All the world knows me in my book, and my book in me.
Michel De MontaigneRead
The most certain sign of wisdom is cheerfulness.
Interpretation
Wisdom is often reflected in a person's ability to maintain a cheerful demeanor.
This quote suggests that true wisdom is not just about knowledge or intellect, but also about the ability to approach life with positivity and cheerfulness. A wise person can face challenges and uncertainties with a light heart, indicating an understanding of life's complexities and the importance of a positive outlook.
In practice
During a motivational speech about resilience, quoting this can emphasize the power of a positive mindset.
All the world knows me in my book, and my book in me.
All I say is by way of discourse, and nothing by way of advice. I should not speak so boldly if it were my due to be believed.
Pythagoras used to say that life resembles the Olympic Games: a few people strain their muscles to carry off a prize; others bring trinkets to sell to the crowd for gain; and some there are, and not the worst, who seek no other profit than to look at the show and see how and why everything is done; spectators of the life of other people in order to judge and regulate their own.
There is not much less vexation in the government of a private family than in the managing of an entire state.
Those who have compared our life to a dream were right... we were sleeping wake, and waking sleep.
Such as are in immediate fear of a losing their estates, of banishment, or of slavery, live in perpetual anguish, and lose all appetite and repose; whereas such as are actually poor, slaves, or exiles, ofttimes live as merrily as other folk.
Until you have learned to be tolerant with those who do not always agree with you, you will be neither successful nor happy.
Truth is, of its essence, liberating, as it is possessed of no contrivance or conceit - that it provides the only genuine basis for progress and that the future can only be found in truth.
Follow your passion, weβre often told. But how do you find your passion? Let me put it another way: what is it that breaks your heart about the world? Itβs there that you begin to find what moves you. If you want to find your passion, surrender to your heartbreak. Your heartbreak points towards a truer north β and itβs the difficult journey towards it that is, in the truest sense, no mere passing idyllic infatuation, but enduring, tempestuous passion.
Resolve to be thyself: and know that he who finds himself, loses his misery.
One of the worst features about worrying is that it destroys our ability to concentrate. When we worry, our minds jump here and there and everywhere, and we lose all power of decision. However, when we force ourselves to face the worst and accept it mentally, we then eliminate all those vague imaginings and put ourselves in a position in which we are able to concentrate on our problem.
Grant what thou commandest and then command what thou wilt.
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