Quotes

Here you’ll find a list of quotes that I like.

By me

One of the most powerful tools is a judgmental system intertwined with love and logic. – Boro

Don’t be afraid to say your opinions loud. Depending on the situation, you can adjust the tone to be hard or soft. – Boro

Listen, observe, learn, conclude. – Boro

To not become a zombie one should engage with others, but most importantly with oneself. – Boro

Writing helps organize thoughts, mostly by imagining a target audience. – Boro

You can learn the language of mathematics. You can even learn any programming language. But ideas are the most important. And as with everything, ideas come with enough practice. The practice of “speaking” a particular language. – Boro

Some people never change. The many worlds they miss out on. – Boro

Rediscovering something holds more value than learning it because self-found insights are deeper and longer-lasting. – Boro

To learn the system, look at the system, use the system, think through the system, and implement the system. – Boro

When something is concrete, the answer is given. When something is abstract, the answer is in your head. – Boro

We abstract some of the stuff in life, e.g., pay for a dentist because we don’t care about how dentistry works. What is it that you want/need to abstract? What are you optimizing for? – Boro

Science is great at exposing magic, but the more we dig the more magic we find. – Boro

Professional success is mostly due to ego (esp. competitive spirit). However, maintain it so that it does not cause personal failure. – Boro

Math is food for the brain, religion is food for the soul, and love is food for life. – Boro

If there’s a way, organisms usually find it, like maze traversal algorithms. – Boro

Dynamic Programming optimally breaks structures (recurrent relations) into simpler substructures, solving each uniquely, and preserving solutions. Much like navigating life, it emphasizes steering clear of short-sighted choices for the sake of optimal long-term results. – Boro

Quotes are usually a generalization of a specific instance by the quoted person. What about this quote? – Boro

Generalization of a specific instance allows us to choose which parts to hide and which to show. – Boro

Humans forget easily; symbols serve as a reminder. – Boro

To think is powerful, but don’t forget to live too. – Boro

When a person is envious, it tells so much about their (lack of) achievements. A normal person will be happy with the achievements of others. – Boro

Love too those that betray you; only God will not betray you. – Boro

The number one skill required is patience. The second one is tolerance. – Boro

There is a certain meditative effect on bringing order to chaos… but, how does one achieve this same effect when there’s chaos? – Boro

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. And Love gives meaning to the journey. – Boro

Be careful what you tell your kids, they will likely listen to you and do it. – Boro

To get the most out of it, one’s behavior should maximize the positive output from the surrounding people. Adapt as needed. – Boro

Science deals with questions that can be answered. Philosophy deals with questions that can and cannot be answered. Religion acknowledges the limitation of language and thoughts/knowledge and deals with the supernatural. Hence, Religion > Philosophy > Science. – Boro

Abstractions, above all, are a communication tool – they mainly serve humans because machines only understand ones and zeroes. – Boro

Some systems were formalized only after centuries of usage. Formalization, even though most of the time unnecessary, still provides value – an insight into a system that we otherwise wouldn’t have. – Boro

Regardless of God’s existence, belief in God mostly makes a person better. – Boro

To get closer to God, we need love and knowledge. – Boro

The closer we are to God, the stronger the signal we get about whether something we’re about to do is good or bad by feeling/sensing. – Boro

We have free will but mostly choose our actions guided by intuition. – Boro

When possible, complexity should be reduced, not introduced. – Boro

Time tells who is worth your time. – Boro

Ignore current trends and hype, be yourself, and do what makes you happy. – Boro

There are infinite perspectives in the world. You can’t know them all, and while you should understand some, you must spend the most time on your own one. – Boro

Before making a decision, compare the expected outcome with the price that has to be paid for it. – Boro

Along with self-discipline, one must also maintain the discipline of obeying but also disobeying when necessary. – Boro

Not always do we need to have an opinion or take a side. – Boro

People prefer making other people think they’re happy rather than actually working their way through happiness. – Boro

What one says is different from what one feels is different from what one thinks is different from what really is; aligning these is key. – Boro

People are mostly good at listening and giving feedback to others, and not so good at applying the same feedback to themselves. – Boro

Humans are great at pattern matching – once having performed the concrete frequently, they can delve into the meta. – Boro

Let your work define you until you become an expert in the field. Afterward, once you figure you are more than your skills, let not your work define you. – Boro

Reading a book is a gateway to setting the mindset, even if you know most of the material. – Boro

Philosophy should not be followed carelessly; it should be read only after one has developed, and as a way to improve oneself. – Boro

The higher the ratio of learning and doing, the better, especially in the workplace. – Boro

Have good intentions, do good deeds, and leave the rest to God. – Boro

The key is knowing when to be spontaneous and when to rationalize. – Boro

As you read, besides taking notes, reflecting on how what you read applies to you (and the people around you) is a great way to learn and truly understand the material. – Boro

It’s one thing to predict an event and another thing to decide how and if to act on it. – Boro

The more inconsistencies a system has, the less people will trust it. Every person has a threshold for tolerating inconsistencies. – Boro

The result of too much positive feedback is that nobody learns anything. – Boro

Self-reflection leads to more happiness. – Boro

You want to capture stuff in a box, but the ocean is infinite. Let it flow through. You are great, and you are small – meditate with this in mind. – Boro

While brute-force can drive progress, a more optimal route is to think – imagine yourself conveying ideas in interviews or to a wider audience. – Boro

Information flow is important, but more important is the ability to interpret information. – Boro

Under the watchful eye, one’s best self emerges. – Boro

Discover your purpose [at work], don’t just follow orders. – Boro

Designing a programming interview is like crafting a game – building mazes to explore, first for yourself and then for others. If candidates find what we expect, that’s great. If they find extra, that’s exceptional. – Boro

In searching for treasure, we find growth – and that is the true treasure. – Boro

By the time we become aware, we have already chosen the path. – Boro

How we work affects our consciousness, but our consciousness also affects the way we work. – Boro

Insights come from self-inquiry. – Boro

It is important to not lose yourself while self-growing, learning new things. – Boro

Just because you’ve read something doesn’t mean you should believe it. – Boro

Repel the intentions of envious people, whether real or imagined, and maintain your inner calm. – Boro

Repression keeps secrets. Critical thinking reveals the truth. – Boro

Structure helps beginners, but experts thrive without it. – Boro

The mind is a network of associations, each link connected to countless others, forming a complex and beautiful chain of thought. – Boro

The quest for food has driven the evolution of our senses, and sensory adaptation helped our to tune out the irrelevant stimuli. – Boro

Thoughts and intentions matter, but without action, they are useless. – Boro

Thoughts are like seeds; what you plant in your mind will grow and shape your reality – Boro

We reveal ourselves to others with our ingrained habits. – Boro

With our every act, we act on the (sub)consciousness of people – Boro

You become what you think about all day long. – Boro

You can’t expect others to change their baseline drastically – it’s tough for them and surprising for you. Progress comes in baby steps. – Boro

Your feedback to a person matters only if you matter to them. – Boro

Honesty and authenticity pave the way to hearing the truth as it is, rather than what others think you want to hear. – Boro

Of all the things I hack, hacking self brings the most joy. – Boro

Get tired of not learning fast enough from your mistakes. Then, learn faster from your mistakes. – Boro

Always stay ahead of the curve. Always think beyond. – Boro

Focus on overcoming frustrations and breaking barriers. But be careful not to make it a habit of creating frustrations just to have something to conquer. Remember to enjoy life too. – Boro

Metatheory: Psychological theories are virtual models of how things work, and their effectiveness depends on our belief in them. For instance, if you don’t believe in Gestalt therapy (e.g., talking to an empty chair), the framework becomes irrelevant. – Boro

To see the patterns, you need to identify. To identify, you need to observe. To observe, you need to be aware. – Boro

The main difference between theorizing and simply believing each and every one of your thoughts is about managing expectations – the latter has a bigger chance to get the ego hurt. – Boro

Find the sweet spot between what you desire and what must be done; that’s where true balance lies. – Boro

Organizing your thoughts brings calmness by helping you focus on one task at a time and handle things step by step. – Boro

Expose yourself, especially your vulnerabilities. This is where you will find true knowledge and wisdom. – Boro

When faith is combined with reason, it prevents reason from remaining just an intellectual game. – Boro

Staying in the now means unpredictability and free of order. Yet, in order, one finds stillness and peace. The balance is in embracing the cycle between chaos and harmony. – Boro

Learn math, especially formal systems, to sharpen your thinking and earn a living—but remember, too much focus on wealth can break the spirit. Learn psychology, especially self-awareness and confronting avoidance, to understand yourself and others—but know that too much confrontation can break the soul. And above all, learn love, especially oneness, for it is the balance that binds and heals all. – Boro

Stillness is found in the act of seeking, not in reaching an endpoint to the seeking itself. Awareness is found in the act of seeking, not in reaching an endpoint to the seeking itself. – Boro

By others

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. – Thessalonians 5:16-18

Bless the food you eat and water you drink; by acknowledging that the food will allow you to perform more good deeds. Then go out and actually perform good deeds.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep. – Robert Frost

A program is like a poem: you cannot write a poem without writing it. – E. W. Dijkstra

Abstraction is the elimination of the irrelevant and the amplification of the essential. – Robert Martin

All models are wrong, but some are useful. – George Box

As long as our hypothetical Blub programmer is looking down the power continuum, he knows he’s looking down. Languages less powerful than Blub are obviously less powerful, because they’re missing some feature he’s used to. But when our hypothetical Blub programmer looks in the other direction, up the power continuum, he doesn’t realize he’s looking up. What he sees are merely weird languages. He probably considers them about equivalent in power to Blub, but with all this other hairy stuff thrown in as well. Blub is good enough for him, because he thinks in Blub. – Paul Graham, Beating the Average

Be curious. Read widely. Try new things. I think a lot of what people call intelligence boils down to curiosity. – Aaron Swartz

Believing and understanding are not different but the same thing in different stages of learning. – Tyler Colleridge

Do what you have to do, to do what you want to do. – Denzel Washington

Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all. – Aristotle

Education isn’t something you can finish. – Isaac Asimov

First learn computer science and all the theory. Next develop a programming style. Then forget all that and just hack. – George Carrette

First rule of science. You have to have interest. Otherwise you don’t deserve to know. – Milly Farrier, “Dumbo”

Have no respect whatsoever for authority; forget who said it and instead look what he starts with, where he ends up, and ask yourself, “Is it reasonable?” – Richard Feynman

I can’t make out the boundaries of a problem without writing some code. Code is the flashlight that keeps me from fumbling in the dark. – David Hansson, in response to First, solve the problem. Then, write the code. – John Johnson

I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say. – Flannery O’Connor

If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough. – Albert Einstein

In mathematics the art of asking questions is more valuable than solving problems. – Georg Cantor

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change. – Charles Darwin

Learning requires the humility to realise one has something to learn. – Unknown

Maintain the harmony and protect the balance. Because you have the answer in your hands. – Marqués, Broken Sword 5

Mathematicians use intuition and trial and error, except in the classroom where everything is cut and dried. – Unknown student

Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty. – Bertrand Russell

Meditation is the ability to know what’s going on in your head without getting carried away by it. So you can respond, not react. – Dan Harris

My pain may be the reason for somebody’s laugh. But my laugh must never be the reason for somebody’s pain. – Charles Chaplin

Often people talk about mathematics being useful for programming. It works both ways. Programming (esp. functional programming) has deepened my understanding of mathematics in numerous ways. – Dan Piponi

Programming is not about typing, it’s about thinking. – Rich Hickey

Proving theorems is not for the mathematicians anymore: with theorem provers, it’s now a job for the hacker. – Martin Rinard

Repetitio est mater studiorum. – Latin phrases

Set theory can be viewed as a form of exact theology. – Rudy Rucker

Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful. – John Maeda

Simplify only after the function is correct. – The Little Schemer

Software development: When your curiosity about why something doesn’t work exceeds your desire to give up. – Cory House

Some people will never like you because your spirit irritates their demons. – Denzel Washington

Sometimes, the elegant implementation is just a function. Not a method. Not a class. Not a framework. Just a function. – John Carmack

Starting from the most abstract principles is a good way to relearn something, but a bad way to learn something. – Paul Graham

Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent and original manner possible. – Richard Feynman

Study mathematics, you’ll need it. – My math teacher in basic school

Teaching’s hard! You need different skills: positive reinforcement, keeping students from getting bored, commanding their attention in a certain way. – Bill Gates

The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth. – African proverb

The great programmers I’ve met are happy to write software in nearly any language. The mediocre ones have strong opinions on the best programming language. – Ryan Huber

The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind. – Albert Einstein

The only complete safeguard against reasoning ill, is the habit of reasoning well; familiarity with the principles of correct reasoning; and practice in applying those principles. – John Stuart Mill

The only way to learn a new programming language is by writing programs in it. – Dennis Ritchie

There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle. – Albert Einstein

There’s a big difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something. – Richard Feynman

Think globally, act locally. – Unknown

To be interested in programming languages generally, I think, is an inherent feature of a passionate programmer. – kindofhdds

To not know math is a severe limitation to understanding the world. – Richard Feynman

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. – Proverbs 3:5-6

We must keep an open mind, but not so open that our brains fall out. – Walter Kotschnig

Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who’ll argue with you. – Coach John Wooden

You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else. – Albert Einstein

If anything’s worth pursuing, we’ll remember it tomorrow. – Joe, Halt & Catch Fire

Inspiration is perishable – act on it immediately. – Naval

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. – Albert Einstein

What, in your opinion, is the world’s most elegant game? Peano Arithmetic. @mathforge twitter

Take care of your body, it’s where your brain lives. – Chris

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength. Loving someone deeply gives you courage. – Lao Tzu

An obsessive interest in a topic is both a proxy for ability and a substitute for determination. – Paul Graham

Intellectual freedom depends upon material things. – Virginia Woolf

We are a way for the universe to know itself. – Carl Sagan

Prefer to be defeated in the presence of the wise than to excel among fools. – Dōgen Zenji

The best way to love oneself and care for oneself is to love others. – 17th Karmapa

A fool sees himself as another, but a wise man sees others as himself. – Dōgen Zenji

All men know the use of the useful, but nobody knows the use of the useless. – Zhuangzi

You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger. – The Buddha

Life and love generate effort, but effort will not generate them. – Watts

To start from the self and try to understand all things is delusion. To let the self be awakened by all things is enlightenment. – Dōgen Zenji

Everyone makes mistakes. The wise are not people who never make mistakes, but those who forgive themselves and learn from their mistakes. – Ajahn Brahm

If you have kids, protecting them is your first priority. – Paul Graham

If “the right thing to do” is against the rules, then the people who wrote the rules should be sacked for incompetence. – Conor McBride

You are a story that you tell yourself. – Naval

You don’t need to go to school to study philosophy. And studying philosophy before life experience is very abstract. I’d say study something difficult and practical, and read philosophy for fun. – Naval

Any good #theorem should have several #proofs, the more the better. For two reasons: usually, different proofs have different strengths and weaknesses, and they generalise in different directions: they are not just repetitions of each other. – M. Atiyah

In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few. – Shunryu Suzuki

The most crucial use of knowledge and education is to understand the importance of developing a good heart. – Dalai Lama

Don’t worry about kids acquiring bad programming habits when they’re first learning. The only habit that matters is the habit of programming. Tidiness can come later. Enthusiasm can’t. – Paul Graham

You can learn so much on the internet for the low, low price of your ego. – Shawn Wang

A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness. – Albert Einstein

Writing is nature’s way of letting you know how sloppy your thinking is. – Dick Guindon

Love without pain isn’t really romance. – Royksopp

I respect people for: 1. Putting others first 2. Kindness & compassion 3. Self-sacrifice for good 4. Truth to self 5. Power cognizance 6. Admitting when wrong & learning 7. Standing up for the less powerful 8. Transparency 9. Openness to criticism 10. Fighting for what’s right. – Talia Ringer

I have often regretted my speech, never my silence. – Publilius Syrus

Go home and love your family. – Mother Teresa

Read what you love until you love to read. – Naval

“Motion before emotion” is a great little mantra to get you started on whatever – waking up, exercise, writing, working, etc. – npunt @ HackerNews

The purpose of abstraction is not to be vague, but to create a new semantic level in which one can be absolutely precise. – Edsger Dijkstra

I will forever remain humble because I know I could have less. I will always be grateful because I know I’ve had less. – Zig Ziglar

A person does not really understand something until after teaching it to a computer, i.e., expressing it as an algorithm. An attempt to formalize things as algorithms leads to a much deeper understanding. – Donald Knuth

Any reasonably curious person gets bored after a few days of doing nothing. Vacation may be most helpful not because it gives you a break from work, but because by the end of it you realize what you wish you were working on. – Mckay Wrigley

What you say in words, numbers, or pictures matters less than how you come across as a human being. – John Maeda

A language that doesn’t affect the way you think about programming is not worth knowing. – Alan Perlis

Mathematics has two faces: it is the rigorous science of Euclid, but it is also something else. Mathematics presented in the Euclidean way appears as a systematic, deductive science; but mathematics in the making appears as an experimental, inductive science. – George Pólya

Science is what we understand well enough to explain to a computer. Art is everything else we do. – Donald Knuth

The art of doing mathematics is finding that special case that contains all the germs of generality. – David Hilbert

The psychological profiling [of a programmer] is mostly the ability to shift levels of abstraction, from low level to high level. To see something in the small and to see something in the large. – Donald Knuth

We have to realize that there are things beyond our ability… I see hubris all around. – Donald Knuth

The value of a college education is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think. – Albert Einstein

It’s dangerous to treat it as an axiom that you never make mistakes, because then when you do make mistakes you’ll have to lie to yourself about it. – Paul Graham

No couple has ever been ready to have children. They had children anyway and figured it out. – John D. Cook

You can’t replace reading with other sources of information like videos, because you need to read in order to write well, and you need to write in order to think well. – Paul Graham

The more I think about language, the more it amazes me that people ever understand each other at all. – Kurt Gödel

To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting. – E. Burke

When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear. – Thomas Sowell

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. – Proverb

The harder we try with the conscious will to do something, the less we shall succeed. Proficiency and the results of proficiency come only to those who have learned the paradoxical art of doing and not doing, or combining relaxation with activity, of letting go as a person in order that the immanent and transcendent Unknown Quantity may take hold. We cannot make ourselves understand; the most we can do is to foster a state of mind, in which understanding may come to us. – Aldous Huxley

A person who does not read good books has no advantage over a person who cannot read. – Mark Twain

Everyone must choose one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. – Jim Rohn

The aim of argument should not be victory, but progress. – Karl Popper

From the errors of others, a wise man corrects his own. – Publilius Syrus

It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about? – Henry David Thoreau

The fastest way to transform performance, particularly with intelligent, high-functioning people is to ask questions to get them to explore new options and identify their own solutions. – David Rock

Ignorance is bliss. – Unknown

Balance in all things. – Unknown

Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe. – Saint Augustine

You always admire what you really don’t understand. – Blaise Pascal

The last proceeding of reason is to recognize that there is an infinity of things which are beyond it. There is nothing so conformable to reason as this disavowal of reason. – Blaise Pascal

One must know oneself. If this does not serve to discover truth, it at least serves as a rule of life and there is nothing better. – Blaise Pascal

In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don’t. – Blaise Pascal

The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing. – Blaise Pascal

The thinker without a paradox is like a lover without a feeling. – Soren Kierkegaard

[When arguing with others, it’s important] to realize that it is [likely] you arguing with yourself. Now, if you want to continue arguing with yourself, continue, as long as you need. Just be careful not to destroy too many things in the process. But there is an option of actually dropping it. – Edward Frenkel

For [St. Paul] abstract truth, absolute laws, do not exist, because all of our thinking is subordinated to the construction of this holy temple of the Spirit, whose manifestations are not abstract ideas, but fruits of goodness, of peace, of charity and forgiveness. – Ernesto Buonaiuti

Good order and discipline are the foundation for success in all that you do. – Unknown

The best frontline eng managers in the world are the ones that are never more than 2-3 years removed from hands-on work, full time down in the trenches. The best individual contributors are the ones who have done time in management. – Charity Majors

Combinations of the dimensions care/challenge: -care-challenge = Insincerity; -care+challenge = Obnoxius aggression; +care-challenge = Ruinous Empathy; +care+challenge = Radical Candour. – Kim Scott

The most uncommon form of intelligence is common sense. – Evan Esar

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving. – Albert Einstein

Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life. – Albert Einstein

Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively. – Dalai Lama

Wisdom, courage, self-discipline, and justice are important virtues are enough for a rational society, but a good society takes love of God (and a God worthy of love), and love of neighbor. It takes a willingness to turn the other cheek, to forgive, and to sacrifice. – C. Fred Alford

Never follow a leader who is more in love with power than people. – Native American Proverb

The smallest good deed is better than the grandest good intention. – Gaspard Doughet

Rituals are stereotyped. After the first transaction, the series is predictable unless special conditions arise. – Eric Berne, Games People Play

Guiding people well, beyond the Socratic method, is knowing when to not respond and holding the space for them to learn. – Unknown

Don’t rush the process, good things take time. – Unknown

To do something with intentionality means to do it thoughtfully, with clear purpose and an eye on the desired result. – Will Guidara

Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. – Will Guidara

No pressure, no diamonds. – Thomas Carlyle (and too much pressure = broken diamonds)

The power of teacher-student connection is essential to the student journey. – Unknown

We are all storytellers. We all live in a network of stories. There isn’t a stronger connection between people than storytelling. – Jimmy Neil Smith

Always carry a notebook. The short-term memory only retains information for three minutes; unless it is committed to paper you can lose an idea for ever. – Will Self

The true art of memory is the art of attention. – Samuel Johnson

In solitude the mind gains strength and learns to lean upon itself. – Laurence Sterne

One trick, known as the journey method is to conjure up a familiar space in the mind’s eye, and then populate it with images of whatever it is you want to remember. – Joshua Foer

Content is king, context is queen. – Unknown

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses. – Henry Ford

Never delegate understanding. – Charles Eames

The less people satisfy their basic needs, the louder the symptoms of their “core commitment”. – Brianna Wiest

To change something, make tiny, nearly undetectable decisions every hour of every day until those choices are habituated. Then just continue doing them. – Brianna Wiest

Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. – Francis Bacon

Constraints are useful.

Unless we know why someone made a decision, we can’t safely change it or conclude that they were wrong. – Shane Parrish

To philosophize (ask deep questions about life), we must confess (admit) that our powers of reason are limited and that we don’t know the answers. – Hajime Tanabe

The wise use of leisure is a product of civilization and education. A man who has worked long hours all his life will be bored if he becomes suddenly idle. But without a considerable amount of leisure a man is cut off from many of the best things. – Bertrand Russell

The question of existence never gets straightened out except through existing itself. – Martin Heidegger

Philosophy has always asked deep questions about “Being”. We need to ask these questions by looking at the being for whom “Being” is of interest – Us! We ourselves are the entities to be analyzed. – Martin Heiddegger

Reason, is not about discovering abstract truths, but about the need we have to justify ourselves to others. – Jurgen Habermas

Hear -> Forget. See -> Remember. Do -> Understand. – Xunzi

God creates reality, and we re-create reality with the word. The word is all about the message you deliver, not just to everyone and everything around you, but the message you deliver to yourself. You’re telling yourself a story, but is it the truth? If you’re using the word to create a story with self-judgment and self-rejection, then you’re using the word against yourself, and you’re not being impeccable. Your happiness is up to you, and it depends on how you use the word. Be impeccable with your word really means never use the power of the word against yourself. When you’re impeccable with your word, you never betray yourself. You never use the word to spread poison. – Don Miguel Ruiz

To go against the current; this is good for the heart, but we need courage to swim against the tide. Jesus gives us this courage! – Pope Francis

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. – James 1:12

Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. – Matthew 10:16

I wasn’t sure what was better: being oblivious or living within reality. – Shannon A. Thompson

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. – Matthew 5:6

Repent and refrain from every evil word, deed and thought, learn every virtue and you will always fast before God. – Saint Tikhon Zadonski

Start with self-awareness. Then move to world awareness. Then keep switching between the two. I and thou are one. This is the rhythm of life – you flow towards the world and you withdraw into yourself. – Fritz Perls

Slow is steady, steady is fast.

Self-growth happens through others – how would one know how patient they are if others don’t test them?

Observe the plans within plans within plans.

Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. – Jung

We are wired to care about others’ opinions, but freedom comes when you choose to value the thoughts of those who truly matter to you.

True love is the anchor through all the storms of life. – Atticus