Our chief defect is that we are more given to talking about things than to doing them.
Jawaharlal NehruRead
Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit.
Interpretation
Culture enriches our understanding and connects us to deeper aspects of life.
Jawaharlal Nehru's quote emphasizes the importance of culture in expanding our intellectual and emotional capacities. He suggests that by engaging with diverse cultures, we can broaden our perspectives and enhance our spiritual growth, fostering a more profound connection to humanity and the world around us.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of education, one might reference this quote to highlight the value of cultural awareness.
Our chief defect is that we are more given to talking about things than to doing them.
India has known the innocence and insouciance of childhood, the passion and abandon of youth, and the ripe wisdom of maturity that comes from long experience of pain and pleasure; and over and over a gain she has renewed her childhood and youth and age
Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will.
Crises and deadlocks when they occur have at least this advantage, that they force us to think.
What we really are matters more than what other people think of us.
Loyal and efficient work in a great cause, even though it may not be immediately recognized, ultimately bears fruit.
Everything that everyone is afraid of has already happened: The fragility of capitalism, which we don't want to admit; the loss of the empire of the United States; and American exceptionalism. In fact, American exceptionalism is that we are exceptionally backward in about fifteen different categories, from education to infrastructure.
"Terrorism" is what we call the violence of the weak, and we condemn it; "war" is what we call the violence of the strong, and we glorify it.
Man who man would be, must rule the empire of himself.
This 'double ethical bind' we frequently find ourselves in cannot be solved by any formula. Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest. I hope that means being both.
We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can - namely, surrender our will and fulfill God's will in us.
the psychological need to believe that others take you as seriously as you take yourself. There is nothing particularly wrong with it, as psychological needs go, but yet of course we should always remember that a deep need for anything from other people makes us easy pickings.
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