"A disturbed mind is forever active, jumping hither and thither, and is hard to control; but a tranquil mind is peaceful; therefore it is wise to keep mind under control"
~Da Buddha
"There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindness"
~Dalai Lama
"Let each one examine his thoughts, and he will find them all occupied with the past and the future. We scarcely ever think of the present...the future alone is our end. So we never live, but we hope to live; and, as we are always preparing to be happy, it is inevitable we should never be so."
~Pascal
"On the last day of the world I would want to plant a tree..."
~W.S. Merwin
"When I was in school, I cheated on my metaphysics exam: I looked into the soul of the boy sitting next to me"
~Woody Allen
"Abstract Art: A product of the untalented, sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered."
~Albert Camus
"It is only necessary to behold thus the least factor or phenomenon, however familiarfrom a point a hair's breath aside from our habitual path or routine, to be overcome, enchanted by its beauty and significance"
~Thoreau
"He who has a why to live can bear with almost any how"
~Nietzsche
"Let each one examine his thoughts, and he will find them all occupied with the past and the future. We scarcely ever think of the present...the future alone is our end. So we never live, but we hope to live; and, as we are always preparing to be happy, it is inevitable we should never be so."
~Pascal
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."
~Emerson
"Every solution of a problem raises new unsolved problems; the more so the deeper the original problem and the bolder its solution. The more we learn about the world, and the deeper our learning, the more conscious, specific, and articulate will be our knowledge of what we do not know, our knowledge of our ignorance. For this, indeed, is the main source of our ignorance -- the fact that our knowledge can be only finite, while our ignorance must necessarily be infinite."
~Popper
"Love your suffering. Do not resist it, do not flee from it. It is your aversion that hurts, nothing else."
~Hesse
"There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness."
~Nietzsche
"When the heart speaks, the mind finds it indecent to object."
~Kundera
Political
"Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve."
~George Bernard Shaw
"Suppose you were an idiot. Suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."
~Mark Twain
"It is impossible to give the solider a good education without making him a deserter"
~Thoreau
"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned."
~Da Buddha
"Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding."
~Albert Einstein
"If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work."
~Thich Nhat Hahn
"It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare."
~Mark Twain
"There lies before us, if we choose, continual progress in happiness, knowledge, and wisdom. Shall we, instead, choose death, because we cannot forget our quarrels? We appeal as human beings to human beings: Remember your humanity, and forget the rest. If you can do so, the way lies open to a new Paradise; if you cannot, there lies before you the risk of universal death."
~Russel and Einstein (Manifesto 1954)
"Ohhhh my Buddha"
~Chiang Mai trekking guide
"Existentialism. Existentialism is merely Nilhism on prozac."
~Professor Andrew Rehfeld
Me: "Shouldn't India be a power in the olympics becuase of their massive size?"
Timmah: "Com'on man, there's no fasting event."