Our deeds disguise us. People need endless time to try on their deeds, until each knows the proper deeds for him to do. But every day, every hour, rushes by. There is no time.
Interpretation
Our actions define us, and people need time to understand the right actions to take amidst the fleeting nature of time.
In this quote, John Locke suggests that our actions are a reflection of our true selves, and it takes considerable time for individuals to figure out the appropriate actions or 'deeds' to engage in that align with their identity and values. He emphasizes the urgency of time, indicating that life is fleeting and encourages us to be mindful of how we choose to act, as we may not have the luxury of endless time to make these choices.
In practice
During a motivational speech on personal development.
For where is the man that has incontestable evidence of the truth of all that he holds, or of the falsehood of all he condemns; or can say that he has examined to the bottom all his own, or other men's opinions? The necessity of believing without knowledge, nay often upon very slight grounds, in this fleeting state of action and blindness we are in, should make us more busy and careful to inform ourselves than constrain others.
There is frequently more to be learned from the unexpected questions of a child than the discourses of men.
Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.
New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common.
I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts.
One unerring mark of the love of truth is not entertaining any proposition with greater assurance than the proofs it is built upon will warrant.
Whether by theft or by artistry or by conquest, when it comes to time, Venetians are the world's greatest experts. They bested time like no one else.
There is an hour of the afternoon when the plain is on the verge of saying something. It never says, or perhaps it says it infinitely, or perhaps we do not understand it, or we understand it and it is untranslatable as music.
I have packed myself into silence so deeply and for so long that I can never unpack myself using words. When I speak, I only pack myself a little differently.
A total spiritual direction given to the whole life and the whole nature can alone lift humanity beyond itself. . . It is only the full emergence of the soul, the full descent of the native light and power of the Spirit and the consequent replacement or transformation and uplifting of our insufficient mental and vital nature by a spiritual and supramental Supernature that can effect this evolutionary miracle.
But, alas! what poor Woman is ever taught that she should have a higher Design than to get her a Husband?
The ideal of a single civilization for everyone, implicit in the cult of progress and technique, impoverishes and mutilates us
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.