talk about it, for only the secret of an earthly king should be kept secret, but the sacraments of the Heavenly King or the works of God should be preached and glorified .
The mysteries of God, in their wondrous properties, are not at all the same as human mysteries. A human secret only needs to be told once or twice, to one person or another, and everyone will know it completely. The sacraments of God - the more you think and talk about them, the more you preach about them, the more hidden, difficult and incomprehensible they become. “How incomprehensible are His destinies and unsearchable His ways!” (Rom. 11:33). However, it is necessary to preach about them. ... Two guests have now found shelter in the den. They came from earth and from Heaven. The first man, earthly from earth, is one wondrous guest*; He came from Nazareth, brought in a virgin's womb. The second person is “the Lord from heaven” (1 Cor. 15:47); this is another guest. He is marvelous in that he came not from any place nearby, but from Heaven. In the first - nature taken from decay; this is the earth. In the other there is a nature that came down from above, from Heaven; Let's call it Heaven: "The Lord from Heaven." God became man, and man became God. Heaven becomes earth, and earth becomes Heaven. But Heaven does not become earth in such a way that it ceases to be Heaven, nor does the earth change into Heaven in such a way that it ceases to be earth. That is, just as God, having become man, did not cease to be God, so man, having become God, did not cease to be man, but both of them were united with each other as in that sacrament about which the Apostle says: “the two shall become one flesh” ( Eph. 5:31). Here both were united even into one person, as St. John of Damascus beautifully expresses: “Not divided in two persons, but inseparably cognizable in two natures” ( 103, 869-871 ).
* Saint Demetrius of Rostov allows for a homiletical personification of the concepts of the Divine and human nature in Christ, pursuing the goal of the simplest possible explanation of their unfused and inseparable union. – Ed.
O wondrous nativity scene! You are more beautiful now that you have contained Christ than Eden, in which Adam was. However, why should we call you paradise, when the Church calls you Heaven itself: “Heaven is a den.”
Heaven is the throne of God, but even in the nativity scene God sits on His holy throne - in the arms of the Virgin. Why is the nativity scene now smaller than Heaven? After all, where God is, there is Heaven. This is evidenced by one pre-holiday three-canticle, read at Compline. At the end of it there is the following verse: “I will surround you like a cherubim throne. Angels, mangers, dens, for Heaven is in vain, the Lady lies in it.” Let us pay attention to these words: “den... Heaven... the Lady lies in it.” While there was no Lord Christ in the den, the den was a den, but if the Lord Christ lies in it, the den is no longer a den. But what? He is Heaven. Even the most angelic eyes were convinced of this: “for the den of Heaven is in vain, the Lady lies in it.”
It is beautifully sung in the Epiphany hymns: “The coming of the King is coming, and the order comes.” The Heavenly King entered the earthly den, and all His army and His heavenly order entered with Him; Heaven entered with him with all its heavenly grandeur. At this hour God Himself airy sky moved to the Bethlehem den, for here is not only the begotten God the Son: here is also God the Father, who begat the Son before the ages, for the Son Himself says: “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Here is the Holy Spirit, fulfilling the wondrous and indescribable Nativity of Christ. So, here in the nativity scene the whole Holy Trinity is the King of Heaven. Saint Demetrius of Rostov (103, 872).
On the Feast of Entry into the Temple Holy Mother of God they begin to sing: “Christ is born,” preparing believers for a worthy celebration of the holiday of the Nativity of Christ. Understand this suggestion and act on it. Delve deeply into the mystery of the Incarnation of the Only Begotten Son of God, ascend to its beginning in the Eternal Council of God about the existence of the world and man in it. See its reflection in the creation of man. It is joyful to meet the first gospel of him immediately after the fall. Follow with your mind its gradual revelation in the Old Testament prophecies and types. Find out who and how prepared to receive the Incarnate God, under the influence of divine educational institutions and actions, among Israel, go, if you want, beyond the borders of the people of God and there collect the rays of the light of God shining in the darkness, and realize how chosen from all nations we reached a premonition of an extraordinary manifestation of Divine View of people. This will be mental preparation. But here is fasting - get ready to talk, confess and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ; this will be an active and vital preparation. If, as a result of all this. The Lord will let you feel the power of His coming in the flesh, then when the holiday comes, you will celebrate it not because of a joy that is alien to you, but because of your blood. Bishop Theophan the Recluse (107, 407-408).
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| collection website
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| N. Ya. Khoromin
| Encyclopedia of Wisdom. Collection of thoughts, sayings, aphorisms, paradoxes, epigrams
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This book has been prepared on the basis of the “Encyclopedia of Wisdom” - a collection of thoughts, sayings, aphorisms, maxims, paradoxes, epigrams, published in 1918 by the Kiev publishing house “Pantheon” by F. O. Mikhailovsky. The compiler of the Encyclopedia N.Ya. KHOROMIN, in his words introducing the collection, tried to “quote the largest possible number of thinkers of all peoples and all times” and “touch more topics, so that the nomenclature ... of the “Encyclopedia” is as complete as possible.” “With the abundance of foreign sources that we had to use, as well as Russian translated collections, we had the opportunity not to be embarrassed by the choice and give the most diverse and clear picture of thought,” says the compiler. In addition, N. Ya. Khoromin notes that “the material... was subjected to strict sampling according to a specific plan and is subordinated to the guiding idea.” The originality of the approach gave a specific result. The compiler was unable to avoid some bias, especially noticeable in the selection of material relating to religion, issues of sociology of politics and society. The comprehensiveness of topics, peoples and times has led to the fact that under one cover brilliant aphorisms and thoughts coexist with pompous banalities, sentimental maxims and pearls of didactic moralizing. Another disadvantage, and quite a significant one, is the quality of translations. Nevertheless, taking into account the continued interest of readers in aphoristic literature and the uniqueness of the content, we decided to republish the “Encyclopedia of Thought”, compiled and (partly) translated by N. Ya. Khoromin, in a revised form. Firstly, we took the liberty of structurally reorganizing the material on a thematic basis. (Any canvas for deep thought, passed the test time - “Procrustean bed”; the reader should understand that such a division is largely arbitrary.) Secondly, we excluded from the collection thoughts or sayings whose authors are unknown or doubtful, and frankly unsuccessful translations, as well as unoriginal, trivial thoughts. Thirdly, the text has been edited in accordance with the norms of the modern Russian language and minor editing; At the same time, we tried to preserve its lexical and stylistic originality.
...wisdom has the advantage that it is eternal, and if this age is not its age, the centuries to come belong to it.
B. Gracian
Following the thoughts of a great man is the most interesting science.
A. Pushkin
It's all in the thoughts. Thought is the beginning of everything. And thoughts can be controlled. And therefore the main task of improvement is to work on thoughts.
L.
* For every person who condemns his own follies, there are a hundred who prefer to condemn the follies of their neighbors.
P. Bovey
We are never more grateful for anything than for gratitude.
Maria Eschenbach
The recipient of a blessing often forgets the benefit because the benefactor does not remember it.
K. Malzerbe
* Rough and vulgar souls will always have more respect for wealth than for talent.
K. Colton
* People often talk and dream about a better future, strive for happiness, for a golden age. The world continually ages and becomes younger again, and man never ceases to hope for an improvement in his lot.
F. Schiller
* Constant importance is only a mask for mediocrity.
Voltaire
The ignorant is surprised that things are as they are - and such surprise is the beginning of things being different, and not as he knows them.
Aristotle
A wife who seeks power becomes a tyrant of her husband, and a master who becomes a slave becomes a ridiculous and pitiful creature.
J. – J. Rousseau
Many value attention to their request almost as much as the fulfillment of this request.
J. Lubbock
We think according to the suggestions of nature, we speak according to the suggestions of our teachers, but we act out of habit.
Fr. Bacon
The best objections for a stubborn person are like stones on the road: he pushes them away with his foot or steps over them.
P. Buast
* Each age has its own special inclinations, but the person always remains the same. At ten years old he is under the spell of sweets, at twenty - by his beloved, at thirty - by pleasures, at forty - by ambition, at fifty - by stinginess.
J. – J. Rousseau
* Some imagine that if they only had windows, the sun would never set; others imagine that if the windows were walled up, the sun would never rise.
L. Burnet
It is easier for us to acquire the veneer of omniscience than to thoroughly master a small amount of knowledge.
L. Vauvenargues
Little children fight over pictures of objects they will never have, and big children fight over geographic Maps countries they will never go to.
P. Buast
A person loses everything with age: youth, beauty, health, impulses of ambition - and only stupidity never leaves people.
L. Ariosto
* What is especially offensive is that the human mind has its limits, while human stupidity is limitless.
A. Dumas the son
How often do people use their minds to do stupid things!
Fr. La Rochefoucauld
* Our actions are more often determined by our character than by our interests.
R. Hall
* When good done to us does not touch our heart, it hurts and irritates our vanity.
E. Girardin
We are more pleased to see those to whom we do good than those who do it to us.
Fr. La Rochefoucauld
With high virtues a person acts exactly as with high mountains: he is surprised by them and then goes around them.
M. Safir
Very often we demand virtues from others only so that they do not prevent us from being vicious.
Maria Eschenbach
* He who is not satisfied with what he has would not be satisfied with what he would like to have.
B. Auerbach
Anyone who, after talking with you, is satisfied with himself and his mind, is completely satisfied with you.
JLaBruyere
We readily worship antiquity, but not posterity. Only the father does not envy his son's talent.
I. – W. Goethe
In friendship we see only those shortcomings that can harm our friends, and in a loved one we notice only those shortcomings from which we ourselves suffer.
J. Labruyère
Who will experience strong love, he neglects friendship, and whoever has exhausted his strength on friendship has not yet done anything for love.
J. Labruyère
* Friends do not wish us unhappiness, but they always find that we are “already happy.”
L. Legendre
* All the troubles that your worst enemy can express to your face are nothing compared to what your best friends they talk about you behind your back.
A. Musset
As soon as a fool praises us, he no longer seems so stupid to us.
Fr. La Rochefoucauld
We learn to wait calmly only when we have nothing left to wait for.
Maria Eschenbach
Not a single person who loves his throat and his stomach has produced anything truly beautiful.
P. Scarron
People do not want to save anything more, and yet they do not protect anything less than their own lives.
J. Labruyère
* Who managed to make the best use of life? Who wasted half of it in dreams, in conversations with fools, in the torments of love, in empty pastimes?
A. Platen
We care most about life as it loses its value; old people regret it more than young people.
J. – J. Rousseau
They don’t live twice, and there are many who don’t know how to live once.
Fr. Rückert
Ignorance never does evil; Only delusion is harmful. People are mistaken not because they do not know, but because they imagine themselves to know.
J. – J. Rousseau
* Every person can be mistaken, but only a fool can persist in delusion.
Cicero
An envious person is his own enemy, because he suffers from evil created by himself.
C. Montesquieu
Strange! A person is indignant at the evil that comes from outside, from others - that which he cannot eliminate, and does not fight against his own evil, although this is in his power.
M. Aurelius
Idols are carved and gilded so as not to blush when worshiping a fool.
P. Buast
* People corrupt their mind, their conscience, their reason, just as they corrupt their stomach.
S. Chamfort
Human inventions move forward from century to century. Human kindness and anger generally remain the same.
B. Pascal
* A person is always proud that he has written his name somewhere, even on the bark of a tree, and is always surprised when he no longer finds it.
A. Dumas the son
* We have replaced the apotheosis of reason with instinct, and we call instinct everything that we find in ourselves and for which we cannot find a reasonable basis.
J. Mill
* When a new, amazing truth is revealed, people first say: “this is not true,” then: “this is contrary to religion,” and finally: “this is an old truth.”
C. Lyell
* Some value books for their volume; they are definitely written as an exercise for the hands, not the mind.
B. Gracian
* The difference between compliments and medicines is that the former can be given in an increased dose without any danger; the weakest patients take large doses of them and never complain.
P. Bovey
* We accept well-deserved compliments with indifference and listen with gratitude to those to which, as far as we know, we have no right.
O. Goldsmith
If a person knew how to blush before himself, how many crimes - not only hidden, but also obvious - would he save himself from?
J. Labruyère
There is more laziness in our mind than in our body.
Fr. La Rochefoucauld
Of all our vices, the only one we readily admit to is laziness.
Fr. La Rochefoucauld
Flattery, they say, is the poverty of the stupid. Meanwhile, how many smart people are ready, from time to time, to taste at least a sip of this poverty!
J. Swift
We always like flattery when it concerns qualities that we lack. Tell a fool that he is very smart, and a rogue that he is most honest man in the light - and they will embrace you in their arms.
G. Fielding
People despise literature because they judge it as a craft - from the point of view of its usefulness for success in life.
L. Vauvenargues
* There are people who would never love themselves if they had not constantly heard talk about love.
Fr. La Rochefoucauld
There is no microscope that magnifies as much as the eyes of a person admiring himself.
A. Pop
People in general are such rogues, such envious people, so cruel, that we consider it lucky when we find one of them who has only weakness.
Voltaire
There are people who believe that they know a bird very well if they have seen the egg from which it hatched.
G. Heine
And between people, as well as between books, there are instances below criticism that do not even give rise to reproach.
I. – W. Goethe
The world is full of people who, outwardly and out of habit, compare themselves with others, always decide matters in their own favor and act accordingly.
JLaBruyere
People would rather talk bad things about themselves than not talk about themselves at all.
Fr. La Rochefoucauld
* Many people, slaves of the stomach and sleep, spend their lives without education and upbringing, like vagabonds, and contrary to nature, the body serves them for pleasure, and the soul as a burden.
Sallust
When big man screams, the little man immediately runs up, his tongue sticking out with pleasure. He calls it "compassion."
Fr. Nietzsche
Small man, especially if he is a poet, he ardently brands life! In words! Listen to him; but also be able to distinguish in his speeches the delight from branding.
Fr. Nietzsche
To be small but attack the great is a feat of courage. The position of a flea in a lion's mane is tempting. The humiliated lion feels himself being bitten by this small, insignificant creature, and the flea can say: “I have lion’s blood flowing through me.”
V. Hugo
Even educated people can reject doctors, but only ignoramuses can deny medicine.
P. Buast
There is only one thing that we would willingly allow to be shared with us, although it is very dear to us: this is our opinion.
P. Buast
We never ask ourselves what we really are, but we constantly ask ourselves what people think of us.
J. Massillon
* Most humble person has a higher opinion of himself than his closest friend.
Maria Eschenbach
* There are people who even dress their thoughts according to the demands of fashion.
B. Auerbach
Most people live more by fashion than by reason.
G. Lichtenberg
We pray not to parks and graces, but to fashion: it spins, weaves, and cuts with full authority. The top monkey in Paris is donning a new hat, and monkeys around the world are doing the same.
G. Thoreau
Fraudsters, scoundrels and fools despise each other if they are not so to the same degree.
P. Buast
There is, of course, not a single person in the world who, if he has the opportunity to become a swindler for a thousand thalers, would not stay an honest man for half that amount.
G. Lichtenberg
* The son of a rich swindler may still be an honest person, but a son-in-law never.
J.Narrey
It seems to me that every husband prefers a good dish without music to one without a good dish.
I. Kant
Ordinary person wants to acquire thoughts for himself, and not develop them on his own.
M. Nordau
The people will always be the people: gullible, capricious, blind and the enemy of their own real good.
F. Fenelon
People are so stupid that repeated violence seems like a right to them.
K. Helvetius
The most ardent defenders of science, who cannot bear even a slight sidelong glance at it, are usually those people who have not gone very far in science and who are aware of this shortcoming of theirs.
G. Lichtenberg
If many scientific knowledge If they haven’t managed to make a person smarter, then, quite naturally, they make him vain and arrogant.
J. Addison
The first step of ingratitude is to examine the motives of the benefactor.
P. Buast
* Nothing so invariably entails ingratitude as favors for which no gratitude would be sufficiently great.
J. – J. Rousseau
* You are indignant that there are ungrateful people. Ask your conscience if everyone who lent you found them grateful.
Seneca
Remember that ignorance never did evil; that only one delusion is harmful and that they are mistaken not because they do not know, but because they think that they know.
J. – J. Rousseau
An ignoramus has a great advantage over an educated person: he is always satisfied with himself.
Napoleon I
* A person who is dissatisfied with little is not satisfied with anything.
Epicurus
main reason our dissatisfaction with life is an unfounded assumption that we have the right to undisturbed happiness, that we were born for such happiness.
G. Lessing
* People who have a lot of shortcomings first of all notice them in others.
Fr. Bacon
Many, having once admitted their shortcoming, no longer consider it necessary to give it up.
Maria Eschenbach
The more unfair our hatred is, the more persistent it is.
Seneca
People are indignant at the injustice of their equals more than at the violence of their rulers.
Thucydides
The sight of misfortune produces most people the effect of the head of Medusa: when they look at it, their hearts turn to stone.
K. Helvetius
For low natures, there is nothing more pleasant than to take revenge for one’s insignificance, throwing the mud of one’s views into the holy and great.
V. Belinsky
For poverty they don’t even kick you out with a stick, but rather sweep them out of human company with a broom, so that it’s all the more insulting. And rightly so: for in poverty I am the first to be ready to insult myself.
F. Dostoevsky
* There are people whose morality remains intact, like a piece of matter from which they never sew dresses for themselves.
J. Joubert
The morality of some people is to avoid the pillory and not to go to the gallows.
J.Petit-San
* We all need each other, and the happiest among us often places his hopes and his fears on the most unfortunate.
P. Metastasio
* After a good dinner, you can forgive anyone, even your relatives.
O. Wilde
* Not a single person was deceived by others as much as he deceived himself.
F. Grevelle
We deceive no one so cleverly and bypass us with flattery as we do ourselves.
A. Schopenhauer
* We listen with pleasure to those who tell us about our morals, but we do not like to be reminded of our responsibilities.
E. Bork
Experience is the name most people give to stupid things they've done or bad experiences they've had.
A. Musset
Those who are offended by trifles are just as unfit for society as those who are not offended by anything.
P. Buast
* Our assessment of someone depends largely on how that person relates to our interests and passions. It is difficult for us to think well of those who belittle or oppress us, but we willingly forgive the vices of those who are useful or pleasant to us.
T. Macaulay
* Our great mistake is that we do not know where to stop, that we are not satisfied with a modest acquisition, that we do not apply ourselves to our situation and, thanks to insatiable greed, lose everything we have.
E. Bork
We easily forget our mistakes if they are unknown to anyone but us.
Fr. La Rochefoucauld
Rarely does anyone support the one who rises, while many push the one who falls.
Napoleon I
There are people who need to excel at all costs: in the theater, in the patron, on the scaffold, they will always be happy if only they attract attention to themselves.
S. Chamfort
Happy pessimists! What joy do you experience when you manage to prove that there is no joy?
Maria Eschenbach
* No rogue is so stupid as not to find a reason for his meanness.
T. Kerner
* There are things that we eventually come to believe when we hear them repeated often.
Montesquieu
Just let this very person, whom everyone envy, close his eyes, and everyone will love him.
Horace
The height of the mind will be called madness, as well as its extreme stupidity. Only mediocrity is always praised by people.
B. Pascal
The loss of an expensive object causes us more sorrow than the pleasure that its possession gives us.
P. Buast
People forgive even slander more readily than teaching.
Jean Paul (Richter)
The love of praise lies more or less in all hearts. A proud person is ready for a thousand troubles to earn them; the modest one runs away from them only in order to be worthy of them with greater confidence.
R. Schumann
* People seem to be more angry when their rights are slightly harmed than when they are completely deprived of them through violence. The first is called being deceived, the second is giving in to a stronger one.
Thucydides
In every affection there are two sides: one loves - the other allows itself to be loved, one kisses - the other turns its cheek.
A. Carr
There is an innocence that trusts one and all, without suspecting ridicule. Such people are always limited, because they are ready to lay out all that is most precious from their hearts in front of the first person they meet.
F. Dostoevsky
This is human joy: it is strong and deep only when a person does not know the future.
A. Thiers
Every separation gives a foretaste of death and every meeting a foretaste of resurrection. That is why even people who were indifferent to each other rejoice if after twenty or thirty years they come together again.
A. Schopenhauer
People think little; they read carelessly, judge hastily, and accept opinions as they accept a coin because it is current.
Voltaire
Our repentance is not so much regret for the evil caused, but rather fear for its consequences.
Fr. La Rochefoucauld
* The mind is pure and clear; it is darkened by a storm rising from the heart.
