Never promise more than you can perform.
Publilius SyrusRead
He is a despicable sage whose wisdom does not profit himself.
Interpretation
True wisdom should benefit both the wise person and others around them.
This quote highlights the importance of wisdom being practical and beneficial. It implies that a person who possesses wisdom but fails to use it to improve their own life or the lives of others is not truly wise, but rather, despicable. The underlying message is that wisdom should lead to positive outcomes and enrichment for oneself and for society.
In practice
In a motivational speech about the importance of applying knowledge practically.
Never promise more than you can perform.
Pain forces even the innocent to lie.
In a heated argument we are apt to lose sight of the truth.
Admonish your friends privately, but praise them openly.
What a tragedy is help where it harms what it supports!
The miser is as much in want of what he has as of what he has not.
Chance favours a prepared mind.
When you're operating on uninvestigated theories of what's going on and you aren't even aware of it, you're in what I call "the dream." Often the dream becomes troubling; sometimes it even turns into a nightmare. At times like these, you may want to test the truth of your theories by doing The Work on them. The Work always leaves you with less of your uncomfortable story. Who would you be without it? How much of your world is made up of unexamined stories? You'll never know until you inquire.
Do not say things. What you are stands over you the while, and thunders, so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary.
It is the just doom of laziness and gluttony to be inactive without ease and drowsy without tranquility.
Stop all this weeping, swallow your pride/ You will not die, its not poison -Tombstone Blues
You have to trust yourself, not research. Not testing. Testing helps, but you have to trust your own taste. If your taste says something isn't any good, don't let research rationalize that out of its own truth.
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