Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.
Alexander PopeRead
And make each day a critic on the last.
Interpretation
The quote encourages self-reflection and continuous improvement by comparing each day to the previous one.
In this quote, Alexander Pope suggests that individuals should evaluate their progress and experiences on a daily basis. Each day serves as a benchmark for growth, prompting an assessment of how one can evolve and better oneself moving forward. This perspective fosters a habit of reflection, allowing individuals to learn from their actions and strive for improvement over time.
In practice
I shared this quote during a motivational talk to inspire students to assess their daily progress.
Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.
What dire offence from am'rous causes springs, What mighty contests rise from trivial things.
Fair tresses man's imperial race ensnare; And beauty draws us with a single hair.
An honest man's the noblest work of God.
One thought of thee puts all the pomp to flight;_x000D_ _x000D_ Priests, tapers, temples, swim before my sight.
Who breaks a butterfly on a wheel?
To communicate through silence is a link between the thoughts of man.
Suppose we concede that if I had been born of Muslim parents in Morocco rather than Christian parents in Michigan, my beliefs would be quite different. [But] the same goes for the pluralist...If the pluralist had been born in [Morocco] he probably wouldn't be a pluralist. Does it follow that...his pluralist beliefs are produced in him by an unreliable belief-producing process?
All neurotics seek the religious
When you are not the doer how can the attachment happen? You do a small thing and you become attached. You say, "I have done this." You would like everybody to know that you have done this and you have done that. This ego is the barrier for the supreme understanding. Drop the doer and let things happen. That's what Tilopa means by being loose and natural.
There is no reason for believing that any sort of gods exist, and quite good reasons for believing that they do not exist and never have. It has all been a gigantic waste of time and a waste of life. It would be a joke of cosmic proportions if it weren't so tragic.
How strange a thing is death, bringing to his knees, bringing to his antlers The buck in the snow . . . Life, looking out attentive from the eyes of the doe.
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